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"A costume party?" Gwendal muttered when he read the invitation Yozak had stolen. Those were actually good news; it'd make easier for him to infiltrate as well into the castle. Except for one thing. "It begins in a few hours and I don't have a costume."
Very few seconds passed between him saying this and an acute feeling of remorse creeping up on his spine because, when he looked up from the invitation, his eyes met with Yozak's friendliest smile as the redhead singsang, "I can help, Excellency!"
~*~
As both of them went into the hall, Gwendal found himself torn. On one hand, he felt ridiculous. On the other, thanks to Yozak's skill and experience with make up, he knew he looked... Well, pretty. He'd hardly recognized himself on the mirror and he'd been surprised at how well the wig --brown, long, curly-- fit. On top of it, he was wearing a mask; not even his mother would know who he was.
What he didn't understand was why Yozak was the one wearing pants this once.
"Ah. Well, this is a costume for me, isn't it, sir?" he'd replied, winking, as he donned his mask. "I mean, I've been in there as a maid several times before. If anything happens, they all are going to recognize my legs."
Gwendal did his best to keep his thoughts away from Yozak's legs.
Either way, he should just focus on the task at hand. Their goal was to recover a set of documents from the lord Heine's personal study which he'd do while Yozak engaged the guards into a drinking contest.
The slight feeling of humiliation and the tightness of the dress around his hips were the only two factors that prevented him from actually enjoying this mission.
Suddenly, a third factor added itself.
"Just look what we have here," a man said just as Gwendal was trying to climb up the stairs.
Gwendal looked around covering his mouth with the fan he was carrying with him to cover the way his mouth pursed while the feathers on his mask covered the frown on his forehead. (Since Yozak had said he'd chosen precisely that extravagant mask because 'that frown was so unladylike', Gwendal had been a little self-conscious about it --why did everyone kept bringing that up?)
"Such a beautiful flower," the man who, judging by shape and height, could very well be lord Heine himself, continued, bowing his head quite low.
If only it wouldn't have attracted unwanted attention, Gwendal would have taken advantage of it, hitting him on the exposed back of his head.
The man straightened up and reached to grab Gwendal's hand. "Would you join me for a drink and perhaps a dance?"
Gwendal jerked his hand before it was trapped. "W-what?"
The man smirked and leaned forward. "Don't be shy, my sweet. I'll treat you well, I promise."
By then, Gwendal had his back nearly against the wall and his fist was about to make contact with the man's nose.
"I'd dare to think it's more about honesty than about shyness, my lord Heine," said Yozak who was now approaching and stopped right next to Gwendal. Once there, he put his arm on the waist of an unsuspecting Gwendal, who tensed up.
"Ah, she's with you. My deepest apologies."
Yozak pulled Gwendal closer to him. "We are going to marry next month."
Gwendal was about to protest, but he managed to convince himself to remain quiet for the cover's sake.
He was wondering if Yozak would challenge lord Heine to a duel for flirting with his 'fiancée' to give him a chance to recover the documents when he felt Yozak's mouth against his.
He absolutely wasn't expecting that either.
~*~
When Gwendal recovered from the shock, Yozak was pulling him back to the hall where they started to dance.
"The documents have been secured," Yozak whispered in Gwendal's ear.
Gwendal cleared his throat. "Excellent," he said. "We can go back now."
Yozak pouted. "Aw, I was looking forward to at least two waltzes with you, Excellency," he said, making him spin.
Gwendal spun and, when he faced Yozak again and put his hand on Yozak's, after a second he said: "We can wait until this one is finished." Because, obviously, leaving at the middle of a dance could raise suspicions. And the only reason - he added to himself - why he was looking around was to check if the way out was clear, it certainly had nothing to do with the amused sparkle in Yozak's eyes behind the mask.
Not at all.
~*~
Back to the building they'd made their headquarters, Gwendal rushed to his room to go change back to his regular clothes when he heard something that froze him on mid step.
"Ah! You look even cuter up close!"
Gwendal twitched. "Mother?"
His mother came out from nowhere to hug him. "I thought you looked so pretty when you first came into the party, Gwen, but now..." She took the mask away, pouted, and put it back. "... If only you could stop with the frowning now and then..."
"Mother, what are you doing here?" Gwendal growled, taking away the mask for good and squashing it in his hand.
"I came to give you this," she said, offering him the papers they'd gone such lengths to retrieve.
"Lady Cecile was a guest at the party," Yozak explained. "I requested her help while we distracted lord Heine."
Gwendal felt the urge to knit rising. "I... see..."
"It was fun to play spy," his mother said. "I have to do this more often."
Please, don't, Gwendal thought.
"Well, if you don't need me for anything else, I'm going to prepare our travel back home," Yozak said, stretching.
"You should get some rest, Gwen," his mother said, a hand on his shoulder. "I still have another party to go to, so I'm leaving. Give my regards to His Majesty."
"Of course, mother."
"And, dear, are you sure you don't need Yozak for anything else?" she said, winking as she was going through the door.
Gwendal twitched again and hurried to his room, to his thread and needles.