Day Fifteen - Riverfell's Ball

[lies_unspoken]

Who: Everyone is invited
Where: Black Castle's Ballroom
When: 8 PM onward
Rating: could go R for swearing or wall sex
Invasion: Wide open

Status: Open, ongoing
Summary: Trampled under dancing feet.

Comments

[pandorasdespair]

Pandora watched Tory walk away and nodded to herself, still debating whether or not she would make an attempt to meet up with him later. Presuming, of course, that he wasn't otherwise distracted by then.

Now without a conversation partner, she continued to weave through the crowd, though she was looking more intently for Damion now. There had been talk of dancing when they'd first met, and she was vaguely interested in that. Not to mention that she had yet to see him since their meeting earlier in the day. Her respects, it would seem, had yet to be paid.

[pandorasdespair]

She followed his movements, catching on quicker than she should have, quicker than anyone should have, to be quite honest. Her pace wasn't as fast as his, nor as fluid, but it was a close call, and likely only the product of her unfamiliarity with the dance itself.

"I suppose you should," she murmured after she'd caught on, anticipating that he might step it up a bit now, and enjoying the challenge more than she should have.

[lies_unspoken]

He smiled, rather impressed with how well she followed and moved ... but then, if she'd had millennia to work at this ... it was little wonder. "You move quite well," he murmured as he leaned in close to her ear, close enough that his breath spilled over it.

He shifted his hands on her slightly, securing his grip as they moved together. He kept the pace and the steps the same, not increasing them just yet.

[pandorasdespair]

Her eyes lapsed closed a moment as the warm spill of his breath moved over her cool skin, though it was only briefly that they did so.

"You're too kind," she replied, demurring slightly, "You yourself have provided me with the steps. I can hardly take all the credit."

Though of course, she had her preternatural skills to aid her, but that wasn't the point.

[lies_unspoken]

"But I imagine they were steps you'd never met before today," he continued. He was certain there were steps like them of course, but exactly the same? He didn't think so.

He drew his head back far enough to regard her, a soft smile playing briefly over her lips as he settled into the dance with her.

[pandorasdespair]

"Perhaps you're right," she agreed, smiling slightly.

She wasn't one to brag of her talents, however, and contented herself with the movements they shared, the way they shifted with the rhythm of the dance as one. Her topaz gaze shifted over him as he looked to her, taking in the contours of his face, the darkness of his eyes.

[lies_unspoken]

He met her gaze when she studied his eyes, and he smiled. "Are you excited for tomorrow?" he murmured to her as he briefly pressed against her, shifting the pace and steps of the dance just a bit.

He didn't imagine she was nervous - not her - but excited perhaps? Maybe she was merely indifferent, though he reasoned she must feel something.

[pandorasdespair]

She was quick to accommodate his changes, slippered feet falling easily into the new configuration after a brief pause.

"A little," she admitted, "It is nice to be of use to our cause, to contribute. I must say I approach the task with a great deal of intrigue if nothing else." She tucked herself closer to him as they moved. "You lead well," she murmured after a moment.

[lies_unspoken]

"Do I?" He smiled. "It has been a fair while since I've led," he admitted. "I'm pleased that I haven't lost the touch completely." He chuckled softly as he adjusted his arms for the closer position, cradling her body to his as they danced. It was a slightly more intimate dance than it had been before, and he did wonder if there would be talk of favoritism among the troops.

And he wondered if it would matter. They'd talk anyway.

[pandorasdespair]

"Clearly you haven't lost the touch," she offered, "I think you're doing rather admirably, myself."

But then, she may have been biased, really.

"Will you be able to observe the event, do you think?" she ventured curiously.

It wasn't really along the train of thought she'd been having, but it was a safely neutral question that she had at least a vague interest in.

[lies_unspoken]

"The maze?" He shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure," he admitted. They certainly hadn't offered any substantial information regarding that. "I imagine yes, they'll want us there but I'm not sure we'll be given any sort of special vantage point."

He smiled softly to her as he eased his body back a bit, putting a little space between them as the music faded into a different song - though he didn't yet release her completely.

[pandorasdespair]

She nodded, a slight inclination of her head.

"I suppose there are a great many unknowns in this," she murmured, "Such is the nature of the thing."

Looking to him as he pulled away slightly, a slight smile curved her lips.

"Would you care for another?" she inquired, "Or do you think you might be needed elsewhere?"

She supposed it was possible his presence would be required amongst the other partygoers, though she rather selfishly had her own preference as to what his answer might be.

[lies_unspoken]

"I suppose if anyone really needs me, they'll know where to come find me," he assured her. Whether or not they'd have the balls to interrupt him remained to be seen but ... if there was a need for his presence, well, he'd tend to it.

"If you think you'd care to have another round, I imagine I could give it a go," he murmured to her.

[pandorasdespair]

"I'd appreciate you indulging me," she replied, "Perhaps one more?"

Though of course, she'd be up for several more. But she had preternatural stamina, whereas she doubted he did, and she'd not attempt to con him into indulging her whims for too long; he'd eventually grow tired of her if she persisted, she felt.

[lies_unspoken]

He nodded lightly, shifting his arms around her gently, pressing briefly, perhaps a bit teasingly, against her. He hardly wished to be accused of overstepping his bounds, at least as far as she was concerned.

Bowing his head slightly, he smiled to her as he began to move in the next dance, a different step than they'd had before, slightly more complicated.

[pandorasdespair]

She kept her expression neutral, but she'd noticed the brief press of his body against hers. After a moment, she raised an eyebrow, but declined comment.

She let him lead her a short while as she determined the new movements before she fell swiftly into step with him, moving of her own accord thought not against him precisely.

"Are you going easy on me?" she asked, and it briefly crossed her mind to take the question a step further with another remark, but there was little she could think of that seemed an appropriate thing to say, so she left it at that.