Work Text:
“So today, we thank the Astral Express for saving the Xianzhou Luofu. May the Nameless be blessed for centuries for their gratitude towards the people of the Luofu.”
Clinks of glasses meeting for a toast filled the ballroom as Jing Yuan completed his (extremely long) speech. Himeko smiled softly as she too raised her glass, only to barely take a sip and set it down on the table in front of her.
March and Stelle insisted that Himeko attend their congratulatory ball for their adventure in the Luofu. While Himeko tried to explain that it would make no sense for her to attend, she found that declining a personal invitation from the Cloud Knights was hard.
So here she was, sitting to the left of Stelle as she bickered with March over the amount of sweets she took and to the right of Welt. Himeko felt a bit out of place being the only one who didn’t know anyone from the Luofu, so as people crowded around their table, vigorously shaking hands and starting conversation with the trailblazers, Himeko found a chance to slip away.
Himeko looked through the large windows on the side of the bar, trying to see if the stars were accurate. The stars in the background of the Luofu’s faux sky brought a sense of familiarity to her. She couldn’t tell if the feeling was welcome or not.
Himeko looked to the bar, hoping for something non-alcoholic to savor. The music in the hall echoed around her; string instruments plucked to tunes of classical Xianzhou music played as she grabbed a cup of some questionable looking punch.
There was chatter and laughter everywhere she went, a joyous occasion truly; Which made Himeko wonder if it was too late to formally introduce herself to the Knights and other wandering Officials. She had been hoping to get more information on supply routes on her way here. Yet, everyone was busy socializing for her to get to know anyone.
It wasn’t too much of a letdown; Himeko truly came to satisfy the demands of two young trailblazers she loved.
The music shifted, falling into a slower dancing rhythm, making Himeko turn to look at the musicians on the small stage of the ballroom. A variety of string instruments were scattered in formation, ranging from a guzheng to even a violin.
Himeko never had much interest in classical music, but the violin stood out to her, almost luring her in by its distinctive tone. Sometimes it would come to her in a dream, or in the form of a lover's hands, stringing her along to the point she didn’t know what was being played—the violin, or her.
“All alone tonight, Miss?”
Himeko jumped slightly at the voice, spilling a bit of her punch on the ground as she turned. A man fitted in formal Xianzhouan clothing grinned at her, holding a beverage in his left hand and looking all too pleased for someone who scared her shitless. His attire reminded Himeko of the workers in the Sky-Faring commission.
“Ah—I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there,” Himeko plastered on the brightest smile she could, placing her punch on the counter to avoid another accident.
“No no, I’m sorry, shouldn’t have scared you like that,” He laughs, moving closer to Himeko, “I just couldn’t help but wonder what a lady like you was doing here, especially without a special someone.”
Himeko glances at the tables behind her, “I wouldn’t say I’m alone, I’m here with some friends.”
“Those friends wouldn’t be part of the Astral Express, would they?” He smiles, pointedly looking at Himeko’s ticket attached to her overcoat.
“How’d you guess?” Himeko laughs, teasing him slightly.
“Guess you can just say it’s my intuition,” He picks up the punch glass Himeko left, “I’m not sure if you’d want this, it wasn’t that good when I tried it.”
Himeko watches the glass now in his hands, playing along with his feeble attempts at conversation, “Well, what do you recommend then?”
“Well,” The man smiles at her, pushing forward the drink in his other hand, which appeared to be a beer, “Why don’t you try this?”
Himeko laughs tensely, “I’m laying off the alcohol tonight, sorry.”
“Are you sure? I can get you another drink if you want,” He gestures for a bartender to come, “Maybe wine is more to your taste?”
“No really it’s—“ But the drink is already in front of her by the time she’s refusing.
“C’mon, one drink won’t hurt,” The man persists as he takes a sip from his own cup, “I promise it’ll be fun.”
And by Aeons Himeko almost considers it—staring down at the red liquid and wondering how bad it could be.
Himeko smiles as politely as she can, “I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
But he doesn’t take no for an answer, pushing the glass up closer to Himeko, “If wine isn’t your taste, I’m sure there’s plenty of other drinks that are offered here you might enjoy. Have some fun.”
