A Tale of two Centurions (Val)

[zidane]

Waiting near the gate between Camp Jupiter and New Rome, Zidane Quinn stood calmly, dressed in his best tuxedo suit and a black half-mask which hid some of his face but highlighted his silvery eyes. Both of which were emergency “borrows” he’d managed a few night ago after Valerie Smyth had agreed to go to the big Masquerade ball with him this evening. It was nice that the nights cooled down so nicely from the occasional scorchers they’d been having lately, otherwise he’d be wishing he could strip down to shorts by now, even if he’d only been standing there for five minutes. He check the watch that was perched on his wrist and it showed that he’d been about ten minutes earlier than the time he and Val had agreed to meet here which meant that he wasn’t getting nervous yet. He doubted she’d stand him up, but he’d learned that he should never be too surprised when it came to dates and dances.

To keep himself from getting too nervous, he leaned against the gate and put one hand in his pocket and the other on the gate itself, then found himself looking at the darkening sky as the last bit of the sun fell beneath the horizon. It really was a lovely evening and he found himself looking at the stars. Even though they weren’t far from several cities, the sky in Camp Jupiter was untouched by the expected light pollution so he could make out many of the summer constellations, recalling their myths in his head as he did it. He’d been at it for what felt like a while when his mind wandered to other pretty things… Like Valerie. How the heck had he managed to get such a girl to agree to want to come out with him? Sure he had confidence in his looks and flirtability, but having been dedicating himself to getting to know Val for the last few days, he noticed that normally she seemed tough and straightforward, not too prone to joking with many other people. Maybe that was it. Zidane shrugged to himself and vowed that he would work to learn why this was working out the way it was, not that he was complaining.

He was jerked out of his reverie when the girl in question was coming towards him up the path. He couldn’t help himself but stare at her as she came, looking more beautiful than he’d been able to imagine. His eyes swept over her appreciatively but not creepily, taking in her outfit and coming to a halt when he met her eyes. He smiled his roguish grin, holding his arm out to her. “It would be my honor to escort such a beautiful lady this evening to the ball, if she’d accept my arm?”

Word Count: 470
Notes: .oO( I hope this is okay! Here's his suit: this and the mask This)

[val]

The day of the dance. Not to mention, her big – and first! – date with Zidane Quinn. And Valerie was nothing short of terrified. Some people said the footwork and movements of fighting were much like a dance. Val wasn’t so convinced. And here she was supposed to not make a fool of herself in front of a guy she had to admit she really liked. And she had to do it in heels. And hope that it went well enough that maybe, possibly, hopefully, there would be the chance for a second date. A major battle was looking more and more simple.

Val must have spent two hours in New Rome the day before looking for a dress that she didn’t feel ridiculous in. This one was too tight, this one too loose, this one too low-cut, this one fit perfect but she wouldn’t be caught dead in that violent shade of pink with the little flowers. It had proven a harder task than she’d thought it would, or should for that matter. This was important, after all. So finally, before she was ready to stoop enough to go find a daughter of Venus and admit she needed help, she was saved by finding just the one. Nothing fancy, in her size, and certainly not pink.

So that brought her to where she was now. In her barrack with a group of other overly excited, at least in her opinion, girls fixing their dresses and hair and make-up. Hair and make-up. She hadn’t really thought about that until now. So yet another thirty minutes was wasted in trying to sort out just the right hair style. Which more or less ended up with her fed up and frazzled and just pulling a brush through it so it lay like it normally did. Good enough. A peak in the mirror that another couple girls were virtually taking over told her it was acceptable. Now make-up. She didn’t really own any of that, nor did she really know how to use it. Or care to learn all that much. There was a thin line between looking nice and not even looking like herself anymore, and she rather stay on the nice but herself side of that one. So, lip gloss it was. The only thing she had except a well-used tube of Blistex that didn’t seem to fit the occasion quite as well. Alright, all set.

