Tom Hiddleston Oneshots

Masquerade

Just perfect.

I whispered to myself when I entered the fully packed ballroom.

It was UNICEFs yearly Christmas ball event and I was completely on my own because my best friend Alexis stood me up. Unfortunately she had fallen ill with the flu and sobbed like a madwoman when she called me the day before.

Fine, so long story short, I somehow managed to squeeze into my corset, yes it was very "in" this season to give your party, ball, whatever a motto and to my absolute horror, UNICEF chose "Venetian Masquerade – Angels in disguise". That meant a huge variety of women in puffy dresses and pearl-dangling masks that actually look like huge creamy baisers floating in midair and some unlucky guys in tights.

So, what am I doing now? I asked myself and decided to make the best of it. It was definitely easier to get a mask than getting a dress, I decided for a black one that covered my eyes and the back of my nose and had soft black lace all around it. No pearls. Absolutely no pearls that could get stuck in my nose.

Then it was up to the dress. I wanted to have something simple and beautiful, that wouldn't make me look like a snow grouse, but no, Fortuna was definitely not on my side that day.

"No darling, you have to be the queen of the masquerade ball", chirped the middle-aged mother goose of a shopkeeper and threw herself into endless racks of clothing.

My mother recommended me that certain carnival store because they had dresses from different epochs and not only Superman and Spongebob Squarepants costumes.

That alone should have made me suspicious.

"Fine, those are my three possibilities for you in your size", she stuffed three huge dresses into my arms and shoved me into the next wardrobe.

The first dress was brown, just brown like a potato sack and it also fitted that way.

The second one was held in a very cute baby pink shade of fluffy unicorn pink which made me look like cotton candy on a stick. So I had to go with option number three which was, to my surprise, a long black dress filled with floral laces and with a middle-length puffy sleeves but it came with all there is: gold applications here and there with pieces of black tull lace seamed on it.

"You look marvelous, that dress is just made for you!" The shopkeeper beamed and so I had no choice but to buy it.

So finally there I was standing, all alone in a candlelit ballroom in a dress I just wanted to rip off and exorcise three times before burning it in a bonfire.

My mother had packed my dark brown mane into a curly updo with some dangling strads before covering half of my face with the mask und finished my look off with a huge red necklace.

I really thought it would be a marvelous night with Alexis, celebrating the wonderful year packed with charity work, as middle school teachers we fly around a lot and teach children all over the world for UNICEF and help building schools, but now I needed to get this night over somehow.

While looking around, I spotted Sir Walter Carlton, my arch-enemy, talking with a very young woman in a light pink and creamy dress. She giggled when he dared her to drink the whole of her punch glass in one sip and put his hand very close to her buttocks.

I shook my head in disgust and tried to get to the punch bowl.

"Oh my god, sorry...my fault", I cringe, apologetically when I shoved a dancing pair and nearly stepped on the woman's skirtings.

Finally having a full glass in my hand I sighed and took a deep gulp. Sweet

It tasted quite nice when it warmed up my belly and it was definitely full of alcohol, just the right amount of getting drowsy very fast and laughing about every stupid joke the business guys, who attended charity events only for good publicity and waving a fat cheque into the cameras, made.