April 18th, 1941

Davenport leans against the wall in the ballroom, holding a flute of champagne and wearing a rather fancy tuxedo, he's not really the type to attend a debutante ball, nor does he hang around those circle, but he got assigned to prevent a scandal from happening, so he put on his nicest tux and miracles his name on the guest list and here he is, scanning the crowd for any suspicious behavior and more than a little bored, he tried mingling with others, but all these people want to talk about is how rich they are or their vacation or how Malinda Godson is having an affair with the butler and that the youngest Marley daughter is marrying a poor boy, stuff he couldn't care less for, so he's just hanging out by the wall, drinking his second champagne and waiting to make his move, as he scans the crowd for the umpteenth time, he's surprised when a familiar face catches his eye, looking rather sharp an emerald green tux and wearing a little flower clip in his hair, Merle is standing in the ballroom, one hand in his pocket the other holding a champagne flute and looking as bored as he does, as he's looking around the room he takes a double take when he sees Davenport, he smiles and walks over to him.

"Well, fancy seeing you here, skipper," Merle says to him.

"Could say the same to you," Davenport replies back, "No offense, but you never exactly pegged me for the type to go to these kinds of parties,"

"I'm not, but I got invited so here I am," Merle says as he leans against the wall next to Davenport.

"Now, how the hell did you get invited to something like this?"

"Well, last week, some girl ran into my shop and hid behind the counter, before I could even ask what she was doing there a bunch of guys burst in, the one in front said that he was looking for his sister and that they saw her run in, I could smell the bs a mile away so I told them I hadn't seen her and to leave, eventually they left and when I knew they were gone I told the girl the coast was clear, she had a small panic attack but she calmed down and I walked her home, turned out she was some millionaire daughter and as a way to repay me she invited me to her ball, so here I am, even though this ain't exactly my scene," Merle finishes his story with a sip of his champagne.

Davenport looks at his friend in awe, "Wow, that's amazing, Merle, and quite un-demon like of you,"

Merle shrugs, "Yeah, you know, whatever, so how come your here,"

Davenport side-eyes him, "That is classified information,"

"Fair enough," Merle takes another sip, "So how you've been, I know we haven't seen each over in a while,"

Davenport hums, Merle isn't wrong, they haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks, mainly due to work, "Yeah, I've been good, though I've been really busy, mostly due to this dumb war," he lets out a frustrated sigh, "seriously, they just had a war not 20 years ago, and just got over a depression, now they're having another one," he grans in annoyance.

Merle chuckles, "Yeah, at least we're waiting a few millennia before having another war,"

Davenport rolls his eyes, "So, how have you been, besides saving rich girls, of course?"

"Good too, but busy, its prom season so the shop's been a bit hectic," he sighs, "as usual, I've gotta make like five different prom queen bouquets, a shitton of corsages, and don't even get me started on all the decoration,"

Davenport just smiles and nods as Merle talks, even though he's heard this rant a million times, as he continues to watch the crowd, paying close attention to a particularly suspicious pair of men, they were both walking around the party trying to look capsule but falling, one of them was tall and lanky, the other short and stocky, they both have scraggly hair, the tall ones is shoulder length and black, while the short ones is ear length and brown, and they're wearing the dirtiest tuxedos Davenport has ever seen, how they ever got into the party he'll never know.

Merle notices him staring off into space and nudges him, "Hey, you listening to me?"

Davenport jumps, "O-oh, of course, sorry I must have gotten lost in my thoughts,"

Merle chuckles, "Hey, chill Dav, I'm just pulling your leg," he takes another sip, "so, how've you been enjoying the party?"

Davenport shrugs, "It's ok, though rather dull, I must say,"

Merle chuckles again, "What, don't you enjoy hearing about the Dottsons' new boat ?"

Davenport groans, "Ugh, don't even get me started on that boat, you know when they started talking about the boat I was hoping they talk about how fun sailing is, but all they want to talk about is how expensive it was, or all the fancy bits and bobs it has without really understanding what it means, " he sighs, "you know that boat is never going to leave harbor, they'll maybe have a party on it once or twice but it'll just sit there at the dock only to serve as another sign of they're immense wealth, bet they've never actually sailed before, never felt the wind in their hair and the sun on their skin or grown to love the smell of salt water, or gotten rope or sunburn on their hands or face or body,"

Merle smiles softly as Davenport talks, he always loves when Davenport talks about what he's passionate about, doesn't matter if it's sailing, or astrology, or why he prefers one type of wine to another, or how he's been learning how to those silly little magic tricks that birthday party magicians do (even though he can do actual magic,) no matter what he's talking about, he loves the way his face lights up and his gorgeous green eyes sparkles and his hands moves around as he talks, he nudges him, "An' you know all about that, don'tcha Captain Red Beard?"

