The Masquerade

"Ah," James nodded, not really knowing how to reply, even though he considered it a good thing in light of their last talk about it. Though the look Vala and Maahes were exchanging... probably changed things. For Maahes.

"Well then I do hope you're able to find her, after this is all over."

''Hm. I suppose we'll have time to get to know him once he's done speaking with ...our host.'' I said, not bothering to curb the bitterness in those last two words.

''Ah, but isn't it always life and death nowadays.'' I said, with a frown.
''Even on these 'holidays' of ours. Lord, I hope this does not become a habit for me.''
I laughed lightly.

It would surely not. To begin with, it was absurd that I should be 'on holiday' twice, the odds of this happening again seemed laughably, safely, low.
Or at least, that was what I would continue to tell myself.

As though summoned from heaven, a distraction came forth in the form of Lorcan, and some other young man. Judging by the way that they moved around each other with such comfortable ease and familiarity, it seemed that they were in love. I smiled. The lucky bastards.

''I know that fellow, in the cape. Let's say hello. Be gentle, mind, he's rather sensitive.'' I said to Taber.

"Got it," Taber said with a wink (he'd forgotten nobody could see the wink through his mask).

The wolf strolled over to the two guys holding hands. Paws stuffed in his pockets, Taber nodded at them. "Hi!" he said. "You guys okay? You look pretty happy." He lowered his head to gesture at their hands.

"I hope so, too," Maahes agreed. He gave a reassuring smile. "Something tells me that we're all be alright. We always are. This is the...third? fourth? time you and I have ended up in a situation like this, and we always make it out okay."

Vala tugged on his shoulder. "Wait, you've been through things like this how many times?"

"Four," Maahes said, though it was a bit uncertain.

"You've been to that many masquerades?"

He shook his head. "No. It's always been different. There was the first time James and I met. That was when I was little - like, really little. I was like a little kid. Then there was when I ended up on James' world. That was when I was serving Ra. The third was when I accidentally used some alien technology and ended up in strange cave only like a week after that, uh, incident between us, and this masquerade is the fourth time. The cave was definitely the worst, though - there was this one man who kept staring at me, and he was actually the Devil. On top of that, there were so many people, and it wasn't even a party like this is."

"Well," Vala said, "I don't envy you, to say the least. This has been enough for me."


After the man with the wolf mask's comment had been uttered, Lorcan and Second turned and stared down at their hands. Then they immediately let go, turned bright red, and tried to look anywhere other than at each other.

"We're, uh, not together!" Second hurriedly said. He fidgeted uncomfortably, his mind lingering on what Taber had said. He didn't want to think about that. Of course he was happy - he was with his best friend! It wasn't because they were like that. "I mean, we're friends. And we're holding hands. And we're standing right next to each other. But it's not like that."

Lorcan frantically nodded in agreement.

"Lorcan just gets really uncomfortable when people flirt with him so we thought it'd be a good idea to hold hands because then they would know he wasn't already with someone-"

"Not romantically," Lorcan clarified, his face somehow growing even redder.

"-but not romantically, of course, because we're just best friends," Second finished. He didn't go back to holding Lorcan's hand, but he did lean up against him as he was taking a big gulp of air. It wasn't intentional; he was just so used to do things like that out of habit that he didn't even think of the implications. And Lorcan, who was used to him doing said actions, absentmindedly placed his hand on Second's shoulder as he ducked his head down in embarrassment.


Mira and Asteri approached the drinks table. For the duration of the short walk over to it, he could feel the stares of the people they passed. It was impossible to tell why they were watching the two - maybe it was because of his true identity, or maybe it was because of Mira's attire. He couldn't tell. And, honestly? He didn't care. If he had been alone, he might have been bothered by it, but he was here with one of his best friends.

When he saw that Taber was standing near the table, he let out a noticeably loud groan. Mira sent a confused look in his direction. "I was talking with his girlfriend before you arrived, and things ended on a tense note." He let out another groan, this one quieter than the last one. "She was heading over to him, which means I'm going to have to deal with her."

"Oh, my bad!" Taber said. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and took a step back. "I just thought you guys were a couple or something, 'cause you're holding hands and you look really nice together, but it's okay if you're friends! Everyone needs more friends!" The wolf felt his cheeks grow hot. What a stupid mistake to make. He wasn't all that good telling friends apart from couples. It didn't help that he'd met a lot of friends who'd become couples.

He held a hand over his mask as he turned back to Boris and whispered, "I'm not very gentle, sorry."

I had to smile at their sweet naivete. It was exceedingly clear what would come to pass between them, if it had not already.

It was a welcome surprise to see their display so welcomed, too.
Romance between men was mainly a subtle, discreet thing where I came from. It was much, much safer in the Neath than it was on the Surface, but all the same it was something that few people advertised. It was a beautiful thing, to see it out in the open.

''Rubbish, you were just fine. I'm likely to blame for putting his defenses up in the first place.'' I whispered back.

''I'm Boris Dietrich, and this is Taber.'' I said, addressing Lorcan's alleged friend.