She looked at the clock and was grateful to find that she was running a little ahead of schedule actually. Not by much, but enough that she would make it in time. So she set out the door. And stopped in her tracks. Well, there was one thing she’d sort of forgotten to take into account: it got chilly at night. And there was nothing keeping the light breeze from hitting her legs, arms, and upper chest straight on. She tried to hold it back, but an involuntary chill mad her grab her elbows and hunch up a little. Come on, Val, Roman up. It’s just a bit of cold, she mentally scolded herself. So she let go of her arms and set off for the gate, trying to look as not cold and nervous as she could. And excited. There was definitely some excitement in there. A date with Zidane. He was undeniably one of the best-looking guys in the camp and had a personality to beat all the rest. He probably could, and usually tried to, have any girl here he wanted. But he’d asked her to the dance. Not to mention she still couldn’t get out of her head how happy he’d looked when she’d agreed, or holding his hand all the way to the sandwich shop. She was starting to understand that saying about butterflies that she always used to think was too froo-froo to possibly be real.

It wasn’t long before the gate came into view, as well as the one standing there, and the butterflies seemed to take it upon themselves to hold an Olympics-worthy gymnastics competition in her stomach. Odder still, it was kind of a cool feeling. A smile broke out on her face as soon as she saw him. He looked even more handsome than normal all dressed up. And the mask – which reminded her that she’d utterly forgotten anything of the actual masquerade sort – didn’t subtract from the look at all. She really was the luckiest girl in the world.

She took his arm at the offer and stayed probably a little closer than was necessary, between the fact that it was warmer that way and if she was dreaming this – which she wasn’t entirely certain she wasn’t – she wanted to make it something worth dreaming about. Which was already true of it, but still. “It would be my honor to be escorted by such a fine gentleman. You look very handsome,” she added, looking him over again. “Sorry I sort of forgot about the whole masquerade part of it…”

WORD COUNT: 834
TAG: Zidane!
NOTE: dress here minus the little heart purse, hairstyle, and probably the necklace… ok, so just the dress and shoes lol

[zidane]

The adage among the male population about girls taking about five times as long as guys to get ready for an evening out was probably absolutely true for many of the girls tonight, no matter who’s kid they were. Zidane himself didn’t know how long it had taken his date to get ready and was a little scared to ask, but the thought took him to his own process of getting ready, which might’ve taken him something like half an hour or so, including the shower. He’d messed with his hair a little bit to try and make it look fit for a night out, but he wasn’t really interested in borrowing some very girly smelling hair gel from his barrack mate who was a son of Venus and sort of buddies with him. Instead, he’d combed it into submission and let it dry that way while he put on his tux, complete with a tailcoat he’d pilfered which made him look dashing and handsome, at least in his own secret opinion. Nope, he definitely didn’t have many confidence issues. He’d sprayed on a little cologne that he did borrow from his Venusian friend, which unlike his hair gel, did smell manly. The mask he was wearing was the final touch and he had been about to set out when he heard someone mention a stash of extra masks in one of the weapon sheds near the gate in case some of the campers forgot to get one for the dance. Not really sure why, he filed the information away.

After he’d done all that he’d made his way to the gate, which was where he was now admiring Val’s pains in getting ready and mirroring her goofy grin, no doubt. He was really pleased to see that she’d gone light on the make-up. Some girls were so heavy handed sometimes with it that in Zidane’s opinion, they looked a little like clowns. But not her. With her hair falling over her shoulders in loose waves as was usual for her, the lovely red dress she was wearing, and the shade of lip gloss, he thought she looked sublime. And told her so, after she’d called him handsome, which only made him smile more. “You look stunning really. I guess a daughter of a war goddess can really clean up if she wants to,” he teased. “Not that you don’t usually look beautiful anyway,” he added because it was true. He reveled in the fact that she had taken his arm and was pressing close. This was good. No awkward space between them, one less barrier to avoid for the night. He had to admit that her proximity gave him butterflies of his own though. He wasn’t usually this physical with any of the girls who he had previously flirted with, so it was new to him. But he knew he liked it, and he couldn't wait to dance with her. Dancing was something that was pretty natural to him, considering his style of battle, and he had no problems breaking it down. But he knew that if Val wasn't, he'd be happy to teach her. It would be a perfect way to bond a little more, for sure.

