Conceal || ItsFunneh AU

01 | vibey dress

Elves are impish creatures. They trick, deceive, and manipulate to get whatever they want.

That's not true, I think angrily, flipping the book shut. Trick? Manipulate? Perhaps. But deceive? Come on, really?

A wail sounds through the apartment, igniting goosebumps along my skin.

"Funneh! What the hell!" Gold yells from her desk on the other side of our shared bedroom.

Gold used to share rooms with Funneh, but she kicked Gold out when she realized that Draco has his own bedroom (the living room). Rainbow had moved out, so Gold became my new roommate.

"I can't do this anymore! It's literally eating my soul away!" Funneh exclaims, stomping out from her room. I look up to see a flash of blue hair and, a second later, the front door slams shut.

"Wow, when did she become the dramatic one?" I question, quickly ducking behind my doodling book as Gold chucks an eraser at me.

"Where do you think she went?" She asks.

"Probably the archery place." Funneh has been taking archery lessons ever since an archery place opened up a few minutes away from our apartment, and she always goes there when she needs to let off steam.

Draco spends most of his free time at the bubble tea shop Rainbow works at, since it has the best wifi connection there. Funneh is usually with him, except Rainbow made her promise to focus on her studies this week since she failed her Physics test.

Rainbow is rarely home now, even though the campus isn't that big and her medical building is only a thirty-minute walk away. Ten, if you drive. We only see her on weekends now, if she's not too busy working or studying.

I hear Gold slamming a book shut, and look up. She's walking to the back of our room, cursing Physics under her breath. Opening her closet, she turns to see me staring at her and smiles.

I immediately look away. Oh no. I know where this is going, and I don't like it.

"No." I say firmly before Gold even has the chance to make her request.

"Oh come on, Lunar, I really need a creativity break!" Gold exclaims, walking over to me. "It's not like you're doing anything important." She says, peering over my shoulder at the various kitty faces I'm drawing.

Okay, she has a fair point.

I sigh. "Fine. But nothing too fancy, okay?"

Gold beams and drags me over to her closet for another one of her famous "Gold Makeovers." Her closet, enough colours to fill up an art room, is the polar opposite of my drab closet of only monochrome sweatshirts and jeans.

Digging deep inside, she pulls out a long violet dress, its tail trailing down elegantly on the hanger.

"Look! This dress is totally your vibe, and it matches perfectly with your eyes!"

I freeze, panic thoughts running through my head: is my illusion not working? Does she know?

"It really brings out the deep brown, don't you think?" Gold continues, unaware of my internal panicking. "Oh, I know! You can wear my new amethyst necklace, along with heels!"

I let out a forced laugh, my heart still recovering from its fright. "This is a bit too fancy for me, don't you think?" I say, running my hand over the dress. A pleasant silk.

"Everything's 'too fancy' for you," Gold retorts. "Just try it on."

I do as she says, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze as she scrutinizes me.

At last, "It's perfect, Lunar! You're just graceful enough to wear this dress."

I can't help letting out a snort. Graceful? Me?

Gold whacks my arm playfully. "I'm way too clumsy for this dress. I'll probably trip and make a fool out of myself."

I laugh. "That's very true. Now, are you satisfied? Can you go back to work and stop experimenting on me?"

Gold lets out a pout, but she reluctantly trudges back to her desk, plopping down with a dramatic sigh.

I change out of the dress in the washroom. Before leaving, I do a close inspection of my appearance to make sure nothing that isn't supposed to be showing is out. Sure enough, my hair is still dark—almost black—purple, my ears are round like a normal human's, my eyes are deep brown, just like my siblings'.

Of course, I can still feel the pointy bits of my ears, and I know my irises aren't really brown, but a light lilac. As for my naturally teal hair? I've concealed it with a dark purple shade, a shade so dark it can pass as black.

What they don't see, they don't know.

The earliest incident I had with my ability was at the tender age of 3. I remember I was playing with Draco in the living room while Rainbow, Gold, and Funneh played a raging game of Uno beside us. I was trying to get Draco to laugh, but he only stared at me in confusion. He reached a stubby finger out and pinched my ears, head tilted.

"Ow!" I'd exclaimed before reaching up myself. To my horror, the path I traced along my ears was curving upward and out.

Being the kid I was, I'd panicked at first, wondering if the stories Funneh told me were true: Would my ears really fall out if I don't share my candies with her?

The answer is no, though it took me a few years to realize that. My sisters definitely didn't see, and I'm sure Draco was too young to remember.

As for my illusion ability? I can only use them to conceal parts of my body. Trust me, I've tried to convince Draco to eat a rock by imagining it as an Oreo; it didn't work.

I bang my head against the doorframe.

So much for being more graceful than Gold.

Rubbing my forehead, I walk into the bedroom to see Gold on her phone, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Who are you talking to?" I ask, hanging the dress back in her closet.

"Some of my friends from English are having a party tonight!" She turns around, sees the look on my face, and quickly adds, "It's gonna be very chill! You should come; I've already told Funneh and Draco, and they said they're coming."

I bite my lips, shaking my head. "I have to do something tonight, sorry." I say, though I don't feel as sorry as I should. A party? With people? No, thank you.

"Lunar, it's Sunday!" Gold complains, exasperated.

I shrug my shoulders in a what-can-you-do way. "Speaking of," I glance down at my watch, "I should get going. See you later!" I hurriedly sweep the doodle books and my pencil case off my desk and into my art tote bag.

Closing our apartment door behind me, I yell out one last "Don't come home too late!"

I receive a grumbly "Bye," in reply.