Shimmer and Shine

by **Gomer Caitiff** on January 26th, 2018, 4:22 am

Happily tripping over is own feet, he stumbled after his eager partner, laughing as they pushed their way to the start. With a trio of boisterous young men each with a slightly different looking monkey mask ahead of them, Gomer grinned as they cartwheeled and jumped about, not so much dancing as making their way through the clapping, laughing crowed in their own, exuberant way.

Eyes falling on the two of them, he let the rabbit lead the way. She dipped and turned and wove with the music, clearly enjoying herself and unhindered by the fear that her movements might not be dance. He followed suit, hopping from one foot to another around her, playing the part of fox and rabbit. Side to side he sway, yipping and the cheering crowed who barked back, and as they made their way down the column, he drew a bit closer as she spoke, clapping his own hands in time with the rhythm, though his feet landed a bit off.

He understood what it was to chose the role of observer in a city as wild and untamed as Alvadas. For a large stretch of time, he had largely ignored everything but the unattainable goal he had set for himself. Shaking his hand, he skipped at her side, laughter in his voice but a distant thoughtfulness in his eyes as he gazed out at the merriment around them. "I imagine observation comes with its own set of thrills. That we are able to experience these things in our own way is enough, I think. Though," He ducked under a groping hand from a young owl to his left with a chuckling "tut", "It never hurts to be a little unusual sometimes."

Coming to the end of their two-person parade, Gomer pulled his parter to the side, joining the lively stomping of the people around them. His breath came faster and the chill of the evening had long since been forgotten with the rise of heat from wine and dance. "I'm glad you decided to make tonight one more queer than your others. To imagine we might not have had the chance to dance? Truly a travesty that would have been." He laughed the words out as they were pulled away into the fray, glimpses of their masks visible to one another as they passed partner to partner.

When finally the music calmed to something serene and soft, many of the exhausted dancers took to the sides, refreshing their drinks or leaning against the cool stones and catching their breath. Spotting the telltale ears of the little rabbit, he came to a stop behind her, a panting grin on his face. "Another drink?"

by **Avela** on January 27th, 2018, 2:35 am

Avela laughed brightly as her partner joined her in the dance, playing the part of the fox. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, she gladly threw herself into the role of the rabbit, dodging his advances and alternating between looking uncertain and looking coy. The sound of the crowd filled her up. The wine was a warmth in the pit of her stomach, but it was that sound that made her feel drunk and reckless, like she could do anything.

It was a shame, she decided. Such a shame to spend all her time observing, when she could be having fun like this. Very well, she decided as they reached the end of the column, taking her partner's words about being unusual to heart. After all, it was a new chapter in Avela's life. She'd moved out of her family home; she was living on her own, surviving on her own. She was going to make a resolution to herself. A not-quite new year's resolution to take risks like this more often. To be a little more...unusual.

Maybe she would actually have an adventure.

She was breathless by the time they reached the end of the column and he pulled her to the side. Breathless, but smiling. He couldn't know what she had just decided, of course, but she felt the gravity of it fill her regardless. "Yes," she said, as the crowd surged in to separate them. "A travesty."

She smiled at him as another partner stepped up to replace him, and then they were separated, given over to the revelry. Avela danced until she was out of breath, determined that she would continue the theme of the evening. This night, of all nights, was for taking chances.

The end result was that she was exhausted by the time the dancing had stopped, exhausted and flushed with warmth, although the flush would have been hidden underneath her crystalline illusion. She leaned against the cool stone of the wall, considering heading home, when she heard a familiar voice. Avela looked up and turned towards the fox, thinking. The wine from earlier had faded already, as evidenced by the way Avela could feel her aching feet. She was tired but...what could another cup hurt?

"One more," she told him. "And then I think I really should find my bed."

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by **Gomer Caitiff** on January 27th, 2018, 3:37 am

Nodding emphatically, Gomer led her towards the bar, "Then one and one only it shall be." With a grin he bought both their drinks, politely declining any refusal, and once they had settled on the surprisingly comfortable snow-packed seats that were peculiarly warm and decidedly not wet, he leaned his elbows on the table between them, swirling the contents of his glass and a studying the rabbit more closely for the first time that night.

The crystalline illusion was such that physical details were near impossible to discern beyond the typical cut and structure of a man or woman. Whether her long locks were blonde or brunette or even a vibrant puce, he had no way of telling. Instead, he eyed her hands, the manner in which she held her glass, how she sipped her drink. Though small, they were telling enough that she was a small person, not just in size but in attitude. Not in the sense of overcompensation, but more so a quiet creature. The spirits she had partaken of had done her well, he supposed.

Taking a slow taste of his own piney drink, he leaned back in his sculpted chair, eyes bright with curiosity. "Earlier, I don't know if you recall, I believe you said something about wondering if you'd ever...?" He let the words trail off, his lips turned in an interested smile. "At the risk of sounding presumptions, were you thinking aloud as to whether or not you might have bumped into one of the many masks our resident Trickster wears?"

