Oswin approached the white gilded house on the hill. The building was surrounded by spotlights of all shapes and sizes that spouted a spectacular display into the night. The road forward had a median which contained various beautiful flowers from all around the world, and the sidewalk next to it was flanked with marble statues of all kinds. Some of the statues had their own flowers growing on them, coming in the form of twisting vines that somehow accentuated the beauty of the marble figure without covering anything important. Acting as a superb background to the entire event was Titanus, a yellow-orange artificial celestial body that shone in the night sky as large and as bright as the real Moon.

  “Make sure to look presentable,” commanded Oswin. He fixed his hair and adjusted his cuffs over and over again, ensuring every detail was perfect. He was wearing a full dark blue suit with a blazer which fit him closely. He chose to accessorize with a gold chain on his left wrist as well as neck. The handkerchief which was contained in his suit pocket was also made of the same shiny metal. The outfit was Oswin’s attempt to complement his hazel eyes and Italian background.

  “Man, we could have just biked here.” Kevin trotted up the hill after Oswin. “Then we could park in the same zip code as the party.” Kevin was wearing the most basic black suit and jacket, and neither fit him well. The only eye-catching accessory he had was his purple tie. Its pattern guaranteed it would never match with any outfit, ever. Oswin wondered how Kevin even found a piece of cloth so horrid.

  “Well I’m sorry, I was not aware that there would be no Valet parking.” As Oswin said this, the duo passed by a sign that clearly stated ‘Valet parking this way’.

  “You did not look very hard did you?” Kevin attempted to adjust his jacket in vain. No amount of adjustment could fix an article of clothing that was simply too large.

  “You were in the car with me. It’s your fault as much as mine.”

  The friends continued bickering as they approached the mansion. It was no less spectacular up close. The people coming in attendance were no less eye-catching. Several women wore dresses that sparkled from head to toe matched with expensive jewelry and hair done perfectly. There was a man in an all yellow suit complete with a yellow top hat. Despite Oswin’s best efforts, he came up short in the fashion department. This agitated him, but not enough that he would show it.

  Kevin was willing to index his fellow party-goers on a more animalistic level. It was crude, he would be the first to admit that, but his nose never lied to him before. He discretely leaned over and sniffed the man next to him. ‘Smells like money’.

  They entered the long line to be let into the mansion. Security was shockingly tight, a metal detector and a full pad down was minimum. All bags were thoroughly searched as well. This led to a long and consistent line of party-goers.

  “This is so boring. I wanna die.” complained Oswin. He expressed no interest in speaking to the men and women in line before and after them. It was unusual for him, normally he could entertain himself by talking to strangers all day long. Yet Oswin did have a toy to play with: he had Kevin.

  Everyone in the world had a different mental list of what topics were taboo and what were not. As far as Oswin had been able to tell, Kevin’s list was blank. But that could not be correct. Everyone has their limits, it’s just a matter of finding out what they are. Oswin locked eyes with Kevin ensuring that his friend heard the second part of his complaints.

  He spoke, “I’ll commit a true death, go somewhere a hospital can’t find me in time and blow my brains out.”

  Kevin winced, and regarded Oswin with a confused look of concern. He remained that way, frozen until Oswin offered some kind of further input. Oswin reached his conclusion. ‘I guess some things are too taboo even for Kevin. Then again that was out of nowhere. I’ll have to try again with better build up.’

  Once it was clear that Oswin was not going to say anything else, Kevin responded. “Are you feeling alright?

  “Yep just peachy”

  The bouncers beckoned them to walk over. Kevin went first and Oswin followed after. The metal detector found nothing, and they had no bags to check. The massive, ornate front doors of the were opened by two maids. They stepped through.

  The ballroom, just like the outside of the mansion, was absurd in its size and extravagance. It was easily large enough to fit a soccer field, and at least five stories high. The wall opposing the entrance contained a stone fountain of a cherub with a water bucket, which itself was the size of a school bus. A mezzanine overlooked the grand room. On any wall stairs led up to it.

  Most eye-catching of all was the ice sculpture of two pirate dolphins having a sword fight. The sculpture itself was the size of a large single family home. Simply by standing near it anyone could feel the cold air radiating off of it.

  Oswin scanned the room for his girlfriend, but she was not within his eyeshot, and so he decided to follow his friend for now. Kevin knew what his plan was the moment he laid eyes on the ballroom. A party of this size and splendor demanded a buffet of equal size.

  Indeed, the buffet here extended for tens of meters across a lengthy row of tables. Crab legs, caviar, a bunch of fancy looking things that Kevin did not recognize and even some ultra facy dishes Oswin could not name were on display. They called Kevin, and he was going to answer.

  Faced blurred as he approached the food. No reason to even register people when there was no reason to talk to anyone. That could be saved for when the empty sensation in his stomach was gone. What would be best to start with? Familiar dishes to get him comfortable? Or perhaps he should take some risks right off the bat. As his mind spun with possibilities, he was ripped back to reality by an unexpected face.

