Happy New Years
Alfred groaned when he looked at the card he had found. He checked it twice and pushed up his glasses to be sure he had read it properly. Yup, he had. He closed his eyes and walked down to his room knowing that he would be late if he didn't hurry. The card read as followed: Querido Alfred, I will be hosting a masquerade here on the thirty-first to celebrate the beginnings of a new year. I'm sure you'll attend, because there are several people I'd love to introduce to you. Do dress up, and hide that beautiful face of yours. Con Amor, Antonio.
The time set for the event was in just a few hours and it passed by quickly as Alfred continued to get ready. He had hopped into the shower first, not wasting time. The water shut off and he wrapped a towel around his body drying off. He looked into his closet and groaned, so much for dressing in new clothes. His hair was dripping, creating pools on the wooden floor. He sighed and picked out the dressiest set of clothing he could find. It was a gray suit, a perfect color, so he thought to emphasize the brightness of his hair and eyes.
After he had put on his contacts, something he hated but knew would come in handy. His hair was combed back. No that wasn't right, he sighed and shook his head shaking the strands loose so the hung down naturally on his face. Alfred's hair seemed to wave as he hadn't the time let it dry properly. He sighed and looked at the clock, rushing through a process that normally took much longer.
"30 minutes, but Antonio gives food at parties so I won't have to eat. Uh he said something about a mask didn't he?" His head hung down and he sighed, speaking out loud helped him tremendously when it came to planning. He saw more droplets of water fall from his hair and he shook them out before reaching for the towel he had thrown on the ground to dry his hair. It was unruly but he only didn't have time to deal with it.
"Maybe something that will just cover the top portion of my face, I'm sure I have some masks inside my Halloween closet." He walked into the closest and flipped the light switch on looking around. It was cluttered with neon frills and dark heavy fabrics everything in between obviously included. He went to the small section he had for masks. A white one, and blue one, the hulk's mask, Jason's mask some of the president's mask, iron man's mask, and some transformers. Nothing was what he needed; they flew left and right as he pulled out several more. He exhaled and sat down next to the open drawers. There was nothing.
The phone rang and he struggled to get up pushing away masks and heading out of his closet. He went to his room and answered the phone, "Hello?" He called out wearily looking at the clock. Ten minutes left and it was a fifteen minute drive, shit.
"You coming?" It was a thick accent, Antonio. Alfred sighed and chuckled nervously looking at himself in the mirror. He was barely dressed in something that resembled a suit, and still mask-less.
"Yeah bro, I'll be there in a bit..." He trailed off and walked back to his closet hoping to find something, anything that would suit him.
"I take it you just read through your mail then?" He laughed the humor dry. Through the phone there were already people arriving and treating each other as they came. "Come on over, I already had an outfit planned for you. Oh, and wear contacts, mijo," he hung up and the noise went dead.
"What the-! You could have told me, idiot. Whatever let's go, I'll see you later Tony!" He pulled at his hair and looked in the mirror. "Might as well fix my hair," he sighed and pulled out his straightener knowing that even if he brushed his hair now if would end up frizzy AND wavy. He finished in record time and made it out to the grabbing his phone and keys. He locked the door and slammed it shut going to his car and starting it.
He let the car heat up and cursed the leather seats.
"You're late," He laughed and pulled Alfred inside, Antonio looked at the clothes, "Que bueno que te prepare ropa," he mumbled. "Come on then, it's a good thing I prepared clothes for you," He translated with ease as he led the male down the hall into a quiet room.
The room was small and comfortable filled with several different shades and tones of blue. Alfred smiled and looked at the bed; over the plaid covered covers was a black tuxedo, laid separately so it would be easy to get dressed. The bow tie was simple too and the best part was the mask. It was something so unique, so simple, something so... Suiting.
"Thanks amigo," Alfred smiled and leaned of Antonio his body pressing on to the back of the green eyes male. His brown hair was ruffled and Alfred pushed away, "I'll get dressed, see you in a bit," he smiled and waved pushing Antonio out the door. "Shoo you have guests to greet!"
He closed the door in Antonio's face with a smirk and a wave, he locked it shut and looked down at his clothes. He sighed and began stripping, taking off his blazer and button up. He also took off his pants and stood there in a clean wife beater and boxer briefs. The room was cold and he dressed himself quickly putting on the slacks and long sleeved white button up. He put on his jacket and looked in the mirror. The black suited him better than the grey he had been previously wearing. The tails of the jacket made the outfit seem as though it had come from the mid-1900s. He gave a spin and laughed enjoying the way everything fit him perfectly.
