Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Oh god no!”

Encke gave Abzu a doubtful look. “Then why did the invites drop off after you and Luke started, y’know–”

Abzu snorted. Fair question, he guessed. “Look, I've always known you're monogamous as ********. If you came to the fancier or even fun parties, I would have a chance to look at you in a nice outfit. Maybe hit on you for it.”

Encke coughed and did a double-take, in that order. Abzu, for his part, seemed increasingly amused. “Can't you just look at stuff from my shoots for that?”

“One thing to see it online, another thing to admire it in person.” He gave a blase shrug as he went for some things to dip in the locally made hummus. “Besides, if my parties had some actors at them, that could be a fun rep boost–”

“Do you really need a rep boost?”

“Well, no,” Abzu snickered, “but it's fun to listen to people talk about me sometimes. What can I say, I like listening to what people have to say.” He usually preferred if it was good, but it was part of the reason why he liked the eavesdropping in general. “Like you, Pen. You can learn a lot about people just listening to them.”

Abzu was considerably more extroverted than she was, but their enjoyment of it was all the same.

“See!” Abzu laughed, taking her words for what she said and not focusing on the fact that it indeed did not help. It had gotten easier since he had distanced himself from the attracted thoughts that he had felt towards Ignacio, and honestly Richard too, but that was still in the back of his mind on occasion.

Encke, for his part, offered a sheepish smile, his own cheeks a little red. “Thanks.” He knew he did, and that wasn't even necessarily ego talking. The commentary that he ran into on Twitter wouldn't exist otherwise. But there was something different about hearing his best friend say it–

Abzu chuckled quietly when Pendour shifted the topic to the fact that he had thought about using Ignacio's presence at a party as a brag-

Grimly, Encke noted, “Even if he doesn't intend to, it'll probably happen anyway.” It reminded him of why he didn't go to the night market that Livie had swept the competition of almost a year ago. In that case, he didn't accidentally want to draw attention to an event that was supposed to be underground. In this case? It wasn't like the party was supposed to be underground or anything.

But he would still be present, and he would still be an attraction. Would that benefit Michelangelo? Probably, intentional or not.

It was a relief to hear Abzu say, “Look, I'm not going to try to get people to come to the party with an advertisement of look, I got Ignacio here.” Even though it would be funny, he would admit. “But you could do something with my hair! I have a lot of it.”

And for as lazy as he was, Michelangelo actually took meticulous care of his hair. It was mostly because it was a bit of a self-care thing for him, because after all, it just meant that he had the excuse to rub nice smelling products into his hair and stand under the water. And an even greater bonus was when he got to go to the salon! That was a situation where other people washed his hair, and there was something nice about having someone massage his scalp–

Anyway.

“Bet you could do some fun updos with it. Or a braid of some sort.”

He crunched a hummus-covered carrot.

“This is good, by the way!”

A masquerade? Huh. Encke wasn’t sure if he had ever been to a masquerade of any sort– “That could be interesting, actually. Abzu?”

Abzu’s brain was in a spot that had him first regarding something out in space with a curious expression before he rapidly shook his head and brought himself out of it. Encke was about to open his mouth and ask what the hell Abzu was thinking, but Abzu got in the way before he could. “We could do that. It’s been a minute!”

“Have you held masquerades?”

“Encke, I’m rich. Course I have.” Encke supposed he would give Abzu that, even if he was wondering what he had been thinking about–

“Oh, I like that!” Abzu’s grin was wide, and Encke decided to give up on questioning it. “Fits the edgier vibe I like to lean into sometimes.”

“You?” Encke seemed surprised. “Edgy?” Well, he guessed that might explain why Abzu sometimes showed up wearing a studded leather jacket, or tighter jeans, but he had made some other assumptions. Perhaps, in retrospect, they were uncalled for, considering they were the same assumptions that led to him assuming Abzu had been trying to invite him to a kink party or something…

Abzu snickered. “In behaviour, no, but in dress, certainly can be. Like the style. Goes well with the hair. I’d be interested to see what you can do, Pen!”

He bit into another carrot as the otters came to him to beg. As Pendour told them she didn’t have anything for them, Abzu went back for the bag they were so curious about.

“Look, maybe next time I come up here,” lucky for the otters he was teaching bad habits to, he had brought multiple burritos. He had been intending to eat them! But now, “y'all won't make fun of me for my cold burritos. I clearly have good taste!”

Encke snorted. “I'm not sure if sharing your taste with space otters is a good thing-”

Abzu took the wrapper off his next burrito, rolling it in front of them. “They think it is. Good enough for me!”

