invite only

Milla was certainly under no impression that playing bass in a band at a few dive bars around Burrowgatory somehow entitled her to an invitation to an exclusive event like the Fairy Masquerade, but damn if she hadn’t always wanted to go to one of Angora’s fancy parties. Rubbing elbows with some of Burrowgatory’s elite, expensive champagne overflowing, and then there was the inherent romanticism of a masquerade… or so she imagined. Milla had never been to one in the first place.

But that was going to change, tonight! Though she’d asked around to most everyone she knew with connections, finding an invitation through legitimate means had proven all but impossible (and she certainly wasn’t going to spend a party waiting tables just for the ambiance), but a quick scope-out of the venue earlier in the day helped her identify what would likely be a few possible points of entry. There was the back near the dumpster, of course, where the only folks around would probably be employees on smoke breaks.

That seemed a little dangerous, though, considering one of those employees could easily be one of the bouncers taking a quick break from their duties.

Fortunately for Milla, there were a few other options. There was a fire escape down the back of the building, but she quickly ruled that one out, too, considering the possibility of setting off some kind of alarm if she opened the wrong door.

All that left for her was a small window that provided ventilation for one of the bathrooms, which she could just barely hang onto if she stood on her tip-toes. If she wore boots under her fancy dress with the sort of soles made for hiking, that would grip the brick just right, she could definitely pull herself up and through the window safely. As long as she was careful to make sure no one was actively using the restroom before she made her move, the plan might just work!

“Might,” as it turned out, was doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Milla did indeed show up that night, combat boots beneath her floor-length gown, and she was able to creep around to the back of the building– security certainly wasn’t concerned with anything but the front door, as it was completely quiet back here aside from the noise escaping the party. Conversations, laughter, fancy music… and to imagine that she was just one tiny window away from all that!

With a grunt of exertion, she pulled herself up to the windowsill, exhibiting an impressive display of upper arm strength as she peeked just through to verify that she wouldn’t be interrupting someone at an inopportune time. The room was perfectly empty, so with another grunt she pulled herself up far enough to push the window open the rest of the way. Just a careful shimmy through so as to not mess up her dress, and…

“Shit.” Milla felt it nearly as soon as it happened. The window was far too tiny for anyone even decently endowed in the back– and she’d never imagined herself among those ranks! “Fuck, fuck…” She tried to back herself through, but a suspicious noise from her gown made a bead of sweat collect at her brow. Would she rip it if she pushed herself back through? Not getting in and ruining one of her nicest dresses in the process was collateral damage that she just couldn’t tolerate, so she went limp for a moment to try and regroup.

“Oh, there you are,” came a familiar voice, one that Milla recognized right away. If there was anyone who was going to catch her attempting something like this out here, she supposed she was relieved that it would be her partner, Friedrich, but how could he have possibly known to come find her? “My dear, are you stuck?”

She imagined that he likely couldn’t hear her with her head in the window, so she gripped tighter with one arm and reached her other out to give a thumbs up. 

“Alright, let me help,” he hummed, and she could imagine that he was all too excited to place a hand on each of her hips to help her out. To her chagrin, however, instead of pushing her through the rest of the way he helped guide her back outside.

Her protests fell on deaf ears until he’d managed to set her on the ground. “No, no, Fredrich– ah. What are those.”

Milla looked down to a set of two cards in his hands. He was wearing a tuxedo, too, stitched together in the style of his lab coat. A sharp-toothed grin spread across his cheeks as he flashed the two invitations at her. “Well, when you asked me earlier about getting invitations, I knew I had to spent the rest of the day tracking these down.”

Her expression soon matched her partner’s, a wide smile that simply couldn’t be dimmed. “How did you manage to get these?” she squealed, taking the pair from his hands and looking down at the gold embossed lettering detailing the specifics of the party.

“Oh, you know,” he hummed sheepishly, sneaking an arm around her shoulders. “I have my ways.” Friedrich was clearly proud of whatever he’d managed to pull to acquire those invitations, so she didn’t press it any further, giving him a brief embrace.

Milla looked down at the invitations again, noting the names on the front that were most certainly not theirs. No, she was definitely not going to question the source of these. Anything beat trying to sneak through the bathroom window. “Next, time, love?”

“Hm?”

“Maybe send me a text before I have to resort to my own methods.” She leaned in so they could creep back around to the front side of the building.

“Mm, deal.” He kissed the top of her head. “So… let’s see if those invitations work. I hope you’re not having to push me through the bathroom window tonight.” Milla giggled, the two heading off now to try their luck.

And luck they had, the bouncer at the front not giving them so much as a second glance before unclipping the velvet rope to allow the pair entrance to the party.

“Milla,” Friedrich leaned in to whisper as they stepped inside.

“Hm?”

“What does one do at a masquerade?” he asked, looking around at the throngs of guests around them. Everyone was dressed to the nines; she was relieved to find that they’d both understood the dress code well enough.

Milla thought about it for a moment. “Well, this is my first time being at one,” she answered, daintily picking two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray. She handed one to Friedrich, which he accepted, tipping the rim to hers. “Care to find out?”