perfectly beautiful little lady

an maybe interwinding their fingers when she took his hand wasn’t the smartest of choices. maybe holding it daintily in his hand, marveling at the touch wasn’t his greatest of moments. perhaps he should of pulled away and gone on somewhere where his heart would remain untouched. an yet, how could his heart remain untouched when it had left him long ago. so he smiled. he smiled knowing that were he stay by her side for the rest of the night that smile would remain with him long after it had ended.

“oh? you mean to say you want to dance with…with me?” he pointed his finger back towards him, a small shocked but pleased look in his eyes. orange juice forgotten by the side, eyes lost in the soft tones of her gaze. taking one small step closer towards her, wanting that moment to last until it couldn’t. “i’d love to.”

.

her eyes fall down to their hands as he interlocks their fingers, but layla doesn’t complain - rather gives his hand another small squeeze to show her approval of the move. it’s probably not the smartest move, not on either of their parts, but she’s too tipsy to care. or at least, that’s the excuse she’ll tell herself later on when she questions what had brought her to do all of this. the reality was though... layla wouldn’t have pulled away even if she were sober. perhaps she’d behave a bit more cautiously, but she had never been able to fully control herself when it came to him.

“yes with you,” she answered with a light laugh. how it was hades couldn’t see just how much he still meant to her after all these years, layla would never know. as he moved closer, she made what was for her a bold move and took another step towards him as well. small but still more than what she would have done any other time. “shall we go to the dancefloor or make one of our own right here?”

she’s honestly a little surprised when Layla gives in so easily, fully expecting her best friend to put up more of a fight about it. but, she’s not about to start complaining. “it’ll be the weakest thing on the menu.” mel adds to be nice, smiling brightly in a silent thank you. “oh, you mean you don’t want to have a weird run in with your exe again? who would’ve thought.” she teases. it’s rare that layla finds herself in these sorts of awkward situations, so she can’t help but poke fun of this one. but even Layla’s version of mess is lightyears less complicated than mel’s.

though layla doubts that mel will actual stick with the weakest drink the bar has to offer, she appreciates her best friend trying to make the situation better. not that it was going to be an ordeal - of that layla was determined - but since she herself had plans to drink a bit tonight, it only seemed fair to allow the other woman to do the same. “none of my run ins have been weird,” she argues, frowning a little as she turns to look at mel as they move to get in line for the bar. “besides, who even knows if they’re here tonight.” except they would be - there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that both hades and hercules would be at this event. “but no. it’s probably for the best that we both avoid any exes or other men along those lines.”

nick had been content to keep to himself all night, only getting pulled out of his seat by vanellope who insisted they dance every once in a while. ralph had long ago ditched him (despite the fact that he came here to keep him company) and nick had stopped caring about that tidbit shortly after. so when layla approaches, he can’t necessarily say he’s surprised but somehow he still is. “yeah, i am.” he looks up at her quizzically. despite how little he cares for things ilke these, he;d shown up to every one prior, so why would this one be any different. “oh. fair. but vanellope wanted ralph to come and ralph threatened to squish my head like a grape if i didn’t suffer with him,” a vast overexxageration. there wasn’t a single part of nick that found ralph threatening, and even more so ralph had long given up his days of coming off as anything other than his dorky old self. but he would never pass up on an opportunity to make ralph look bad. “you’re here without a ten year old attached to you?” 

hades had seen her the moment he’d stepped onto the ballroom. there was a certain feeling of inevitability when it came to her. his eyes would drift across the people and suddenly find her again, something that both hurt and frustrated him. why had the years not been kinder on him? letting go had been a mistake he owned, but why couldn’t the world forgive and make him forget. it was how he knew that she had seen it. it was how his chest compressed until no air could escape or enter, watching her as she made her way to him. it was in the way she grinned up at him stealing everything away from him. his words. his heart. his air. everything belonged to her.

an so, he beamed. he beamed down at her because of course he’d stay all night. he’d stay all night if that was what she wanted. he’d stay and never go. “i am,” he whispered, nodding. “ah. dancing. well that’s a thing right? i haven’t, no” 

though him simply still being here so close to midnight was confirmation in and of itself that hades would likely be staying the entire night, hearing him say it still brought on a rush of excitement. it shouldn’t - layla shouldn’t care either way whether he stayed or not. but she did. far more than she had any right to. even if she were sober she would have been happy to see him enjoying himself, but in her tipsy state layla was elated. 

Hercules nodded as she spoke. “That’s great, I’m-” He almost wanted to say he was proud of her but that would be weird, right? Or maybe he was just overthinking it. “I’m not surprised.” He finally decided on. “You were always super smart. Way smarter than me.” He chuckled. His smile grew at the mention of the Olympics, straightening his posture. “Yeah! I still can’t believe I managed to get us in.” And he had Phil to thank for that, he never would have thought that it was something he was capable of. Actually doing something substantial. “There are so many talented people on this island. I’m excited.” He was a little taken aback at the offer for him to meet her sister, even though he was the one who brought her up in the first place. He wasn’t opposed to it, quite the opposite, it just wasn’t something he was expecting. “Really? I mean, I’d love that.” He chuckled. “I can’t imagine she knows who I am though…”

