This had all begun with a simple whim," I think we should have a big party with all the other teams….with drinks." Hinten casually suggested as he sat across from Malik and Simon was sitting directly beside him. Simon tapped the book in front of Hinten," Focus on your studies! We have a test tomorrow and you need to know this stuff as the Doorwarden." Malik chuckled and spun his pen between his fingers," Where would we even have a party like that? Everyone? What place on campus could fit that?" Frowning Simon interjected once more," We're in the library the only reason we should be talking in here is to be discussing our studies. Now…Malik I believe this section in Chapter 4 is where you struggled last time. I highlighted in green the things that I believe will be multiple choice and I used yellow for the terms that I think you'll need to memorize." The white haired male very eagerly passed the book across the table. Catching the book Malik then set down his pen," Come on Simon, think about it a party. It would be fun to get a break from all this studying." "How about the training grounds? That's like a huge building and we could do tons of decorations," Hinten suggested as he then slid his notes aside and began to jot down some ideas for this grand party he wanted.
Simon dropped his head acknowledging his defeat as he reached up and scratched his head," A party? Really? That's a lot of planning we'd have to do. Where would we find all the coasters for people to put their drinks on?" The two dark haired guys around him laughed. Hinten leaned over and pecked Simon's cheek," I'll make all the crystal drink coasters you'd like." A flush came over Simon's face as he cleared his throat and then muttered," Then what kind of party do you guys want? We can't think of decorations until we have a theme. Also, the training grounds? I think we'd need permission from the exemplars to use that. Besides do we really need all that space?"
Malik lowered his head onto the table and began to flick his pen across the table to Hinten who flicked it back to keep his cat lover entertained during this brainstorming session. "The theme should be a beach theme….bikinis, swim trunks, and speedos. It sounds great," Hinten grinned happily at what he felt was a brilliant suggestion, but it was immediately vetoed.
"Absolutely not! There's no way we can have everyone walking in such…such indecent clothing in a place like the training grounds. The theme has to be much more refined than that…well it at least needs to demand more clothing." Simon said immediately.
"That was a long shot from the moment you conceived the idea in your brain," Malik chuckled as Hinten pouted slightly.
Hinten glanced over to Malik," Well what ideas do you have?"
"I don't know…what themes go well with large spaces and drinking a lot?" Malik asked curiously.
Simon seemed to be in deep thought before his eyes suddenly began to shine with inspiration and excitement," A masquerade!"
There was no time for either Hinten or Malik to respond before Simon began to ramble off on how fantastic the idea of having a masquerade party was.
"There is so much potential in a well-executed masquerade party. It would tame your wild drinking parties down to a calm and refined gathering of intellectuals and individuals in breath taking attire. The dancing would be sophisticated and classy. All of the decorations would be mimics of artistic masterpieces. Ahhhh and the mystery of it all. Everyone wearing masks and being left for a moment to wonder what face lies beneath."
Simon certainly was getting carried away with his whole fantasy of what could be.
Skepticism was painted all over Hinten's face," While all of that sounds grand….that sounds like…a lot of layers of clothes…." "Precisely! Everyone will be decent!" Simon said with a newfound giddiness.
Seeing how excited Simon was about the idea Malik slowly sat up. Stretching his hands above his head and yawning Malik muttered," Well then a masquerade it is…I don't see why not." Hinten turned his gaze to Malik a few strands of his dark blue hair falling into his face as he then dropped his head on the table and grumbled," Yeah yeah…fine…masquerade…"
And thus began a week of intense planning, set up, and advertising for the big masquerade party that was going to happen the following Saturday. Simon had talked with all the exemplars and received permission from Edmond to utilize the training grounds as a space for the massive gathering of people. The dress code was set as classy and refined. Masks were mandatory. There had been a few compromises on the entertainment side of things. Hinten had demanded that the music couldn't all be ballroom classical music. It had to be something fun and upbeat for people to be able to dance to. After a few back and forth banters the playlist had been agreed on. With the assistance of some of Hinten's bar friends as well as some of his past rich sex friends they were able to get all the food, drinks, and decorations that they needed without dipping too deeply into their own pockets.
When the night finally arrived the training grounds were practically unrecognizable. Everything had been covered in rich purple, green, and gold fabrics and gold colored ribbons. The lights were dim, but lights pointed at shimmering crystals that reflected light to various locations that provided just the right amount of lighting so people could see where they were going. The seating area around training grounds had been converted into a massive buffet that covered half of the semicircle while the other half had been changed into a seating and mingling area. Down in the actual arena was reserved especially for dancing and more social mingling. The DJ was also set up down in the arena. He wore a jester's mask and the music currently was a unique yet surprisingly catchy mix of classical favorites and techno beats.
