He hoped the Hogwarts dance wasn't like this. The crowd was inevitable, the music was naturally loud and blaring, but the overall air was one of fun and unhinged pleasure, which...didn't seem appropriate for the school setting. Well - not from his professor's perspective. As a student, he'd have loved it. And frankly, he liked it as an adult too.

The mood was entirely appropriate for the party's host, however. Tapendra was finding himself rather more pleasantly surprised at the restraint shown than he'd expected...but then again, he always seemed to misjudge Darian, didn't he? On one side, he'd assume the man's every waking moment was consumed with inappropriate behavior, and then the man would be perfectly civil and mannered. Then he'd assume he was normal and, as if Darian predicted this, Darian would suddenly be as sexual as a fox.

It was annoying and unnerving. And...on some level, terribly interesting. Maybe that was why he'd actually turned up to this, instead of taking the smart opinion and staying at the castle.

Tapendra wound his way through the throng, drink in hand. He wasn't sure what this drink was, but it had candy worms in it and tasted drinkable, which was enough. It also tingled his lips; probably some magically enhanced drink. Hopefully his hair didn't change color or something. 

He was regretting his choice of costume, though. Oh, he liked it plenty; it was comfortable, fun and frankly it fit like a glove. But it was hot - the whole place was warmed by the body heat of all the party goers, and the tight fabric of the suit was not exactly breathing like he'd hoped.

The ice in the drink was refreshing, therefore, as he made his way across the dance floor. And as he did so, Darian stood out like a sore thumb - or, more accurately, a thumb encased in such lavish fabric that made him a cut above the rest. Even if his costume was...sort of distressing. And apparently sort of on fire. Tapendra regarded him cautiously for a moment before approaching.

"Darian!" He called, since the man didn't seem to be in conversation with anyone. He made his way to the smaller's man's side, finding a small gap in the crowd. "Your party seems to be a success, Mister Morgan," He said, with slightly more dignity and reserve but still plenty cheerfully. "I don't suppose you managed to convince your oh-so-dour cousin to show up?"

Darian was between guests at the moment - just at the moment, for Maiko'd gone to get a drink - and the sight of Tappy head and shoulders above the crowd caught his attention quickly. He thought about being uncomfortable, as the last time Tappy had seen him he'd been bleeding, half-conscious, and clingy. Darian was also pretty certain he'd started something unpleasant between him and his new coworker (which was less uncomfortable and more incredibly intriguing) and also squared, Darian had come extremely close to vomiting all over Tappy's shoes.

In the end, though, Darian was too awesome to be embarrassed and so he just beamed and waved (bangles chiming) as Tappy picked his way through the crowd. Tonight he was on fire - literally - and there was nothing to stop him from having a good time. He only hoped he hadn't set his progress with Tappy back too much. Then again, it was possible he'd jumpstarted it - Tappy seemed to like having someone to fuss over.

"Even my charm has its limits," he said, golden face creasing in a pleasant smile. Considering that Darian adhered to the Gilderoy Lockheart school of dazzling dental hygiene, this just made the light glint off him in new and interesting ways.

Tonight had been fun—so far. Darian had been lovely, and Dolly had been enchanting (at least, for the few minutes that they actually interacted.) Maiko wasn’t feeling too social tonight, so she decided to just stick with Darian and let him do all the talking—while she threw in a few words here and there. After all, this was his party, and she was here, first and foremost, to see Darian, not every other person that Darian was able to charm into coming to his party.  She pushed through the crowd, a glass of a dark red wine in her hand. Above the crowd, she thought she saw the top of a certain astronomy professor’s head, but Mai wasn’t sure. She bit her lip and frowned.

Tappy. She wasn’t sure how friendly she should actually be with him, especially with his attachment to a student. Really, Tapendra almost acted more like a parent to Sasha than a teacher, and it was a bit of a conflict for her because she wasn’t one to get close to the parents of students that she saw. Mai silently reminded herself that attached to Sasha or not, Tappy was still her coworker, and she should be able to treat him like she would any other coworker, like Gale or Hagrid.

“Ah, Darian!” She grinned, though her smile slowly turned devious as she looked up at Tappy. His costume looked familiar—she could have sworn she saw whoever-he-was-dressed as this summer, when her brother was playing one of his video games. “And Tapendra, or should I say…” She vaguely remembered that character talking to a reptilian in a gravelly voice. She did her very best to imitate Wrex and said (as seriously as she could) “Shepherd.” She took a sip of her wine and looked Tappy over. His costume was so form fitting.

“I’ll need to get a picture of you—my brother would love it.” For more reasons other than the costume, though Maiko wasn’t going to mention that yet.

Tapendra looked Darian up and down, brows creasing. The man was, it appeared, literally on fire. A spectacular effect to be sure - one that certainly matched its wearer. Tapendra raised an eyebrow at it nonetheless, smirking slightly.

When Maiko arrived, he smiled at the two of them - resolving to have a good time.

"Hah! I'll believe that when I see it," he told Darian, jokingly. It was nice, in a weird sort of way, to see Darian back to his somewhat normal self, even if the broken and dazed man in the Hut days before had been less...he couldn't think of a word that sounded right, really. Large? Darian in his element seemed to fill up the room around him. Dazed and confused, he'd seemed small. Approachable.

Thankfully, Maiko was a wonderful distraction from such thoughts.

He stared at her for a moment then he started laughing - slowly, but quite genuinely. So far she was the only one who'd gotten it, which - well, he wasn't sure if he should bee relieved or sad. Either way, he smiled at Maiko again. "Only if you can get a photo of everyone else for him, too," he said. He'd forgotten the effort and style wizards put into a lot of their costumes. He folded his hands behind his back. "You two are having a good time, I hope?"

Funny. Tapendra didn't look like a shepherd to him. Darian gazed speculatively at Tappy, then at Maiko's glass of wine. He should have hired, hmm, some of those waiters with drink trays. Ah well.

"Of course!" He beamed, nestling briefly and affectionately against Maiko's side in a one-armed hug. Darian was happy as a child in Honeyduke's, and even as he spun away from her he reached out to Tappy and touched him lightly on the arm to draw him into a conversational triangle, thoughtlessly craving physical contact, wanting to know the texture of Tappy's strange suit. "I cannot speak for Maiko but I am having a fantastic time," he said happily. "So many people!" This last point to Darian was the winning factor of any successful party, and positively intoxicating to boot. People! Everywhere! Their costumes and their different bodies, pretty faces, pretty lies. Everyone getting drunk off his tab and having a good time. Darian thrived in the spotlight and he loved this. "But you?" He leaned in, the planes of his gilded face seemingly concerned. "Are you enjoying your Halloween without children?"