Their Life

Masquerade

Tina sighed as she watched her sister finish putting on her makeup.

"Queenie, you're taking forever. We're already gonna be late," she insisted. "You were determined that we should go to this party and now you're making us late."

"Teen, I know you don't wanna go but I was invited by a friend and I asked if you could come along. It won't matter if we're late," Queenie replied. She finally stood up and smoothed her dress down. The floor-length dress was a pale pink. The top of the dress was covered in little fabric flowers, overlapping to cover every inch of the top. There were a few more flowers at the top of the skirt but the rest of it was undecorated. It was made of a few layers of soft, pink fabric.

"Go look at yourself," Queenie commanded.

"I don't have to," Tina said. "It'll just take more time."

"Then you should have done it while I was putting on my makeup," Queenie said, pushing her sister to the full-length mirror.

Tina glanced at her reflection. She found it amazing how her sister could make her look so different while still keeping her looking exactly the same. Queenie had trimmed her hair that morning so her bangs were no longer getting in her eyes. She was wearing a simple, floor-length dress of dark blue fabric. The only decoration was the silver embroidery along the hem, the neck, and the sleeve cuffs. Her hair curled slightly and she had on very little makeup.

"Here, put on your mask," Queenie said.

Tina groaned but she took the silver mask from her sister and held it up to her face. It stayed there, held up magically, the metal cold against her cheeks. She looked at her reflection again. She was almost unrecognizable.

There was a knock on the door. 

"Come in," Queenie called.

Tina tugged off her mask as Jacob entered the room. He stopped in the doorway, staring at his wife.

"Thanks, honey," Queenie giggled. "You look very handsome yourself." She spun in a circle, her skirts flowing out around her. Jacob was in a black suit with a green bowtie. He had a green mask clutched in one hand.

"Yeah, we're ready," Queenie said. She picked up her mask. It was pink and had a gold trim and gold swirls. "Let's go."

Newt sat, leaning against a small, round table. He was staring into the crowd, watching as couples moved gracefully across the dancefloor. His shoulders were hunched and he kept his head down. He was dressed in a grey suit and had a blue bowtie that matched the blue mask hiding his face.

He glanced up as someone approached him. It was Leta, her face covered by an elaborate gold and purple mask. There were several purple feathers and a purple flower along the left side of her face. Her dress matched the mask. It was mostly gold with an elaborate purple pattern.

"You've been sitting here since the party started," she observed, taking a seat across the table from him.

"What else should I be doing?" Newt asked dejectedly.

"I thought you invited some friends."

"I did. I suppose they're here somewhere, but I haven't seen them." Newt's gaze had traveled back to the people on the dancefloor but he wasn't really looking at them. His mind had wandered far away, to another country.

"You're thinking about Tina again, aren't you?" Leta asked gently.

Newt started. "How did you know?"

"You get this look in your eyes whenever you mention her."

Newt blushed and quickly started staring at a leg of the table.