''I had the benefit of running into your friend earlier, it relieves me to see that he didn't come alone. I have a feeling that this evening will only get more hectic from here on.''

As if it were prophesy, I heard a violin string break in the background.

Second winced when he heard the violin string break, but opted not to comment on it. He was still trying to get past what Taber had assumed about him and Lorcan. "My name's Second," he said, almost absentmindedly. "It's short for Jerry Slimer the Second. And Lorcan's name is Lorcan." Whoops. He had said too much; he should have left Slimer out of his name. At least other people here seemed like they were from bizarre and unusual places, too. Maybe they wouldn't notice, or simply wouldn't care?

He continued to lean up against his best friend, only realizing how ironic the whole situation was when Lorcan removed his hand to grab a drink from the table.

Second took the largest step he could away from Lorcan, and almost immediately bumped into Aar-Asteri. The apparent prince was in the middle of retrieving a cup while the girl beside him was studying the drinks set out on the table. "Oh," Second said, the blush finally subsiding. "Hi."

The girl popped her head up. "You've already met?"

Asteri nodded. "Yeah. Second, meet Mira. Mira, meet Second." He turned back to the girl Second guessed was his friend. "Do you want the plastic cup or the glass goblet?"

"Oh, definitely the goblet," Mira quickly answered. "I've always wanted to try drinking out of those."

"That's what I said after the last time," James quipped. "But if there's any benefit to events like these, it's that I get to see Maahes again."

"That's nice!" Taber said, looking at all of the new people. So many new people. How was he going to remember their names? At least slimer was pretty distinctive. He could remember that. And Lorcan. "Slimer's a cool name. What's it mean? I kinda want to use it for my own last name because I don't really have one." He looked away. Was he talking too much again?

A smile began to grow on his face.

"I agree," Maahes said. "Especially since I don't even know if we live in the same reality."


Second froze up at the question. He looked nervously between Lorcan and Taber, the former's hand shaking as he went to reach for a cup. It had been a mistake to say that. Taber must have thought it was a last name because of the way that it was placed in his name. It wasn't. It was just as much a part of his first name as Jerry was, even though he didn't really like Jerry as a name all that much.

Taber didn't seem to get it. But if someone had played Minecraft, or had watched any of the videos Charlotte had told him about-

Asteri was staring at him.

Oh no.

"Wait, your name is Jerry Slimer the Second?" he repeated, taking a step closer and looking him over. Second instinctively went closer to where Lorcan was, accidentally bumping into Lorcan as he backed up into him. "Kentaro's only just started getting me into Minecraft, but isn't Jerry the name of a slime CaptainSparklez had? And Slimer from a really obscure YouTube series?"

Second paled.

"That- " James pointed a finger at Maahes, pausing as he stared out beyond the two. "-that I think I'm finally able to wrap my head around."

Taber blinked. Minecraft? Sparkles? Youtube? "I don't understand what any of that means," said Taber, nodding and laughing anxiously. "But it sounds cool!"

Raiden popped up next to Taber.
"I heard Minecraft, Youtube and Sparkles. You have summoned me. I am here now. What doth thou wisheth of me?"

Vala wildly between Maahes and James. "You're telling me that there's alternate realities? Like in all of those science fiction books I've read?"

Maahes nodded. "I think so."

She let out an impressed whistle. "Anyone know where I can get a ticket to another one? Because I am so over ours, Maahes."


"It is," Second confirmed. His voice came out as little more than a squeak, and he grabbed onto Lorcan's arm as he nervously watched Asteri. He could see the boy putting together the pieces of the puzzle. He must have noticed his hair color, then the color of his eyes, and then, as the final nail to his coffin, he must have noticed the color of his outfit.

Asteri blinked. "Wait, you're a slime?"

Second took a deep breath and reluctantly nodded. He noticed that Raiden had joined them, too, and was apparently just as aware of Minecraft as Asteri was. This was going horribly, horribly wrong.

"But Minecraft's just a video game, and, even if it wasn't, that doesn't explain how you're human!"

"Magic?" Second weakly answered.

"Magic doesn't begin to explain that-"

Mira suddenly spat out some of her drink, spraying root beer all over Asteri's mask. He slowly raised a hand up to wipe the liquid off. Meanwhile, Mira turned and stared at Lorcan. She took a step forward and studied him.

"Your name is Lorcan," she said.

He slowly nodded, nervousness clearly written across his face. "Like Lorcan Fuery Lorcan?"

Another nervous nod.

"Like, uh, Lorcan Fuery II?"

Lorcan paled considerably. "How did you know that?"

"Well, if Second's a slime," Mira said, taking a deep breath, "that would mean you're probably in the same boat as him. You're not a vampire. You're a bat, and I gave you that name because I thought it was funny - I was using a pirate skin at the time, and you were a bat. And Lorcan Fuery is a vampire pirate in a book series I like."

Lorcan stared. "You...gave me my name? You're that player?"

She nodded.

James smirked ever so slightly at Vala's quip, but looked down at the floor. "I would be prone to agree, but a part of me doesn't want to say goodbye so soon. Having a friend from an alternate reality provides sparse a few moments where we can meet."