Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    "Ahaha, thank you so much, Professor Hassel. And you as well, Professor Gible!"
    
    As the esteemed director of Uva Academy walked across the stage to take the place of his departing comrade, a tepid round of applause from a school of utterly checked-out teenagers and young adults sounded through the freezing gymnasium, with one fierce warrior valiantly leading the pitiful crowd. 
    
    Nemona, in contrast to the student body she served, had always loved pep rallies. The energy and school spirit would make even the limpest of events nothing short of electrifying for her— hence why it was so unusual, even unexpected, to find her anywhere other than the front row with a beaming grin on her face. On this day, however, she was up in the very last row, as far from the noise of the sound system and as close to the heat of the ventilation as one could get. The excitement of the school's usual guest speakers, event announcements and band performance would have been more than enough to keep her warm on this frigid January afternoon, and perhaps she should have known better than to stray from her usual seating. 
    
    But the pleas of her friend overtook her better judgement, and the Student Council President found herself where only the most disrespectful of phone-checkers and nappers would dare to congregate. The only upside to the seating arrangement was that it was so far from the stage that a full-blown conversation could be held without interference from either side, a silver lining Nemona tried to capitalize on.
    
    "Mr. Hassel really is incredible! He can turn even a speech on the school's cafeteria etiquette into something so... powerful! He also teaches some public speaking classes on the weekends, ya know. I took a few of them when I first became class president."
    
    Nemona looked to her right and met with Arven's dusty jade eye, fighting to stay open as he leaned on the girl between them. He, too, was acting against his better judgement by being in this scenario— but while Nemona would have been as close to the pep rally as she could sit, Arven would have been as far away possible. He had better things to be doing than attend a stupid rally! There was still one more Titan to be fought, one more Herba Mystica to be seized, and yet here he was wasting his time at a ridiculous "celebration of school spirit," as Nemona had called it. 
    
    At the very least, he could be in his dorm, brushing his Mabosstiff or de-moisturizing his Garganacl. But Buddy and Saltine's grooming sessions would have to wait, as Arven had been called here by the same siren that caught Nemona. In the meantime, he could at least try to rest his eyes through the noise— a feat only made possible by his years of growing up around constant machinery and computers.
    
    "I liked the part where he sounded like he was about to cry," he yawned, only to be softly elbowed in the side by the teal-haired girl he was resting on.
    
    "Arvee, get offa me, I'm doin' somethin' here." 
    
    Half a head shorter than either of them, between the two upperclassmen sat that siren. Marina, desperately trying to readjust her coral eyeliner, was using her Rotom Phone's selfie camera as an emergency mirror. Normally, her perfect makeup could stand proud from morning until night, as long as she weren't to cry, sneeze a bit too much, touch her face or get it even a tiny bit wet. It was all Arven's fault really, making her laugh so hard her eyes watered when he cracked a joke about the school's band missing their Ludicolo. Still, she was glad both he and Nemona were with her, as time with her friends was worth any inconvenience. 
    
    The two felt the same about her, if the ease with which she convinced them both to join her at the very top corner of the bleachers was any indication— she insisted that Arven needed to relax and take his mind off things with some friends for a bit, and she had only to mention that she and Arven were sitting in the top row for Nemona to follow right after them. They had been sitting awfully close to Marina today, not even phased by the usually overpowering smell of her perfume. Perhaps they were just used to it, or it had finally knocked their sense of smell out completely. 
    
    "Arven, that's not nice!" Nemona's arms folded as she scolded him with as stern a look she could muster. "He's a sensitive man, give him a break."
    
    "Yeah, he's sensitive! So be more specific, because he always sounds like he's about to cry."
    
    On the other end of Marina's Rotom Phone sat Penny on a call, safe in her dorm room but still having wanted to be heard from by Marina. Penny... really didn't want to be socializing today, more than usual. Another accidental all-nighter had left her beyond exhausted, but she still found herself answering Marina's request for a call. She didn't even have the courage to back out once she realized it was a four-person conversation, instead allowing the other three to do most of the talking— carrying a conversation was a monumental task for her, even after having spent a few picnics and phone calls with Marina. Still, she couldn't resist the urge to make a jab a teacher's expense.
    
    Arven and Penny both began to laugh at her remark, leaving Nemona only able to roll her eyes and cross her legs in mild contempt as Director Clavell continued.
    
    "Wasn't Professor Gible's Terastalization incredible? It certainly makes the prospect of raising your grades and procuring a Tera Orb of your own rather, ent-ICE-ing, doesn't it?"
    
    The horrible pun echoed throughout the freezing gym, the deafly silence that had fallen seeming to lower the temperature by the second.
    
    Director Clavell cleared his throat.
    
    "Ah, yes, well, onto... more pressing matters. I would like to remind you all that the "Halloween" Masquerade Party that had previously been postponed will be held a week from tonight! Your faculty thanks you all for your patience, and we intend on making it up to you all with an unforgettable evening! Remember, the theme is "Partner Pokemon," meaning you are encouraged to bring along a Pokemon and match your outfits to them. Or, perhaps match their outfits to yours! The possibilities are endless." 
    
    "But it must be reminded, Tinkaton are only permitted to be in the Main Hall without their hammers." From a row of instructors and faculty seated next to the stage, Miss Tyme interjected with her own personal microphone. "As such, it is recommended that any trainers of Tinkaton opt for a different Pokemon as their partner. We will not tolerate a repeat of last year's incident."
    
    "Er, y-yes, thank you Miss Tyme," Clavell stuttered. "With that said, I'd like to finish our first school rally of the year by once again reviewing the school's policy on certain Pokemon and their tool use."
    
    Having heard this all before, Arven sleepily leaned back on Marina, who had finished applying her eyeliner and was now fishing in the pockets of her green skirt to find her matching mascara. Arven had always asked her why she would carry around such a huge bag when she had such deep pockets, but he just couldn't understand that she only kept the absolute necessities in there— her Pokemon's Poke Balls, of course, as well as her phone, earbuds, color-matched eyeliner, mascara and lipstick, her makeup wipes, a teasing comb, some breath mints... honestly, she knew men were ignorant to a woman's needs, but for someone who was as much about preparation and equipment as he was, he could at least try to see her point of view!
    
    "They shouldn't have cancelled the original party. It was an indoor party, canceling it because of some rain was ridiculous," Arven lamented. "Maybe I would have even bothered to go."
    
    "It wasn't 'some rain!' It was a tropical storm, the school lost power four times!" Nemona retorted, leaning into Marina to meet the uncaring boy's gaze.
    
    "Yeah, and that's like, scary. Perfect for Halloween."
    
    Arven gave Nemona a toothy smirk, flashing his pronounced canine teeth.
    
    "D'you two mind?"
    
    Arven and Nemona both sat upright as Marina flicked another coat onto her left eyelashes.
    
    "Well, what's stopping you from going this time?" Nemona asked with a grin. Who knows, you might actually enjoy yourself, ya big grump!"
    
    Arven rolled his eyes at the sight of Nemona's wide, orange-braced smile.
    
    "Please, I'm not gonna bother hunting down a stuffy suit that matches with my squirrel or rock golem just to take part in some fake... bourgeois-bohème event." Arven made a rolling motion with his hand as he searched for his words, eventually deciding to forgo the Galarian and mock the idea in his mother tongue.
    
    "Ooo, the Kalosian-man thinks he's too good for a party," Penny jeered from the floating device. "He has too many macarons to bake and berets to organize."
    
    "Listen here you uncultured little Galarian," Arven snapped as he jerked towards the phone, sneering in genuine anger. "It's not like you'll be attending, either! And MY time is preoccupied with better things than video games and pet-babyi— GHH!"
    
    Arven's insults were cut short by another elbowing from Marina, this time with intent to harm.
    
    "Not cool, Arven." While Marina's expression was normally what most would call 'cheerful' and some 'unnervingly so,' not even her bright, poppy hair and makeup could soften the scowl she gave him.
    
    "S-sorry..." Arven grumbled as he leaned away and held his side, sneering at the chuckling Nemona to his left.
    
    "Well, what about you, Marina? You have a Meowscarada, you like, gotta do it!" Nemona brought her hands together as if she was pleading, but offset her desperation with a slight shimmy as she waved them side to side.
    
    Marina's happy smile and bright blue eyes returned in an instant as she considered her options. She couldn't admit it, but the idea sounded... dreadful. 
    
    Day after day she was already putting in extraordinary effort, with her cinched corset, padded bra and bodysuit under her polo shirt and skirt... the idea of going even further after a long day sounded miserable. And to do all that, just to be expected to hide under a mask and wig?! There would be no point in making herself look nice if no one would remember who she was by the end of it. But how could get out of this without giving an excuse that made her sound like a vapid bimbo?
    
    "Ehhhhhh... I dunno, I'm not sure I'm really feelin' it." Finishing the makeup of her right eye, Marina tilted her head and glanced sideways, thinking quickly. "Besides, ain't the point of these kinda parties supposed to be that ya don't know who's who? Plannin' with a bunch of friends feels like it's kinda missin' the whole point."
    
    "Awww, not you too, 'Rina..." Nemona slumped over in defeat and began to fidget with her long purple tie, even the green segments of hair she kept out of her ponytail seeming to droop in sadness.
    
    "Hon hon hon, what a shame!" Arven threw his shoulders and hands up, shaking his head in a dramatic fashion and laughing a noxiously haughty laugh. "Looks like we'll all be sad and alone in our dorm rooms, while two-hundred tacky teenagers parade around like overgrown Spritzee. Heartbreaking, really."
    
    Marina put her left arm around Nemona while reeling back her right to prepare for another collision with Arven's core, causing him to instinctively flinch away.
    
    "C'mon, 'Mona, the entire point is that everyone's a stranger! Its like, the best kinda party to not have anyone to go with."
    
    "Yeah, with your... ah, outgoing personality, you're sure to find at least a few people to fraternize with! I think you can go a few hours without your hand held, Miss President," Arven quipped as he dodged the scrawny, flailing arm attempting to grab him.
    
    "Bro is in a mood today," Penny said. "Marina, keep your freak of a man on a leash."
    
    "Normally I don't have to!" Marina playfully responded as she let go of Nemona, lurching towards Arven and pulling him closer by his vest with both hands. "He's usually such a goooood boy... I dunno what's gotten into him. Might need doggy daycare or somethin'."
    
    Marina made sure to drag her compliment out in an extra sweet voice, fluttering her eyes at Arven as his head snapped and shoulders rose to hide his blushing face. Penny began to laugh loudly at her friend's final comment, only to suddenly fall entirely silent.
    
    "HAW HAW HAAA-"
    
    "Is she dead?" Arven asked, unwilling to show enough face to even turn in the phone's direction.
    
    "No, I think she... accidentally muted herself again?" Marina said, swiping from her phone's camera to voice chat with a long, skinny finger.
    
    "Don't unmute her," he demanded.
    
    "Quit provin' her point," Marina said with half a smile, "or I really will put you through obedience training."
    
    Arven clenched his fists and huffed, trying and failing to keep his composure in the face of the girl's teasing.
    
    "Yeah, I'd like to see you try," he said in an attempt to tease back, only to immediately realize the ramifications of what he just said in a panic.
    
    "You would?!" Marina laughed incredulously, "You'd like that?! You'd like to see that?!"
    
    "N-no! No no no no! Sh-shut up!" Arven, his pinkish-red blush reaching his ears, whipped around and waved his hands wildly as he tried to get a word in against Marina, who could only cackle on.
    
    An otherwise unreligious young man, Arven silently prayed for divine intervention to get him out of this scenario, some form of angel to guide him. It seems his lack of religion weakened the strength of his prayer however, as he instead got Nemona— who was now standing over them, arms crossed as she waiting for them to realize the rest of the school was funneling towards the exit.
    
    "Uh, hey, if you two are done flirting or whatever, the rally's over."
    
    "Freakin' finally!"
    
    Grabbing her floating phone, Marina hopped up from her seat with a slight pompf from her skirt's ruffled petticoat and began to hop right down the plastic benches, completely forgoing the stairs three steps to her left. The large bow of the light green sash she kept around her waist fluttering, she left her friends—and her tote bag—behind in her eager hurry to leave the school for the weekend.
    
    "H-hey! Marina, wait, your bag!" 
    
    Nemona scooped Marina's oversized pink-and-white striped bag into her arm and raced down the steps after her, careful to keep her grip on the metal railing. Arven slung his heavy yellow backpack on and followed suit, more worried about Marina falling than forgetting her bag. 
    
    Marina leapt off the final row of seats, her petite figure landing and crumpling with a small thud before springing right back up. 
    
