The Honorary Ball, Part II

[Reese]

Reese smirked at her indignant little frown when she told him she wasn't a brat and she was turning nineteen soon. Doesn't mean you aren't a brat sometimes, he thought mischievously, but decided not to tease her anymore since she didn't resist the dance.

Nineteen... it was a few years younger than him. He wasn't surprised, though. It sounded about right for her.

"To answer your first question, I'm twenty one," he stated, placing his hands at her waist. "And as far as Zacke goes, who cares if he finds out? He'll probably get mad, but he won't do anything like report me." He shrugged. "I don't know, I doubt if he does much more than give me a big corny lecture."

He cleared his throat, glancing down at the space between them as they began to move to the music. He found his thoughts drifting. So she had found out about his true agenda sometime while he was in a coma. How? Had Garden informed them when they found him? Or had she discovered through DotNA themselves... ? The thought made him very anxious, and he next found himself wondering at how much she knew. Had she met Waverly?

He peered down at her face. Attempting to brush his less than pleasant thoughts away, he feigned a slight smile. "So do you still have my jacket, or what?"

[ST]

"Hey wait up!" He slowed a bit and cast a glance over his shoulder. "Random guy!" He smiled at the sight of Vanesse hurrying to catch up. Every now and then he lost sight of her behind someone bigger or taller, but she was an agile little thing and came up beside him quickly. "You know where to get breads from here? I'll help you carry some."

He shrugged. "I dunno if they even have bread, actually," he glanced down at her with a grin. "But hopefully they'll have something. She needs to eat, there's too much alcohol in her stomach." He shook his head. "It's a shame -- she's a pretty lady, but she looks horrible right now." He looked down at Vanesse suddenly. "Uhh, but you don't have to help me if you don't want, I'm just trying to be a gentlemen and all that junk. You should enjoy your celebration without worries, you know?"

He grinned again. "Oh yeah, and just so you know, my name is Saffron. But you can call me Random Guy if you want!" he laughed.

[Lawric]

Lawric arched an eyebrow, smirking a bit. "He got attacked by a kitty?" He averted his gaze and gave a mockingly 'impressed' whistle. "Wow, must have been brutal... " he laughed and looked back at Jun. "No, I'm sorry, I don't mean to ridicule your friend... I'm sure it was a very vicious little thing." His smirked grew as he tried not to laugh.

After a few moments, he cleared his throat. "So... " He averted his gaze, rocking back on his heels and starting to feel rather awkward. Which was odd, considering he'd been all over her out on the balcony. But truth be told, they hardly knew each other. He looked back at her suddenly.

"What is your full name, anyway?" he laughed. "And... I just realized that I am a Grade A pig for not knowing that at this point."

[junkuroki]

"You're not a pig!" Jun said indignantly, rolling her eyes at him. "If you're one then you're the most charismatic pig known to mankind. I don't think people usually associate charismatic with that kind of animal." She smirked. "And if you really are one then it'd only mean I have horrible judgement."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I should just ascertain again." She went on her tiptoes and pecked his lower lip lightly.

"Opps." She said covering her mouth with a hand, blushing slighty. What was it with her today? She seemed to be possessed by a naughty spirit. "Mymymymym..my full name is Jun Kuroki..." She stuttered, her eyes drifting away from his face.

[raydensharpola]

"I meant outrageously flirty." He smirked. "If you pull another stunt like you did on Zacke I would be seriously jealous." He touched her nose lightly with his index finger. "But if it's just harmless dancing I don't mind all that much." He grinned. "So dance your little heart out."

[Stella]

She grinned back and leaned over gave him a peck on the cheek and a pretty smile before standing up and smoothing her skirt. Heading over to Blaze and Hadrian she saw them both looking at his camcorder. The image of Brooke doing her business was playing over and over again.

"Oh Hadrian" Stella groaned with a roll of her eyes, "You can't seriously think anyone but you wants to watch that again"

She glanced at Blaze and shook her head with a disgusted face. Stella didn't know Blaze at all but she imagined she was the type of girl who would not find this funny at all.

"Blaze, do you mind if I borrow Hady for a dance?" she asked her noticing that the two of them were standing quite close together.