However, his mind came back to his date also wondered if she wasn’t cold in this weather. Although it wasn’t near freezing by anyone’s standards, the breeze could be nippy and she wasn’t wearing a shawl. Pulling her just a little closer he asked, “Are you cold?” If she was, he’d take his jacket off and offer it to her in a heartbeat. It was no big deal and he would much rather she be warm. He also noticed she was maskless and his suspicion that she might’ve forgotten was confirmed with her comment. Well, the note he’d taken from the conversation he’d overheard a minute ago had already paid off. Unclasping their arms for a moment, he held up his hands. “I’ll be right back!” He went to the mentioned weapon store quick as a flash and found a few wrought iron masks hanging in there and briefly admired the work before he chose a gold one and went straight back to his date, holding it out. “I don’t know if you want to wear a mask, but here’s one if you do. Although, you won’t catch me complaining about getting to look at your face all night.” He winked at her the offered his arm again. “I’m ready whenever you are, m'lady.”

Word count: 715
Tag: Valerie!
Notes: .oO( Sorry it's a bit shorter than yours! But hey.)

[val]

Normally, Valerie couldn’t care less how she looked. For the most part, that had stayed the same. Tonight, however, was a totally different story. For possibly the first time in her life, she was acting much more, well, girly. Part of her hated wearing a dress, raged against the tactical disadvantages it would provide and useless waste of material. Though even that side of her had to admit that the mobility was great. The heel part, not so much. It took her a good ten feet to get used to walking on what she fully decided were about as easy to balance upright as toothpicks. Thank the gods, she managed to get past the near misses at straining her ankle – without even doing so which was a bonus – before she got to the gate. Then there was that weird side of her that hadn’t really spoken up much at all in her conscious until recently that actually liked looking nice with no regard to battlefield function. She just hoped none of the Venus kids found out about that one or she’d never hear the end of it.

And it was that second side that seemed to be taking over her thoughts more than the other tonight. Especially when Zidane complimented her. He seemed to have that effect, far more so than anyone else, of making her feel like a million denarii. She just hoped he knew he was worth just as much or more to her. “Thanks,” she said with a smile, which turned into a laugh. “Yeah, who’d have thought. But shh, don’t tell anyone. They might expect me to look nice more often,” she teased. “And that, I don’t plan on doing for anyone but you.” She knew her luck wouldn’t hold out in the not blushing area, though, when he said that she always looked beautiful. Hopefully the hint of red could be chalked up to that cursed breeze, or might be hidden by the growing dark. “I think you might be a little biased there, but thanks. I’d say that you look handsome all the time, but that’s sort of an accepted fact of life around here,” she added with a hint of teasing. “Though it is true.”

She gladly took his offered arm and, from the closer proximity, was happy to find that the heels still set her at a bit shorter than him. That had definitely been yet another thing she’d forgotten to consider. She really needed to get this format checklist of things to keep in mind a little better down. Pushing that from her mind, she was happy to settle into just enjoying being here with him. She normally wasn’t the physical type, unless it came to battle, or rather, she’d never really dated at all and hadn’t seen herself as such. But being close to him was so welcoming. And, though she would never dare admit it for fear of disgracing her parentage, it made her feel safe. And she found that she really, really like that. The old little girls’ stories of the prince standing up to the evil whatevers to save his princess, she’d always scoffed at as weak and unRoman. But there was something to be said for it really now that she understood better what they were getting at. Sometimes it was nice to have a strong, handsome, funny – the whole nine yards – guy looking out for you as well.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when he asked if she was cold. To be honest, she’d utterly forgotten about it until now. “A little, but it’s fine. I’m sure it won’t be so bad when we get there.” When she admitted to having forgotten any form of mask, she wasn’t really expecting him to run off. Where on earth he could be going, she really wasn’t sure. “Um, okay…” she said to his retreating back. With his absence, she really did notice the cold a bit more, but tried not to show it as she waited patiently. She didn’t believe for an instant that Zidane would ditch her. As if to prove her belief, hardly three minutes later he was back, and with a beautiful gold mask as well. “Where on earth did you find that so fast?” She took the mask from his carefully and looked over the detailing. “Looks like something Kassia would make. It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she said with a smile as she tied it on. “It’s still mostly my face,” she joked as she fought for a moment to not get her hair caught in the tie before finally getting it to stay and still not yank at her hair. She held her hands out. “Well, what do you think?” Though she asked it like she was inquiring about the weather or something else so trivial, she couldn’t deny that she likely wouldn’t wear a mask if he didn’t like it.

