The unimpressed look Sabel had given him after his snide jab at the injury he himself had given the guy, only tickled Armen more. He bit his lip to keep from laughing but it wasn't too noticable of a getsure.

The jab about his head, which was uncerimoniously hit with a rock at the end of the Atrium Battle by none less than Evander Bole, was not a welcome comment. "It's fine." he said curtly, the sneer free from his face.

Did he have a minute? "Mr. Dakest, I am working, if you haven't noticed." At that very moment however he thought he saw the American Ministry representative lady who had been following him all night for champagne. "Oh um yes, where shall we go?" he said hurriedly.

He didn't really want to talk but he would at least get to stop serving these people for a bit.

It seemed they were both less than receptive to having inquires brought to the topic of conversation: at least Armen knew how it felt.

He was about to argue the point of Armen's 'work', when the man made it simple for him and abruptly changed his mind. Stunned at the sudden turnabout, Sabel found himself lacking in a proper response for a moment. "Uhm..." His eyes flicked around the atrium before landing on the buffet table. Clearly Armen had no desire to stay right where they were and have this conversation, and maybe he needed a bite to eat. "Over there?"

Why he was suddenly thinking of the man's well being, he had no idea. He tried to push the reasoning from his head as he started over to the lengthy display of food. "And it's just Sabel...please."

Armen was too ready to be out of the Seating Area and waiting on the guests to put much thought in why the YATI wanted to talk with him. He would probably gladly leave this job to speak with Evander himself if he had inquired so.

"Sure, I could eat." Armen quickly headed off to the Buffet Tables without so much as waiting to see if Sabel followed. He didn't need an escort.

"You want harsh, Captain? You know I can deliver a harsher comment than that... For example I could introduce you to the hufflepuff Head of House... she might not find your mushyness corny... She may actually find it... adorable." Like a puppy.

She was bluffing off course...

She didn't like Fina... She wouldn't want her near her captain.

With the strawberry he'd been about to offer her now dangling from his hand, Alexander looked at her with a raised eyebrow expression. "I don't doubt you can, Hecate," he said, relaxing his expression. He'd been at the receiving end of her harsh comments a time or two, mostly from when they were children, though.

He tried to get annoyed with her comment about introducing him to the Hufflepuff Head of House, but all he ended up doing was laughing his deep, almost-serious laugh. "You know, I don't think I could seriously be mushy toward someone who wanted me to be mushy. I think it might even be a little nauseating," he admitted. His gaze flickered away as he pictured this, and then by the time he looked back at her, he had a look of disgust on his face.

He shrugged. "The funny thing is, I enjoy it with you. I'm in love with you, Hecate, and you get the best of me. You and Sierra," he explained. "I show you a side of me that I don't show anybody else." Again, he smirked. "You'd be annoyed with me if I didn't tell you I loved you."

"So maybe you are right..." She said and bent forward towards him. With her tongue, she lifted the dangling fruit from his hand. Talking it into her mouth she closed her eyes, bit into the sweet berry. "Mmmmmm."

Alexander smirked and made a slight, "Hmph" sound. He looked over at her and let his eyes wander toward her mouth as she ate the strawberry. Not changing his gaze a bit, he added, "I thought you'd have learned by now, Potions Mistress. Alexander Greingoth is always right."

Finally, his gaze left her for the strawberries, and he picked up another and swirled it in the chocolate dipping sauce he'd put on their plate. "So this Hufflepuff Head of House," he said, looking up at her with a grin. "She here tonight?"

He eyes traveled up to her Captain and she narrowed them angrily.

Was he calling her bluff or was he serious?

"I don't see her." She spat, pulling back from the strawberry. "And I hope you know, Minister Greingoth," she leaned in so only he could hear. "I will kill you where you stand if you stray from me. MLE or no MLE." She pulled back with a smile... maybe she was just joking... was she?

