SMASHQUERADE

[headmasterhand]

Who: Halloweenies (that's you).
What: A fabulous masquerade ball.
When: Monday, October 31st (that's Halloween). The deep, dark hours of the night (that's like eight PM onward).
Where: The Stadium.
Warnings: ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN ON HALLOWEEN

Comments

near midnight

[icequeen_aran]

There was that usual discomfort and awkward misplaced feeling she felt at these dances and parties. She understood the meaning behind a gathering of soldiers set to war. She understood the meaning behind a gathering of convicts and universal scum at some hazy dark corner bar preparing their next criminal act. She still had a difficult time understanding the meaning behind a gathering set of costumes standing around and... having fun. Dancing. Eating. Drinking. Trouble making.

Samus had only a very few close and trusted relations left in this academy that made the merit of these social gatherings and (dressing up in costume with impractical high-heels) worth going to. Too few, unfortunately, to keep her completely distracted and to keep her working mind from turning 'off'. It was difficult picking out many of those in costume, and therefore even more difficult picking out the trouble-makers and keeping an eye on them. Her costume, while it concealed most of her face still allowed her blue eyes to scan across the crowd and

gimme day honey beebys

[icequeen_aran]

The startled look on his face was every indicator of success to her, but as they say; what goes up must come down. She trusted her strength would keep her afoot, even with the unstable and uncharacteristically feminine footwear she was wearing. Doubt began to creep in the moment she realized he was much heavier than she was, and he was not making any effort to catch himself, and her heels had far less traction that she expected

safjaop That made me laugh a lot more than it should have.

[voice_of_animus]

This must have happened many times to her before. He had to assume that was the case. After all, she'd recovered in a way that made it seem like she just let the insult roll off her back. Well, if it had been an insult. Caim considered it more or less just a very, very unfortunate circumstance. And more unfortunate for him than it was for her. Because she was the one who helped him to his feet and not the other way around.

But to be fair, he wasn't sure which he would have preferred more. Letting a woman help him up or... getting an overly endowed woman in his face. All right. 'Overly endowed' wasn't exactly quite true either. If he had to compare, not that he was going to, but if he had to, then there was a noticeable difference between Furiae and Samus's sizes. That was not something that should have crossed his mind, but it did. Just... in the very, very back where he could pretend it wasn't there at all

Tits McGee

[icequeen_aran]

Samus did not want to dance... Or at least she didn't want to dance in this manner. She was fine with combative dances but for the sake of the current situation, she didn't see why the two couldn't be combined. It seemed like a near blasphemous combination, much less for her to even consider it of her own will, but here she was, hand in hand with this stranger.

This perpetually silent stranger. She would have to goad him more.

"Are you going to go this entire night without saying a single word?" A couple of steps to the beat of the midnight hour music, and then Samus treated him to a eloquent (and probably emasculating looking) dip. He was taller than her, by far, but again her strength was something to behold.

If, quite literally. She brought him back up quickly and then released him, taking the opportunity to straighten her mask.

"It's still on. You're not trying very hard."

Samus' new nickname~ ♫♪

[voice_of_animus]

I hate you so incredibly much at this very moment.

More because she was prodding at his inability to talk. Except she didn't know it was an inability. She thought he was doing it intentionally. And to be fair, unless Caim really had something to say, or unless he was asked a question, he probably wouldn't have said anything anyway. (Never mind that she'd just asked him one anyway.) So any considerations she might have had probably weren't too far from the truth, provided that it had been the proper circumstance.

The second reason he hated her was that dip. And the strength behind it. It meant that she was remarkably strong and Caim could not - would not - accept a woman somehow proving she was better than him. A man, perhaps he could understand that, but a woman's place was to either be resourceful or to be as demure as Furiae had been. In hindsight, Arioch seemed neither, and Caim had momentarily forgotten why a cannibalistic elf was dragged along on his never-ending journey of torment and anguish

[icequeen_aran]

It was quickly becoming apparent that this man wasn't unwilling to talk but simply could not for some reason, as his gesture implied. It also became apparent that he had passed up an excellent opportunity to flick her mask and instead he went for her nose.

Samus quickly became more puzzled than perturbed from the sting on her snout. The blonde took a step back and gave him another long and cold stare.

Who in this school can not speak...?

There were only a few possibilities, and one came to mind more than the others. Samus had only his eyes to go by.

"...Caim."

[voice_of_animus]

And Caim was an honourable man. Honourable enough to give the lady her prize.

A hand lifted to remove his hat and he offered a surprisingly sincere bow. And perhaps it was too elegant for him to do. Perhaps too much of the prince showed through it. He couldn't imagine what people would have thought of him if they knew of his status where he came from. They'd likely wonder why he had turned out the way he had... for royalty, anyway.

The free hand drew up to his face as he remained inclined and he removed his mask for her benefit. And there he was in all of his mute glory. That wasn't a surrender. It was simply him. Being. Honourable. At least for the next few minutes.

[icequeen_aran]

Samus associated royalty with arrogance and she didn't know what to make of his bow. It seemed she had guessed correctly either way and he was putting himself in a prone position, so she made no inclination of moving. No moving, no change in her facial expression or sound of surprise in her voice.

"That explains a lot." She was a little surprised. The pirate's identity was one mystery solved, but that still didn't explain why their eyes crossed at all to begin with, why they had actually managed to share a few steps in a dance and why they hadn't killed each other yet as a result of that

[voice_of_animus]

He rose to full stature, set his hat back upon his head, tucked his mask along the edge and as he eyed her, his gaze switched from one blue eye to the other and back again. He made no effort to nod or to protest, which could have been interpreted as him agreeing with her. After all, there was nothing to disagree with. She was right. And in hindsight, she might have been considering how obvious it was with his adamant nature against speech of the colloquial form

[icequeen_aran]

Interpreting his gesture took a moment. There was no doubt that due to her upbringing her social skills were lacking; instead etched and formed from her own individual--very often solitary--experiences. Samus spent a large portion of her life alone with only her helmet's reflection to keep her company. Said helmet left her with appreciation for non-verbal communication. She didn't have to worry about what kind of face she was (or wasn't) making or who was trying to read it, nor did she even have to speak; she could be as rigid as the cold, unfeeling metal she was often mistaken for.

A very effective mask, which Caim had deliberately not removed.

In a way she was almost disappointed, but didn't show it, or even flinch. If anything she might of flashed him a fleeting smirk. She would walk away from this game; stepping slowly backwards to turn on her heel and fade into the crowd, no favors to give for him. But, this was probably the closest equivalent to a fun evening with a stranger that she could get, and wondered if he thought the