Chapter Text
The champagne bubbles pleasantly scratched the throat as they trickled down. The aftertaste was mild and slightly tangy, not overly sweet. She preferred white wine to be on the sweeter side – but lately she's come to appreciate the refined delicacy of dry liquor thanks to someone who wouldn't take it sweet.
Only one sip. Maybe two. Lumine's goal wasn't to enjoy the lush atmosphere of the party laced with free alcohol. It was merely to taste, to blend in better with the company, and all of them happened to hold a glass of something to wet their lips and weaken their sense of self preservation.
As a journalist, she would never even think of using someone's black-out state to pry information out of them – however, a little goes a long way even in such cases and a drop here or there can loosen the tightest of lips sometimes.
Lumine clinked the glass rim against her teeth while scanning the crowded surroundings. For the most part, the sea of faces came in familiar waves thanks to her involvement in the musical world for so many years now, yet she was able to spot a splash of new features now and then.
Then, there were also figures even more than familiar. Lumine failed to suppress a smile blooming on her lips as a pair of molten gold eyes set the butterflies in her stomach into a mad dash. Taking note of her a second later than she did, he began to swiftly make his way over to her, weaving between the chipper partygoers.
The change wasn’t wildly noticeable. Perhaps any other person would wave it off as a mirage, a visual incomprehension dictated by the alcohol-soaked mind. Not Lumine. The corners of his lips twitched and carved up the skin of his cheeks enough to reveal the most miniscule of dimples. Yes, the smile could have been written of as a passing grimace, a wish of the beholder – but his eyes stood in opposition to that sentiment, sparkling with warmth intense enough to put the fires to shame, and softening his expression in the process.
“Good evening,” Lumine spoke the words of greeting, a special kind of playfulness lingering in her tone. “You should be careful, dear master violinist, lest you hinder your reputation.”
“Good evening,” Xiao acted just as polite and bowed his head respectfully. “And why would that be?”
“I think that smile you’re wearing defeats the image of the emotionless prodigy. Someone could get a wrong idea,” she teased him, the giggle building up in her throat barely kept at bay.
A flash of surprise crossed Xiao’s face – and it disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared. Much to Lumine’s surprise, he decided to play into her little ploy. Knowing he was willing to develop and show this side of himself only for her and to her had the most pleasant of shivers traversing every inch of her skin. “I believe we’re long past it.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
Xiao took a sip from his glass, the droplets of champagne leaving his upper lip temptingly glossy. Lumine gazed away, almost shaking her head back and forth to chase away the pesky thoughts. It wasn’t the time for such dwellings… and for reminiscing. “Given the criteria, I have long ruined my reputation in that regard.”
She hastily looked back at him. Xiao’s expression or smile didn’t change at all, yet there was a kind of smug quality to it. Oh. Oh, no, the victory wouldn’t be as easy to obtain. “Really, now? Then why does it seem like you’ve come to both the award gala and the afterparty unaccompanied?” She raised an eyebrow and this time it was her taking a smug sip out of her glass.
Of course she knew the reason – the fault laid within her. The December yearly gala was home to one of the most important and prestigious awards in the world of music, spawning dozens upon dozens of categories. The afterparty of it had crème de la crème of the musical society mingling without restraints.
She couldn’t allow herself to be a plus one on such a grand occasion – not if she wished to make a good name for herself, at least. Thankfully, her wonderful and loving boyfriend was more than happy to support her choice. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss his presence next to her the whole evening.
“My date refused to come along and be my partner for the event.”
“Refuse you? How dare she!” Lumine gasped dramatically. Xiao masked an even wider smile by taking another sip of champagne. “Is it my chance to snatch you away, then?”
“I would have to oppose it. Never would I stoop down to clinging to another woman’s shoulder when my dear girlfriend is hard at work instead of enjoying the evening properly.”
Ah, goodness me. He might be the one to win this.
Teasing as that feign exchange could have been, the unbound care and worry nimbly etched into the last sentence he said put all her restraints at the risk of braking. Yes, she’d refused to cross the red carpet with him in favour of standing on the other side of the line as an independent journalist. Yes, she’d been busy during the gala and the beginning of the party and her handbag was bursting with pages full of hastily jolted down notes. Yes, she hadn’t been sitting by the table next to him when he won in one of the main categories. She hadn’t been the one to pat his shoulder or better yet – give him a victory kiss. But through all of that, he’d been the one sending her texts full of encouragement throughout the evening to display his belief in her.
Would it be so bad to take a five minute break and truly indulge in the festivities?
Before her fuzzy brain regained enough control to think of a reply, he regarded her from head to toe. “You look beautiful,” he stated matter-of-factly, as if voicing the most basic truth of this world like the fact that the sun wakes up in the east. “The dress looks oddly familiar.”
Too much. She’d lost, and it was the loss she was more than happy to endure. Lumine cracked, a chuckle finally breaking from its confinement and falling loose from her lips. She was wearing a cocktail dress with open back, the skirt reaching right below the knees was adorned with an intricate lace fading to dark blue at the bottom – the rest of the dress was dyed in the distinct shade of pastel blue, resembling the colour of a cloudless sky that served as a backdrop of the purest of snow in winter. She’d also donned a delicate hairpin shaped as an unfamiliar bird – apparently it bore an image of a mythological Alatus in its animal form. It was a perfect match for the subtle beauty of the dress, also enhanced with a pair of humble silver earrings she’d decided to wear.
