Petrelli's do parties right (Nathan, Peter, Gabriel Petrelli and Othala)

Nathan Petrelli had been tasked with carrying on his family's name as the head of the family years ago with the death of his father. Or the supposed death of his father. The man had survived somehow in the end, it was not clear how to be honest but he had been alive enough to come back to haunt them later.

But it was finally laid to rest.

Along with the megalomaniac that was Arthur Petrelli. At long last the patriarch of the family was dead, killed by the hand of the third son after the second had attempted to kill him. It was a long and complicated story but in the end it was over, leaving Nathan, Peter and Gabriel fatherless but with a new bond of brotherhood.

Tapping the side of his champagne glass with his knife, rather close to the microphone that had been set up for him to speak into,

"Hello and welcome to the 15th annual Petrelli ball!" he greeted the guests with a wide smile, a politicians smile, "I hope you'll all enjoy my wine as I am aware my music collection is nothing to be happy about."

He paused for the polite laughter before continuing,

"But seriously... these balls were started by my father Arthur as a way to show the friends of the Petrelli family that we appreciate all the support, friendship and love that you give us." he told them warmly before turning to Peter, who was standing to his right, "Now my brother Peter would like to say a few words... I've told him to keep the angst out, don't worry."

More polite laughter as Nathan stepped back for his brother to step forwards.

Peter was rather uncomfortable in a suit, it had to be said. Nathan was the one born to wear a suit, Peter was the one born to wear the uniform of a paramedic, a uniform that meant he was out to help as much of the world as possible. Of course with his ability he could help a lot more people than a regular paramedic but he had drawn the line at dressing up in spandex to go out and fight crime. It was a bit too much even for him and his hero-complex to agree with.

The polite laughter brought his attention back to the party.

Nathan was wrapping his speech up and Peter glared good naturedly at him at the little dig. He hadn't been that angsty had he? Okay he probably had to be honest. Giving his brother a playful punch on the arm, Peter stepped up to microphone,

"No it's not your imagination... his sense of humour hasn't improved in the 15 years of having these balls." he joked, getting laughs that were more genuine than the kind that Nathan had managed to get. He held up a hand for a bit of silence, "But seriously for a moment... I don't know where I would be with my brother Nathan. My big brother has been looking out for me since day one and I have appreciated every second of his protection, advice and aid."

He paused for a moment before continuing,

"Now it's my turn to be the big brother." he told the guests, "Tonight the Petrelli family celebrates the return of a lost member... my younger brother, Gabriel Petrelli! Now he's running a little late but we won't hold it against him will we?"

Polite laughter.

"Of course not, now please... let's get this ball under way!" With a nod to the band, the music began. Stepping away from the microphone, Peter groaned, "Ugh I hate speeches... come on, let's see if we can find Gabriel."

Both Nathan and Peter made their way over to the main doors to the ballroom.

Othala had been asked to go to the Annual Petrelli Ball by Gabriel, she wasn't exactly sure why but because her powers were so close to being under control now she thought it was probably as some sort of reward for doing so well under his training. After all, nothing romantic had happened between the two of them so far to suggest that this was any kind of date, nor had he asked her to go with him as his date so...

At the moment she was mingling in amongst the crowds listening to the speech the other two Petrelli brothers were giving, it was all a little Laurel and Hardy for her to really take seriously but apart from that it was a really quite entertaining speech. It didn't make her nod off and that was one of it's plus points.

Looking around the room with a bright smile on her lips, Othala was just enjoying being at a party like this, she had never been to such a prestigious event before, and of course she had to dress appropriately. As well as wearing perhaps the most expensive garment she had ever bought, her cranberry dress, Othala had hired someone to do her hair and make up so she would look her most radiant.

Honestly it was like she was airbrushed! She might have to hire that lady again she thought with a wry smile on her lips.

Seeing Nathan and Peter coming down from the stage, she noticed they seemed to be looking for someone, maybe it was Gabriel? She hadn't seen him yet but then again he had told her that his work might leave him coming a little later than the start time so, she wasn't very worried. Helping herself to some of the champagne, Othala sipped at it happily, not noticing she had stepped back into the brothers line of passage.

