Cian (thebettingsort) wrote in emillion, |
He hadn’t wanted to come here, but it seemed the guild was turning out as a whole, and he had reminded himself that staying visible -- wary of the guildmaster or not -- was probably in his best interest. It wasn’t until he’d arrived that he’d realized that the guild turning out in force meant he’d also have a list of people to avoid while attempting to remain visible (and if he hadn’t recalled it immediately, his brief and bizarre run-in with tiny would have driven it home). His luck wasn’t endless, of course. He’d managed to get through the majority of the night without any particularly unfavorable run-ins, but sometime after midnight, just as he was considering that he’d been here long enough and could probably make his escape, he’d come face to face with the absolute last person he wanted to see. She looked as out of place as he felt, he noted. Funny, when she’d been younger, she probably would have blended here almost seamlessly. This business left its mark, though, so even in a gown and appropriately expensive and understated jewelry, a certain wariness in her stance branded her an outsider now. Whatever lightness she had once possessed had faded. He’d spent a fair amount of time remembering, while he’d thought he was dying. “You look good,” he said, by way of greeting; she’d taken off on some insane quest for his life, so she’d earned at least that much courtesy (if not quite enough to keep him from hauling her bodily out of his house and locking the doors a week back, once he’d had the strength to do it). And that was all. A nod -- almost polite, by his standard -- and he moved aside to get out of her way. She’d go down the hall, he’d go the opposite direction, and that would be that. She hadn’t expected to see him here - this wasn’t his typical scene. Granted, it was a Reinholdt ball, so he probably figured it was a good idea to see and be seen; Ci hadn’t been on Reinholdt’s good side since that date he went on with Albrecht. He looked good, though. She could almost believe he hadn’t been lying in bed, dying, a week or so ago. But she’d seen him, sat there with him, and even after years of being barely cordial, she knew what to look for. His cheeks were still a little sunken, and his shoulders were a bit slumped. He could fool everyone else, but he couldn’t entirely fool her. “Thanks,” she said. “You look good, too.” She should go, she knew. Walk by and not look back. They hadn’t seen each other since he kicked her out, and now that he was out of the woods, she was kicking herself in the ass for that fucking deathbed confession. Weakness. Something she should have had beaten out of her years ago in the Ring. Instead of listening to her head, she took a shaky breath and smiled. “Dance with me.” This again. He thought of telling her he wasn’t in the mood for dancing -- or for dancing -- and really what was that damn look on her face? He thought he saw hope. Idiotic. That ship had sailed years back. Why did they keep coming back here? “Still a shitty dancer,” he told her. He thought of lying, of claiming exhaustion and recovery -- she’d been worried enough that she might buy it -- but he’d been out on the floor several times tonight despite his best efforts. She might even have seen him at it. “Save your feet.” Ash shrugged, carefully masking her disappointment. She knew better, she’d always known better. “Suit yourself, Cian. Have a good rest of your evening.” She curtsied politely - just because this wasn’t a place she belonged anymore didn’t mean she couldn’t adhere to the customs - and did what she should have done earlier: without a backwards glance, she walked past. There were about a dozen things he could say (he managed to swallow back, what, just like that? right before it came bursting out of his mouth), but he kept them to himself. Wise decision on her part, really. “See you,” he said instead. How long had it been since they were this stilted and awkward around each other? If only he could summon up his usual casual callousness, it would be better -- more familiar -- easier -- but the silence was all he had for the moment. He felt equal parts relieved and frustrated as she walked away. |