Anonymously Acquainted
Before I can do anything, a pop-up floods my vision. It’s a familiar-looking game window, wholly unexpected.
*Special Event*
Anonymous Adultery
There are 9 other players attending the masquerade. Your mask hides you from player recognition, as do theirs. You have been assigned one of four targets to bed. If you succeed, you will receive a skill token.
Below the description of the event, there’s a picture of my target. It’s a pretty, older woman in a red dress, with her face covered by a lustrous golden mask.
I glance to my right, towards the woman sitting right next to Laura. After a few back and forth glances between the picture and her, I’m sure of it, she’s the target.
I cast a sideways glance towards Tadeas, who is not-so-sneakily peeking at her as well.
Shit.
Well, maybe I just don’t care about this special quest? I mean, tonight was supposed to be about Laura, and going on a poon hunt would certainly change that.
Plus, I don't think Tadeas recognizes me, so I'm hopefully in the clear as long as I don't out myself as a player.
Y’know what? Fuck the special quest. I’m here to have a nice night, Tadeas can do whatever he wants. If he decides to go after the target, maybe I can use the chance to get a little closer to Sofia? I’ve mostly given up on her, but if she ends up getting dumped in my lap… well, that might change things.
Ultimately though, Laura comes first.
I take a quick glance around the dining hall, and see quite a few heads on a swivel looking at all the other patrons. Among those of us here tonight, there are ten players. Trying to guess who the others are, with the exception of Tadeas, is probably a long shot, so I’m not really gonna bother with it too much.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by the woman in a suit saying, “Welp, I guess introductions are in order. I’m Bernice, and this,” she points towards her partner, “Is Dina. We’re here celebrating our first anniversary.”
After she stops talking, there’s a moment of silence as everyone waits for someone else to speak up. Right before I open my mouth, the woman in a red dress says, “You can call me Miranda. This is my husband. We’re here on our first date in what feels like years, right hon’?”
Her partner silently nods.
She looks at him and gives him a… look. It’s only for a second, but it’s like a mixture of disapproval, anger, and finally, resignation. After that moment, she turns back to the group with a jovial smile. “We’re new to this.”
With that, it’s someone else’s turn. Laura speaks up. “I’m Lauren and this is my partner… Tim.”
We’re using fake names then? I guess we can never be too cautious. Who knows, maybe everyone else is as well?
I finally speak up, “We’re here because Laura…-en. Lauren loves places like this.” Damn, I suck at this.
Bernice suddenly looks very interested, “She does, does she?” She gives Laura a quick up-and-down glance and then continues, “Well that’s interesting.”
After things quiet down, everyone looks expectantly at the last couple who haven’t introduced themselves.
Tadeas opens his mouth to speak, but Sofia thrusts a finger in front of his mouth, “I’m Alice and this is my boyfriend, Tarrant!” The moment these words leave her mouth, Tadeas gives her a tight look, almost verging on anger. “We’ve been dating for a while, and we’re suuuuper in love.” as she finishes talking, Tadeas leans back in his seat and looks at the ceiling.
So… are they dating? They’re brother and sister, which is a bit fucked up, but I’m honestly surprised at how little I care.
There’s a moment of silence before the surprisingly jovial Sofia leans across the table and says, “Those are beautiful masks, are they custom?” To Miranda and her husband.
And so, a small conversation begins. Everyone takes turns talking about where they got their masks, and why they like them.
In the midst of this, we’re interrupted by masked people flooding out of the sides of the hall, dancing their way towards the raised platform. Behind them are more masked people carrying trays of food, beginning to serve appetizers.
A server reaches our table and lays out plates of some kind of salad. Before they can leave to their next table, Miranda makes a little bit of fuss.
“Excuse me, are these croutons gluten-free?”
The server simply says, “No. Is there a problem?”
She simply raises her wrist, revealing a red wristband, and wearing a smile that’s just a little too big to not be reaching her eyes. “A little bit, yeah.”
