These masks make it hard to see sometimes.

She would take hers off like many other people have but she can't risk her father seeing the piercing again yet.

Her curious gaze scans the guests as she leans against the wall, watching them dance and drink, some she is even familiar with; Edward Newgate is present with Thatch and Marco, the trio conversing with a few of their connections in the distance.

She already knows Ace won't be here, he never comes to balls, not even for the free food. Sabo would sometimes show his face but it would seem he has decided against it tonight, although she soon comes to the conclusion that it's a good thing when she sees Mihawk intercept Newgate's discussion with a clear frown on his face.

He may be there for business purposes but it's more likely that he's warning the old man to keep his unruly sons away from his daughter.

The redhead's stare shifting toward some of the other guests instead; much to her surprise the next person she sees is Shanks, the older man off to the side laughing and drinking with a couple of guests, it isn't like him to attend these kinds of things without reason. People come to these balls to find opportunities in business usually, she can't help but wonder what business Shanks is dabbling with. 

"Car dealing for Ben, perhaps..." She quietly mumbles to herself, her eyes lightening up as a waiter passes her with a small tray, the girl immediately swiping a glass of water from the surface and bringing it to her lips, sniffing the liquid subtly to ensure it's really water before taking a sip. 

She's still recovering from her hangover so the very last thing she needs right now is a mouthful of vodka.

Her attention diverted once again as a large man approaches; his skin slightly tan, hair black and curly, brown eyes and some of his teeth are missing, his beard looks extremely untidy too, it's long and dark so she can clearly see crumbs of food stuck in it but he wears a lot of rings on his fingers, expressing that he's quite wealthy.    

"Teach." She calmly mutters in greeting, she is mildly familiar with this man since her father will deal with him from time-to-time, he's an archaeologist so he's always coming into contact with interesting artefacts but many of them weren't permitted for him to take so she will have to tread carefully with this guy in future. 

"Little Dracule~!" The man cheerfully blurts, his arms open as if he was inviting her in for a hug, one that she discreetly declines. His limbs soon dropping as he leans against the wall beside her, feigning a friendship with the girl to the outside eye while his voice falls low, his head leaning slightly toward her so that she could hear his hushed words more clearly. "Would you be interested in Napoleon's sword?" 

This man knows how to catch one's attention, that's for sure. 

Of every war and every historical figure she has learnt about, Napoleon is in the top three for one's she finds fascinating, she has to silently remind herself that Teach is a crook and not to trust him before she answers. 

"Where did you obtain it from?" 

"Zehahahaha! A good archaeologist never spills their sources, Miss Dracule!" 

A pout etching itself into the girl's features as the man laughs, her brows furrowing behind her mask as she stares up at him thoughtfully, before finally sighing to herself. "Bring it to the museum tomorrow morning and I'll take a look at it." 

"Hmm~? So you're interested~?" The way his voice dips on that final word makes her skin crawl, her stare burning into his own.

"Perhaps. You won't get any more information from me until I've looked at it." Her main concern is whether or not it has been stolen from somewhere, if it were anyone else trying to sell it to her, she'd be wondering if it was a fake also. Though Teach usually only ever brings real treasures so she'd assume that isn't the case -of course, she'll still be checking all factors when he brings the weapon. 

Her father catching her eye as the raven stops before them, his expression hard to read, even for somebody like Kyo as he stares down at the black-beard man.

"Zehahaha no need to say a word, Hawk-eyes~! I know the deal, I'm leaving~!" His sarcasmn doesn't seem to phase her father at all though, his golden eyes following the archaeologist as he leaves before they finally shift down toward the redhead. 

It's obvious he doesn't want this man speaking to his child.

"What did he want?" 

"Apparently he has Napoleon's sword, I said I'll take a look at it tomorrow before making a decision on whether we need it or not." She doesn't miss the small glimmer of intrigue in her father's eyes at the word 'sword', a deep thoughtful expression taking over his features as a low hum rumbles in his throat. 

