Thirteen’s manicured fingers are cold on the nape of her neck.

“Ten-darling, Ten-jie, that same fox mask is getting old. When are you going to get a change?” She pouted and leaned close, so close Ten could almost see her own reflection, marred by the flickering ‘13’ imprinted on Thirteen’s pupils.

Ten felt her chin being tilted up, and Thirteen breathed in her ears. “You’d look well in blood red,” a wisp of Thirteen’s hair, coral pink and laced through with ruffled satin, tickled the hollow at Ten’s neck. Her fingernails were painted the same color, and they now latched onto Ten’s chin and shoulders, soft yet unyielding like the tentacles of a lion’s mane jellyfish.

“Come on, girlie,” the endearment felt foreign on Ten’s tongue, and she forced a giggle. “You know that wouldn’t fit my coloring. I’d look like a vampire.”

Thirteen felt for the edge of Ten’s mask, hands stroking her jaw, her pierced earlobes, then the back of her ears, but Ten caught her wrist. “Stop–”

“Don’t be a killjoy.” The other girls looked on impassively as the strand of pink hair resting on Ten’s collarbone suddenly elongated, snaking around Ten’s neck and tapping lightly on her pulse. Ten flinched violently, head thumping against the wall, and, drawing in a deep breath, slowly, slowly let go of Thirteen’s hands. For a moment, Thirteen stood above her, her hair rearing up like a living thing and writhing around Ten’s body.

A detached part of Ten realized belatedly that Seven never came to the club today. She’s the only one Thirteen ever listens to.

Fourteen was the first to move. “Aww, don’t be like that, Thirteen. You’re gonna scare our little friend away.” She tutted as she threw herself onto the sofa next to Ten, flicking the latter’s ears. Ten tensed up, ready to push the other girl away as her fingers fluttered around the nearly invisible line where the mask meets real skin.

“What about matching contacts? Heaven knows how naked your eyes look with that rusty thing over the rest of your face.” Fourteen rolled her eyes, and brushed a thumb over Ten’s blinking eyes. “How does this look?”

Ten lifted a mirror to her face.