Smiling, she took his arm again and resumed her spot near him. “Well then, shall we?” She was about to set off for New Rome when she remembered the whole bit about guys supposed to take the lead. At least, it was so in dancing from what she understood – which wasn’t a lot – so what was the harm in starting before they got there? Maybe break her nasty habit of always jumping into things first. “After you.”

WORD COUNT: 898
TAG: Zidane!
NOTES: I don’t know what it is about this thread that is giving me so much muse! Lol. Don’t worry about it though. Also, was thinking this for the mask.

[zidane]

It was really difficult for Zidane to keep his eyes off of Valerie dressed like this. He hadn’t really gotten to know her well except within the last few days, but what he did realize was that her getting dressed in feminine clothing was rare at best. That wasn’t a bad thing, he rather liked how rugged strong her usual style made her look. Sweat glistening skin was also not unattractive, and the glow of a healthy exercise made her skin look wonderful. But tonight, she was displaying a different kind of beauty that in his opinion was capable of making most girls look amazing, but the contrast and the care put into the look for Val was having an effect on his focus on the event rather than staring at her all night. He was thinking at this point, it would have been okay to do just that. And that maybe occasionally, she might give in and be a little girly once in a while.

When she answered his compliment to her, he found himself grinning. “Well, frankly you always look nice, but tonight you look especially lovely. And I can’t say that knowing you’d get dressed up especially for me doesn’t make me feel like the luckiest guy alive.” He paused a moment to let that sentence sit for a moment before he continued, “But, I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to go to extra lengths to get me to like you. I like you just the way you are.” He smiled and playfully tweaked the tip of her nose, happy just to be next to her. The butterflies were being persistent although he wasn’t outwardly showing any signs of it. It really came down to the fact that this was one of the first times he was on a proper date with a girl he really, really liked and he didn’t want to screw it up. play it cool, he found himself thinking. When she called him handsome and claimed it as a fact of life, his grin turned a little self-conscious, but he barely blushed. “Well, you know I do my best. But now it’s all for you. And who cares if I’m biased about your beauty? It doesn’t make it any less factual.”

Looking at her, and honestly being rather surprised that she was shorter than him still even in heels made him feel a little better about his height, because he had to face the fact that he was one of the shortest guys in camp. But it also helped him realize that though she was tough and the daughter of a battle goddess, he still had reason to feel capable of watching out for her and keeping her safe. Not that his height would have dictated that, as he had many other means of fighting that being a bit shorter lent well too, but it was some primal thing that being a little taller than your girl meant that protection was implied. And he wanted nothing more than to make her feel that he would do his damdest to keep her from things that would seek to harm her in any way, emotionally even (some romans could really be cruel at times), and make her happy. He hoped that she felt he could be that kind of security to her. But it wasn’t something that was easy to bring up so early in the game.

When Val admitted she was cold, he swung his jacket off without a second thought and draped it over her shoulders. He could feel the mild chill pierce his sleeves a little bit but it wasn’t unpleasant, and the black vest he wore kept his torso reasonably warm. Here was a moment to show her that he wanted to do what he could for her and the jacket was a small first token. “Don’t even worry about it. I’d rather you were comfortable while we walk.” He’d gone for a moment to get the mask and return, watching her silently as she put it on, and considering offering his assistance but she’d done a fine job with it on her own. He had to admit that the gold lit up her eyes and made her look a little mysterious, another little exciting thing to look at. “I think this kind of thing would be right up Kassia’s alley. I bet she was really happy to get a break from making weapons. But as to what I think… Well, you just keep getting more gorgeous as the minutes pass, if that’s possible."

