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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Snake wasn’t sure how he ended up with an invitation to Iseul’s masquerade, but he wasn’t going to miss the chance to see who (or what) might show up. He didn’t know anyone there personally, and Iseul only through reputation and speculation. Maybe he was just a very eccentric human guy. The only way to find out was to go to his party.

The invitation was definitely meant for whoever lived in the apartment before him. But, since it had no name on it, Snake wasn’t turned away despite – very technically – having someone else’s invitation.

It was obvious in every important way that he was just a human. He looked and smelled like one. He gave off no aura or energy that indicated anything but a regular, run of the mill human. One who was trying very hard not to walk up to every single attendee and ask them what exactly they are.

Loitering near the drinks proved a good way to strike up conversation. After a time, he could be found in the gardens (though by this point anyone with a keen sense of smell could scent a powerful creature had marked him). There’s a tiredness to him later in the evening that does little to dampen his enthusiasm to chat with anyone and everyone who comes near enough.

Suddenly his own wanderings about the Fae's home aren't quite so interesting anymore. The beautiful interior has all but lost Nam's attention when he spots the human. Even from across the room, it's not hard to tell what Snake is. His appearance, alone, is almost a dead giveaway, despite everyone else here having a human appearance, or at least a human form they can take. There's something very normal about his appearance. There's a certain quality about the way everyone else here carries themselves that Snake doesn't quite possess. Not to mention the only energy he gives off is excitement.

Nam sidles up to the human just before he has a chance to reach his drink destination and cants his head first to one side, then the other as he looks him over. He makes no secret of the way he scrutinizes the human man. "You seem to have lost your way and ended up where you don't belong."

Snake blinks at the creature beside him. Unlike most here, he has no way to tell who is what. All he can see is a party full of otherworldly people – most, if not all of whom are something more than human. What Snake can and does recognize is age in this one’s eyes. Nam may look like a young man, younger even than Snake, but his eyes are deep and ancient as the seas.

Nam’s comment earns a helpless little smile. Snake reaches into his back pocket and unfolds the invitation written in the looping hand of their host. With the other, he rubs the back of his neck.

“This happens a lot to me,” he admits.

Nam leans in a little to peer at the invitation as though he might be able to tell the difference between a forgery and the real thing. Not that it truly matters one way or another. Uninvited guests is something he's become entirely too used to. They plague his home. Once upon a time, they were much more welcome but now he would be perfectly fine with closing his home to all but one.

Eyes drifting back to the human's face, Nam raises his eyebrows. Happens to him a lot? "Did it not once occur to you that you should leave when you realized you were in a place that could be very harmful to someone like you?"

Snake’s brows rose up and his lips turned down briefly as he shrugged. “Running from predators isn’t very smart. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to not have too many problems.” Other than that damn chupacabra… Most of his experiences with the non-human creatures he’s met have been pretty positive.

“Given who and what the host is, I kinda doubt there’ll be any trouble. Even for me.”

"You do understand that you won't be under our host's protection forever, yes? You'll leave here eventually to go back to your regular life, and some of the guests may feel inclined to go with you. With or without your knowledge." That sounds a little more like a threat than Nam really intends it to. It's meant more as a warning. He may have a certain distaste for humans but that doesn't mean he wants to see one come to harm. At least not without putting in at least a modicum of effort to see it doesn't happen.

Nam steps out around the human and gets two glasses of a lovely looking white wine, then he turns back toward Snake and holds one glass out to him. "Do be careful while you're here, human."

He offers a sheepish smile and a nod in thanks for the wine. Should they really be eating or drinking? Faerie food and all that. Even with Iseul’s reassurance that no Fae hands were involved in the banquet’s preparation, Snake’s not sure. They can’t lie, but that doesn’t mean they’re telling the whole truth, either.

What the hell. You only live once. Snake lifts his glass in a small salute to his (momentary?) companion.

“I appreciate your concern, friend. I’ll do my best not to make any enemies of people far more powerful than me.”

Of course the Fae could absolutely be skirting the truth, bending it in such a way that allows them to not quite speak it entirely. In the end, it's up to the human whether or not he chooses to partake in the food and refreshments. Nam, however, intends to enjoy all the night holds for him. It's not often that he gets out, after all.

Nam watches the human lift his glass but doesn't bother to return the gesture and simply takes a drink of his wine. It could be that he's unfamiliar with the gesture or merely that he has no interest in raising his glass to a human. There's simply no way to tell for certain. Outside of asking him directly, that is.

"We are not familiar enough for you to be referring to me that way."

Fortunately, Snake wasn’t the sort who was easily offended… or ruffled. He’s met far more than his fair share of creatures; not all have been friendly. Does he blame them? Not at all. Humans can be dangerous. Maybe not one lone human (Snake has no ideas about hunters), but if enough of them found out about the non-humans living among them? Well, that could be a problem for them.

“Okay. I won’t do that again.” Nor is going to ask Nam’s preferred mode of address just in case it seems like he’s prying for the other’s name.

Seok's heard mention of Iseul more than actually ever met him. The fact that he even received an invite to this masquerade is a little surprising to him because of it. Invites were just sent out to anything non-human, he supposes. Seok isn't exactly one to turn down an invitation somewhere, though. Free food and drink as well as potentially decent company? He'd be a fool to stay home.

