[TFMasque] TF: MAKAI MASQUERADE

“Ugh, Sparkle, I just don’t have any ideas,” a space-themed otter called exasperated to their pufferfish as they flopped tiredly onto their bed in defeat with a heavy sigh. Completely missing the look of ‘I’m so done with you’ from her fish friend.

“Why did I agree to go with Rook this year? I don’t care much for seeing new folks, spirit or living,” Saiya continued as she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. Purposefully avoiding the disaster that was her flooring strewn with prop ideas. Her house was normally so tidy and organized that she knew where everything was at nearly any given moment; even if it’s been years since said item was touched or thought about. 

‘Yeah, you’re too stiff and awkward to make friends, surprised you made one with Rook and that Dexter guy,’ Sparkle glugged back unhelpfully. 

“I have so many things to consider for the costume too,” Saiya continued on. She had a vague feeling of being sassed or called out in some manner. “What works  or doesn’t work with my fur, how hot it might get, will it snag or hit someone or multiple someones, and most importantly will it offend. We don’t know much about the spirits from beyond afterall.”

‘Does it have to be some fantastic fashion statement?’ Sparkle inquired with a bubbled huff. 

“Not at all, but I don’t want my first masquerade in a long time to look lazy!” With a sigh, the purple and white otter sat up and looked around; once again missing the expression of her house friend. Sparkle was somewhat impressed that their gulps and blubs could somewhat be translated accurately. They loved it; it made them feel included further.

Okay, what did Saiya have lying around. After a bit of scanning, her dual-colored eyes fell specifically on three items in particular. A white, fluffy canine-esque mask that covered half her face. What stuck out the most were the connected navy blue stars over the eyes in a way that resembled a racoon mask. Saiya went over and plucked the item off the floor. Turning it over in her paws, she considered the piece carefully. It was far too basic by itself but perhaps she had something lying around to spice it up. Didn’t she have a multitude of small and large feathers lying around somewhere?

With an act that was considered ‘rolling up her sleeves’ she got about cleaning the hazard zone that was her home. About halfway through, she found the insanely long feathers they were after! Thankfully, the plumages had been tucked safely in a transparent box to prevent accidental damage along with a good bit of other easy breakables. Conscientiously, the otter carefully considered the crafting supplies before landing on the shiny scales. Staring into the multi-colored scales, a vague idea for a prehistoric dragon vibe came to mind. One with feathers rather than large pointy scales across their spinal cords. It felt unpolished but perhaps she could remedy that upon finding other items. Placing the transparent box on her bed for safe keeping, Saiya continued her cleaning spree. 

Upon throwing the clothing materials she deemed unacceptable back into the closet, the space-themed otter happened upon a dusty box on the top shelf. Brimming with curiosity, she pulled the square object down. It didn’t have any logo on it to state what the company might have been. Opening it, she found a plethora of variously dyed cotton sealed neatly per color. Odd, she never purchased or traded for any of this. Was this a gift from someone during her teen crafting phase? Perhaps left by the previous owner of this house? It sure looked expensive that leaving it behind seemed unlikely but she noticed a couple packages seemed to be missing. A yellow and teal based upon the small scroll stating the list of contents. 

‘Perhaps I should ask who the last tenant was to return this,’ Saiya thought. It may be in her house but this otter never fully believed in the whole ‘finders keepers’ rule. At least, when she grew up a bit from some of the classic childish ideals. Her mother always said she had a warrior’s heart that didn’t accept charity… or something along those lines. Not her exact wording but it’ll do.

A bright reddish color caught her attention. ‘Wait, if I used this color, infused it with some faux fur or something, I can make a draconic headgear of sorts! Perhaps one that travels down and connects around the collarbone?’ 

‘Wait! No! I just said I would find a way to return the box, I can’t take anything from it just to fix my issue,’ Saiya shook her head vigorously to dispel the thoughts. ‘But this color could go very well with my fur while also helping me stand out during the nightly events.’ The ottagi groaned in annoyance at her conscience. The idea of having something that stood out in the dark did sound appealing.

That was when Saiya made a mistake. Looking at the clock, seeing how late it was and that Rook would be arriving within a couple hours for the festival, the purple otter dismissed both caution and misgivings about using what wasn’t rightfully hers. 

“Sparkle, wish me luck getting this idea done in time!” Saiya called to her pufferfish. She had heard their glugs of interest or disdain but she was no stranger to the sass that creature held within their tiny body.

A lazy glug was a vaguely registered response as the otter got working on her outfit. 

Starting with the feathers, Saiya grabbed three small green ones to sew together. Using the greenest shiny scales she could find in the box, she placed the smallest ones onto the feathers to give a ridge-like quality to it. Feeling somewhat satisfied, she moved onto the large feathers. 

After some meticulous consideration of comparing colors, both to each other and her own fur, the winners were the bright blue with yellow fading tips. It would look good with the green while making her nails stand out. For support to prevent them from hanging limp, she gathered some rare blue sand before coating some twigs in it. These twigs were sanded down to be mostly upright yet bendable to give the headgear a real-like feel. The sand coating might have been unnecessary but she didn’t go halfway on things. There was an art to blending afterall.

Once satisfied with the support structure, Saiya combined the mask and feather assortments. Moving onto the bright maroon cotton, she quickly grabbed some recently dried seaweed to act as the headgear support. The kelp was also perfect not just for malleability but her sharp needle-stick could easily puncture it to weave the cotton into it. Her earlier idea of adding faux fur would take too long to bleed the color into, so she’ll have to settle for brushing it a bit to salvage that idea. Carefully tying the seaweed into a knot where the dragon ‘fluff’ would meet, she finalized the workings of this piece. 

Finally, for the finishing touches, she found some blue and yellow scales to attach to her body to complete the dragon-look she was going for!

“Sparkle, what do you think!”

The pufferfish gave an impressive appraising look as Saiya slowly spun around for her house mate. They swam to different angles of their aquarium home that made up a portion of her house before finally giving a rather sophisticated approving nod.

Just in time for rapid knocking to echo throughout the abode!