"My love, are you sure you can't go on for just a little longer? Please?" Rose begged as I tried to leave the dance floor. That just yelled rule was something I did not want to violate.
"No, I'm going to eat something now." I told her as I did my best to make my way through the crowd without issues arising. Yet, I soon came face-to-face with someone I did not think would take to me kindly.
"Roseli." he said after he recovers from me accidentally running into him.
"Oh, hello." she says apathetically while clutching onto me tightly. In a way that made her thoughts on any likely matters clear.
"...Nin." he then struggled to say.
"Yes." I said with a very slight nod as I wasn't sure what to say. He kicked me bloody once upon a time. I returned the favour later down the line.
But, his actions surprised me, "Congratulations on your win." he said to me as he held out his hand. A clear sense of discomfort on his face while his group of friends seemingly turned their backs on him.
"Uh, thank you." I say with continued uncertainty as I grab his hand and shake it. And, to my surprise, he put in the effort and made sure it was a firm one. All before he then gave me a nod of respect before he tried to ignore me completely.
"So, you have made your choice?" he asks Rose with a tone that seemed to remind me of a father for some reason. Which, made things a little weird given what he and Rose likely got up to.
"I made that choice long ago... Disappointing as it might sound to you, I am glad I made sure to keep my virginity for the one I love." Rose says. Something that makes me grow heated and made my chitters come out with greater force and speed. She then giggled at my reaction.
"Then I wish you all the best, then." he tells her before he walks away sighing.
"D-Did you really have to say that?" I ask with a shocked gulp as somehow, her ability to talk about sex still surprised me. She was so damn forward about it!
"Yes, now dance with me."
"No!" I remind her before I groan with all my might as we reach the food. Then, I just start picking piece after piece up and eating it. Going back for another when I was done with the last.
"Nin! Nin! Can you dance with me please!?" Vadei suddenly asks as she comes out of nowhere.
"Pffft, as if he'd choose you over me." Rose snorts snobbily as I start to get grouchy while eating.
"And why would he choose you exactly? I've certainly gotten to know him better than you ever could!" Vadei growls out as the pair clearly start getting confrontational behind my back.
"See, over there!" Lari declares as she pushes a nervous Einervaene towards us.
"N-No it's fine!"
"No, ask him!" Lari barks sternly as she suddenly takes my hand and puts it in Einervaene's. But, when my gaze suddenly snapped towards them and showed my anger, she quickly backed off.
"Enough!" I spit out before I walk away in frustration. Just dropping whatever food I didn't finish over everything else. All before making my way to a quiet spot away from the party. From which I then punched the mountain in frustration.
"Eugh, dammit." I growl as I pull my numb fist back away from the deceptively magic dense stone.
"Nin, are you alright?" Larishazza asks me as she slowly walks up to me from behind.
"N-No..." I struggle to get out as I realise that we are on our own. I could clearly see that the other three were all waiting back at the party as well.
"Want to talk about it?" she asks me with that same, lovely and sweet smile she always seemed to have.
"I don't think I could..." I say as I start to hear the music change to something sweeter and softer. Whatever was going on beyond on the dance floor. It was something more magical than even spells themselves...
"You want to dance, don't you?" she asks me with a frown.
"Y-Yes... With you..." I answer loudly at first before I nervously squeak out the last bit. And, I tried my best, but, I don't think I could hide the terror that I was letting out. I know she probably didn't have feelings for me. It's what I gathered from an unforgettable test on my way back to Tobaballe...
"But... You are meant to dance with someone special..." she says slowly before she suddenly turns pink. Her posture even starts to break a little and she seems to get uncomfortable.
"It is probably best if you leave..." I say to her. After all, who could ever love an ugly bug like me? Why would the most beautiful woman in the world ever want to be with me? To dance with me in front of all those people...?
"T-Then, come on!" she says with an unstable smile as she offers me a shaking hand. And, when I saw that hand, I seemed to come alive.
"Okay!" I nearly roar before I take her hand and leap back into the party with her in my grip. Crashing down in the middle of the ongoing dance and interrupting it completely. At first, I seemed to cause alarm, but, everyone calms down when they see Lari in my grip.
The most beautiful smile on her soft lips...
"Sorry!" she says with a giggle before the music starts to come back with uncertainty at first. But, it eventually gave way and returned to the air. The magic I saw from the distance now involved me! It involved me and Larishazza!
"I-I'll be h-honest. I don't know how to dance..." I nervously chuckle. Seemingly on the verge of tears as my shaking body tried to move. And, I could not keep my gaze on the woman I cared so much for...!?
"Hey, eyes on me. Just like before. Just like we used to." she says with a smile as she brings my head down to hers. And while she was clearly nervous too, seeing her in this way helped me stay calm. It helped me move about with courage and strength.
"Like this?" I ask, knowing that she was probably a good authority on how well someone danced.
"Yep, just like that, now, give me a twirl." she tells me as she telegraphs everything she is about to do with grace. And, as she said, I gave her a twirl and brought her down onto one of my forward-facing knees. Of course, that was more her doing than my own as I was still struggling to keep up.