Precisely at the strike of ten the doors opened letting in the crowd of people who had arrived right on time to attend the grand affair.
Rin entered the training grounds building expecting to be wowed. After all two of the three party organizers were her own students, one who was the party sex animal and the other who was a complete OCD nerd. Though she must say since Simon had started dating Malik and inevitably started dating Hinten as well he had really begun to loosen up in some ways, which in her opinion was good. Being that uptight all the time couldn't be good for his health and he deserved to be happy. Looking around she certainly was not disappointed.
Immediately she descended down a few of the stairs to then walk over to the three party hosts. Despite the masks, it was very easy to tell who was who even though all their backs were to her. The tallest one was Hinten. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail. From what she could tell from her current distance he was wearing a black shirt, probably button up, with a blue vest and dress pants. Tugging at his neck Hinten grumbled," Come on let me unbutton like this very top button…" Rin chuckled as she came within earshot of their conversation. Simon was standing directly in front of Hinten and leaning up to readjust Hinten's collar," You have to keep them all buttoned! If you unbutton them you'll be out of character…" The shortest of the three gentleman had gone with a very classic look with a white dress shirt and a black tuxedo over it. Simon's mask was white with silvery blue designs along it. As Hinten turned slightly Rin could now see that Hinten's mask was gold, but only covered the right half of his face, which brought out the red color of his right eye.
Rin's laughter caused the three boys to turn and look at her. Simon gasped slightly," Oh! Uhhh Ms. Blitzko…" The blonde woman's eye twitched slightly and the boy gulped slightly," I mean…Rin. I'm glad you came." Rin didn't like being called by her last name it just felt far too formal and she felt like it aged her beyond her years. Finishing the final touches on straightening Hinten's collar Simon was able to look over Rin's choice of clothing more carefully. She'd definitely gone with the more form fitting style gown with a high slit up the side. It was a deep red color and her hair was up in a fancy bun with a few curly strands falling out the sides. The exemplar's mask was an extravagant black with a large orange sequenced flower on the side of it. She gave a small smile," Of course I came. I would never miss a party with dress up and drinks." Looking out into the arena that had been turned into the dancing location she nodded her head," I'm quite impressed. You boys really decorated the place up."
Malik chuckled and draped himself over Simon's shoulders wrapping his arms around the small lean boy," Yeah, well all the decoration ideas were Simon's. He wanted to make his big masquerade idea come into reality. I'd say we got pretty damn close if I do say so myself." The male with feline physiology had slicked back his hair and wore a black mask that had a splattered green design on it and the edges of the mask curled up. His attire was similar to Hinten's except he wore a green shirt and a black vest. He gave a mischievous grin as he then kissed Simon's cheek," So now we all just have to make this the best night ever."
As the music seemed to increase in volume as more people poured into the location the vibrations of the bass began to fill people's bones. Alcohol began to be consumed encouraging the shy and the restless to break out incredibly embarrassing dance moves on the dance floor. The atmosphere became an intoxicating blur of excitement and seemed to fill everyone with an endless supply of energy. Everyone who was anyone was in fact there. Edmond had even graced this special occasion with his presence happy to see the students taking the initiative to entertain themselves. He was having what appeared to be a rather amusing conversation with Kanja and Fletcher in the seating area. By this point Rin had found her way down to the dancing area accompanied by the forever energetic Fuurin. Mahavir and Arianell were both leaning nervously against the wall in the dancing area. They seemed to be talking to one another and both too nervous to ask the other to dance. Verus, Riahes, and Sanders were just a few of the bodies that were showing off their dance moves. The brother and sister duo were playfully ballroom dancing to the exotic beat filling the room as Verus danced around them. Nox and Riley were sipping drinks by the table and not much further down was Chance poking fun at Opal who seemed very confused by much of what was going on. Why was everyone wearing masks? It seemed rather impractical to be wearing these masks indoors in such strange lighting. Katalin seemed to be off on the side eating a piece of fruit, but her eyes were focused on Nico who looked like he was about to do something stupid to Fletcher even though he was clearly still in a conversation with Edmond. Her attention would soon be captured by Ueda, who was approaching her to try and keep her company since she looked to be lonely. Azeleia had just recently wandered into the party. She was looking around the room intensely, wondering where exactly she was supposed to start, but then she glanced over when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Kaito gave a small smile as they then entered together heading over to the buffet to check out the options.
Mira came across the large room first. Her eyes sparkled as she looked down to all of her classmates. Looking over her shoulder her purple glittery mask glistened in the light as she watched Salisa and Winslette walking in behind her," They did a fantastic job! Look, look!" Salisa had a white mask on with a golden strip along the edges and there were four white feathers coming off the side. As she looked out into the room she grinned slightly," A party I can definitely get down with." On her arm was Winslette who had insisted if Sal was going to dress like a prince she had better act like one. Salisa was more than happy to oblige her princess.
