The Game of Faces

The door was clearly sized for its primary user, so Johanna had to stoop down slightly to enter, but she had plenty of clearance once inside. The masked woman had entered first, and Johanna turned to see her hanging up her large wooden mask on a wall, next to dozens of others. The woman was still facing away from her, and Johanna had hoped to finally see her face when she turned back around. Alas, she had merely exchanged one mask for another, though this one at least left the lower-half of her face exposed, and Johanna was surprised to learn that her lips were either painted the same blue color as her hair.

“You may rest here, with my faces, when the night falls,” The masked woman suggested, “But that is later. First, I think I have a game you will like more.”

Johanna looked around the long, narrow room they found themselves in. Apart from a surplus of masks hanging from the walls, there wasn’t much to look at. There was a long padded bench, though, and it was towards this that Johanna found herself being guided, eventually sitting down next to the masked woman. “What game is that, then?” She asked, though she had to admit that nearly any game would be preferable to what she had experienced in the jungle.

The smaller woman gripped Johanna by the chin, and began turning her face this way and that. “The Game of Faces,” She said, offering no further explanation. Johanna seemed content to simply let the woman examine her face, imagining what exactly this new game might be. After a while, the masked woman’s grip moved from Johanna’s chin to the back of her neck, but when Johanna parted her lips to ask about the change or the nature of the game, she suddenly found herself being pulled forward into a kiss.

The kiss caught Johanna completely off guard, but it was far from unpleasant. The other woman’s lips captured her own easily, then released them, then captured them again in a series of relatively short, but passionate caresses. Her tongue flitted out playfully against Johanna’s lips and mouth, eventually coaxing out Johanna’s own tongue as she decided to enjoy the kiss. As soon as her tongue left her mouth, though, the masked woman caught it in her teeth, holding it in place for her to tease and suck at it until, satisfied, she broke away from the kiss completely and stood up, bouncing over towards her wall of masks.

“Is that the Game of Faces?” Johanna asked, blushing at how easily she had fallen into the sudden kiss.

When the woman turned around once more, she had a new mask in her hands, “Yes and no. I like your mouth,” She said, before returning to the bench, “I think you will like this face.”

Johanna examined the mask as it was pressed into her hands. It was made from hard, smooth wood, and the front had been carved with abstract patterns and shapes. Like the mask her friend was currently wearing, it covered mostly the top half of the face, leaving the mouth exposed. Turning the mask over, Johanna found no obvious means of fastening it in place, but she lifted it to her face just the same. Holding it in place, it seemed a somewhat comfortable fit, despite not being originally shaped for her. “How does it look?” She asked, tilting the mask and her face this way and that to show off.

Her critic’s face pinched into a thoughtful moue, “Close,” She said, before snatching away the mask and setting it on the bench. She leaned in close and moved her hands up to Johanna’s face, feeling more intently the contours of the captain’s face, the texture of her skin, and whatever else she may be looking for. Her hands were soft and nimble, and Johanna closed her eyes as her friend’s fingers played across her face. Her fingers soon left, and before Johanna could open her eyes she was being kissed again.

The kiss was deeper, this time, the hard wood of the other woman’s mask pressing against Johanna’s nose. Johanna tried to be more proactive this time, kissing back with as much energy and curiosity as she received. The other woman’s lips were soft beneath hers, and her mouth was wet and warm and enticing. Johanna moved her hands up to the woman’s shoulders, holding her in place to make her easier to kiss, but once her hands ventured further up, towards her hair and mask, she slipped away from her grasp and danced back across the room towards her masks.

Johanna was less embarrassed this time, and was definitely looking forward to the next kiss. She definitely found this game much more enjoyable than being lost in the jungle, and when the masked woman turned around with a wide smile and another mask, Johanna smiled back at her amicably.

“Will this mask be a better fit?”

The masked woman nodded as she approached. “You’ll certainly enjoy this one. Close your eyes.”

Johanna nodded, took a deep breath, and waited.