Davenport chuckles and blushes, remembering when he told Merle about that time during the 15th century when he was the caption of a motley crew of pirates, Merle didn't believe him at first until he showed him the pictures, his hair and beard was longer and done in intricate brides but Merle could tell it was him, "Yes, well,"

Suddenly they heard the sound of a fork hitting the top of a glass, "Ladies and gentleman, I do hope you are all enjoying the party tonight, but hopefully not too much," the partygoers laugh dryly, "tonight is the night that our sons and daughters are being introduced to society, from boys and girls to men and women, and hopefully here they'll meet their future wives and husbands, everyone, please gather at the dance floor with your sweethearts and enjoy dancing the rest of the night away," the man who was speaking puts his glass down as the party-goers gather at the dance floor all in sets of two, the conductor taps his baton three times and the band starts playing as the everyone starts dancing almost in sync.

As the angel and demon watch as they all dance, Davenport begins to internally panics, him talking to Merle and the dancing made him lose track of the suspicion pair he was watching, he really doesn't want to fail another mission, Gabriel still hasn't let him forget about the incident in 1919, if it happens again he'd get way more than a warning this time, in the corner of his eye he sees Merle place his glass on the windowsill, he then sees him walk in front of him and holds his hand in front of him, Davenport looks at him quizzically, "What are you doing?"

"Let's dance."

"What?"

"Lets dance, everyone else is dancing, why should we be left out,"

Davenport looks down, "I, I don't know, I don't know how, plus angels aren't supposed to dance."

Merle chuckles, "Angels ain't supposed to hang out with demons ether, and it's not like its rocket science or anything, sure a smarty pants like you can figure it out quick,"

Davenport thinks about it for a second, on one hand, he really needs to find those two men and he doesn't need any more distractions,(and he has the possibility to embarrass him himself), on the other hand, if he dances, he might find them through the crowd of constantly moving people, he sucks up his pride, drains the rest of his glass, places it next to Merles, and takes Merle's hand.

Merle grins and pulls the angel closer, he puts Davenports left hand on his left shoulder and wraps his left arm around Davenport's waist, "Just make a box with your feet, and move to the beat," Merle leads them as they move left and right and back and forth, Davenport quickly gets used to it and begins moving in sync with Merle, Merle starts leading them so their dancing in a circle along with the other dancers, Davenport has never been this close to Merle before, usually the closes they would get would be sitting next to each other on the couch or at the bar, but now, as they were flush together, with Merle holding his hand and his other hand around his waist, it should be to close for comfort, but he's genuinely surprised how comfortable he feels this close to the demon, Merle spins the angel and holds him at arm's length then pulls him back, Davenport follows each step surprisingly well for someone that doesn't dance, not once missing a step or stepping on Merle's feet, "See, you're a natural,"

Davenport smiles softly, "Well, I've always had a natural sense of timing, you're really good at this, by the way,"

"I don't just go to school to learn medicine you know, sometimes I minor in dance, though I usually minor in botany,"

"Shock of all shocks," Davenport teases,

"Honestly, you should take some lessons sometime,"

"Eh, I don't really think so, dancing's never really been my thing, although I have been considering taking opera training, you know, whenever I'm not swamped with work,"

"You should, you have a beautiful singing voice,"

Davenport blushes, it's not the first time he's heard Merle has said this, he's sung around him before and Merle's never been shy about peppering him with compliments, but it always manages to take him off guard, "Well, thank you, but that's still a maybe, I never have time for stuff like that, plus Gabriel would see it as a waste of time," he says, reminding himself to keep his eye on the crowd.

Merle rolls his eyes, "Oh, who cares about what Gabriel thinks, what you do in your spare time is none of his business,"

"I know, but you know how Gabriel is, anything that isn't work related is a waste of time to him, and he's not afraid to make his opinion about it know,"

"Again, who cares, it's none of his business, look, I'm not the best at giving advice, but you shouldn't sacrifice your own happiness just because you're worried about what other people think, and if singing is what makes you happy, then so be it."

Davenport looks at him and smiles softly, "You know, no one's ever put it like that."

Merle smiles back, a little cheeky, "Plus, I'm sure Gabe didn't approve of you being a pirate, or when you spent three months as a horse racing jockey, or when you joined a research team to find Atlantis and damn near got yourself discorporated…"

"Okay, okay, you made your point," Davenport says with a giggle, "You know, I think you're becoming a bad influence on me,"

Merle smirks, "Maybe, or maybe I'm just the right kind of influence," Merle twirls Davenport again and pulls him close so they're back to chest.

Davenport's smile drops when he sees the suspicious pair he's been watching sneak into a hallway, most likely leading to an office or bedroom, in his shock he accidentally steps on Merle's foot.

"Ow!"

Davenport turns around to face Merle, "S-sorry, I'm so sorry but I have to go," he says, more than a little disappointed having to leave, he turns to leave but then turns back, "It was wonderful to see you again, Merle, if you're free tomorrow, would you mind joining me at North End for lunch?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Merle says with a smile.

Davenport smiles back, then turns back around and runs in the direction of the hallway, trying his best to avoid other people and drawing attention to himself as his smile turns into a look of determination, dancing with Merle was wonderful, but now, it's Showtime.