Of Heroes and Villainy

The next couple of weeks seemed to fly past as everyone focused on their studies. Soon enough, the ball was here. They were given time to get their formal attire sorted out, paid for by their families, and then they got ready. Yami and Stella went off to get their hair and makeup done, but all Walt and Kageo really had to do was shower, style their hair, and get dressed.

Kageo took his shower first, taking a little bit of time to put deodorant on, shave what little hair he could grow on his face, use gel to slick his hair back perfectly before he braided the long part on the top all the way at the back of his head, and then came out to start getting dressed while Walt went into the bathroom to get showered. Things had been awkward for a few days as they both kept waking up in compromising conditions, but they eventually just accepted that it was likely just part of life and moved on by silent mutual agreement.

Walt's grooming took somewhat less time than Kageo's because styling his hair was simpler, though touching up the meticulously-kept edges of his casual stubble took a few moments. He made himself smell nice, then went into the room to get dressed, pausing to help Kageo with his cravat.

When Walt got to pulling his pants on finally, Kageo jokingly said, "You don't need help with a million buttons this time, do you?"

Walt laughed wholeheartedly at that, not at all surprised that Kageo would remember that embarrassing moment. "Thankfully not! It seems the latest style involves some very, um... form-fitting leggings," he said, holding up a pair of gold colored leggings that appeared to be two sizes too small with ruching in the rear seam.

Kageo stared at it for a moment, his face an expression of both horror and humor. He looked like he was trying to hold back laughter. "Your, um...your family really doesn't give you much choice in your fashion, do they?"

Walt shrugged, as if to say he didn't think about it too much. "'As the Heir, it is my responsibility to represent the family in all things...'" he quoted by rote. "After a while, you just stop fighting certain battles."

Kageo looked thoughtful at that, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. He was in blacks and reds again, which represented the Blackwood crest and colors. He had a blood red raven stitched into the pocket of his suit and a gold feather pinned to the lapel. He had chosen his own style but knew to stay within the colors that his family liked. If it were up to him in daily wear, he'd still wear a ton of black, but he liked purples and blues as well.

"Well, at least if you and your, uh, date want to have some fun after the ball, you don't have a million buttons to contend with," Kageo commented.

Walt looked confused by that statement, saying, "The buttons only really got in the way of me going to the bathroom."

Kageo looked incredulously at Walt for a moment. He, himself, hadn't ever had the chance to be intimate with people due to his powers, but he knew the other noble men got up to plenty of shenanigans with women. Was Walt really so pure he didn't know what he was talking about? "I meant sex, Walt."

Walt blinked at him for a moment. "Why would we get up to sex? I don't even really know her," he asked, genuinely curious.

Kageo couldn't help but laugh. "You really aren't like other nobles, Walt. Casual sex is a thing, and very popular in the courts. Although it's more acceptable for men to have sex pre-marriage than women still, I would venture to say most of the people attending tonight will have some sort of fling with their date afterwards."

The look on Walt's face made it obvious how distasteful he found that idea. "I'm good, thanks. Like I said, I don't even know her and since she asked me to accompany her to the ball she still hasn't said anything to me. Any time I try to talk to her she just turns red and giggles," Walt said as if that explanation made everything he was saying obvious.

"Sounds like she has a crush on you and probably worked up her courage to ask you to the ball. I suppose that's courageous. It's nothing I've ever had to do. I don't even know that I could," Kageo said, and then thought about some of the dreams and thoughts he'd been having about Walt. Yeah, he couldn't see himself getting enough courage to broach that with his roommate.

Walt must have been thinking along the same lines, though, because he said, "Ask me to the ball? That would have been okay. At least you talk to me!"

Kageo looked a little surprised as he glanced back over to Walt. "That definitely would have been the talk of the ball, two men going together. I mean, gay people exist and all, and are generally accepted. Maybe not by the noble families but...I...nevermind."

Walt stared as Kageo seemed to struggle to articulate his thoughts. It would have been comical if Walt wasn't also struggling to articulate certain thoughts. "Maybe next year we should go together just to confuse everyone," Walt said with a quiet chuckle.

