#y2 thread 21

[toa-masquerade]

Ah this feels…just right. Yes, just right. “Mmm…” She wanders through the gentle tides with slow steps, eyes clearly away from the crowd and instead turned to the reflection of sunlight above. An illusion, but one convincing enough to bring her a sense of calm. “This is lovely.” A hand lightly brushes against the edge of her mask, wiping off a stray algae. “Is that…!” Sitting atop a rock not too far from the group, an anemone housing a school of fish swayed back and forth. “Oh, they are just little babies…”

[toa-masquerade]

You... are beginning to feel as though you've been tricked. If they can just part the sea with a little bit of magic, then why hadn't they retrieved your lost mask for you? Surely you aren't the only person to have dropped your mask in the water, right? There must be others wearing masks they got handed as replacements for the heinous crime of misplacing their original mask, right?

You aren't the only one with a super lame mask, right...?!

"Hey, you!" It doesn't matter who. Just whoever responds first. "They wouldn't let me see my mask before I put it on. Tell me what it says on it!"

[toa-masquerade]

"They're clown fish," she says helpfully, eyes glittering behind the sparkles of her mask.  "The plant-like thing around them is actually an animal too; not a plant, and the two species have what's called a symbiotic relationship.  In exchange for protection, the fish bring it food and clean it.  Interesting relationship, eh?"

She turns to the other.  Something about their mask seems as though it's also a creature she should recognize, but it's unclear if their memory is failing or the spell cast upon them is keeping it from her mouth.  "The clown fish won't get much bigger than that, though.  They remain small their whole lives."

Ah this feels…just right. Yes, just right. “Mmm…” She wanders through the gentle tides with slow steps, eyes clearly away from the crowd and instead turned to the reflection of sunlight above. An illusion, but one convincing enough to bring her a sense of calm. “This is lovely.” A hand lightly brushes against the edge of her mask, wiping off a stray algae. “Is that…!” Sitting atop a rock not too far from the group, an anemone housing a school of fish swayed back and forth. “Oh, they are just little babies…”

[toa-masquerade]

"Good?! You whacked me on the head, you punk!"

Again, it had been a mutual whacking.

"Haha, that's where you're wrong! I do go to Garreg Mach! I have a room and everything! I even—" You peek your head around the other person's shoulder mid sentence, distracted by something off in the distance. "Is that a mirror? Underwater? Hey, get back here! I need to see what my mask says!!!"

In a different world, maybe you would be able to say you slunk away. Mysteriously vanished, one would say. That world, however, is not this world. You do not politely slip away from the scene. You are, in fact, quite loud about the way you push through the crowd to chase after a different person.

From beginning to end, truly an idiot.

end.

He probably should've thought a little harder before doing that. 

"S-sorry! You good?" 

Actually how many knights did he know? The few that came to mind he guessed he could imagine them sneaking in but they were knights, they must've been exempt from the gift thing right?

Something cooler? It was just their classes!

"I don't even think you go to Garreg Mach did you just sneak in from town or something?" The idea that someone like this was in any of the houses at all was hard to think about so they just couldn't be going to the school, they barely even talked like they were old enough to. That squared everything away nicely.

[toa-masquerade]

"It's that bad?! Oh man, you sneak into a party ONE time and..."

You make to rip the mask off your face so you can assess the damage yourself before you remember the reason why you're wearing the mask in the first place and promptly drop your hands like hot coals.

"I had a mask! A super cool one that was way more my style than this lame thing!"

Come on, spit it out.

"...But I dropped it."

...

...

......

.........

"...In the ocean."

"I'm telling you, you really don't wanna know." He calms himself enough and curiously reached out to touch the mask.  

"Imagine the worst thing it could possibly say, and then make it like ten times worse. Who the hell did you piss off? Must've been on one of the teams that beat up birthday boy, huh?"   

It isn't good or proper to laugh but come on, how could someone get that unlucky.   

"Did you just forget to bring yours?"

