Okay so 25 with kunikidazai except it's with Atsushi and he's going to some special event that he needs to dress up for
25. our baby is going to prom. again, not prom, but better :P
“You know, I don’t need help with this,” Atsushi says, eyeing the two men sitting on the couch in front of him.
Dazai laughs sarcastically, “Yes you do. When have you ever been on a date before?”
“When have either of you?” Atsushi shoots back as he stomps back to his bedroom.
He hears Kunikida shout down the hall before his door closes, “Thursday nights are date nights!”
When Atsushi reemerges from his room dressed in what he thought was his best attire, he’s met with a disapproving cluck from Kunikida and a thumbs down from Dazai. He sighs, “Fine, then what would you suggest?”
As though they’d been waiting for the question, they both leap up from the couch, Dazai following Kunikida down the hall towards Atsushi’s room, the latter trailing behind them.
After an excursion through Atsushi’s closet, Dazai and Kunikida have put together an outfit which Atsushi grumbles at before shooing his coworkers out of his room and begrudgingly getting dressed.
The bow tie seems a bit much, and there was no way that Atsushi would have worn this shirt with these pants himself, but he doesn’t look too bad. He meanders back into the living room, checking his watch, jumping in surprise when Dazai lets out a loud shout, “Atsushi-kun! You look so nice!”
Kunikida straightens Atsushi’s tie and smooths his hair gently while Dazai stands at the front door with one eye glued to the peephole. Atsushi frowns, “Why are you two acting so weird? I’m just going out with Lucy. You’ve met her, she’s nice.”
“Yes she’s plenty sweet,” Dazai says absentmindedly, still keeping watch, “But you’re more important to us. And we want your date to be perfect.”
Atsushi is hit with a thought that, while a little funny, is violently unsettling, “Y-you two aren’t going to follow us are you?”
“Good idea, Atsushi-kun!” Dazai sings from the front hall.
Kunikida laughs at the look of horror on Atsushi’s face and ruffles his hair softly, “No we won’t, don’t worry. We’re just worried about you, and this is a big day. It’s our baby’s first date.”
“Oh my god, Kunikida-san, you aren’t my dads,” Atsushi whines.
He’s only kidding a little bit. Before coming to Yokohama and joining the Agency, there was no one to care for Atsushi, no one to worry over him. But now he has so many people who love him.
And these two… Atsushi laughs as he watches Kunikida and Dazai bickering by the door… these two care for him so deeply. He never had a father figure, and while Kunikida and Dazai are by no means competent parents (not yet, anyways), their love means the world to him.
A knock on the door startles all three of them. Dazai and Kunikida share a few more whispers before Dazai jerks the door open.
Lucy is standing on the front step looking, in Atsushi’s opinion, absolutely breathtaking. But then Atsushi sees the look in Dazai’s eyes as he steps forward to interrogate the poor girl. Atsushi dashes across the living space and grabs his keys before sliding between Dazai and Kunikida and slamming the door behind him.
Dazai looks a little surprised but presses his ear to the door, and Kunikida laughs before doing the same.
“You look nice, Atsushi,” Lucy murmurs as Atsushi locks the door behind him.
Dazai gives Kunikida a thumbs up and whispers, “And he wanted to wear the blue shirt.” They both try to stifle giggles behind their hands, and a sharp bang on the door from Atsushi just makes them laugh harder.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry about them, they’re idiots,” Atsushi chirps, “You look beautiful, Lucy.”
Hm, how about... Pearlrose (wow surprise) with 34!
Pearlrose… who are you and what have you done with oathkeeper?!?
Okay, but seriously. 34: meeting at a masquerade ball au. Yes, this sounds fun.
The Dancing and the Dreaming
Pearl was still not entirely certain how this had all happened.
It was true that she had been preparing for the ball for weeks- but not in the same way as all the elegent guests around her. While they had been having outfits tailored, their hair styled, and arranging for limousines, she’d been organising the tables, ordering the flower arrangements, and fighting down stress migraines. By the time of the event had finally arrived, Pearl couldn’t remember the last time she had slept, and she was moving through her duties with a dream-like daze.