As she took his arm, he had to admit that he was waiting for her to start off and was quite surprised when she deferred to him in the lead instead. It hadn’t seemed likely to him that Val would feel at home not taking the situation and being in control of it herself, but it wasn’t like he needed to be the leader to feel ‘manly’. Nonetheless, he took the first steps and strolled with her down towards the venue, the lights and music registering immediately, and it continued to get brighter and louder the closer they drew, until soon they were at the threshold. On the way, Zidane found himself asking, “Do you like to dance, Val?”

Word Count: 887
Notes: .oO( Sorry for the wait!! Finally got his muse to behave a little..)
Tag: Val!

[val]

There was a time that talking like this with anyone, or even just seeing another mooshy couple around the camp, would make Valerie gag. She’d never felt especially lonely or the like for never having dated, and never saw herself doing so either. The thing was, she hadn’t expected it to be anything like this. She never could have imagined that one person could be so important or could single-handedly motivate her to try to be better. That there could be anything that would trump battlefield efficiency and pride in nation and heritage in her mind. Well, prove her wrong. And for a change, she was alright with having been wrong.

However, the way he was going at this rate, she wasn’t so sure she would ever manage to stop blushing. It was one of those very rare occasions where she didn’t have an immediate comeback and was actually quiet for a moment just trying to find something to say. She mockingly cursed Zidane in her head for managing to get her completely flustered. “I… thanks.” She silently scolded herself for sounding completely stupid and sincerely hoped her face did not match her dress. After a second, she gave in to the fact that she wasn’t going to come up with anything better than that, though. So it was something of a relief when he broke the silence. Sort of. At his words, she gave him a joking ‘you’re not helping’ look. “And it’s things like that that make me certain I’m the luckiest girl alive.” She jokingly tried to look offended when he tweaked her nose, but it turned into a laugh anyway, which sort of ruined the effect. If it weren’t for the fact that he had noticeably put effort into looking nice himself, she likely would have gone with her first instinct – could it be called an instinct if it was such a new thing? – to ruffle his hair.

It was hard to tell in this light, but she would have sworn he actually looked a little self-conscious for a second, which she was pretty certain she had never seen happen to Zidane Quinn. And, fact of the matter was, it was pretty much adorable. Especially when he said that all his efforts to look good were for her now. She didn’t bother trying to come up with words this time and instead just leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You really are the sweetest guy on this planet.”

For a minute or so, she was fine with the silence. They didn’t have to be talking to just enjoy being around him. Though when he asked if she was cold, she couldn’t exactly lie to him. And considering what she had come to know about him the last few days and tonight, she wasn’t really all that surprised when he took his jacket off and put it around her instead. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to argue. “Zidane! Now you’ll get cold!” Though at the same time, she couldn’t deny that it was much more comfortable. It was still warm from him wearing it and made her feel closer. Not to mention, it just made him all the better in her eyes. She pulled the jacket close around her and waited for him to return from his random and apparently urgent mission. A mission that ended with her having a mask to wear. “Guess we’re not going as the pair from Phantom of the Opera anymore, huh?” she said teasingly. Not that she even knew much of anything about that story besides the main theme and the basic assumption that it involved a haunted opera house or something of the like. She laughed at his comment on Kassia. Wasn’t that the truth? “I feel bad for her sometimes. What with all the demand for weapons when she really has a gift for making some amazing stuff that really shouldn’t be marred by battle.” At his compliment, though, she jokingly smacked his arm lightly. “If you’re trying to make me blush, it’s working.” Hopefully the mask helped hide that a bit more though. Her immediately taking his arm sort of took away from the ‘going to kick your butt’ effect though.

She fell into step next to him and silently thanked the gods that she didn’t trip or something. Now that would be embarrassing. Not that she thought he would make fun of her or anything, but he was the last person she wanted to look like a complete idiot in front of. She could fight with the best of them! To be bested by a pair of shoes? Not a chance. At his question, though, she laughed slightly. “Well, I, uh… I never really tried. Kinda stupid of me to have brought up the dance to start with then, huh? So I’m really, really sorry if I totally stink at this.” Hopefully it wouldn’t go as badly as she was afraid it would.

WORD COUNT: 829
TAG: Zidane!

