“You two are coming to the next masquerade, right?”
A few hours ago this whole situation would have been absurd. Peter Pigsty and Prince Chesh had just spent the better part of an hour mingling with a seven foot tall wolf man named “Tiny”. Now he was casually asking if they were going to go through all of this again in a few months.
Of course they were!
The two glanced at each other. Peter gave the cat a nod. Chesh started to purr loudly, “It would be our pleasure.”
Peter held up his pint glass, “I think I’m good on drinks tonight. We’ll see you around?”
“Arf! I’ll keep an ear out for any stray waddling,” Tiny walked over to Peter. He bent down and gave him a nice long lick on the cheek, “It was great getting to meet you Peter.”
“Oink! Likewise Tiny!” Peter blushed, “Thanks for the great time tonight.”
Tiny started to walk back up towards the mansion. He stopped though, turning back to the two, “Oh! Don’t forget to get a new invite from Mister E before you leave!”
A few hours later, the two started to make their way back toward the front of the house. Well, three if you counted Mitch. The snow leopard had been sticking to Chesh the entire night like a spotted shadow. The two kept trying to ask him probing questions to figure out what his whole deal was, but the monochrome cat kept everything strictly professional.
Mister E was standing in the middle of the foyer when they arrived. It appeared as if he hadn’t left the room the entire night.
“Your highness! Mr. Pigsty! I hope you had a wonderful evening at my little gathering!” Mister E gave them a large bow. Was his porcelain mask grinning a bit wider?
“Thank you Mister E,” Chesh bowed back, “We had an excellent time.”
“We… were hoping we might be able to come back for the next masquerade?” Peter rubbed the back of his head.
“Ah, of course!” Mister E reached into his jacket and procured two fresh envelopes. How many invites did he keep stuffed in there? “It should be a New Year’s Eve party for the ages. I’ll add you two to the guest list.”
“Much appreciated,” Chesh took the envelope and made his way towards the door. Naturally he let someone else open it.
Peter took his invite and headed out into the cool evening air. “Well that was some party. Think anyone would believe us if we told them about it?” he snorted.
Clark laughed, walking back over to his hatchback, “I highly doubt it.”
“Maybe they just slipped something into the punch and this was all a wild hallucination?” Simon laughed.
“Yeah, but I didn’t drink the punch,” Clark reached into his pocket and unlocked his car with the fob.
“Still, that was all so impossible…” Simon trailed off, reaching up to touch his snout.
Something was tickling his nose. He could smell the distinct scent of rubber. Simon’s fingers brushed up against the elastic band of a cheap novelty pig nose. He tugged it off his face, knocking his ear headband off in the process.
“Oh hey, we’re back already?” Clark reached up to his face and pulled off his cat mask and fake crown. He quickly spun around, “Hey Mitch, are you-“
Clark blinked. Suddenly it was just the two of them standing alone in the parking lot.
“Okay, seriously. What the-“ Clark started.
“Come on kitty, no use questioning magic,” Simon laughed.
“Yeah but… Hmpf.” Clark stopped at his car door, pointing across to Simon as he waited by the other side, “You really want to start with the nicknames?”
The two got in and Clark started to drive back into the city. The two were quiet for a bit until Simon finally asked, “Do you think you’re going as Chesh next time, or will you get a new mask?”
“Hmm…” Clark clicked his high beams off. It wasn’t even a question that they were going back. “Chesh was fun. He drew a lot of attention though. I couldn’t exactly slip off for some fun with a body guard following me around. How about you?”
“I don’t know yet,” Simon tightened his grip on his phone, “I’m going to see what Tiny’s doing first.”
Clark raised his eyebrow, “You got his number?”
“You know it,” Simon grinned, holding up his smartphone.
Clark laughed as they pulled onto their highway, “Lucky pig.”