As far as she was concerned, she might have actually fallen asleep from exhaustion. That seemed to be the only explanation for why a pair of two finely dressed young ladies had ambushed her in one of the halls, pulled her into an alcove, and before she could even protest, started stringing a necklace around her neck.
“I- what?” Pearl stuttered, too surprised to do anything else.
“Stop wiggling,” one of the two strangers said from behind her, the one wearing a handsome red tuxedo. From the feel of it, she was standing on tip-toe, trying to get the necklace around Pearl’s neck. “This clasp is really tough.”
The other one, decked in a gorgeous blue dress, was pulling a long turquoise scarf from out of her purse. Without saying a word, she pulled it around Pearl’s waist and began to tie it in an elaborate bow at the hip.
Pearl managed to get a hold of herself. “What exactly is going on?” she demanded.
The pair paused, and seemed to exchange glances (though they were wearing masks, so it was hard to tell). “We’re dressing you up,” the one in blue said, as if it should be obvious.
“I- yes, I can tell, but why?”
There was a small snap as the necklace’s clasp finally came together. Instead of answering her, Tuxedo just said, “Ah, there we go.”
Pearl glanced down at her neck. A perfect white sphere hung there from a silver chain. She felt a little like choking. “Is this a pearl?” she asked. “An actual pearl necklace?!”
Pearl was beginning to suspect this was some elaborate prank. She stared around, as if hoping to find some hidden cameras. As far as she could tell, there were none.
“Yes,” Blue Dress said simply, “Like your name.”
“How do you know what my name is?”
“Don’t sweat it. Sapphire just knows things like that,” Tuxedo said, stepping out from behind her, hands in her pockets. Then she said, in a mock whisper, “She’s psychic.”
Yep. Definitely a prank. Had to be.
But no cameras had come out yet, and Pearl had never heard of a prank so baffling. “Why are you doing this?”
“We’re giving you a night off,” Blue Dress- ‘Sapphire’- said.
“You can’t just give me a ‘night off’,” Pearl protested. “I have an actual job to do-”
“What, serving food?” asked Tuxedo. “Look, take an hour, at least. Do you really think anyone’s going to notice if there’s one less person walking around, handing out mini-quiches?”
My manager might, some part of Pearl pointed out, but the words didn’t quite manage to reach her mouth. This was partly because, at that very moment, Sapphire pulled something else out of her purse.
It was a mask. An absolutely gorgeous mask. Shaped like a bird’s face, the nose a beak, plumes of beautiful white and blue feathers framing the eyes. It seemed to glitter. Without thinking, Pearl felt herself reaching for it.
The stranger let her take it; let her put it on her face. It fit perfectly.
“Looks good,” Tuxedo said. Her partner nodded.
Then each of them took one of her hands, and gently began to lead her towards the ballroom.
Pearl let herself be pulled along, too overwhelmed to resist. But when they arrived at the grande doors, she still asked, “Why are you doing this?”
Sapphire smiled at her for the first time, and said, “You’ll see.”
Then, as quickly as they arrived, the mysterious pair seemed to vanish into the crowd. Pearl blinked at the place they’d been, stunned. Then, figuring that she might as well, stepped into the crowd herself.
Pearl had seen such fine events many times before, but now, it was different. Always, she’d been an outsider- there carrying trays or cleaning spills, but now, she was a part of it. Beneath the necklace and the sash and mask, nobody seemed to notice that the clothing she wore, nice as it was, was identical to all the servers’. From beneath their own animal-faces they smiled at her, complimented her hair or her outfit, offered her drinks, suggested a chance.
She blushed at the compliments, but politely declined both the drinks and the dances. That, she felt, would be overstepping her bounds, somehow.
Then, her eyes caught on the most magnificent figure from across the room.
She wasn’t just tall- she towered. Like everyone, her face was hidden behind a mask. Her’s was a lion, strong and regal. It was a lioness, no actual mane, but she seemed to have one anyway, thanks to her glorious mass of pink curls, which cascaded behind her like a waterfall, trailing into the brilliant white of her ballgown. Pink droplets-possibly true diamonds- glittered at her ears, catching the light, but she hardly needed them to catch attention. She seemed to demand attention, simply by being there.