“Who says you can’t have fun without alcohol?” Himeko laughs, albeit a bit tensely.
“I promise you you’ll have way more with it,” He grins, moving his hand towards Himeko’s on the table. Something in Himeko is ticked off by the gesture.
She moves her hand towards her by a little bit, “Listen, I’m not really—“
She’s interrupted by a hand on a shoulder and a familiar voice.
“Peer-pressuring beautiful ladies into drinking?” A click of the tongue, “Didn’t know distinguished guests of the Cloud Knights would stoop so low.”
Himeko sucks in a breath, the man in front of her looks as if the devil himself walked in, which might as well be true.
Kafka’s laugh is imprinted into Himeko’s ears as the man’s eyes dart around.
“And who are you?” He failed at hiding the tremble in his voice.
“I just couldn’t help but notice how adamant you were on offering a drink to this poor lady here,” Himeko can hear the smirk in her voice, “even as she showed no interest.”
“I don’t think this concerns you,” He says, looking at Himeko now, “we were just having a conversation.”
“Really now,” Kafka removes her hand from Himeko, now stepping closer to the man.
She leans in to whisper into his ear and what she says leaves him baffled. Himeko is fighting the urge to facepalm at the sight.
“You… you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend!” His voice trembled pathetically, looking at Himeko as if she was at fault, “I’m—I’m leaving! I don’t want to deal with that shit anyway!”
So he did, running off as fast as possible to avoid another run-in with the woman now beside Himeko.
Himeko couldn’t help but sigh, now looking at Kafka in pure annoyance.
The sight makes Himeko falter. Kafka is—for all words—stunning. She’s adorned with a black suit with a v-neck that left little to the imagination, a small train cape on the side, and her classic single earring dangling from her left ear. Her lack of makeup was not ignored—but it only made her look more attractive in Himeko’s eyes.
Not that she would ever admit that.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Himeko’s voice is laced with frustration.
Kafka just smiles, “Saving you, what else?”
Himeko scoffs, stepping back and looking at the wine glass on the counter, “I was doing just fine before you got here.”
“So you were enjoying his company?”
“I did not say that.”
“Then, I saved you from another word with him.”
Himeko breathes in, holding her newfound temper by a thread. She looks at Kafka's grip on her wine glass.
“That’s mine,” Himeko attempts to reach for it, but it’s pulled away from her in a swift motion.
Kafka’s expression lays indifferent, she takes the wine glass to take a sip, “You don’t like wine.”
She says it as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Who says I can’t try it?” Himeko looks at her incredulously, not believing what she’s hearing.
“I’m not stopping you,” Kafka takes another sip before handing the glass—with new lipstick stains—to Himeko.
She stares at the cup before swatting Kafka’s hand away.
“I have no interest in your games,” Himeko rolls her eyes adamantly, “What do you want?”
Himeko knows she’s wanted here, the IPC would have her head if anyone noticed her. Thankfully—not that Himeko was worried—everyone was too enthralled in their own business to notice the billion-dollar-bounty hunter in their premise. Himeko isn’t even sure how she got into this invite-only ball.
Kafka grins, placing the cup down and holding her hand out.
Himeko just stares, “What?”
Kafka laughs lightly, “A dance, starlight, is that so bad?”
Himeko shivers at the name, glaring at Kafka, “Why would I agree to that? You just scared off the one person that was willing to talk to me this whole night.”
“I hardly believe you were interested in him,” Kafka’s expression not letting up anything about the tinge of jealousy in her voice, “Unless you’d rather me leave and get drunk with that fool.”
Himeko stares at her, she knows she didn’t have any interest in him, but that wasn’t something she was willing to admit to Kafka.
“He was just offering, I couldn’t deny so quickly,”
“Are you so depraved to break your sobriety for a mediocre man?” Kafka looks at her with a teasing smile, dropping her hand, “I’m disappointed, Himeko.”
“I wasn’t here to satisfy your image of me,” Himeko scowls at Kafka’s use of her name, “Maybe I’ve changed since we’ve last talked; ever thought about that?”
Kafka doesn’t relent, she takes another sip from the wine glass.
“You have nothing to do currently,” Kafka changes the topic swiftly, holding her hand out once again, “I’m just here for a dance.”
