Private Tales Graceless and Divine

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria's hand clenched the bedding under her hands. She cleared her throat, here eyes moving away from his eyes but fell onto his smirking lips.

"Dance with me. At the festival." She blurted, and the horror of speaking without thought consumed her. "That is... no, what I meant to say was..." She sighed, her eyes closing for a few moments before searching for his gaze once more. They were easy to find now, and yet his amusement further disarmed her.

Vittoria bit down on her lip. "Would you like to dance with me at the festival, Kilien?"

She was not sure why she had asked, her own dancing not as perfect as it should be for a noble Lady, but she needed an excuse to be near him in shallow waters. In town, that was safe. Here? Vittoria became nervous at the thought of what her affections would dive her into.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Well now. This had taken a turn he'd not been expecting. A pleasant turn, but a sharp one at that.

He lay beneath her gaze, hand falling still within her hair, and stared up at her with raised brows over an easy expression. Vittoria wanted to dance with him. Who could have ever predicted that? Not he. Not in a hundred thousand years.

Was this what it felt like to be on the receiving end of the ask? Kilien couldn't remember the last time a girl had asked him, but he could hardly deny her. Not after witnessing her fumble so closely. He could nearly feel the warmth of her coloring cheeks.

"Hm," the smile that formed was equal parts endeared and amused, "I thought you'd never ask."

He had fully intended on dragging her into the dancing if there was any to join, but this approach was nicer. With a stiff inhale of breath through his nose, Kilien moved to sit up, his head pushing through her curtain of hair as he did so, and pushed himself off the bed. Taking a moment to assess himself, he straightened his jacket, pushed his own unruly brown locks from his face, and smoothed his popped collar. With a skip in place, he tapped the toes and heels of his boots against the hardwood floors twice to test them out, then offered his hand to her, "Ready when you are, Vi."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Her eyes never left him.

She watched him leave the bed, stand straight, and fixed himself so that he may look presentable as he now waited for her to move. Vittoria went to meet him, standing before him although it was a braver distance to what she would have used between them. A half step from him, her hand found shelter in his, and their connection warmed her. She peered at their hands, finding that she enjoyed this sweet gesture more than she thought possible, but made no effort to make it known to him.

Vittoria did not let his hand go.

Not even as the crowds had grown thicker than it had earlier, and in order to get through to the main square of the town, she had to pull him behind her through the masses. Her grip was tight, secure, and a connection anyone may have a hard time in severing as she successfully pulled him towards the lane where some street stalls were set up. Music called to them at the other end, promising merriment and cheer. It was one way to beat the crowd, to cut straight to the Town Square.

"Do you know how to dance, Kilien?" She asked as they got closer to their destination. Vittoria slowed enough so that they could walk side by side, but it did not go unnoticed that she would walk closer to him to let someone else pass her.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

There was no resistance to be had from him. Kilien followed most willingly as she lead the way, feeling no shame or embarrassment in being lead. Not even a sense of self awareness - he was simply living in the moments as they passed, enjoying the warmth of her hand in his and the spare glances she sent back his way as they wended through the growing crowds.

It was freeing - this heedless decision of theirs to forgo the call of responsibility and duty for the mere simple pleasures of a festival. This was the life he wished to live day in and out; the freedom to go where he wanted when he wanted, without the burden of Academy or curse. Though it was very unlikely he'd ever been without the latter, Kilien was only growing more and more sure that he'd be taking his leave of the former.

Though he'd hardly expected to find any reason to stay, let alone a connection with anyone within the Academy. He wasn't going to hedge any bets on whatever this thing was with Vittoria, but the thought of running away with her wasn't a bad one.

"I can snake-line with the best of them," he answered over a smile, leaning into her side to speak more directly into her ear as the music became louder, "and Rovani never waste a good party."

He wasn't schooled in any waltzes but he was quick on his feet.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria decided she liked hearing his voice so close to her ear. It meant she did not miss a word, that she could hear that lower growl to his voice that was lost on her when they spoke normally. Her hand tightened around his, the only evidence that she showed of her enjoying listening to him speak.

"I am curious to see how Rovani are at a party." She turned to face him, and mere inches separated their faces, but her cold eyes never left the warmth of his gaze. The amount of times her eyes would seek his out, as if a cold shiver sought out the nearest warmth.

And finally, they had arrived to the heart of the celebrations. Music swelled, louder than anything Vittoria had heard before. It roared to life with every swish and twirl on the dancing floor. It was livelier than anything she had participated in, and Vittoria found herself taking a step back, not realising that put her against Kilien's side. The energy was crazed, filled with a chaos that came with laughter and folk dance.

For the first time, Vittoria hesitated with nerves.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

"We're a great time," he smirked at her, the caps of his teeth showing with the firelight of the festival glinting off his long canines, "the best fun."

His eyes locked eagerly onto her own, breaking only as they found their way to the edge of the dance floor where couples were quickly assembling into two separate lines facing one another as the music kicked up. He watched, keenly following the movements as the lines came together, kicked up their heels, separated, then pairs criss-crossed to separate people to whirl about before criss-crossing again.

"I think I know this one," he leaned against Vittoria's side, his hand squeezing hers as he waited for the two separate lines to form again, "ready?"

A few more beats of the music before the whirling pairs separated back to their lines again. With a push forward and a large grin, Kilien shouted for Vi to go now and bounded onto the end of the line across from her as other couples moved to join in as well.

The dance repeated as the music picked up even faster this time, his heels flying in tandem with the others before skipping back to part and then quickly skipped across to another woman on the opposite side whom he clamped arms with into a whirl. Though he had to look where it was that he went to avoid crashing into others, he did find himself looking back for Vi - who he next swung across the floor to pair with and clung to with a grin as they moved into their whirl, "Keeping up?!" he yelled.