Of course it seemed ‘oddly familiar’ – after all, that was the very dress she found neatly folded in a box on the bed next to her when she’d woken up that morning. Xiao had already left by the time her tired body had enough sleep and she firmly believed she would open her eyes to the loneliness of the king-sized bed of his bedroom. The snowflake-print box was a surprise – much like the note sitting on top of it.
If you can’t be with me tonight, allow me to be with you. No awards won would make me as elated as seeing you in that dress would. Wear it and think of me.
“I wonder why,” she muttered under her breath and tipped the glass to devour the last drops of the champagne. The planned sip-or-two turned into a whole glass faster than she’d expected. “Thank you. For the dress. And for the vote of confidence.”
“I see no need for being overly grateful. It's the least I can do.”
“I beg to differ. You were nominated for so many categories and–”
“You’re still here. I see no issue. These award ceremonies are repetitive, they come and go, whilst the opportunity to build yourself from the ground up doesn't come about so often.”
“Is that why you're here instead of in the main room with all the stars of the night?” She asked playfully, trying to bring back light-heartedness to the conversation. His profound genuineness urged her throat to swell with emotions and she came too close to bursting. She was grateful - although the word felt too little to describe the wild whirlwind storming inside her heart, - but there were too many people around them and she didn't want the gossipers to have a field day. Unlike Xiao, she cared about his reputation - he didn't need to be seen with an emotional girlfriend.
“No matter how many people occupied it, that bug table felt empty without you.”
“Weren't you seated next to Aether? It's not like the company was completely unfamiliar.”
“The atmosphere between us is still slightly awkward. Besides, I wished to see you. Catching glimpses of you from faraway during the ceremony isn't the most fulfilling.”
She understood perfectly - she felt the same, after all. “Are you…in any way annoyed that I decided to apply for a journalist invitation for the whole event?” She asked meekly the question she'd been fearing to utter for the past several days.
It had only been three weeks since the Golden Plume Award ceremony night and she yearned to spend every waking moment with Xiao to somehow make up for their time apart. But she's never been the kind of person to let the love-infected heart dictate her reason, so she had to consider both them still having their duties to attend to and the fact that she was jobless. She had a long way ahead if she wanted to - as Xiao called it - build herself anew.
Xiao gave her a long, meaningful glance before shaking his head. “Not at all. Many would seek to use such an opportunity to get close to the top parsonage, and you're navigating your own way because you want to be a journalist on your own terms, not on someone else’s dime. If anything, I’m proud of you.”
“Xiao—”
“That said, I do carry a selfish wish to have you accompany me on the red carpet one day in the future,” he confessed without an ounce of self-consciousness. The way he’d become able to speak of his own whim so freely was another proof of his heart standing as an open door for Lumine.
“I thought you didn’t care for those pompous events with hyena paparazzi bothering you at every turn,” she joked, but her tone was more mellow than jesting.
“It’s true. However, if this passing year has taught me anything, it is that even the most seemingly pesky of chores my position comes with are brand new experiences when you’re involved. I’ve started to enjoy things I would have never savoured before. Who knows, maybe having pictures taken on the display by those hyenas could prove pleasant with you next to me.”
She blinked, once, twice, before composing herself into the impeccable image of a professional journalist – even if this unexpected affirmation of Xiao’s rattled her to no end. An arch of her lips resembled the one she’d worn throughout the evening, with the addition of it being laced with affection. Most men she’d had the misfortune to date even for a brief while would use a similar declaration for the sole purpose of wooing her. Not Xiao. Without missing a bit, he spoke his innermost thoughts in faithful sincerity.
“Give me some time. A few months. I promise you the day will come when I will accompany you as a partner. But as you said, I don’t want it to be at your expense. I want to stand next to you as your equal.”
Xiao smiled. Not a barely noticeable rise of the corner of his lips, not a grimace – he smiled a true, soft smile reserved solely for her. “I know. I’ll wait for you and support you in any way you might need.”
This time she couldn’t help herself. Looking around to confirm they had a moment of eternity entrapped in their own bubble within the madding crowd, she caught his sparkling golden eyes into her gaze and mouthed clearly: I love you .
He took no millisecond of hesitation. I love you, too, he mouthed back.
Suddenly, the end of the afterparty felt like an aeon away.
Lumine still wanted to socialise and make appropriate connections tonight. But just for the shortest of moments the egoistic need of her heart prevailed. Five minutes. She deserved a break at the very least. “I don’t suppose you’re in favour of dancing?” She asked casually, her face turning towards the dancefloor overflowing with people. Most of the figures swaying in pairs to the music were musicians themselves, yet so many of them couldn’t dance to save their life, so the haughty cadence of the socialite around them faded the moment they attempted to move their bodies properly, making the dancefloor out to be reminiscent of an awkward high school prom. Perfect – because maybe they wouldn’t draw much attention there and could have the blessing of closeness for one single song.