As long as Pendour wasn’t against him doing so, Abzu would happily continue to teach them bad habits. They seemed disinterested in the rabbit food they were mostly eating anyway. And … whatever seitan was.

When Pendour actually called him out on his more distant look, Abzu cleared his throat and murmur not to worry about it. To be honest, he knew Pendour didn't particularly judge him for the more interesting ways his brain went, but he wasn't sure if he felt like talking about any of it in front of encke.

To be honest, Encke was increasingly not sure he wanted to know.

Best to let it move on.

“It's alright. I wasn't offended at all,” felt like he should clarify from Pendour’s reaction– “Was just teasing y'all for commenting on my burritos in the first place. It's honestly very hard to bother me.” Considering he grew up obviously queer in rich all-boys schools, maybe it was expected that he already had a pretty solid spine–

Or maybe he was just generally unflappable!

And if the burritos were just otter snacks now, he was fine with that-

“I'm honestly not sure! Never been to a masquerade.” Encke laughed sheepishly.

It was Abzu's turn to be a bit surprised. “Really? Not even now with the whole… actor life?”

“I mean, things like the Met Gala aren't a masquerade…” usually. “Maybe I'll enlist Livie. She likes making me outfits I've noticed.” And honestly, it was fun to encourage her creativity–

Would Livie want to come to the party? Huh. Were they giving Abzu too much to do?

… Did he really care?

Honestly, Encke would also give Abzu that. Even if the cold burritos were a little strange, especially because they did actually have a way to reheat them, they certainly belonged there. The otters were absolutely in love with them and it was kind of adorable.

How many did Abzu bring anyway? It might help keep them occupied…

Abzu's gaze was a bit more distant again as his brain was putting together some ideas for parties. Would Dorian like parties? Could he even let Dorian come considering there would be almost guaranteed alcohol there? Or was there a way around that? Should he invite the rest of the Bells? There were a lot of them, if Encke needed his distance he was sure there would be other people to hang out with…

“But do you think it would be eyes on me because of me, or because of Livie's costuming? Because I'm fine if it's the second one.” Encke could even use it as an opportunity to promote Livie's clothing making.

Honestly, using himself as a way to promote other people felt nice. He wanted to help other people feel connected to each other. And helping them in their lives? That could be part of it.

Abzu snickered, glancing toward Pendour as he came out of his mental party planning. Maybe he should ask Zoltan for an assist– “I mean, I've met Nikki. It's how I realized y'all were powered because she brought me back to the Bell House after a fight to chill. I'm fine with inviting her.”

Honestly, he was fine with inviting most everyone. That was part of him being so extroverted, he didn't mind inviting people, he didn't mind getting to know new people, he didn't mind all these people in his house. His only real rule was don't mess it up. He didn't take very well to teenage party antics, to be honest.

Encke definitely favoured the idea of people paying more attention to what he was wearing than him. Don't get them wrong, they had nothing against the attention they drew! Innately, anyway.

But it could take away from their enjoyment of some things.

“If you do do this,” he didn't want to put too much pressure on Abzu, he guessed, even if Abzu laughed at that, “I'll mention it to Livie.”

Was Abzu actually set on something that wasn't sexy–

“Oh that's perfect, actually,” Abzu lept right onto the mention that Livie didn't really get drunk. “Maybe I can pair her with the alien living in my house.”

… Right. Encke forgot that Abzu had taken in one of the aliens. He remembered Stromboli had offered to take him in from Abzu, but Abzu was insistent he could handle this one. There were constantly people going in and out of the Bell house. The duPont mansion?

Well, not as much...

“Ibirapitá in this form,” Abzu gestured to himself, rolling with the topic shift, before continuing with, “Dorian as a civilian. He prefers that form, actually.”

Encke's brows rose in surprise. Unusual, from what he had seen, that the aliens would rather masquerade as humans– though perhaps he wasn't leaving Abzu's mansion very much, either. “Really.”

Abzu went for more of the hummus. With the otters having occupied his burritos, he was going to avail himself of everything else available. “Yeah. He won't tell me why, exactly. Don't think he likes being powered at least.”

“Huh.” More to the story, he was sure, but Encke could take some guesses-

As for the second question… “Well,” Abzu laughed, “he's not calling me an idiot. But I guess he's doing alright enough. Would probably like it even more if I let him near the alcohol.”

“... He's a drunk?” Honestly, that took Encke even more by surprise. Did the alcohols of Earth even affect him the same way as the alcohols of whatever his home world was actually called in his own language? He's supposed close enough–

Abzu dipped another carrot in the hummus. “Can't blame him, really, but he was near delirious when he got here.”