[zidane]

Mooning after girls was obviously a feeling that Zidane was well acquainted with. It was something for him to do when (gods forbid) he was tired of fighting, which surprisingly happened pretty often, and he suspected that if most Romans were honest with themselves, they felt the same way with the constant presence in their lives as campers. But it was something he’d never admit out loud. However, everyone knew about his preoccupation with girls. However, the truth was it was always just a physical attraction or a conquest born of boredom. This time he knew with certainty that it was different, however. He was pretty sure he’d rarely, if ever, felt the desire to just be close and really get to know a girl like Val as more than a friend. But he did, and now was his chance.
He was rather quiet, lost in his thoughts about the girl on his arm but not lost enough not to notice her blushing, which made him grin. He had to admit that having that kind of influence on someone made him feel special. But he likewise knew that if she made well placed remarks, she could do the same to him. That thought was even more exciting, really. It indicated his esteem for her. After he’d tweaked her nose, he couldn’t help but wrinkle his own cutely at her response and put his arm around her briefly to squeeze her shoulder. “Aww, come on. Only because you sweeten me up,” He remarked to her comment about him being the sweetest.

Speaking of which, he’d given her his jacket when she’d said she was cold, but he help up his hands as she protested. “The vest is warm. I have more clothes on than you anyway, so letting you borrow my jacket is no big deal.” A moment, then after a few things, they were on the subject of Kassia. She was interesting, and he liked her as a friend since she was the one who’d created Garnet and Alexandros for him, the two swords he prized above many things. Well, except maybe the girl at his side. However, he found himself nodding at her assessment of the Vulcan daughter. “Yeah. I’m glad she got the chance to make the masks, because it means she got to do something not involving war. Besides, I guess I'll have to thank her for making a mask that makes you look so lovely.” He ran his finger of the metal on her cheek, not discerning her blush.

They departed soon after, heading towards the building that was lit in lively colors and decorations. His question hung on the air as they’d stopped before the door, and he hoped the answer would be a measure of confidence in her ability, since he actually loved to dance. He assessed her expression as she heard her nervous laughter, realizing that she was worried about her abilities. Well, that was actually okay too, he decided. It meant more closeness and getting to know her as he lead, but he also had a suspicion, which he voiced to her now. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s actually probably not as bad as you’re thinking, though. I’ve found that dancing is a lot like fighting, especially if you have a graceful style. Fluid movements without the interruption of the strikes. Like going through sword drills, just with flourish. You know what I mean?” He hoped she did, and also that he didn’t sound incredibly flamboyant in saying this. He didn’t care so much if it made her feel more confident though.

His smile quickly turned a little roguish, however. “If you’re really bad though, it just means I’ll have to hold you very close and help you learn.” He liked the idea of having to be close to her. Once they had turned in his jacket to the coat check, he opened the next door leading to the ballroom to a flash of bright colors of dresses whirling and the pounding of music. He took her hand and squeezed it, turning to look at her. “Ready for this?”

Words: 667
Tag: Val
Notes: .oO( Sorry it's a little shorter! But here ya go!)

[val]

There was one thing that Valerie Smyth could say with certainty. In all her time here at Camp Jupiter, or just alive in general, she never would have seen herself falling so completely for anyone. Mush just wasn’t her style. Or so she’d thought. Now come to find, with Zidane in the picture, she actually had the motivation to care that much about someone. And to want to make sure they knew it too. Acting like this, this was never something she would have expected from herself. Somehow Zidane seemed to take to this like he was meant for it, though. He’d always been known for being flirty, but this was something else. He seemed a natural at real relationships too.

She smiled to herself as she held his jacket close around her. Whatever weird luck brought her to where she was tonight, she thanked every god out there for it. “Alright, if you say so.” She nodded as he talked about Kassia. It was all true, of course. Kassia made the most gorgeous things. She’d seen some of the non-weapon things, besides the masks tonight, that she’d made in the past. It was amazing how she could work the metal into such intricate. Though, in typical Zidane fashion it seemed, he managed to turn it into a compliment. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to that. “You’re just extremely biased.” Though she smiled all the same.

