More Badfic!
The writing in this actually isn't too bad, but I still need to work on making up actual plots. I debated posting this because it's kind of embarrassingly lame and my characterization didn't turn out very well. Oops. Next time, I promise to be as blindingly canon as possible!
Title: Dance
Author: sagesoren
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Anise, Ion, + Jade with mention of others.
Rating: G
Warnings: It sounds like a Harlequiiiiin. *sobs forever* Slightly AU because I can't fit this into the game plot. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I destroyed Peony/Natalia/Tear's personalities, but we'll all get over it. :>
Summary: Peony has a formal party. Music, dancing, and Jade are included for the low, low price of your dignity. Anise/Ion.
For my fangirling buddy, aitherion, because it's very manly to be a fangirl. (Edited to fix a really stupid mistake.)
===
Peony had never liked formal parties.
In fact, for most of his life, he'd just about loathed the stuffy, boring pastimes of the upper class, most of which he had been confined to in his early years before being shipped away to the cold northern town of Keterburg. He had wanted no part in the toils of royalty; the starched clothes, the gossip, the parties so boring they didn't deserve to be called parties.
But he'd gotten over it.
He decided he would be a pioneer and lead by example. He'd make noble parties fun, interesting, and worth talking about. He'd have the first game of strip poker! ...if Jade didn't have a thing or two to say about it. Actually, if not for Jade, Peony wondered how much he would have been able to get away with, but the man seemed to have a strange way of coercing him away from his casual ideas of fun and back towards the very ideals he had been repulsed by as a child. This would have been a terrible fate for someone like Peony--a mischievous child cruelly trapped in the body of a responsible adult--but on top of having the world's most concerning smile, Jade also seemed to be very good at un-boring-ing the idea of a formal event.
And so he was convinced.
~ ~ ~
Luke and the others were invited to His Majesty Peony the Ninth's prestigious event so that they would have an obvious excuse to take their minds off their current workload. They were all invited by formal means with personalized invitations instructing them on the time, date, and place. They were also informed that they were to arrive in formal attire.
The royal couple, of course, had no problems with this. Given their status, they had been equipped with such outfits already. Anyone else who had difficulty managing for one reason or another--namely Anise and Tear--were given rentals. In the end, everyone ended up at the grand hall on time, together, and appropriately groomed. Anise in particular was thrilled about this idea. She'd be in a nice enclosed space, looking her best next to a bunch of well-dressed rich men. Thoughts of being proposed to on sight made her giggle darkly to herself as she strolled around the extravagantly decorated hall in search of potential husbands.
Before she had time to narrow them down to her Top 10, or even Top 50, she walked into an especially snazzy military man in his formal uniform. Unfortunately, this snazzy man was Jade.
"Boo, Colonel! I thought you were a potential suitor."
"Terribly sorry to walk on your dreams," Jade said, smiling in a way not synonymous with regret. "I'm afraid all you've found is an old man."
"Well, whatever. You look pretty sharp! ♪ Any chance you've seen Luke and Count Gailardia?" Anise rubbed her ungloved hands together greedily, the charm bracelet on her arm tinkling as she did so. "I thought they might be able to give me some good suggestions."
"Now, now, Anise," the colonel said patiently, waving off her eager attempts to throw herself on their male companions. "I came looking for you for a reason."
"You did? Ooh, could it be that you're falling for me?"
"Not at all." The sentence was punctuated with such casual pleasantry that it was downright depressing, but Anise had gotten used to Jade and his dream-stomping prowess quite some time ago. "I merely wanted to know if you'd like to dance."
"Dance?" The girl blinked in surprise. It had never really occurred to her that Jade even knew how to dance, as much as it did make sense. "If you want to, I guess."
"Wonderful." She linked arms with him and allowed herself to be lead out onto the dance floor, where a number of couples were already swirling gracefully to the sound of a full orchestra. "I thought you might like to learn a thing or two about the waltz before you decide to dance with Ion."
Whaaaaaaaat? Heart beating furiously, Anise glanced over her shoulder and toward the front of the room, where Peony, Ion and some high-ranking Malkuth officers seemed to be enjoying conversation over some kind of drink Anise could only hope was punch. Dancing with Ion hadn't even occurred to her. Luke, maybe. Even Jade. Ion just... seemed unthinkable. Jade must have sensed her discomfort, as he suddenly broke into a peal of amused laughter, as though someone had just cracked an excellent joke.
