The Masquerade

The coversation devolved into spirals of unfamilar jargon, which led me to question why I was here talking to strangers when I could instead be talking to an almost stranger who could clear some of this up.

So I turned back to Raiden.
"So, could you recount the basics of that Atlantis episode? At this point I recall only that it happened, and you were there. And something about a Kartiel."

Taber nodded along, pretending he knew anything that anyone was saying. It was only when Boris started talking about this Atlantis place that Taber recognized something.

"Atlantis?" he said, turning to Boris. "I remember that! Aegeas talked about it a couple times when he went to visit me and Thytes. He didn't like it for some reason, or that Kartiel person." He shrugged. "But Aegeas doesn't like a lot of things, so it probably wasn't all that bad?"

The name conjured up feelings of admiration, annoyance, and guilt. Judging by the particular blend of emotions, I wagered a guess that he was the honourable sort.

''Aegeas. That sounds familiar, too. Is he honourable? Irritable? Short?"

Taber tapped his chin. He flinched when he heard the clink! of his claw tapping the mask, but it didn't stop him from replying quickly. "Yeah," he said, nodding, "And yeah, and, uh, more yeah. But everyone says I'm kinda tall, so I dunno?" He shrugged.

Vala crossed her arms, deep in thought and contemplation. "You know," she said, looking between James and Maahes, "I don't know why this didn't cross my mind already. Maahes, couldn't you rig something up to visit him?"

He blinked. "What do you-"

"Well, we've established that you're as old as dirt," Vala continued, "and that you were around to see the Ancients. Who, you know, made the stargates and all of the other fancy tech. What's to say that you can't make some innovative tech of your own once you get the resources to? Then you could pop into James' reality or world or whatever it is and say hi whenever you miss him."



"Well, this is awkward," Asteri wisely summed up, glancing between Mira and Lorcan. He was having trouble wrapping his head around the whole Second and Lorcan not being human bit - just how many nonhumans were there running around this place? - but what was hurting his head even more was the thought that Mira knew Lorcan from a video game. A game that, theoretically, neither Lorcan and Second should have ever been able to leave.

Mira nodded in agreement. "So, uh, how are things going? I'm guessing you didn't despawn because I'm here talking to you right now."

Lorcan managed a shrug. "They're alright," he hesitantly said, looking down at the very tense Second beside him. "i actually disappeared because I ran away from you."

"Oh," Mira said.

"Yeah," Lorcan replied.

Second still looked like he was ready to throw down with someone, so Asteri quickly decided to find something that could distract the people present. He scanned the area, then finally landed on the conversation occurring between Taber and Boris. He walked over and stood awkwardly on the side of it. He knew this wasn't his best plan, but this was the only one he had. Mira followed suit a few moments later, leaving Second and Lorcan to explore the drinks table. Perfect.

Taber perked up as he saw all the new people approaching. This conversation with Boris was fun, especially because it reminded him of something familiar, but he loved the possibility of talking to strangers. Strangers could always be friends.

Before he could, however, he saw Eremia walking towards him. She focused on the ground, tapping her scepter roughly on the ground. Taber instinctively opened his arms, giving her a hug when she came close.

"Are you okay?" Taber said, resting his snout on her head and running a claw through her hair. Naturally, it caught on a few strands, and he tried to pull the claw free as painlessly as possible.

Eremia didn't seem to notice, though, which worried him more. "I made some comments to another guest that I realize were rather rude," she said, still focused on the ground.

"Awww," Taber said. "Did you say sorry?"

She didn't response.

Taber snorted. "Nah, it's fine. Wherever they are, I can take care of that for you. Or you can, if you want? But yeah, you know you did something wrong, you know how not to do that thing again, so it's all okay."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Eremia smile.

Asteri came to a sudden halt.

"Nope, we're not going over there now," he said, quickly spinning around and bumping into Mira in the process. She frowned. She could see that he had been trying to avoid the conversation with Second and Lorcan, but now he seemed to be trying to avoid a conversation with the people meant to be a distraction. Why would he-

She looked back over at the little group. The only change was the arrival of that girl. From the intimacy, it seemed like they were in a relationship-

Oh.

That explained it.

She reached out a hand and grabbed onto his wrist just as he went to walk by her. He frantically tried to tug it free, only to give up when he realized he wouldn't be able to do so. Letting out a groan, he spun back around and started to head in the direction of Taber and his girlfriend; her message had been understood.

"I guess we are going over there," Asteri grumbled.

"You have to stop running away from your problems," Mira replied.

"But that's a great way to deal with them," he shot back, falling silent when they were only a short distance away from the person he was trying to avoid.

James blinked, staring at Vala before his gaze slowly dragged over to Maahes. "Is that... really possible?"

Taber could hear the two people before he saw them. And he was glad for that, because they were talking about some kind of a problem. Since they were heading to him and Eremia, it wasn't hard to guess what.

"Hey guys!" Taber said, looking over at them. "I don't think I know your names, or I forgot them, or something? It's nice to meet you!"

Maahes glanced between Vala and James.

"...Maybe?" he hesitantly said. "I know it's been done before with alternate realities. I've heard rumors that the SGC used it to get information that was crucial to stop an invasion from the Goa'uld years ago. But I don't even know how we would begin to do."

Vala gave him a hearty pat on the back. "You're a tech genius. You can figure it out."


Mira smiled when she heard the friendly greeting. They were rarely treated with such kindness from relative strangers. "My name's Asmira Sapienti, but you can call me Mira." She pointed back at Asteri, who was currently trying his best to look incredibly inconspicuous behind her. "His name is Asteri Hinamori."

"If anyone can figure it out, I'm sure you can," James replied with reassurance. "Because... well, I certainly don't have the means to do anything like that. But I suppose, even if that doesn't work, hopefully, fate will bring us together at least one last time."

"Nice to meet you, Mira and Asteri!" Taber said, nodding his head. "I'm Taber, and my last name is my girlfriend's. I'm guessing you already met her?"

Maahes gave him a small smile. "Hopefully it would be more than that," he said. "I don't like the thought of this being the second-to-last time that we get to see each other."


Mira shook her head. "I haven't. Asteri has, though." She glanced over her shoulder to see Asteri glaring at her from behind her back.

"Oh!" said Taber. "Uh, then, this is my girlfriend - did I already say that? - and her name is Eremia Renatus."

He tilted his head in Mira's direction and whispered, "She's royalty, but she doesn't like to talk about it."

Eremia snorted. Taber beamed, but quickly focused on the way Asteri was looking away from them. Yep, he was the one. Hopefully Asteri would stay long enough for Taber to explain things and/or apologize.

Mira immediately perked up at what Taber said about Eremia. She turned in Asteri's direction and gave him a smile, only to stop when she saw the look in his eyes. He already knew that, and something told her it had to do with his current discomfort around Eremia.