Chapter Text
“Wowee, I can’t believe I’m at a real party! This is gonna be the best night ever!”
“If you think this party’s gonna be good, you should see the pool parties we throw, now those are where the real fun is at, if I do say so myself. After all I’m the one who plans him,” the pale socialite brushed off all specks of dust and strands of fiber on the newly bought green suit of their companion.
“Gee White, I just feel so honored that you invited me!” the overexcited newcomer smiled.
“Oh please, think nothing of it. Just from talking to you, I could tell that you’re a hardworking guy, Green. You deserve a taste of the good life,” White said breezily, turning their attention to the limply laying undone tie.
Green wasn’t their real name though, of course it wasn’t, that would be a bit silly, wouldn’t it? White had given them the nickname when they had met; Green had taken a wrong turn and ended up at a grocery store that was definitely out of their league and price range. They were dressed entirely in shades of green, as they always were . White had seen them and had a good chuckle with them about how badly they had gotten lost.
“Oh, but it’s no trouble, Greenie, the cheap grocer you’re looking for is down the street and to the left,” White explained. “That’s where all the other strapping working-class blue-collars go to shop for… I don’t know, caviar? I don’t know what you guys actually buy there.”
“Gee, thanks! Oh, but my name isn’t actually Greenie, it’s—”
“I know, but I give nicknames to all my friends!” White cut them off. “My friends call me White. Not sure why though, I like wearing more lavender shades if I’m being honest. So, now you’re Green!”
“I’m your friend?” Green gasped.
“Why not? And hey, since we’re now friends, I’ve been looking for guests to attend this little celebration that my good friend Ivory has been planning. Wedding anniversary. And it’d sure mean a lot to her if plenty of people come.”
“Really? You mean it?” Green practically had stars in their eyes as they leaned closer to White.
“Of course I mean it, Greenie,” White slapped their back affectionately. “So is that a yes?”
“Yes! A hundred yes-es!” Green cheered.
“Great! Here, this time tomorrow, I’ll meet you here and we can get you some new duds, m’kay?”
“Righty-o, White! I’ll be here!”
White had finished tying Green’s kitschy tie. The tie itself was the only formal-adjacent item Green had, though formal is putting it generously, because it was patterned with worms and bright colors.
White would normally worry about something like that making them look bad, but who were they kidding? Nothing could make them look bad. In fact, their plus-one would be garnering them plenty of compliments. So what if that’s petty? Everyone wins here; White gets some well-deserved praise for their undying generosity, and Green gets to enjoy feeling rich for a night. No harm done.
“Wow, you’re so nice…!” Green giggled gleefully as they admired the neatly-done tie now tucked into their blazer. “Oooh, I’m so excited! But wait, what if I embarrass myself? Or— Or I embarrass you? I’ll have no idea what I’m doing in there…!”
“Don’t worry, you can’t embarrass me, the only one you’re capable of embarrassing here is yourself!” White smiled with that somewhat disingenuous flashy grin of his, completely serious. “Now come on, we wanna be fashionably late, not late-late.”
“Okie-dokie!”
On their way to the door, White threw a neatly folded wad of cash towards the waiting tailor, who caught it in his hands. “Keep the change. We got places to be.” White extended an arm and wrapped it around Green’s shoulder, pulling them closer like the two were old college buddies as the door’s bell jingled at their exit.
The limo was already waiting for them out front, clearly freshly cleaned, polished, and detailed. Who the hell did White think they were impressing? Well, Green was impressed, but it really does not take much to impress a country bumpkin in their first introduction to rich people stuff.
White opened the door and held it open, gesturing with their arm. “After you, Mx. VIP.”
“I have no idea what that means, but thank you!!” Green enthusiastically slid into the luxurious car, almost bouncing in excitement.
White got in after them with an endeared chuckle, though it sounded a good bit condescending as well. “It means ‘very important person’, you know, someone like me. There’s also man of the hour, honored guest, the virgin sacrifice… All sorts of titles for people as show-stopping as me. But today, Greenie, that’s you.”
“Wow, this is a dream come true! I’ve always wanted to be a virgin sacrifice!” Green said. “…what’s a virgin sacrifice?”
“I dunno, people used that to describe me once, so I’m assuming it means someone important and rich. Driver! To the Ivory Manor!”
The driver, whose face was half-blocked by reflective sunglasses, gave a silent nod and pulled the limo out of the parking space he made, now heading to the party.
White took an additional glance at Green’s face, clicking their tongue. From their pocket they took out a makeup palette, a rather large one at that, and a well-loved makeup brush. They looked at Green’s skin, then back at the palette, choosing the proper color by dabbing some of the pigment onto the brush previously saturated with a color much paler. The brush was brought up to Green’s face and dusted on the makeup to cover anything… imperfect.