    Ah. Big mistake. Big, big mistake. Marina casually ran her hands along her waist, desperately attempting to push the metal ribs of her corset back into place, making it look like she was simply adjusting her skirt. She supposed she deserved it for getting so wound up and energetic, and silently cursed herself for acting like such a stupid boy.
    
    She gave a quick glance back to see Nemona carrying her bag for her, then turned back to give a bright smile and wave goodbye to the school's faculty before hurrying towards the exit, careful not to make actual eye contact with any of their judgmental looks— especially from the likes of Ms. Tyme or Raifort. 
    
    For as much of a delight Marina could be, all of her teachers agreed she was more than a bit of a handful. Director Clavell's plan that her free spirit could be somewhat tamed by Nemona's more proper nature had turned to smoke, and many wondered if it had been a good idea to begin with. At the least, they all agreed her idiosyncrasies would be easier to tolerate if she would at least bother to wear the uniform. 
    
    As Nemona reached the bottom of the steps, her brain switched at the sight of her teachers, instantly shifting to her habitual appeasement as if to lessen the blow of being seen mingling with such a rebellious spirit. 
    
    "Th-that was a wonderful pep rally! And, Director Clavell, that was a really funny jo— WOAH!" 
    
    Nemona was quickly joined by Arven, who had been traveling down the steps at a comparable speed but who hadn't foreseen the girl's sudden stop, slamming into her from behind. He had only just managed to grab her by the arm and pull her into him in time to stop her from falling over. In any other circumstance, he'd be perfectly fine with bowling her lanky ass to the ground for being so oblivious. But he knew better than to do so in front of the entire school's staff.
    
    "Nemona, watch it!" Arven barked, making sure sure the stunned girl was at least standing on her feet before pacing off after Marina— but not before snapping out a "Connasse!" as he flung his hands into the air in exasperation.
    
    "H-hey! What did you just call me?!" Nemona snapped back as she joined her cohorts, only to be met with "Don't worry about it!" in return. Mr. Salvatore, watching on as he collected folding chairs, could only barely stifle a laugh.
    
    Catching up to and giving her bag back to Marina, Nemona then gave Arven a shove that barely displaced him as they walked. 
    
    "What's ya freakin' problem, dude?!" she barked, so upset she couldn't bring herself to mask her intensely Unovan speaking mannerisms. 
    
    "My problem?! You are the one who stopped dead as if you were the only person on Earth! You knew damn well I was behind you!"
    
    "You had so much time to stop, dude! It ain't my fault you got no spatial awareness, ya big brute!" 
    
    Arven reeled back and snarled at Nemona's comment, only stopped from laying into her by Marina stopping dead, grabbing them both by their violet neckties, and pulling them down to roughly match her eye level.
    
    "Ghh— hey!"
    
    "Rinaaaa!"
    
    "Hey," Marina growled, the sudden drop of her voice surprising all three of them into pausing. 
    
    Shit. Marina didn't mean to let her frustration out like that. The steel bones poking into her sides were no excuse for a poor attitude, and she had to act fast to save face.
    
    "No fighting, okay? We're friends!" Marina's piercing eyes returned to the deep blue sapphires she was known for, her coral-coated lips snapping into a soft feline-like smile.
    
    "R-right. Sorry," Arven muttered as he held his shirt to the nape of his neck, not wanting his unbuttoned collar and loose tie to reveal his scarred chest for a multitude of reasons.
    
    "Sorry, sorry, we're done," Nemona's usual speaking patterns returned in shame as she attempted to fix the tie that Marina still clutched in her grasp.
    
    "Good girl. And good boy," she quipped, letting go of their ties and tapping the  tips of their noses with her pink almond-shaped nails. Having broken the air, she cackled like a Fennekin at the blush that spread across their faces before continuing out the door and into the web of hallways that connected the underground facilities of the academy. 
    
    While Nemona followed after her like a Rockruff, Arven stood in frustration before barking out like a Maschiff.
    
    "You know what, whatever! I'm done with all this! Enjoy your stupid party, girls!"
    
    Practically spitting venom in his final words, Arven snarled as he dropped his head and went for the East Wing stairs, leaving Nemona and Marina to make their way to the Main Hall together. As Nemona watched in confusion as he stomped away, Marina went back to the phone that had been continuously floating in front of her.
    
    "Hey, ya there, Penny? I thought I lost ya for a sec." 
    
    "O-oh, yeah, I-I'm here, yeah, one of my VeeVees just, w-walked across my keyboard and muted me," Penny stuttered out. "H-hey, you seem to have your hands full with those two, I'll leave you to, uh, d-disciplining them."
    
    "Wait, no, they're not-" Before Marina could stop her, Penny hung up the call. "...Damn, I wasn't plannin' on any 'discipline,' but okay."
    
    Before Marina would process Penny's odd behavior, her thoughts were interrupted by Nemona leaning in to be heard over the chatter of students in the stairwell.
    
    "Uh, hey 'Rina, you're the one that Arven hangs out with all the time," Nemona said, her mind still on the young man. "Do you know what his freakin' problem is? Today, I mean, I know in general that list must be a mile long."
    
    "Oh, uh..."
    
    Marina thought for a moment. Yeah, what was his issue today? He seemed fine before the topic of the masquerade party came up... Sure, he didn't seem like the partying type of guy, but it was more than just dismissal— something was winding him up. Was it something about the party?
    
    "Well... he said somethin' about not wantin' to find a suit. Maybe he does wanna go, but doesn't have anything to wear? He's been pretty busy with—" Marina caught herself before she could reveal too much about Arven's personal life. "With, his Treasure Hunt. Maybe he just didn't have the time, or he didn't know how to look for something to wear? Or maybe he's just not the dressin' up kind to begin with."
    
    "Could be that, yeah..." Nemona hummed to herself a bit as the two made their way up the spiral staircase that connected Uva's underbelly to its main hall, oblivious to Marina continuing to press and pat her sides. 
    
    "Hey, if he's not the type to wear a suit," she said with a cheeky grin, "I have loads of spare dresses he could try on!"
    
    The two girls snickered to themselves as they entered the Main Hall, the stairwell's cold smell of concrete and metal giving way to the warmth and musk of hundreds of books, new and old.
    
    "Somehow, I don't think he'd be the type to wear a dress either..." Marina trailed off a bit, doing little to stop her thoughts from wandering to the idea of Arven in women's clothing.
    
    "Well, can I at least expect to see you there?" Nemona tilted her head and gave Marina a tepid smile, a familiar look of 'please-don't-think-I'm-begging' across her face.
    
    "Uh, oh! M-maybe?" Marina snapped back to reality before her mind could wander to any... logical conclusions to her train of thought. "I just, I don't know if I can throw somethin' together in time, or if my Pokemon are really, like, ehhh, suited for a party, ya know? If I can, I'll let you know, okay?"
    
    Fears of the worst flashed in Marina's head, but Nemona seemed to take the wishy-washy half-rejection surprisingly well.
    
    "Oh, alright. Well, if you don't end up going, then..." Nemona trailed off, glancing to her side at nothing in particular.
    
    "Then?" Marina asked, worried that Nemona's visions of her future were about to flip from 'a wonderful evening with her friends' to 'sitting in her empty dorm, hugging her Pawmot with the lights off.'
    
    "Then... I'll be sure to tell you all about it! Penny too, and, even Arven, I guess." 
    
    Thank Arc.
    
    "Alright," Marina chuckled as she began to head for the front door. "Hey, I'll talk to ya later, yeah?"
    
    "Yeah! And tell your aunt I said 'Hi' for me!"
    
    Nemona skipped forwards and pulled her shorter friend into a hug, Marina's chin colliding right into her collarbone.
    
    "Oof! Y-yeah, will do!" 
    
    Now wasn't the best time for a hug, Nemona! Marina prayed the girl wasn't feeling her deformed corset, or the padding of her bra that had shifted around as she had been adjusting herself. Still, she squeezed Nemona back as hard as she could manage, undoubtedly leaving her smelling of watermelon and sea salt perfume.
    
    "Okay, byyyyyye, 'Mona~!" 
    
    Marina sang out her little goodbye as she trotted out the door, the warmth of the academy building turning to Paldea's crisp and icy January air. As she made her way down the stairwell Uva Academy had become infamous for, she entertained the idea of there still somehow being time to attend the upcoming event.
    
    On the one hand, it certainly did seem like fun! Marina had never gotten the chance to attend any sort of event like this, not at her old school, and especially not as... her. A beautiful ballroom, a pretty dress, it was everything she had dreamed of as a child! 
    
    On the other hand, it seemed almost poisoned in irony. Marina dressed up and covered her face every day, shoved socks into her bra and herself into a corset, raised her voice to a tiringly obnoxious pitch and swallowed all her  frustration and anger and nasty thoughts just to make sure everyone was beaten over the head with how cute and girly she was. To go above and beyond just to not even be known for it? It seemed so self-defeating! Every day's a masquerade, so why should she even bother?
    
    As soon as her two feet were off the stairwell and onto the cobblestone of Mesagosa's streets, Marina stopped dead. That was it! Every day for Marina Winters was a masquerade, one where she was the sole performer— so it was time to flip the script. A night where she could stop caring about her fussy makeup, her awful shapewear, where she didn't have to deal with the judgment of her "superiors" for wearing what she wanted, and the judgment of her "peers" for her feminine façade even daring to crack. A night where she could just let go and behave however she wanted, be whoever she wanted!
    
    And the best part? If she ended up hating it, and looking and acting like a stupid ugly boy in a stupid ugly dress... who cares?! Once the night was over, she'd be back to her usual Barbie-Doll self either way, and no one would know that freak was her! It was entirely risk free!
    
    Just for a night, she told herself. For one beautiful evening, Marina could finally take her shame, and her deepest pain— and let them go at the masquerade!

Chapter Text

    It was supposed to be different. It was all supposed to be different. 
    
    Leaving Unova, leaving it all behind for Paldea, it was supposed to be better— the chemical ridden food for fresh baked breads and locally farmed fruits. The sounds of cars blaring and constant screaming for public music and laughter. The culture of hatred and selfishness for one of kindness and human compassion. 
    
    But it had all gone wrong. Ever blinded by fantasies and ideals, Marina had only began to accept the reality that she would never be able to escape. She'd never escape terrible, sickening food, no matter where she looked or shopped. She'd never escape screeching tires and suffocating exhaust, no matter how many small towns she'd trot through. She'd never escape cruel indifference, no matter how many connections she'd make a lose. And worst of all, no matter where she went, how she acted, what she did... she'd never escape what she dreaded most of all. She'd never escape it, she'd never escape-!
    
    "Aaaaaaannaaaaaaaaa! Wh-why is it s-so cold?! I thought P-Paldea was-s-s all warm in the winter!"
    
    Working along side her aunt, Marina's thin hands struggled to pin the bedsheet the two held to the clothesline as she shivered and shook. Her entire life, she had experienced nothing but cold, dry winters that would chap lips until they bled and dry eyes until they wept. But when she took her aunt's offer to come to Paldea six months ago, she envisioned a future of beautiful and temperate winters in the region's cozy south. 
    
    The reality of the region's climate—in conjunction with an unfortunately timed cold front—had swiftly shattered those dreams, and she found herself uncontrollably shivering as she helped her aunt with the last of the Saturday morning chores.
    
    "Sweetie... it's not even that cold."
    
    Securing the her end of the bedsheet, Anna then took over for Marina and snapped the wooden pins she was fighting with around the line.
 
    "It's like, eleven degrees out. You're just so skinny, it feels way worse."

    Anna turned to her niece and pulled her into a warm hug, her arms only tightening around Marina's waist as she embarrassedly attempted to push her away by the shoulders.

    "Oh yeah, skinny as hell. I got a few sweaters, you wanna throw one of those on until it warms up a bit?"
       
    "Nooooo," Marina crowed, breaking out of her aunt's arms. As much as she wanted to lay into her aunt for her repeated comments, or gag at the thought of her frumpy sweaters from her travels, Marina knew to keep those thoughts to herself. She had a favor to ask of Anna, which was the only reason she had skipped her morning routine to help around the house to begin with. So she found her strength and bit her tongue— quite literally, to stop her teeth from chattering so much.
    
    "An' what's 'eleven degrees' in the measurement that actually makes sense?" Marina asked, flipping a strand of unbrushed hair from her face.
    
    Anna rolled her eyes, both at Marina's question and her refusal. For a kid so adamant about making grand and sweeping changes, her ability to adapt left much to be desired.
    
    "I see your classes at Uva are teachin' you a lot," she dryly joked. "Oh, and speaking of! Are you still against goin' to that party next Friday, because that's when the replacement parts for the upstairs toilet come in and if you're free it would be great if you could—"
    
    Marina stopped her aunt dead with an "Ehhhhhhhh," knowing better than to let that thought conclude.
    
