Up on the balcony, North and Zeus were still talking in circles.
"But they all have to have different...needs, don't they?" Zeus asked. "How do you possibly keep them all satisfied?"
North looked at him blankly again.
Behind them, Sandy was silently laughing so hard he was rolling on his back, legs kicking in the air.
"Am...not sure what you mean," North said. "Are all grown spirits, can handle own needs. Do not need me hovering over them."
A moment of anger passed over Zeus' face, quick as a ripple in water, too fast for North to catch. The watching yeti did, and eased themselves that much closer.
Zeus was all smiles a moment later, as if the frustration had never occurred. "Come now, you can tell me. Isn't it difficult? Do they really all know about each other?"
North continued to stare at him blankly, though some of the yeti were now holding back their own snickers. Sandy was dying, still silent, in the background. This was more blatant than Zeus ever got, he must be so much more frustrated than Sandy had realized.
North gestured blankly down towards the dance floor, where Tooth and Bunny were involved in some sort of intense dance routine, a surprise to everyone who had only met Bunny in work mode, which was much crankier and more intimidating than relaxed Bunny.
Katherine was speaking to a group of spirits in one corner of the ballroom while Nightlight hovered over Loki, Thor, and a small group of Norse spirits and Jack spoke to someone they couldn't quite make out, partially hidden as they both were by shadow.
"Would be difficult if they did not," North said.
Zeus looked about ready to scream, and out of North's line of sight, at least one yeti face palmed.
"Surprised you came," Jack said, wishing again he had his staff to fiddle with.
Pitch waved an airy hand, careful not to leave the shadows. "Oh, you know how it is. The spirits you've been fighting for centuries defeat you utterly, you want a little peace and quiet to lick your wounds, and then they invite you to a party, and you know they're too high-minded for it to be so they could brag about defeating you. Mostly, at least. How could I resist?"
Jack paused, tilting his head. "Sounds pretty easy to resist to me. Did that for a long time."
Pitch copied Jack's gesture and Jack, still on edge from overhearing that previous conversation, wasn't guarding his mouth as he might have in Pitch's presence. "Well, I mean, I've gotten summoned to Winter Court gatherings and ignored them."
Pitch raised what would have been an eyebrow, if he'd had them. "And here I'd heard no Winter Spirit could resist the call of the Court," he said mildly enough. "No wonder the few Winter Spirits that got invites keep glaring at you. Except for the Snegurochka, but then again, they don't get called to the Court either. You surprise me, Frost."
"Heh, yeah, I do that to people," Jack chuckled. "You must be feeling better. Planning on stabbing anyone in the back anytime soon?" he asked, with his best innocent face in place.
Pitch paused for a moment, eying Jack, before shrugging. "Wondered when that would come up. Funny, I thought it would be the rabbit to bring it up first. No, Frost, amazingly enough I do know how to behave at a party. Do you?"
