Masquerade
Shimmering silver, the Moon dwellers drifted to and fro, their shoes barely making a sound on the tiled floor. They were talking, although their low, soft voices were muffled under the sound of the orchestra. Instruments playing that even Bert had never heard of. Native to the moon, he had been told, and he nodded, as if he suddenly recollected what they were.
Restless, he brushed the slight fluttering of dust that had begun to settle on his suit, though it could hardly be seen against its white hue. He was waiting for Mary and he did not want to be dusty when she arrived.
Though he did not have to wait long. She did the same as she always did, arriving whenever he thought of her the most.
And there she was, standing before him. Adorned in a gown that waved and ebbed its way toward the floor, as if it were made of water. She wore a mask that covered the upper half of her face, plumage and diamonds embellished into the disguise that, on anyone else, he might have called excessive. But if anyone could make it work, it was Mary Poppins.
"My, Mar'," he breathed in awe, "You're a lady of manners, so's I've been told. I'm not sure upstaging your 'osts is very mannerly o' you."
She laughed, her voice more musical than the orchestra itself. "Always the gentleman, Bert."
There was a slight pinkening in her cheeks that she seemed unaware of, though Bert noticed. He held out his hand.
"Do you want t' dance?"
"With you? Always."
He led her to the dancefloor, their movements falling in rhythm with the other dancers there. Bert wasn't sure what they were dancing- it was neither a waltz nor a foxtrot. It was as if he had always known what it was, but with Mary, he supposed that was how it worked. She knew everything.
"I'm surprised you found me," he remarked.
She glanced across at him, her brow knitting. "How could I not?"
"I 'ave a mask on."
"Oh, Bert," she laughed. "I would recognise you anywhere. I would find you, no matter what, my dear."
He grinned. "I suppose you saw my 'andsome face from across the room, even if it was just the lower 'alf, and knew it was me in an instant."
If Mary could snort, she would have.
Unperturbed, he pushed on. "If tha' was the case, I should have made it 'arder for you t' find me. Put you t' the test."
A competitive look flashed in her eye before she regained her composure, her nose rising slightly higher in the air. "Now, you're just being ridiculous."
"But you enjoy it," he insisted, the words coming out as half a question.
"I always enjoy you, Bert."
If they were alone, he would have kissed her. But they had a reputation to uphold. Or rather, she did. He did not mind so much. Instead, they continued to dance, whirling across the tiles in a gyration of white and silver, the moon-dust that scattered the ballroom floor flurrying around their heels.
"We should not wait so long next time t' visit th' moon," he breathed, overcome with the phantasy of the moment.
She smiled, her hand gripping his just a little bit tighter. "No, we should not."
I'm back! Doing a Masters was way more hardcore than I expected- this past year has been insane. I'm actually still working on my dissertation, but I've nearly finished so I've suddenly got a lot more time on my hands. So...here I am! I came back to finish these.
I've missed writing for MP. This isn't the best prompt I've done but there we are... Better than nothing, I suppose. I can't wait to get back to it; I hope all of you have been okay and well!
Also, just to make it clear: This is a continuation of the prompts I was previously writing. This is technically prompt 94- it kept glitching when I tried to upload it to the previous story I had created, so I assumed I'd reached my chapter limit. This isn't a new list or a start-over; this continues from the last prompt done, which was Gunshot. I wanted to add this in case anyone was unsure. The last prompts I did are now considered complete and I will not be adding any more there, solely because I can't seem to add any more chapters. This will be where I'm uploading my work from now on.