The music was relatively quiet, as Pix had expected it to be with the amount that the 'Sculk Alliance' (as they had dubbed themselves) had complained about any loud noise.

Katherine quickly walked away to go talk to Joey, leaving Pix standing by himself for a few moments to watch the scene in front of him.

He could see Scott chatting enthusiastically to Joel, who looked rather bored and uneasy, and he could see a few people dancing- False (very reluctantly, Pix noticed) was dancing with Gem, Jimmy was dancing with FWhip- it looked like a somewhat normal party, as had been promised in the letter. The only people Pix hadn't seen yet were Shelby and-

"Hey Pix!" Pix spun around, staring in confusion at Oli, who looked... a little different. His eyes weren't glowing now (they were still a weird blue, but not glowing), and his clothes were much cleaner, although still slightly sculk-stained in places. What? Why is he- why are- talking to me? Huh?

"Uh... Oli." The brunette said hesitantly, taking an awkward step backwards. "What are you... doing?" The blonde looked mildly confused at Pix's question.

"Well I was going to ask you to dance, but-" Oli broke off with a laugh, grinning awkwardly. Huh. He sounds different.

"I mean..." Pix paused, silently debating what to say next. I want to dance with him, I do. I really do. But he- and the necklace- the infection- I- need to be more careful. "I'll pass, thanks." The brunette added quietly as Oli pulled a face, looking somewhat defeated and unhappy.

"Oh. Well. Have fun. And..." The blonde shot a hesitant look in False's direction, as if to check that she wasn't listening, before looking at something on the other side of the room. "Be careful." What? Pix stared as the bard walked away without elaborating. I'm... confused. But okay, Oli. He shook his head quietly, looking away.

The archaeologist sat in silence for a few more minutes, watching as a similar thing happened with Shelby attempting to ask Katherine to dance. From what Pix could see, Katherine had said no, and Shelby continued to ask until Joey had to step in.

Pix dragged his gaze away from the scene as Sausage approached him. "Hey. Are you okay?" His friend asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" The brunette said hastily, looking away with an awkward laugh that sounded incredibly unnatural.

"I saw what happened with Oli... it looked like he was asking you to dance. Or something like that anyway." The man paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Why would you say no? You've been dying to talk to him." Sausage said gently, leaning against the wall next to Pix.

"Well... I don't know. He's being really weird." Pix said quietly, fixing his gaze on Joel's awkward conversation with Scott- the god looked as if he wished he had brought a potion of invisibility so that he could run away from the cyan haired man. "He called me a freak, and stupid... and now he wants to dance with me."

"But why would you turn him down?" Sausage asked quietly.

"I... don't know. I don't know how to- feel about Oli right now. I want to hate him so badly, I really do, and he would deserve it, but-" Pix paused, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself so that he wouldn't break down crying in the middle of the party. "But I want him to love me." He whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "And- it's not Oli doing any bad things. It's the sculk. But it's still- him."

"Oh- Pix-" Sausage sighed. "I know it's hard, but... it will get better. Trust me." He added with a smile.

"I'll try to trust you, but it's- hard to believe right now." Pix said wryly, shrugging awkwardly.

"Well, as long as you promise to try..." His friend paused, smiling again and glancing at Joel and Scott. "I'm gonna go save Joel from Scott, have fun!" The brunette called over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Yeah. Bye. I was just gonna..." His gaze flicked to a closed door on the other side of the room. "Look around." Pix finished quietly as Sausage walked out of earshot. The archaeologist made his way over to the door, careful to try and look somewhat inconspicuous.

Pix rested his hand on the door handle for a moment, contemplating what to do next and whether his very vague plan was a good idea before opening the door, stepping into the room and closing the door silently behind him.

I wonder what's in here anyway. Probably an empty room, but-

Pix froze as he turned around, his breath catching in his throat. Oh my god- He stared for a moment, his gaze darting wildly around the room as he attempted to focus on anything but the scene in front of him.

Everything in the small room- the floor, the walls, the table in the corner- was completely covered in sculk vines. No, no, no, no- they said- nothing bad would happen! This seems like a plan for something bad- or a setup. Something like that? I don't know. Pix took an awkward step sideways as a vine lunged for his head, pushing the door open with a startled scream.

Everyone immediately stopped and turned to look at him as he started shouting about the sculk (honestly, the brunette could barely even make out what he himself was saying).

Pix just about saw the panic appear on the uninfected emperors faces when a vine wrapped itself around his ankle, pulling him off his feet and onto the ground before forcefully dragging him back into the sculk-infested room.

He heard nothing as everything- the emperors confused shouting, the Sculk Alliance's irritated muttering, even the serene music in the background- faded into silence, and everything went dark as his head hit the floor.

L Pix

This is a good thing trust me

Also L Shelby get rejected lmfao (oh ye btw this story also has the whole 'Joey, Katherine and Shelby are in a poly relationship' headcanon so yeah)