"Just kidding~!"
Secretly relieved but unsure he was telling the truth, Anise laughed with him for a moment, taking time to sigh only when Jade had taken his eyes off her.
~ ~ ~
Jade was actually quite a good dancer, and an even better teacher for all the times he had insisted he wouldn't be. It seemed uncharacteristic for him to be feeling so generous with his knowledge--enough so that Anise felt she had reason to suspect an ulterior motive.
"Colonel~" she said sweetly as he lead her easily through the dance, "where did you learn to dance?"
"Long, long ago, children were forced into dance boot camps and expected to learn complicated dance steps," the man answered in as honest a tone a liar could hope to achieve. "Clearly that isn't true of children today, or I wouldn't have had such a terrible time teaching you just now."
"Shut up," Anise sulked. "You enjoy my company and you know it!"
"Haha, perhaps a little, but my old bones are beginning to ache, so I'm afraid our lesson will have to end here."
Finally their present song ended and Jade and Anise parted ways. They had begun to move back in the direction of the conversationalists when Jade suddenly stopped. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, and before Anise had any time to consider why this might be, she walked right into Ion.
The boy smiled at her, and for the first time all night, Anise started to feel extremely self-conscious about her clothes, her make-up; Natalia had better not have messed it up!
"You look lovely," he said simply, concluding his statement with a kind smile.
The Fon Master guardian fidgeted slightly, smoothing the taffeta overlayer of her skirt, hoping her free curls hung as nicely over her shoulders as Tear's long hair did. She also hoped Jade wasn't watching them creepily from somewhere behind her. "Um, thanks."
She was going to add that she was glad his tabard was finally behaving, but that seemed like a stupid thing to remark after someone decided to tell you that you looked nice. Ion was dressed formally, too. These robes were floor-length, much like those that Mohs and Trithiem usually wore, but with better detailing and more layers. They had been stored (folded!) for long enough that it had taken her several days of trying just to iron one of the creases out of his over-embroidered tabard.
"I saw you dancing with Jade not long ago," Ion continued, still smiling somewhat, perhaps in amusement. "It looked like the two of you were having a good time."
"Oh, we were!" Anise affirmed pleasantly. "But then he said he was tired because he's so old and decrepit and everything, so we had to stop." She feigned disappointment for a moment before clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her head at her familiar company. "So what are you up to?"
"Well, I was talking with His Majesty for awhile, and then Guy and I watched Luke and Natalia try to dance." It wasn't very hard to imagine that as long as you pictured Natalia doing most of the dancing while Luke whined, flailed, and otherwise made things difficult with his inexperience.
"And I missed that? Booo!"
"That's alright," Ion laughed. "Natalia insisted they try again later, so I'm sure you'll get a chance to see it then. Would you like to dance with me in the meantime?"
It was a good thing Anise wasn't attempting to eat anything as they conversed, because she was pretty sure she would have choked when he asked. "W-wha--? Are you sure? I mean, don't you have to go... do... Fon Master things? Stabilize relationships between countries? Something?"
"You don't want to?" He didn't look disappointed so much as baffled by her reaction, which wasn't what she had expected--although very little had been going as she had expected anyway.
"I didn't say that!" Anise put in a little too quickly, mentally scolding herself for being such a wreck for no reason. How was she supposed to appeal to nearby men if she was acting like an embarrassed little girl?
"Alright then." Ion smiled again, and Anise jealously wished the phrase 'You look beautiful in everything' applied to her more than it did to him. Somehow he made that aesthetically displeasing combination of black, white, gold, and green look... nice. Hopefully her own time in front of the mirror fixing her hair would pay off and some guy would practically trip over himself to ask her out.
Some rich guy.
But in the meantime, before she knew what was happening, she was following Ion back onto the same dance floor she had just left, and he was offering his hand to her in much the same way Jade had when they'd been under the same circumstances. She put her hand in his, jumping slightly as his other hand came to rest lightly on her waist. Had... had Jade's done that, too? Now that she thought of it, her position was no different. It just felt different.
"Anise?"
Realizing she had been staring at his hand, she snapped herself back into attention to find him regarding her with obvious puzzlement. "...Ye~es?"
