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“The Jin invited us to a party.”
Nie Huaisang looks up from his phone just as Nie Mingjue tosses a letter on the dining table. The envelope is crisp and cream, the flap decorated by gold filigree. Nie Huaisang pulls out the invitation, which matches the envelope perfectly, and reads. The party is actually a ball being hosted at the main Jin mansion, intended to celebrate Jin Zixuan’s twenty-first birthday. Dress code is formal, drinks will be served, blah blah blah. What really interests Nie Huaisang is the text at the bottom of the invitation, several font sizes larger than the main text and bolded to emphasize its importance—
Bring a Carnival Mask!
Nie Huaisang lets out a low whistle that quickly turns into giddy laughter. “Da-ge! Update the scoreboard! The Jin are less crappy than the Yao now!”
“Because of the masks?” Nie Mingjue guesses very correctly because he is the best big brother ever.
“Yes! Oh my god I’m going to have so much fun making your mask, da-ge! Do you want to go intimidating? Sexy? Mysterious?”
“All white,” Nie Mingjue replies as he takes a black dry-erase marker to the scoreboard on the refrigerator. “This party is stupid, anyway.”
“Booooo!” Nie Huaisang declares as he stands up, arms thrown into the air in protest. “You’re boring! The most boring da-ge!”
“I still get ass,” Nie Mingjue says with a smirk.
“Gross!!!!!”
~~~
Thankfully, the Jin (probably only Guangyao) had the foresight to send the invitation a few weeks in advance, so there was plenty of time for Nie Huaisang to research Carnival masks and start making one of his own. To Nie Mingjue’s great pleasure, there was even a mask that fit his boring requirements. So on the day of the ball, the Nie brothers arrive in hand-made and impeccable masks.
“Do you think anybody will recognize us?” Nie Mingjue asks as he readjusts his cape. Yes, cape. Nie Huaisang made him a bauta mask and Nie Mingjue, in his full jock-nerd glory, decided to wear the full historical garb, tricorn hat and cape and all.
Nie Huaisang rolls his eyes. In contrast to his nerd brother, Nie Huaisang has opted to dress a little slutty in tight-fitted dress pants, a crisp white shirt unbuttoned to the middle of his chest, and black corset vest. His neck, fingers, and wrists are decked out in green and gold jewelry, all polished to shine in the light. He’s decorated his white mask in a similarly lavish fashion—gold lips, black eyes, gold and black filigree at the sides and top, and below the eyes is a series of gold hexagons that lead into teardrops. “I hope not,” he responds to his brother. “It’ll be way more fun surprising people.”
Together they walk up the many, many steps into the main Jin mansion. After temporarily removing their masks to prove their identities, they slip inside. The foyer is already alight with revelers, most of them likely entertainment hired to hype up the guests. It’s only 7 p.m., after all, and only a select few people would be this drunk so early into the evening. Unless the food or drink is spiked, in which case Nie Huaisang needs to find out for himself before he lets Nie Mingjue have a taste.
“Be careful with the food,” Nie Huaisang advises as he takes a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
Perceptive as always, Nie Mingjue replies, “A-Yao knows the diet my doctor recommended. He wouldn’t poison me.”
Maybe in the past he would have, but Nie Huaisang is pretty sure Jin Guangyao has a more vested interested in his Nie Mingjue’s health now that they’re dating. Hopefully. It’s hard to tell when it comes to the Jin.
“Still, be careful. Yao-ge could’ve missed something.”
Nie Mingjue stares at him. Even beneath the heavy mask, Nie Huaisang knows his brother is giving him a disbelieving look.
“You never know!” he defends as the duo reach their destination.
The ballroom is massive, large enough to house the entire population of a small town during a natural disaster. True to pompous Jin nature, Jin Zixuan is seated at the far end of the ballroom on a stage. Nie Huaisang knows it’s him because of the way he sits—the body posture of somebody who absolutely does not want to be there. Twenty-one years and the poor guy is still not used to the way his family does things.
Nie Huaisang can sympathize. He’s pretty different from the rest of his own family, too.
“I’m going to go find A-Yao,” Nie Mingjue speaks up over the orchestra music.
“Okay. Make sure he taste-tests your food!” Nie Huaisang exclaims as he raises his mask to take a sip of champagne.
“Shove off!” Nie Mingjue scolds good-naturedly.
Nie Huaisang waves off his brother before heading into the crowd. Looking around, there’s nobody he immediately recognizes. There’s one guy in bright red wearing a plague doctor’s mask that keeps catching Nie Huaisang’s eye, but he quickly decides that tonight is not the night to bother with the crazies. It’s generally good advice to follow when in Jin territory.
In time, Nie Huaisang finds himself a wallflower. He’s not the most easily sociable person. Friendly, sure. But he’s never been good at approaching strangers. He would have gone up to Jin Zixuan, but Nie Huaisang has no idea if the guy would lose it the second he saw a friendly face. Which would be an entire headache if that did happen. So, wall.