Kageo laughed as well but his mind told him that Walt meant it as the joke it sounded like. "Yeah, it would cause a stir," he finally said before he smoothed out his outfit one last time to make sure he was ready. "So many women would be upset by that though. The more people get to know you, the more they'll want to get a date with you, I'm sure."

The thought of that made Walt shiver in disgust as he finished struggling his tights on. Kageo had to admit that they did show off Walt's legs and rear to great advantage. "I'm sure more of them will be upset by the 'bad boy' being taken off the meat market," Walt responded with a wry smirk as he pulled the white tunic over his head.

"Perhaps," Kageo allowed. "The more they get to know me, the more disappointed they'll be, though."

As his head poked out of the neck of the tunic, the look of disbelief on Walt's face emerged as well. "Are you fishing for a compliment, Kageo Blackwood?" he asked as he fixed his hair and looked around for the gold belt that was supposed to go around the tunic. Kageo could see that Walt's family had gotten the green tree and symbols that appeared on Walt's uniform shirts embroidered on the breast of the tunic. That definitely smacked of wealth, considering that they couldn't have known ahead of time what style would be most popular for the ball season.

Kageo looked baffled by that comment for a moment. "No, not at all. They expect a bad boy, but I wouldn't think I really am one. At the same time, I know my limitations around people. It's kind of by necessity that I keep some distance between myself and others. Dark and brooding only goes so far before people think you...odd."

Walt finally found the belt where it had fallen on the floor when he pulled the outfit out of its custom garment bag. He stooped to pick it up and put it on, nodding his understanding. "Oh! Sorry, I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. I guess I just assume everyone would be as impressed with you as I am."

Walt put on the white, knee length, soft suede boots and did a little show-off spin for Kageo. "Do I look stylish?" he asked with a conspiratorial wink.

"You're in the minority actually," Kageo said to the first part. When Walt asked him the second question, he smiled as he gave Walt a full up and down look, moving around the room a little so he could get the full effect. "Despite you essentially being dressed up by your familys' expectations, you do look amazing."

Despite having fished for the compliment, Walt still blushed. "Well, let me just adjust this codpiece real quick..." he joked while actually adjusting the codpiece.

Kageo chuckled and then motioned for the door. "We should go and meet our sisters and dates. I need to meet this date of hers..."

The two of them made their way down to the courtyard in front of the dorms. Stella and Yami were already there. Yami was in a floor length gown in the color of rose red. It was a high necked cowl design that was backless and sparkled in the light of the sun outside that was beginning to head towards the horizon. Her black hair was pulled up in an elaborate design that looked like a rose atop her head, with little red crystals all throughout it. She had natural makeup for the eyes, red lipstick, and a black winged eyeliner as well as pink blush all along her cheeks and nose as was normal for their mother's region.

There was a man with blonde hair and brown eyes that wore a suit of black with red touches on it to match his date who was standing next to Yami. Kageo could only imagine it was Elliot.

Stella was resplendent in a yellow mermaid style gown with a low neckline. The bodice and along the hips was all decorated in sequins that were sewed on in patterns and the bottom of the dress was more see-through and in a handkerchief style. Her blonde hair was down in beautiful waves that made her cheekbones stand out. She had on browns in her eyeshadows, a nude lip, and gold eyeliner to match the dress. Stella also wore a stunning set of pearls to accent the dress.

Her date was wearing a somewhat traditional black tux with a gold cumberbund and a white rose boutonniere. He was handsome enough, but definitely wasn't going to outshine his date, which may have been the point of Stella agreeing to his proposal.

Both of their dates were there as well. Amerea had her red hair half up in a bun with the rest falling down in curls around her shoulders. She wore a black dress with a full skirt covered in lace and a sweetheart neckline along the top. She topped the dress with a red velvet underbust corset that showed off her gorgeous figure and garnet jewelry to accent it. She had a smokey eye look in red and black, red lips, and sun kissed cheeks.

Esadora wore a white chiffon gown that had a corset bodice covered in glitter and gold lace and gold jewelry with diamonds in them. Her dyed red hair was pulled into an updo that Walt thought would give him headaches by how tight and sleek it looked from her mousey hair before. She had black eyeliner, golds and browns for her eyes, and a peach lip to finish it off.

