In her recent travels -- which could more aptly be referred to as ‘wanders’ -- Claire had noticed flyers advertising a rather strange concept. ”Speed Dating.” She didn’t know what it was but she smelled the potential for free drinks. Claire found herself very charming; surely someone else would feel the same. This was the logic she stuck to as she schmoozed her way into the speed-dating group at Rover’s Fancy.

She’d even dressed up-- a bit.  The sweatshirt was too perfect not to wear to this bizarre event. Thanks to magic she hadn’t had to part with any of her hilarious clothing items once she had been -- erm, -- relocated. That would be the phrase Claire would use if the topic came up. She was at the moment rather homeless, but tonight she was wearing a skirt, so she doubted anyone would be able to tell.

Claire had a flask on her -- as jewelry. Claire was testing out another alcohol-based product, though this one did not require much magic: the bracelet flask. Very avante garde, Claire felt, and on the cutting edge of fashion. She was positive that no one would have guessed her to be so fashion savvy! She uncorked her own boozelet and brought her wrist up to her mouth so she could guzzle a bit down. Ah, fashion.

“‘m Claire,” she introduced herself to the girl she’d been paired with, after wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. “‘s yer name?”

Arianne had been all but absent from the social scene of London for what must've been months now. Which was not at all how she envisioned her life at any point in her past. But then again, that was before she was saddled with a fifteen year old as a ward. And younger sister. Fate must've found that one quite ironic... "Give the one that dislikes children and detests anything unfeminine and lacking in elegance and courtesy an adolescent tomboy with the manners of a feral human and the mouth of a sailor! That ought to make for a good laugh!"

It was said feral child coupled with the least well-intentioned of her friends that had gotten her into this predicament in the first place! Ezia with her brilliant ideas and her silly notions of childcare! "You could try gambling as a motivator, Aria. I'm sure there's nothing that child would love more than to see you as humanly uncomfortable as possible. Surprisingly, I actually like that about the little miscreant." In a moment of insanity, at her wits' end, Arianne had unwisely followed her friend's advice. Do better in the mid-terms, choose your torture; do poorly in the mid-terms, be forced to undergo a complete wardrobe change and lose Quidditch benefits.

And here she was, Arianne Desrosiers Etiquette Expert, fabulous Event Coordinator, Proprietor of one of the most elegant, yet sultry venues in all London... defeated and miserable, forced to mingle with the plebs, the rejects and the perpetually single at a speed-dating event of all places. Evidently, she was overdressed. But she'd much rather be overdressed than whatever that was. The girl—woman? The creature opposite of her left Arianne wide-eyed and confused, only for her expression to be replaced with thinly veiled disgust and skepticism as she took in the details: the odious sweatshirt with its ludicrous design, the skirt and its tablecloth print, the footwear and, good Merlin, those accessories. She was quite positive this sort of visual crime was punishable by death in more civilized countries. If there was any justice in the world, someone, somewhere was getting a dementor's kiss for this exact same outfit. Of course, there was also the possibility that the woman was in a situation that forced her to dress completely from the closest Oxfam. Arianne felt momentarily guilty.

It was seconds after, when she thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, that the specimen lifted her wrist to her mouth and drank from the weird contraption around her wrist. Of course. Of course, Aria would be stuck with the homeless alcoholic, because Circe forbid she had something nice for a change. That would obviously unleash an inferno upon the Earth! With a subtle sigh, she schooled her features as best as she could into something resembling polite detachment but it was futile as it slipped into a grimace watching the woman wipe her mouth with her sleeve. A savage on top of all! How surprising...

"Arianne Desrosiers, enchanté" she replied automatically with not the slightest hint of modulation in her voice. Normally, she'd offer her hand. This was anything but normal, so she merely inclined her head. Subtly. What was she supposed to do next? How long did this thing last? She couldn't just get up and leave... It would go against everything she stood for. Could she fake a contagious disease perhaps? Circe help her.

When it came to reading people, Claire was not the best. She was a top-notch prankster, but Merlin help her if she made a social faux-pas. She would remain blissfully ignorant of any annoyance or bother she might make. She was boisterous and really, more than a bit clueless. Claire pulled off her sweatshirt and threw it over the back of her chair. It was getting hot in here… for more than one reason, probably.

This time, however, Claire didn’t need a pal whispering in her ear that she might want to apologize to whatever mate she’d accidentally offended. The woman before her was gorgeous, yes, there were pictures of women just like her littering the floor of Claire’s…. well, right now they were crumpled up somewhere in her massive enchanted pocketbook. But their purpose was still the same. However, sexy as she might be, Claire knew her type right away. Claire had spent most of her life pulling pranks on this exact brand of human.

She was dressed in all gold, for Merlin’s sake. It was like the woman was trying to be the trophy of the event. Claire had gone for honesty once, with a cropped secondhand t-shirt that read “Attractive.”

“Arianne Desrosiers, enchanté"

“Ye French?” Claire asked, finding conversation in the curt introduction she’d been granted by the Lady in Gold. “I’m frem Ireland, meself. But ye know, I kinda wander about in diff'rent places...” she waved her hand around as she spoke, then gestured to the general World, implying that she was some sort of seasoned traveler.