[raydensharpola]

Rayden grinned foolishly at Stella's back, watching as she went to approach Hadrian, presumably for that dance.

He felt a little lonely without her presence beside him, but he had already agreed to her dancing with other guys. There was no way he would turn back on his word; it'd be nothing short of disrespectful.

He glanced around the table, his eyebrow creasing a little at the sight of Brooke slumping on the table. She surprised him. With her kind of wealth she sure did not show the prim and properness that he had seen other girls with money did. Probably had a doting father who spoilt her too much.

His gaze landed next on Gemma. She had been sitting alone at the table for a while, since Zacke left to change out of his ribbony suit.

He glanced at the door, and there was still no sign of Zacke. As a fellow teammate he felt obligated to invite Gemma for a dance, it just wasn't right for such a pretty girl to be left alone at the table. And he didn't think Stella would mind too.

Getting up from his seat, he approached Gemma with a broad smile.

"Hey Gemma." He greeted, his tone a little reserved. Now that he'd stopped trying to flirt, perhaps she wouldn't think so lowly of him now? "You have a really nice dress on. You should be showing it to the entire ballroom instead of hiding here at the table. So what do you say to a dance?" He asked, extending a hand towards her.

[Gemma Ridean]

As soon as she saw Rayden approaching her with a sheepish grin plastered on his face, her first instinct was to think: Oh god, what next?

Not that she didn't like the tall blonde. At times, he could be quite the gentleman, that is..if he wasn't so busy flirting with every possible female in Garden.

"Hey Gemma."

It startled her how reserved and genuinely sincere his voice sounded. This didn't sound like the old Rayden. The old Rayden would've given her one of those cheesy "Heeeyyyy...'s" and then the one quick glance-over. But not anymore. As he walked towards her, she noticed how his head was bowed somewhat respectively, and he seemed to be trying to lose his impertinent stare. The transformation was astounding.

I wonder what Stella did to him...?

"You have a really nice dress on."

She raised an eyebrow, still trying to conceal her surprise that he had come all the way over here to talk to her.

"Thank...you.." she said hesitantly.

Not quite hearing her, he clucked, "You should be showing it to the entire ballroom instead of hiding here at the table."

Gemma blushed. She wasn't hiding, per-se...she was observing the general splender. Anyways, she didn't think anyone would notice if she wasn't dancing...

Dwelling within her thoughts, she was suddenly caught off guard when Rayden asked, ,"So what do you say to a dance?" He flashed her a wide smile, extending a hand out towards her.

This was turning out to be quite a night.

"Uh.." was the first sound that escaped her lips.

Stealing a glance at the dance floor, she spotted Stella walking ---no, making a B-line towards Hadrian, who in the meantime, seemed unaware that he was being targeted.

That little scene made her giggle, and strangely enough, doing that lifted her spirits a bit. Why no? One dance couldn't hurt. It also helped that the orchestra just picked up the Trabian Valse, one of her favorite dances. The temptation of it.

Smiling, she placed her hand on his and stood out of her chair. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this." she laughed. "But if you think Stella wouldn't mind....then I admit I could use a bit of fun."

[stardust]

For a second there, Stardust felt humiliated when Reese told her he was 21. She really thought they were about the same age. However, that wasn't about to make her intimidated now. Reese was Reese, afterall.

Internally, she disagreed with him about Zacke, but she really didn't know the blonde that well too and she was just being biased.

Reese then continued, smiling. "So do you still have my jacket, or what?"

"Your jacket?" Stardust blinked. She almost forgot. She really was going to return it. She just...She really was going to.

"Er..." Of course, she still had it. That was a bit rude---stealing his jacket.

"I...thought you gave it to me," she lied. Truth was, she just didn't want to apologize like some girls always do. She'd seen it countless of times. There was just something about that she didn't like.

/What? Because they look frail and all? What's so bad about that??/

She didn't think Reese would mind, afterall. They were friends. "So I thought I'd keep it. And you were in a coma...So if ever something were to happen to you. I'll have a remembrance." She slipped her eyes towards him. "That's what I thought." Then, she smiled.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Hadrian was having fun watching Brooke, regardless of what Blaze was thinking, when Stella approached them. Strangely, she wanted to ask him for a dance. Again, the dreadful word 'dance' was at him.