Sylar, or Gabriel as he was beginning to call himself again, was incredibly uncomfortable in this suit and he had no idea why. He wore suits all the time after all. The company had been kind enough to keep him one even after Arthur was exposed and he and Peter ended up killing him. But the Company still needed hunters and both he and Peter had been snatched up as Nathan and Andrea took control of it's management.

But he could handle those suits and the job. Just not this suit and this party.

Maybe it was because it was a party? No, he'd been to some parties before and he'd never felt this uncomfortable. It was, most likely, because he was worried about how the friends of the family would accept him being accepted back into the family instantly and warmly. Well... warmly now at least. It had been a bit rocky to begin with he had to admit. But here he was and he had Othala waiting inside for him too.

Entering the ball, he noticed all the eyes on him and he tried to smirk a little bit in a confident way. Finding Othala rather quickly, he made his way over to her and his smile grew wider,

"You look beautiful Othala." he told her honestly, looking her up and down with a grin, "I knew you were attractive but this is just a whole new level... thank you for agreeing to come to the ball. With you here I know at least one person who likes me and that means a lot to me."

Nathan was the first to spot the beautiful woman in the red dress and he had to admit that she looked amazing, absolutely amazing. Of course he was currently looking around for Gabriel and that was slightly more important than talking to the gorgeous woman. Well... no it wasn't anywhere near as important as talking to the woman but he had promised he would meet up with Gabriel at the beginning with Peter.

As luck would have it, Gabriel showed up quickly and made his way straight over to the beautiful woman in red.

Of course he disliked the idea that Gabriel had her as his date but he did his best to hide that or any indication that he had ever thought that way. When they just seemed to be talking as friends his grin returned as both he and Peter approached the pair. Catching the compliment to the woman, he grinned a little bit and spoke up,

"Doesn't she just!" he agreed to the comment on her being beautiful. He bowed to her slightly, kissing the back of her hand, "Nathan Petrelli my dear, and what is your name my dear?"

Turning to Gabriel, he refused to acknowledge the man by the name Sylar, Nathan shook his youngest brothers hand and smiled. It was hard to smile at the moment. Though the hatchet had been buried, it was still hard to not see the man as a killer,

"Nice of you to join us Gabriel." he greeted his brother with a lopsided smile, "You get lost on the way down here?"

Othala was so happy when she saw Gabriel coming into the Ballroom, it was pretty obvious that it was him coming in because everyone turned silent to stare at him as he made his way down the steps. Of course their stares continued until he caught up to her, but now, satisfied as to who he had invited as his plus one, they all, went about their business again.

Gabriel looked really very handsome in his suit, it was a bit grander than the ones that he wore to work for the company, as you would expect for a ball of this size. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to look at her mentor in a romantic way, that was hardly going to go well when her training finished and they had to part ways...

"Uhm, well thank you Gabriel. I was just thinking the same about you." she murmured, her cheeks well and truly flushed "I thought I might as well make an effort for tonight, college girls don't get much of a chance to dress up like this. Oh I wouldn't miss it, I know how much you wanted me to come with you and now I understand, everybody is staring..."

When Nathan Petrelli came up to her and kissed the back of her hand after bowing, Othala thought that she was going to spontaneously combust through arousal. Oh my god! Oh my god play it cool! She thought to herself, not wanting anything to go wrong with this whole meeting, she wanted to make a good impression on Gabriel's brothers, of course. That was the only thing that she was thinking about doing.

"W-well...thanks." she stuttered, cursing her little flaw that happened whenever she got too embarrassed "I'm Othala Thormund, I'm so pleased to meet you Mr. Petrelli, and you too Mr. Petrelli." Othala grinned, bowing her head to both of the other Petrelli brothers in respect and in greeting.

Peter had been bogged down by a couple of old ladies in the crowd who had started gushing over him and how 'grown up' he looked in his suit. His brave older brother had elected to leave him there to save himself, laughing at Peter's misfortune. By the time he managed to untangle himself from the old ladies, he was already left behind.

Spotting Nathan and Gabriel, he made his way over to them with a smile. He smacked Nathan a bit too hard on the back with a grin before turning to Gabriel. There was a pause before he gave his newest brother a hug. Breaking the manly hug, he grinned at Gabriel,

"Glad that you could finally arrive Gabriel!" he teased his younger brother, "You couldn't find a cab or something? I knew we should have sent you a limo or... or something... something... someone... pretty..."