He chuckled, "Because if that is the case, I would gladly bet a significant sum that you've passed at the very least, two or three of them on the street."

by **Avela** on January 30th, 2018, 2:28 am

Avela sipped at her drink gratefully, both touched and a little embarrassed by the fox's offer to buy one for her. She endeavored to not make a big deal out of it, though. Confident, social, sophisticated women, or so she assumed, did not make a big production about men buying them drinks, and while she was under the guise of the illusion the mask gave her, it was easier to pretend to be one of those.

Besides, he wouldn't know her the next day, and she wouldn't know him. It wasn't like she had to worry about leaving a good impression.

The thought made her feel somewhat sad. This outing had been fun. But if he knew her as she really was, she doubted that he would enjoy himself quite as much. She took another sip of her drink, listening to him as he spoke. "I was," she admitted, because that had been exactly what she was thinking at that time. It was a surprise to hear that he thought so. Avela found herself going through her previous encounters in her mind, trying to pick out which one of those might possibly have been Ionu. "That's interesting. If they've met me on an ordinary day, I doubt they were too impressed." Her smile had just a touch of self-deprecation, as she drank from her cup.

Tonight. Tonight would have been the night to meet someone like Ionu. Tonight would have been a night for magic. On any other day, Avela was just another girl.

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by **Gomer Caitiff** on January 30th, 2018, 6:12 am

His face obscured by his mask, his brows raised reflexively at the little rabbit's supposition. Stirring his drink with a slow turn of his wrist, he thoughtfully tapped his lips with his free hand. Drawing a breath to reply, when he spoke, there was a mix of warmth and understanding in his voice. She was not the only one to struggle with finding her self worth. "Then it's a very good thing we live in a city where every day is anything but ordinary." Taking another sip from his cup, he let out a contented sigh, his gaze drifting over the crystalline dancers who swayed slowly to the soft sounds of the eclectic band.

Continuing his thoughts, when he spoke it was once more with his light cheery tone, "And, while I cannot speak for Ionu," His eyes settled on the rabbit, a teasing light dancing between the blues and greens. "I found your dancing to be a delight." Chuckling to himself, he set his glass of what was now mostly ice back upon the table.

"A mask does more than conceal, you know." Though he spoke to his companion, his voice was thoughtful, almost introspective. "In anonymity, one is free to behave however one wishes, for who might say otherwise?" His smiled softly, shaking his head. "Certainly not I, nor you, nor even Ionu. I believe life would be that much more colorful if people were to let themselves behave as if they were masked more often."

Sighing, a slight jest at the rabbit's own self-deprication, he shrugged, the impish glint in his eye returning. "Of course, then I suppose gossip wouldn't be nearly as exciting if people weren't so concerned with how others viewed them." Quickly sniggering, he shook his head. "And what a terrible state we would find ourselves in then."

by **Avela** on February 2nd, 2018, 4:25 am

Avela let out a chuckle in spite of herself, raising a hand to her mouth. "You should meet my stepmother," she said. "She'd have something to say, both about my dancing and your gossip." Not that that would be much of a surprise, Avela mused. Sabina Sallis could find something cutting to say about anyone, although she might claim that it was only because she wanted to help them improve. Many times, Avela found herself wondering exactly how a quiet, absentminded man like her father had ended up with someone like her.

Still, she had to admit...they made a good pair.

The fox's words made her feel slightly better. She leaned back, raising her drink to her lips again. "I suppose..." she said, "...I can try to do a little more than watching. For a little bit. You know, this is the first season I've spent living on my own." She glanced at what was left in her cup, bringing it to her mouth to finish it off. "Maybe I should be making the most of it."

After all, wasn't that what youth was supposed to be about?

"Common" "Kontinese"

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by **Gomer Caitiff** on February 2nd, 2018, 5:36 am

Grinning wide, Gomer laughed at the rabbit's comment about her step-mother. "Only good things, I'm sure."

As she finished her drink, he rose, not wanting to keep her longer than she had intended. "Maybe." He offered her a polite hand to help her rise before letting her to her own devices. "But this city has a habit of making the most of you. Though it's completely up to your own volition, all it really takes to find adventure in Alvadas is to simply turn a corner."

The music began to pick up, and a man with the mask of an owl spun out of the crowd, stumbling into Gomer with a breathless apology. Nodding to the rabbit, Gomer grinned wide, his features, even hidden by his mask and crystalline appearance, wolfish. "It seems here we part. Until the next time, Rabbit." With a laugh, he linked his arm with the owl's and joined in the fray.

by **Avela** on February 6th, 2018, 2:44 am

Adventure around every corner.

Avela let the fox help her to her feet, her mind fixed on that last note of advice. Alvadas had adventure waiting around every corner. She didn't have to go out to look for it; she just had to be open to what it would bring.

It wasn't something she had let herself think before, but she had a feeling it was a thought that would nag at her for a while to come. For now, though, it was time to depart. As she watched the fox dance away with the owl, with, she was surprised to feel, a touch of jealousy, Avela decided that that had been enough adventure for her. She really should find her bed.

"Common" "Kontinese"

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