Wasn't she with Rayden? Hadrian blinked, searching to look for the tall, blonde womanizer. He was asking Gemma for a dance.

Hn? he thought fascinated. Didn't Rayden just swore his undying love for Stella at the stage, and now, not even an hour later, he was stealing Zacke's date? Or was it because Stella was asking him and they were trying to--?

/Corpora Quadrigemina's analysis indicates that---/

No CQ, don't tell me. He already got what was going on. Stella was looking stunning tonight. What a big tease.

Sitting from his chair, Hadrian went back to watching his camcorder. "Of course Blaze won't mind if I dance with you. She'll be really happy to get rid of me." He smirked, looking at Blaze then to Stella.

"Well, you know? Let me just pop Blaze's bubble." His eyes went to watching his camcorder, his smirk disappearing. "I already asked her for a date afterall," he stated. "I didn't drag her all the way back here just to ditch her." He said it with a straight face, but inside, he only meant 30% of it. He just didn't want to move from his comfortable spot to do the thing he hates.

"Sorry."

More importantly, he was no tool for some lover's game. Besides, maybe Blaze would change her mind and go with him at the candle ceremony if he said that. Girls wanted to hear that, right? He knew the girl would probably be civil if he acted civil to her. Either way, he wasn't going anywhere---unless of course, some drama happened again--then he would be so there.

"Tell you what, Stella," added Hadrian, zooming on Deo's still shot. The little date swapping the four of them did a while back sounded ridiculous to him now. "Deo would make a fine date." He smiled at her.

[vanesse]

"Saffron, huh?" Vanesse nodded at him. It looked like he really didn't know where the bread was as much as she did.

"That's nice. Gentlemen are nice." She smiled. So he wasn't related to that girl. "You're a good man." She patted him on his shoulder.

/Stop that. I'd get embarassed if I were him./ Paridge mumbled. /But hey, I'm not him. Keep it up./

"Well, I guess, if you're not looking for bread, I'll just walk around with you until you find something to eat. Then we'll get that." She beamed again. Her smile was so bright, it seemed like the area around her face was sparkling.

[Lex]

Saffron grinned back down at her. It was contagious, that bright smile of hers.

"Wellllll... " he glanced around them, searching. "Hmm." He frowned slightly. And then suddenly, he took hold of her hand. "Maybe they have some kinda snacks at the bar. Come on,"

He began pulling her along with him, through the crowds of people, around the edge of the dance floor until finally they arrived at his destination. "H-hey!" He came up and stood in front of a vacant stool, dragging her up close to the bar with him. "Hey!" He stood up on tips of his shoes and waved his free hand in the air to catch attention. The bartender was actually really busy at the moment, and basically just ignored him.

He frowned and glanced at Vanesse, shrugging.

[Reese]

Reese watched her mutely, listening to her explain why she kept the jacket. Judging by the way she spoke, she sounded like she had grown attached to it. It was a strange feeling -- the way he felt right now. An odd mixture of sadness and warmth. He still felt so guilty for everything, but to know that she held on to that piece of him and kept it with her for remembrance... It was touching.

"Well, that's how I hoped you would feel," he responded with a twitching smile. "That's why I gave it to you that night,"

A silence fell between them. He had been trying to remain impassively distant, trying to contain and control all of his confusing and strong emotions; because maybe if he expressed anything, the dam would break and it would all come rushing at him. He would be overwhelmed. He was scared.

But he had been thinking a lot over the past few days. He had been thinking about the way he felt that night in Fisherman's Horizon, when she looked at him with a genuine happiness in her eyes he had never seen before. When he realized he couldn't bring harm to her, even if it meant he had to give up everything he had and accept facing death. But more so than all his other memories, he had been replaying in his head and heart the one of him walking those tracks, what it had felt like to be walking away from her and toward his supposed death. First he had felt angry. So angry with himself -- for caving in and abandoning his duties, for lying to Stardust, for being a failure in every way. And then the anger faded away and left only the crushing weight of his losses. At one point, he just stopped walking, sat down, and cried. He cried until he couldn't feel anything anymore, until he was numb and too exhausted to even stay awake. And there on the tracks he collapsed, lost in a dozing stupor until they found him.