His sentence structure taking a nose dive not because of Gabriel but because he had spotted the beautiful woman in red who had just introduced herself to both he and Nathan as Othala Thormund. He swallowed thickly,

"Othala Thormund... angel... take you pick, they mean the same..." he muttered just loud enough to hear, distracted by her beauty. He got ahold of himself and blushing brightly, "Ah... sorry about that, I'm Peter and I'm very glad to meet you Othala."

Gabriel knew that Othala was right about everyone staring but he was honestly certain that they were staring at her more than him. She was stealing the show in terms of dress, make up and sheer natural beauty and it was causing quite a number of the other female guests to become almost green with envy. He chuckled a little bit and tugged at his tie a little bit,

"For some reason it feels uncomfortable... but thank you for putting my mind at ease about how it looks on me." he told her with a comforted smile before grinning a little bit, "You're the belle of the ball I can tell you that right now."

Both Nathan and Peter greeted him with joked about his lateness and it was nice to be able to joke with them so simply. Of course Peter's hug caught him completely off guard and it took a moment for Gabriel to pat his back a little bit as the hug came to an end,

"Don't worry guys, I wouldn't miss this for the world." he assured them happily. Noting the way that Nathan was flirting with Othala, he narrowed his eyes a little bit but there was nothing he could do about it right now. Of course Peter's attempt to convey how beautiful she was made Gabriel grin a little bit. He clapped Peter on the back to snap him back to reality, turning to Othala with a smirk, "Seems you and that lovely dress of yours have broken my older brother... I'm not surprised considering how beautiful you are."

Othala blinked a little, shocked when Peter came over and started to talk to her, although, she wasn't really sure if he was talking to her or not...he was more like mumbling about her she thought. But what he was mumbling about really made her cheeks heat up in a massive blush and she thanked the Lord for the make up that she was wearing right now, it should be covering most of it.

In fact, she could almost feel the room heating up a little bit, before she realised she was doing that, giggled and rubbed the back of her neck nervously, then making sure it was put to rights again;

"I uhm...think I'll take Othala, just because it would seem to stop everyone glaring at me for monopolising your time." she laughed softly, sipping a little bit more at the champagne she was drinking, which was probably the most expensive alcohol she had ever drunk before.

The way that the whole conversation seemed to be revolving around her made Othala a little shy, biting her lip gently she moved her gaze down to her feet, hoping that with this brief break her blush might go down enough for her cheeks to go back to something resembling their normal colouration. Besides there were much prettier girls here than her...

"You all are making a big deal over nothing." she whispered softly, tucking a softly curled strand of hair behind her ear "There are tonnes of lovely ladies here tonight and I don't particularly feel like being attacked in the valet car park by them at the end of the night..."

Smiling gently at Nathan she commented; "You host a lovely party, the best one I have ever attended, did you do all the arranging or did you get someone else to do it? You know I used to do event management on the side while I was in college."

Nathan could see that all three brothers Petrelli were beginning to feel the charms of the beautiful woman in front of them. He himself was beginning to lose himself in her charms and wanted nothing more than to flirt with her rather heavily. It was odd seeing as he had always thought that he only liked blondes. Seemed that he was wrong though as he definitely liked Othala and she was anything but blonde.

To keep there from being any arguments between the brothers, at this very public ball, he decided that it would be best if she was with only one brother. And, naturally, he decided that the brother should be himself. He made eye contact with one of his bodyguards, who caught the message and directed some of the old ladies over to both Gabriel and Peter. Almost immediately the two youngest were being mothered by the older women.

Nathan chuckled a little bit at the situation before turning to the beautiful Othala who was, now, all his. Smiling charmingly, he bowed to her and held out his hand to take hers in,

"My lady Othala... would you do me the honour of giving me this dance?" he asked her with a lopsided smile, his most charming smile apparently, "I promise that it will be unlike any other dance you've ever had."

Othala was more than a little bit surprised when all of a sudden both Gabriel and Peter were taken away by old ladies to have their cheeks pinched and imaginary marks rubbed off their suits by ancient hankies... it was rather amusing she had to say to watch Gabriel flummox and try to get his way out of the situation.