  “Oh hey Kevin, I see you are recovering well.” Annie smiled. She was wearing a flowing blue dress complete with a turquoise rose in her hair. It was a long garment, but still maneuverable. With every step she took, Kevin could see her power and energy demonstrated. Of course, wherever she walked, the gaze of many men followed.

  Oswin observed the gawking crowd around them. ‘I wonder if they would still be interested if they knew the dark machine under her skin.’ He watched Kevin closely, every minute detail of his body language was received and understood. ‘Kevin still might be.’

  “Sup.” a woman stepped out from behind Annie. “I’m Brenna, the other announcer.”. She was wearing a red dress that was far less modest than anything Annie would be willing to wear to a party, but she clearly enjoyed the extra attention it gave her.

  Kevin and Oswin offered their introductions as well.

  “I find it crazy that I am here at all.” Kevin began. “I should be out going for my long run right now. I’ve maintained that schedule for last year. It feels strange to break it so suddenly.”

  “So what convinced you to come?” Asked Annie.

  “Well Oswin showed up to my house with a weapon, which made it pretty hard to remain on the fence.”

  The other three broke out into laughter. That was not a joke, so Kevin was not sure why they were laughing. Especially regarding Oswin, he knew what he did.

  “Now that you mention it, today is actually the day I usually go for my run as well. Where do you usually run?” Annie and Kevin conversed about running and all the joys that came with it. Oswin and Brenna were quickly bored with the subject. Brenna nonverbally signaled to Oswin for help, which was promptly declined. Ruth, better known as Oswin’s current love interest, was spotted.

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  Oswin headed straight towards her. She was unfortunately on the opposite side of the party, so the journey was still rather long. He indexed their past meetups in his head. Ruth hinted that she had some pet project that she was excited to show to him, and Oswin was excited to find out.

  Ruth was of middle-eastern descent, donning a white and gold dress that was the life’s work of some tailor, this Oswin knew for sure. She was flanked on all sides by similarly important looking people. They talked and laughed about nothing. Her eyes were focused on something beyond the conversation, beyond even the party. Oswin already wanted to know what it was.

  Halfway there, he, just like Kevin, was intercepted by an unfamiliar face. Normally sneaking up on Oswin at a social function would be near impossible, but he was focusing on the conversation that Ruth was having across the room, trying to tease out any meaning by analyzing the body language of the participants over and over. In addition, the one who did the sneaking was similarly skilled in social ability compared to Oswin. Unlike Kevin who was happy and only happy to run into Annie, Oswin regarded this person with a complexity of emotions that even he was not fully aware of.

  Tana was the one who stopped Oswin.

  She was short, with dusty blonde hair and the most beautiful hazel eyes that Oswin had seen in anyone. That is to say: both her eyes were bluish, but her left eye had a yellow discoloration in a slash across her iris. It was a feature entirely unique to her. Tana was average in every other area. Her white skin contained no tattoos, scars, or other markings.

  Pictures could never do her justice. Just like Oswin, her charisma and attractiveness was a product of how she moved. Depending on how she projected her body language she could be sexy, commanding, pleading, etc. In truth, she was better at it than Oswin was, but you would never get him to admit that.

  “Hey Oswin, fancy meeting you here.” Tana’s mousy face stared up at him.

  Oswin debated if it was even worth asking Tana how she got in. “Yea, what a coincidence.” He replied unenthusiastically.

  “I’m guessing your current toy isssss,” Tana scanned the crowd, but it was all an act. She knew the answer before she even spoke with Oswin. “That girl over there.” Tana pointed at Ruth.

  Oswin frowned, he held a misguided hope that Tana would come to the wrong conclusion.

  Tana continued. “She looks like she comes from a good family. Rich. Powerful. Sexy. Nothing less for you of course.” Tana smilied in a way that unnerved Oswin. Times like these he hated dealing with her. “I’m thinking I might pick up a toy in the same department. Does she have a brother roughly of a dateable age?”

  Oswin channeled all the mental control he had to construct the ultimate poker face. “I don’t know.” He said, void of any emotion.

  “So she does,” Tana stated.

  ‘That HAD to be a guess.’ Thought Oswin. He was shocked, so much so his perfect facade cracked, and he glanced in the direction of Ruth’s older brother. He was near Ruth, but not in the same conversation. The small glance was all she needed.

  Tana searched the crowd, finding her target without too much effort. “That one,” she exclaimed confidently, “Tall, tan, and powerful. I think I just found my project for the night.” She patted Oswin on the back. “Maybe you can win the next one.” She made a line directly for Ruth’s brother.

  ‘Explaining all this to Ruth is going to be difficult' Thought Oswin. ‘But that is a problem for another time.’ He continued to the group of rich people containing his girlfriend and skillfully entered the conversation. Ruth seemed pleased to see him, but could not show it explicitly among her rich associates. She seized an opportunity to exit the conversation, grabbed Oswin by the hand, and led him into the back. Once they were safely behind a staff only door, She hugged and kissed Oswin.

  “I’m glad you could make it.” She beamed, still hugging him.

  “Yea it's so much fun to talk about sniffing farts and touching children with the rich folk.” Said Oswin sarcastically.

