Lunari didn’t really like balls. Sure, there was free food and she got to dress up (which she pretended to hate but secretly liked on some level), but she mostly just came along because she was dragged there by her friends, expected to be there with them.
But those friends had quickly drifted off; Cobra was perusing the buffet table, selecting an assortment of treats for Masuyo, and Ike seemed to have made it his personal mission to dance with every woman in Fontis (rumors were whispered that he had even danced with General Pierce, but Lunari couldn’t confirm it). She was mostly left to her own ends, which meant she was left alone. She’d never been good at socializing like this; it was much easier for her to talk smack to someone on the battle field than it was for her to strike up a friendly conversation.
She silently drifted away from the dance floor, the sight of couples twirling in each other’s arms leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, the pained envy of someone who’d recently loved and lost. Stepping out onto the castle balcony, she sighed and leaned against the railing. The clocktower read close to midnight. The stars overhead twinkled as brightly as the city lights below…
The whispers of the other partygoers caught her attention. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but it was hard not to with six ears and the hypersensitive hearing they brought with them.
“Who’s that guy?”
“I’ve never seen him before…”
“What’s up with his mask? It looks almost… creepy.”
“I know it’s a masquerade but you’re not supposed to cover your entire head… I can’t see a hint of fur… no tail, either…”
“What a strange man…”
Lunari shook her head, dismissing it as stupid noble gossip. They were always eager for a scandal. She figured they must be bored, having their every whim catered to on a daily basis—
Footsteps behind her, cautiously approaching. She ignored them, not even turning around; she had no intentions of dancing with anyone.
The footsteps stopped a few paces from her, awkward silence filling the space between her and her mystery guest. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but turn a few ears back to listen; she could hear their heart pounding, pounding—
“Uhm…” Finally whoever it was spoke. “May I… have this dance?”
Lunari frowned. It was muffled behind something, a mask she assumed, but his voice sounded like—
Stop it, she told her aching heart. He said he didn’t want to be with you. Let it go. He’s not in this universe anyway.
She turned, a curt refusal metaphorically on the tip of her tongue—
And froze.
The stranger stood, tall and skinny, a tattered but pure white cloak hanging from his shoulders. Perched above a scarf pulled up as high as it would go was a mask, somewhat resembling a skull—
A skull with… a crack… on the left…
Deep inside the mask, two eyes glowed nearly imperceptibly, yellow-orange.
She could still hear his heart, pounding, pounding, hers speeding up to match it.
“Y-you… you aren’t supposed to be here…?”
A smile in his voice.
“Never stopped me before, has it?”
***
The nobles continued to gossip, whispering to each other.
“Is he… dancing? With her?”
“Oh, what’s her name again… something quite odd…”
“Miss A’onwor. She doesn’t dance with, well, anyone. Well, maybe Mr. Kessler, although he dances with everyone…”
“How strange…”
They stared openly as the strange duo danced on the moonlit balcony.

---

Once again I blame Two Steps From Hell for my artwork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk-Sauafa6Y

Here we have some cheese art that almost didn't happen because the PSD decided to go get corrupted! Luckily my friend Defiance was able to fix it for me but AAAHHH

For some context: After Lunari's "main" story (the story that takes place in her universe, which I have a general plot for but it has gaps that need to be filled and the majority remains to be written) she goes "world-jumping", traveling from universe to universe. Currently she's in  Defiance's world Fontis (or more accurately, the Chat Shenanigans Fandom Funspace version, which is canon to Lunari but not necessarily canon for Nyxis, Defiance's character). Somewhere in her travels she meets a dork Gabriel and Ripo Sauer and kinda winds up in love with that dorky human. Unfortunately Gabe is immortal and worries too much; this is better explained in another piece of writing detailing events that take place later that night: https://docs.google.com/document/d/.....it?usp=sharing

General Nyxis Pierce and the world of Fontis belongs to  Defiance
Ike Kessler belongs to  JourneyManic
Cobra and Masuyo belong to  Cobra_Satoshi
Tower brush was made by  Akitary (although I don't think he ever expected anyone to seriously use it, haha)
These two dorks belong to me.