The walk was pleasant, even if they didn’t talk. It was just nice being near him. To be perfectly honest, she would have been fine if they didn’t get to the dance itself for a long while. Maybe she’d have to see if he just wanted to go for a walk sometime. Or would that seem like a totally weird question? She really had no idea what the usual ropes were for this dating thing. What did people normally do on dates? Not that it mattered to her too terribly much, as she was perfectly content just hanging out, anywhere from training and drills to just walking together like now. She just hoped she didn’t bore him to death with her lack of imagination in the fun stuff to do on dates department. He didn’t seem the type to be shaken by such a thing, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want to make him happy.

Then there came the dancing question. Alright, so that definitely made things a little more challenging. All this while, she’d been focusing on getting ready for the dance without even thinking about the fact that she had no clue what she would do once she got there. Though when he started describing it, it didn’t seem like it would be the pulling dragon teeth like she was afraid it would. To be honest, it sounded, dare she say, straightforward. Or at least, more than it had a minute ago. She was silent for a moment, just pondering it. And the fact that Zidane was a genius with knowing just how to calm her nerves. When his smile changed a little, though, she raised an eyebrow at him, only to have her question answered a moment later. At his suggestion, she couldn’t help but grin a little, that old self stuffed in the corner of her mind seriously thinking she’d lost it, but she no longer cared. “Well, then. Not to insult your actually quite helpful explanation, but can we just assume I’m really bad to start with?” She knew she certainly wouldn’t mind using that as an excuse.

She gave up his jacket to the coat check and swallowed the lump that was trying to grow in her throat as Zidane pushed the door open. To say her nerves were back was an understatement. At no point in the process of preparing, or in thinking about the dancing itself just a couple minutes ago, had she really taken the time to realize that there would be a lot of people here. A lot of people that would see her make a fool of herself on top of being unnaturally girly and very un-Bellona like. For a second, she wasn’t so sure about this whole dance idea anymore. Then Zidane took her hand and she looked over at him. And it struck her that it didn’t really matter what the other people thought of her. The only opinion that really mattered was his, and that he had a good time. And she’d manage crowds and being a bit girly for a night for that any day. She smiled and nodded. “Ready when you are.”

WORD COUNT: 767
TAG: Zidane

[zidane]

“Aww, maybe I am biased. But doesn’t make it any less true!” Zidane poked his pointer finger in the air as he stated his prerogative, knowing that he had a goofy expression on his face as he said it. It was somewhat in hopes of helping his date relax because he had a feeling that all of this being rather new for both of them might occasionally feel overwhelming, but also because he just had a natural knack for goofing off. What was life when it was too serious? Boring is what. And this night definitely didn’t fit a bill that called for boredom. It was nice to note that his beautiful date was smiling, though.

He had to admit that the walk, albeit a bit silent, was extraordinarily pleasant. Arm in arm, it seemed like an activity that would easily inspire a closeness between them as it was now, and he secretly filed that observation away for later use. Maybe if they got tired of dancing pretty quickly, it was a descent plan b. Before opening the doors to the main dance hall, Zidane took a moment to rub her arm reassuringly, but the rogue smile was locked in place when, after his explanation and detailing of the consequences of being a no-good dancer, Val opted for pretending she had no idea how to dance. Well, maybe she really wasn’t sure how, but he had his suspicions that with her sword skills, she’d be passable to excellent in relatively little time. In the meantime though, he’d relish in getting to teach her a thing or two, but secretly hoped it wouldn’t involve avoidance of toe-smashing. He had to admit, the heels on Val’s shoes looked painful.

Taking her hand, has he pushed the doors open, Zidane led her into the crowded ballroom. He took in in and was honestly surprised that the Romans would put a spectacle like this on at all, which made him wonder what other parts of Roman life had been left at the wayside in favor of militarism. He did note that the colors and such seemed a bit clashy and that most of the foods seemed incongruously cutesy for a tradition of decorum and ruggedness he usually associated with Romans, but whatever. He continued to sweep his gaze around the room looking for familiar faces, especially because the music that was playing at the moment was not his idea of great dancing music; who actually thought a Taylor Swift breakup song was? Seriously, DJ?