    "Actually, I think I will be goin' after all. It does seem like a lot of fun, so I figured, like, 'why not.'" 
    
    "Oh, awesome!" Anna clapped her hands together, just excited enough for Marina to let the initial suggestion of her time fade. "I'm sure you got a wicked outfit planned, it would'a been a shame to let it go to waste."
    
    "Well..." Marina sheepishly looked to her side, tapping her acrylic nails together with a clck-clck-clck. "I only... just decided yesterday, so I don't have anything to wear... and I was wondering if maybe you... had any dresses...?"
    
    Marina's plan wasn't as foolish as it seemed. Despite their builds having certain differences that upset Marina more than a bit, they were similar enough that one of Anna's dresses could feasibly fit her. At worst it would be a bit short in the arms and tight in the shoulders, but that could be tolerated for just one night. 
    
    Anna, however, was more concerned with Marina's lack of planning than any possible tailoring issues.
    
    "Marina." Anna's hands fell to her hips, a stern look that could only be forged by years of motherhood piercing though her burgundy bangs. "What do you mean you 'only just decided'? Wouldn't your friends want to know if you're going or not, you can't be so Wishiwashi about this! And besides, I don't think any of my dresses would be up to your impossible standards."
    
    "Well, that's just the thing," Marina said, ignoring the possible meaning behind that last remark. "I want to go alone! It's a masquerade party, you know, so like, the entire point is that you're a stranger to everyone. And, I, like..."
    
    Marina's eyes dropped to her feet. Even under a pair of baggy pajama pants, the snow white socks and perfectly polished Mary Janes she had instinctively reached for acted as another reminder of what she was after.
    
    "I figured that, if I'm a stranger to everyone anyways, then I could afford to like, 'let go' a tiny bit. As long as it was decent, it wouldn't really matter how I looked in the end. I just figured it could be nice is all..."
    
    Anna sighed as she thought, letting her frustration with Marina's eccentric ways dissipate like the mist she exhaled into the cool air.
    
    "Sweetie-pie, you know that it doesn't matter every day, right? You have good friends, you've told me about them, I've met that Arven boy at the grocery store and he seems real nice."
    
    Anna stepped towards Marina again, this time gently taking Marina's hand in one of her own, the other gently brushing a few stands of sea-green hair to hold her face.
    
    "If you have good friends, real friends, it doesn't matter how you dress or how amazing your makeup is. They'll love you for you."
    
    Marina couldn't bring herself to make eye contact, still staring a million miles away as her blotchy freckled face contorted. After a pause, a faint mumble escaped her lips.
    
    "...I just don't know if I'm ready."
    
    Anna knew better than to press the girl any further. Before it could get any more emotional, she squeezed Marina's hand a bit tighter and began to lead her out of the garden they stood in and back indoors.
    
    "Arright, I get it. Let's see what we're workin' with, then."
    
    Bringing Marina through the kitchen, living room and main hallway, the two entered the house's master bedroom. While Anna made straight for her closet, Marina first went over to her queen-sized bed and scooped up the pink, sparkly Skowvet smack in the middle, whose nap had been interrupted by their rude arrival. Marina's Pokémon had all evolved well past the point where she could scoop them up and carry them around, so she took every opportunity to baby her aunt's Chippy.
    
    "Okay, we've got... well, we've got choices," her aunt said as she emerged from the closet, a rainbow of dresses in her arm. "Not sure you're gonna be crazy about them, some of them are a little a little... Y2K."
    
    Marina sighed, placing Chippy on her shoulder and extending her hand out. "Hit me," she said flatly.
    
    Being given her first dress, Marina held it to her chest and turned to look in her aunt's vanity mirror. A bright ocean-blue dress, resembling the waters of an Alolan beach. She had no water types to match it to, and it was just green enough that it wouldn't match her eyes.
    
    "Pass," she said, tossing the dress onto the bed behind her.
    
    "What's your plan for your hair? You just got your roots done, don't tell me you're dying it again," Anna asked, handing another dress.
    
    "There's lil' a costume shop in Mesagoza, they overstocked on wigs so they're havin' a sa- Anna what the fuck."
    
    Marina held up a hot pink, sequined dress. A short, feathered hemline and a v-cut neck that would make a school director faint, Marina didn't even bother looking at the mirror before casting it aside.
    
    "Your mother's homecoming dress. Terrible, terrible thing, I only keep it around to remember how much better I looked back then... and now!"
    
    Anna could take Marina's judgmental gazes and remarks— it was part of the territory with teenagers. Seeing such a look come from both her and the squirrel on her shoulders, however, was too much for even her to bare. 
    
    "Oh, whatever! We're twins, so lookin' like me is your best case scenario." Anna handed her another dress. "And which one of your Pokémon are ya taking?"

    That was a good question. Marina's had five Pokémon she could call her own, but her choices were deceptively limited...
    
    "Well," she said, inspecting and then tossing a yellow, flowy spahgetti-strapped party dress, "it definitely ain't gonna be Kuiama."
    
    The Miraidon that Arven had pawned off to her all those months ago, technically registered as a Cyclizar in its statistics page, was one of the most head-turning Pokémon at the academy. Bringing them would be no different than Marina wearing a sign reading 'Marina Laventon Winters, Year 1 Homeroom 5A" around her neck. 
    
    "And it can't be Saint C, either. They have a rule against hammers."
    
    Alas, as well-mannered and polite as St. Cecilia was, Marina knew she wouldn't be able to sweet-talk her way into bypassing the "no Tinkaton" rule.
    
    "Oh, what about one of my sundresses? Wear this with your black bodysuit, you'll match your lil' Girafarig perfectly!" Anna handed Marina another yellow dress, this one short and collared, smattered with white spots and sporting a matching yellow belt at the waist.
    
    "Oh, this is cute... but, C Moon's been a Farigiraf for like, two months, Anna. Probably way too big, and even if he isn't, he's too nervous for a party."
    
    Marina placed the dress she held on the end of the bed opposite to the one that had been accumulating the rest of them, determined to take it for her own when Anna wasn't looking.
    
    "So, it's just you and Charlie?"
    
    Never one to let manners or training get in the way of her spotlight, Marina's outspoken Meowscarada emerged from her Poké Ball the moment her name was uttered, her arms outstretched as if the two women present were an audience of adoring fans.
    
    "Nyyyasca, myaaaaaaa~?"
    
    Marina softly huffed, unsure how to break the terrible news to her partner and best friend.
    
    "I... I don't think so, no."
    
    Charlie recoiled, speechless for the first time in her life as anger and betrayal swirled under her dark green mask.
    
    "Because of her eye?" Anna concluded, being met with a nod from Marina.
    
    Charlie was very typical for a Meowscarada— slightly slimmer than average, and a few inches taller than what was standard. But her most defining feature, one that didn't take a measuring kit and a biology teacher to perceive, was the heterochromia in her beautiful eyes. Her left eye a bright coral pink, her right a deep purple. Marina's Charlie was the only one of her kind at the academy, and certainly stood out.
    
    "I'm sorry, Charliepop," Marina said as she stroked her humanoid cat's chin with her nails, "But unless you're okay with wearing an eyepatch or some sunglasses..."
    
    Marina gently covered Charlie's right eye, careful to cup her palm over it without pressing down. Immediately, the Meowscarada stepped back and pushed her trainer's hand away with a small "Nyeh!"
    
    "Yeah, I didn't think so..."
    
    "So, you're gonna take... your Houndstone?" Anna asked, an idea coming across her face as she went back into her closet.
    
    "Well, I mean-"
    
    With the same perfect timing and lack of regard for his training as Charlie, Marina's Houndstone manifested between the girl and her cat and shoved them both aside with a haunting series of howls.
    
    "AROOROOROOROO!"
    
    Charlie hunched over and hissed as her teammate made his insufferable presence known, with Chippy leaping off Marina's shoulder and dashing between Charlie's legs to escape out the bedroom door.
    
    "Mr. Crowley! SHHH!" Marina ordered, a long finger flying to her lips as she commanded her undead ally. Her newest team member was unruly and lacking in training, but it seemed like he was Marina's best option.
    
    "...Arooroo..." Crowley murmured, barely audible above the cracking of his rapidly wagging tailbones. 
    
    "Now, this is a secret to everyone," Anna said as she pulled a black dress out of a lidded box, "but when I was your age, I had... well, I had a bit of a goth phase. Your mother bullied me relentlessly, but it got me way more boyfriends than her, which she always hated."
    
    Marina nearly dropped the Poké Ball she was recalling Charlie into, a wheeze escaping her as she processed the information she had just been cursed with.
    
    Seeing Marina's stunned reaction, Anna shoved the dress into Marina's arms. "Look, just, tell me what you think of this. If you like it, there's gloves and a choker too."
    
    Preparing to be sickened by whatever slutty mall-goth nonsense she had undoubtedly just been handed, Marina's eyes widened. The dress was... beautiful.
    
    A cross-stitched V-neck held together a lacey and delicate collar that extended into long sleeves that ended in wide, laced cuffs. A series of lighter ruffles extended from the built-in corset belt, the hemline brushing the floor, with the entire dress being a rich velvet black that caught the light in a way that it looked nearly purple at certain angles.
    
    "Oh, wow, this is... amazing! Anna, where were you wearin' somethin' like this?"
    
    "Aw, ya know, house parties, ," Anna quickly brushed the topic aside with a nervous flapping of her hand. "And, what about him? He's not exactly blending in, either."
    
    Anna gestured to Mr. Crowley, and it was true. He had a similar problem as Charlie—his appearance simply was too striking.
    
     The protuberance that grew from the heads of Houndstone could come in a variety of shapes, with his being an incredibly odd effigy of a wooden stake, forming a cross with two bat wings sprouting from the top. His fur was also unique, the shaggy and gnarled coat most of his kind sported having its place taken by one that was long, slick and incredibly straight. After seeing the dress, however, a plan for her companion had already begun forming in Marina's mind.
    
    "Okay, so, Crowley might look real different, but I think I have an idea."
    
    Handing the dress back to Anna, Marina went for her aunt's wardrobe and began to search through the bottom drawer, where the spare sheets and blankets were kept. She pulled out a black comforter, and threw it over her skeletal friend.
    
    "Hey! I just washed that!" Anna protested, only to be ignored as Marina tied the two corners under Crowley's massive chin.
    
    "Ta-da!" Marina sang, rising and turning to show Anna what she had done. Covering the headstone and having enough slack to conceal his long hair, the only parts of the Houndstone that showed were his large snout and ever-wagging tail. A simple but incredibly effective grim reaper cosplay that perfectly disguised him!
    
    "Can he see like that?" Anna asked.
    
    "Ah, he ain't got eyeballs to begin with," Marina reassured her. "I dunno how he actually sees, but he's fine like this!"
    
    "Well," Anna said as she handed the dress and its accessories off, "I hope you're able to have a good time. I'm glad that old thing'll get one more night to shine. Just make sure I get both of your costumes back in one piece, okay?
    
    Marina nodded with a grin, Crowley letting out an affirmative "BWOOOF!" 
    
    Recalling a cloaked Crowley, Marina brought her haul to the spare room she called her own during visits, overjoyed with what she had ahead of her. Looking over the dress and all its details again, the idea that she would be going goth spurred her to laughter. It was so radically outside of her comfort zone, it was silly, it was unthinkable for Marina, it was absolutely perfect!
    
    As much as Marina hated the upkeep, being the girl that she was still brought her joy. Looking pretty, smelling pretty, talking pretty, it was comforting. It was what made her feel like a girl.

    But even she could recognize when she needed a break, and seeing this dress and imagining herself in it, so far from what everyone expected of her... it was exactly the break she needed. This was a night where she could be free from what anyone wanted to see from her, she could be... anything! 
    
    Although, there was still a small part of Marina that lamented her situation still. As excited as she was to don her disguise and to attend a beautiful party, it was a shame that she wouldn't even be able to regale her friends with a retelling of the night. Arven and Penny were out for certain, and she wasn't going to put money on Nemona going either.
    
    Marina shrugged those thoughts off, deciding that this would all make a hilarious story in ten year's time. What was she worried about, anyways? Poor Penny would have a heart attack at such an event, and Nemona would die of boredom without some friends to have an all-out time with. Not to mention Arven— a party like that was the last place he would show up!

Chapter Text

    In life, there is a fine line between preparation and overthinking. Carefully laid plans can grow like weeds in a frantic and worried mind, blooming into horrible convictions of what the future may hold. 
    
    Marina knew this all too well, and had spent the past week carefully tearing those weeds from her brain as they formed. What she would do, if and when she would dance, how she'd talk and act— these thoughts plagued her relentlessly. Constantly she reminding herself not to worry, or she'd end up just as trapped by her performance as she already was. There was no point in hanging up the persona she had built for herself only to crawl into another one.

