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n0tamused · 1 year ago

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- Lustrous Ballroom Event

A/n: My piece for the ship event hosted by the wonderful @xianyoon <3 Thank you so much for organizing this event, and I hope everyone enjoying this will also enjoy reading it :)

Prompt: ethereal - a clandestine kiss under the moonlight threatens to turn into more

Contents: Dr. Ratio x Jien YueXia, fluff, a bit suggestive at the end but not NSFW, doesn't follow the canon storyline

Warm hues of gold showered the ballroom from the high ceiling, the hanging lights flickering with a shine of white and specks of red as the crystals would catch any reflecting light. There was a particularly big candle chandelier in the middle whose candles didn’t seem to melt, no matter how long the party stretched on into the night. All the big windows were opened at the start of moonrise, filtering in the cool summer night air and stirring the thick curtains tucked at the sides of each window. And there was a certain magic to it all, yet suffocating with so many people flocking all across the floor.

It would be the first big event that Jien had attended in a long, long time. The event was long coming, and between work and rest, she had found herself walking from one store to another for a gown fit for the occasion and one that matched her picky taste. Too many stores offered seldom good options, so in the end Jie had opted to purchase a simple gown as a base on which she could commission additional work to be done on. What was the result was a beautiful and long golden dress with a V-cut collar that revealed a little more than her work outfit, split sleeves and a slit that reached up to the middle of her thigh. It hugged her figure, but left ample room for movement and comfort and for the breeze to lick up at her skin. Even her horns were not left from decorations as pale a golden ring enveloped the thin curve on each horn, connected by a thin chain that held a single faded gray moonstone. Jien felt like a completely different person altogether.

Over the crowds of people she hoped to spy her partner, yet she couldn’t find the familiar golden laurel on anyone’s heads. It has been well over an hour since she had stepped foot with Veritas Ratio through the heavy open doors of the ballroom, but somewhere along the lines of conversation with other party guests and searching for a drink, the two had separated. His absence made the sudden tension in her throat all the harder to bear, and a hardened expression replaced the initial wondrous look that gazed upon everything in curiosity and awe. A couple of friendly faces reminded her too much of old friends she could no longer reach.

All too soon, the celebration ended for Jien as she climbed up the pale marble steps to higher ground, taking a moment to look at the floating orbs of light that exuded a comforting cool breath. The building was full of these little things, which one could easily call magical, as at first glance there was nothing logical about their existence. The same thing ran through both Jien and Veritas’ mind once they glimpsed a painting that seemed to swim in its paint, a living painting hanged on the wall, watching guests walk by.

Finding herself overlooking everyone, away from anyone’s touch and gaze, she fished out her phone from her pocket, quickly sending a message to the first contact on the list. Just as she tapped on the sent button, asking where the other person was, she saw the three dots appear below, bouncing as they heralded the presence of Veritas. Glee glowed within her chest and a smile made its way up her face, solidifying when he replied that he was on his way out to the gardens where he asked to meet up with her. It was such a simple request, yet it weighed more on her heart than this entire ballroom combined. Too many people, too much noise - Jien thought as she made her way back down and out the first door she could find, greeting a few familiar people along the way. The clicking of her heels soon became a more prevalent sound as the cacophony of the party got drowned out by the sound of silence of the dim-lit gardens.

Out of pure habit, Jien had grown quiet as well, her very step becoming lighter and cautious as her figure slipped beneath the bow of a rose bush. Moon flowers blossomed at the sides of the paved path, the pale petals outstretched like little fingers grasping at the moonlight. Green leaves and bushes had grown to a color almost black in the absence of any light, aside that of the moon that bathed the surfaces in silver. A sound of flowing water caught her attention on the path in front, her gaze landing on the giant fountain at the center of the gardens, the figure in the middle fashioned from pure marble in the likeness of a creature half-horse and half-fish. The long curling tail of hind end wrapped around the post the horse sat on. It was forever made to look like this, flowing mane and front hooves bent in the air, ready to dive into the very waters it guarded.

“I finally found you” - Jien’s voice came out hushed and relieved, yet with a hint of playful sharpness. Mirth made its way to the crinkles of her eyes as she approached the figure standing at the side of the fountain. He had already heard her coming, and was patiently waiting for her to come to him. A smile was rare for him to do, at least in such situations as this, some may even find it like a sneer, but this was nothing like the crowded room they had lost each other in, and fresh air had enveloped them like old friends. Veritas let himself smile and be at ease.

