🐍 loki odinson 🐍 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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metalogs2022-10-17 04:25 pm
dothelokimotion) wrote in metalogs2022-10-17 04:25 pm
Entry tags:
( open ) I'll wear your colors til you come back home to me
Who: Everyone!
What: Masquerade Ball
When: 17th of October
Where: The Opherium
Content Warnings: N/A
What: Masquerade Ball
When: 17th of October
Where: The Opherium
Content Warnings: N/A
[ Much like Loki's last party-venture, this is set up very much in the same vein. a large ballroom for dancing needs. Tables and waiters passing around hors d'oeuvres and drinks. At the entrance of the ball room, there’s a fancy mask waiting for you if you don’t have one already. There’s a strict dress code for the event this time and Loki expects everyone to dress accordingly.
The masks also have a spell attached to them. They’ll afford you complete privacy. No one will recognize you under the mask. Unless, of course, you take it off and let them know. Perfect for the party guest who may want to indulge without causing a fuss. Hit up a partner and see where the evening takes you.
This event wouldn’t be complete without candy, of course. There are candies arranged on the tables in all types and colors. In front of them is a small description regarding each kind of candy. Be sure to read them carefully, as Loki has added a little . . . extra to the sweets, to give them a little . . . zing. ]
🍫 White Chocolate: For those who needs a little honesty ( truth effect )
🍷 Alcoholic Chocolate: For those who need to loosen up ( slight aphro effects, please mark headers accordingly and communicate! )
🍬 Sour Candy: For those who are tired of being nice ( shorter tempers )
🍓 Fruit Candy: For those who need to open up ( increased generosity )
If you have a question or comment to direct at the host, Loki is by the entrance dressed in red and gold with a mask to boot. he’s instantly recognizable, compared to the masked attendees. ]
Welcome.
no subject
Oh, god no. Literally anything else, please. Though if I had to choose...
[ The mask only covers the upper half of his face, so his mouth is visible as he purses his lips in thought. Finally, after a moment, he leans in a little closer to the stranger and gestures inside. ]
Everyone's going about their business, when suddenly... boom, some kind of monster bursts through the ballroom floor, and attacks! While everyone's standing there, shocked, you and I swoop into action and take it down ourselves.
[ He turns his gaze from the ballroom back to his new friend.
...Oh. Their faces are closer than he'd realized. Dylan tries to play it cool, and keeps talking. ]
And we stand triumphant in the center of the ballroom, looking majestic with my coat billowing in the wind.
[ He grins widely. ]
But I think it'd be hard to orchestrate that on such short notice.
no subject
[His friends back home are very high energy and often enthusiastic, enough that it even came through in all his online interactions with Gus and Willow. Luz is also high energy and kind of weird. They're not exactly close yet but now that they're on the same side, he likes it.]
[(In retrospect she's also pretty funny. While it infuriated him at the time, her slapping a glyph on his back that made him rocket off into the horizon was now slightly hilarious. He'd love to see it happen to someone else that he hates, like Kikimora.)]
[Dylan has his friends' energy. He'd fit right in with them. It makes him miss them all just a little less.]
[...Strange how he already cares enough about about them to miss them when he hasn't known them that long, but Gus and Willow and the flyer derby team especially...they'd been his lifeline. Talking to them through his scroll had been the first taste of genuine kindness and normalcy that he'd ever had. They made him feel like... like a teenager.]
[It's kind of starting to feel that way around Dylan, too.]
[Hunter turns around to lean against the railing, raising both hands and giving Dylan an exaggerated shrug.]
Iiii don't exactly have a monster conveniently in my pocket that I can slip under the floor boards, so I don't think we'll be able to manage that one.
Got any other suggestions?
no subject
There's still a warmth in his stomach from that last chocolate he'd eaten, and though he's not aware of it, the white chocolate's been chipping away at his inhibitions, too. ]
Well... I don't really know much about dancing, so I'm pretty sure monster-fighting was my only shot at looking awesome on the dance floor.
You know, I always did kinda like ballroom scenes in books and movies. There's something about the hero sweeping someone off their feet that sounds... I don't know. Nice.
[ He turns a little pink after saying that, unsure why it was so easy — or why he continues talking. ]
I guess the real reason I came here was to see if I could have a moment like that... but I realized pretty quickly that I'm feeling really out of my depth here.
cw: mentions of child abuse
[It's something a lot of people their age wouldn't admit. Having a fantasy of someone sweeping them off their feet.]
