"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Tyler?"

Summer's voice was shrill through the phone, and Tyler buried his face in his free hand. He probably should have known better than to answer the phone at all, but he received actual calls so infrequently that he'd assumed it must have been important. Obviously, he'd been wrong.

"What does what mean?"

Her irritated scoff through the phone didn't illuminate anything, but she didn't immediately give any explanation. He was on the brink of asking her again, or possibly just hanging up, when the words exploded out of her.

"You RSVPed no."

Tyler rolled his eyes, even though she wasn't there to see it. "Then I probably meant no."

"I get that, dumbass. Why did you say no?"

Dumbass was a bit offside given that she'd been the one to apparently fail to understand what a timely RSVP of 'no' meant. Not to mention a bit juvenile for a woman of her age. Tyler wisely decided that neither of those things would be considered a wise response.

"I have an ethical objection to that sort of thing. You know that."

This time, her scoff was even louder and Tyler actually pulled the phone away from his ear in preparation to hang up, but thought better of it as he heard her speak, and dutifully raised the phone again.

"To what exactly, Tyler? To charity? Parties? Me having birthdays?"

"To masquerades." Disdain dripped from every syllable. "I don't do events where you can't see my face. And I'm not striking up conversation with anyone who doesn't have the decency to show me what they look like."

"Tyler?" Summer's voice was soft and sweet, and that was highly suspicious, in and of itself. "Have you ever considered that there might be value in learning how to judge people on things other than appearance?"

That was a stupid question.

"No."

"Tyler."

He squirmed, even though she wasn't there to see his reaction.

"Stop saying my name."

"You're coming."

The call disconnected before he had a chance to say anything else. Tyler stared at the phone screen moodily for a moment, then tapped out a rather lengthy, unkind message in all caps. Then he erased the diatribe, and simply sent back a few simple words.

I'm not wearing a mask.

Summer looked disapproving when she came to pick him up, but didn't say anything. At least, he suspected that the look was supposed to be disapproving. It was difficult to tell when most of her face was covered by feathers. The gaggle of girlfriends that overloaded the back of the limousine were not generally so respectful of his decision, but he stared at his phone screen resolutely rather than indulge their squawking.

"Tyler, you're being rude," Summer hissed in his ear, as they started to pile out of the vehicle at their destination. Her freshly manicured nails dug into the skin of his wrist just hard enough to give him pause, just soft enough that he couldn't very well complain about it. "You shouldn't have come if you were just going to be on your phone all night."

He opened his mouth to complain that was exactly what his original plan had been, but by the time the words had begun to form, she'd already disappeared from his side and been whisked away by some giggly fool he wasn't sure he'd recognize even if they weren't mostly covered up.

They'd paid for a table for ten, and Tyler was fairly certain from past experience that would mean Summer, five or six of Summer's closest female friends, a boyfriend or two… And him. If being on his phone was intolerable to her in the limo, he was fairly sure it would be an even worse offense over dinner. There were other people there as well, table after table of strangers decked out in bright colours here to either support the charity or have a nice night out where no one had to look at them. That didn't seem like any kind of improvement.

What was the charity again? Had Summer even told him? Well, no point wondering. Someone would talk about it at length before the night was over.

"So how long have you two been seeing each other?" A voice trilled in Tyler's ear as he awkwardly took a seat. The voice didn't sound familiar, but that didn't mean a lot. He didn't waste valuable memory space on most of Summer's friends.

"Who?" He asked, distractedly. His fingers were itching for his phone again. Maybe he could get away with it if he pretended he was taking a picture of the centrepiece.

"You and Summer, silly!" Either she'd been pre-drinking, or she was a level of obnoxious that surpassed most people Tyler knew. That was a worrying possibility.

"We're not a couple." His voice was weary, and a little guarded. Fingers closed around the phone in his pocket. It was coming out immediately if the girl next to him opened her mouth again.

She leaned in close, and laughed in his ear. Tyler's nose wrinkled; definitely pre-drinking. What fun.

Some words began to form beside him, and his phone was raised with the camera open before he had to pretend to be listening. The lighting was fairly harsh, so it took a little longer than he expected to find the perfect selfie angle. His hair was hanging kind of limply, and his lips curled into a displeased frown. Maybe he should have gone with the ponytail instead of the half-up style. It suited his face having his hair framing it, but only if his hair was in a mood to cooperate.