Winslette blushed as she continued to nervously tug on her hair that had been expertly curled and fell over her shoulders. Not a single hair was out of place on her head. Her mask was the kind you held in your hand, because she didn't feel like something messing up her hair. Holding the black and red mask to her face she glanced over to Salisa," We're late, because we were doing my hair." Looking over to Winslette she gave a small, gentle smile and leaned down and pressed her lips to the fire child's. Sal then pulled her lips slowly away watching as the red passed over Winslette's cheeks and she whispered," My lady…royalty is never late. Everyone is else is merely early…" Gasping Winslette then reached up and touched her lips before looking away and shouted in frustration," I'm going to go get something to eat!" She stormed off towards the buffet leaving Mira and Salisa at the entrance. Laughing Mira held her hands behind her back," You flustered her too soon, Sal!" Stretching Salisa began to follow after Winslette," I might have, but I couldn't help it. She was just so cute wasn't she?" Nodding her head Mira couldn't help but agree," Absolutely adorable."
Looking over the buffet Winslette then lowered her mask and then brought one of the small croissants up to her mouth and took a big bite. "This food is amazing…" she thought to herself as she finished off the first croissant and picked up another.
"Well well, look who managed to dress up right for the occasion."
The familiar voice floated to her ears and caused her to growl slightly as she turned around to look at Fletcher who had a slightly cocky smile on. "Well it wasn't my idea!" she retorted before plopping the croissant into her mouth. "Ohhhh it wasn't your idea, but you definitely didn't resist too much did you?" Mira suddenly popped in and then reached over and grabbed one of the finger sandwiches taking a small bite. Winslette growled a bit more vehemently, but then Mira held up the sandwich for her to try. "I think you'd like this!" the purple masked girl insisted. Slowly Winslette opened up her mouth and chewed slowly only to then nod her head slowly," Yeah…it is….good." Glancing away she blushed slightly. It drove her mad how Mira could so easily throw her off guard with random acts of kindness. Though they weren't exactly random anymore were they? They were a couple so it was only natural for Mira to do nice things for her. Salisa waved slightly to Mira and Winslette and yelled over," I'm going to go down and dance with the others! Come join me when you're done eating."
"We'll be down soon!" Mira shouted down to Salisa who went to join Riahes and the others.
Fletcher took a deep breath and pulled out a cigarette," Well you girls have fun. I'm gonna go smoke outside. Would hate for the place to go up in flames over a stray ember…" he nudged Winslette slightly. She gave a sarcastic laugh as he walked away. Reaching for another one of the finger sandwiches that Mira had fed to her Winslette really couldn't get over how amazing the food tasted, but naturally she wouldn't say anything. Of course the food was good why would anyone serve bad food at a party?
The brunette's eyes began to scan the party. Everyone seemed to really being enjoying themselves. Even the exemplars appeared to be having a great time. She couldn't let her piss poor attitude bring down the party for Winslette and Salisa who had seemed to genuinely want to come to the party. So maybe just a little bit she'd try to enjoy herself. More like…she'd allow herself to enjoy everything instead of finding something wrong with everything. Taking a deep breath she allowed a smile to show on her face as she looked to Mira," Why don't we go dance with Salisa now? Are you done?"
The sudden mood change caught Mira off guard. "Wait…really?" Mira asked before then quickly trying to reword herself," No no I mean. I would love to but I just thought you'd not want to dance or anything." Looking away Winslette gently scratched her cheek and muttered," Well you know I just wanna show off this great dress you picked out for me you know? And you did tell Sal we were gonna go down there so…why not…now?" "Sure!" Mira cheered before heading down to the now dance area with Winslette.
They had to look around for a bit to find Salisa in the crowd of people but eventually came across her dancing with Arianell, a nervous Mahavir, and Verus. Darting back and forth through the other dancers they eventually reunited with Salisa to dance the night away.
"Quite a turn out huh?" Malik asked Hinten curiously as Hinten had finally gotten fed up with the top button on his shirt and unbuttoned it. Both males had moved their masks up to their heads by this point. Leaning over the railing slightly Hinten nodded," Yeah it turned out just fine." Laughing slightly Malik nudged Hinten slightly," So how many drink coasters did you end up making?" "Probably about five dozen…I don't know…it was some absurd number," Hinten laughed slightly in return.
Looking around Hinten then spotted Simon seeming to be having a good conversation with Katalin and Ueda and he took a deep breath and smiled," But if it…made him happy then I guess I could make a few dozen more if he asked…"