"N-Now what?" I ask her as the music seemed to take hold in a different kind of way.
"Shush now." she quietly whispers before she gives me a quick peck on the nose while everyone else seemingly went for proper kisses. Yet, I was happy enough to take that. So happy that I had no issue interrupting the music once again to leap us out of the party.
"So, uh, Lari, I..." I begin to say, my body shaking with excitement as the chitters I was normally ashamed of showed off how happy I was.
"Nin..." she then said with a sudden change in mood and expression.
"No, I need to say this. I need to at least get it out..." I say as I shake my head. Yet, despite what her posture might suggest, she instead chose to stay. She was willing to at least hear me out.
"Okay..." she let out nervously as I started to wave my claws in front of me. For some reason, it helped me to breathe.
"Lari... For a... A very long time now... Uh... Look, what I'm trying to say is... So... I just wanted to say..."
"Yes?" she asks me with a soft smile as she takes hold of my head and keeps me still.
"I love you..." I tell her finally. And, she seemed to completely expect it, yet, she was shocked to hear it anyway.
"Right..."
"I've loved you since... I don't know... But, I was in a very bad place once and I am only able to put up with it all because..." I try to explain through the tears before she comes up and hugs me tightly.
"I know." she says before she then moves away and suddenly becomes distant. Much to my growing terror as I did not want to hear anything but...
"So, will you be my girlfriend? I know it's a bit weird given what I am but..."
"Don't focus too much on that, Vadei doesn't care and she likes you despite what happened at her home. Rose'lhia doesn't care and she really likes you. Einervaene once said these same words to you not long ago. Liadanann also really, really-"
"I don't care what they think, I'm asking you." I tell her firmly as I take her hand into mine.
"Nin... I..." she stutters. And, the tears I was shedding started coming out for a different reason.
"But you don't..."
"No! That is not it, Nin! Don't be so stupid!" she suddenly snaps out before she flinches at what she had done.
"You don't need to say sorry." I tell her.
"Okay, uh, Nin, I just need some space to think about this, okay? Now, listen to me very carefully." she says. Which, confused me, I was... I had been since she approached me just now.
"Go on?" I say as I was confused further by her suddenly going quiet.
"I need to make sure you are listening, okay?" she says as she starts to cry herself.
"H-Hey, I'm listening!" I tell her as I do everything I can to make it clear that I was.
"Okay, I'm not saying no. Okay? I'm not saying no. I just, need a moment. I promise you, I will give you an answer in a week at most. Okay? I'm not saying no... But please do not assume it is a yes either, okay!?"
"Okay..." I quietly say as I let go of her hand. Making a quick gesture of prayer before her eyes. Something that only seemed to make it worse as she went redder with embarassment.
"I-I'm sorry..." she says before she runs off towards a boulder. And, for a moment, I did not know if I should've chased after her. But, I eventually came to the decision that it was the right thing to do. My friend was upset about something, so it was only fair I made sure she was okay.
"Yes, I know, I didn't listen." I joke in reference to how she said she needed space. Yet, I got a response that I loved to hear. Her laughter.
"I thought I told you to listen..." she laughs in between letting out what remained of her tears.
"Want to go back to the party?" I ask her as she was clearly enjoying it.
"Actually, no, I want to stay here." she says with a smile as she moves closer to the plateau's edge.
"LARI!?" I practically screamed when she suddenly dropped off the edge. And, my heart nearly burst out my chest when she suddenly started to rise on little droplets of glowing water. Her laughter calming music as she did so.
"So, I heard that at parties here, especially ones with lots of witches, they have these things at the end. Where you show off your ability to fly and how good you are at it. So, I thought, maybe we should get a little practice in before it happens!" she explains as she does whatever it was she was doing. It wasn't flying, but, it might as well have been.
"I... Hate to break it to you, but, I can't fly." I nervously chuckle as she starts to dance in the open air.
"Don't worry, then, I will catch you all the way until you can!" she tells me as her magic lights up her beautiful body.
"Okay..." I utter quietly before I look at my hands. My magic made giant fireballs and I have been practising with making it more like a flamethrower. So, maybe I could convert its use? I think that could work!
Well, I did anyway, because I was soon falling down a dark mountainside. Dull grunts left me each time I hit the stone until Lari suddenly grabbed my hand and threw me up. And, on the way down, she caught me again. The sudden snap of force nearly made her grip break, however.
"See, told you!" she reminded me as she laughed while I just dangled hopelessly under her. A deep dark abyss below me while above me was the lit-up sky. And, I chose to believe it was mostly her magic that did it.
"So you did!" I laugh myself as she slowly moved us back to the mountain. To which I was then thrown at.
"Rude." I joked as I got back up. Preparing to give it another go as she lined up with wherever I might leap to.
"Going for gold, Nin!" she cheers before I give it another go. Positioning my spell awkwardly behind my body but failing to generate any thrust with it. And, once again, I ended up in her grip and was seemingly close to a perilous fall.
"A participation trophy will do me just fine." I snicker before she swings me at a different mountain.
"Come on, plenty of time to practise!" she cheers as she holds out her arms for me to leap into should I fail once again.