Masquerade, paper faces on parade

[thegooddrjones]

Who: Martha, pretty much everyone else in Peaksville
What: The Masquerade Party
When: Day 53, "evening"
Warnings: Will change when applicable.
Notes: Everyone jump in, thread jack, start your own thread, all that stuff. For those who didn't get masks or who got crappy ones? The standard assortment of masks are on a table for you to grab one or

Comments

[suddenlysirius]

Sirius had forgone the standard black-tie look (by leaving off the black tie), opting for an air of rakishly good-looking, devil-may-care-yet-fashionably-sensitive. That, and he wasn't sure exactly how to tie the bow without one side appearing more lopsided than the other. Twenty-something wizards don't get a lot of experience with that sort of thing, don't you know.

He left the top button undone, tousled his hair to achieve that windswept look, and chose one of the masks on offer to compliment his handsome features.

Sirius Black had his good qualities. Lack of arrogance was not one of them. Not yet, anyhow.

Seeing no one he knew (which amounted to precisely two people), he took a couple of champagne flutes from a passing server and approached the nearest female. Standard operating procedure.

"I thought you could use another." He gave her what he imagined was a winning smile.

[suddenlysirius]

"I'm too young to be an international man of mystery, remember?" he replied, grinning. Hitting the mark with Martha or not, that terrible line had done exactly what he wanted. She had laughed, flirted back a bit, and tall, dark, and creepy had stalked off.

Sirius turned his attention to her hands on his collar - what was it with women and his collar? - and shrugged lightly. "Never learned to do one up. I'm afraid I'm hopeless. In desperate need of a woman's touch, even."

He wondered for a moment now if he wasn't taking things a bit too far; he had accomplished what he had wanted to do, but that still left him dancing with a woman who, while attractive and pleasant, was...too nice. She didn't have any real bite. Definitely not his type.

[thegooddrjones]

"Oh, that's right, how silly of me to forget!" Martha grinned at him again and then looked around once more. She'd missed seeing Severus, so she'd definitely missed seeing him stalk off.

"I think you definitely are in need of a woman's touch, mate." Martha agreed quickly. She wished that Tish was here, because whoever this bloke was, he definitely had the wrong Jones sister in his arms. "Thankfully, there are more than a few here whom i'm sure would be delighted to help you." Another grin, and then the song ended.

Taking a step back, Martha applauded for the band. "But it's definitely not me, love. I've got a fair amount on my plate and somehow I don't think I'm you're type. You definitely someone in leather I think." Teasing him quickly but gently, while she looked around once more.

[suddenlysirius]

Sirius gave a barking laugh. "Don't get me wrong: I do love being complimented and directed to women in leather - but I get the feeling I'm being dismissed from your presence, Martha Jones."

Calling her by the last name she hadn't told him this evening: just giving her a bit more of a fair shake at this game he was playing - and giving her a hint that she did, in fact, know who he was.

He gently chucked her under the chin and winked. "If you change your mind, I'll be pining for you from the sidelines."

[thegooddrjones]

When he called her Martha Jones, her brows rose a bit. Normally, Martha wasn't the suspicious sort, not by any stretch of the imagination. After all, she tended to trust most people the moment she met them. However, today was a day when people whom she cared about had lied to her about very important things, so she was a bit more on edge and suspicious than she normally was.

Staring at him when he chucked under her chin, Martha frowned quickly. She really didn't approve of random people touching her. "Somehow I doubt that." And then she took a shot in the darkness. "Mr. Black."

[suddenlysirius]

Well, she wasn't a complete duffer. It was interesting how chilly the air had become in this general vicinity, however. Whatever her issue with him was, it was definitely very ingrained, and nothing as silly as dancing or flirting would change her mind.

He tilted his head slightly, the bells on his mask jingling, and raised his hands in a small shrug.

"Who's that?" He laughed again, his grey eyes sparkling with mischief. "Thank you for the dance."

[thegooddrjones]

She couldn't help but see the mischief in his eyes, and her own rolled admirably for a moment before she took another step back. She was annoyed now really rather annoyed and it was etched in each line of her posture. By denying it in that way, he'd all but confirmed it and that made her unhappy to no end.

However, there had been James last night trying to be incredibly helpful. That had bought the two of them some good will, despite everything that had happened after. It was the only thing that stopped Martha from administering a good hard slap to Sirius Black's belled mask. It did however, earn a jab of her finger against his chest.

"Try and use me to get to him again, and you really won't like the results."

[suddenlysirius]

His smile didn't fade, but that light went out of his eyes for a moment. Well, this was interesting.

"I don't know what you mean." Yes, yes he did. He'd used her yesterday, and he had used her just now, and he would probably do it again. And again. James might have stopped viewing Snape as an enemy (of course, James had won that little war, hadn't he?), but Sirius loathed him and always would. He was evil. That's all there was to it.

