A masquerade. The perfect opportunity to mingle with the royals of the land. Unfortunately, if you have no one to dance with, then this kind of party is meaningless to you.
Bigb enjoys his solitude near the balcony door. He’s never been that good at socializing with so many people around. He learned the hard way that it’s easier for him to just blend into the shadows and watch the party from afar.
Unsurprisingly, people watching is more fun than ballroom dancing. With ballroom dancing, there’s a formality to it. You have to be coordinated in the way you move your body, and it has to perfectly match your partners’ moves lest the whole dance falls apart. With people watching, it’s all about informalities. There’s no set of rules on how specifically you need to watch others to “gain a good grade” in people watching. You just need to pick someone interesting and just stare at them for a bit.
Bigb picked a guy named Etho, the prince of a faraway snow kingdom. He was chatting with some other people, a short man with big eyes and a decaying woman, with his back turned. He notices the prince’s fox ears twitch a bit before he leaves the two to join the crowd. Well that was quick.
“Looking for me?” A voice startles Bigb to the point where he slips out of the chair he was in and crashes onto the ground. When he sees a hand reach out to help him up, he notices that the hand belongs to the artic fox hybrid who he just saw on the other side of the ballroom. Otherwise known as Etho.
He doesn't understand how Etho noticed him. Nobody ever has before, besides nods from the occasional servant. And BigB has hidden hung out here for a lot of masquerades now.
Despite being an artic fox, his hand is warm. BigB's fingers linger on his unintentionally, before they're gone. The crinkle in Etho's mask where he smiles replaces the warmth.
Whilst he struggles to find the words, Etho seems to find them easily, "You can always join us, you know?" Then, as if reading BigB's mind, he adds, "You hear more of the juicy gossip that way."
BigB doesn't know how to refuse.