Masquerade Ball - Totally not an ambush

[hiken]

Who: Anyone going to the Corsair Island Masquerade Ball!
Where: ...IDK?
When: April 26th - 27th (Early AM)
What: The Masquerade Ball + Ambush (12am)
Warnings: D for dancing, V for violence, A for Ace, L for Luffy
Style: Action or prose.
Status: Open to anyone attending!

There are going to be two main threads. One for the ball itself and the other for the Ambush! There will be an obligatory third thread for FASHION. Just remember to tag your muse in the subject header and OTA or 'Closed to ???' as you comment.

Comments

[thethundersaid]

That was a sentiment easily enough agreed to, for all that it flew in the face of Sasuke's training and nature to avoid a conflict: there simply didn't seem to be anyone here of any particular high rank, and Sasuke had already seen first-hand how useless the regular sailor's information was. With the crew's name and his own face already plastered on Wanted posters, it was far from a risk worth taking.

With that in mind, the question was confusing, Sasuke glancing down at himself in an effort to work out exactly what about him might suggest enjoying something about the increasingly-tipsy crowd.

"... I don't understand your question," he said after a moment, a frown creasing his forehead behind the mask. "What possibilities are you suggesting?"

[orderispeace]

"You have two drinks."

Saying this clearly explained it all but after a brief pause he reconsidered, thinking it best to say a bit more on it.

"Obviously you are not here alone. I thought perhaps you might have asked to escort a lady to the event?"

[thethundersaid]

Haytham had the right of it when he decided to explain further, Sasuke having been giving him a dubious look in the meantime, trying to work out if the man was accusing him of trying to get drunk here or something along those lines. The explanation made slightly more sense, though it was probably a laughable notion to anyone who knew Sasuke well.

"I thought it was normal to attend in a pair," he said, and made a vague gesture in Sakura's direction.

[orderispeace]

At the gesture Haytham turned long enough to look and see whom Sasuke pointed out. It was a woman at least, he was right in that.

"So it is. The lady is a crew member of yours?"

[thethundersaid]

"She is," Sasuke confirmed, glancing at Sakura to make sure that Haytham's unexpected interest wasn't because of anything weird she might be doing -- she was no Naruto, but the only thing he'd learned to expect from his former teammates was the unexpected.

"Is there something unusual about our attendance?"

[orderispeace]

They were attending a party that was crawling with Navy men hellbent on being their enemy as an apparent couple, one might have called that a little odd. This could not be said due to all of the people near enough to overhear but...

"On the surface, no."

There was nothing strange about a couple attending a normal ball this just was not a normal ball.

"Careful that she does not distract you overly much."

A jest or... an actual word of caution? That is left to Sasuke to figure out.

[thethundersaid]

... was there supposed to be an implication of something in Haytham's words? Sasuke stared at the man in a certain amount of blatant confusion for a long moment before finally just asking outright:

"What are you trying to say? Why would having Sakura here distract me?"

[orderispeace]

There was a smile at the question, as faint as it was.

"If you have to ask perhaps you are still too inexperienced to understand."

Might be too young... Haytham nodded as he paced slowly around Sasuke, preparing to go on about his way.

"Some could think this a precursor to courting your young lady."

[thethundersaid]

Inexperienced was a word that made Sasuke bristle slightly, shoulders tensing and eyes narrowing as he allowed Haytham to walk around him. Sasuke was far too old now to allow something as trivial as a team member he was no longer accustomed to having back him up as his partner on a mission, but he highly doubted that was what the man was implying --

And it was clarified with his next statement, something that made Sasuke incongruously relax, almost amused at the notion.

"Neither of us have the sort of time for something that banal," he said, tone dismissive. Sakura at twelve might have had some kind of design on him, but far too much time and distance had happened since then.