So far the night had been pretty fantastic. Tracey had gone out shopping with Charlie earlier in the day to find something proper to wear for the evening. Dressy but not too dressy, and she’d settled on a long sundress that was comfortable even when the wind picked up as they started the sail around the island. She’d never seen Atlantis from this vantage point before, and it really was very beautiful. It was almost easy to forget the war they were fighting when enjoying a night like this.
After many drinks and very many laughs from everyone, Tracey found herself alone with Lucian after the group began to disperse and Charlie was over talking to Duke. She leaned forward against the ship’s railing and then sideways into him a little. They’d started out so casually after their night of tequila and dancing that as the months went by, stronger feelings had crept in and taken hold without her realizing it at first.
“Have you enjoyed your night of sailing then?” She asked him playfully and linked one of her arms through his as she leaned against him. “This is the kind of life I think I could get used to.” At least for awhile before she wanted back something a little simpler.
“Very much,” Lucian replied with a small playful smile on his face. “I could get used to this too.” Although he wasn’t sure if he was talking about the boat or her.
Lately he had been feeling things he wasn’t sure he was supposed to for Tracey. Not that they were bad feelings, but they were feelings and Lucian wasn’t used to that. King of non-commitment relationships, remember? Feelings were something Lucian stayed as far away as possible. Yet, he was leaning against Tracey more and more, even wrapping his arm around her shoulders and feeling incredibly comfortable with her.
“I like the new dress,” he said softly, his fingers caressing her arm.
“Yeah?” Tracey shifted a bit to look over at him and smiled. “Charlie and I had a little fun shopping this afternoon.” Something for the boat had been the objective, but she might’ve added a couple other smaller items while they’d been out too. Because why not?
The sun had mostly set by now, but a sliver of yellow, orange, and red still did manage to peek out from the horizon. It had been a nice evening out so far and not too terribly hot to make the sail uncomfortable. The breeze did feel really nice too, though.
“You want to take a walk around?” She asked him. “See what all we can find?” The yacht was supposed to have some nice dining areas, a dance floor, and private viewing rooms based on what she’d heard from others and what they’d been told after boarding.
He nodded and smiled at her softly, his eyes studying her face. She was a beautiful woman, Lucian thought, finding himself unable to look away from her.
“Sure,” he said, removing his arm from her shoulders and offering it to her so she’d link hers with his. “Maybe we can find a quiet corner to... talk,” he said as he gave her a playful look.
For as long as she’d known him, Lucian had always been a playful flirt. Before really getting to know him first through her brother and later as teammates, she still thought of him as a playful flirt but one that was a friend. Now that they were quite a bit more than friends, she still enjoyed the playfulness especially when she was the recipient of it.
“Oh really,” she said with a smirk and linked arms with him and began walking with him slowly down the side of the ship. “What on earth do you have your mind that you’d like to talk about? The upcoming Quidditch matches? Training and mission assignments?” Now she was the one teasing.
“We could talk about tactics... I know a couple of ways to distract you,” he teased as they walked. It was so easy to be like this with Tracey, so close and intimate. It really surprised Lucian, considering he was the king of stay away from anything that was somewhat intimate with the opposite sex. But he tried not to think too much about and just enjoy her company.
Tracey nearly snorted but it mostly came out as a laugh. “Oh, I bet you do,” she said and nudged him a bit with her arm. As much as that sounded like fun, and it totally did, she smirked to herself at the thought of tactics. She could think up a few of those on her own too.
Someone was passing by them with some type of fruity drinks, so she unlinked her arm from his for a moment and reached for two, handing one to him. “Cheers,” she said and clinked her glass with his. After a sip, Tracey spotted a door up ahead that lead to the dance area. It wasn’t the quiet place to ‘talk’ that he mentioned earlier, but it was still fun in her book. “But first, before these tactical discussions, you get to twirl me around the dance floor,” she took his hand and lightly tugged him towards the doorway.
He chuckled when she nudged him and leaned to press his lips on her hair for a moment, inhaling her scent. She was really intoxicating.
“Cheers,” he said after her as their class clinked. “Always a pleasure to twirl you around, Tracey,” he said playfully, letting her lead him to the door. He opened the door for her and followed her inside. “Let’s make sure you remember this night forever.” He took her glass from her and settle it on a nearby table before taking her by the hand and leading her to the dancefloor.
“Forever, huh? You sound pretty confident.” Tracey smiled and walked with him to join the other dancers. A fairly slow song was playing for now, so it was easy to stand close to him with one hand resting over his shoulder and let him take the lead. He did it so well, after all.