In retrospect, DotNA did not put him in a coma. He had been in a coma before they ever even had their hands on him. It was an emotional coma. He truly was ready for death.

His arms slipped around her a bit tighter as they moved to the music. As distant as that memory seemed, the emotions were still so vividly felt. Her pink hair brushed against his chin lightly. He was holding her again. Holding her. He felt that familiar sense of peace and security settling within, the effect she always had on him. His heartbeat was steady, his breathing calm. Time seemed to move a bit slower during these short few seconds. He regretted nothing. He had done the right thing. But if he could rewind his life, would he do anything differently?

One thing.

He pulled away from her right in the middle of the song, slipping his hands away from her waist and taking hold of one of her hands. "Come with me, Stardust" he said quietly. "I need to talk to you." He slipped his hand from hers and placed it against the small of her back as he ushered her through the throngs of dancing couples and off of the dance floor. They came to the outer edge of the ballroom where it was less crowded, and he paused for a moment and cast a glance around.

"Alright, follow me," he mumbled, ignoring the look of confusion on her face as he turned in the direction of a vacant balcony. When he pushed through the large ornate glass doors and into the cool night air, he looked over his shoulder to make sure she still followed. Seeing that she was still there, he turned and crossed the balcony, stepping up to the railing and resting his arms on it.

Now that they were out here, now that he had privacy for her, it should be easy to speak. But if anything, everything had become harder. He frowned slightly at the dark water below, falling silent.

[Lawric]

Lawric smiled at her stuttering speech and averted gaze, absolutely basking in knowing that he had that kind of effect on her. Kuroki... It had kind of an exotic ring to it. It was pretty. Sexy, even. He decided not to voice that thought, though. It would probably make her blush even more, and he had put her through quite a lot of blushing already tonight. Granted, she had welcomed it completely.

So of course it wasn't long before he found his mind wandering, thinking about how much more she might welcome, should he try...

/MATE?!/

And as usual, he was visibly startled at Skadi's shouting. Jun had definitely seen him flinch and blink, he was standing right in front of her, there was no way she could have missed that. He averted his gaze and mentally cursed the wild Valkyrie in his mind.

Looking back at her, he smiled just a little, sheepish and embarrassed. "My Guardian Force is kind of loud. She, uhh, startles me sometimes." Aheh. Smooth, Michaelangelo. Smooth. "And... her will is stronger than mine. She junctions herself." He averted his gaze again. The more he said, the worse he sounded. Thanks, Ska.

[Jun]

Jun returned her gaze to Lawric's face after a while to gauge his reaction to her bold little move, and he didn't appear to mind at all, even smiling widely at her. She relaxed slightly, but only for a few seconds, peering at him worriedly when he suddenly grimaced and blink. She looked around them for the source of his discomfort but she couldn't find anything out of ordinary. It was strange.


Looking back at her, he smiled just a little, sheepish and embarrassed. "My Guardian Force is kind of loud. She, uhh, startles me sometimes."

Ohh... She thought nodding emphatically at him.

"And... her will is stronger than mine. She junctions herself." He averted his gaze again.

"Believe me I know your pain." She placed an arm on his hand, grinning widely. It was like she had found someone with a common interest with her, an interest that was obscure as they come. "My Guardian Force only comes out when he deems it's important. He's unsummonable." She rolled her eyes to the extreme end. "And each time I ask for his aid he only says 'I don't want to waste my energy on unnecessary stuff. I AM THE GREAT SAPPHIRE DRAGON." She said, giving what she thought was a great imitation of Sapphy's narcissitic voice. "But I guess it's not as painful as what you just went through."

/Hmmph nice to know how much you appreciate your guardian force, who may I remind you has saved your bottom as many times as he can remember. Sapphy's voice was snide, resentful even.

She beamed back at Lawric as if he hadn't spoken.