"I'm surprised, though. You're an attractive, intelligent woman. You're young. I'm not sure what you're playing at with him." He paused, then his smile turned hard. "What concerns me more is you're a Muggle. I'm not sure what he's playing at with you."

[thegooddrjones]

"Liar." She announced quickly and coldly when he said that he didn't know what she had meant. There was no doubt that he had known; he wasn't thick but he certainly was a manipulative little git, wasn't he? Martha was becoming more angry as she stood there, as she watched his grin turn hard. For some reason Martha was reminded of a shark as she watched him.

And she was definitely reminded how much she loathed bullies, despite it was apparently a selective dislike.

Martha's eyes went flat and narrowed when he mentioned that Severus might have been playing at something with her. "Severus Snape is my friend, Sirius. And you have no idea what you're talking about."

[suddenlysirius]

She was calling him a liar? That was rich. She must have had a Snape-shaped blind spot.

"I think I know him a bit better than you," he replied seriously. "He's cruel and foul and we all know he's gone over to the Death Eaters."

"I don't know whether twenty years has done anything to temper him, but the Severus Snape I know wouldn't muddy his hands with the likes of you. I really think you need to ask yourself what he's up to, and whether you really want his friendship."

[thegooddrjones]

"You're young, and you're a git, and you really don't have any idea what you're talking about." Martha's voice was calm, but firm, and inside, she was bloody seething with rage. "You don't know him, Sirius, and what I do with him is really none of your bloody business!" Her voice rose, and she took a deep breath.

"People change with time and circumstance, Sirius Black, and maybe you will too." Although she bloody well doubted it, based on what she had read about him. "But leave us, and our relationship the hell alone. I mean it. I am an exceptionally nice and lovely person, but you really won't like me if you bugger with people I love."

[suddenlysirius]

Had he not been wearing a mask, she might have seen his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline. This conversation had just crossed from "weird" to "holy hell, what?"

Relationship? Love? Oh, Merlin. She was insane, or he was completely manipulating her. He had his wand; Sirius supposed it wasn't too far a stretch to think he had slipped her a potion while he was at his deal-making.

"Love?" he asked. Yesterday, she had just been his friend, and now this. "You're serious, aren't you? Forget what I just said. Ask yourself if he's been near your food lately. Or if that deal he made didn't include making you think you're in love with him."

[thegooddrjones]

Martha's whole body went taunt for a moment, and then she slapped him. She slapped him as hard as she could and with all of the anger that she had in her. Martha was furious. She was completely livid. Even yesterday, when Severus had lied to her, Martha Jones hadn't been this angry. The last time she had been this furious over anything had been when the Master had killed her, and even that had some notes of sadness and guilt in it. This? This was pure rage.

"Don't. Don't you ever let me hear you talking about him like that again. You're a giant, conniving git and Severus Snape has been my friend for a year. You're nothing but a stupid little boy who will never grow up and be a man. You stay the hell away from me, and you stay the hell away from him or I'll make you very sorry you didn't."

[suddenlysirius]

He didn't respond immediately to the slap, though it was hard enough to whip his head to the side. He slowly removed his mask and looked at her very seriously - all pretending aside.

"Don't call me a stupid little boy. You don't know me, and you obviously don't know him."

He started to take a step back with the intention of turning away from her, then stopped and looked back. His tone took on a hard edge to it. "You know - you think what you like about me. Love that bastard if you want. But where I come from, people are disappearing, and people are dying. Muggles like you. Everyone's afraid...and he's one of the ones making that happen."

[thegooddrjones]

Martha's own tone was just as sharp and harsh. "I know him better than you can imagine. And what you might want to consider, Sirius, is that he's twenty years older than you are, which means that he knows how that all ends. In the end, Sirius, it ends because of things that he does. He may have been in the wrong then, but what he does? He saves..." People whom Sirius can't know about yet. "What he does brings down Voldemort." Right, remembering, she was a bloody time traveler, and she should know much better than this.

"You have no idea what happens between then and now, and don't you ever accuse him of doing things to me again." That was making her the most angry, really, that he was using her like a weapon. "I know that you're mostly a good guy, Sirius. It's a shame you can't see beyond your own hate." Which also could be said to Severus about Sirius, and probably would be. Eventually it would happen when Martha calmed down a bit.

[suddenlysirius]

He winced visibly when she called Voldemort by his name, and showed no shame in doing so. He even instinctively cast a few darting glances around as she spoke, just out of habit. Out of fear.

But, good god, what was she talking about? She had started to say one thing, then changed tack. Who had Snape saved? And what was this about bringing down He Who Must Not Be Named? That was just mad, and only confirmed his suspicion that Martha was being influenced by Snape.

Instead of responding to any of it, he turned and strode off in search of James. He needed to make some sense of this, to be told he wasn't completely out of his mind. James would understand. He would know what to do.

Mostly, however, Sirius simply needed his friend.