Now these were the moments he lived for! Since their childhood, he'd always gotten a kick out of getting underneath her skin. He grinned at the sight of her angry expression. Leaning in, as well, he listened with amusement as she whispered to him.

"Now, now, Professor Lafay," he said, giving a little tsk tsk. "Is there really a need to get so angry? ...and here at the Celebration Ball, too." He shook his head, pretending to be disappointed in her actions. He sat back in his chair, still grinning. "You think I'll stray from you?" he whispered. "With a Hufflepuff at that?"

"Oh don't be so high and mighty, Captain... You realize I've never shared your views on the Hufflepuff students... there are some smart ones... don't ask me to name any... but I know there are." She said looking around the room. "And that wasn't angry... I was merely..." what was the word? "Territorial."

"I like it when you get all territorial on me," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her then grinning. He cast a look around the room, noticing that nothing in particular had changed. People were still eating, dancing, sitting and talking--all the same. Turning back to Hecate, he said, "...and I don't harbor those particular views anymore." He couldn't. Not being the Minister of Magic. More specifically, though, his once-son, now his stepson, he supposed, had been sorted into Hufflepuff. "I was just saying that a Hufflepuff and I wouldn't mix in a romantic relationship. We're too different."

She snickered. "Would be funny to watch you interact with her... but she gets on my nerves... I'm sure she'll get on yours quite quickly." She said and moved her chair closer to him. "Am I taking away something from you when I requested a small, private wedding? Did you want a myriad of people attending?"

"Funny," he said with another 'hmph'. "I'm sure it would. Thing is, I'm not willing to test that theory anytime soon." No, if he wanted to know anything about the Hufflepuff Head of House, he'd just take Hecate's word for it. Or Sierra's. His daughter would know, as well.

Alexander moved his chair in, as well, then stretched his arm out, letting it come to rest on the back of her chair. He shook his head and shrugged. "To be honest, Hecate, I was completely serious when I said that all I wanted to do was be with you. I want Sierra there, but outside of that, I'm wide open to anything," he answered.

He lifted the hand resting on the back of her chair and stroked her hair. "I just want you to be Mrs. Greingoth," he said. "Or, ...well, you know what I mean." He'd remembered that she wanted to keep her last name, and although that part still made him a little sad, the part that mattered the most, which was them being together, would always be there.

"I know what you mean... and I will not become Mrs. Greingoth professionally, we discussed this." She said sitting up straight, "I will agree to Mrs. Greigoth socially, but professionally it's always Lafay."

"I remember," he said, recalling their conversation well. He cast another look around the room as he got his thoughts on that together. "I guess you and I just have different ideas on that part, but no, that's not what I intended when I mentioned it just now. I just meant us, joining together in marriage." Did he necessarily agree to her keeping Lafay for at least a part of her life? No, not by a long shot. Was he going to make it into an argument, though, and possibly sacrifice their healthy relationship? No, not by a long shot for this one either.

"Different Ideas..." She said and crossed her legs, putting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her fist. "Explain."

Alexander sighed, bracing himself for an intense glare from her but being pleasantly surprised when she seemed genuinely interested. "I don't know, Hecate," he said, shifting his position so that he was facing her. "It's just..." He paused, searching for the right words.

"To me, Hecate, my last name is one of the most important things I can give to a person. It's something that I only give to my wife and my child," he said. Yes, those were the right words. They were exactly what he'd intended to say. "Did you know that my family are the only Greingoth's out there? No one else has our last name. We've traced it back as far as we can go, and there's no one."

He reached out and stroked her hair again, still grateful she'd given him the time of day on this and not just brushed it off in annoyance. "I'm a very proud man. Very proud of many things, but my family name ranks way up there. If Alexandra ever marries, and then one day when my parents are deceased, they'll only be the three of us to carry on the name." Sure, there was Alex, but even then, he wasn't even Greingoth. Not really.

