[SoK-AU] Kinsaeda's Halloween.

Kinsaeda sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the mirror.  There was a party to go to, and he still wasn't sure if he should go or just hang out at home, kick up his feet and catch up on his video games.  The redhead was just getting back from his studies overseas, and never being the most social person, he didn't know many people anyway. Kin had doubts he’d even be remembered by the few who did.  

“Not like I know how what to wear anyway.” huffing he flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.  “I don't know anyone and...I probably have enough stuff here to figure something out though.” and grudgingly rolled off his bed.  

“Hrm… time to asses the situation young Asad.” imitating one of his professors haughty tone made him snicker, but it helped him to get moving.  That, and the thought of young ladies in clothes far more skimpy than they’d ever wear at any other time.  Yeah, remembering that little fact was all the motivation he needed to seal the deal.

First, leather pants, because well, leather pants.  Why mess with a piece of attire as timeless as clothing itself.  Besides which, wearing the skin of some animal seemed to suit him for some reason, whatever that reason was, it probably applied to the fang earring he wore in one ear, and the necklace with the duo of raptor feather flanking a long curved claw.  True it might make him look a little eccentric around campus, but he was an archaeology major, that sorta thing should be expected right?

Next would be hair and with a sigh he sat on the edge of his bed and stared across at himself reflected in the portrait sized mirror attached to his desk.  Hair like his was an eternal enemy, a foe that he would be cursed to forever wage war against down through his personal ages!

Alright, bit dramatic maybe, still, it was a right royal pain in the ass none the less.  

Normally, the dark crimson hair was just pulled back into wavy pony tail that through a few waves, twists and turns, hung to the top of his shoulder blades.  Yet when it was loose and wet, it hung straight down a bit further.  That was pretty rare, and whenever he went out of his flat with it like that, it would dry out and take on a mind of it’s own in no time flat.  At least it mostly followed the laws of gravity and physics, though there was always a few locks that decided to be rebels without a cause and go their own way, which sometimes made him look a bit like an anime character.

That reminded him, he’d have to dvr a few shows tonight if he was going out…

Hair, right, ongoing battle and all that stuff.  Focus Kin!  

He started the arduous process of braiding one side of his hair tight against his head.  It was a good thing he was only doing one side, having his entire head put into micro braids that one time when he visited the islands had taken more hours than he’d ever like to recall.  Admittedly having the skin on top of his head stretched like that only hurt at first, then felt pretty good later on making it feel worth it, but still, time was of the essence here.  He turned on some rock music to help keep him focused and went to work.  

It took an hour or so and his fingers were sore, but it was done.  The rest of his hair he let run free, and capped off some of his braids with a few of the island decorations he picked up.  Using a few beads and a few more bird feathers.  He wasn't sure what his costume was going to be, but it didn't matter much to him at this point.  

He still had clothing to pick out, he wasn't planning on going topless after all, it was to cold this time of year for that.  It would probably be warm at the party, so he opted for a form fitting but sleeveless shirt.  Carrying all the dig’s supplies not to mention his own workouts had made him pretty buff, might as well enjoy it.

Still, it wasn't much of a costume so far.  There was enough weird stuff in his apartment though that he should be able to put together something.  He wasn't into the scary and monstrous stuff, so something creepy and grotesque was out.  Then he thought about some of the mmo’s he’s had a chance to play lately, and went right to the closet of weirdness… his pet name for all the stuff he’s collected over the years and never bothered to toss out for any number of reasons.  Old mementos sat next to strange odds and ends, video games, books, clothing and a few other props.

First, he had some black leather and steel bracers he used to wear to the Renn Fairs he used to like, as well as some rather knightly looking boots to go with them.  Both fluted and nicely gothic’d up.  Not totally accurate, but screw accuracy, he wanted to look good.  He was pretty sure the finger-less biker gloves killed the knight in shining armor idea anyway.  Besides, he was more of a ‘knight-in-black-leather’ kind of guy anyway.  

Next was one of his favorite pieces.  A long calf length black leather jacket, also sans sleeves.  Tattered around it’s edges from rough use over time.  It was probably part of some costume to a fantasy convention or renn faire in the past, as it didn’t look like anything he’d seen in a history book.  It had flaps that would cover his chest if he wanted it too, and was lined on both sides with brass buttons that would have done the job, but as it was, it was buttoned back to leave his torso revealed. There were strips of white leather around the shoulders that ran down his sides that would have made a crest like V had he kept it closed, and a collar of medium height.  His favorite details though, would have to be the wide hood that looked like those assassin guys in those video games, albeit trimmed with some white fur.  What was it about him and natural materials?  Oh well.

The last detail was an intricate full length symbol of swirls and jagged edges.  This part was designed and hand stitched by his grandmother.  She claimed it was a collection of images she’d learned in her travels and studies of archeology and anthropology over the years, he figured she’d know, she was a top expert in her field after all.  All Kinsaeda knew was that it looked like some bad ass combo of gothic and tribal looking images.  He made the mistake of saying that in front of old grams once, and after her sigh and face palm, she had given him a smack upside the head for spouting nonsense, and not knowing where this stuff came from, and saying ass.

Whatever, it still looked bad ass.

Back to looking at himself in the mirror, he grinned slightly, and decided he just needed a little more.  Grabbing some white martial artists tape off his desk he wound some around his leg in a criss crossed pattern then wrapped some more around his forearms.  

Now, this adventurer of far off lands of monsters and magic needed to be armed and what better than a…

Kin held that thought, scratched his head, and went back to the closet of weird where some of his old junk still lie in wait, threatening to drag him back to realms of nostalgia and the past examples of his geekdom.  Rummaging around for a bit, he let out a whoop and stood up to fast, cursing as his head bumped the top shelf, damn his height… well no not really.  

Holding his prize up, then polishing the aluminum metal with the inside of his costume coat, he looked over what was once a prized possession.  A replica light beam saber.  He didn't even remember if it was from that trilogy of movies, an anime with giant robots or what, but he always liked it.  It was sleek, and had it been real, it would surely be pretty dangerous looking.  As it was though, it needed a frosty tube like ‘blade’ to simulate a beam, made out of what he believed was Plexiglas.  Well, it was kind of pointy? In a blunted conical sort of way.

He wasn't planning on waving it around tonight though, so detached the prop blade and clipped the hilt on to his pants belt.  Hell if he knew if such a thing fit with the rest of his getup.

There, all done.  Kinsaeda smiled at his reflection, if nothing else, or no one else, he thought it looked good.  The finishing touch was just pulling his necklace out from under his shirt and pulling his hood up.

After leaving his apartment with the invitation he followed it’s directions to the address.  Every step he took made him wonder if there was a point to this, no one really knew him right?  Then again, it was a Halloween party, maybe it didn't matter if most people would be wearing masks or something anyway.

His internal back and forth distracted him long enough for his feet to do their thing, guiding the rest of him right up to the door of said fiesta.  Kin imagined the personified doubt in his head throwing up its hands in defeat and trundling off back to its dark and murky corner.

“Here goes,” he murmured and knocked on the door, then immediately stepped back to take in this…”This is a really nice house…” he fought the urge to rub the back of his head.  It wasn't like he was some country bumpkin, he just wasn't that used to being in town lately and always felt a bit out of place. Seeing the door opened by the lady pirate brought a little crooked smile to his face, “Well, one cute lady is here, it was worth it.”