It seemed though that the ladies weren't going to fall for any of his tricks, nor for any of Peters. Kougars, she giggled to herself.

Raising an eyebrow when Nathan ignored what she just asked him, Othala was a little bit reluctant to take his hand but she didn't want to embarrass him now that he had asked her to dance. Not at his own party he wouldn't be happy with that, and he had already given her so much being part of the Company that she worked for.

"Alright." she smiled lightly "Although I have to warn you I have never had any formal dancing experience, or lessons so...your feet might get a little trampled." Othala admitted with a small blush on her cheeks, not having any clue why someone as successful and charming as Nathan Petrelli would want to have a dance with her...

Any woman in the hall would jump at the chance, even his ex wife she thought to herself with a light smile on her lips.

"Thank you, very much for asking me." Othala whispered softly, her cheeks flushing a delicate pink with the admission "A man has never asked me to formal dance with him, you are my first." she commented with a little shy smile.

Nathan had to try hard not to laugh out loud as both Peter and Gabriel took the time to shoot him some dirty looks when they thought the older ladies weren't paying enough attention to scold them for it. But he was sure that he would be hearing more about it later. And he wasn't so sure that Gabriel wouldn't be having the conversation with Nathan held upside down with telekinesis. Of course if all went well then it would definitely be worth it.

He had to swallow back all of the training in manners he had gotten over the years to ignore her like that and he could see that she didn't like it. But he just hoped that his delay in answering would be worth it due to the little surprise that came with it. He smirked a little bit when she told him that she had no formal dancing experience,

"That's alright, if you want you can stand on my feet the whole time and I can walk you through the steps that way." he told her with a grin before smirking a little bit, "Of course I'd prefer it if you were gently with the heels."

As they made their way to the centre of the ballroom, the centre was cleared of all dancers other than the two of them. He knew this might make her nervous so he held her gaze intensely with his own so that she wouldn't care to look elsewhere and become nervous,

"It is my pleasure to dance with you my dear." he assured her in a light, slightly husky, voice as he lead her through a slow dance as the slow, romantic, music played. He grinned a little bit, "To answer your earlier question... I had little input in the planning. My only input was this... the highlighted dance."

As they danced a few lights dimmed around the room and others focused on them as they danced. But before it could put all attention on them the ceiling opening up and rose petals fell from it slowly, cascading all around them as they danced. He grinned a little bit as he looked into her eyes,

"I wanted to make you feel like a princess... I hope you don't mind that I used the grand finale to show you just how beautiful and majestic you look tonight."

Othala grinned widely when Nathan said that she could stand on his feet to dance if she wanted, to be honest she wanted to give it a try because she could already feel herself fumbling around on the dance floor and they hadn't even begun yet. Already she could feel everyone's eyes on the two of them and she didn't know how to react to so many people, so many influential people, looking at her while this happened.

"I guess it's a good thing that I'm not wearing heels then..." she whispered softly "I just hope I'm not too heavy...the dress adds a lot of weight."

Very very gently, Othala stepped on Nathan's feet and giggled happily as they spun around the dancefloor, the romantic slow music was making her heart pound in her chest. It was sure romantic for the first time that she had ever met the man...which kind of made her wonder if he was doing it for some alternate reason.

Although the husky voice made it a whole lot harder for her to concentrate on reasoning and a lot easier for Othala to shiver softly in his arms. As soon as the rose petals fell down on top of her, Othala blinked in shock and couldn't help but blush and want to duck her head away from Nathan's gaze yet, it was so intense, she couldn't help but bite her lip softly and hold it.

"Well, I think it's a wonderful input, did you do it for the best couple of the evening or something like that? From my limited experience, that sort of thing happens at parties like this, I always hoped that I would get picked." Othala admitted with a sweet smile "Although kind of cheating don't you think, picking yourself?" she teased with a little giggle.

Oh his grin made her knees weak...what she wouldn't give to be able to pounce on him and kiss him right this second, Nathan was a lot smoother than she ever would think he could be. He often seemed like the rough and tumble sort of guy, the one who didn't do romantic, but...but he most certainly did.