"Are you alright?"
"Never better!" the girl lied, hoping that by saying it, it would magically start to be true. "Anyway, no reason to keep standing here~! I need to impress some guys with my dancing skills!"
"If you're sure," Ion said hesitantly, moving into the dance with the next musical cue.
Anise tried to think about just the dance itself. The steps. The tempo. Securing her other hand close to Ion's shoulder. It had been easy to do that with Jade. He did such a good job of making it seem like it wasn't a big deal. Right now, though, all she could think about was that hand on her waist, the fact that it was Ion's, and worst of all, the fact that knowing both those things combined was making her breath hitch for some reason, which in turn was sort of making her dizzy.
...well, she hoped that was what was doing it, anyway.
Ion wasn't quite as good a dancer as Jade, but given the considerable age gap, it was probably to be expected. He was still better than she would have hoped, and much preferable to Luke's ballroom antics, she was sure. Maybe Ion would have been a little better at it if he wasn't responsible for leading the dance, but since there was no way to know for sure, Anise would simply have to make due.
For most of the time they spent dancing, she had to avert her eyes--embarrassing, considering that this was someone she'd spent nearly every day of the past two-and-some years with. Worst of all, it made her feel guilty. Either it was going to be obvious something was wrong with her (and something she had not yet diagnosed, to boot), or Ion was simply going to think he was terrible at formal affairs.
Both were true.
Finally Anise managed to politely slip out of his hold, finding an excuse right as Natalia bobbed past in her full gown with Tear in tow. She flagged down the other girls, who immediately headed right over.
"Oh, Anise, I knew you would look wonderful in that dress!" Natalia gushed, finally having a moment to take a good look at her at length. "I'm glad you wore it."
"Yes," Tear added, putting in a stoic smile. Though her uniform was basically a dress anyway, she seemed uncomfortable and at least a little miserable in her get-up, the colors of which mostly consisted of white and cream at Natalia's discretion. "I'm glad we all came together." She paused. "You... look a little flushed, though. Is everything okay?"
"Fine! Perfect! I, um, got too hot in this, ahaha." Anise fanned herself for a moment with her hand before giving the girls an awkward pink-lipstick smile. "Wh-what about you guys, though? How're Luke and Guy doing?"
Natalia huffed and crossed her arms. "A very nice aristocratic lady asked him to dance and he ran off to the other side of the hall. Luke is hiding out with him so I won't make him try again, either." Her expression softened and she directed a polite smile at Ion, who Anise knew was standing quite close to her right but was still too humiliated to regard directly herself.
"I'm sure Fon Master Ion has better manners than they do, though," the princess said. "I would be delighted if you'd be interested in dancing with me instead."
Anise finally worked up the courage to glance over. Ion looked slightly concerned with something else, but he snapped back to reality upon hearing Natalia's request. "--Ah! I would love to. Thank you."
A surge of something built up in Anise's chest, and she bit her lip as Natalia and Ion continued conversing before heading off. There was no reason Ion shouldn't dance with her. She was probably better, for starters, but furthermore, they were both interested in peace between the countries and could talk about boring but important things like humanitarian work and... government. Ick. Still, Anise couldn't help but feel disappointed somehow; maybe because her own efforts had been pretty abysmal.
How was she supposed to woo a rich guy if she couldn't even have one normal, uncomplicated dance with a friend?
A soft hand on her shoulder made the girl jump. "Tear! Eek! Don't do that!"
"Sorry," came the soft reply. "You seemed like you were in a daze or something. Are you sure everything is okay?"
"It's just the heat," Anise lied dully, knowing Tear wouldn't pry for a better answer. "Really."
~ ~ ~
Anise eventually began to lose track of time the proper way: by shadowing the emperor. He seemed to have almost absolutely ideal taste in friends (excluding Jade), and she was more than happy to talk with them all in her best efforts to be charming.
"Future bride material right here," Peony laughed, patting Anise on the head as she managed to draw a smile from an especially bored-looking aristocrat. "She's one of a kind, I'm telling you."
"Hee~ ♥ You should have said that all your friends were as handsome as you are!"
"Well, she's definitely one of a kind," the aristocratic man said. "Are you related to Duke Fabre, little girl?"
"Little girl? Boo! I'm almost fourteen!"