Despite the music playing and the others around them, it seemed less crowded and less busy than it had out on the deck. A little quieter but nice. “It’s hard to believe I’ve almost been here a year,” she said, the thought suddenly hitting her. She’d arrived shortly after the alternate lives fiasco everyone had gone through. “Some days it seems longer, but others like I just got here.”
“When am I not confident?” he chuckled. He truly wanted to make her remember that night. When else would they be on a boat, dancing and having fun, with Atlantis as their background? He wrapped one arm around her waist, letting his hand rest on the small of her back while the other still held hers, and he swayed them at the slow rhythm of the music.
Lucian hadn’t really thought about how long he had been in Atlantis until Tracey mentioned it. “It is hard to believe. We’ve been through so much in so little time,” he said. “Do you ever think of going back?”
Tracey just smiled at his remark that was more of a statement than a question. It was a trait she'd always found sexy on a guy that could back it up with action. She'd known far too many blokes who didn't have that last bit down, but there was no lacking in action on Lucian's part.
His next question did surprise her a little and at first she paused. "Sometimes," she said and looked at him. "Not often, but I've thought about it a few times here and there when moments here are particularly shitty." Like the dreams involving their fearscapes and then after Benjy was sent home knowing he'd been sent back to die at the hands of her father.
She shook that off, though, and smiled. "Never seriously enough to get close to doing it. What about you?"
He listened to her talk as he swayed them with the music, keeping her close to him. “This place has surely given us shitty moments to remember forever.” Like making Marcus and Delilah disappear and never come back again -- at least for now. Although he knew his shitty moments weren’t as bad as hers.
He shook his head. “I thought about it when Marcus and Delilah left. And I was really close to doing it,” he admitted. “But now I think I have something here that makes it worth staying,” he said softly, his eyes on hers. It was a very scary thought for him, and he tried to deny it as much as possible, but she was the reason why he wouldn’t leave Atlantis.
“I think it’s natural to think about going back sometimes. When people leave, or we miss those that aren’t here.” She’d considered it after Marcus left, but that had been right around the time Charlie arrived which had helped a lot. Tracey did miss her other friends, teammates, and especially her father. She missed the day-to-day life that revolved around quidditch. The league here was nice, but it wasn’t the same.
Tracey watched him for a few seconds, taking in everything that he was saying, and smiled. “Yeah?” It was strange. She’d never expected to start falling for her brother’s best friend, but life was funny that way sometimes. “It’s the Pegasus and all of the crazy hijinks that happens around here, isn’t it?” She teased but tightened her arms around his neck a little. “We don’t get that at home.”
He chuckled softly when she teased, shaking his head. “Nope.” His arms wrapped a little tighter around her waist and pulled her closer. “I’ll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret,” he whispered to her as he leaned closer, his lips brushing her ear lightly. “It’s a woman.”
She felt a small shiver at the tickle in her ear from his voice, and she smiled to herself. “You know, I think I know who you’re talking about. I heard a rumor that she’s quite fond of you too.” Tracey pulled back a bit to look at him again. She hadn’t been someone who easily got attached, not deeply anyway, since over the years she kept a lot of her real emotions close the chest and didn’t always trust quickly.
“I don’t think she’s said anything because she wasn’t sure how you might feel in return and didn’t want to make an arse out of herself.”
The corner of his lips curled in a smile as she said those words. He was feeling a whole range of feelings he wasn’t used to, but instead of running away like he usually did, he pressed her closer to him. There was something about Tracey that made getting attached look not so bad.
“So what would she say if I said I wanted to give us a try?”
“Well…” She let her voice trail off for a moment, her brain trying to make sense of the collection of thoughts swirling around in her brain. “From what I know about her, and I do know her rather well, I’m fairly confident she’d say she’d be all in.”
Tracey smiled slowly as she looked at Lucian. Who would have thought it, right? Not her, surely, but she certainly was looking forward to seeing where this was heading.
“Good,” he said softly, brushing his nose against hers lightly. He leaned in and kissed her softly, their bodies still swaying at the rhythm of the music.
He didn’t know what he was getting himself into. He had never tried the commitment thing, but something told him Tracey was worth it. He really wanted to try it with her.
Tracey eagerly returned the kiss, deepening it a bit but pulled away after a moment. “Yes. Brilliant. I’ll let her know your thoughts.” She grinned. The song they were dancing to ended, and she let out a happy sigh.
“Alright then, one more dance and we can do some more exploring, yeah?”
He grinned and nodded. “Thank you, that’s very nice of you.” Excitement ran up and down his body as he briefly wondered how things would be now.