DAY TWO UPDATE. Everybody slept on their mistakes and has returned refreshed enough to make new ones. THE RAKE: Significantly less shattered than when we last saw her. She describes last night as providing clarification, catharsis and closure, admits that hope may simply be “self-delusion that occasionally becomes true,” and has decided she is going to enjoy herself anyway. She then kissed the Demoiselle on the cheek and immediately went looking for the Vulpes because she apparently had an apology to make. Character development is possible, even here, folks. THE RAKE + THE VIXEN: Speaking of recovery, apparently the Rake's chosen therapeutic exercise is the Vixen. Their dance became an increasingly close contest in mutual surrender, control and lipstick transfer, with both of them very aware of what the other was doing. The Rake eventually solved the tension by pulling the Vixen off the dance floor and toward a private room for what was described as “a dance of an entirely different kind.” This reporter respects a clear escalation of stakes. MASHEN TIANDI + RAMSHEAD: Yesterday's awkwardness appears to be evaporating at alarming speed. They arrived together again, immediately returned to dancing, and Ramshead is noticeably more comfortable with him. Mashen has now internally reached the dangerous stage of “she's cute, stop thinking that,” which famously prevents absolutely nobody from continuing to think exactly that. Ramshead also casually planted herself on his lap later. Whatever they are doing, it can't mean nothing. THE BUTTERFLY: New arrival. Tall, gothic, enormous ornate wings, fully committed to the visual concept. More importantly, she appears to have entered the ballroom and immediately located her target. THE BUTTERFLY + MISS BALAM: Oh, this one is not subtle. Compliments began immediately. “You look gorgeous.” “You look stunning.” Blushing followed. Balam kissed the Butterfly on the cheek over her mask, admired her wings, and then dragged her toward the dance floor. The Butterfly appears perfectly happy with this arrangement. THE MAGNATED + THE SCARECROW: I regret to inform everyone that this remains suspicious. The Magnated has been visibly staring him down. The Scarecrow, meanwhile, got distracted mid-conversation with the Demoiselle by the host performing onstage, removed his hat, ran his fingers through his straw-hair and managed one extremely eloquent internal response: “Golly.” He then apologized to the Demoiselle for staring at another lady while talking to her. Sir. You did not make this less obvious. Only, more scandalous. THE DEMOISELLE + THE SCARECROW: The Demoiselle has also begun spending time with him, meeting Johnny the crow and encouraging him to stop being quite so formal with her. The Scarecrow remains physically incapable of interacting with a woman without becoming a bashful agricultural emergency. THE VULPES + MERITOMB: Meritomb asked for a dance and the Vulpes accepted with enthusiasm. Meritomb immediately abandoned formal composure, grabbed both her hands, ran onto the floor, spun her around and dipped her. Apparently some people need three nights to develop chemistry. Others require approximately twelve seconds and sufficient floor space. THE RESEARCHER + THE FLARE: Still comfortably orbiting one another. The Researcher has been leaning into the Flare, wrapping an arm around her, and eventually kissed the top of her head before wandering off to deliberately make herself uncomfortable by flirting with strangers. THE NOIR + THE SPIDER: The Spider finally accepted a dance. During it, the Noir slowly realized that the Spider may have identified them first. The Spider then quietly explained exactly how it recognized the Noir based on something said about asking people to dance. The detective has apparently been out-detectived by the person whose primary activity yesterday was gleefully spinning around alone. The Noir jokingly offered over the hat. Correct response. This is definitely not a reference to recent media. SIR PEPPERMINT: Returned rested, ate a candy cane for breakfast, and has spent much of the evening being almost aggressively pleasant. He has already accumulated conversation with Raven, Mashen, Ramshead and Tempter and appears determined to have perhaps the healthiest evening occurring anywhere in the building. SIR PEPPERMINT + TEMPTER: These two have apparently seen the circulating rankings regarding who is most likely to “cause a stir.” Peppermint discovered he had been placed in C while Tempter was in B. Both agreed that at least neither of them received S. I had not anticipated my irresponsible journalism becoming in-universe reading material for the subjects, yet here we are. THE DOLL: New arrival. Nervous, uncertain who to approach, currently discovering one of the central truths of the masquerade: wearing a solid mask makes the food table considerably more aspirational. WISE OWL: New arrival. Quiet, observant, immediately evaluating the quality of the drinks. Current review: unimpressive. NEKOMATA: New arrival. Well dressed, eager, and accompanied by a tail large enough that anonymity may require divine intervention. CHRYSOTILE: Has appeared and attempted conversation with the Wise Owl, only to discover that the Owl was sufficiently distracted by the playlist to accidentally ignore them. They eventually slithered off toward the other room. Tragic. ANTHOUSA: Another fresh mask, arriving considerably later into the evening. So far she has danced, become tired, requested water with lemon, and been immediately informed by the Wise Owl that the bar is mediocre. Welcome to the party. THE NOIR: Still investigating everyone. Has now accidentally become one of the evening's more wholesome dance partners. The first night was about concealment. The second is already beginning to look like the night where everybody realizes the masks are useless. Hopefully they finally start truly having fun. #OutGlutMasquerade
Perhaps you will put together my clues then, Noir. Or at least, have the audacity to offer a dance.