Event Open Masquerade Ball 2017

The blue-haired woman in the bunny mask tilted her head as she considered the kid’s question. Of course, the answer was ‘steal what I can then get the fuck outta dodge’ but she wasn’t about to say that to anyone at the party—much less a kid.

“Ah, well…it just sounded like an interesting time!” she said with a giggle. God, she probably could have come up with something better than that. Her deft fingers still worked fine, but her ability to think on the fly felt a bit rusty.

That was when another man approached, speaking with an Italian accent. Was that…? No, it couldn’t be. Could it?

“Why thank y’, mister,” she replied with a polite little curtsey. While her head was down, she was squinting up at him, trying to determine…

“If I didn’t know any better…I’d say I’d know you.”

She could see nearly half of his face, and boy it sure looked close…and she had heard the Italian accent many times before.

Charlene stared a moment as Eek came running toward them, curious and confused when he seemed…concerned?

“I am not harmed, sir,” she said quietly to Eek, before turning back to look at Shujinko. She was squinting at him. Wondering about him. He did not seem to be Fae, and yet she felt like…perhaps she needed to call him ‘sir’ as well. It was strange. But she was soon taken from her thoughts when he mentioned they go could inside.

“No!”

Charlene suddenly yelped, but then lowered her head to show she was ashamed by her sudden yelling.

“I…surely I would be punished if I went in in such a state, sir…”

She didn’t reach for Shujinko’s hand. She didn’t seem to understand what the gesture meant.

“Ohh, I think we gotta do a taste test, then…” Gareth said with a small chuckle.

Was Fatima nervous too? Fatima seemed nervous too. Somehow that made him feel a little better. But also bad, because he wasn’t sure if he could help her feel less nervous. But maybe if he could lighten the mood…he was usually kind of good at that. He wanted to try and be a good date, even if he had no idea what he was doing.

Gareth reached over for a brownie and tried a bite. He nodded his head as he chewed.

“Not bad, not bad,” he said once he swallowed the bite down. “See, I’d add more chocolate chips. All about th’ chips.”

He took another piece off for himself, then handed Fatima the other half. “What d’ you think?”

"A taste test - that sounds great!" Fatima was, in fact, nervous. Very insecure. But she was happy to hear Gareth laugh. She really had no clue what people did on dates. No expectations really. She wanted to do something fun with a friend. She felt overly self-conscious and not exactly sure why. What were these teenage emotions? It wasn't as weird and somewhat devastating as her crush on "Mary Poppins". Whatever she felt didn't make her want to set herself on fire anyways. It wasn't -completely- platonic because, well Gareth was cute, and she doubted her body would ever be satisfied - in the same way that she never felt full. But - it was more than using each other somehow.

She resisted the urge to shove the whole half of the brownie in her mouth, until she took a bite. Then she did. Glad both that Gareth couldn't see her, and that there was enough space under the mask for her to eat without having to lift it up every time.

Once she'd finished the brownie, and taken another one - she might be able to eat a lot of things, but that didn't make brownies any less delicious, she nodded. "Yeah! Chocolate chips more chocolate chips would be even better. I think I need another one to be sure though... I think yours would still win."

The girl still felt awkward and ridiculous, but she was glad she wasn't here alone. "Thanks for coming with me. I know you could've had fun baking." She was passing it off as a joke, but she did feel like he could've been doing something better with his time than spending it with her.

The lying, the accent, the fact she thought she might know him - the man was pretty sure he knew who this was. The height could be explained by heels and the hair by dye or a wig. Less easy to explain was that he was pretty sure this girl had been dead for about a year. It kept him silent, calculating but also a bit upset. He didn't like surprises. And she'd been a friend - he didn't have many - now it looked like she'd ran away for whatever reason, and he didn't know what to say to that.

He didn't want to drop his act, though, and was pretty sure she wouldn't want to drop hers. He didn't recognize the person beside her - either a child or a very short man, but she might have known them. He didn't much feel like catching up in public either. But he never forgot an accent and he had to know. Well, he hadn't brought his notebooks, but he did have a small pencil and a piece of paper tucked away just in case.

"I was about to say the same thing. Perhaps you should call me. We could trade notes." He tore off a piece of the paper and wrote CC above a fake phone number before handing it to her. She'd definitely recognize his handwriting - he always wrote out the plans he gave to them. "Yes?" It could be taken as him seeking an agreement if he was mistaken about her identity, but he was asking if he'd gotten her name right.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. Do you know each other?" This was directed to the animal-eared stranger.

He smiled brightly, a rarity for someone who struggled with showing his emotions. "I've been looking forward to this," he said as their dance continued, "I've never actually celebrated a holiday before, so I'm planning on making this holiday season special." His movements matched the music near perfectly, he'd practiced a bit for the dance.

"Since neither of us sleep we'll have extra time," unlike Amelia, Orion had never slept, never needed to, "I know holiday traditions vary from place to place, so perhaps we can make our own?" He had a few ideas, the usual Christmas tree and all that, but maybe they can do some different stuff as well.

"I-I've already gotten you a few gifts hidden away," he said with a small chuckle, he wanted to make sure everything would be perfect, the coming months were going to be special. @Wolfie