It's a bit after the doors open to the guests that Seok finds his way inside of the Fae's home. He showed up tonight wearing simple black slacks and a black fitted jacket with a dark grey dress shirt, as well as a black pair of gloves. The most elaborate part of his outfit tonight is the mask he chose for the occasion. While not as fancy as some, it suits his tastes. He's not often a terribly fancy thing, after all. Beneath the mask, visible through the large eye holes, there's a heavy blindfold over his eyes, one that he's only just able to see through. It's enough to get him around relatively okay.

It's enough to get him to the food and drinks, at least.

Seok smells the human before he ever gets close enough to make out the rough shape of him through the blindfold. How interesting. It's a little dangerous for a human to be loitering about in a place like this though, isn't it? "Hand me a drink, would you?" He cants his head to one side as he holds out his hand. "I had no idea the Fae were employing humans now."

Perhaps it is dangerous. It isn’t as if Snake knew the host was Fae before he arrived. He highly suspected, but there was no guarantee he was correct. Just dumb luck. Dumb luck is how he got into most of the situations that gave him the opportunity to meet the non-humans he adored so much.

Peering over at the… plague doctor? Yes, that definitely looks like a take on a plague doctor’s mask. He lifts his brows curiously and casually asks, “Alcoholic or non?” Snake isn’t the assuming type. He’s discovered their host has a wide variety of wines and juices as well as water, sparkling and not.

“Oh,” he adds with a note of amusement. “I’m actually a guest.”

Between the social setting and the late hour, it's any wonder that Sumin managed to keep himself awake as long as he did. A want to spend time with the prince and his brother before going to sleep, perhaps. They didn't even get here until late, after all. He still feels a little bad about encouraging the princess' tardiness. Sure, it's mostly her fault that they got here late, but Suho is also not above taking his own share of the blame here.

Now, his brother and his dear prince have found a quiet space for Sumin to curl up and go to sleep. Normally, he would sit with them, perhaps curl up next to his brother until he fell asleep, but tonight he's perfectly happy allowing Sumin some alone time with their Kellan before he actually falls asleep, since Suho will have his own time with the prince afterwards.

So Suho is taking the opportunity to look around on his own. Partly to merely explore, and partly to find some nice places around the properly to take Kellan should he decide he'd like to get up at some point while Sumin sleeps.

He smiles when he sees the man out in the gardens, and clasps his hands together behind his back as he makes his way over to him. The smile drops away and he blinks up at the man with just open and honest curiosity. Then he gasps and covers his mouth with his hands.

"Are you a human??"

Okay, that reaction’s adorable. It brings a warm smile to his tired features. Well, more tired than usual. He’s been with an incubus this night and he’s still reeling from it. But the night air is refreshing and even though he can’t enjoy how pretty the folded flowers would be in daylight, they do smell nice.

“I am a human,” he replies, smile still in place and emphasizing his answer with a nod. “May I ask what you are?” His tone makes it clear that ‘no’ is an acceptable answer. He doesn’t want to insult or offend.

Suho gasps again and then claps his hands together excitedly as he circles around the human, looking him up and down. It's not that he's never seen a human before, but he's never really interacted with them much and very rarely gets to see one so close. And in a place like this, no less! He smiles up at the human when he circles back around to stand in front of him, then tips his head to the side curiously. "You can't tell?" So humans just walk around all the time not knowing who or what is around them? That seems dangerous. "Me and my brother are bulgae! You won't get to meet him, though, sorry."

“No, I can’t,” he lamented. It would be really cool if he could and save him a lot of embarrassment in having to ask. To some creatures, it’s the height of rudeness to be asked point-blank what they are because a human just doesn’t know. It’s even harder to tell when they take human-esque forms.

“Bulgae,” he repeats, looking thoughtful for a few seconds. “Oh! The fire dogs who chase the sun and moon!” Yes, he remembers that myth! And is very happy for it if the way his features brighten is any indication. Then concern flickers through Snake’s eyes. “Is he okay?”

Some see it as rude and some are simply not receptive to it. Or to the idea of speaking with a human at all. Suho is none of these things. He's only too happy to speak with the human and answer his questions. Granted, that's the type of behaviour that got him all mixed up with the princess earlier, but there's no harm in being friendly and helpful this time!

Suho claps his hands again and nods rather enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes that's right!" Though all the enthusiasm seems to drain away when he sees the human's (new friend?) concern. But then he laughs and waves one hand a little dismissively. "He's okay! He's just asleep and it's best to not wake him up unless you want to get snarled at."

“Oh,” he said with a note of relief. He can’t blame Sumin. Snake had a nap earlier, too. Though, his was due to an encounter with an incubus – an incubus whose scent is all over him so it’s pretty obvious what that encounter was.

“Well, if you love someone, let them nap,” he added very seriously, nodding as he spoke. What a good brother.

“I’m Snake, by the way.” He doesn’t know of any reason to obscure his name from the bulgae. Then again, it’s not his real name, so he’ll (probably) be safe if there were some reason to hide it.

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❝ Masquerade ❞

𝑆𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑒

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