Thread by @pearlsephoni

#kagehina, masquerade ball, inspired by the Starless Sea

Normally Tobio hates balls. Where others see them as a chance to meet new people, make new friends, seduce new lovers, he’s always seen them as a reminder of how lonely he truly is.

https://twitter.com/wuguanmiaomi/status/1625482247389462528

This ball is both better and worse than most. It’s unlike any ball he’s been to before—everyone is dressed in black or white, with only splashes of color allowed in their jewelry or detailing. And they’re all anonymous, hidden behind beautiful, elaborate masks over their eyes.

But strangest of all is the gold.

At the entrance of the ballroom and around the edges sit bowls of golden paint, with the simple written instruction for the partygoers to dip their hands in.

What results is a black and white ballroom adorned with trails of gold: gold on the glasses, on the plush upholstery of the chairs, and on the partygoers themselves. Gold trails from their hair to their shoulders to their waists, and sometimes their cheeks, lips, and chests.

Except for Tobio. The only gold on him remains on his own hands, and the only gold he’s spread has been to his glass of bourbon.

Then. Suddenly.

“Once upon a time, Light fell in love with Dark.”

The whisper brushes against his ear, jolting him out of staring into his drink.

Before he can move, a touch trails down his arm. After an evening of solitude, the glancing touch makes his arm feel aflame, and he relishes it so much, he forgets to catch the owner of those wandering fingers.

By the time he looks around, he only catches a flash of orange.

He looks down at his arm. Where he excepts to see random trails of gold, he instead sees messy Kanji glowing bright against his blue-black jacket.

“The Light shone and glowed, always the center of attention. She came to crave the secrecy and privacy the Dark enjoyed.”

Tobio doesn’t care much for stories, rarely gets lost in a book or enjoys a night at the theater.

But he has to know how this one goes.

He tries to follow the story, but instead, it follows him, appearing on napkins and armchairs and a pillar he happens to stand beside.

“The Dark loved the Light in return, but not because of her solitary shine. He fell in love with the way she shared her glow, bathing those around her in warmth and shimmer, even if it chased him away.

“But there lay the problem. For where one thrived, the other could not.”

“They loved each other in moments in between, the spaces they could share before Light chased off the Dark or Dark overtook the Light.

“It was good. It was enough. Until it wasn’t.

“Light was generous, but also greedy. She swept over everything she could, claiming them as her own. Now she wanted the one thing she couldn’t have. And he wanted her back.

“So they conspired. In those spaces where they stole touches and kisses, they also whispered plans.”

“Together, they found a way to be together. A way to have the impossible. They wouldn’t be able to hold each other for more than a glancing moment, but they would never be alone. One would never exist without the other.”

In his desperate search for both the story and the storyteller, Tobio ends up being swept onto the dance floor. He instinctively moved back to the edges, desperate to avoid the humiliation of being alone amidst the swirling couples.

Then a hand carefully cups over his eyes.

He can feel the gold paint dripping from his mask to his cheeks, just as he can feel it being brushed to the back of his hand. This time, when lips brush his ear, he doesn’t jolt, already anticipating the sweet voice.

“And so became the Sun and Shadow, at once together and apart, forever two sides of the same coin.”

Tobio grabs at the hand brushing his and leads the storyteller forward, until he’s blinking at the bright light of the ballroom and the bright orange hair of his companion.

His storyteller is a man around his age, both familiar and novel to his wine-dazed eyes. He has vibrant hair that is only dulled in comparison to his smile, warm, welcoming eyes behind his golden mask, and petal-like lips Tobio longs to cover with his own.

But he doesn’t, not yet. He just weaves their fingers together and slides his other hand around his storyteller’s waist, urging him closer until their bodies are flush against each other.

He waits to feel a hand slide up his arm to his shoulder before asking, “Who are you?”

The storyteller’s smile turns coy, and for a moment, Tobio thinks he won’t answer. But then that sweet voice says, “Shoyo Hinata.”

Hinata. The sun.

“It’s nice to see you again, Tobio Kageyama.”

Suddenly Tobio is flung back through the years, back to the cusp of young adulthood, to whispered promises and clumsy kisses and tearful goodbyes.

“It’s you,” he breathes, but what he means is, *You found me, I missed you, I think I might still love you.*

“It’s me,” Shoyo breathes back with a softer, but still breathtaking smile. And Tobio hears, *I found you, I never stopped looking for you, just like I never stopped loving you.*

Tobio can’t resist anymore. He leans forward, presses their lips together, and nearly weeps when Shoyo tastes as sweet as he’d remembered.

And so, in the middle of a monochrome ballroom and sparkling with gold, the Suns finds his Shadow once more.

//fin

It’s been years since I read The Starless Sea, but I have never been able to forget the scene where Zachary is in a ballroom where the dancers dip their hands in gold and trail it everywhere, and he’s trying to find Dorian, who leaves scraps of a story behind him.

When I first saw this art, I could not stop thinking about kagehina in that scene, and when the art crossed my tl again, I thought, fuck it. And here we are lol please pardon the messy storytelling. Hope you enjoyed!!

(And to the artist, I hope you don’t mind me writing this with your art as inspiration!!)