And then, suddenly, she seemed to be right in front of Pearl, offering a hand and saying, “Could I have this next dance?”
Pearl hardly even hesitated.
That first dance was a blur- of spinning, twirling, dipping, utterly dizzying, but utterly wonderful. She had forgotten how much she missed this, the dancing, the sheer ease of it–
But it wasn’t just the dancing, it was her partner. The two of them seemed to move in natural harmony, perfectly synchronised. The lioness knew the steps to the music well; her feet and hands were always in the right place, to perfectly guide her dance partner into the next move-
- and then the next song, and the next, dancing until both of them were too winded to dance anymore.
After the next song ended, the pair of them left the dance floor. Pearl stood there, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from her face. “Well,” she breathed.
“Are you okay?” the Lioness worried.
“Oh, yes, fine, fine,” Pearl said. And she was, honestly- she just hadn’t realized how out of shape, and out of practice, she’d gotten. There was a time where she could have continued to get that for hours.
The Lioness still seemed worried, however, and grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing server from her. Pearl took it without protest. She was suddenly aware of how horribly dry her throat felt. She took several too-long sips, the drink burning pleasantly.
“Better?”
“Yes,” Pearl said, feeling light-headed, and not because of the alcohol. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” the mysterious woman said. “Those were some of the best dances I’ve had in my entire life. Are you a professional?”
Pearl felt herself blushing. “Oh, no, no, nothing like that, no,” she said. “I mean- I did attend dance school, but that was years ago-”
The lady frowned. “You were? But why ever did you stop?”
Pearl shrugged. “Oh, you know,” she said, forgetting that a woman rich enough to actually attend an event like this probably wouldn’t. “Dancing isn’t exactly the the most… stable, career. I had a scholarship, but it didn’t cover expenses like rent or food, let alone equipment-”
Pearl stopped mid-sentence. Partly, it was the realization that she shouldn’t just be dumping her entire life history with a complete stranger she’d done nothing but share a couple of dances with. Partly, it was sudden recollection of her financial situation, reminding her that she really couldn’t afford to just chat the night away.
“I’ve really got to be going-”
Even with only the bottom of her face showing, the stranger looked flabbergasted. “What, already? But we were having such a nice time.”
“I- yes, yes we were, but I’ve really got to go, I have work to do-”
The Lioness laughed, though she didn’t sound happy. “But it’s not even midnight yet, Cinderella.”
“Look, you don’t understand,” Pearl said, looking the stranger in the eyes behind her mask. “I- I’m not actually a guest her. I’m just staff. See my uniform? It’s hard to explain- but some people, they got me all dressed up and told me to go dancing, but I really have to get to work, or I could be fired.”
The lady frowned. “I see,” she said. She mumbled something under her breath- Pearl didn’t quite catch it, but it sounded vaguely as though it might include the name ‘Sapphire’. Then she smiled and dazzling smile. “Well,” she said, “If you do work here, that shouldn’t be a problem. It means, after all, that you’re technically my employee. So it should be quite easy to give you the night off.”
In the crowded ball room, surrounded by dancers, it seemed to Pearl that world froze.
“What?”
The woman smiled, pretending to misunderstand her confusion. “Yes. I’ll just contact the head of staff tomorrow morning. Quite simple.”
Pearl stared. “You’re joking,” she said. “Are you telling me, that you’re Rose Quartz. As in, billionaire CEO, owner of this entire building, Rose Quartz.”
“Well,” the woman said, such pure amusement put into that single word. “I believe it’s a faux pas to reveal such things at a masquerade, but yes. Yes, I am.
“So,” Rose Quartz continued, “do I get to know your name?”
Pearl opened her mouth, closed it, then said, “It’s Pearl.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Pearl. Now, would you care for another dance?”
No okay I need five reasons today is a good day cause Runa has awesome ideas okay go 1. I gave that scarf away. 2. I got the bagel I wanted. 3. I'm finishing my arm warmers and can wear them SOON. 4. I have S4 of Supernatural which means CASTIEEEELLLL. 5. We have coffee. Yes okay good I feel better now dad go awaaayyyyy
