Masquerade [Active, Open]

[ladycecaelia]

Character(s): Ursula as Vanessa, open
Content: Ursula wanders about town in disguise yet again.
Setting: Near Paixao Central Station
Time: Week 21, dusk
Warnings: Deception!

Comments

[nightcrossed]

Tear had been spending the week wandering around Paixao, trying to familiarize herself more closely with her surroundings. As many had suggested, there seemed to be more to the city than met the eye.

The brunette was passing by the central station on her way back to the hotel where she was staying with Luke and Guy when she heard a sudden outcry in the midst of the crowd.

Her instincts as a soldier and a fonist forced her feet to stop, and she turned to see a young woman sprawled on the ground, seemingly having difficulty in getting back up.

Tear hurried over and knelt beside the woman.

"Are you all right, Miss? See if you can stand. I've been trained as a healer, so if you've suffered any injuries, I should be able to take care of them."

After a moment's hesitation, Tear offered an arm for the girl to brace herself against if necessary.

[sceadu_gemynd]

Ursula wasn't the only person wandering around the city in disguise. Not too far away stood Zexion, although you wouldn't have been able to tell it by looking at him. Illusions were a wonderful thing to be able to control. This particular one was the simplest of his repertoire: it involved nothing more than pinning his hair up out of his face and overlaying it with an illusion of mid-length brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail.

The rest was simply a matter of avoiding clothes in black and leaving his cloak behind - a loss he rather regretted, but sacrifices had to be made in all things.

Not surprisingly, Ursula's fall caught his eye. He would have had to have been blind to miss it, but he couldn't say he thought she was in any real danger. It had been far too... choreographed to be a real error and were it not for the sake of his own disguise he would have sneered at the attempt. That was hardly the way to get someone's attention properly. People fell on a regular basis - most of what she'd get like that would be bleeding

[ladycecaelia]

"Y-Yes, thank you," Ursula gasped, clinging to Tear with a small, brave smile. "I think I sprained my ankle..." She was so focused on the acting that she didn't immediately notice Zexion. When he got close enough, however, some instinct in her rang warning bells so loud, the mask of damsel-in-distress almost slipped. She met his eyes, still leaning on Tear for support, and smiled for him as well. Somehow, this boy was hiding something, she could feel it...and she could certainly feel that he saw through her disguise. But how could that be? Very few people would be able to tell who and what she really was. It was best to be cautious.

"Thank you both for your concern," she simpered, wincing at the real pain in her foot -- Ursula had gone whole hog for this little play.

/major fail.

[nightcrossed]

"It was nothing. Would you mind if I examined your ankle? Depending on the sprain, putting pressure on it will only make matters worse. In any case, I should only require a few moments to heal it."

Tear, too, was focused. So focused that any slip of Ursula's role as a damsel-in-distress went entirely unnoticed. She had trained herself to help whomever she could, and it failed to cross her mind that anything about this scene might be amiss.

She did, however, take a second to notice the approach of yet another person. Tear spared a glance in Zexion's direction, not sure if she should request further assistance or not.

[sceadu_gemynd]

Sprained? Yes, it could certainly be that. A talented (or desperate) con-man certainly wouldn't be above self-injury to garner sympathy and while Tear might have missed the momentary slip in the mask, he hadn't. It came with having spent years of wearing a variety of masks, of being a thing of illusion and shadow and darkness.

His own mask, needless to say, didn't falter in the least. Rather, he offered an helpless smile and a shrug in answer to Tear's unspoken question. Concerned though he was(n't) he couldn't do anything to fix a sprain.

"I'm afraid I can't offer anything more than a shoulder to lean on."