[Hunter barely knows anything about romance. It's not like Belos talked about normal growth stages for a kid and teenager, and having any interest in romance, despite being at an age where you started to be interested, was something that got in the way of him being the perfect, obedient little tool. He couldn't be interested in anyone else when Belos wanted to be his entire world.]
[Normal people grew up and had friendships and sometimes crushy feelings about other people but he wasn't a person to Belos. Just a thing. Something to use and discard if he couldn't be controlled.]
[His only window into that bit of normalcy came from palming a few teen romance books here and there, out of sheer curiosity. He used to hide them under his mattress with his books on wild magic and adventure books like his copy of Ruler's Reach.]
[The teen romances always created a strange but welcome warmth in his chest, a feeling that now sometimes stirred when he was around Willow.]
[...But they also used to make him a little sad for what he was missing out on.]
[Indulging in this isn't necessarily because he and Dylan have some deep connection or something. They're still tentatively building a friendship. But Dylan is really kind and has a big personality like the friends who'd reached out and saved Hunter from Belos' influence. For his kindness alone, he deserves someone giving him that kind of normal teen experience. Someone wanting to dance with him at a dance.]
[And Hunter craves it for himself. Normal things he's never been allowed to have, like dancing with someone at Grom. They both deserve those kinds of experiences. All people their age do.]
[(Even if he has no clue how to dance. He'll just have to figure it out as he goes.)]
[Dylan has the chocolate to be daring. Hunter doesn't. But he does have the mask. He musters up the old confidence he used to have as the Golden Guard and pushes himself away from the railing, twirling around to face Dylan.]
[He goes into a slight bow and holds out his hand.]
Who says you can't still have a moment like that?
no subject
Dylan's thought is interrupted when the stranger moves, bows, and outstretches his hand. In a moment Dylan feels his face get red hot. Every muscle in his body is tense. He looks down at the gloved hand, then back to the stranger's mask. His bright red attire stands out boldly against the starlit sky, and the city lights on the horizon backlight him in a way that makes him glow.
Everything seems to stop for Dylan. The sights and sounds of the party are still, and in this moment there's only him, the stranger before him, and the hammering in his chest.
Slowly, Dylan reaches forward and takes the stranger's hand. The contact feels like a spark of electricity surging through him, and he grips it tightly, stepping forward — stepping into embracing distance.
Dylan's stomach is both churning and fluttering. His head is swimming. And his heart...
Well, that remains to be seen. ]
no subject
I'm not exactly much of a dancer, but I was watching everyone earlier.
[He'd been curious about it not just because of being interested in humans, but also knowing that this is one of those things that really isn't that different from home. He could finally see what he'd been missing.]
[He takes off Dylan's tricorn hat so it doesn't get in the way and sets it on a little table out on the balcony.]
I think we'll be able to improvise.
[He's taller, so he leads, one hand taking Dylan's in his own, the other at the small of his back. The touch there is solid but polite.]
[It isn't exactly dashing at first, because he doesn't have experience, so that means going at this a little stiffly, carefully, to avoid awkwardly knocking masks together or stepping on feet. But he leads and gets more confident as he goes, even lightly twirling him and drawing him back in. The hand on his back pulls him closer, against his chest.]
[He moves like someone who approaches physicality with purpose. Even when he's cautious, there's still intensity and control. And as he gets a little more used to it, there's even some grace.]
[It feels better than he thought it would. He thought this would just feel... normal. Nice, but in a normal way. A normal teen thing. Dancing. Fun. Just fun, right?]
[But his idea of what it would feel like probably applied better to more casual types of dancing. Doing this... it's makes it about things other than fun. Instead it's all about the soft glow of the lights coming from inside indoors highlighting golden hair. It's about how his hand feels in his own, warm even through the glove. It's about the glitter of blue eyes in the half-light.]
[He can tell the color because he saw him without the mask. Hunter's eyes - so unique to him - their color can't entirely be perceived due to the magic, but they look bright and sharp.]
[His voice is a little breathless when he finally speaks again.]
I think you were right. About wanting something like this.
[It's...nice. More than nice.]
[A lot more than nice. Especially since it's not just dancing with a random person. It's...doing something that makes him feel more connected to someone he's already starting to like.]
[Hunter doesn't want a handsome stranger. He wants to feel close to people, after a lifetime of distance. But it's hard unless they're just attaching themselves to him like limpetfish. It's hard reaching out as much as he wants. This is a way to get closer that conveniently isn't filled with the mortifying ordeal of being known.]
[At least...not yet. He'll probably tell him it was him. Eventually.]
[Maybe.]