    Thankfully, it seems Marina's friends also had no desire to think about the upcoming ball. Nemona's comments were as indecisive and vague as hers, amounting to little more than a few "I dunno"s and "maybe, maybe not"s. Penny had no interest in the subject, and Arven was still shutting down any conversation even tangentially related to the event. 
    
    At the tail end of a week that had felt like a month, the anticipation had Marina so wound up she could hardly sit still. Tap-tap-tap-ing her pencil against her desk, she couldn't help herself from staring at the clock as the seconds slowly marched to 3:30pm. Marina was far too anxious to make any real use of her time, such as homework or reading, and phones were forbidden from being taken out during Ms. Raifort's class. So Marina sat there, her classwork ignored and her patience thinning as she blocked out the glares her teacher shot at her from the front of the room.
    
    With nothing better to do, she began to mentally go over her list of party accessories one last time. The costume store had been predictably short on masks, but she had snagged both a sparkling black domino mask and a long, jet-black wig from the store's surplus. The dress had no pockets, so she grabbed a cheap little black purse to hold her belongings. She had felt the urge to pick up black alternatives to all of her makeup, though she managed to hold herself back and only bought a tube of cheap lipstick to complete her look. Her aunt insisted that she had to wear the knee-high boots that she used to wear in her youth, even though they wouldn't be visible, and made Marina a bit taller than she would have liked. She couldn't wear the long-sleeved bodysuit she always wore, but she still needed something to cover her chest. Although, would her padded bra even fit that in that dress, or—
    
    DI-DI-DONG, DI-DI-DONG!
    
    Six months in this school, and the tolling bells that signified the end of each period still made Marina jump out of her skin. After collecting herself, Marina collected her belongings and hastily shoved them into her bag before rushing out the classroom door. The party started at 6 o'clock sharp, and Marina wanted the chance to make the most of every moment. She was nearly running as she made her way into the Entrance Hall, so focused on making her exit that she didn't take a single moment to appreciate the décor that the staff and their Pokémon had been putting up for the past week. She was too determined to not let anyone or anything get in her way for idling and gawking. A bit of spatial awareness would have done her well, however, as Marina turned a corner of bookshelves and charged directly into Arven.
    
    Rebounding off her unmoved friend with a "wheh!", Marina didn't even realize she was falling backwards before Arven's reflexes sprung to catch her. Dropping the books he was holding, he grabbed the girl with a wide embrace, the speed of which whipped her upright and pushed her into his chest. Marina too stunned and Arven too flustered to react to what had just happened, the tension locked the two into staring in each other's eyes, only broken by a passing student's remark. 
    
    "Get a room," they called out as they walked by the two.
    
    "Get some bitches!" Marina snapped back, shooting up a middle finger and snarling.
    
    The embarrassment of the comment and the shock of Marina's response was enough for Arven to release her and step back, stumbling over the books at his feet.
    
    "S-sorry, little buddy! Didn't mean to grab you so hard! J-just, uh, watch out next time, yeah?"
    
    Arven took a knee with a nervous laugh, gathering the fallen books. Dropping to both of hers, Marina began to help him.
    
    "Uh, yeah, no worries Arvee! I shoulda watched where I was..."
    
    Marina trailed off as she read the cover of the book she held. A Young Woman's Guide to Etiquette And—. Arven snatched the book out of her hands before she could read the rest.
    
    "I was just, putting away some books someone had left out!" Arven explained a little too fast. "You know, the staff is already so busy with..." He gestured to the wintry decorations that hung from the ceiling, and the various Haunter and Wattrel that were stringing them up. "I just thought it would be nice to give them one less thing to worry about. So I did. Or, w-was going to."
    
    Holding all the gathered books in one arm, Arven gave Marina his free hand as the two rose to their feet together. 
    
    "Oh, that's, uh, nice of you?" Marina replied, unsure of what had possessed her friend to make him so nervous.
    
    "Yeah!" Arven responded, before leaving the conversation in an uncomfortable lapse.
    
    "So..." he said, not putting away any of the books he claimed he had the intention to put away, "You're... not going to the party tonight, right?" 
    
    "No, no, I won't be—"
    
    "Oh, good!" Arven interrupted, his eye lighting up ever so slightly. "F-for you, not going to that stupid thing. S-sorry, continue?"
    
    Shit. Did he want to go Titan Hunting again? No, he had the sense to plan these things out with her ahead of time. Then, did he want to... just hang out?! Okay, he hadn't asked that, there was nothing to shoot down, Marina just had to make up an excuse.
    
    "I... won't be going," Marina carried on. "Juli and Flori are sick, so my aunt wants me there anyways. N-not like I had anything to wear, but. Yeah."
    
    What seemed like... relief washed over Arven's face? What was his deal?
    
    "Oh man, that kinda sucks!" He said with a slightly forced grin. "But still, it beats that stuffy party! I uh, hope it goes well. Give your aunt my regards, too!" 
    
    Arven hurried off with his books, waving behind him and leaving Marina in complete confusion. Sighing to herself, she could only shake her head and continue for the front door. There was no gender euphoria quite like being incapable of understanding men.

    
    "Oh, you've gotta be fucking me, Charlie."
    
    Marina whined to her Meowscarada in her aunt's spare room, her dress half on and her accessories laid neatly on her bed. The gothic dress was beautiful, but she was struggling to fit it over her padded chest. It seemed that Anna had been a late bloomer, which at least made Marina feel a bit better about herself.
    
    A glance in the mirror showed how ridiculous Marina looked trying to make it work. Reluctantly, she pulled the dress down and undid her bra, flinging it behind her before donning a black sports bra in its stead. As Charlie pounced on the tossed clothing, Marina put her arms through the spacious sleeves and laced up both the dress's front and the included corset belt. Instinct told her to pull the strings until she had to change her breathing, but restraint prevailed, and she tightened it just enough to be snug with her waist.
    
    "Whaddaya think, Charlieston Chew? Should I go goth full-time?"
    
    Pulling a pair of black satin gloves over her thin arms, Marina turned to her Pokémon, who had lost interest in the clothing she was hunched over and now stared at her trainer unenthusiastically.
    
    "...Yeah, whatever."
    
    Turning her attention back to her outfit, Marina began to shove her hair into the elastic  net that came with the wig she purchased. Donning her mask before putting the wig on and centering it, she turned to her mirror. She had requested Florian, who had an interest in hair styling, to cut the bangs blunt, and he had done a perfect job! The straight, black hair poured down past her shoulders and down to her waist, with the bangs framing and obscuring her face in a perfectly spooky way.
    
    As she clipped the outfit's delicate lace choker around her neck, she couldn't help but beam with glee. With the sparkling mask covering her upper face, she was entirely unrecognizable! Her lack of makeup made the dark, heavy circles under her eyes show through, but even that added to her look. Seeing herself in that dress, the weight of her stress vanished. By some miracle, she still managed to look like a girl. Marina didn't think it would be possible, but tonight, she was someone entirely different! She was... someone entirely different.
    
    Before she could fully reflect on what she was doing, Marina jumped at the sound of her phone's alarm ringing. Shit, the flying taxi she booked was gonna be here in 10 minutes! Marina applied a quick coat of black lipstick before dropping the tube in her purse, along with her phone, a pack of tissues, a tin of mints, her student ID, and Mr. Crowley's Dusk Ball. She felt underprepared, but reminded herself that she had no need for any makeup tonight. 
    
    "Alright, Charlie. Here goes," she sighed, stepping out into the living space her room was connected to with a series of clops from her boots.
    
    As Marina readied herself in her room, her family had been comfortably watching television on a pair of twin couches. But the moment she stepped out of her room, Anna leapt out of her seat and rushed over to her niece.
    
    "Oh my God!" She cried out, grabbing Marina into a hug. "You look so so good! How does it fit, does it feel alright?"
    
    Marina slipped out of her aunt's grasp, stepping back. 
    
    "Oh yeah, fits perfect! I was a little worried it might be a bit loose in some places, but..." Marina lightly thumped her flat chest. "Fits perfect."
    
    "Yeah, okay," Anna responded in an unamused tone, poking Marina in the ribs before returning to her seat on the couch. 
    
    Marina twirled around and stopped facing her cousins, who under their shaggy wine-red hair had been silently observing her appearance.
    
    "And whadda you two think?" She asked, beaming as she awaited the praise and aplomb from the twins.
    
    After a brief pause, Juliana shrugged her shoulders up and moved her open hands across her torso. Scary, she had just signed as she grinned and stuck out her tongue in a teasing manner.
    
    Florian dropped the locks of his sister's hair he was playing with, picking up his handheld text-to-speech keyboard from the coffee table. He quickly typed his message, and the device spoke in a robotic tone, "Weird." He stared on, stone faced as his blue eyes pierced.
    
    With that, Juliana returned her attention to the TV and Florian returned to braiding his sister's hair, leaving Marina feeling hung out to dry.
    
    "It was before their time, sweetie," Anna said as she turned to look at Marina. "You look great, and I'm so glad I got to see you in that dress! But, did you have to get changed here?"
    
    "Yeah!" Marina replied as she checked her taxi's status on her phone. It would be landing in just under a minute! "If anyone saw me walking out of my dorm room, I'd be cooked! Can't take that risk, even a little bit. Anyways, everyone but Charlie is in their Poké Balls, and they've all been fed. I'll be back by like, 11 at the latest!"
    
    Trotting to the front door as she tried to get the hang of walking in her aunt's platform boots, Marina turned back one last time.
    
    "Charliegirl, be good, and no biting or scratching!" She called out, pointing at the cat who was peering out from the dark room. She then turned her gloved finger to her cousins.
    
    "Juli, Flori, no going into my room, and no antagonizing her!" 
    
    Before Anna could respond to the lecturing of her own children, Marina was out the door and into the flying taxi. On any other day, taking such a short taxi ride would have just made her seem embarrassingly lazy, but her outfit, along with the light drizzle and freezing night air, combined to justify her decision.
    
    After her three-minute ride, Marina thanked the driver as they dropped her off on the academy's designated landing zone. Rushing through the icy mist, Marina swiped her ID and entered the Entrance Hall.
    
    It was hardly any warmer within the building, but the beautiful state of the hall was enough to pull Marina away from the chill she felt. For the past week, the lobby had been slowly transformed for the event, all culminating into a winter wonderland of blues and purples. Fake icicles hung from the ceiling and walkways, with tinsel and snow-like sheets of fabric on the railings and bookshelves. The central area had been cleared of shelves and desks, giving way to a large dance floor under a crystal chandelier that reflected spotlights of blue and green in a beautiful Aurora Veil.
    
    Marina could have sat there and stared for hours, but was taken out of her trance by a student walking right into her from behind.
    
    "Ex-CUSE us!" The girl snapped at Marina. Her attitude was accented by a head of fiery hair, a canine skull mask and a low-cut, black dress that all matched the Houndoom accompanying her. Before Marina could respond with a simple "sorry," the girl who bumped her was taken away by the arm by a taller boy in a spiked mask and green suit, accompanied by a Cacturn. The two quickly walked out of earshot, but Marina thought she heard the boy scolding his friend.
    
    "Two seconds in and I'm making enemies," Marina lamented to herself. 
    
    Not wanting to get pushed around by anyone else, Marina made her way past the occupied dance floor and to the relatively quiet right wing of the hall, where the single small drinks table attracted far fewer than the massive left wing's buffet. There were more students at this party than she would have expected, with more pouring in from the direction of the dorms, and each one seemed to have gone all out with their outfits. Her eyes scanned the room, so many outfits catching her eye that she couldn't possibly focus on just one. Beautifully tailored suits and dresses, every color of the rainbow and then some, they all made Marina feel a bit underdressed! 
    
    Marina then rolled her eyes, remembering that Uva Academy was populated mostly of rich kids. She was an outlier in her economic class, but even she couldn't deny that the only reason she got into the academy was from her aunt's connections. What had Arven called it? "Boo-shuah Bo-heem?" With her limited Kalosian, she knew that roughly translated to "stuck up rich losers." Still, there were even a few Pokémon more dressed up than Marina! Which reminded her.
    
    Pulling Mr. Crowley's Dusk Ball out of her purse, Marina released her hound, who had already been dressed up in his make-shift cloak and was wagging his skeletal tail with joy.
    
    "Are ya ready, boy?" Marina made the mistake of asking in an excited tone.
    
    "BOROOOWOOO!" Crowley howled in excitement, turning the head of damn near everyone in the building.
    
    "SHH!" Marina hissed in embarrassment, Crowley responding with a crackling head shake and a raspy huff.
    
