bsumone | ❝ Masquerade ❞

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❝ Masquerade ❞

{ seething shadows breathing lies }

Traditional thing that Iseul is, he made a point of sending out invitations to every monster and supernatural being with whom he's acquainted the day after telling Damian of his masked ball. Each is written in a large, looping hand and reads:

My Dear Friend,

You are cordially invited to a most exclusive masquerade ball to be held at my estate on the next new moon. The attire is formal with a theme of silver and gold. My doors will open promptly at 8:00pm. Dinner will be served with music, dance, and festivities to follow.

I do so look forward to your attendance.

Kindest Regards,
Your Host

Iseul's calling card is included for those who may not recognize his handwriting. It also happens to have his address on it, as well.

Guests will find the house dark and sprawling, positively goth in decor and style. For those who know or know of Iseul, this won't be a surprise. There's a running joke in the community that the Fae is truly meant to be a vampire... more so than his long-standing vampire rival. Those in attendance will be shown to the parlor, the pocket doors thrown wide to the adjoining suite to make it something of a small ballroom. Musicians sit off to the corner playing with few breaks throughout the night.

The dining room boasts a long table with a veritable banquet. Though, one must be careful about eating Faerie food. Never fear, dear guests, for none of this food was prepared or even harvested by Fae hands. Outside, the grounds are covered with sprawling flower gardens, topiaries, and even a small maze of hedges. Lanterns light the paths since there's no moon for light. Both in and out, the house has many dark nooks and crannies and unoccupied to rooms to disappear into. All guests are welcome to stay if, for any reason, they are unable to leave at first light.

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Sometime between his encounter with Tiras and Sam leaving the party with his demon in tow, Snake managed to come across him. He’s pretty tall and thus hard to miss. He also seemed to be wandering alone which was as good an excuse as any to go talk to him. Snake grabbed two cups of punch and brought one over to the stranger as an offering.

He's sure everyone here knew he was the lone human. Snake’s counting on his continued good luck to avoid any bad experiences. Oh, he’s had a few in the past. That one time he met a chupacabra sprung to mind. That was one encounter he barely managed to get away from unscathed.

He doesn’t know it, but a good portion of the people here could smell Tiras on him. Maybe they didn’t know him personally, but they definitely caught a whiff of Powerful Incubus™ on this lone human as he continued to mingle. And, in all truth, he’s still feeling a little dazed from his romp with Tiras.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much food at a party,” he commented, holding out the cup to Sam.

He smiled down at the young human as he took the offered drink. He could smell a powerful creature all over him. In a way that marked territory rather than just an experience. Interesting. Incubi weren't common and they certainly didn't tend to mark territory. Then again they were usually considered problems and killed off pretty quickly...

Beckoning the young man to sit down, he took a seat himself, not wanting to see him continue to stand after being fed on by such a creature.

"The fae do love to provide at their parties. It would be considered rude to not have plenty to feed their guests when they invited them in the first place," he informed him. Then he tilted his head curiously. "May I ask how you got in invitation? They usually don't invite humans."

Intentionally anyway.

Oh no, the last one who asked him to sit ended up in… Well, the most mind-blowing hook-up he’d ever had. Yes, he’s certain he’ll probably never see Tiras again in person after tonight. Little does he know. But he still felt somewhat drained so the offer of a seat was very welcome.

Snake laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn’t meant for me, I think. Maybe the one who lived at that address before me.” But since he’d showed up with an invitation, he couldn’t be turned away. “it’s kinda funny, I end up in situations like this a lot.”

"Ah you lucked into that invitation." For good or bad? Well that remained to be seen. But with the mark of that incubus on him? Well, he'd imagine it could be bad. He didn't know the creature to be able to tell but he could smell age on him. Which was so unusual for incubi and succubi. Especially with the Council around to eliminate any supernatural creature who caused problem to make their presence obvious to humans.

They probably ignored this one because he likely wasn't believed by any friends he had. Poor thing.

"Do you have an interest in our world?"

Sam sure hit the nail on the head. Snakes blog was popular in some circles – people who are interested paranormal things and cryptids – but most readers think he’s writing some sort of serial urban fantasy fiction. Little do they know everything he writes about is true!

He lucks into a lot of things. Situations like this. And he kind of loves that. He’s very interested in the supernatural creatures of the world. Not just to check off all the sorts of non-humans he’s met, but he’s interested in them as people. How their lives are perhaps complicated by living among humans. That sort of thing.

“I do, yeah!” He even brightened a little. “I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of, um… non-humans?” No one’s ever told him if there was some proper term they liked to use. Creatures seemed a little impersonal.

