The masquerade
Prompt: After moving to Empires for one season along with your friend Gem, you missed your boyfriends. Not as much as when a couples masquerade was announced.
Pairing: Poly!Reader x Scar x Mumbo x Grian
Warnings: None !
Word Count: 1403
A/N: Listen, some prompts have me in a CHOKEHOLD. This is one of them.
You slowly and rhythmically tapped your fingers against the desk. It’s not that you didn’t like ruling your empire, the meetings could just be so extremely boring. The advisor from some other place was just rambling on, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to care about whatever trade routes they were talking about. It didn’t even include you yet, anyway.
Luckily, it was over before you knew it. Your own advisor did most of the talking, and all you had to do was just take notes and nod occasionally. The breeze from the beach had you smiling as it hit you in the face when you stepped out of the foreign building. With a quick wave to your advisor and guards, you flew off. They knew you had somewhere to be anyway.
Landing at Crystal Cliffs, you took off your elytra and placed it into your inventory. “Oh Geemm!” Calling out, you made your way to find your fellow Hermit. It didn’t take long before the redhead poked her head out. “Y/N! Hello, darling! What can I help you with?” You pulled out your cross-server communicator, and grinned sheepishly. “I haven’t gotten the heart to tell Jimmy that this isn’t a normal com.. fWhip managed to fix it, though I was wondering if you remembered the code to get back to the Hermitcraft server?”
The wizard hummed. “I’m not sure, to be honest. You might need to ask Pix or Sausage.” “But they don’t know the code! They’ve never been on Hermitcraft!” You huffed. Gem thought for a second, before reaching out to the communicator. “Leave it with me, I’ll do my best, alright? I completely get that it sucks.” Handing her the device, you thanked her profusely, before getting invited in for some tea.
—
You loved your fellow Hermits, so it wasn’t unexpected that you’d get homesick. The feeling was something you and Gem could both agree on. What made it worse, however, was the fact that your boyfriends were so far away. And now that your cross-server comms were broken, it left you feeling more and more alone.
Looking out the window, watching your people go about their life, all you could do was sigh. You weren’t able to properly put your thoughts into words, and the pile of crumpled up papers behind you clearly showed that. With a hum, you picked up your pen again.
My dearest ones,
I wish to send my deepest apologies for the fact I have been neglecting to contact you.
Screw that, I hate writing formal letters.
First of all, I’m SUPER sorry for not contacting you. Jimmy broke my cross-server communicator by accident, and I don’t have the heart to tell him. He still thinks it’s my normal one, and I can’t stand to make him feel even more guilty. fWhip fixed it, and Gem is trying to get it back onto the Hermit servers.
Second of all, how are you lot? I’m doing alright, ruling over an empire is surprisingly boring at certain times.
There is so much to talk about, but my hand is cramping from writing so many drafts. Get back to me, yeah? I’ll be waiting for your response.
Yours forever,
Y/N.
—
The sound of your name being called pulled you out of your slumber, and before you knew it, a pink haired queen was in your room. “Oh, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry! I was just going to check if you got an invite to the masquerade too.” You rubbed your eyes sleepily and hummed. “I think so, yeah. Is it the one Katherine is hosting?” The Ocean queen nodded quickly.
“Mhm! The dress code is fantasy-esque. She also told me to go around and tell everyone that it’s a couples event, since all of us rulers have a partner! There’ll also be some other people of importance, but it’ll mostly be just us.” Your heart sank. A couples event. It made sense, Pix recently announced he found someone, Lizzie and Joel just got married.. But you couldn’t get your boys over here.
Lizzie must’ve seen your face drop, as she visibly sympathized with you. “Oh, I forgot.. I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’m sure it’ll work out, yeah?” You bit your lip and nodded, letting yourself be pulled into a hug from the axolotl hybrid. “I’m sure it will. Thanks, Liz.”
—
Gem has been acting weird the whole day. You were sitting in your bedroom, getting ready as Gem did her makeup. “Okay, I need your opinion. Does gold or silver go better with my outfit?” The wizard turned towards you and hummed, looking at your navy blue outfit. “I’d say gold.. Is that Mumbo’s pocket watch?” Gem gasped, smirking at you. “I have to include them somehow, you know? I’ve got something for Scar and Grian too.”
Your friend sighed, pulling you into a hug. “I’ve almost got it working, don’t worry. You’ll be able to talk to them soon enough.” With a soft smile, you pulled away. “Thanks, Gem. You’re the best.”
Joel yelling at you two to get down to leave snapped you out of the moment, and with a quick check to see if the feather was still on the necklace, you grabbed your crown and sprinted downstairs with a laugh alongside Gem.
—
The masquerade was beautiful. Katherine had really outdone herself with the decorations, and everyone looked stunning. The music was slow and soft as everyone arrived. Shrub came over to talk to you, and soon enough the actual music set in. With a wave to the gnome, you watched her toddle off to dance with her partner.
The drinks table was your best friend at the moment, and you silently readjusted your mask. It felt bittersweet to watch everyone, though you couldn’t help the fond smile on your face. The happiness was radiating from everyone and felt contagious.
You hadn’t noticed the latecomers, though. A soft tapping on your shoulder startled you. You turned around, being met by a masked man with brown hair. You were surprised, as you thought for a split second that it was Scar. Over the music, his voice was barely audible, though you heard what he said. “Hello there, your highness. You look lonely, so could I offer you a dance?”
With an awkward chuckle, you shake your head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m taken, though my partners aren’t here. I apologize.” The man was about to reply, before you felt two arms wrap around your waist. About to snap around and punch the person behind you in the face, you paused as you felt feathers tickle your neck. What was going on?
“Come on, darling. Let’s dance!” The brunette chuckled, holding out his hand. You were so confused, until it finally clicked when another voice spoke up. “Stop teasing their majesty, love. Be clear.” Everything went silent. You couldn’t hear the music anymore, and the redstoners voice felt like coming home. Swerving around, you were met with the masked face of your favorite avian.
“Hi, pretty bird.” The huge grin on your face didn’t seem to leave, and you pressed a soft kiss onto his forehead. Turning back to the brunette, you chuckled. “I knew the scars looked familiar. How’re the other Hermits?” Opening your other arm for Mumbo to slot into, you felt Grian still holding onto your back.
“Everyone’s doing good! It’s super chaotic, but we can all agree we miss you two.” The elf ruffled your hair, knocking your crown slightly off-balance. Grian softly chirped as he held you tighter once you tried to put your glass down. “He’s been complaining about missing you during the whole trip here. Scratch that, he started complaining when we got your letter.” You laughed at Mumbo, pulling the mustached man into a proper kiss.
“Alright, pretty bird. Want to dance? We can catch up with Gem later.” The avian nodded right away, and after admiring your lovers’ outfits, he pulled you towards the other couples. He was rusty, that was clear, though you didn’t mind. Gem caught your eye and winked with a knowing smirk, and you couldn’t help but think she had something to do with this. As Grian twirled you around softly, you saw Scar trying to teach Mumbo what to do.
It was unexpected, but you haven’t felt your heart full with this much love in a while.