    Looking up, there were still a good number of students staring at the two. Marina gave a shrug and a laugh, silently proposing the question of "What can ya do?" to the crowd. That was enough for the onlookers to return to their conversations and dancing, leaving Marina and her Houndstone to themselves.
    
    Bending down, Marina took her Pokemon's muzzle in her hands and spoke to him in a hushed tone.
    
    "Crow-wow, you gotta behave yourself tonight! You can't be yellin' and howlin', okay?"
    
    Crowley lifted his head up to respond, only to drop it back down and sneeze in Marina's face, the musty blast of air startling her enough to knock her to her rear. She was at least grateful over the fact that her undead dog had no bodily fluids.
    
    "Arright, I'm takin' that as a 'yes,'" she said, pushing off Crowley's nose to rise to her feet. "So, now that we're here... whadda we do?" 
    
    After grabbing a cup of fruit punch the color of anti-freeze from the refreshments table, Marina and her partner began to wander a bit, keeping to the edge of the dance floor as she observed her fellow party-goers. She figured she ought to do a bit of socializing, but almost every student was in some form of group or conversation. Surely she couldn't have been the only one who was by herself— it was a masquerade, people! You're not supposed to go with friends!
    
    Before her annoyance could fester any more, a familiar voice pierced through the crowd and caught Marina's attention like a dog whistle. From the dance floor, interrupting couples and throuples with requests for a Pokémon battle was Nemona! 
    
    She was clad in a simple but lovely orange dress, the sleeveless top half ordained with floral patterns of beads, the bottom a darker orange A-line that reached her ankles, revealing that she still had on her bright red sneakers. Bare faced and exposed, her mask of choice was the kind one held up on a stick— though it was currently being hed by her Pawmot, a stout and chubby specimen named Mimo, who kept close to her side as he mimicked her excited motions.
    
    She looked great, but Marina could only focus on how hard she was blowing it out there! Bouncing around, she was getting shot down left and right as the students she was asking opted to stay at the party rather than go all the way to the schoolyard for a battle. Running deeper into the crowd, Marina considered following after her, just to make sure she would be okay, of course. 
    
    Then she shook her head. No, that was a terrible idea! As much as it pained her, Marina couldn't risk trying to help Nemona out of that situation. Looking to keep her mind off her dilemma, Marina went back to looking for anyone that was at least free for a greeting. It was then that she noticed a pair of red eyes in a far off corner, fixed on her. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a large and muscular Umbreon, riding piggyback on a chubby girl in a black dress and glasses over a mask that matched her Pokemon's head shape. Marina had seen that Umbreon before, she knew she had, and she knew his trainer. But, that was impossible!
    
    Hemming and hawing, Marina quickly weighed her choices. Nemona could... probably take care of herself, but this? She just had to know...
    
    Marina went dashing over to the girl and her Umbreon, Crowley at her heels. As soon as the girl noticed her approach, she jumped and froze in place, eyes wide like a Deerling in headlights.
    
    Now face-to-face, Marina could appreciate the girl's outfit a bit more. The maxi dress was simple but gorgeous, the black satin accented by a trail of shimmering stars that streamed down the right shoulder into a sea of gold past the waist. Below was a pair of fishnet stockings led into black dress shoes, and above her hair—or rather, her wig—was styled into a blonde bob streaked with black. And her Umbreon mask with huge ears, it was a bit cartoony, but it was so cute!
    
    "Uh... h-hi?" The girl said in a hushed tone, her weak, Galarian voice confirming Marina's theory. This was definitely Penny.
    
    Marina opened her mouth to speak, but caught herself. What was she doing?! The shock of seeing Penny out like this was so much, Marina had rushed over without so much as a plan! She couldn't just out herself, but there was no doubt Penny was radically out of her element. Before she could fully chart out a plan, Marina dropped her voice closer to how it was before moving to Paldea and started to talk.
    
    "H-hey, I saw you just standin' here, and like..." she began, immediately regretting the voice she was using. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth, and she had to slow down to not crack her voice or slur her words. "I just, absolutely love your fit!"
    
    "O-oh!" Penny's face turned bright red. "Th-thank you, you look really nice, too!" Her eyes fell to her feet as she processed the simple compliment she had received. 
    
    "And I like, love that mask," Marina continued. "It's so fuckin' cute, especially with him on your shoulder!"
    
    Marina gestured to the Umbreon peering next to Penny's head, internally panicking over the use of "him" without being told. Lots of people just assume pets are guys though, right?
    
    Penny didn't seem phased by it, as the compliment involving her Veevee made her eyes light up like stars from her dark mask and glittering gray eyeshadow.
    
    "Oh, I got it from the costume store in town! T-to tell you the truth, I bought it way before I ever decided to actually... come here? I'm kinda a sucker for Vee- for Eevee stuff, a-and I just couldn't help myself." Penny scratched her Umbreon's chin, who began to purr like a motorcycle. "This is Scorpio! He's a real sweetheart, lovely little man, even if he looks a bit scary."
    
    That was an understatement. Scorpio was a jacked little beast, so much so that Marina had once asked if he was one of those "Alpha" Pokémon. But he wasn't, he was just a former outdoor Eevee who had to fend for himself his whole life. After being taken in by Penny and her family, his aggressive and lonesome nature quickly faded— but his strong muscles and sharp face remained. He had to weigh at least 80 pounds, Marina was astonished that Penny could even carry him! A Veevee mother's love, she supposed.
    
    "I-I'm, uh..." Penny began to introduce herself, pausing before she could say her name. "I'm... Cosima, by the way."
    
    "Cosima" extended a hand, and Marina couldn't believe it. She was just as in disguise as Marina was, but had she noticed? Or was she being sincere, and didn't realize she was talking to a friend? Either way, it was best to play along. Marina panicked to think of a girl's name, her mind drawing blanks as she took Cosima's hand.
    
    "I'm, uh..." Marina glanced down at her companion, Mr. Crowley. In a flurry, her mind went to the song he was named after, then the song's artist, then any other songs by him— bingo!
    
    "Aimee," the gothic girl finally finished as she took her friend's hand in greeting.
    
    "Aimee," Cosima repeated. "Th-that's a really pretty name!" 
    
    "Awwww, thank you, you too!" Aimee gushed.
    
  She could barely believe it. Just like that, with no plan or thought, she had finally taken her bow and exited stage left. It was as if Marina had truly sat down after standing for months, finally leaving the stress of the performance up to someone else. And up to Aimee it was, not to follow in her footsteps, but to bring the eyes of the world something entirely new!
    
    She had shed that wretched skin at last. It was time to become the mask.

Chapter Text

    This was it. Aimee's opening act. She knew there were no consequences for a bad show, but that wouldn't stop her determination to stick the landing. She only had one night, one chance, and she was going to give it her all.
    
    Though, it was quickly dawning on Aimee that a show was only as good as its script. And she didn't have so much as an outline.

    "So, Cosima," Aimee's first words as she broke her first handshake, "what are ya doin' back here, all by... uh, yourself?"
    
    "O-oh! Well, you uh, y-you see..." Cosima began to stutter, before sighing and hanging her head. "I came here kinda impulsively, and I'm not really having the best time. I'm thinking I'm just gonna head back to my dorm and just... forget about all of this—"
    
    "No, no, nonono!" Aimee yammered as she put her free hand on Cosima's arm, making her jump and provoking a low growl from her Umbreon. 
    
    As Cosima calmed her Pokemon down with a "Hey, hey, heyyy," Aimee quickly slid her hand down the girl's arm to take her hand in her own.
    
    "What I mean is," Aimee reassured Cosima and herself, "Ya can't leave just yet, babe! You got all dressed up, gorgeously, and you're already here."
    
    "I guess, but..." Cosima sputtered, recovering from the sudden shift in energy, "I'm no good at like, socializing, or anything. All of this—talking to people, a-and giving a damn about how I look—it's not exactly my specialty. Normally I'd never, ever do something like this, but..."
    
    Cosima ended her sentence with a slight chuckle as she stared off to the right, as if reminiscing on something.
    
    "Yeah?" Aimee asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. If she could figure out why Penny— why Cosima was here, maybe she could help her.
    
    "The big reason I came was... so, I have this friend, right? He's closer with the other people in our group than with me, but I still... don't dislike him. But he can get ultra-mega-fucking-annoying sometimes!"
    
    A small bead of sweat rolled down Aimee's back. She probably wasn't supposed to hear that.
    
    "And, he poked fun at me for... w-well..."

    Cosima gave Aimee a glance before rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

    "Oh, what the hell, I can tell you the truth. For sitting in my room all day, with my Veevees. Normally I can take his shit, but this time... it kinda got to me. I dunno why, but the way he implied that it was a bad use of my time... it made me really want to prove him wrong. Prove that I could do more than that."
    
    "W-well, why do you care so much about what he says?"
    
    "It's not that I care about his opinion or anything," Cosima clarified, it's just that..."
    
    Still unable to look Aimee in the eye, Cosima turned her head to the left with a scoff. Aimee rubbed the back of Cosima's soft hand with her thumb, silently comforting her as she waited to hear more.
    
    "He's right! And that pisses me off, you know?!"
    
    Cosima half-laughed as she looked straight into Aimee's eyes, her face one of aggravation aimed squarely at herself.
    
    "I know it's not really good for me, deep down. Hiding away from the things that scare me. So I came to this stupid party and... didn't really have a plan."
    
    "That's still really brave of you," Aimee said, hoping, praying that her words would reach Penny through the masks they both wore. "You wanted to make a change, and you took the first step! That's always the hardest part. So, you can't give up after doing that!"
    
    "...Thank you, Aimee..."
    
    Cosima looked down as she lifted the hand Aimee held. A warm smile came across her face as she gently rubbed Aimee's velvet fingers.
    
    "You know," she said in a soft tone, "Normally I'm not crazy about anyone touching me, even my own dad. But this isn't so bad. I have like, one friend I'd let do this to me..."
    
    "Oh yeah?" Aimee asked, trying so hard not to grip her plastic cup until it cracked and sloshed all over her dog.
    
    "Yeah. She's great, and always leads the conversations in our little group. I kinda rely on that to just let me sit there, chiming in every now and then." A hint of red dusted Cosima's face as she thought about this special person. "I really wish she was here right now, it'd be... a lot easier if she was."
    
    Just as Aimee had begun to wonder if she was in too deep, Mr. Crowley lifted his head and stuck his big nose into the girls' embrace, licking their hands with his gray, dry, desiccated tongue.
    
    "Hey, quit it!" Aimee broke her hand away to try and stop her partner, who proceeded to follow through and was now licking Cosima's entire forearms as she pulled away in kind.
    
    "I-it's fine!" Cosima giggled as she shielded herself with her arms, Scorpio death-glaring at Crowley from over her right shoulder. "I'm used to this from my friend's Pokemon, and it's not like he's slobbering. I-it kinda, tickles, actualleeheee, ha ha haw haw haw HAW!"
    
    Cosima entered a laughing fit as Crowley continued to lick her, trying her best to both keep her voice down and not squish Scorpio by walking backwards into the wall she stood by.
    
    "Okay, okay! That's enough, Mister!" Aimee finally managed to pulled her Houndstone away, his tongue still lapping the air as she struggled to redirect his skull without pouring her entire drink on his head. Once she had, she stood back up to see Cosima hide her face in her hands as it went from grinning to mortified embarrassment.
    
    "Oh man," she mumbled from her palms, "I wish you hadn't heard that. I... I really hate the sound of my laugh."
    
    Pushing Crowley even further away with her foot, Aimee turned as she stepped to Cosima's side.
    
    "Hey, don't worry. I've heard worse," Aimee said with a smirk, thinking about the way her cousins giggled and snickered as they played their pranks or ransacked her makeup would drive her up the wall.
    
    "So!" Aimee redirected, wrapping her arm around Cosima's as she shifted her weight onto the girl. "You're smiling, you're havin' a good time! You're gonna stay, right?"
    
    "I guess so," Cosima surrendered. "I just... still don't know... what I'm gonna do."
    
    Cosima crouched down, prompting Scorpio to slide off her back and onto the ground. Two weights off her shoulders, she leaned against the wall and watched the world go by with Aimee.
    
    "Lotsa crazy lookin' Pokemon," Aimee idlily chatted, observing the outfits that so many of the monsters of the night wore. An Eelektross in a dress, multiple Gengar in bow-ties, and just as she had predicted, at least seven Meowscarada in various outfits. For all the distain towards the rich and sheltered students she carried, the love for Pokemon that pervaded the culture of the school was incredibly admirable. The Pokemon in attendance were all having a great time, and some of them even looked more put together than their trainers!
    
    "Yeah, especially that one looking right at us," Cosima responded as she pointed towards a Scovillain that made Aimee's blood run cold.
    