Some oaf on the other side of him had clearly not taken the hint, however. He smelled of cheap anti-perspirant, and hadn't done a thing with his hair despite it being almost as long as Tyler's. He got about three words deep before Tyler shot to his feet, kicking the chair back under the table as he stepped away. No point offering an excuse, they'd figure it out.

Summer would probably have called his behaviour thus far hopelessly rude, but there was no call for actual legitimate rudeness. She was still on her feet, making conversation with someone Tyler couldn't have possibly hoped to recognize. He slipped an arm around Summer's waist from behind, and laughed, really sincerely laughed, as she jumped in fright then turned around to smack him on the arm once she realized who was touching her.

"You want a drink? I'm buying."

"It's an open bar."

Tyler rolled his eyes. Well, fuck him for trying to be good, right? "I'm… delivering, then. Will you just let me be nice?"

"I don't trust you with nice," Summer said with a soft laugh. It was totally uncalled for since she was probably the only person in the room halfway worth being nice to, but he couldn't exactly fault the logic. "You know what I drink. Thank you."

The bar would at least take up enough of his time that maybe Summer's other guests would have struck up conversations amongst themselves in his absence. As he walked away from Summer, he was fairly sure he heard the word 'boyfriend', and some far too indignant reply from his best friend. He'd have to have words with her about that later. Maybe it was about time to remind her that once upon a time she'd seen his appeal. It must have been a whole week since he'd last tortured her over that.

His fingers drummed on the bar impatiently. Tyler had caught the bartender's eye, he knew he had, so it was baffling as well as irritating that he was still being made to wait. Sure, the guy's hands were full, but that shouldn't stop him from taking Tyler's order even if he couldn't actually fill it immediately. And was the other order really more important than his?

A shoulder brushed against him, and he pulled away from the contact immediately, though he didn't bother to look up at the culprit.

"Do you mind? Don't touch what you can't afford."

Of all reactions he'd expected, a deep laugh was not among them.

"Sorry, man. Didn't mean to." The stranger's voice sounded sincerely apologetic, so that eased Tyler's irritation a little. Not a lot, but enough. "You're not wearing a mask."

It was a statement, not a question. Tyler finally glanced over at the other man, cocking an eyebrow. He was prepared to make some sarcastic comment about his observational skills, but something caught his eye that rather changed his direction.

"You're not wearing a shirt."

That drew out another easy laugh, and Tyler couldn't help but crack a little smile in return. A part of him kind of wanted to take the stranger by the wrist and drag him over to Summer as a physical demonstration of what he could have done instead. He didn't, though. That would probably be weird.

"Yeeah." The man turned around to lean his elbows against the bar. Doing that arched his back just a little, highlighting the lines of his stomach muscles. "I figured if you can't see my face, I'd better make sure there's still a view to appreciate."

Despite himself, Tyler snorted at that. "I preferred the direct approach."

"Can't blame you for that."

Was that supposed to be flirting? Whether it was or not, there was no way to verify that his vanity was deserved, and talking to some masked figure who had been so forward as to touch him was breaking every one of Tyler's rules, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he raised his eyebrows slightly and turned away.

The bartender finally finished whatever concoction he'd been wasting his time with, and Tyler smoothly rattled off his order in one breath. Of course, the bartender had to ask him to repeat it, which he did, excruciatingly slowly. He could hear the masked, shirtless man laughing next to him again, a surprisingly pleasant sound that distracted a little from the roll of the bartender's eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler could see that the shirtless man was still looking at him, head tilted to one side. Even if the mask was hiding something absolutely hideous, attention was attention, so Tyler permitted himself a small smile, reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair back behind his ear.

"Having fun, there?" Tyler asked, as the bartender turned around to fix his drinks. He kept his voice light and easy, deliberately so.

"Does that bother you?" There was just a hint of challenge in the other man's voice, and there was definitely no mistaking the flirtatious undertones this time. Then again, that probably didn't mean much. The guy gave off a vibe like he flirted with anyone who crossed his path, just as a matter of course.

Tyler had to think for a moment before replying, and that hesitation was all it took before his drinks were handed to him, rather unceremoniously, with a bit of a scowl from the bartender. Good thing he hadn't really been planning to leave a tip anyway. He flashed a smile at the stranger, then thought better of it and winked, just slightly more provocatively than he'd normally permit himself, before walking away.

It would certainly amount to nothing, but there was nothing wrong with finding a little harmless fun in such a dreadful night out.