Zach wasn't comfortable at all. Kyle had done amazing things with his costume, pairing the black wings with paint across his arms and chest, thankfully covering the scars on his arms from his high school aged handiwork. The paint was thick at his hands and waist where it met skinny black pants, solid looking, but it broke into swirls of smoke as it moved up, deep blues, purples, and black, giving the sense that he'd risen from the smoke himself. The mask around his eyes was paint, done in the same manner and his hair was mussed upwards, sloppy, but styled. He looked intimidating to say the least, but he felt exposed and the extent of the needed contact between himself and Kyle to pull it off had left his skin feeling like raw nerve ends. He'd even gone for a drink, rum and coke ordered out of not remembering other drinks, and had swallowed a good bit of it, but it wasn't having the desired effect yet. He was considering more, but knew his tolerance wouldn't be much.
Ru was having a good time so far. She'd taken the time to look around the place, smiling at people but not engaging them in conversation just yet. She jingled as she walked, having picked out a bellydancer outfit. So there was a lot of jewelry with it, little bells on her ankles, chains around her neck, her wrists, her exposed middle. There were bangle bracelets, huge hoop earrings...she was bright, warm and bejeweled. The skirt was flowing and a little see-through, same with the top. It was a revealing outfit, for certain. It was a brilliant orange and gold, matching the jewelry. She even had her hair all curled up, and there was a jeweled chain piece that drifted across her forehead from her hair, giving her that final touch. She spotted the first person she wanted to speak to, and padded barefoot up to his side. "Looking good, Mr. Briar." she told him, appreciating the costume choice.
Zach felt his guard go up at his name, not registering who'd said it until after he'd turned to see Ru there. For an instant he just stared, her costume and his nerves taking longer to process things around him than normal. Once he had it right though he relaxed somewhat visibly, shoulders easing ever so slightly, but enough that someone looking might catch. "I'm afraid Kyle deserves all of the credit," he told her, finally really taking her in which caused his own eyes to go wider as he realized just how revealing her costume was. “You as well.”
She noticed the tense then release there, and she continued to smile at him as she waited for him to take in the view. Which she quite appreciated, really. He was obviously distracted by it, affected. Which was nice to see. "Kyle isn't wearing it. You are. So for the effort, perhaps he gets an A, but it's you who are standing there, looking good." she told him. When he paid her the compliment in return, she smiled and swayed her hips back and forth, doing a slow little spin around in the style of her costume. "Thank you." she said, chiming the tiny charms together that were on her fingertips.
"I wasn't so sure I wanted to be as noticeable as I am," Zach said, voicing his concerns with the costume, not matter how good it looked. When she moved in that turn, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, watching her hips move, the glimpses of bare skin and the slight clinking of all her jewelry. In the back of his mind he wondered if he should say something, but even if he should have, words weren't coming to him in that moment.
"Well, I feel it was an excellent choice." Ru told him. "You look really striking. You'd stand out anywhere. I love the dark theme here, it's really awesome. I shall have to make a note to the artist as well later." she said. "So, tell me about him! You had to have gotten quite up close and personal to have pulled off this kind of effect." she said, eyeing him up and down again.