"Hecate, you told me before that one of your ex-husbands stole a potion you'd made and put his name on it," he said, "...but I'd never do that to you. When you're in love with somebody as much as much as I'm in love with you, you want good things to happen to them." If she made a potion tonight, he'd do everything in his power to get it branded and marketed before the sun rose again. "...and, finally, it's your father's name."

...and Alexander hated the senior Lafay. "So that's all I meant. Giving you my last name would be one of the most important things I could ever give to you." His love would always the single most important, and he'd tell her that, but she'd call him mushy again. "I love you so much, though, that I'll support your decision no matter what. I just wanted to tell you how I felt."

Once he said it was her father's name... her eyes narrowed. "It's MY name. The name I was born with." She said and glared. "It's not something I will bend on, Greingoth your son can carry on your family name if it is that important to you!"

Alexander sighed a very disappointed sounding sigh before leaning back and casting his eyes in a random direction across the ballroom. "I wasn't trying to change your mind," he said, shrugging. "I was just answering your question." His eyes slowly made their way back to her. "I'm not looking for somebody to carry it on. My point in telling you how rare it is was to convey how special it'd be, to me, to share it with you.." He would have thought having his last name would be something she'd want. "...but I told you I'd support your decision no matter what." He tried to soften his disappointed expression. "...and I will."

"You are making me feel like I'm refusing YOU when I refuse your name. I've taken no one's name. Ever. Hecate Scarlet Lafay is my name, mine alone." She hissed and stood. She started to leave, but she stopped. She couldn't walk out. Not from his party. And because he'd be angry she left again. She turned and went back to him, pulling him to her by his tie. "Fine. I love you, now shut up about it."

Alexander said nothing but rather just looked at her as she spoke. Apparently, taking on his last name was not as special to her as it was to him. He hated the fact that the only woman he'd ever be able to give it to was Bella Montez, and she'd gone on with his last name. He wished it'd been Hecate, but then again, there were many things he wished had belonged to Hecate--like the birth of his youngest daughter.

Nothing he could say would make her change her mind at this point. He'd just have to give in to her way of doing things, which in the end was something he was willing to do. He'd do anything for her, but he'd stopped telling her as much since he figured she didn't like it. He hated when she called him mushy...

...but then she was leaving, and rather than cause a scene and run after her, Alexander just slumped back in his chair and took it like a man. A second later, though, she was coming back to him, and he grinned as he felt her grab him by the tie and tug him closer. "Just couldn't stay away, could you, Potions Mistress?" he asked. "...and I love you, too. Now, ...sit down? Finish talking wedding talk with me?" She'd asked him about the smaller ceremony, and he'd answered, but then the topic had shifted after that, and they'd moved on to something else.

She sat. "Do we have to? I agreed to marry you... I'm not into the planning thing. Don't you have an assistant that can do that for us Captain?" She said and cuddled close to him. Yes. Cuddled.

"Do we have to?" he asked, answering a question with a question. "Not at all, but you'd asked me earlier about a small or large wedding, so I thought you wanted to talk about it." He shrugged then paused as she cuddled in next to him. He twisted his position so as to wrap his arm around her shoulder. "I can get someone else to take care of everything, though. It's no problem." Grinning, he added, "I have three assistants, last I checked."

"You answered my question. I just hate over thinking things." She said to him,taking his hand off her shoulder and bringing his arms around her waist. Merlin she loved his scent.

"Suits me just fine," Alexander said with another shrug. "I'd be just as happy with your Quidditch idea, so as long as, like I said, we're with each other." Feeling his arm moving, he looked over, confused at first but realizing soon enough that she was simply moving his arm around her. "I like this," he said, realizing that, for the first time, they were publicly showing affection toward one another.

He didn't say anything for a while but rather just enjoyed the feeling of being here with her. Then finally he spoke up, saying a rather random thought that had been circulating its way through his mind. "We'll have to tell Sierra soon. She'll be happy," he said.