"If it's real then buy it, don't fret about anything else." He simply orders while folding his arms over his chest, he has many stolen swords stashed away inside a closet within his study, it's always locked and not many know about it since Mihawk doesn't have much house guests usually. "There's money already in the safe at the museum, that is if somebody didn't steal it last night while you were slacking off." 

She doesn't miss the bitter tone to his voice as he says that, though many would argue that she deserved it for her truancy. 

"Sorr--"

"Anyway, I want you to speak to somebody." He simply talks over her, his hawk-like eyes already shifting toward the large crowd of guests, seemingly looking for one in particular. "His name is Charlotte Katakuri, it's rumoured that one of his sibling's have found one of Joseph Stalin's old cigars, I want you to find out if that's true." 

 "Charlotte..." That name rings a bell, that family is huge and does make waves in this city after all. "Are you trying to marry me off or something? What if his mother sees me speaking to him?"

It's a well-known fact around the city that Linlin loves to arrange marriages for her children, especially if it's lucrative for business.

She had already propositioned Mihawk to marry one of her daughter's once before, which he immediately refused, Kyo would wager that's why he's making her speak to Katakuri rather than doing so himself.

"He's already engaged so that shouldn't be an issue. He's the one with the scarf." Her father calmly informs, watching as the girl reluctantly pushes herself away from the wall and begins heading over to the man in question.

She knows all too well when Mihawk says to do something, she better do it. 

Especially after last night. 

It would seem Katakuri already knows she's coming to speak to him since he glances at her before she even reaches his table, his stare melting into her own as she stops beside him. 

"You're Hawk-eyes daughter," His voice is deep but mostly indifferent, although he does find it surprising that she maintains eye contact and looks mildly confident while doing so, she certainly takes after her father for that. "I suppose you've heard about the cigar case."

So it's a cigar case? Probably not worth anything then. 

There are plenty of forgeries out there.

"No room for small talk? I can respect that." The girl simply murmurs while dropping herself down in the empty seat beside him, she assumes it was originally claimed by one of his siblings and she certainly doesn't want to step on any of the Charlotte's toes so she decides to make this as quick as possible. "I was lead to believe there was cigars belonging to Joseph Stalin..."

"A few within the case, yes." The man finishes for her, his hand reaching over to take a glass of water from a tray sat on the table before placing it down for her, taking a chalice of champagne for himself. "You're nursing a hangover, correct? I assume water will be what you'd prefer."

She can't quite help but blink at that, she doesn't recall seeing this gentleman while being dragged out on her bender, she might have seen one of his siblings but she doesn't remember acting at all notable enough for them to mention it if they did. Her mouth opening to inquire about this but he seems to know what she's going to say and beats her to the punch.

"I am familiar with the tells." He's observant - more so than she had expected. 

"I see..." Her voice riddled with uncertainty as she brings the water to her lips, taking a small sip while the older male continues on with the previous topic. 

"We may be able to come up with an arrangement for the case, I'll have to run it by mama first though." 

Well, that went a lot easier than she had expected it to. 

"You have the number for our museum, yes? I trust you'll let us know her decision." The redhead offering a polite and somewhat forced smile as the man simply hums in agreement, finishing off her water as quickly as possible before placing the empty glass down. "Thank you. And congratulations on your engagement."

"Hm? My engagement was called off." 

Oh...oh dear.

"My apologies," The girl's confident tone sounding ever so slightly strained as she rises from her seat, she's not exactly good with relationships and such so she isn't entirely sure how he would feel about that, or how to react. "I was not aware." He doesn't say anything to that, nor does he express any emotion, simply just watching her as she rattles her brain for an adequate response. "Her loss." 

And with that, she's off. 

Her fists clenched and face burning with embarrassment as she waddles back toward her father as quickly as possible, her fake smile soon falling into a deep pout as she reaches the man.

"He will need Linlin's permission to sell but it looks promising so far."

"Good."

"He isn't engaged by the way--"

"Oh? What a shame."

Don't pretend you didn't already know.