15-16 Sydenstar (Yulisen/Da’lesen) 845 PD
Stubby, at the end of the High Summer Festival (15 Sydenstar):
With everything an exciting blur around her, she dances. The whole night seemed like it was a practice for this dance with Rinn. They both know the steps, thank the gods- and her quickly enhanced slippers are picking up the slack. Toe to toe they glide across the dance floor and even above it, floating and spinning in a swirl of wind and light as the music concludes. Grinning from ear to ear, about to make some comment or quip she looks up as he leans forward. And maybe it’s the dance or the party or the clockwork drinks but she floats up using the last of the levitate spell to return the kiss -a peck really. But as she lands, cheeks and ears pink with a blush she smiles at Rinn and slightly mutters “You’re very good at dancing firefly.”
As the last notes of the music fade, decorum and training whisper in the back of her mind. She almost ignores it, but she’s not just Stubby here, she’s a lady and this caught eyes. -She blushes more deeply at that realization but remains resolute. Keeping one hand in Rinn’s she curtseys and purposely not meeting any eyes, walks them to the edge of the green her arm holding his to keep him from fleeing or freezing until they are off the floor.
Rinn, the morning after (16 Sydenstar):
By some miracle, this morning Rinn’s head is not pounding. (Unlike yesterday, where enough of a headache lingered until he had a couple cups of coffee.) It’s early enough that things are still quiet in the house and on the street outside, or more likely it only seems that way because everyone is still home sleeping off last night.
Last Night.
Rinn groans and pulls the pillow over his head. Now knowing how strong those Clockmaker’s Buck drinks were, he can realize exactly what state he was in last night. (And the previous night!) He had never gotten drunk before, worried both about being a target to other thieves (having picked his own share of drunkards’ pockets) and more importantly, losing control of his magic. Well, he didn’t lose control of his magic.
However-
Stubby. The Dance. The Kiss. What the hell had he been thinking? Had he even been thinking? It had been-
He frowns, pulling the pillow off and staring up at the ceiling. Rinn had been thinking about it, he has to admit. Not during that time during the dance, but… For a good while before yesterday. He sighs, and reaches up to rub at his face. And Rinn can figure out at least a few reasons why he had not acted on it or showed any hint of it, and one of them has him wracking his brain trying to remember exactly how Stubby acted and reacted to it.
The half-remembered drunken logic said it seemed like a perfectly good idea, and it had been a perfect time, but her- As much as Rinn tries, he can’t remember things clearly enough to read exactly how Stubby reacted. Had it been alright? Just tolerated? Welcomed? Unwanted? He cannot tell, and Stubby would not have made any sort of scene in that sort of public situation. He frowns, and his eyes roll even beneath closed lids.
And if it had only just been ‘tolerated’ and not wanted at all, did Rinn just ruin what he did have with her? He grimaces, and mutters a whole string of curses under his breath. This was not something he had ever thought he would have to deal with! Things had been so much simpler before-
But if he was being honest with himself, it may have been simpler, but… he wouldn’t go back to it. Not now. Another quiet sigh, and he opens his eyes to stare back at the ceiling for a moment. Even if he had messed things up- Rinn allows himself a moment to think back on that moment, smiling faintly. The music, the dancing, how Stubby grinned as she followed along those challenging moves he tossed at her, showing off. How she looked in that dress, all done up fancily for the celebration. And her whispered dare and suggestion about using magic to fly up into the air-
Fucking hell he used magic out in front of everyone in the whole city. Rinn grabs the pillow to muffle another grown and a much louder ‘fuck’.