"I'm Katerina Stan. You can all me Kat, if you like," She extended her hand to Nina.
"Nina Wesley. It's nice to meet you," She suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Even though this girl didn't look much older than her, she was probably of a much higher standing. She was at risk of making a fool of herself, which happened to be a talent of hers where social interactions were concerned.
"Ew, are you talking about art?" A voice said from behind them. They both turned to find a boyish girl raising an eyebrow at them. Her hair was much lighter and much shorter than Nina's or Katerina's and was slightly a mess, like she'd been running her fingers through it. She wore minimal makeup, smudged slightly around the eyes and when she walked towards them she stumbled in her heels, cursing as she nearly spilled her drink.
"I fuckin' hate this shit. Can we leave yet?" Nina almost wanted to laugh. There was something very comforting about this girl's informality. It reminded her of home.
"We just got here," Katerina said, turning abruptly back to Nina.
"I apologize. My friend doesn't like to follow the social norms and therefore doesn't know how to behave in public," Katerina apologized only to be immediately mocked by her friend.
"My friend doesn't like to follow the social norms," The girl screwed up her face and suddenly downed her almost full glass. "Get fucked," Nina couldn't help but sputter out a laugh.
"Oh my goodness," She quickly covered her mouth, still smiling behind her hand.
"Olivia Stark, nice to meet you," The girl shoved her hand towards Nina, who felt her heart skip a beat. Laughing at a Stark at a Stark gala. Somehow that didn't seem like the best thing she could have done.
"You're Tony Stark's daughter?" Nina asked, almost mindlessly shaking the girl's hand.
"Yeah, most people call me the family disappointment," Nina smile awkwardly, not sure quite how to respond to that. In the end it didn't really matter. Olivia wasn't looking at her. She was looking up at the painting, head cocked to the side.
"I still prefer Saturn Devouring His Son," Olivia looked to Nina again "Francisco Goya, 1819 to 1823," She smiled sarcastically.
"That's kind of horrifying," Nina noted. She was familiar with the painting. It was haunting and seeing that arm disappear into Saturn's gaping maw accompanied by his wide, white eyes always left her feeling uncomfortable.
"Yeah," This time Olivia's smile was genuine, a glint of mischief in her dark eyes. "I have a print framed in my bedroom," Nina couldn't help but laugh and the look on Olivia's face told her she would prefer she did.
"I think you might need therapy," At this, Katerina immediately burst out laughing as well and Olivia slung her arm across Nina's shoulders, even though she had to reach up a bit.
"I like you. Lets be friends," With that Nina was steered away down a life path she never could have expected. First stop, the cool kid's table.
"So, who dragged you here?" Olivia asked as the three of them sat down at the nearest table.
"I came with my dad. There wasn't much dragging involved," Nina took another sip of her drink. She had a feeling, with the turn things had taken, she was going to need some liquid courage. At the time, she couldn't have known how right she was.
"Wouldn't that be nice," Katerina mumbled.
"Oh, would you stop. I don't know why anyone likes these things," Olivia rested her cheek on her hand, eyes darting around for another free drink.
"So, Nina, what does your father do," Katerina asked, eager to direct attention away from Olivia.
"Oh," Nina smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm not really sure, actually. He works for a partner company of Stark Industries," That was about as much as she knew. He'd had so many promotions in the last two years she couldn't keep up with them. She supposed that was nothing to complain about.