[toa-masquerade]

You certainly can't deny not being a noble, so you don't bother responding to that one. Not that you've ever given much thought to what life would be like if you were a noble. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe they wouldn't. You wouldn't know.

You've always been more of the type to ask how high when asked to jump.

"Ow ow ow!" You press your hands to the throbbing spot on your head. That's for sure going to be sore tomorrow. "Are you kidding? Have you met some of the knights around here? They're just hiring anybody! They're not even handpicked or anything! Anyway, I'm not something lame like a Deer! Pick something cooler!"

"You're definitely not a noble like he is. There's a pretty big difference!" 

It felt wrong on his tongue but that was the truth of how things were. People were expected to kiss up and give to nobles if they wanted pretty much anything.

He wants to speak but a good knock on the head sends him hissing and stepping back. Not a moment later is the favor returned. Head rears back and at risk of breaking his own mask, foreheads collide again. He can only hope there wasn't any blood drawn.

Damn they were right about that. Recovering from the mutual blows to the head he growls before it turns into a low chuckle. "Hehe, nothing I say could be as bad as it is."

"A knight who sneaks into parties and headbutts students would probably get fired there's no way you're a student. You must be a Golden Deer or something!" A deer would probably ram someone like that but no way was this person in his house.

[toa-masquerade]

"I've had a bunch of birthdays where I didn't get anything! Fountainboy's just gotta get over it! What makes him so special, huh?"

Having a dad with enough money to buy him a whole monastery's worth of friends, for starters. Damned nepotism.

The stranger... no, your new enemy makes the mistake of getting within headbutting range. And what do you do to someone in headbutting range? You headbutt them, obviously.

WHAM!

"Ow... Paperface?!" Tch. You were kinda hoping they'd spill what's really on your mask if you pestered them enough. You're really not getting any clues at all. "Come up with something more original, Dragonface! I already used the -face suffix, you gotta come up with your own! Don't copy me!"

You rub at the spot on your head that is now sore from ramming it into your new enemy.

"I could be a knight, too! How would you know?"

"Because it's his party- I'd be pissed if someone came to my birthday and didn't have a gift for me!" Actually, he probably wouldn't. Gifts were kind of expensive and there wouldn't be a party in the first place but to a guy like this it was probably the only love he was ever getting.

He gasps and whines.  "Rude! Any dragon is a cool dragon dude, it's a whole dragon!!!" Finger grab onto the li- the totally huge and really sharp gold fangs of the mask and before he realizes it, he's butting heads with the other guest.

"I just think you're mad that I have a cool mask and your cool definitely real one isn't as cool looking."  He blew a raspberry. Probably a little too close but not like he was gonna see this person. "You could have just gotten him like a flower or something! You gotta be lying, what house are you in then, huh? Answer me that...paperface!"

[toa-masquerade]

"Why should I get a gift for someone I don't care about? It's not like I owe him anything. He didn't get me anything for my birthday, so why should I care about his?"

The mocking note in your voice is gone for a moment, replaced by genuine confusion. It returns just as quickly as it had vanished, however.

"Wait, back up a moment! I never said you looked like a cool dragon! You look like a lame, loser dragon! Ugh, you've probably never seen a real dragon either! A real dragon would have big fangs like this." You demonstrate by pointing your fingers. "And the head should go more out like this!" Again, you demonstrate with your hands. "You really did got scammed, Dragonface!"

The stranger pokes you in what feels like might be your eyebrow, to which you respond by jabbing at their mask again.

"I snuck in this year. I didn't have to sneak in last year 'cause it was hosted at the school. Keep up!"

"Just sayin, I wouldn't have dropped my amazing mask." Even with the distortions of his spell, his smirk was obvious as he spoke. "If you couldn't even get a cool birthday present for him, how was your mask supposed to be cool?"

"You keep sayin 'dragonface' like it's not a totally cool name. So maybe it is a dragon." Dragons were strong and intimidating so it was fine. Even if it was actually a dog.

The poke at his mask earns one right on the I in the middle of their face.  "What? You sneak in last year too?" Actually why hadn't he just gone and called over one of the knights already?

