time | early evening
location | Strauss family estate, in one of the main common areas
@maddoxshields
This party really was the ideal environment for Fox, and to think, they’d chosen the perfect cover on a whim, mid-conversation! Maybe it was just instinct at this point, falling into step with the right character for every situation. But they were particularly proud of this one, so close to the real thing that if you squinted hard enough, they were just playing themself. It was a role they’d perfected in the streets of every colony they’d ever set foot on, swindling people into believing whatever lies Fox wanted them to believe. It wasn’t something everyone could do, pushing the boundary between themself and other people when it was in place for their own protection. But Fox liked to think they had perfected the art of swimming through the shark tank untouched- they made their comfort zone a bubble around them, as big or as small as it need to be for them to get the job done.
Somehow, Fox couldn’t picture some of the crew being able to work the situations they dealt with every day quite as well. Maddox for example, while certainly capable of a lot of things Fox could never even dream of… he didn’t strike them as the cool & elegant under pressure type. But, they were willing to challenge him if he was willing to rise to meet it. And that, paired with their already fantastic mood, and their penchant for annoying him whenever he got the opportunity, gave Fox a brilliant idea, to see what Maddox was really capable of.
“You, my friend!” they called, gesturing to Maddox from the center of the crowd they were performing to, and crossing the distance between them in a few comically long gaits. “Perhaps you can help us with our little game, pick a card!” They held out a fanned deck of cards to him, smirking from behind their mask and watching carefully to see their crewmate’s reaction. Fox had been working the crowd for a while already, and so they watched with interest, although they still talked quietly between themselves from time to time.
Maddox could almost choke on all that this party was. It was like he had been transported back to Oceanus, to the early days of the rich taking over, taking up every inch of free space with their columns and their silks. At least he was here to knock one of these undeserving aristocrats off his pedestal. That would feel nice. But there were still a few hours until he was set to rendez-vous with Na.
So, Maddox had settled himself against a wall with a health glass of bourbon in his hands. The mask was nice, something to hide behind, though he wished he could cast his hood up as well. Jinx had told him in no uncertain terms that he couldn’t, that it would hide how “awesome” his mask was. As it was, Lux had practically wrestled him into the sheer shirt he was wearing. Space nymphs were taking over his life.
Speaking of space nymphs, Fox leapt out of seemingly nowhere, all flash and dazzle. They just lived for this kind of crowd, this kind of attention. Maddox hoped it didn’t show, how he was seething. Fox knew that he wouldn’t like to be pulled into the center of attention. And this, of course, was likely why they had chosen him. Maddox slipped a card from Fox’s fan and tried to ignore the crowd of admirers who craned at his back, attempting to see its face. It was the four of diamonds, the suit blood-red against the inky black.
He held the card to his chest and met Fox’s eyes through their mask. “What now?” he drawled dryly, playing along but letting his crew-mate know that he was not impressed.