Green laughed a little, trying not to shift too much. “That tickles…!”
Once White was satisfied, they smiled and lowered the brush, clapping the cover of the palette shut and tucking them both back into the pocket in their own little pouch. A finger guided Green’s face to tilt it left, right and up, admiring the handiwork.
“Ah, don’t you just look charming? You’re perfect,” White commented, going back to their laid-back leaning against their seat like they hadn’t just made Green flush as red as Mars dust. “Driver, how long until we arrive?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Wonderful. Green, help yourself to a drink, but make sure that makeup stays on. And don’t get too hammered! We got a whole party ahead of us!”
“Whatever you say, White! You’re the boss!”
In the limo’s minifridge, which Green was highly impressed by, they tried tasting a vodka soda. They took a sip and almost immediately scrunched their face. Have they not had alcohol before?
“…you okay over there?” White asked, eyebrow raised, their own vodka soda can in their hand.
Green tried smiling, but they looked like they were being stabbed and trying and failing to not to show pain. “Mhm…! Suuuuper great…! I’m definitely gonna drink this whole can…! Abso-posi-lutely!”
“Greenie, do you have any idea how many boxes my house goes through of that stuff in a month? Who cares, just dump it if you don’t like it,” White dismissed, taking a swig of their own. “Or even better, just give it here.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude…! You were so nice to offer me one, and—”
“Trust me, I literally could not care less. Now you gonna give it over or not?”
Defeated and embarrassed, Green gave the freshly-opened can to White. “Ooh, you picked kiwi, great choice!” They gladly took a few gulps then put it down.
The two cans were polished off by the time the limo pulled up to the front of the absolutely massive mansion. Like, seriously, it was the size of Green’s entire farm…!
“Oh wow! I wonder how many horses you can fit on that land…!” Green pressed themselves to the window, grinning like an idiot.
White shrugged, examining their manicured fingernails nonchalantly. “Mine is bigger. And it has a petting zoo. But enough comparing vast, almost abstract amounts of wealth, let’s get out there and strut our stuff!”
“In front of all those people?” Green asked nervously, all too aware of the crowds of rich people on the lawn and entering the estate with their invitations.
“Don’t worry, they’ll love you. Now come on.”
White tugged Green from the window and out of the car by the back of their shirt. Green stumbled until they got their bearings and were able to stand straight. White shut the door of the car and it was driven away to be parked.
“Remember Green, just smile and wave,” White whispered before they plastered on a smile of their own and began walking down the path towards the opened front doors with a still-anxious Green in tow.
White was the one who made small talk to all the guests who turned their way, talking up Green while patting their shoulders, almost as if to show them off, like a new puppy. And just like a puppy, everyone cooed and aww’d at them, or ruffled their hair. Only Green’s family had doted on them this much, though it was only fitting, since many of the wealthy partygoers were older and graying.
“Invitiations?” the bouncer had prompted once the two made their way to the front.
White had produced two invitations from their coat. Green had tried sneaking a peek at what was on them, but they were too quickly handed to the bouncer, who gave it a close look. He even pulled out a magnifying glass. Then he put it away, slipped the invitations into a box, and stepped aside to let White and Green in.
“Thank you, good sir,” White gave the man one of their dazzling smiles before entering the party within the decadent manor.
Green didn’t vocalize it, but something had struck them as strange about the exchange of invitations. If they were a plus-one only invited yesterday, how did they have their own invitation? Do guests get their own ‘plus-one’ invites to hand out? Unfortunately, Green didn’t know enough about rich people's parties or anniversaries to answer that question.
Inside became a repeat of what White and Green did outside; introducing Green to curious partygoers, and White making conversation while Green listened to words they didn’t quite understand.
Oddly enough, even while White was conversing with someone else, their eyes always wandered, to the left, to the right, to the upper levels, even behind them sometimes if they could get away with it. Were they looking for someone? One of their friends? Someone they wanted Green to meet? That question just kept burning and burning until Green finally worked up the courage to tug on White’s shirt sleeve.
“Hey… White?”
“What’s up?”
“Are you looking for someone?” Green asked, tilting their head curiously.
“Huh— What— Why— Why would you think that, Greenie?” White stammered and sputtered for a moment before trying to regain their cool.
“Because you’re always like… looking around everywhere,” Green answered simply and honestly. “I mean, if you're looking for your friends, I get it…! I’ll be alright here on my own! You’re not like, tied down to me or anything…!”
White laughed, loud and forced, their eyes trained on Green when they weren’t flicking in every direction, either still looking around or trying to avoid eye contact. “No no, I’d never try to get rid of you! I’m just— admiring this beautiful foyer! Such luxurious… luxury!”
Green wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed, that was something he’d learned in school, but they wasn't completely stupid either. White was obviously lying, but about what? And for what reason?