But before their antics could continue any further, Emperor Peony perked up at an approaching sight and waved down the person in question. "Hey! Fon Master!"
Anise cringed. Things were going so well with all the rich men, too...
"Haven't seen you all night since you ran off!" Peony exclaimed. "Out mingling with the girls already?"
Ion laughed politely. "No, no. I was caught up with a few things. I hope this isn't a bad time, but I actually came over to ask if I could borrow Anise for a moment. Is that alright with you?"
"Not a bad time at all!" Peony gave Anise a little nudge in the boy's direction. "You go on, Anise. We're all a bunch of old guys over here. I'll catch up with you a little later."
The girl was almost speechless with horror. What in the world could Ion need her for now? Obviously it wasn't company. He was too important to not be able to find someone to talk to at an event like this, and it wasn't like he didn't stand out in his own way. Anyone who wanted to find him wouldn't have had a hard time. Was it possible he had brushed all of that aside temporarily for this?! ...and what exactly did he want, anyway? Hopefully she hadn't traumatized him too badly with her obvious display of disinterest earlier. He was important to her, so she didn't want to think that was the case, but...
"I'm sorry I have to do this," Ion said, frowning slightly as he made a surprisingly gentle grab for Anise's hand and swiftly lead her from the room and around the corner. From there, the music seemed quite dulled, and though voices and laughter could still be heard, words could no longer be picked out from the conversations. Light pooled from the doorway into the hall they were standing in, the glossy floor shining cleanly in the gold.
He didn't let go of her hand, instead choosing to stop right across from her.
"Are you alright?"
This again? Why did she keep getting asked if she was? Wasn't it obvious that she was feeling like herself if she was able to go around trying to seduce rich men?
"Of course I am!" Anise answered a little more indignantly than she had intended. She tried to fish her hand from his, but his grip closed firmly around it before she could. "W-what are you so worked up about, anyway?"
"You're acting strangely and I'm worried about you."
I'm always acting strangely, Ion, whether I want to or not. It comes with having to lie to you all the time. "W-well, I'm okay, Ion. Really. You don't have to get all worried over nothing."
Ion's shoulders relaxed slightly, but in the light, she could see obvious concern marring his expression. "That's not true," he said in a way that was both firm and gentle. He was clearly sure of himself. "You're important to me, Anise. I don't want you to feel as though you have to..."
Hide things from you? Lie? Do what I'm already doing? It's not like any of this is bad compared to that. "--I get it. But I was just feeling kinda funny earlier. Whatever it was went away. It's okay now." That wasn't the absolute truth, because she was starting to feel a little strange again at that very moment, but that was information she could withhold.
He gave her a very earnest look before taking her other hand as well. The lighting. The feeling of ridiculous happiness. The hand-holding (and without her gloves in the way!). It all sort of just clicked in the most horrific way possible for Anise, and before she knew it, she had yanked her hands free of his and attached them to the sides of her stupid poofy skirt, blushing furiously.
Ion looked startled. "Anise--?"
If there was any doubt in her own mind before about what was wrong with her, there wasn't now, and it was a terrible conclusion to come to, right there, right then. It was one that sort of made her want to groan and say to herself, "Anise, are you stupid? Do you know what kind of a situation this puts you in?"
The boy was still waiting for some kind of an explanation, though, so she fidgeted for a moment and tried to contrive some kind of lame excuse. When one failed to come, Anise met Ion's eyes again to find that...
Hey, was he smiling?
Maybe only a little, but that was still a smile. It was enough to make her lose all her gooshy feelings of sentimentality to deadpan. Anise crossed her arms. "...Before you ask what's wrong with me, though, mind if I ask what's wrong with you?"
He shook his head, looking, for lack of a better word, endeared by her ridiculous girlishness. He also looked relieved. The idea that he had caught on vaguely crossed Anise's mind, but the possibility was far too humiliating. "You're silly sometimes," Ion said before cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That's all."
She couldn't protest to his infuriatingly vague answer because she was suddenly too busy feeling her face turn beet-red again. Finally her reaction time stopped being ludicrous and she was able to give her two cents about the matter, embarrassing reaction or otherwise. "'That's all'? That's not a fair answer, Ion!"
But he just smiled again and reached for Anise's hand, heading back to the hall with her in tow, and somehow, she was okay with that. For now.