[When it feels less terrifying to do after having done something like this first. He's rarely ever gone at something with this kind of confidence that was...personal. It was always to accomplish a mission.]
This was a nice thing to want.
[Hunter's always been so bad at letting himself want things.]
no subject
But that contact never comes. And he's — he's disappointed. Like he'd been waiting for it his whole life, despite not wanting it until a moment ago. He almost voices it, too, thanks to the white chocolate, but the thought is interrupted by the feel of the stranger's hand against the curve of his lower back.
The polite contact feels new and electrifying. It's as if he's never been touched before, which is ridiculous; He's been hugged before, and struck, and grabbed and carried. He's even held someone close before, as he once huddled with Normie in a storage closet in fear of Carnage bursting through the door.
But there's no danger here. This isn't a desperate grab for comfort, it's just... comfortable. Dylan squeezes the stranger's hand, and carefully brings the other hand up to his shoulder.
They're a little clumsy at first, trying to move in sync with the music together, but Dylan's partner moves with intent that Dylan is able to quickly find a flow with him. And with gentle guiding from their clasped hands, every turn is signaled early. Soon, Dylan is following with ease.
He had... imagined this going differently. In his fantasies, he'd always been the one leading, the dashing hero sweeping someone off their feet. But... he didn't hate this.
In fact, looking up into the mask into features he could see, but couldn't quite identify, Dylan realized he really liked this.
Dylan's whole life, letting someone else take the lead always meant relinquishing freedom in some way. He'd be dragged to church, or shut away in a bunker, or left alone in an apartment for weeks. Taking whatever control he could was the only way he could ensure he wouldn't be abandoned... or forgotten.
Yet here, letting the stranger take the lead in a slow dance, Dylan has no fear of abandonment. Even if it's just a dance with a stranger, he feels wanted and valued, like he's contributing just as much to this one night they're sharing.
When the twirl comes, Dylan is able to keep pace, but he's caught by surprise when he's pulled in close. Chest-to-chest, Dylan can feel a hammering against his ribcage, but can't identify if it's his own heart or his partner's.
Looking into the red mask, Dylan can see his partner's eyes, he knows the color, but somehow can't put it to words or commit it to memory. It's magic, he's certain of it, that's the sort of thing Loki could do.
When his partner speaks, so soft and close, Dylan can't suppress a pleasurable shiver. ]
Yeah.
[ It's all he can think to say. There's so much he's feeling, but he has no idea how to articulate it. Instead, he inhales deeply, taking in his partner's scent — it's not quite sweat, not quite cologne, just... human, and until that moment, Dylan had never imagined another person could smell so nice.
He releases the breath in a long, contented sigh, and leans a little more into his partner's embrace. If the mask hadn't been in the way, he might have rested his face in the curve of his partner's neck, but that's not possible at the moment. Instead, Dylan just squeezes his hand. ]
I... I really like this.
[ Dumb, dumb, that was the dumbest thing to say. But thinking is hard right now. He just... wants to feel. Feel the chest against his, the hand on the curve of his spine. He wants to feel more, be wrapped up in him on all sides, safe, wanted, valued, and —
— and loved?
That last one was ridiculous. They barely knew each other. They didn't even know each other's names. But here, caught up in the fantasy of the moment, he can let himself pretend. ]
Careful, though.
[ Dylan leans in a little closer, bringing his lips inches away from his partner's ear. ]
I could do this all night if you let me.
no subject
[Thrilling.]
[(And it's all his own fault for starting it in the first place.) The intensity of it's throwing him a little. Logically, he knows this is a normal thing teens do. Or at least they do it in the books he's read.]
[They dance. They flirt. They feel things. Like all kinds of things because of crushes and friendships. Because there's room for things other than duty.]
[In a way, it hurts just as much as it feels good. His devotion to his uncle and fear of failing him had been all-consuming. Not just because failure was sometimes punished, but because who wants to show someone they love, someone that took them in, ingratitude? Who wants to fail enough to be cast aside, forgotten, relegated to un-importance? Serving Belos had been far more than a full-time job. (He's read that some humans have more days off than one day a year!!!) Belos had also just taken up so much space in his head that there wasn't room for anything else.]
[In the end, it hadn't even been that Belos' love was conditional, he just...hadn't been loved at all.]
[It feels nice to fill all that empty space with normal feelings, like putting up the very first picture on the empty walls of a new room that's all your own.]
[Even if it's just one special moment on one special night, it feels so much better to be the center of someone else's world the same time they're the center of yours. To be looked at with something other than indifference and disapproving disdain.]
