It wasn’t the easiest thing to reach Drake’s eyes when she stood behind him (why was he so tall?), but Ari managed to cover them with her hands by rising on her toes and pressing up against his back. He hadn’t been hard to spot through the crowd, considering he was the only man present daring enough to sport a pink suit. Along with the aforementioned height, it made him pretty difficult to miss.
How Ari had managed to reach high enough to cover his eyes was a mystery. Unless, of course, she was wearing heels that were a foot tall. The image of her tottering around in those was amusing and he grinned. “Someone use Float on you, darling?” he asked, turning around and wrapping his arms around her waist. He lifted her up and gave her a quick kiss before setting her back down on the floor.
“Are you enjoying yourself this fine evening?” He couldn’t imagine that she wouldn’t be; he resolved to not say anything about the flower arrangements. Last time he’d gone off on a tangent about ikebana, her eyes had glazed over and she’d teased him mercilessly.
“Ha ha,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. She was, as a matter of fact, wearing heels, if not towering ones (those would have been hard to dance in, and she was nothing if not cognizant of anything that might spoil her evening), but she squealed and laughed as she was picked up, returning the kiss, fleeting as it was.
“I would be silly not to enjoy this,” she said. Recalling a similar conversation -- Reinholdt’s ball, hadn’t it been? -- she suddenly recalled something else. “Disappointed I’m not a certain archer?” she asked with a sly look.
Mentions of Zacheus reminded him that he hadn’t seen the archer in a while. “Dreadfully disappointed,” he told her drolly. “What am I supposed to do with a woman?” He shook his head and looked her over. “Especially one in a dress like that?”
He had some ideas - well, a lot of ideas, actually, especially if she kept on the shoes - but he kept his face carefully drawn in disappointment.
“If you can’t come up with a single idea, darling, I may accuse you of being bewitched by some well-chiseled biceps. I suppose if the rest of his muscles are similar, I can’t even entirely blame you.” She grinned and added, “I asked him about you a few weeks ago -- at the Duke’s ball. You seem intent on surrounding yourself with men who blush.” Merri was one, too. “Is there a story behind that, or just serendipity?”
“His biceps - and the rest of his muscles - are very bewitching,” he admitted with a wink. “But I suppose I can think of one or two things to do with you. How do you feel about swimming in evening finery?” He grinned.
The mention of her talking to Zacheus about him made him a little wary, though. “I hope you didn’t tease him too badly,” he said at last. “If you’ve run him off, you’ll have to deal with me sulking. A lot.” He liked Zacheus. A lot. Maybe not as much as he liked Ari, but definitely as much as he liked Aspel. And that was not something he was going to think about. Nope. “I guess I just have a type?”