Sera stopped at the table and picked out a bottle of ginger ale. "You want one or you getting something else?"

"Well, there you go. Willing donor." Damien turned him towards Sera. "Have at her."

"Nah, no soda right now," Rose replied, reaching for a bottle of water.

"What's got you so frustrated?" Taylor asked as Damien practically pushed him towards Sera. "You're not just in one of your 'I hate people' moods, this is different."

"Okay." Sera took a swig from her bottle. "You hungry at all?"

"No, this is one of my 'you're being an attention whore, go get laid" moods." Damien shot him an exasperated look. "Seriously, you're making me sympathize and I can go a lot longer than you."

"Not particularly," Rose replied. She noticed how Sera's attention seemed to keep wandering. "What do you keep looking at?" she asked.

"I'm always an attention whore," Taylor pointed out, unfazed. "You know that. Besides, you haven't gotten any for even longer than I have, probably not since..." He trailed off, and his gaze jumped to where the girls were. "Not since you met Rose, I think." And wasn't that interesting?

"Taylor and Damien are over there," Sera said, nodding to the two. "And they seem to be coming this way slowly."

"Actually before that," Damien said. "Now go use your attention whore powers on her."

"They are?" Subconsciously, Rose tugged on her shirt a bit to straighten it.

"No wonder you're so frustrated," Taylor said. "At this point, I think you need to get laid more than I do, and that's saying something." Before Damien could get mad enough to actually try to take a swipe at him, he made his way over to the girls. "Ladies! How are you doing this fine evening?"

"I'm fine," Sera said, smiling a little at him. "Not used to doing social events, though."

Damien shot Taylor a look that said "Ha! We're in the majority, you freak for enjoying this" before he looked at Rose and smiled a little. "Evening," he greeted. "I take it you like this about as much as I do."

"Just about," Rose agreed. "They say humans are social creatures, but I don't buy that. This is just torture."

Taylor just rolled his eyes at Damien and turned his attention back to Sera.

"Well, I'm sure you'll end up at a few more of these things," he said.

"We'll see about that," Sera said evasively. "We only have to stay another hour before it's technically over and we can run away."

Damien chuckled. "I like that reasoning," he said with a grin.

Rose blushed a bit, but smiled back at him.

"Well, then," Taylor said to Sera, "perhaps I could keep you company until you decide it's safe to leave."

Damien smiled and offered her his hand. "So, what now? Just hang out until it's safe to leave?"

"Okay," Sera said after a moment. "I'm not going into the crowd though."

Rose took his hand after a moment's hesitation.

"I think that sounds like a plan," she said.

Taylor nodded to Sera.

"I think I can manage that," he said.

Damien smiled and stayed there, hanging back from the crowds. He got himself a drink one-handed and sipped it, just holding onto her hand lightly.

Sera smiled just a little and nodded, staying where she was. She watched everyone else interacting with little interest.

Rose blushed slightly when he kept hold of her hand, but didn't say anything. She rather liked the attention, if she was being honest for herself.

"You know, I wouldn't peg you as being shy around other people," Taylor commented, watching Sera. "You usually seem so... forceful."

Damien stayed quiet, offering her a smile as he sipped from hs drink. "So, how much are you hating this?"

"I don't really like crowds. I mean, when I'm alone with people I know, I'm okay." Sera shrugged.

"It's not so bad anymore," Rose replied truthfully.

"That's surprising," Taylor replied. "You strike me as very outgoing."

"Good." Damien smiled at her. "I'm glad."

"Not around total strangers I'm supposed to be playing nice with." Sera shrugged.

"What about you?" Rose asked. "Tolerating the people any better?"

"Nothing wrong with that," Taylor said to Sera. "I don't mind crowds much, but that's just me, apparently."

"Yes, actually." Damien shot her a smile. "Of course, it's easier when you have a distraction."

"Some people don't mind crowds," Sera said. "I'm just not one of them."

Rose nodded in agreement.

"A distraction helps," she said. She couldn't help but smile back, and that bit of tartness in her personality rose to the surface a bit. "An attractive distraction doesn't hurt, either."

"No shame in not being a people-person," Taylor said. He grinned. "I'll admit I like solitude once in a while, but otherwise... I think the term Damien used was 'attention whore.'"

Damien grinned. "That is very true," he said, letting his eyes linger on her meaningfully.

Sera snorted, amused. "I can see him calling you that," she said with a grin. "I can see you responding to that, actually."

Rose caught the look and blushed. She'd never had anyone look at her like that before. It really was very easy to make her blush like that.

Taylor just shrugged in a 'what can I say?' kind of way and grinned.

Damien smiled a little and relaxed back against the wall. "So what are you doing next Saturday night?" he asked casually.

Sera rolled her eyes at him but took another sip of her drink, looking around the room. Still no one interesting. And no tigers trying to eat people. Damn.

The question surprised Rose a little. The thought crossed her mind that he might actually ask her out somewhere, but she pushed that thought away. He was probably just trying to be polite.

"Forseeably?" she said. "Nothing that I'm aware of."

Taylor watched Sera scan the room again.

"You know," he said, "you and I should do something sometime. Dinner or something. I bet we'd have a great time."

"Would you like to go see a movie, then?" he asked, moving just a little closer to her. "I'm sure we can find something out that we'd both like to see."

Sera blinked. That was unexpected. "Um. Sure. Just give me at least an hour's notice," she said with a little smile.