[It feels like it'd felt getting dunked with apple blood by the team after winning at flyer derby, or fighting side by side with Willow, or developing his special handshake with Gus.]
[Just...a lot more tingly in the stomach. And flushy in the face.]
[With Dylan's head tucked in close he can't see Hunter's half-lidded eyes and soft expression as he tries to think of something to say back.]
[But the music...stops. The party is ending. Hunter looks into the building and sees that people are starting to disperse, moving slowly towards the secluded little paths they'd taken in to pick up the masks. He draws away enough to look at Dylan.]
Sorry. Looks like we don't have all night.
no subject
[ Dylan deflates a little, then smiles sheepishly. ]
M-maybe it's for the best. I was... kind of getting carried away there.
[ To say the least. His heart's still pounding and his stomach's still twisting, and he really doesn't want this to end. It's really hard to hide the disappointment in his voice when he speaks. ]
I, um... [ He blushes a little, the red flush on his cheeks peeking out from under the mask ] Don't suppose we could hang out again?
We don't have to, you know, be super fancy like this masquerade.
Unless you want to!
no subject
[Oh no.]
[ABORT MISSION.]
[He vastly miscalculated here. He thought it'd be fun and nice and that he could tell Dylan later that it was him and it could just be a little fun thing they did and Dylan could laugh about it being someone he already knows. They could think it was fun they'd sort of play-acted at being mutually dashing, like out of a story.]
[But if he's getting carried away, he's feeling something, and if he wants to hang out outside of this he thinks Hunter's actually charming or something. Like...for real. Not just for fun. And that is an absolutely incorrect thing to think.]
[Hunter has at times had to be confident and unflappable. That confidence had sometimes had to be a sneering confidence, due to backstabbing being the primary past-time in the upper ranks of the Emperor's coven.]
[But confident's not the same thing as suave.]
[For some reason, trying for the confidence, minus the condescension, has actually charmed him, but since he had to throw away the Golden Guard persona, he's never been even close to charming without the mask. It's a stretch to even manage confident, especially since he'd been terrified when facing Belos.]
[He'd tricked him into thinking he could be like this outside of here. By accident, but still. And if he admits it now, Dylan will feel deceived and it'll explode a growing friendship and send it right to the depths of the boiling sea.]
[He needs an exit strategy.]
[And he doesn't want it to be something that tarnishes the...the feeling that'd been there. Maybe it's selfish but he doesn't want to remember this as a time he wound up mortified at the end by his own social awkwardness. And if Dylan did feel charmed and delighted, he deserves to have felt that way - even if it's kind of fake and not something Hunter'd ever be able to keep up.]
[He deserves to not feel rejected. If he disappears, it has to be a part of the moment.]
[He tactically withdraws. They were still holding hands and Hunter's hand is very loose in his glove, so it slips off when he steps back, still in Dylan's hand. He doesn't ask for it back or try to grab it again.]
Maybe.
[He shrugs as he walks backward, off the balcony into the building again.]
If you want to hang out, I guess you'll just have to find me first.
[And then he bolts and doesn't even consider how cool he's about to look, because this is just... it's just movement. He does this all the time if it feels necessary, because his way of compensating for a lack of magic during his witch's duels was making himself terribly hard to hit with anything. Speed and agility meant everything if everyone else had to keep drawing circles in the air and aiming things at him.]
[To bypass people walking down stairs that lead to the greater ballroom, he jumps up, runs along the railing, straight up skidding down the steepest part attached to the stairs, then kicks off, grabbing a curtain and using it to slow his fall as he slips down to an even lower level.]
[He lands on steady feet and looks back up.]
[There are now two levels and a whole crowd of people Dylan would have to shove past to beat him to the place where they have to give back the masks, so he can try to see Hunter's face.]
[He gives him one last little sassy wave with the hand that lost a glove. It feels like the thing someone would do in one of the books he's read. Dylan might get the sense there's some kind of mark - maybe a birth mark? - on his right wrist, but not what it is.]
[The next part he says more out of imitation of his Golden Guard attitude than out of attempt to look cool. It's audible even with him being that far down.]
BYEEEE!
[Then he disappears into the crowd, racing to give back the mask, and then slipping away from the theater as fast as he can.]
no subject
"Maybe," he had said. ]
I guess that's a no.
[ It's fine. Really, it's fine.
It's not fine this really hurts.He's used to people getting bored and ditching him. He smiles despite himself, closing his eyes and hugging the glove close to his chest. It'll be a nice memory to look back on, at least. He has that much. ]