A phrase came to mind; not one that she was fond of, but one that sort of fit the bill:
'Accept it. You'll feel better that way.'
Title: Dance
Author: sagesoren
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Anise, Ion, + Jade with mention of others.
Rating: G
Warnings: It sounds like a Harlequiiiiin. *sobs forever* Slightly AU because I can't fit this into the game plot. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I destroyed Peony/Natalia/Tear's personalities, but we'll all get over it. :>
Summary: Peony has a formal party. Music, dancing, and Jade are included for the low, low price of your dignity. Anise/Ion.
For my fangirling buddy, aitherion, because it's very manly to be a fangirl. (Edited to fix a really stupid mistake.)
===
Peony had never liked formal parties.
In fact, for most of his life, he'd just about loathed the stuffy, boring pastimes of the upper class, most of which he had been confined to in his early years before being shipped away to the cold northern town of Keterburg. He had wanted no part in the toils of royalty; the starched clothes, the gossip, the parties so boring they didn't deserve to be called parties.
But he'd gotten over it.
He decided he would be a pioneer and lead by example. He'd make noble parties fun, interesting, and worth talking about. He'd have the first game of strip poker! ...if Jade didn't have a thing or two to say about it. Actually, if not for Jade, Peony wondered how much he would have been able to get away with, but the man seemed to have a strange way of coercing him away from his casual ideas of fun and back towards the very ideals he had been repulsed by as a child. This would have been a terrible fate for someone like Peony--a mischievous child cruelly trapped in the body of a responsible adult--but on top of having the world's most concerning smile, Jade also seemed to be very good at un-boring-ing the idea of a formal event.
And so he was convinced.
~ ~ ~
Luke and the others were invited to His Majesty Peony the Ninth's prestigious event so that they would have an obvious excuse to take their minds off their current workload. They were all invited by formal means with personalized invitations instructing them on the time, date, and place. They were also informed that they were to arrive in formal attire.
The royal couple, of course, had no problems with this. Given their status, they had been equipped with such outfits already. Anyone else who had difficulty managing for one reason or another--namely Anise and Tear--were given rentals. In the end, everyone ended up at the grand hall on time, together, and appropriately groomed. Anise in particular was thrilled about this idea. She'd be in a nice enclosed space, looking her best next to a bunch of well-dressed rich men. Thoughts of being proposed to on sight made her giggle darkly to herself as she strolled around the extravagantly decorated hall in search of potential husbands.
Before she had time to narrow them down to her Top 10, or even Top 50, she walked into an especially snazzy military man in his formal uniform. Unfortunately, this snazzy man was Jade.
"Boo, Colonel! I thought you were a potential suitor."
"Terribly sorry to walk on your dreams," Jade said, smiling in a way not synonymous with regret. "I'm afraid all you've found is an old man."
"Well, whatever. You look pretty sharp! ♪ Any chance you've seen Luke and Count Gailardia?" Anise rubbed her ungloved hands together greedily, the charm bracelet on her arm tinkling as she did so. "I thought they might be able to give me some good suggestions."
"Now, now, Anise," the colonel said patiently, waving off her eager attempts to throw herself on their male companions. "I came looking for you for a reason."
"You did? Ooh, could it be that you're falling for me?"
"Not at all." The sentence was punctuated with such casual pleasantry that it was downright depressing, but Anise had gotten used to Jade and his dream-stomping prowess quite some time ago. "I merely wanted to know if you'd like to dance."
"Dance?" The girl blinked in surprise. It had never really occurred to her that Jade even knew how to dance, as much as it did make sense. "If you want to, I guess."
"Wonderful." She linked arms with him and allowed herself to be lead out onto the dance floor, where a number of couples were already swirling gracefully to the sound of a full orchestra. "I thought you might like to learn a thing or two about the waltz before you decide to dance with Ion."
Whaaaaaaaat? Heart beating furiously, Anise glanced over her shoulder and toward the front of the room, where Peony, Ion and some high-ranking Malkuth officers seemed to be enjoying conversation over some kind of drink Anise could only hope was punch. Dancing with Ion hadn't even occurred to her. Luke, maybe. Even Jade. Ion just... seemed unthinkable. Jade must have sensed her discomfort, as he suddenly broke into a peal of amused laughter, as though someone had just cracked an excellent joke.
