[MINGLE] Saints & Sinners Masquerade

[sixthiteration]

WHERE: Corn field next to the inn
WHEN: 31 October, all day and night
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Please warn as appropriate in your subject lines
NOTES: Please make sure you have read and understand the event details! If you have questions, drop them here. RECOMMENDED BUT NOT REQUIRED: Put your SCRUBS COLOR in your OTA subject line for folks doing bingo. Time your OTA for the harvest feast, the masquerade, or both. Costume matches and details for folks who did not get matched are here.

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This morning, our intrepid villagers awoke to a surprise of the nicer kind: A bundle of clothing left at the foot of their bed, tied with a bow. There is also a note: Put on your new outfit and join the festivities in the corn field next to the inn.

You may be thinking, what corn field next to the inn? The one that sprung up fully-mature overnight, of course.

In the middle of the field, villagers will find an autumn feast: Tables piled with harvest time food and drink, warm and rustic decorations, the day's sunshine fending off any chill in the air.

Tuck in and enjoy, villagers, but take note: Things often look different in the dark, and you might be one of them.

Comments

[notsoangry]

Between the long red cape and the cloak he can mostly cover up, and that's enormously reassuring. The hood goes up and over his eyes, so he pushed it back to his shoulders again. Bruce smiles at her, because honestly how can he not? He loves making her laugh, even if it's at him. It's stupid now, if he thinks about it, to think Nat would care if he looked silly or not, but he's not thinking entirely rationally when it comes to her at the moment.

"Not all of us look as good in red as you." Yeah, that's why, sure. His wry humor is in full display. "I think it really brings out the worst in my coloring. And the shoes are tacky, they probably got them on sale." He finally gets up since he can mostly stand and he anxiously makes sure he's covered. So far so good. "And I don't want you to think of me and picture this every time."

[tothefly]

Of course she doesn't care if he looks silly. Well--not entirely true, she wants him to be comfortable, to not feel so embarrassed and awkward it's painful, but a little silly isn't a bad thing, and she appreciates how he can still manage to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Part of that zen she's always admired.

"People keep saying that. I think it's the hair," she says, and she's smiling back at him as she stands, too. "I do think purple's more your color, though. Complements your eyes." Eyes she's looking up into, decidedly higher than she's used to. Between her flat boots and his heels, the proportion is all off-balance. And yet she doesn't mind too horribly much. He does have nice legs. She doesn't look down, but her smile does widen a touch, a faint quirk of her eyebrow speaking volumes.

"It won't be every time. Promise. But you can borrow the cloak, if it means you'll stay."

[notsoangry]

"It's not the hair," he disagrees. She'd look good in anything. It's fact. Bruce smiles at the compliment, looking shyly to the side since he's never great at accepting them. "Note to self, find all the purple clothing in the village." Bruce likes a lot of things about Natasha, but her sense of humor is high on the list. It's a very easy way to deflect awkwardness when used right. When they first met that was what he kept doing, deflect deflect deflect. She seemed very serious at the time. They were strangers then.

He's taller now and almost feels like Thor in comparison, though he's still much shorter than the Asgardian. He looks down at her, clearly calculating in his mind how much his level of discomfort contradicts her wanting him to stay. He'll be stuck like this longer, but it's more time with Nat. He knows what Tony would recommend after their talk. Bruce is aware it was never a question. She wants him there. He's not going. "Can I get you a drink?" Which means he's not leaving.

[tothefly]

She's still very good at being serious. When the situation calls for it. And, of course, it's not uncommon for people to misread her expression, her very particular dry sense of humor as seriousness, even when it's not. She's not an easy woman to read at the best of times. He'd learned, though; and she'd learned that his sense of humor held many of the same quirks. Acerbic, wry, quick and clever. Unexpected. There was a lot about Bruce that had been unexpected.

There's still more to learn, apparently, she thinks, and there's no question about what her answer is going to be, either. "A drink would be great," she says, and it might be small and a little cliché, but it is a nice place to start. "And maybe a dance, later, depending on how much you're hating those shoes? Be a shame to miss the opportunity."

[notsoangry]

Bruce's sense of humor flares the most if he's making light of something that isn't light, or mocking himself. He rarely mocks someone else, but sometimes he'll tease them, once they've reached a level of comfort. He resists negative attention as much as possible, and the wrong joke at the wrong time can do that. But their humor matches and it's how she manages to make him smile more than not, like now.

"I will definitely step on your toes in this, save your feet." But as usual, it won't take much to convince him. He's fairly certain she can convince him to do just about anything. She was right the first time they met. She's very persuasive. He offers her his arm though and leads her toward the table to find something worth their time. And after a little wine, he might give her a twirl.

[tothefly]

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I can stay one step ahead of you." After all, she'd survived a dance with Steve. Who, while better than he claimed to be, seemed to be trying his best to be much worse. Maybe it's the first time they've done anything like this, and maybe the situation might not be the most ideal, but it's a party, and she's learned the value of letting loose when you can.

Slipping an arm through his, Natasha lets Bruce lead the way towards the table. They'll have a drink, and she'll maybe talk him into a dance, and whatever tomorrow's going to bring, it will. At least they'll have a good memory of tonight.