Xiao, however, wasn’t much of a dancer to her knowledge – hence why she was all the more baffled when he reached out and brought the outer side of her palm to his lips in a chaste kiss. “Would the hard-working journalist grant me the honour of a dance?”
“Really? You’re not joking?”
“No. As I’ve said before, undergoing certain experiences with you puts them in a new light for me. I don’t mind dancing with you. You’ve been working the entire evening, so I’m stealing away a few minutes of your time to have you relax.”
Her hand placed soundly in his, he led her through the swarm of partygoers towards the gate to another world altogether, which was the aforementioned dancefloor. A new song began to play [1] as they managed to find a desolate area in the far corner.
Lumine laughed briefly when Xiao bowed down gallantly in front of her and followed immediately by placing one of his palms on the small of her back, the other outstretched to hold her own arm up. She settled her free hand on his shoulder and shyly defeated the distance between them even more by taking a small step towards him. He read into her movement with ease, a gentle pressure on her back to press their bodies almost flush together.
Despite his usual reluctance to give into the rhythm and taking advantage of music to dance, Xiao was a great dancer. They’d talked about this once – he found dancing to be more of a calculated act rather than instinctual movement and thus he was able to apply his perfect pitch to have himself bend and twist to match the pace. Given the grace of his movements in everyday life, coupled with his musical proficiency, he managed to lead his partner in the most elegant way without paying much heed to something as miniscule as dancing style.
Lumine let her body relax and melt into his flow to be led by him without any defiance from even a single limb. The scent of Xiao – an addictive mix of his discreet perfume and himself – enveloped every corner of the air she breathed, transferring her further into the magical trance. And when she fell into a belief that nothing could top the current moment, a sound overlapped with the music coming from the stage – one much more hushed and intimate. Xiao’s lips were nearly touching her earlobe as he leaned his cheek on the side of her head ever-so-lightly.
The sound was of him humming to the song. Every quiet note was a waterfall of shivers gracing the surface of her skin; every faint murmur pierced through the carnal coverage of her soul and settled itself comfortably in the depth of her being.
If Lumine didn’t know any better, she would have concluded they were the only people existing in that time and space and that no crowd was hindering their closeness. Her eyelids fluttered and closed, she inclined forward to put her forehead against his chest, where the vibrations of the humming were all the more piercing.
“That girlfriend of yours is a real piece of work for not wanting to accompany a gentleman such as yourself,” Lumine opted for dragging their mutual teasing a little further to calm down the heartbeat rattling like a hammer between her ribs.
“Perhaps I should surrender to your offer of snatching me away, then?” His voice was barely loud enough to overwrite the music.
“Oh? And here I thought I should abandon my hopes. The patrons of the party are getting quite drunk, so I think I’ll need two hours at most. Later it’ll be nothing but a waste of effort.”
“I think I can wait as long.”
“Good, good. Though you took your sweet time to consider, so I have conditions now.”
“How curious. Let’s hear them.”
Lumine pulled away to be able to look him straight in the eye. Their bodies never stopped swaying nimbly to the calm rhythm. “Will you play some piano for me?”
“Piano? Where is it that you wish to ‘snatch’ me away?”
“Your house.”
“I see. So it’s a private concert you’re after.”
“No, it’s the musician I’m after to be precise. The concert is an additional lucky perk.”
The song was slowly coming to an end. If she were to leave in two hours and indulge in the night, she should go back to work. Xiao knew that too apparently and gave a solemn nod to her reasoning. “It’s a deal. I can play until dawn if that’s your desire.”
“No. An hour or so will do wonderfully.”
“What about the rest of the night?”
“I have other plans. But it involves the participation of both of us.”
Xiao’s lips twitched, however he skilfully suppressed the growing smile. “Does it involve more ‘snatching’?”
“Mm, only a little. Your bedroom isn’t far from the piano in the living room; at least that’s what I suspected, because how could I know?” The coquettish shadow of her grin possessed a might in its own right, having Xiao’s cheeks dusted in the faintest shade of pink in the dim-lit room.
“Good Archons, Lumine.” He uttered when the innuendo dawned on him.
This time she laughed – loudly and openly. “I think I won! Thank you for the dance. I’ll see you by the exit in two hours.”
She spun around to disappear into the crowd of partygoers, but he swiftly caught a hold of her wrist and turned her back around. “Xiao?”
He seemed to have an internal battle and Lumine had a vague idea of the nature of these dwellings. In the end, the deeply etched propriety and the support he wanted to give her won – there was no need for gossip to start making their way around the various social circles of them getting too close in the public setting while Lumine fought hard to prove her own self-worth and not have any kind of possible success in the future to be described as a stroke of luck of a self-interested woman drawing from her famous boyfriend’s money and connections.
Once again this evening, he bowed down respectfully and gave a small glimpse to his inner yearnings by placing the softest of kisses on her wrist. The lingering touch of his lips would remain there for the remainder of the party – until she could receive a proper one, it would tingle with unspoken longing. “I shall see you later. Good luck, Lumine.”