What good luck that he was somehow still alive. He wasn't so sure that many humans survived meeting supernatural beings and being aware of what they were. Though he had a feeling that this one would last longer now that he was claimed by one who seemed to smell very, very old.

So Sam decided to let that matter go and just smiled at him. "We usually call ourselves supernaturals. It's what the Council decided we were many years ago."

Oh, yes. Snake’s got very good luck. Eerily good luck, actually. Always has. Not that he tries to press it. It’s not like he usually goes out looking for supernatural creatures to bother. It just happens.

Snake cocked his head to the side. “You have… a governing body?”

"More like we try to. Something to keep us safe from those that would bring us harm because we aren't human."

Sam relaxed and watched him, wondering what it was about this human that drew creatures like him to him. Maybe some cosmic way of trying to tie the worlds together. He truly had no idea really.

Snake often wondered that, too. He wasn’t unhappy about it; no, indeed, quite the opposite.

He nodded in understanding. It made sense to him that there would be some worry for their collective safety. It made Snake wonder if this Council was monitoring him since he wrote about the supernaturals he met openly. Maybe it was a good thing; most average people assumed he was writing fiction.

“It’s too bad we can’t all just live together… Human beings can’t even live and let live, though, so I get it.”

"It's more a recent thing that we've gone into hiding actually. I remember an age where we were part of the world."

Which honestly hinted at his own age he realized. But he just smiled a little and shook his head. "I remember when I could walk down the streets and be recognized for what I was but not feared or shunned for it. But I know many places were not like that. Hence why the Council came to be built in the first place."

“I wonder what changed,” Snake pondered aloud, though it was more to himself than to Sam. He always assumed the reason the supernatural creatures of the world went into hiding had something to do with human fear of the unknown… but haven’t there always been myths and monsters? Maybe it was more when humans stopped accepting the fantastical. After all, weren’t these creatures just as much a part of the world as humans?

“Is it hard? Having to hide, I mean.”

"Fear. And more powerful weapons being used in that fear." Unfortunately. It was no wonder so many creatures went into hiding. Only the most bold dared to stay out in the open and, honestly, he found them to be foolish for trying that. More and more types of creatures were going extinct each day as a result of that boldness. Something that pained him each time he realized another race was gone from the world.

"There are days it can be hard to hide, I'll admit. I was once a soldier of a king and now I run a bar. In other ways, it's very peaceful for me and I prefer that piece."

Snake nodded. Compared to most, if not all, of the guests here, Snake was a very short-lived thing. What looked like a lifetime to him was the blink of an eye for these folks. It seemed natural for him to defer to their knowledge of the world and their postulations on its changes.

“Seems like running a bar might be a little less risky than being a soldier. Do you like doing that?”

"There are positives and negatives to either side really. But yes, I really love doing it. People seem to like it too based on how many customers I seem to get all the time."

He truly wasn't bragging either. If anything it made him happy to know that people were that happy to come to his place like that. After all, he adored being able to see them too.

Snake didn't own a business, but he understood how good success felt. His blog was successful and he was proud of that fact. So, on some level, he understood. Sam seemed happy to talk about his business, an indicator that he really enjoyed it.

"Good atmosphere, huh? That's what draws me to places, mostly."

"I like to think so. I crafted one that I felt would be comforting but still fun. I wanted a place where people would be able to have a good time. Ah wait. You can actually look it up. There's a website now with some pictures."

He got out his phone and pulled up the site before offering it to Snake so he could scroll through it at his leisure.

"Sounds like my kind of place," he quipped. Some bars in his neighborhood were a little too elegant for his tastes. He felt out of place when he walked into them. Leaning forward when Sam mentioned the website and fished his phone out, he took the offered device and started scrolling through the images.

"Looks like a nice place." He nodded as he handed Sam's phone back to him. "I'm definitely going to check it out."

The wonders of the modern age. He could show a potential new customer the wonders of his establishment on a tiny box he could carry with him. It was amazing really and one of the reasons why he was so quick to jump on advancements and learn them. If one was immortal the one should always be learning in his opinion.

"I would like that. You can feel free to ask for me when you come and I'll make sure to offer you suggestions."

"I'd love to, but I don't think I got your name." Now that his hands are free of any devices, he reaches one out for a handshake. "I'm Snake."

Taking that hand, he offered him the handshake that he was seeking. And with a smile as he did so. "It's good to meet you, Snake. My name is Sam."

"I look forward to seeing you in your element, Sam." It might be a few days, though. Tiras took a lot out of him and he's sure he'll need a little more rest before he can truly enjoy a night of drinking.

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❝ Masquerade ❞

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