Simon glanced up nervously at the mansion before turning back to his freshly feline companion.
“You said they’d have masks here,” he explained, “I figured whatever they have would fit the theme more.”
“We shall see,” ‘Prince Chesh’ bowed again before gesturing forward, “Lead the way peasant.”
“Laying it on a little thick there Clark,” Simon started making his way up to the house.
“Chesh!” He hissed back. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a gold-foiled party invitation, “Here goes nothing.”
Simon reached out to open the door, only to find it sliding open on its own.
“Gentlemen, welcome, welcome!” A muffled voice greeted them. It belonged to a lanky man in a tuxedo. He was radiating some intense butler vibes, but the most striking thing was his face. He was wearing a porcelain mask with a completely blank expression.
“I’m Mister E, I’ll be your host for this fine evening.” He ushered the two into the entryway, “And who might you two be?”
Clark gave the man another deep bow. He had clearly been practicing. As he stood up, he held out the invitation to the white faced man. “Prince Chesh the Third. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
Mister E took the invite and then tilted his head expressively, “My my, we’ve got royalty in our presence tonight! The pleasure is all mine!”
Simon was starting to get a feeling for how tonight might go. A lot of big personalities playing off each other until you found someone that got your motor running. This could get tiring really quickly. Then again, it wasn’t the worst way to spend the night.
Their host turned his attention on Simon, “And who might you be? I can’t help but notice your expressive visage.”
Simon went flush, “Uh- I was told there would be masks here we could use?”
“Ah! That’s your face!” Mister E stood up straight, “I don’t like to assume!”
Simon rubbed one of his cheeks self consciously, “Right. I’m uh-“
“Please, I don’t want to meet you.” Mister E held up his hand. He gestured to a small side room off the entry way. Even from this distance, the three could see a table with a few assorted masks laying around.
Their expressionless host somehow managed to carry a giddy energy despite being able to fully emote, “My masquerades are a chance to explore being someone entirely new. Let’s go find you a face worth the formal introduction!”
Simon found himself being whisked away into the room. His companion simply waved.
“Have fun! I’m going to go find a drink,” the the cat man waved, wandering off into the house.
“Wait!” Simon tried to call him back, but it was too late.
“You can catch up to his highness later,” Mister E’s voice was smiling, “Please, my selection seems to grow every year. Take your pick.”
Simon stared down at the table in front of him. The variety of masks on display ranged from small face coverings to entire hoods that went over your head. They all seemed to have a central theme to them: They would all be kind of embarrassing to be caught in.
Front and center on the table was a pig nose on a string and a headband with big floppy pink ears. Beside it was a large donkey mask with a muzzle that would probably rule out any drinking tonight. There was a wig resting in the edge of the table with some scruffy hair and round pink ears that took Simon a moment to identify as primate in nature. At the end of the table was a thick leather gimp hood, completely with a leash.
“Ah!” His host rubbed the smooth chin on his mask, “I usually keep these out for the stragglers and the spoil sports. Come on, I’ve got more over here.”
Simon turned. Holy cow. The room was full of Halloween paraphernalia. There were three more card tables set up with masks, but there was also a rack full of outfits one could change into. Simon easily spotted the literal monkey suit the wig went with.
This room had just about any disguise you could imagine. There were some classic masks (including a werewolf mask that beat the pants off the old rubber Halloween mask Simon was on the fence about bringing), but there were also other face coverings. Simon spotted a few eye patches, and even a large bull-style nose ring. There were headbands with horns to go with it, and he swore there were some shoe boxes in the corner. The possibilities were a little overwhelming to be honest.
Choices choices choices… Simon was pretty sure he didn’t want something that would obscure his entire face or be too cumbersome to wear the whole night. Maybe he should put the monkey suit on over his clothes? Ironically that outfit seemed to cover everything but one’s face.
He poked around a little bit more. There was a table in the back that mostly seemed to have human masks? They could be fun if you were going for a spy movie reveal maybe? He didn’t seem to recognize any of the faces… No movie stars, no politicians, and only a few faces he’d describe as a “caricature”.
Tucked away on the edges of the furthest table, Simon could swear he saw another porcelain copy of Mister E’s mask.
“So, who would you like to be?” Mister E gestures around the room with surprising constraint, “I can give you a moment if you’d like.”