"Just kidding~!"
Secretly relieved but unsure he was telling the truth, Anise laughed with him for a moment, taking time to sigh only when Jade had taken his eyes off her.
~ ~ ~
Jade was actually quite a good dancer, and an even better teacher for all the times he had insisted he wouldn't be. It seemed uncharacteristic for him to be feeling so generous with his knowledge--enough so that Anise felt she had reason to suspect an ulterior motive.
"Colonel~" she said sweetly as he lead her easily through the dance, "where did you learn to dance?"
"Long, long ago, children were forced into dance boot camps and expected to learn complicated dance steps," the man answered in as honest a tone a liar could hope to achieve. "Clearly that isn't true of children today, or I wouldn't have had such a terrible time teaching you just now."
"Shut up," Anise sulked. "You enjoy my company and you know it!"
"Haha, perhaps a little, but my old bones are beginning to ache, so I'm afraid our lesson will have to end here."
Finally their present song ended and Jade and Anise parted ways. They had begun to move back in the direction of the conversationalists when Jade suddenly stopped. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, and before Anise had any time to consider why this might be, she walked right into Ion.
The boy smiled at her, and for the first time all night, Anise started to feel extremely self-conscious about her clothes, her make-up; Natalia had better not have messed it up!
"You look lovely," he said simply, concluding his statement with a kind smile.
The Fon Master guardian fidgeted slightly, smoothing the taffeta overlayer of her skirt, hoping her free curls hung as nicely over her shoulders as Tear's long hair did. She also hoped Jade wasn't watching them creepily from somewhere behind her. "Um, thanks."
She was going to add that she was glad his tabard was finally behaving, but that seemed like a stupid thing to remark after someone decided to tell you that you looked nice. Ion was dressed formally, too. These robes were floor-length, much like those that Mohs and Trithiem usually wore, but with better detailing and more layers. They had been stored (folded!) for long enough that it had taken her several days of trying just to iron one of the creases out of his over-embroidered tabard.
"I saw you dancing with Jade not long ago," Ion continued, still smiling somewhat, perhaps in amusement. "It looked like the two of you were having a good time."
"Oh, we were!" Anise affirmed pleasantly. "But then he said he was tired because he's so old and decrepit and everything, so we had to stop." She feigned disappointment for a moment before clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her head at her familiar company. "So what are you up to?"
"Well, I was talking with His Majesty for awhile, and then Guy and I watched Luke and Natalia try to dance." It wasn't very hard to imagine that as long as you pictured Natalia doing most of the dancing while Luke whined, flailed, and otherwise made things difficult with his inexperience.
"And I missed that? Booo!"
"That's alright," Ion laughed. "Natalia insisted they try again later, so I'm sure you'll get a chance to see it then. Would you like to dance with me in the meantime?"
It was a good thing Anise wasn't attempting to eat anything as they conversed, because she was pretty sure she would have choked when he asked. "W-wha--? Are you sure? I mean, don't you have to go... do... Fon Master things? Stabilize relationships between countries? Something?"
"You don't want to?" He didn't look disappointed so much as baffled by her reaction, which wasn't what she had expected--although very little had been going as she had expected anyway.
"I didn't say that!" Anise put in a little too quickly, mentally scolding herself for being such a wreck for no reason. How was she supposed to appeal to nearby men if she was acting like an embarrassed little girl?
"Alright then." Ion smiled again, and Anise jealously wished the phrase 'You look beautiful in everything' applied to her more than it did to him. Somehow he made that aesthetically displeasing combination of black, white, gold, and green look... nice. Hopefully her own time in front of the mirror fixing her hair would pay off and some guy would practically trip over himself to ask her out.
Some rich guy.
But in the meantime, before she knew what was happening, she was following Ion back onto the same dance floor she had just left, and he was offering his hand to her in much the same way Jade had when they'd been under the same circumstances. She put her hand in his, jumping slightly as his other hand came to rest lightly on her waist. Had... had Jade's done that, too? Now that she thought of it, her position was no different. It just felt different.
"Anise?"
Realizing she had been staring at his hand, she snapped herself back into attention to find him regarding her with obvious puzzlement. "...Ye~es?"
"Are you alright?"
"Never better!" the girl lied, hoping that by saying it, it would magically start to be true. "Anyway, no reason to keep standing here~! I need to impress some guys with my dancing skills!"