“Yes, it was about time”, he agrees, closing in the distance between them. The trouble of not feeling her presence at his side for so long made him feel starved of the same, something Jien seemed to read off of him like words off a paper. “You sure know the best ways to go running off and out of my sight, it seems to be your talent”.

“Oh, spare me the scolding, it’s not as if I did this on purpose, and it’s certainly not something I wanted either. I looked all over the place for you - I could very well say you were hiding from me” Jien rebutted, tilting her head at him with a playful smile plastered across her red-painted lips. In the moment, Veritas scoffed at her response, and Jien let her shoulder slack, breathing a sigh of relief now that they found their way to each other. And the distant clamor and music was merely a buzz that neither of them paid attention to now. The music was replaced by the soft call of crickets and a distant hoot of an owl. A comforting notion, besides the more obvious one that stood in front of her, and in front of him.

“And to think this whole thing is barely half-way through.. I’m not sure whether I’ll fall asleep on the tables first or if I’ll flee back to our hotel” she chuckled as she took a step to stand at his side. Already sensing her next move, Veritas moved to the side until she could lean her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapping around the bend of his elbow. His suit still smelled like the light musky perfume he put on at the start of the evening, and it held additional tones of wine and her own perfume. He smelled warm and familiar.

“Don't think of running off from this. There's appearances to be kept up, more hands to shake and smiles to be shared”.

Jien snorted at that, a grin breaking her face as she lifted her head to rest her chin on his shoulder, looking at the way his eyes held the guised mischief and mirth. “Hah, don't talk as if you wouldn't leave this party at first chance”, she teased, admiring the full golden laurel that wrapped around his head before tracing her way to his eyes. She could nearly feel his breath across her skin as he uttered “You know very well what I think of gatherings such as this..”.

The night twinkled with peculiar light of stars of different shades, and Jien’s body dipped to sit on the edge of the fountain, her touch leaving a lingering feeling across his arm. "What are you doing?" Veritas questioned as his keen eyes observed her motions of unlacing the strap around her ankles of her heels.

“My feet have been killing me since a good half an hour ago. What does it look like?” Jien responded in their usual back-and-forth fashion, holding no malice or bite as she slipped her feet onto the paved cold ground. Ease filled her ankles and the soles of her feet and she breathed another sigh of relief. The party was looking better, now that she was away from it.

“I'm surprised you're not choking up in that suit of yours. It looks uncomfortable”

“I assure you, the material is thin enough, I'm feeling fine now that I'm out here. Inside though…hmph, I'd rather not go back to the memory” Already he had his arms folded over his chest, the crinkles of his shirt looking strained over his chest and shoulders. One had to wonder if this was his size, but the Doctor did prioritize his comfort too. Nonetheless, this knowledge didn't stop the horned woman from looking down on the chest window and the buttons barely holding in place; trying, and failing, to keep her smile to herself.

“What?”

“You couldn't have picked something more… modest?” She asked, her voice still holding onto a sense of ease and her characteristic bluntness.

“Is there something wrong with my attire for tonight, Miss YueXia?” His eyes regard her now in the style he regarded someone who he was scolding, lips drawn in a thin line. This reaction prompted Jien to rise from her seat and approach him, step by slow step like a doe as she held his gaze, face expressionless and soft. Long accustomed to his demeanor, she took no offense to the way he was at times, knowing much more lay beneath this tough exterior he wished to keep up at all times.

Tilting her head at him, she allowed herself to be a tease, but earnest nonetheless as she gripped onto his forearms, mind brewing words to spew. “Nothing is wrong, perhaps that's the problem”, said Jien, searching his eyes for that little glimmer she was chasing. “You look too good for your own good, Doctor. Even with that alabaster head you insisted on wearing for the second half of the night”. At that, Veritas found himself speechless. Faced with such blunt flattery and compliments he was tongue tied, and could only mimic her motions by tilting his head, his eyes drinking in the lines of her face. Without a pardon, his eyes roamed, following the line of her eyeliner up to her brow, then down her nose and to the curve of her lips.

Lifting one arm and releasing it from her hold, he brings his fingers to tilt her chin up, noting the way her eyes widened and flickered behind her black rimmed glasses. Yet she seems to lean further into it, gentle breaths fluttering against his knuckles.

“You're really being awfully affectionate today…it almost makes me think there's something more to it, is there?” His tone had mellowed out along with his gaze, observing her and seeing the thoughts flow through her dark eyes.

“Nothing has happened, and nothing can force me to be affectionate. If it is uncomfortable for you, you need only say so. Do I make you uncomfortable, Veritas?”.

