"Oh, hi! --Inaaya, this is Mr. Ichiro Sano, he's an art collector; Ichiro, this is Miss Inaaya Sinope, she's a friend of a friend."

"It's lovely to meet you, Miss Sinope."

He bows, because the costume gives him an excuse, and because it always feels odd not to.

"Athena?"

"Yes, and my friend is Artemis."

Sano glances at Simone.

The goal is to get Inaaya an introduction, not to get Sano's attention on Simone's other life. "Oh, I thought I recognized Joan. Tell her I said hello?"

"Of course," Inaaya says.

Sano is concerned that Perhaps On Some Level This Ball Was A Mistake. "You met her through one of your performances?"

It really is beginning to feel that way, isn't it. "Yes," she says, and is quietly grateful for people who make guesses and then tell you what the guesses were. "Singing at a bar opening a few years ago, I was getting some air and she'd camped out on the fire escape stairs with a book."

"Joan said I wasn't allowed to bring a book to the ball," Inaaya says.

Sano edges them subtly towards the couches, well away from whatever discussion is happening about psychiatry.

"What sort of things do you like to learn about?"

"Everything!"

Moving towards the couches now-- she smiles in the direction of Joan and Elsie-- "You were talking about math with Elsie the other day, I think? I don't have much of a background but it sounded interesting--"

Inaaya is very charming when she's enthusiastic about math and it's hopefully enough to paper over the fact that Simone was not as prepared for knowing this many people in this many different ways as she would like to have been.

"Oh, yeah-- I thought I was going to read maths at Oxford--"

"You were going to attend Oxford?"

"Well," Inaaya says judiciously, "everyone educated I knew attended Oxford, so I may have slightly overestimated how easy it was to attend."

Tiny smile-- looking at Inaaya to make it clear this is laughing-with not laughing-at-- and Simone wasn't lying when she said she didn't have a background in math but she's osmosed enough from her brother that she can ask questions that hopefully aren't completely stupid.

Sano doesn't know much about math either, but he's willing to make good conversation with Inaaya about it.

Inaaya is very charming.

"Hel-LO Mr. Sano," Emma Stark says.

"Miss Stark," Sano says with pleasure. Of course, he always says things with pleasure.

Emma is the daughter of a wealthy American industrialist, in spite of her... appearance.

She's also a promiscuous alcoholic who's an incredible asshole. If she weren't rich, no one would put up with her. God alone knows how many abortions she's had.

"Emma!" Inaaya says with delight.

"Inaaya! How's my kid sister?"

She grabs Inaaya in a headlock and rubs her hair.

"I'm doing great. Telling Mr. Sano and Miss Burr about Cantor."

"You found the one conversation in this awful place that's about math?"