    Scovillain were a particularly infamous Pokemon in Paldea. Ill-tempered and quick to anger, the last thing any errant trainer wanted to see was a wild one staring at them from thirty feet away. It also didn't help that it was a particularly menacing looking creature, two snarling heads in bright colors telling the primal part of the brain to stay far, far away. This individual specimen went above and beyond in that department, sporting an extraordinary number of snaggleteeth seeds in her two mouths. 
    
    But it wasn't the fear of its temperament that made Aimee so frightened, nor was it the Pokemon's appearance. Instead, it was that she had seen that Scovillain before! She was there when it Overheated a Paradox Titan until it was ready to melt, and she had even helped name it! She couldn't believe her eyes, but that Scovillain... it was Arven's!
    
    A tall, green-haired girl in a ruffled green dress stepped from the refreshment table empty-handed, guiding the monstrous pepper plant away with her into the crowd. Aimee had to follow, quickly! But even if she could come up with a way to excuse herself, she wasn't going to just leave Cosima out in the cold. 
    
    Looking around frantically, she saw the girl who had shoved her before, still with the green-suited boy and both of their Pokemon. The idea of somehow pawning her off seemed... difficult, but not impossible.
    
    "Hey, Cosima, you said you wanted to know how to talk to people. You wanna know the secret?"
    
    "Y-yeah? Of course, what is it?" Cosima asked, blinking in surprise.
    
    "It's actually really easy," Aimee said. "You just gotta do what I did! Go up to someone whose outfit catches your eye an' like, tell them it looks good! Everyone's put in a ton of effort into themselves and their Pokemon, it's all anyone wants to talk about! Even you did!"
    
    "I guess, but— are you sure?! I-it can't be that easy." Cosima instinctively flinched at the idea of entering a new conversation, let alone starting one.
    
    "Yeah, yeah, it totally is!" Aimee insisted with a smile. "Just, do what I did. Why doncha try it on... those two!"
    
    Aimee pointed with her drink to the duo she had been eying. 
    
    "They got Dark-types, you got a Dark-type, it'll be easy! Just let them yap about themselves, people love that, trust me. And, if you don't have anything to say, just sip your drink and let the other person carry the convo."
    
    Aimee handed her drink to Cosima, who looked down at it with a grimace.
    
    "I— I didn't drink outta it, trust me!"
    
    Aimee began to lead Cosima by the arm, breaking off halfway to the drinks table. 
    
    "Hey, I'm gonna get this dumbass a snack before he tries to eat someone else," Aimee said as she motioned to Crowley. "You got this, babe!"
    
    Before Cosima could protest, Aimee dashed off in the direction the girl and her Scovillain went, followed by Crowley's cacophony of clattering bones. She gave a quick thought to Cosima, hoping she could forgive her for leaving her and wishing her the best. She would... probably be fine! Sink or swim, Aimee reminded herself in a half-hearted attempt at justifying her own actions.
    
    Finding herself all the way past the dance floor and at the left wing's massive snacks table, Aimee was looking around so frantically that her fake hair was beginning to catch in her eyelashes. For a Scovillain with more teeth than a Mabosstiff, she and her trainer sure could make themselves hidden. It wasn't until her third scan of her surroundings that her eye finally caught on them, sat on one of the study table benches that had been shoved in the corner of the room.
    
    Aimee began to approach, Crowley oblivious to her trepidation as he panted and plodded along next to her. There had to be an explanation. Arven had his Scovillain stolen, or, or, he traded her away! He did say he that she was being a bit of a troublemaker. Maybe this wasn't his companion at all, and instead an entirely different specimen! Her thoughts whirling, she made her way over.
    
    The girl, a fiery red mask peering out from a long, green wig that covered her right eye, tossed her half-eaten brownie into the red head of her partner as she slouched. As that head happily snarled and smacked as it chewed, the green head saw the approaching pair and hissed.
    
    Aimee stopped dead about ten feet from them, Crowley doing the same. The girl's posture went straight as she noticed Aimee, surprise and panic across her face as she placed a hand on her Pokemon to ease her rage. The two just stared for a moment, until the girl mumbled something.
    
    "Uh... wh-what?" Aimee asked, taking a few small steps closer as she leaned forwards to hear.
    
    "I saID—" The girl spoke up, though the cracking of her voice made her wince in embarrassment. 
    
    "I said," she repeated, in a much lower and deeper voice, "h-hi?"
    
    She couldn't believe it. Hearing the girl's voice, that ever so slight tint of Kalosian as if she had only been exposed to it second-hand, it confirmed what she had theorized with a drop in her stomach. Trio of the Lakes, this was Arven, and his Scovillain, Red Hot. And... goddamn it. He looked really, really good!
    
    Arven's eyes shifted to the side as he—as, she?!—lowered... her head, shoulders rising as she waited for a response.
    
    "Oh!" Aimee said, snapping back to reality. "H-hi! I just, I saw you over here, and..."
    
    She had to think quickly. What would she say, what could she say?! She wanted to grab Arven and ask what the hell was going on, why this what happening, if she was okay, but she had to play it cool! There had to be a reason for this, and a reason as to why she didn't know about it. Frantically, Aimee tried to think of anything to say until she recalled the advice she had just told Cosima.
    
    "I, I am just... I am in love with your look, babe!" Aimee gushed as Arven's entire face turned a pinkish-red. "You look so, so great with your Scovillain!"
    
    By some miracle, Arven had put together something genuinely incredible. The dress was satin, a long and baroque style with ruffles galore. It and the matching gloves were a strong emerald green, the dress given splashes of color by golden seams and a pattern of red and green flowers on the front of the skirt. She wore a long, gently wavy wig the same green and streaked with bright red. Only the left side of her red flame-accented mask was visible, her green eyeliner making that dusty jade eye shine like a diamond. Hell, even the slight bit of padding in her chest didn't look half bad. She even lined her lips before putting on her red lipstick, Aimee would have never expected her to do that!
    
    The only thing Aimee could pick apart was her nail polish— bless her, she tried, but the white nails were smudged and warped. She had painted Arven's nails in the past, thought it was always after a bit of convincing. Perhaps he had been a bit too afraid to ask her.
    
    "Oh, th-thank you..." 
    
    Aimee could barely hear her, the disk jockey having turned up the volume as Piers Nocturne's Obstruct My Heart began to play. 
    
    Either looking out for her scared trainer, or just being a generally fowl creature, Red Hot's two heads hissed and spat embers at Aimee as she took another step forwards. Aimee yelped and jumped back, provoking Mr. Crowley to defend his mother figure with a series of haunting howls and snarls.
    
    "Ah! Red Hot, stop!" Arven snapped, pulling a standard Poke Ball out of her pocket and recalling the demonic plant.
    
    Aimee quickly rifled through her purse in turn, pulling out the Dusk Ball.
    
    "That's enough 'a you! Get back in there, Mr.—"
    
    Aimee caught herself before completely blowing it. She was insistent on not only remembering the names of her friend's Pokemon, but making sure they remembered hers. Had she said Crowley's name aloud, she would have been as dead as her own Pokemon was.
    
    "...Bean," she finally continued. Crowley was so surprised at his new name that he failed to return to his ball, instead responding with a head tilt and an inquisitive whine.
    
    "You heard me," Aimee snapped, Mr. "Bean" returning to his Dusk Ball as Arven laughed.
    
    "Mr. Bean, huh?" She asked with a nervous smile.
    
    "It uh, it was cuter when he was a little Greavard," Aimee made up on the spot. "Can I sit with you?"
    
    Arven seemed surprised, but scooted to the side to invite Aimee to sit. Taking the offer, Aimee plopped down next to her.
    
    "I'm, P-Pepper, by the way," the girl squeaked out, struggling to make eye contact.
    
    "Aimee," she responded, wondering if she'd ever want to get used to the name.
    
    It didn't take a psychologist to tell that "Pepper" was scared out of her wits. Tapping her foot and wringing her hands, her anxiety made Cosima look like Nemona's life coach in comparison. Aimee knew she had to play things cool, but given the situation she found herself in, that was easier said than done.
    
    "So, what's a cute girl like you doing back here?" She asked, Pepper's face once again beginning to blush. "Are you... with anyone?"
    
    "N-no, no no no!" Pepper stammered and stuttered, waving her hands in wild denial. "I'm not with anyone, t-tonight."
    
    "Well, why not?" Aimee nudged herself closer to the still mumbling Pepper, who reflexively leaned away.
    
    "I just, I'm not really, I can't..." Pepper fought to get her words out, looking down at Aimee with a sadness in her eye.
    
    "Yyyyyeah?" Aimee pressed ever so lightly, desperate to get something out of her friend to work with.
    
    "I'm... I'm too scared," Pepper finally admitted as she stared holes into her own scarlet dress shoes. "You can probably tell, but I'm a bit new to this whole... girl. Thing."
    
    "...Howwww new? If, I may ask?"
    
    "In private? A few weeks," Pepper said with a slight melancholic look. "In public... about thirty minutes."
    
    Aimee felt her heart and stomach attempt to switch places, and she bit her tongue just to stop the tears. Why didn't she know about this?! She was Arven's best friend, his little buddy! Arven could trust her with anything, there wasn't a thing that he couldn't tell her!
    
    ...Though, Arven didn't know she was trans, either. Perhaps if she had said something sooner... This wasn't the time to think about what should have been— Aimee had to do something now!
    
    "Well... I'm really happy for you, at least. That you're stepping out."
    
    "How could you be happy for me," Pepper said with a distant voice and a slight sneer. "You don't even know me."
    
    Oh, this wasn't going to be easy.
    
    "'Cause..." Aimee tapped her nails as she thought, carefully picking out each word. "'Cause girls like us... should always be happy for each other, ya know?"
    
    A series of emotions flickered across Pepper's face. First annoyance, then guilt, then finally a tinge of shame as she stared off. 
    
    "...Yeah. You're... you're right. I guess we should," she muttered.
    
    Oh, this really wasn't going to be easy. But Aimee had to try, and the first step was to at least get Pepper in a better mood.
    
    "Aaaalright, babe," Aimee sighed, "Let's get you a drink, an' maybe somethin' to eat." 
    
    "Oh, n-no, no, I really couldn't. I'm way too freaked to eat anything," Pepper insisted with a slight hand wave. "Besides, the food here is awful. I could do better in my sleep."
    
    Aimee's own advice sprung up like a black-pearled Spoink in her mind. Maybe Pepper wasn't willing to talk about Pepper, but Aimee had the advantage of knowing what was behind that mask, better than anyone!
    
    "You like to cook?" Aimee asked, as if the passion and pride Arven had for both his meals and his ability to create them wasn't what she loved the most.
    
    "Oh, yeah, I do," Pepper said. "I love cooking. Especially for my friends, it really makes my day to make food for them and see their faces light up as they eat!"
    
    A genuine smile came across Pepper's face as she spoke of her friends, and Aimee saw this as another chance to dig deeper.
    
    "Your friends, huh? Why aren'tcha here with them?"
    
    "O-oh, well, you see I, I would have but..." Pepper began, only to hang her head in shame. "Can I tell you a secret, Aimee?"
    
    Aimee couldn't help but laugh. "Of course. I don't really gain from spillin' your issues to a bunch of strangers, do I?"
    
    "I suppose that's true," her friend accepted, straightening her posture as she looked to Aimee with an expression of distress. "I came here alone because I... I was out in Levincia buying some camping supplies, right? I-I like the outdoors, and stuff, too. And, as I was walking down the street, I passed by this stupid dress in the window."
    
    Pepper gestured to and looked down at her dress, her tone rising.
    
    "Maybe it was because I had just caught a Scovillain, maybe I banged my head without realizing and got brain damage, but when I saw it, I just thought to myself... 'I'd like to be the type of pretty girl who wears that.' I had never, ever thought something like that before. M-maybe I'd consider wearing women's clothes, but to be a woman? I have no idea where the idea came from, and it just wouldn't leave my head! And I thought maybe..."
    
    Pepper was finally speaking up, but was getting more and more heated as she reflected on her decisions. Her hands firmly curled into fists upon her lap, she struggled to continue.
    
    "Maybe if I wasted my money on this stupid thing, and saw myself looking like a freak wearing it, those thoughts would finally shut up. Because, my brain wasn't gonna let me walk away without doing it, trust me, I tried! So I bought the dress, and I went back to my dorm praying that no one saw me carrying a bag from that store, and when I finally put it on and saw myself..."
    
    Pepper was snarling at this point, gritting her teeth as she paused yet again.
    
    "Yeah?" Aimee gently put her hand on Pepper's, the two layers of satin gloves gliding past each other as she gently rubbed the balled fist.
    
    That was enough to bring Pepper down to earth, showing surprise at the sudden touch but doing nothing to stop it. She huffed, and continued.
    