“Shoot, sorry.” The server grabs her plate back and taps a server next to him, who places a similar salad in front of her.
“It’s fine, just pay more attention.”
With that, the server moves on to the next table, and the conversation picks up again. This time, the conversation shifts to how we all met our partners,
“It was almost the end of my shift when this pretty little piece came walking in and plopped herself down right in front of me. I asked her how she was doing, and she spent thirty minutes telling me about how horrible her life was, completely out of nowhere!” Dina punches Bernice lightly on the side but is wearing a small smile. She seems fond of this story as well. Bernice continues, “I didn’t know what to do! I ended up asking her if she wanted to work off some of her stress with me and she just nodded. I was normally pretty quick at cleaning the bar, but let me tell you, I cleaned it at least twice as quickly that night.”
Sofia has a contemplative finger on her cheek, “You slept together first thing?”
“It certainly wasn’t a normal way to start things. Hell, I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again after the first night, but sure enough, she kept coming in, and we kept working through her stresses. Then, one night she just burst into tears! She started bawling about how much she loved me, while I was tongue-dee–” Dina gives Bernice a not-so-light punch this time. “While we were… currently engaged.” Bernice corrects herself. “Anyway, that’s how we got here today. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Bernice gestures toward Sofia and Tadeas, “How did you two meet?”
Sofia’s blindsided by this. I don’t know how, it was pretty obvious that she was gonna get asked, but she’s suddenly a little panicky and everyone can see it.
“Uh… well,” she looks to Tadeas for help, who simply looks away, “It all started in uh… in high school! He saved me from a stalker!”
Tadeas looks back at her, suddenly a little more interested in the story.
“Yeah, back in high school I had tons of friends and lots of people liked me, so I liked to be nice to everyone! There was this kid… I can’t remember his name, honestly. He was super weird and had no friends, but I felt bad for him, so I started talking to him. Big mistake!” She makes a large X with her arms to emphasize. “He started to follow me everywhere. I didn’t notice at first, but it started to get really creepy really quickly. I didn’t really want to hurt him, but I had to turn him down when he asked me out. I just didn’t see him like that, not at all! That didn’t stop him though. He just kept following me!”
Bernice interrupts asking, “Jeezus, did you lead him on or something?”
“No! I just talked to him a few times to be nice. I never tried anything like that!”
“Sounds like a fuckin’ weirdo. At the bar, we have to deal with creeps all the time, but full-on stalking isn’t something I’ve ever had to deal with.”
“It was super bad. He wouldn’t stop, even when I yelled at him, which I never do! I don’t like to get mad at people, but he was pushing things too far! The school administration wouldn’t take me seriously either! I had to have my girls with me everywhere I went because otherwise, he’d be there. I’d finally had enough when one day I came to school and my whole locker was full of flowers! The whole thing! They weren’t pretty ones either, they were like… dandelions and weeds. I finally broke down and Tarrant stepped in. He confronted the weirdo and then he never bothered me again!”
“...that’s it?” Bernice seems unhappy with that ending. She turns to Tadeas “What did you do to the stalker?”
Tadeas lets out a little grimace, “I gave him a ‘firm talking to,’” the way he said that last bit leads me to believe he did a little more than that.
Dina, for the first time tonight, speaks up, “I’m sorry that happened. That sounds awful.” her voice is airy and soft, almost to the point of being impossible to hear in the noise of the dining hall.
“It’s fine. It’s all in the past now! Plus, now I have Tarrant!” she tightly hugs Tadeas’ arm, causing her breasts to squish outwards. They’re still quite large.
Bernice looks at Sofia, “So… you don't seem like the type to uh... share. I’m assuming you’re not here for the thing then.”
Sofia looks confused, “What thing?”
“You know, the swinging?”
Suddenly Sofia, Tadeas, Laura, and I all jump at once.
“The what!?”