destinystrings | Masquerade [Open to all]

Who: Everyone
Where: Near Scorpio's Central Art District
Summary: You all did good. Halloween is being celebrated in style.
Warnings: Nothing for the moment. Costumes?
Congratulations!

You've proven your worth to the city of Hinoto-Ri and this year the Masquerade is dedicated to you. You deserve the party, considering you saved the city from the Zodiac Monster! Besides, on the most powerful spiritual days, even the demons take a day off and enjoy a time of frightful good times with the humanoids.

The lights are all colored blue and purple, and the streets are filled with partygoers of all ages, in both fantastic and some-not-that-fantastic costumes. Pumpkins appear to be floating in the air, but once you come closer, you realize they are Pyro Jacks attending around. This is THEIR favorite holiday and they wouldn't have let it gone to waste!

Originally the Masquerade was to be celebrated around Scorpio's art center, but with the rebuilding still in process, it was moved close by, with the office of wands preparing all the charms needed. The streets need to be protected, considering the Full Moon was just a few days ago.

If you find yourself without any money, no worries! The Government has given you a bonus paycheck for your hard work last week. Costume shopping should be no problem, and the are still stores nearby selling their wears for last minute shopping!

With a small secure sector, it's sure to be an extra fantastic celebration of dancing, music and just watching both humans and demons going at it without much care. Candy is floating around thanks to the Pyro Jacks, grab something and try not to ruin your teeth. Hey, who IS that guy just passed by? Hard to tell.

After all, with these combination of Halloween costumes and a more high class masquerade ballgowns and masks, who knows is really human and who isn't?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Teenaged boys are capable of making anything awkward. It's one of their racial skills. Atsuro marches stiffly to the apple stand wondering where he had messed that one up.

"Er. ...You want anything special on yours?"

She shakes her head. "Since I haven't tried one before, I should have a basic one to see if I like them in general, right? Unless you have a recommendation."

"Nah. I'd go with the normal one, too; the rest is just a lot of extra sugar." Atsuro shells out the cash for two candy apples and gingerly hands one to Latooni.

"Careful. It's sticky."

Latooni takes one apple carefully, using her fingertips the same way she'd hold a grease-covered piece of engine, and very gingerly takes a bite of her apple.

And spends more time chewing than she'd expected.

"It's...yes, it's very sugary," she says, clearly enjoying it even if she's not very good at expressing that, and also still managed to get caramel on her chin.

Atsuro tries to chew his without making a huge mess all over his face. This is inevitably doomed to failure, which is why he turns his head slightly away from Latooni as they work their way through the snack. From the corner of his eye, he notes her expression of pleasurable surprise...

"Right? It'll keep you up all night if you're not careful - but this is pretty much a holiday celebrating sugar, anyway. ...Just let me know if you want another."

A pause as he takes the time to work through another bite.

"...Do you have this kind of thing where you come from? ...Or Halloween at all?"

She carefully nods between small bites, still working diligently at it with the wide eyes of someone who doesn't eat a lot of candy normally.

"Halloween exists and it's still celebrated, but it's not really a major holiday. Not major enough that the army usually observes it, anyway."

"Same here. It's not really a big th -- "

Atsuro whirls suddenly, displaying his attractively caramel-coated face in all its splendor.

"...You're in the army?"

"Oh! Right, I...didn't mention that right off when I introduced myself," she says a little sheepishly, remembering that she had been trying to keep that quiet until a superior showed up. Then again, it's not like she was going to lie about it. "I'm a pilot in the Earth Federation Army, actually."

((Sorry for the wait! I went on mini-hiatus for a bit. Feel free to ignore if you'd rather drop the thread!))

Atsuro blinks with some measure of surprise. What was with all of these kids who barely looked older than him serving in the army? ...Actually, he would've guessed this girl was a few years younger.

"...That's pretty impressive. I thought you had to be a certain... size to be a pilot, but maybe they've got more advanced technology where you're from."

"The cockpits in most personal troopers are fairly adjustable," Latooni said, not really getting the concern. "I never had a problem even in test units when I was younger."

"They... must've done some major adjustments. I think they were worried about things like not being able to reach all the controls or passing out." Atsuro isn't a fighter pilot, though, so what does he know? "How long have you been doing this, then?"

"Well, if you want to get technical, as long as I can remember," she admitted. "I was raised in a kind of training program..."

Atsuro stares with mouth slightly agape. Probably not the most polite reaction to her words.

"You... since you were born? Seriously? That's... intense. What if you grew up and you didn't want to be a fighter pilot?"

"Well, maybe not since I was born. But I know I was very young and already at The School," she says, snacking away at her apple as a distraction. Somehow, it made it easier to keep a neutral face.

"We were there to help develop personal troopers, and then pilot them. There wasn't really any choice for us, at least until the government disbanded it." Munch.

"It turns out I do like piloting for my own reasons, though. So do Seolla and Arado and...well, probably anyone else I could find from there."

Atsuro rubs at the back of his neck, his expression more sober than neutral. "I see... As long as you weren't unhappy with it." And he complained about being slotted into a career based on a test score.

"But you're not piloting anymore? Why did they disband?"

"Well, I'm still piloting with the regular military. I was...lost, and then a couple of soldiers took me in," she explained, finishing her apple and wiping her mouth daintily. "I wound up being a soldier myself."

"Later, the School wasn't needed anymore, so the government shut it down. Some of the people who remained were still very good pilots, so they kind of wound up all over."

Atsuro's apple rests awkwardly in his hand as he tries to ignore the sticky sensation building up on his fingers.

"...So you've still never really done anything else, huh?" He shakes the hand with the apple slightly. "Do you... want to? Don't you get tired of fighting all the time?"

A brief pause as he drops his gaze down a little lower. "Sorry. I'm asking too many questions."

"Well, I don't fight all the time. I've made a lot of friends doing what I'm doing...more than I'd ever hoped for, even," she said, smiling warmly now. "And I'll keep going as a pilot if that's what I need to do to protect the people I care about."

"And asking questions is a good thing. Otherwise, how can you learn?"

Masquerade [Open to all]

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