    "I saw myself and... I really, really loved it!"
    
    Pepper's hands few to her face, covering her eyes with her palms as she leaned against the wall. 
    
    "Well, yeah! Of course you would," Aimee said. "You look great!"
    
    "It's not that," Pepper groaned as she peeked down at Aimee. "I just... I... I really wanted to wear it to this party. But I didn't know how to tell my friends. I was too scared, and I just didn't want them to find out about... this!"
    
    Pepper wildly gestured across her entire torso and face, before finally settling down with a slouch and a sigh.
    
    "Well, why not?! Your friends love you— I-I'm sure! Do you really think they wouldn't accept you for bein' a girl?!" 
    
    Aimee was in disbelief. Nemona was the least judgmental person Marina knew, and by proxy that Arven knew as well. And he knew Penny was trans— "You can't criticize me, that's transphobic!" was one of her favorite rebuttals, and had a surprisingly high success rate against him. Was it her?! She liked to think she had always been supportive of Arven and his struggles, be it his quest to help his Mabosstiff or his terrible, terrible father.
    
    "Well, that's the thing," Pepper said. "It's just that... I'm the 'guy' of the group, you know? That's how they all treat me, and I guess I don't want to, uh, rock the boat or anything. Like maybe if they had to change the way they treat me, they'd... like me less."
    
    If Aimee had a knife, she would have stabbed herself. All of Arven's behavior the past few days all clicked into place, and she was the world's biggest moron for not having seen it. She was Arven's "best friend," his "little buddy!" If she really did know him "better than anyone," why hadn't she seen what was so blatantly in front of her? Why hadn't she at least done the bare minimum and fucking asked him what was wrong?!

    She was an idiot, that was why. She was an embarrassment of a person, so mindless and self-centered that she was letting her "friends" suffer and rot right under her, while she was busy bitching about how haaaaard it was to be cute. She didn't deserve Arven. She didn't deserve anyone. She deserved to walk right out of this party and find a place in the freezing rain to curl up and—
    
    NO!
    
    This self-deprecation was some prime Marina behavior. She would cry and whine and moan about how terrible she was, all the while doing nothing to fix things. But Aimee wasn't her. For tonight, Aimee was the one speaking, and if she was going to bring something entirely new, throwing away Marina's defeatist bullshit was a perfect place to start.
    
    "Pepper, babe, whatever— look at me."
    
    As soon as Aimee had called her 'babe,' Pepper's eyes shot down with a nervous smile. But at the girl's command, she remade eye contact as her face began to burn. Aimee noted that "bossy goth girls" could be used against Arven, then continued with her unwavering speech.
    
    "Whatever you think your friends are gonna say or do, it shouldn't matter. If they're your real friends, they're gonna be there for you. They're gonna love you no matter who you are. Even if it changes how they view you, that doesn't matter when it comes to real friends! And if they don't love you for who you are, then..."
    
    Aimee gave a wide, almost antagonistic grin.
    
    "Ya throw 'em in the fackin' trash! Literally, if ya get the chance!"
    
    Aimee's energy was beginning to rub off, and Pepper seemed to relax a bit at her positivity.
    
    "I-I guess. But, I still don't know if... this is who I am, you know? Like, sure, I like being a girl, but I also didn't mind being a guy all that much." Pepper began to rock back and forth as she spoke, her sadness giving way to the return of her annoyance. "But, is that because I really do like being a guy, or am I just, like, denying myself?"
    
    "That's normal!" Aimee reassured with a laugh. "This shit's confusing, babe! I'm sure if you just explain that you're not sure about things, they'll understand."
    
    Aimee gave Pepper's thigh a few gentle pats, Pepper jumping at the sudden spike in relative intimacy.
    
    "And for what it's worth," Aimee said, her hand unmoving from Pepper's leg, "You can be a guy and a girl. Or neither. Can't arrest ya for it, you know?"
    
    Pepper opened her mouth as if to speak, but reconsidered. As she pressed her lips together and silently stewed on Aimee's words, Aimee allowed the moment to go by in silence as she collected her own thoughts. 
    
    Never in a million years could she have expected something like this to occur— twice, no less! But she was grateful that she was here, and that she could lift her friends up. Her selfish side was lamenting that Marina wouldn't be getting any credit for this work, but she knew to shut that up quickly.
    
    Just as Aimee gave another thought to Cosima, wondering if bringing Pepper over to check on her would be a disaster or not, a shifting of Pepper's leg reminded Aimee that she had been resting her hand on the girl's thigh the entire time. In fact, she had been slowly rubbing her finger back and forth without ever noticing.
    
    "An-y-wayyyyys," Aimee said as she shot up from her seat, hoping the blunt cut of her wig was hiding her tomato-red face, "I'm thirsty as hell. Take me to the food table, babe?"
    
    "Oh, S-sure!"
    
    Pepper stood and reflexively put her arm around Aimee's, which she found absolutely adorable. Arven's lifetime of isolation had given him such a quaint idea on how to treat a woman. Marina had never minded, of course, and had always found it so charming the way he would open doors for her, and push in her chair during picnics. 
    
    "You still wantin' to throw up?" Aimee asked upon seeing Pepper's distant look as they made their way to the foods. 
    
    "Not as much," Pepper said absently, "...but I'm still not touching the crap they have out."
    
    "Yeah, yeah, no worries. I probably won't eat much either... you good?"
    
    Pepper looked to the ceiling as if asking for divine help to find her words.
    
    "...I have this friend, right? We're not the closest, but I don't dislike her, she's just... really annoying, sometimes!"
    
    Aimee was less phased by this comment, but was unsure if she was growing accustomed to hearing things she shouldn't, or if she was just less surprised that Arven would hold that opinion.
    
    "I tend to make fun of her a lot," Pepper continued, "for always staying up in her room and never socializing... but now I think I understand where she's coming from."
    
    Having reached the relatively untouched buffet, Aimee slipped out of Pepper's arm and began to fix their drinks. 
    
    "Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate you makin' fun of her less after this," Aimee suggested as she ladled blood-red fruit punch into a plastic cup.
    
    "Haha, yeah."
    
    Aimee turned and handed the cup she held to Pepper, who was looking off to stairwells as she idly waited for Aimee to get herself a drink.
    
    "F'you, ma'am."
    
    "Oh! Th-thanks, Aimee!" Pepper took the cup, returning her gaze to where it was before.
    
    Looking to see what was so captivating, Aimee dropped the ladle she was using when she saw Nemona, who had just cleared the top of the steps and was dashing off as she hid her face. Mimo followed close behind, squeaking as he called out for his trainer.
    
    "At least I'm not having her night," Pepper remarked.
    
    "We should go help her," Aimee said before she could think. This was becoming more than she could handle, fast!
    
    "W-wait, wait!" Pepper pulled away as Aimee grabbed her hand, nervously looking for a reason to not pursue. 
    
    "That girl and I," she said, "we... it's... it's complicated, okay? I can't go up there!"
    
    Had Aimee been oblivious to the truth, she wouldn't have taken that answer in a million years. But knowing the full story, she understood Pepper's trepidation... but wasn't going to take part it!
    
    "Fine," Aimee said, "but I am. She looks like she really needs someone right now. I'll be right back down, okay? Just wait for me."
    
    Aimee stared into Pepper's eye as she spoke, with Pepper only capable of dropping her head.
    
    "Okay, I get it."
    
    "Thank you, Pepper."
    
    Aimee whipped around and went running towards the steps, the former confusion and overwhelming feelings having been broken by an almost mechanical determination. If the universe was going to keep throwing these situations at her, she had no choice but to handle them. 
    
    Which was something Marina would have never been able to do. She would have been too scared to leave Cosima's side, or would have smothered and scared Pepper into running away. Or she would have jumped to Nemona's side the moment she had seen her, spending the entire night unaware of the other two's struggles. But Marina wasn't here right now, she had made the selfish mistake of offloading the night to Aimee! And right now, Aimee had a job to do, and another friend to save. 
    
    Again she gave a brief thought for the friend she was leaving. She could only hope that once she could get Nemona into a better mood, she would find Pepper, trusting her enough to have listened and stayed.
    
    ...But that was a tall ask, wasn't it?

Chapter Text

    Stumbling to the top of the steps, Aimee was alone with her thoughts in the dark second level of the Entrance Hall. She was in no hurry, of course— Nemona could barely hold a fast walk from her dorm to the school store.
    
    Taking advantage of the relative dip in urgency, Aimee caught her breath with a huff as she pulled a small packet of tissues out of her purse. Lifting the plastic mask she wore over her forehead, she began to wipe the sweat formed from running and improvising away with the cheap tissue paper, rubbing the tired eyes she had been straining in the moodily lit hall all night. She was so accustomed to having to treat her own face like a delicate painting, with any disturbance or stimuli causing a blemish that had to be amended with utmost urgency. Having the freedom to rub it into her hands like a cat was something she was going to take full advantage of.
    
    She continued to look around, the circular rubbing of her eyes now dragging to her temples. She was looking for a bright orange, but only saw the calcite walls of the walkways tinted all forms of blue-ish green-ish in the dancing lights. She wondered what she would even say to Nemona once she found her. She wondered why Nemona was here in the first place, and if this would even be a fixable situation. But above all, Aimee wondered... what was she even doing?
    
    So far, the night had been one shocking twist after another. She would have never expected Nemona to attend alone, though her asking for battle after battle *was* rather keeping of her character. Penny's arrival was even more shocking, especially with her disguise! Aimee couldn't throw stones, but she was still surprised that Penny could find such confidence behind a simple mask— she just didn't seem the type. And poor Arven... poor Pepper... Aimee just had to take that situation as it came. Tonight wasn't the night to deconstruct it.
    
    Aimee scoffed and laughed, though nothing was particularly humorous. But even she could appreciate the irony laid out before her. She and her friends tried so hard to be by themselves, but has still managed to be brought together. It seemed predestined, though she was never one for believing in fate or deeper meanings. Maybe some higher power had brought them together, but to Aimee, that didn't matter. A kind creator setting them up for success, a cruel god that reveled in suffering, or the indifference of a mostly cold, empty universe— the why was irrelevant. All Aimee worried about was the what, and right now, what Aimee had to worry about was Nemona. But she wasn't getting anywhere, squinting at dark corners and trying to hear anything above the sound of Roxie Mica's cover of Venoshock To The System.
    
    It was then that Aimee realized she didn't need to be the one looking. Brandishing her Dusk Ball and releasing Crowley, she knelt down beside the dog.
    
    "Crowee! Find Nemona and Mimo," she whispered.
    
    Instantly Mr. Crowley began to search, sticking his nose down and sniffing along the tile floor. He slowly followed the trail of Nemona and her Pawmot, leading his trainer up the second flight of stairs and onto the top level of the hall. This level was entirely empty, which surprised Aimee. She would have thought there would be a few couples making out, or a single teacher scouting for such a scenario. But it was just her, Crowley, and...
    
    Crowley's head snapped up as he rushed off, leading Aimee past a wall of plaques and into the third level's central study area. She could have fumbled around in this small area for an hour without finding Nemona, but sudden cries of surprise and Crowley's snorting brought her to a row of desks. In the dim, dim light, she could just barely make out her Houndstone aggressively sniffing a laughing Nemona and her Pokémon.
    
    Knowing how far commands and physical intervention were getting her so far, Aimee immediately sprung for returning Mr. Crowley to his ball. Pulling the mask back down over her face, Aimee crouched down to see Nemona recovering from her laughing fit. She looked as though been crying a bit, but the intrusion seemed to have lifted her mood for just a moment. Aimee had to capitalize on this!
    
    "So sorry about him! I just, uh, I saw you run up here and I... I wanted to make sure you were okay." 
    
    Nemona blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh... yeah! I'm, I'm totally fine! Just wanted to take a second to, y-you know! Recharge the ol' 'social battery' before I go back down there."
    
    ...There was no way Nemona expected her to buy that. The brazenness of the lie was such a blindside to Aimee that she momentarily slipped as she attempted to pry further.
    
    "Nemona," she said in a scolding tone, only to recognize what she had done. "Th-that's your name, right? Nemona? You're... literally hiding under a desk. Do you wanna talk about it?"
    
    Nemona shook her head. "No, no... I appreciate it, but... I'd rather not. You don't have to worry about me."
    
    This wasn't getting Aimee anywhere, but her fidgeting with her mask gave her an idea— or perhaps, more of an epiphany. The entire night, she had been adopting Marina's patience and grace with her friends, but that clearly wasn't going to work. Nemona's walls were too high for any sweet talking. Aimee had to stand her ground.

    "Well when I see someone run up a flight of stairs cryin'," she snapped, "I'm gonna worry, okay?! And I'm not gonna leave until you convince me that I don't need to. Which, you're doin' a terrible job of, by the way."
    