There it was. The slip of his name from her tongue that felt like honey flowing through his ears, attracting more of his focus - as if she didn't have it all already.

“No..no..” Veritas refuted in a hushed tone, eyes flickering away from her, at nothing else in particular, wholly lost within the confines of his brilliant mind, in which he didn't feel so brilliant right now. He felt sluggish, nearly ready to go to bed, but not without this warmth Jien exuded.

“Something wrong? Is there something you want to say..?” it's a whisper, her amused expression falling as her chin tilted to the side, as if to follow his gaze, and Veritas had half the mind to play with her here and banter some more, but he decided against it.

“...you look…beautiful” he says at long last, and Jien could swear she never heard him talk so quietly. She could feel her heart climb up to her throat, lodging itself there and giving her little control over the smile forcing itself over her lips. God damn you, Veritas, she wanted to say, for being the only man to be able to reach so deep into my heart, my soul.

“You flatterer-” she averts her gaze, nearly escaping the hold he had on her if he had not slipped his palm onto her cheek. “Pfft..”

Her hand lands over his own, nuzzling her reddened cheek into his palm. Whatever worrying thoughts she woke up with today were all gone now, evaporating in the wake of his display of affection. Neither of them indulged too openly in affections, not like this, not so boldly anyway. It nearly felt as if it was all being done for the first time. Veritas would much rather them spend time in each other's company, working on their separate tasks; Jien would rather opt to show her love in the same manner, or by doing things that could ease his time or by cuddling up to him in the night. Both of them found this bold language of love foreign, yet no less compelling and tempting.

“I only speak truly, you know that” His gaze searches for hers, watching how the silver light made her hair cascade over her shoulders in silver-kissed waves, forming an ethereal picture held in his very hand.

Questioning him now, or denying his words, was out of the question.

Jien swallowed the lump in her throat as she felt his other hand slip onto her hip and without a second thought she snaked her hand up his chest and onto his shoulder. “Hmm..”

There's a shift in his eyes and brows, a subtle quirk that asks her wordlessly- ‘What is it? Talk to me’.

There's not much of a question in her mind. Save for one. Looking up into his eyes she watched as he leans in slightly, stealing her air and pulling her closer to him. The whole garden suddenly feels like a lonely stage made solely for their perusal. Her hand slips to his nape, playing with the thick strands of hair that grew there.

‘Kiss me..’

Where her words failed her, her eyes spoke for her. Pulling Veritas closer to her, feeling him press his forehead against hers before she made a short motion of tilting her head upward, meeting his lips with her own.

Her eyes flutter closed, both arms wrapping around his shoulder, fingernails slightly digging into the material of his suit and feeling the muscles underneath. The kiss lasts only a couple heartbeats, but upon pulling away both of them prove to be rather breathless nonetheless. Veritas thumbs at her cheek, staring her down as she does the same to him before she catches a glimpse of his lips, stamped with her lipstick.

All the buzz of crickets around them returns once Jien chuckles heartily at the sight, finding it endearing and soul warming; her displayed mirth catching Veritas off guard as she pulls him down again, stamping her lipstick across his cheeks and the corner of his lips.

“Jien-! You-”, Veritas tries to growl, to tell her of the aforementioned image they had to keep up, but it's almost as if he can feel the whole garden giggling at his flustered stance and at his very thoughts that present nothing more but a jumbled mess.

So he gives in, and the next kiss she goes to give him is stolen by his lips, a fiery passion unlocked deep within his heart as he claims her plush lips again. He can hear a sound of surprises coming from her, but she doesn't pull away, nor does she try to stop him. Both of his arms dip to circle around her, pulling her flush against his chest and until he can pull her up to her tiptoes; up until then it was him who had to lean down just a bit to kiss her. Jien smiles into the kiss, her heart drumming loudly between her ears.

Pulling away proved to be harder the second time around, a deep hungry pit having been opened deep within their bellies.

As Jien smiles like a fool over smudged lipstick, staring at him in admiration of his, now disheveled, looks, Veritas huffs after inhaling the much needed air, already thinking of ways to slip away from this place.

“That opportunity you mentioned before…to leave the party…” Jien nods, urging him to say what she knew was running through his mind. “I believe this is more than enough reason to leave. We'd be much better off celebrating off at our hotel. It's much more comfortable to enjoy a celebration when it's just the two of us and not a ballroom of strangers waiting to see who'll get drunk the fastest… Do you not agree, Jien?”

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