"Thank you Nathan, it's so sweet of you to do this..." Othala whispered gently, kissing his cheek "I guess I must make a pretty good first impression, or, maybe Gabriel just blabbed a lot about me." she winked cheekily.

Nathan was very thankful for the fact that she wasn't wearing heels and said as much in his grateful smile as she stepped onto his feet. He grinned happily as he moved the two of them around. She weighed virtually nothing and he couldn't help but comment on it, so that she knew that he had been thinking about it,

"If the dress adds weight then you must weigh virtually nothing at all!" he told her as he glided across the dancefloor even with her on his feet, "You weigh next to nothing... I'm able to move just as freely as if I were moving alone."

He grinned wider as he saw her reaction to him using the finale for their little dance. Was it over the top? Probably. Did she like it? Definitely! So to him it was all perfect and he had no qualms about feeling proud for making her first dance with him something so incredibly memorable. He grinned a little bit and nodded,

"It was. The highlighted dance for the best couple, selected at random, and the roses were for the entire party... but I definitely think they were better served here." he told her with a grin before winking once, quickly, "I didn't pick myself, I picked you my dear."

When she kissed his cheek he was a little bit embarrassed to admit that he blushed ever so slightly, unable to stop himself. He was trying to be smooth here! And as Peter had demonstrated, blushes were not smooth,

"Oh it was a first impression." he told her with a wink, "They say those are important in establishing any kind of relationship, friendship or... more."

Othala couldn't help but blush softly when she heard Nathan complimenting her again, she always thought that she was a little bit on the heavy side, especially for Nathan who seemed to always appear with iddy biddy blondes whenever he was in the paper. Maybe he was developing a taste for the brunette now? She thought to herself with a soft smile on her lips.

"W-well thank you very much." she blushed, her gaze moving down to their feet, enjoying watching them move together, even though it was really just Nathan doing the moving "But you know with all these size 0 girls around tonight, you get a little bit nervous about your size." Othala commented with a cheeky grin.

Oh Nathan was definitely being a smooth talker. Definitely. However it was working without a hitch on her and Othala was just glad she was managing to keep some level of composure around the older Petrelli brother. It wasn't like she was used to all of these compliments, they just seemed so out of the ordinary to her.

"And you just so happen to be the counter part to me, in this couple." she grinned happily "You could have been nice and let Gabriel have the dance seeing as it's his first one as your brother...but somehow I don't think he'd be as good a dancer as you." Othala commented with a shy smile on her lips, ducking her gaze again.

At his teasing about having something more than this simple relationship, Othala blushed herself and kept her gaze looking down at their two feet, unsure of what her gaze would give away if she lifted it up to lock gazes with Nathan.

"That is what they say, but some people think differently." she teased "Some people think that you need to meet a few more times before being so romantic to a girl, if you're being serious that is."

Nathan could tell that his observation about how little she weighed was rather well received and he couldn't help but smile. He liked to make people like Othala feel good about themselves, people who didn't seem to see the same them that others saw. After all, she likely thought she was heavy or some such nonsense when in reality, many of the women in the ballroom were jealous of her naturally sexier form. He knew that he definitely appreciated her natural beauty more than the 'beauty' of the likes of size zeros,

"Oh it's my pleasure, don't worry." he assured her with a sly wink before chuckling a little bit and shaking his head, "No no, size zero isn't attractive though. People think it is but it's not... there's a difference between petite and stick and you fit perfectly into the petite category my dear."

He hoped that she was enjoying her time with him because he was aware that she might not be spending much more time with him during this party. The others were certain to steal her away after he had monopolised her time in such an obvious way,

"I do seem to be your counterpart don't I? Imagine that..." he smirked a little bit, before shaking his head slightly, "Gabriel... I'm not sure how well Gabriel can dance, if at all. And Peter... well Peter has a flair for much more energetic dances like latin dances and the like. So I guess I'm just the perfect Petrelli brother for your needs."

He winked at her a little bit as he noted her blush with a little amusement but mainly happiness, glad that he was able to make her feel this way. Seeing her trying to avoid his eyes, he gently tilted her head up to look at him by a gentle hand on her chin,

"Are you one of those people?" he asked her softly, his face rather close to her's, "I'm just curious after all..."