"If you're sure," Ion said hesitantly, moving into the dance with the next musical cue.
Anise tried to think about just the dance itself. The steps. The tempo. Securing her other hand close to Ion's shoulder. It had been easy to do that with Jade. He did such a good job of making it seem like it wasn't a big deal. Right now, though, all she could think about was that hand on her waist, the fact that it was Ion's, and worst of all, the fact that knowing both those things combined was making her breath hitch for some reason, which in turn was sort of making her dizzy.
...well, she hoped that was what was doing it, anyway.
Ion wasn't quite as good a dancer as Jade, but given the considerable age gap, it was probably to be expected. He was still better than she would have hoped, and much preferable to Luke's ballroom antics, she was sure. Maybe Ion would have been a little better at it if he wasn't responsible for leading the dance, but since there was no way to know for sure, Anise would simply have to make due.
For most of the time they spent dancing, she had to avert her eyes--embarrassing, considering that this was someone she'd spent nearly every day of the past two-and-some years with. Worst of all, it made her feel guilty. Either it was going to be obvious something was wrong with her (and something she had not yet diagnosed, to boot), or Ion was simply going to think he was terrible at formal affairs.
Both were true.
Finally Anise managed to politely slip out of his hold, finding an excuse right as Natalia bobbed past in her full gown with Tear in tow. She flagged down the other girls, who immediately headed right over.
"Oh, Anise, I knew you would look wonderful in that dress!" Natalia gushed, finally having a moment to take a good look at her at length. "I'm glad you wore it."
"Yes," Tear added, putting in a stoic smile. Though her uniform was basically a dress anyway, she seemed uncomfortable and at least a little miserable in her get-up, the colors of which mostly consisted of white and cream at Natalia's discretion. "I'm glad we all came together." She paused. "You... look a little flushed, though. Is everything okay?"
"Fine! Perfect! I, um, got too hot in this, ahaha." Anise fanned herself for a moment with her hand before giving the girls an awkward pink-lipstick smile. "Wh-what about you guys, though? How're Luke and Guy doing?"
Natalia huffed and crossed her arms. "A very nice aristocratic lady asked him to dance and he ran off to the other side of the hall. Luke is hiding out with him so I won't make him try again, either." Her expression softened and she directed a polite smile at Ion, who Anise knew was standing quite close to her right but was still too humiliated to regard directly herself.
"I'm sure Fon Master Ion has better manners than they do, though," the princess said. "I would be delighted if you'd be interested in dancing with me instead."
Anise finally worked up the courage to glance over. Ion looked slightly concerned with something else, but he snapped back to reality upon hearing Natalia's request. "--Ah! I would love to. Thank you."
A surge of something built up in Anise's chest, and she bit her lip as Natalia and Ion continued conversing before heading off. There was no reason Ion shouldn't dance with her. She was probably better, for starters, but furthermore, they were both interested in peace between the countries and could talk about boring but important things like humanitarian work and... government. Ick. Still, Anise couldn't help but feel disappointed somehow; maybe because her own efforts had been pretty abysmal.
How was she supposed to woo a rich guy if she couldn't even have one normal, uncomplicated dance with a friend?
A soft hand on her shoulder made the girl jump. "Tear! Eek! Don't do that!"
"Sorry," came the soft reply. "You seemed like you were in a daze or something. Are you sure everything is okay?"
"It's just the heat," Anise lied dully, knowing Tear wouldn't pry for a better answer. "Really."
~ ~ ~
Anise eventually began to lose track of time the proper way: by shadowing the emperor. He seemed to have almost absolutely ideal taste in friends (excluding Jade), and she was more than happy to talk with them all in her best efforts to be charming.
"Future bride material right here," Peony laughed, patting Anise on the head as she managed to draw a smile from an especially bored-looking aristocrat. "She's one of a kind, I'm telling you."
"Hee~ ♥ You should have said that all your friends were as handsome as you are!"
"Well, she's definitely one of a kind," the aristocratic man said. "Are you related to Duke Fabre, little girl?"
"Little girl? Boo! I'm almost fourteen!"
But before their antics could continue any further, Emperor Peony perked up at an approaching sight and waved down the person in question. "Hey! Fon Master!"