He found himself waving at a few familiar faces as he leaned over and spoke in Val’s ear over the noise, “Hey, I think we should grab a table for now, and I can get us some punch? This music is dismal for dancing. Hopefully something better comes on next.” He started skirting around the dance floor in search of an empty table that looked fairly promising, feeling a little disappointed at first because the ones closest to them were littered with all kinds of paraphernalia that indicated that all seats were occupied. He continued his search, still occasionally distracted by friendly greetings directed at them both (at least he thought so) but it seemed like they were mostly out of luck on this side of the room.

However, getting closer to the back of the room with a little more searching, he spotted a few empty tables near the refreshments, which suited him just fine. He started off for it with Valerie’s hand still clasped in his and looked back at her to make sure she was faring okay. All he knew was that in the building under the new lighting, she looked even better than before. He wasn’t really sure how that was possible, but it was true. A slow smile crept up on his lips and he squeezed her hand, turning back to make it to the table. Once there, he smoothly pulled a seat out for her in case she wanted to take a seat for a moment and get acclimated with the room. Maybe he was babying her a little bit, but he figured that it was a formal dance and guys were supposed to treat their dates like a princess, an ideal he was only too happy to oblige to. "Is this okay?"

Word Count: 716
Tag: Valerie

[val]

Valerie was definitely grateful for Zidane holding her hand. Crowds were not her friend. Which was ironic probably because she’d had no problem competing in the annual Ludi Romani in front of a Coliseum packed with campers and New Roman citizens. That was different, though. That was battle, basic training exercises in competition form. This was… dancing. Though if it was as Zidane had described, which she didn’t doubt his word in the slightest, this shouldn’t be horribly different. She gave his hand a quick squeeze, looking around the crowd of more people than she’d expected to find. Who knew Romans could get into this sort of stuff. And it was pretty obvious they had been repressing it long enough because all the pent up lack of taste had more or less barfed all over this place. The excess of what she would easily dub ‘mushy crap’ would normally have been reason enough to leave, but the guy at her side made it much easier to want to stay.

“Yeah, I’d say a table sounds great,” she said back, hoping he could hear her alright. “No, this music really doesn’t really seem good for dancing.” her first real date and they had to be playing a break-up song? Really? She was fairly confident that couldn’t be a bad omen or whatever. Maybe it was a little early to tell, so admitting out loud was definitely out of the question, but at the moment she saw absolutely nothing that might have a chance of making her not want to be with Zidane. She paused. How on earth had she even gotten on that topic? No, she was pretty confident that as long as she had a say in it, she and Zidane would be together for a long while.

She stayed by his side as he talked with a few people and tried to join in the conversation here and there even though she was hardly to be called as popular as him. He was the type, it seemed, to feel free to talk to anyone, while she usually didn’t start conversations. It wasn’t that she minded, not at all. She actually kind of liked the opportunity to meet people she’d never really bothered with before. She had a few friends there that she paused to say hello to, one or two of them obviously surprised to see her here with the quite well-known Zidane Quinn, but none of them mentioned it. Well, except for Becky, who decided she had to tell them no less than three times that they looked adorable together. Val was glad she didn’t feel her face get too hot at that.

He was the first to spot the empty table and she was more than happy go along. She wasn’t about to admit the weakness, but walking on heels was not what she would call pleasant, even if she’d gone with a relatively low pair. Some of those shoes they had for sale looked more like torture devices than footwear. When he looked back at her, she couldn’t help but smile. The way the light played across his features, the dash of surprisingly tame golden hair, eyes like pools in moonlight, all highlighted by the striking black and gold mask. The whole thing made him look ethereal, like he didn’t even belong to this bland world.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile when he pulled a chair out for her. “Such a gentleman.” She took a seat and scooted the chair in, trying to discreetly free her feet at least a little bit from her shoes for a moment at least. She looked up to him, expecting him to sit down as well. “You’d think they would pick slightly better music for the occasion. So, what now? Until they play something a little more dance-able?” Which caused a whole new set of butterflies. She would hate herself forever if she stepped on his feet.

WORD COUNT: 660
TAG: Zidane the amazing!!
NOTE: the scene is bringing back memories of tv-show proms o.o lol