Perhaps Ozymandias was wrong to be annoyed that Madam Voss had stolen his defense mechanism, because as far as props went Karina was turning out to be a lousy one. The silly girl couldn't even flirt properly. He'd made a show of interest in her for the first time since they'd started talking, and here she was babbling on about the lead ballerina. (If it was Sophia Voss' favor that she wanted and not Ozymandias Dempsey's, she was doing a fine job of flirting, but Oz doubted that was what the manager had in mind when he'd put her up to this conversation). If she'd had the sense to just stop talking he might have been able to say something charming about Austria and ask some targeted questions in that direction, but now she was off on topics he couldn't bring himself to care about — grandmothers and Tsars and the hierarchy of ballet company auditions. He wished he'd taken the time to get a drink from the lobby bar before he came back here, but as it was he was standing with his hands in his pockets still, trapped.

His ears did perk when the girl said Mrs. Voss announced her purchase of the theater house. Of course Karina could have been mistaken, or she might have misspoke — she probably meant when Mrs. Voss announced the purchase of the theater house — but the way that Sophia responded, quick to jump up and distract, made him think perhaps there was something to it. He arched an eyebrow at her. If his only attachment to the ballet was that he'd sent her roses and tried to seduce her, this would have been none of his business, but he was a patron of the ballet. His money was invested in this, which meant he felt entitled to some transparency when it came to matters such as who owns the building. Not that he had ever been outright lied to (at least, not that he could recall), but there had certainly been some misdirection involved in the conversations he'd had with Lennon prior to confirming his patronage. He felt an effort had been made to take advantage of him, and he didn't care for that at all.

Oz shifted his weight, leaning back from both of them slightly as he regarded Sophia. The chorus dancer was speaking again, eager to make up for the fault her mentor had pointed out in her answer, but he wasn't listening and didn't bother to wait until she'd finished before he interrupted. "I expect I'll have plenty of opportunities to get to know you better." He pulled his eyes away from the lead ballerina long enough to flash a suave smile at Karina. "But I wouldn't want to monopolize too much of your time on such an auspicious night, my dear. I'm sure you have friends and family eager to congratulate you on tonight's performance."

For all her blundering uselessness earlier, she did at least recognize when she was being dismissed. She agreed with him and said her goodbyes, then melted back into the crowd of dancers and guests behind them. Oz and Sophia were alone — or as alone as two people could be in a crowded space, anyway (probably as alone as they would ever be again, if Ozy stuck to his internal commitment). He dropped the smile and looked at her frankly. Well?

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