"Why are you all the way back here? The dance floor is out there!"

“I know, I’ll be out in a little bit. Don’t let me hold you back from a good time.”

He's at a party he don't wanna be at, and he definitely doesn't ever wear a suit and tie.

It was last week when he got a call from Owen. "Hey, I've got a party coming up this weekend! It's been a bit since we've had time to just hang out and catch up, You should totally come!" Mike blinked and looked at his phone. Normally, he would just refuse. He was hardly what you would call a social butterfly. Frankly speaking, the fact that he had managed to make three friends here at all was a bit of a miracle. He glanced over at his calendar. Unfortunately, it didn't look like there was an appointment he had that he could blame missing it on. He thought quickly, but not fast enough. "Hey, man, you still there?" “Yeah, sure, I, uh... yes.” Nailed it. Totally coherent. Unfortunately, it sounded like Owen had taken it as that he would be coming to the party. "Alright! Nice. You got the address? actually, don't worry about it. I'll swing by your house at 6:00 on Saturday and drive you myself. Make sure that you make it and all that!" Before Mike could utter a word to the contrary, Owen had already hung up.

Mike sighed. Owen was always trying to get him to come out of his shell and meet new people. Deep down, Mike really did appreciate it. But trying to jump from spending every other weekend by himself watching shows, playing games with his housemate Bonc, or practicing his magic, straight into a massive social function like a party? Going out shopping for groceries and a fleece-cut drained his social battery way too fast as it was. the only reason he did agree to do it was because Bonc didn't like going out either. Mike sighed again and slumped deeper into his chair, clicking play on the next episode of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘬 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. He was glad that Owen was his friend, if only he would stop inviting him to things.

---

The night of the party came, and at 5:50 there came a honk from outside. Mike knew who it was, and dreaded what was about to happen for the next couple of hours, but he knew that at this point, Owen wouldn't take no for an answer. He steadied himself at the front door and glanced over at the full-length mirror in the entryway. His fleece was fluffy and curly, and he was wearing an open leather vest and denim jeans cut off just above the knee. It was his favorite outfit, and he looked pretty good in it. He scratched at the magical burn on his arm. Well, time to answer the same two or three questions about it a dozen times over. It was time to go. He reached for the doorknob...

---

Well, the night was going about as poorly as he expected it to. Owen's house wasn't too far from Mike's, so they had arrived just before 6:00. Mike had hopped out of the passenger side of Owen's red convertible after Owen pulled into the driveway, and walked up the path to the front door. He could already hear muffled strains of some pop song. Sounded like the party had already started. Opening the door, he immediately regretted not being able to come up with an excuse not to come. There were already so many people there. There were drinks in red cups next to a 10-gallon jug, presumably alcohol, on a folding table against the wall. A cooler with beer cans in it on the ground next to the table, and several furs milled around with a can or cup in hand, clearly a bit tipsy already. Mike was not one much for alcohol, but he was plenty old enough to partake if the occasion arose. The main attraction seemed to be the dance floor, which was surprisingly packed for how recently he assumed the party had begun. Owen walked up behind him and gave him a nudge: "Come on, get in there. I should have the Karaoke machine set up in a couple of minutes."

Mike stepped inside, walked over to the drinks table, grabbed a can so that no one else would shove one into his hand, and passed around the dance floor to find the hallway that led off from Owen's living room. He had been over to Owen's house a couple of times now, and he knew the layout. The hallway would be just far enough from everyone that it would look like he was moderately involved in the party, but not so close that a stranger was likely to wander over and try to strike up a conversation. He set his can on the ground and leaned against the wall, gazing blankly at the light switch across from him without really seeing it. It was going to be a long couple of hours.

---

Well, this was a bit of a longer post. Character development in process, and all that. The idea for the piece came from the first sketches of trying to figure out Mike's design, fittingly titled "Figuring Out Wuk. (For those confused, Wuk is Mike's other name, for lore reasons, I'll write up a story for him in a little bit. Hoo boy, that'll be a long one.) Art is once more by the amazing  Shakumi , their style is phenomenal.