[toa-masquerade]

"What, have you never dropped something in your life? Look at me, I'm such a cool guy(???) and I've never dropped anything before. That's what you sound like right now, by the way. How was I supposed to know they were actually gonna check if you brought gifts for Fountainboy or whatever his name is?" Not his name. "They shook me down looking for it and my mask fell in the water! Did you see the huge stack he has? Who even cares if one person didn't bring one!"

This person really must be a moron if that's what they think dogs look like. Thank god you're not an idiot and do know what dogs look like, though.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a dog, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Dragonface."

It's your turn to be incredulous now. You poke the other person's mask with your index finger.

"Huh? Why wouldn't there be a masquerade? There was one last year! I'm not lying!"

"Then how did you lose it? I mean if it was a mask that cool you couldn't lose it right?" If he thought too hard on their comment, he was gonna lose it again.

"What! I've seen plenty of dogs! This was just like, a really fancy one." He gets into his companion's face and starts to point at the- wait were they actually horns? "It's just some fancy gold on it's ears!" The shop owner said it fit him!

He stopped for a second and started to chuckle deviously "You know, I think you're lying. Did you even bring a mask at all to begin with? If you had to sneak in you probably didn't even know we were going to have this super cool masquerade."

[toa-masquerade]

"What do I look like, some kind of moron?" Literally yeah. "You think a little wind is enough to steal from me? I would never get knocked over by a gust of wind, magical or not! I'd like to see them just try to knock me off my feet!"

The fact of the matter is that you still had dropped it, regardless, though...

"A dog? Look, you've obviously never seen a dog in your life if that's what you think dogs look like." You shrug. "I mean, what kind of dog has horns? You sure you didn't get scammed?"

A dog, really... Maybe it could be a wyvern if you were really generous, but a dog???

"Anyway! My original mask was way cooler than yours! You'd know it right away if you saw it!"

It sounds like they're trying to mock you but come on- with a mask like that, it's hard to feel hurt. "Maybe they knew you snuck in. You think they might have made you drop your mask somehow just to pull a prank like this? I mean if they can make something crazy like this, they could probably make a gust of wind or something."

Threats fall on deaf ears before he perks up. "Dragonface? I could've sworn the guy who sold it said it was a dog, but a dragon is way cooler." Tears are wiped away from beneath the mask. "You still haven't even told me what kind of mask we're looking for!"

[toa-masquerade]

"Erm, why'd you sneak in?" You repeat mockingly. Trying to mock someone's voice when you don't know what it actually sounds like is kind of pointless, but you don't care. Actually, will they even be able to tell when your voice is distorted, too? "Mind your business, got it? This isn't about that! Stay focused!"

And then.

And then.

They have the gall to LAUGH at your MISFORTUNE.

"A-and don't laugh, Dragonface! Do you want me to kill you? I will!"

"Wait, you snuck in?" The whole point of a masquerade was to not know people but that was suspicious as hell. "Why'd you do that?" He kind of wishes he could have seen it. The paper he's looking at now makes it hard to take this person any sort of serious.

And then the kicker of it all. He falls to his knees doubled over himself. No if he laughs anymore he'll feel like, so terrible about this. "M-maybe if we go out we can find it. It might even be on the dance floor," If this wasn't some kind of divine karma, he didn't know what was.

[toa-masquerade]

Are they laughing at you? It's hard to tell with the way the magic distorts their voice and the general... underwaterness of the venue. No, no, they're definitely laughing! If you could see their face right now, you would probably see them straining not to smile.

Augh, but no matter how hard you try to squint, all you have to work off of is their vague tone of voice!

"I don't care about the ink, I care about what it says! Just tell me already, Dragonface!"

It takes everything not to laugh. Turning to be faced with that. "I don't think you wanna know,' choked out beneath gentle giggle.

"Are you sure someone isn't playing a prank on you? Actually...whoa this ink is water proof? Don't think I've ever seen that before."