Anise cringed. Things were going so well with all the rich men, too...
"Haven't seen you all night since you ran off!" Peony exclaimed. "Out mingling with the girls already?"
Ion laughed politely. "No, no. I was caught up with a few things. I hope this isn't a bad time, but I actually came over to ask if I could borrow Anise for a moment. Is that alright with you?"
"Not a bad time at all!" Peony gave Anise a little nudge in the boy's direction. "You go on, Anise. We're all a bunch of old guys over here. I'll catch up with you a little later."
The girl was almost speechless with horror. What in the world could Ion need her for now? Obviously it wasn't company. He was too important to not be able to find someone to talk to at an event like this, and it wasn't like he didn't stand out in his own way. Anyone who wanted to find him wouldn't have had a hard time. Was it possible he had brushed all of that aside temporarily for this?! ...and what exactly did he want, anyway? Hopefully she hadn't traumatized him too badly with her obvious display of disinterest earlier. He was important to her, so she didn't want to think that was the case, but...
"I'm sorry I have to do this," Ion said, frowning slightly as he made a surprisingly gentle grab for Anise's hand and swiftly lead her from the room and around the corner. From there, the music seemed quite dulled, and though voices and laughter could still be heard, words could no longer be picked out from the conversations. Light pooled from the doorway into the hall they were standing in, the glossy floor shining cleanly in the gold.
He didn't let go of her hand, instead choosing to stop right across from her.
"Are you alright?"
This again? Why did she keep getting asked if she was? Wasn't it obvious that she was feeling like herself if she was able to go around trying to seduce rich men?
"Of course I am!" Anise answered a little more indignantly than she had intended. She tried to fish her hand from his, but his grip closed firmly around it before she could. "W-what are you so worked up about, anyway?"
"You're acting strangely and I'm worried about you."
I'm always acting strangely, Ion, whether I want to or not. It comes with having to lie to you all the time. "W-well, I'm okay, Ion. Really. You don't have to get all worried over nothing."
Ion's shoulders relaxed slightly, but in the light, she could see obvious concern marring his expression. "That's not true," he said in a way that was both firm and gentle. He was clearly sure of himself. "You're important to me, Anise. I don't want you to feel as though you have to..."
Hide things from you? Lie? Do what I'm already doing? It's not like any of this is bad compared to that. "--I get it. But I was just feeling kinda funny earlier. Whatever it was went away. It's okay now." That wasn't the absolute truth, because she was starting to feel a little strange again at that very moment, but that was information she could withhold.
He gave her a very earnest look before taking her other hand as well. The lighting. The feeling of ridiculous happiness. The hand-holding (and without her gloves in the way!). It all sort of just clicked in the most horrific way possible for Anise, and before she knew it, she had yanked her hands free of his and attached them to the sides of her stupid poofy skirt, blushing furiously.
Ion looked startled. "Anise--?"
If there was any doubt in her own mind before about what was wrong with her, there wasn't now, and it was a terrible conclusion to come to, right there, right then. It was one that sort of made her want to groan and say to herself, "Anise, are you stupid? Do you know what kind of a situation this puts you in?"
The boy was still waiting for some kind of an explanation, though, so she fidgeted for a moment and tried to contrive some kind of lame excuse. When one failed to come, Anise met Ion's eyes again to find that...
Hey, was he smiling?
Maybe only a little, but that was still a smile. It was enough to make her lose all her gooshy feelings of sentimentality to deadpan. Anise crossed her arms. "...Before you ask what's wrong with me, though, mind if I ask what's wrong with you?"
He shook his head, looking, for lack of a better word, endeared by her ridiculous girlishness. He also looked relieved. The idea that he had caught on vaguely crossed Anise's mind, but the possibility was far too humiliating. "You're silly sometimes," Ion said before cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That's all."
She couldn't protest to his infuriatingly vague answer because she was suddenly too busy feeling her face turn beet-red again. Finally her reaction time stopped being ludicrous and she was able to give her two cents about the matter, embarrassing reaction or otherwise. "'That's all'? That's not a fair answer, Ion!"
But he just smiled again and reached for Anise's hand, heading back to the hall with her in tow, and somehow, she was okay with that. For now.
A phrase came to mind; not one that she was fond of, but one that sort of fit the bill:
'Accept it. You'll feel better that way.'