It’s been at least thirty minutes since he finished his champagne and he’s not feeling even slightly drugged, though. So that’s good news for his brother.
Just as he’s considering finding the buffet, a stranger joins Nie Huaisang at the wall. The stranger is tall, at least 8 centimeters taller than Nie Huaisang, and cuts an intimidating figure with broad shoulders and large hands. Their loose, black hair is long, falling to about their shoulder blades, contrasting starkly to the orchid purple button-up shirt they wear. The waistcoat they wear is a darker purple with black buttons. Slung over their right arm is a formal jacket that matches the waistcoat. Interestingly, their choice in bottoms is a pair of orchid purple pants, with the left side covered by an ankle-length black skirt. Nie Huaisang finds himself smiling at that detail—as a person who’s still questioning, he can appreciate a challenge to the gender binary.
He looks up to meet the stranger’s eyes. The stranger is looking back at him with a lovely pair of brown eyes. It’s a shame that the rest of this handsome stranger’s face is hidden by what Nie Huaisang would call the creepiest of the traditional Carnival masks—a moretta. Pitch black and perfectly round, it’s like a void has replaced the rest of the stranger’s face. In the bright lights of the ballroom, Nie Huaisang cannot see any ties keeping the mask up, so the stranger has opted for the traditional way of wearing the mask—a button between their lips. Even if they can talk, they have rendered themself effectively mute.
Still, though. Nie Huaisang likes a challenge. He introduces himself with a bow.
The stranger bows silently in return.
Nie Huaisang laughs to himself. “Are you enjoying yourself?” he asks.
The stranger rolls their eyes.
“Yeah, Jin parties are like that for me, too. They care way too much.”
The stranger raises their champagne glass, as if to say Cheers to that.
Nie Huaisang finds himself smiling. “You know, I really wasn’t expecting a moretta mask, of all things. It’s unique.”
The stranger doesn’t respond.
“Not a bad thing,” Nie Huaisang clarifies. “But I’m curious. Join me for a trip to the buffet?”
The stranger nods. Nie Huaisang offers his arm and, after slipping on their jacket, they take it. Together, they leave the crowded ballroom for the crowded hallways and manage to get themselves lost a few times before finally finding the buffet.
“Why the hell would they put it so far away from the ballroom?” Nie Huaisang grumbles as he moves to wait in line. He hears the stranger laugh. “I hope you remember the way back. I’m terrible with directions.”
The stranger reaches up to remove their mask. Underneath the void is a strikingly handsome visage, with sharp cheekbones and shapely lips. Nie Huaisang very much wants to ravish them immediately. “Don’t worry, I do,” they say with a rumbling, deep voice.
“Fuck you’re sexy,” Nie Huaisang utters with absolutely zero forethought. Realizing his mistake, he slaps a hand over his mask’s mouth. “I’m so sorry! That just came out!”
The stranger looks equally flustered, their eyes avoiding Nie Huaisang’s as they mumble, “It’s okay. You don’t seem like a creep.”
“I promise I’m not,” Nie Huaisang says as he removes his mask. “Which I know sounds exactly like what a creep would say, but scout’s honor! Not a creep!”
The stranger stares at him for a long second before saying, “You’re not so bad-looking yourself.”
Nie Huaisang manages to hide his fluster by announcing, “I better. It took twenty tries to get this eyeliner right.”
The stranger snorts. “Jiang Cheng, by the way,” they introduce themselves.
“Oh, shit. You’re pretty important, huh?” The Jiang hold a near-monopoly in all water-based trade in and out of their city. Nie Huaisang’s parents have pretty regular contact with Jiang Fengmian and his wife Yu Ziyuan in the interest of not losing some important trade negotiations. But, last he heard, Jiang Cheng was the Jiang’s son. “Can I get your pronouns?”
“Any,” Jiang Cheng answers.
Ah. “So the moretta mask is pretty symbolic, huh?”
“I’m out as genderfluid, but I’m not supposed to talk about it,” Jiang Cheng tells him with a notably flat affect.
Nie Huaisang frowns. “That sucks. I’m still questioning, but my family is pretty supportive.”
“My siblings are, too. Supportive, that is.” The duo reach the banquet table. Nie Huaisang receives Jiang Cheng’s mask as the other starts preparing two dishes of food. “My parents are trying, but you know how some people take queerness these days. Anyway, should I not refer to you with he/him?”
“I’m still comfortable with those pronouns,” Nie Huaisang easily responds. “Oh, get me some sausage.” Jiang Cheng obliges. “Honestly, I might just be on the gender-nonconforming side, but I’m not sure yet.”
Jiang Cheng smiles. It brings an ethereal softness to their features that Nie Huaisang would love to kiss. But he keeps his hands to himself as the two of them reach the end of the buffet table and hurry to find a spot to eat. “It takes time,” Jiang Cheng says as they trade a plate of food for their mask. “Hey, after this, want to dance?”
Nie Huaisang offers them a smile in return. “Absolutely.”