Green was about to pry further when White’s eyes had finally locked onto something. Not on Green, but on something behind and above them, out of their view. Green was about to turn around and look, but White suddenly tugged their shoulders so that they faced forward again.
“Actually, sorry to go back on my word and all, but I think I see someone I know! I promise it’s super important, and that it’ll take like, 20 minutes max! Besides, you should put yourself out there, do some networking! Have fun!”
“Networking—?”
“Okay, bye now!”
Even with the question still in Green’s throat, White dashed off to who knows where, almost like they were running away from them.
“Did I do something wrong?” they couldn’t help but wonder as their eyebrows furrowed in sad confusion. “I… I guess I’ll just have to find someone to talk to. Shouldn’t— Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Everyone here seems nice so far!”
Unfortunately, now that Green wasn’t hanging off White’s arm, nobody wanted to talk to them. And even when they tried, Green was so lost that not even a conversational map could help them. So either they were flat out ignored, or just left the conversation of their own accord. They retreated to a back corner of the room where they could let out a heavy sigh and lean on the marble wall.
“Oh, why did White have to leave…?” Green thought sadly as they despondently munched on a bruschetta he’d plucked from a carried tray, but only after they asked for one, and then apologized profusely when the waitress responded that they could just take it. “I hope they come back…”
He must have looked sad enough to garner pity, because after a few minutes, someone had finally strolled up to them, smiling.
“Is the party not going well?” She asked, her tone polite and unaccusing. She had to tilt her head slightly downward to talk to Green, since they were a fair bit shorter.
“Not really… I feel like a chicken out of the coop! Well, I guess chickens do like being let out of the coop once in a while— Sorry, bad analogy… I just— I’ve never been to one of these things before,” Green sighed, trying and failing to dispense their awkwardness. “I never really had the time for parties and stuff…”
“Oh yes, I can imagine so, you must work so hard,” the stranger agreed with a shallow nod of understanding. “You have an important job, I don’t blame you for being focused. And these stuffy old parties are tedious on the best of days. Ah, you must be so far out of everyone’s league with your expertise. Poor wealthy things simply cannot keep up with true intellect.”
“Int— Intellect? I think—”
Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Silver, and I’m just… a big fan of yours,” the woman took Green’s hand and shook it. “Say, why don’t we converse somewhere where we can sit down and have a nice drink? The lounge has champagne, coffee, and brandy we can pick at.”
“Nice to meet you Silver— Whoa!”
Silver had gotten them off the wall and walked with them to the lounge rather quickly, maybe a little too quick. What did she want?
“So… Silver, right? Like the color?” Green asked as they speedwalked towards the open, empty lounge awaiting them.
“No, like the metal,” Silver replied pretty brusquely. It seemed she realized that fact, and covered it up with an attempt at a lighthearted chuckle. “Oh, but I suppose there’s little difference. Silver is silver.”
“Alright! Well it’s a cool name either way!” Green said cheerfully. They’re just glad someone is finally talking to them…! Although… Why did it seem like Silver had them confused for someone else?
They’d entered the quiet lounge, Silver holding the door for Green as they went in first, closing the door behind them. Green could have sworn they heard a click, but when they turned around, Silver was blocking their view of the doorknob. They shrugged it off and plopped down on the couch. It turned out to be plush and quite comfy.
Silver didn’t sit down right away, she went over to the table containing the bottle of brandy and a few glasses. One was filled with ice, the other had straight brandy poured inside. She handed the ice-filled brandy glass to Green, and kept the neat one for herself.
“I have to say, you look younger than I expected,” Silver commented, sitting down beside Green while brushing out the wrinkles in her impeccable grey pantsuit. “Especially with your line of work. You’ve made so many discoveries and papers… I thought you’d be in your thirties at least…!”
“Discoveries—?”
“Actually, sorry, I haven’t been entirely honest to you,” Silver cut Green off before they could tell her that she had the wrong guy. “I wanted to talk to you because I had some things I wanted to ask you. About your latest unearthing, the Emperor Chastite. Beautiful gem, that one is. Stunning, and so unlike anything the world has seen. I’ve been wanting to see it for myself, perhaps even… appraise it. See how much it’s worth. Must be millions.”
“I’m— I’m so sorry ma’am, but…” Green sputtered, holding up their hands to stop her in her tracks. “I can’t… really show you that? I’m not—”
“Sorry, I must not have made myself clear,” Silver smiled sweetly and leaned closer towards Green, taking both their hands into hers. But that calming rub of her thumb on their hands was suddenly shifted to a steely grip on their wrists. Green had looked down in shock, and then when they looked back up, a switchblade had been shoved towards their neck, so close that they could feel the metal radiating icy cold.
“That wasn’t a question, darling. You will take me to the Chastite.”