    Nemona reeled back, the sudden directness hitting her like a Kingambit's Sucker Punch. 
    
    "I-I-I—" she stammered, before smacking both hands to her face and letting out a long groan.
    
    "I just... I fuckin' blew it down there!"
    
    It was Aimee's turn to be caught off guard, like she had used Swords Dance to avoid a Sucker Punch only to be struck by an Iron Head. Nemona hardly ever swore, and would never dream of doing it in school! She needed more help than Aimee could have imagined.
    
    "Well, what happened?" Aimee asked. "I saw you at the start of the party, you seemed to be, uh... socializing."
    
    "Yeah, I was going around asking for battles! But no one wanted to battle me, and everyone blew me off, and eventually it hit me how stupid I was being down there!"
    
    Nemona began to nervously tighten her ponytail until she was yanking all of her hair just to get it a bit more snug. Aimee didn't know what to do or what to say. She wanted to comfort Nemona, to hug her and tell her it would be okay. That was something Marina would do, and could do quite easily. But Nemona wasn't the type to hug someone she didn't even know the name of, and Aimee wasn't willing to risk her having a sudden change of heart.
    
    "I don't even know why I bothered trying to do it," Nemona continued to pitifully moan as Mimo rubbed her knee in some attempt to comfort her. "I should have just stayed home, or begged Marina a little more... goddamn it, he was right!"
    
    Nemona wasn't even talking to Aimee anymore, now just scolding herself in frustration.
    
    "H-hey," Aimee said, wanting to comfort but unsure how not to come across unusually friendly. "Uh, w-what... were you trying to do?"
    
    "I..." Nemona made a sound between a groan and a growl as she fought between the sadness that drove her to hide and the frustration she had failed to hide from.
    
    "I just... I wanted to... I wanna stop being so freakin' clingy!" she eventually blurted out, causing both Aimee and Mimo to flinch. "I'm always doing what my friends want, and, and, I always need my hand held all the time, and I know I annoy the hell out of them so I wanted to maybe make some new friends here, n-not that I don't love the friends I have now but I just, I wanna give them a break you know, but all I've done is gone from annoying a few friends to annoying a bunch of strangers and I just—"
    
    "Nemona."
    
    Aimee smacked her hands together, bringing Nemona's ramble to a dead stop as she leaned in closer, the two just able to see each other's basic features in the dark.
    
    "Look. It's cool that you wanna be more self-sufficient, but..."
    
    Aimee mulled over her words, ultimately deciding that her direct approach was working so far. If Nemona didn't want her hand held, then she wasn't going to hold her hand.
    
    "You... you were asking for battles left and right, babe... come on. Everyone and their Pokémon are dressed up to look nice, of course no one wants to battle! And, like, were you gonna drag them away to the courtyard? That's like a 5 minute walk from the lobby, because surely you weren't gonna take them outside!"
    
    Nemona paused, cringing and burying her face in her hands as she realized what she had done.
    
    "Ohhhhh, of course! I didn't even think about that! I was just so eager to battle that I didn't even... UGH!"
    
    Nemona began to crawl out from under the desk, but Aimee put her arms on the front legs of the furniture she crouched in front of. Nemona wasn't going anywhere.
    
    "Hey, hey! Don't be that way, there's still time!"
    
    "No there isn't!" Nemona protested, Mimo agreeing with Aimee's idea and attempting to keep her in place with a hug. "I've already gone and... fucked it, so let me go! ...Both of you!"
    
    As Nemona tried to pry herself out of her Pawmot's grasp, Aimee got on her knees.
    
    "Nemona. I know you think you're like, fundamentally annoying. But it's not that you wanna battle, specifically, or even because you're eager. It's just, you gotta... you gotta meet people halfway, you know?"
    
    "Meet people halfway? Like..." Nemona thought for a second, her struggle against Mimo having already turned into a distracted petting. "Instead of a full battle... a quick one-v-one, where we only use one Pokémon each!"
    
    "No!" Aimee snapped, a bit meaner than she had intended. "W-well, maybe sometimes, but not now! No one wants to battle, period. When I say "meet them halfway," that means you gotta compromise and like... get on their level. You know what I mean, right?"
    
    Nemona stared blankly. "...I don't think I can do that. I'm too tall."
    
    For the love of— Nemona was a saint, but took things painfully literally.
    
    "Okay, what I mean is... let's take this party, for example. You wanna socialize, right? You wanna make friends and, you wanna do things with other people."
    
    "Right!"
    
    "Right. Well, no one's gonna leave the party and get themselves and their Pokémon all messed up for a battle, even a quick one. So, you gotta find something... that's like, not battling."
    
    Nemona winced, her eyes shifting around as she rocked from side to side.
    
    "I uh, I... um... l-like what? A-as an example!"
    
    Aimee couldn't control herself, and facepalmed her mask. 
    
    "Like, things that people are actually doing? Look, it's one thing if you think this party blows or whatever, but there's gotta be something you can do that isn't battling."
    
    "Well, battling is how I get my energy out!" Nemona raised her fists in a faux-brawling pose with a smile, her Pokémon mimicking the motion. "And when I get excited to meet new people, I just start bursting with energy!"
    
    Aimee pressed two fingers to her temple, sighing with a smirk.
    
    "Okay, well... there's gotta be some other way to get your energy out."

    Both girls paused for a moment to think, until the thumping base of the music gave Aimee an idea.

    "What about, like,dancing? That's a good way to burn some energy."
    
    "Dancing?! That does sound fun, but... I could never, I-I'm terrible at it!"
    
    Aimee cackled, her head jumping back. "So? We're teenagers, no one here knows how to dance! It's not about being 'good' at dancing or doing it right, it's just about having fun with other people!"
    
    Nemona stewed on her thoughts for a moment, Aimee patiently waiting as her gears turned.
    
    "I guess... I guess that's kinda like battling," she said once her thoughts were collected. "It's not about skill, like you said, but about bringing that energy out of other people!"
    
    Nemona smiled at her own analysis, the same smile that came across her face when she encountered a powerfully skilled trainer or high-level Pokémon. Aimee, on the other hand, was fighting to keep her smile on.
    
    "...Y-yeah. Just like battling, you got it!" 
    
    At the very least, she had the right idea and the right mindset. In Aimee's mind, it didn't really matter how she got to that conclusion.
    
    Aimee rose to her feet, then gave Nemona a helping hand up. Even in her platform boots, Nemona's six-foot-even stature made her feel tiny. Some things just couldn't be masked, she supposed. 
    
    "Okay, I think I can do that! Hey, what's your name, anyways?" Nemona asked.
    
    "Oh, I'm—" It was still so disorienting to not be recognized by her friends. Marina had nightmares about it before, she was pretty sure.
    
    "A-Aimee," she finally finished.
    
    Nemona pulled Aimee into a hug, her chin still somehow hitting the taller girl's collarbones.
    
    "Thank you, Aimee! I feel a lot better with a plan."
    
    Taking Aimee's hand out of reflex, the two began to make their way back to the party.
    
    "Just give it one real, honest try," Aimee said. "If it still sucks, I won't stop you from leaving."
    
    "Alright, I can do that," Nemona said more to herself than Aimee. Slipping away from Aimee's nervous grasp, Nemona undid her ponytail and began to scratch at the scalp she had been abusing.  "Will... you at least get me started?"
    
    Aimee would have loved that more than anything, and almost agreed to the proposal. But her other duties called, and there was no time for getting caught up in dancing.
    
    "I... I can't," Aimee said. "There's another friend that really needs me, and I... I can't leave her hanging all night."
    
    "Oh, yeah, totally," Nemona dismissed a bit too quickly as she began to put her hair back up. Aimee hated to leave her, but wasn't going to abandon Pepper either. She wondered if Nemona tagging along for the rest of the night would make Pepper kill herself, kill Aimee, or kill both of them at the same time when a star-shaped lightbulb went off in her mind. 
    
    "Buuuut, I might have someone who I think you'll really like!"

    It took a bit of looking around, but Aimee had finally found her target. She had encountered the two Dark-type trainers she had pawned Cosima off to first, but they had ran away the moment they saw Nemona, who recognized the taller boy as possibly being her ex-boyfriend. Just as hope had seemed lost, Nemona had made use of her height and managed to pick the girl out from Aimee's description, once again loitering in a dark corner with her Umbreon on her back.
    
    "Cosimaaaaaa!" Aimee called out as she and Nemona raced towards the girl.
    
    Cosima turned and opened her mouth to respond, but was stunned silent after seeing Nemona being towed along by her new friend. Even when the pair had reached her, all Cosima could do was stare in terror at Nemona with her mouth agape while Scorpio stared on at the noise.
    
    "Oh, I'm so glad I found you, Cosi!" Aimee said. "I, uh, g-got a little distracted, helping out my friend here." 
    
    Aimee gestured to Nemona, who flashed a wide, orange-braced smile as she waved. 
    
    "Did those other guys ditch you? I shoulda figured, that Houndoom girl had 'bitch' written all over her..."
    
    "Hey!" Cosima objected before reeling herself back in. "Th-they were, fine! I just... I guess I kinda, lost my confidence after a bit."
    
    "Well, I found someone new for ya!" Aimee stepped aside, leaving Nemona and Penny face-to-face. "Nemona, this is Cosima!"
    
    "Ohhhh, my god!" Nemona gushed, immediately taking Cosima's hands into her own and shaking aggressively. "Your outfit is even cuter than Aimee said it was!"
    
    "Oh, th-thank you-uuu," Cosima stammered out as she was shaken.
    
    "Nemona, Cosima here isn't havin' the best time with socializing," Aimee instructed to her friend, "so try and stick close to her out there, yeah? Make sure she stays included!"
    
    "You got it!" Nemona replied with a thumbs-up and a wink.
    
    "Wait wait, wh-what are we—"
    
    Before Cosima could finish her sentence, Nemona nearly yanked her arm off as she held tight and went running for the dance floor, Mimo following with a waddling run. 
    
    She knew she shouldn't be laughing, but Aimee couldn't help herself. The direct approach had just worked so well with Nemona, it was only fair that Cosima also be helped— whether she wanted it or not! She had spent the night clinging to Marina's mannerisms, but she could certainly get used to taking charge of things like this.
    
    After all, it was for the best, wasn't it? Nemona needed a partner to keep her busy, and Cosima needed to get out of her comfort zone. Maybe it was wrong of Aimee to take such a cold, clinical perspective of her friend's needs, but they got what they needed. Even if they didn't know it, her friends were being helped, and that was what mattered. And with those two helping each other, Aimee could finally get back to helping Pepper.
    
    Taking the Dusk Ball out, Aimee brought out her Pokémon and crouched down beside him.
    
    "Okay boy, you did good the first time, now find Pepper!"
    
    Aimee knew this request was a longshot, of course. Tracking down the only person on an entire floor was a much easier task than sniffing out one girl in a sea of dancing, sweating, hormonal teenagers. But it was better than nothing, and Aimee was risking a neck injury were she to frantically search for someone one more time tonight.
    
    Where Aimee had hoped for an exuberant hunt and prepared for a whine of protest, Crowley gave nothing but a creaky head tilt in return. 
    
    Ah, right. So caught up in the disguises and the aliases of the night, it had slipped her mind that her Pokémon—everyone's Pokémon—were entirely removed from such notions. To a creature with nothing but sight, smell and a paranormal sixth sense, a party mask changed nothing.
    
    Aimee sighed. She... didn't want to say it. It was silly to worry about it, but it still felt wrong. Aimee would go back to being Marina in the morning, Cosima would be Penny, because that wasn't who they were. The partygoers were just masks that had been put on. But Pepper... Pepper was different. Maybe she was wrong, maybe she was projecting, but in her heart of hearts Aimee just knew... Pepper wasn't the mask. In a building of teenagers and young adults hiding themselves behind the safety of their disguises, some in jest and others in cowardice, Pepper wasn't hiding at all. Pepper was the one vulnerable, scared and confused, as she left the mask she wore every day behind. 
    
    Reluctantly, Aimee finally gave a command Crowley would understand, just barely loud enough for him and not another soul to hear.
    
    "Arven. Find Arven!"
    
    Hearing the familiar name was all he needed to begin his second hunt, with Aimee following close behind. As the Houndstone followed his nasal cavity, Aimee kept her eyes open for anyone and anything green.
    
    Green. Aimee had never thought it would be her friend's color, but couldn't deny she looked good in it. She wondered how much Marina's outfit, or Nemona's few dyed bangs, or even Penny's bold full dye jobs had influenced Pepper. She wondered how much those girls had done to coax Pepper how, and how much they had done to keep her locked away. But above all, Aimee wondered...
    
    ...What was she doing?