After, he looked down at the mask, a half mask just covering the top of his face. It was perfect, he picked it up and tied the white silk across his head, and it was tucked under the light brown hair and disappeared. He smiled and looked in the mirror, red white and blue shone brightly contrasting and matching with ease. The mask had a white edge on each side, the symmetry just perfection, a red sown on top the stitching a vibrant blue, and the blue middle appearing to be beneath the red practically the same level as the white. Layers of color, blue on bottom, white on both edges over the blue, and the red as two slanted stripes stitched over both colors. Thought that wasn't what made the mask great, it was the white star. The five pointed star stitched above the blue in the middle of the eyes, just over the nose.
Though Alfred was dense, that star was the reason why the triad of colors suited him, he knew that much. It was that simple star that made the colors symbolize the American flag, not the French one or the British one. That star was special and Alfred grinned taking one last look in the mirror before walking out.
The party was in full bloom all the guests having arrived either on time or early. Arthur had been one of the early ones and he watched as the others trickled in one by one making their way to greet others. He recognized none of them seeing as everyone had a decorative mask, all the masks seemed to represent their nationality. He hadn't gotten the memo that they had to wear a mask of that sort and he felt put of place as the last of the few arrived.
A growl practically escaped his throat as the others looked at him; he fought the urge to flip them off and stalked over to Antonio having spotted the Spanish mask second earlier.
"Why didn't you tell me that our masks had to be themed with our nationality?" He crossed his arms and stood there the tailcoat having swayed in his wake.
"Now come on Arthur, it was all fun and games," Antonio laughed and pulled Arthur across the room. He brought them both to the dance floor where he had spotted Alfred, dressed in his clothing. "Besides, no other color would suit you best," he laughed and spun them around purposely making it so that Arthur would bump into the American.
"Hey pal, watch it," Arthur called out leaving his partner and turning to face Arthur. He hadn't meant to sound rude and turned around to apologize. He quickly looked at the male that had bumped into him. "Woah dude, nice mask!" he leaned down to looked at it better his eyes squinting as the contacts moved. He closed an eye and looked at the detailed mask. It was black and feathery, nothing like any of the other masks he had seen here. The mask was tied around his neck with black silk and had a nice contrast with the brown hair.
Arthur pushed the strange man away and kept a curse to himself, "Look, I apologize for having bumped into you but there is no need for you to get so close to me." He pulled his hands back and turned to look for Antonio who had disappeared in the crowd. He groaned and felt his hand go over his face in frustration. Not only was the dude still rambling and getting in his face but the one person he knew had run off.
"Hey, so who are you?" he asked after having quieted off. Alfred's hands remained to himself but he was curious as to who this stranger was. He stayed silent for a second before deciding to introduce himself. "I'm Alfred Jones…" he stuck his hand out and smiled.
"I'm Arthur Kirkland," he sighed and shook Alfred's hand. He turned his head to face the male and sighed, it was an American. Well… better than a French person, he assumed. He scowled and let go of Alfred's hand.
"There's a minute left until new years!" Someone shouted over the music. Everyone hollered and stayed on the dance floor pushing the two males together.
They pulled away and Alfred chucked, "Haha bro, you ready for New Years?" He couldn't care less that he was with the complete stranger. Keeping his hands to himself he looked at the countdown clock on the wall. It was in a bright luminescent green that could be seen on every wall. It had thirty seconds left to the countdown.
"Sure…" Arthur looked away at a clock and saw it ticking down, less than half a minute and he would be stuck with this stranger. He crossed his arms and cursed as a dancer slowed down to a stop and stepped on his foot. Everyone around them seemed to stop and look at one of the clock.
Fifteen seconds left and the crowd began counting down, fifteen. Arthur turned to look back at the stranger. Fourteen, Alfred did the same bending his head so they seemed trapped in their own bubble. He was counting and grinned after saying each number. Thirteen. They held eyes and Arthur felt like flipping the male off, one last person to piss off before the new year, right?
Twelve. Eleven. Ten, his finger stuck up and he laughed to himself turning away to stare at the numbers. Nine. Eight. Seven, Arthur gave a peek through his mask to see if it had affected Alfred. Six. Five. Four, the blue eyed male smiled and leaned forward.
"Gladly." He whispered and pulled up to see the blush on Arthur appear. Three, they both stood there staring at each other. One in rage and the other cheerful and playful. Two, Alfred leaned back down waiting for the magic number.
One, Alfred gave a happy yell and turned away going to hug Arthur. It was a quick unexpected hug, given to Arthur. Alfred was pushed away again and they both stood there. He sighed and turned pushing to the crowd to find the host of the masquerade. Arthur laughed and hugged another stranger knowing that this wouldn't be the last time he'd see the new guy. He made his way to the door and walked out to the darkness. His hand went into the pocket of his jacket and he felt a slip of paper. He pulled it out and looked at the handwriting.
Querido Alfred, I'm sure you met him. His name is Arthur Kirkland… there was more to the note as well as a number written on in. Antonio was never one to do this sort of thing and Alfred smiled. He pulled out his phone and sent out a text.
"Happy New Years, Arthur."