Kageo reached out his hand and a rose appeared in it, which he handed to Amerea, much to her delight. It was a rather smooth and romantic gesture that no one else had seen coming from Kageo, though he was really just going by a playbook of what he had seen his uncle and dad do before. He wasn't trying to make anyone fall in love with him but he wanted to at least make the night a nice one for Amerea if she was going to be his date.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she said to him as she took the rose.

Walt watched this exchange, marveling at how smooth Kageo was with people. He made the exact same gesture towards Esadora, then looked offended when a rose failed to appear out of nowhere into his hand. He smiled apologetically and bowed his head to show how shameful he felt it was to fail to produce a magic trick. Fortunately for him, Esadora thought it was cute and laughed delightedly at his pantomime.

Kageo stepped up to meet his sister's date, who looked at him nervously before he introduced himself and how he met Yami in their introduction to illusions class. Yami was, of course, the star of that class, but he had found her so enchanting and he was excited that she had said yes to going with him tonight, especially since he was on the nerdier side and the other guy that asked her to go was more of a jock.

Kageo had been planning on giving him the warning as to what he would do if the man hurt his sister, but with the way he was nervously infodumping on Kageo, it made him realize he didn't need to worry about Elliot. He truly had a crush on his sister and was amazed and awestruck that she shared the feelings.

So he put a hand on Elliot's shoulder, which made the man silently look up at him with some trepidation before he said, "As long as Yami is happy, then so am I. I'm protective but not obsessive, and smart enough to be able to read most people. Make sure she has a great night tonight, okay?"

"Yes, sir! Of course!" Elliot replied to him.

Watching this encounter, Walt smirked and stepped into Stella's date's personal space. Afraid to be seen as easily intimidated, he held his ground at Walt's rather rude intrusion but was left trying to find a good place to put his focus, shifting from one eye to the other almost nervously. He gathered the courage to speak after a protracted silence and opened his mouth to do so only to be immediately shushed by Walt.

"Listen up, Stella's Date," Walt began. The man tried to interject his name, but Walt waved it away and continued over him. "I'm not cool like Kageo. Hurt Stella without her consent and she will probably murder you herself, but rest assured that if she leaves even a tiny sliver of you alive, it will experience unimaginable things before it is allowed the cold release of death. Mmkay, pumpkin?"

Without waiting for a response or acknowledgement, Walt turned and offered his arm to Esadora and they strolled off once she took it. Stella's date stood there with his mouth gaping open, like he couldn't believe what had just happened. Yami had bitten her lip to keep from laughing out loud and Elliot now looked up at Kageo like he was some sort of saint for not putting him through

that

.

Kageo, though, was watching after Walt with his own astonished look before he burst out laughing. Then he looked at Stella's date and exclaimed, "Good luck!"

Kageo gave a little wink toward Stella before he turned to Amerea and took her arm to lead her toward the grand ballroom on campus. Yami and Elliot walked behind them, mostly so Yami could start giggling without seeming rude to Stella's poor date.

The ballroom was decked out in the school colors of black and gold, with balloons, confetti, crystals, and flowers. Some trick of one of the elemental mages kept the confetti circulating in random eddies above their heads. If so much else wasn't going on at that moment, Walt would have watched it for a while to try to puzzle out how it was done. As it was, his date was excitedly pulling him toward the artist hired to paint likenesses of each couple on small canvases.

There were seats all around the dance floor, which was vinyl and sparkly black with what looked to be fairies floating above it dancing themselves. Right now an orchestra was playing, but there was a stage set up for a band that likely would play later. The others followed after where Walt and Esadora went, wanting their own paintings for the night. Kageo and Yami got one of them done as well, because they liked it and they knew that Rinne would love to see it.

Walt and Esadora took a turn on the dance floor, as uncomfortable as dancing was for Walt. He had been trained in ballroom dancing as well as a few more contemporary styles but he always felt like he was being put on display and didn't like that sort of attention. He struggled through three songs before claiming exertion-induced polydipsia and retreating to the refreshment table. There they bumped into Kageo and Amerea, who were also taking a much-needed break from the dance floor.