“Who says I’m doing nothing? I could be having fun—“ Himeko looks to the bar “—sitting here, looking at drinks…”
“Humor me?” Kafka lets out a soft grin at Himeko’s lie, “Just this once, I promise it won’t be too bad.”
Himeko, for what it’s worth, struggles with it for a minute in her mind before giving in.
Himeko sighs placing her palm in Kafka’s, trying not to relish in the familiar chill it brings, “One dance, Stellaron Hunter, that’s all you get.”
“Such harsh words, dear,” Kafka takes her hand, moving them both to the center of the ballroom floor.
Himeko relishes in the beauty of the room to distract herself from her current situation. The dazzling lights, the archways around the walls, the beautiful staircase leading towards the second floor—the grandiosity of it was a bit confusing for the Luofu, but Himeko didn’t find a need to question it.
Snapping her out of her thoughts, Kafka grabs Himeko's hands. She chooses then to lift her left hand by her ear and snake her other hand around Himeko’s waist. Himeko fought back a blush at the sight, focusing on moving into the right position.
Kafka’s face still held a teasing expression, almost waiting for Himeko to slip up. But before Himeko could tell her off, they began to move.
The last time Himeko danced at a ball she was still in college. Sure, she had been invited to many fancy ceremonies for planet relations, but none of them had her dancing. Yet, here she was, following the lead of Kafka as they glided along the floor.
Kafka danced with precision and care, Himeko noticed. Her hand on her waist kept her steady as Kafka stepped back and forth to the rhythm. Himeko was almost awestruck at her gentle guidance. If she were a bit more honest with herself, she might’ve even thought it was caring.
Kafka didn’t seem to notice Himeko’s gawking, her focus stayed on the dance, only looking at Himeko once or twice in the moment.
Then, Kafka dropped down to whisper into Himeko’s ear, “Hold on.”
“What?” But Himeko could barely question her as she was now being twirled around a bit too quickly, following her hands as she landed back on Kafka’s chest.
Himeko’s embarrassment became evident in the bright red blush all over her face. She pushes herself off Kafka a bit to look at her directly.
“You could’ve warned me,” Himeko groaned, Kafka just chuckled before continuing the dance.
Kafka’s entire focus was on her now, seemingly done memorizing the rhythm.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Himeko despises how her heart stops at Kafka’s face.
There were only a few times Kafka had shown her true expressions to Himeko. Once, on a late night on the Express, when Himeko was much younger, she could see the love in her eyes as they looked at her. The soft gazes under moonlight on a beach in a secluded planet, the whispers of nothingness passed by in secret, and the encryptions sent from lands far from home would all show Kafka’s love.
It had been a long time since she had last seen lights reflect off those purple irises.
Himeko coughs, looking down to disrupt her thoughts of Kafka. She was sure she had been caught staring.
The dance goes on in silence for a while. Himeko can’t seem to get rid of the discomfort in her stomach. She isn’t sure whether it’s the result of the silence or of Kafka herself.
The music changes and Kafka stops. Himeko lets herself become visibly disappointed at the loss of the arm around her waist before realizing the song was over.
Kafka looks at her, smiles, and places her hand in front of her—seemingly for a handshake, “It was a pleasure dancing with you.”
Himeko has half the mind to be disappointed in her overly polite attitude. However, all that was on her mind were the looks Kafka gave her during their dance.
She wants them back.
So she decided then, to take them for herself.
A vice-like grip makes its way to Kafka’s hand, her eyes widening slightly in surprise before being pulled in for a kiss.
The music continues in the background, violins accentuating Himeko’s desperation, hunger, and love all at once in the familiar kiss.
Kafka leans into it, as if she were expecting it. Himeko knows that she did, but she can’t even be angry at her for it.
Once they pull apart, Kafka has a huge grin on her face.
“I don’t want to hear anything from you.” Himeko places her hand over Kafka’s mouth, “Just let us be like this.”
She removes her hand, now holding her closer in the same slow dancing position from before. Himeko’s face now buried in Kafka’s collarbone in some form of shame.
“Whatever you say, starlight.”
Kafka feels Himeko smile into her neck.