  Ruth laughed. “Hey now, at least I’m not like that.” She led Oswin deeper into the mansion. “Follow me, I think I want to switch out my earrings for something else and I want you to help pick.”

  “I’m happy to assist.” Her boyfriend replied.

  They proceeded down several ornate halls that blended together in Oswin’s mind. Each one of them contained various paintings mounted at strategic positions on the walls. Quite a few of the paintings were of Ruth’s various family members, including Ruth herself. The same red rug, embroidered with golden thread in elaborate patterns, extended across the floor of all the hallways. As they walked, they talked about various nothings.

  Ruth arrived at her destination: a door that looked like all others in the western wing of the mansion. The space was Ruth’s dressing room. It was dedicated to all things that allowed her to be more presentable. A leveled table in the corner of the room held all kinds of makeup known to man. Innumerable dresses and articles of clothing found their home on the various hangers and dressers that lined the walls. Ruth approached a box laying on a table in the middle of the room. The box contained at least 30 different ear accessories all hand picked to match Ruth’s current outfit.

  “Hey Ruth, do you remember Tana? I mentioned her on our second date briefly.” Oswin asked. It was time for him to discuss the important matter.

  “The only person in the whole world who can match your people skills? Or so you say. Yes, I remember,” Ruth was busy trying on a new earring, she was not giving full attention to the conversation. “What about her?”

  “Well she got into this party.” Started Oswin. “And I–”

  “Wait, really!?” Ruth felt a tidal wave of excitement. “Where is she? I want to meet her.”

  “It's about that. You won’t be the first in your family to meet her.” Said Oswin. He had Ruth’s full attention now. “Tana said she was going to make a pass at your brother, and I think you should warn him.”

  Ruth broke out laughing, so much so she lost her balance and placed her hand on Oswin’s shoulder for stability. “If you think some random woman can bring down Noah’s defenses you have another thing coming. Who doesn’t want to be with Noah.” Ruth leaned in to Oswin and whispered seductively in his ear. “To be with me,” she backed off once more. “To be with anyone in my family. Whores and man-Whores alike make their passes on us on a daily basis. Tana has met her match.”

  Oswin maintained his poker face, but he was disappointed. ‘Yet you and I are dating. Tana is no different than me. Connect the dots Ruth, I know you are smart enough to do it. And If you aren’t, perhaps this short term relationship can err on the side of shorter.’ Oswin replied. “Fair enough.” He felt his pockets. “I think I left my phone in the car. Could you let me know what time it is?” He lied as easily as he walked.

  “Time to get a watch” Ruth quipped, returning to her box of accessories.

  Oswin chuckled. “That’s a good one.”

  Ruth smiled. ‘Oswin is so simple to entertain. Must be a lower class thing’. She thought. With a bit more comfort and energy, she tried on various earrings humming to herself all the while.

  “Of course I have heard that one before.” He finished.

  Ruth froze. “Excuse me?”

  “It's a technique that Tana uses. I like to call it a joke layup. Of course what I demonstrated is just a rookie level 1 version of it. It's how she navigates the dating game with frightening efficiency. Setup up a joke so obvious even a child could make it, then laugh when the victim goes for it.” Explained Oswin.

  “Well it didn’t work on me.” replied Ruth indignantly.

  “Yes it did. Your humming raised in pitch slightly. You straightened your back. You shifted weight towards the balls of your foot. The muscles in your face relaxed, and a couple other things. Just like anyone else, you fell for it.”

  There it was: The darkness inside of Oswin. The reason Ruth had any interest at all. She whipped around, half expecting to see a terrifying monster in place of him, yet all she saw was her boyfriend. The man known as Oswin. Ruth knew there was something deeply twisted inside him, and she could harness it, or even weaponize it. Playing with fire was how Ruth rose to the top. It was how she stomped on Noah and all other competitors. Oswin was no different. Given time, he would fall.

  And that look. That dissatisfaction. How long had it been since someone had expected more of Ruth and been disappointed? It was a face reserved only for her father. On anyone else it looked so wrong.

  Oswin ran out of patience waiting for a response. ‘Ruth’s tiny brain is still stuck. I guess I can’t compare her to my previous relationships, all that money rotted her brain a long time ago.’ He donned his most charismatic smile. “What I’m trying to say is. You should really consider giving Noah a fair warning. I know he is like your business rival or something, but he does not deserve what Tana is going to do to him.”

  “No.” curtly responded Ruth. “How about this instead? Let's make a friendly wager on whether or not Tana can pull Noah.”

  Oswin thought back to his initial impression of Noah. His suit was overly ornate in a way that described his insecurities at not being taken seriously. His eyes constantly darted around the party, worrying what anyone was thinking, regardless of who they were. In conversation he slightly rocked back and forth like a middle schooler during a stressful presentation. ‘Tana is going to eat him alive.’ He concluded.

  “It's really not much of a bet. As certain as the sun will rise tomorrow, Noah will be on Tana’s leash by the end of this night.” Oswin leveled his eyes to stare into Ruth’s soul. “But hey, your loss.”