"You're a pretty good dancer," Kageo commented to Walt before he took a sip of his drink.

Walt smiled in response before chugging a tiny cup of cider entirely too fast and choking on it when it splashed into the back of his throat. After a few moments of intense coughing, he apologized, saying, "Sorry, that doesn't usually happen like that." He then realized how that might have sounded and simply shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth while blushing a rosy pink color while Kageo laughed.

"Good to know," Kageo replied with a smirk, and Walt realized that was probably the closest to a come-on he'd ever seen Kageo make.

Before Walt could say anything back though, they heard Yami cry out, "Papa! Mama!"

Kageo stopped leaning against the table like he had been, standing straight and losing the smirk entirely. He'd almost forgotten that the parents were invited to come to this as a welcome to your students' school as well as welcoming the new students. He bowed when Adiran and Lilith Blackwood came over to greet him and Yami.

Walt straightened up as well at the Blackwoods' approach and bowed a fraction of a second after Kageo, making sure to go just a touch lower as well out of respect for his roommate's culture. He remained silent as he straightened back up and kept a watchful eye out for his parents, who would no doubt be "fashionably late."

Adiran gave a bow back to both of them before he hugged his nephew. When they pulled away from each other so Lilith could hug Kageo, Adiran looked over Walt for a moment, seeming to recognize who he was. "We saw you all out dancing before but didn't want to disrupt you. How are you finding school so far? I hear you have a rare double major."

Kageo nodded his head. "It's been fine so far, nothing of note really besides that very double major. Everyone seems nervous about the second one."

Adiran just barely rolled his eyes but it was enough for those near him to know what he was doing. "Fear mongering. Your father studied blood magic too and did so much good with it."

Kageo stopped himself from commenting what he wanted to, which was look where that had gotten him. Instead he nodded his head, then seemed to remember they had others with them. "Ah, Papa, Mama, this is Astrophel Whitmore, though everyone calls him Walt."

"Ah, the heir to the Whitmore name, or so I've heard," Adiran said before he shook hands with Walt. "A pleasure to meet you."

Walt winced slightly at the mention of his given name, but gladly took Adiran Blackwood's warm hand for a handshake that lasted longer than he was used to. "The pleasure is all mine, Lord Blackwood. I am indeed the heir, presently, until I die or am otherwise replaced by someone better," Walt responded respectfully.

Adiran looked a little surprised by that. "Is it not your culture that the eldest male is the heir?"

Walt smiled wanly. "It is and it isn't," he responded. "Technically it's the eldest

surviving

male heir, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Beyond that, Father has fostered a culture of unfriendly competition among his legitimate children. He has suggested to us all that he was even willing to consider waiving that 'male' guideline for the correct circumstances."

Kageo glanced over at where Stella was at, seeming to realize that that meant that she would probably be looking for Walt to screw up so she could take that title from him. It made him uneasy. Adiran kept his eyebrows raised as he took that in, glancing at Kageo for a moment before he looked back at Walt.

"Well, I hope for whatever outcome would make you most happy and fulfilled then," Adiran finally said. "Kageo here is the Blackwood heir, as I was never able to have children myself, and once I had three orphans to raise, I was pretty busy. Unless he dies though, he'll stay heir. But please, don't let us stop you from having your fun. We'll speak before I leave, Kageo?"

Kageo gave a nod of his head. "Of course, Papa."

"You all have a blast," Lilith told them as she followed her husband to talk to some of the other parents.

Walt motioned Kageo to a side conversation, so they moved a little away from their dates, who were happily sampling snacks. "I'm sure my parents will be here soon. I don't want to subject you to them as a surprise, though I'm more than happy to introduce you. I wouldn't recommend shaking Father's hand without your gloves, though," Walt said conspiratorially.

Kageo held up his hands that were currently clad in said gloves. "I'm all set there. This whole place is full of chances to accidentally trigger those powers so I'm being careful. If it would be better for you not to introduce me, then I'll make myself scarce when they show up. I don't want to make your life even harder than it already is with him."