Her head dips down once more to hide her smile at the compliment, though at his laugh Layla looks back up. “I can,” she response, not at all surprised that Hercules had gotten the island into the Olympics. He always had far more potential than he let himself believe in - it was something Layla had seen in him since even before they were together. It was the reason she’d been so supportive of his decision to leave the island in the first place all those years ago. Laughing herself, she shakes her head a bit at the way he downplays his own celebrity status. “Oh, she definitely knows who you are.” Of course not in relation to Layla - she’s never told the younger Deare girl about the fact that she once dated the now-famed athlete - but he was still famous enough to be on Eleanor’s radar. “Though I will warn you, there will likely be a lot of selfies involved in this meeting.”

a soft laugh escapes her lips as layla looks up from her computer over at the man sitting across the desk from her. “then i suggest you don’t look outside,” she comments with a small smirk. glancing back at her screen, she hesitates for the briefest of seconds before clicking save and closing the laptop shut. “though i could potentially arrange that cold drink, if you wanted.” it probably wasn’t the smartest idea in the world - but it was almost christmas and she certainly deserved a break of some kind, as did nick as far as she was concerned. and it’s not like he was going to rat her out anyway and there was no one else still left in the building besides the two of them. it wasn’t a move layla would have ever made on her own - but something about being around nick just always brought out the more adventurous side of her. “i may not be partner yet but i still know where all the liquor is hidden around here.” @nickswildbro

she shouldn’t be here - standing right here with hercules as if it were the most natural thing in the world or even at this party in general. she shouldn’t be drinking as much as she was. she shouldn’t be letting herself fall  for something as silly as a moment under the mistletoe. but yet here she was - doing all of those things. and as she looked up at the plant above them then directly at herc himself, all layla could do was smile. “you know a lady never makes the first move,” she reminds him, leaving it to him to decide what they were going to do. despite the fact that she knew exactly how she wanted this to end. @wcnderboy

fighting back a small laugh at the disdain in candice’s words, layla turned to look at her friend. “i would ask why did you arrange to have some here, but i’m sure it was likely an error on one of your employees parts,” she comments as she brings her own cup of eggnog up to her lips for a small sip. it’s not a favorite of hers but she much prefers it over the bright red punch that was the other option. “are you enjoying the party at least? no one’s gotten drunk enough to start caroling yet - that’s always a good sign.”

frowning at the laptop screen, layla’s mind went right into argumentative mode. “but you aren’t coming home for christmas and there’s no point in wasting money to ship it all the way over here, so who knows when you’ll actually be able to get it to me,” she points out, a case slowly building as she goes. “so really, in the spirit of christmas, the best thing to do is just tell me what you got me.” a sudden thought occurs to her and layla debates vocalizing it for a moment - torn between knowing this new idea is the right thing to do and also wanting to win her original argument... in the end she decides that mel would enjoy the former more. “or i suppose we could wait. and then on christmas we video chat again and unwrap our presents for each other.” @mel-ancholymuse

“Yeah..” Her words hadn’t fully registered in Hercules’s mind when he spoke, still a little caught up in the excitement of seeing her again. Although he tried his best not to make it too obvious. “Busy. I bet. You’re a uh… you’re a lawyer now, right?” He questioned, already knowing the answer to the question. “How long have you been doing that?” His smile only got bigger at the mention of her family, chuckling. “God, yeah. She’s what, ten now? Has it really been that long?” The thought of her sister, who he last saw as a newborn, in double digits now really put into perspective just how long it had been since he saw her. “Yeah, they’re- they’re great. They’ve been putting me to work around their house but I’m happy to help. It’s the least I can do, you know?” His heart swelled with pride as he talked about his parents. “I spend more time at their house than my own apartment.”

The polite smile on her lips softens a bit, though Layla isn’t fully surprised that he would know she was a lawyer now. She may not yet be a partner within the firm, but she was certainly one of their top attorneys. Not that she goes around bragging about that - but between the way she handles herself in court for their higher client cases and how many pro-bono ones she takes on herself, Layla had certainly created a reputation for herself on the island. One that she was more than aware Hercules’s parents knew of, considering she still saw them at least one a month. Which may be weird and was probably something she should bring up right now, but how do you go about dropping something like that? Especially during their first reunion… So instead she simply pushes the thought aside and focuses on the conversation at hand. “Yes, I’m a lawyer. Have been for about six years now,” she answers proudly. “And you’re working with the Olympics, correct?” It’s a question she also already knows the answer to, but feels impolite not asking. At the mention of her sister’s age, Layla nods. “Yeah, she’s ten. Turning eleven soon.” There’s a moment's pause as she considers her next words, contemplating whether she should even say them or not. It may make things weird between them if she does - but weren’t they already a bit on edge? Surely it wouldn’t hurt too much. “If you ever want to meet her, I’m sure she’d love to see you. She’s not that huge into sports but I think she’d consider you close enough to a celebrity that she’d kill me for not offering to introduce you to her.”

Maybe it was her smile. Maybe it was the way she said yes. Or maybe it was the fact that even after all the time apart she still felt as inevitable as she did at the start. All he knew was that in that moment all he wanted was to give in and spend time with her. Selfish. Yes. It was selfish of him to want to spend time with her after he ended things in such a way so long ago, but he didn’t care. In those seconds he’d give himself onto the selfish need of being around her. An so a smile just spread across his face, giving into the feeling of being with her.

“Honestly i don’t even know?” he laughed, looking away. The hole in his stomach probably had nothing to do with hunger, and everything to do with her. “I was thinking about tasting a little of everything in the stalls, but if you want we can go into the dinning hall instead?” Eyes just bright, permanent smile on his face feeling himself just soften in that moment.

“A little tasting of everything sounds good,” she decides easily, always wanting to support the smaller businesses and those that gave up the chance of enjoying the festival to work the booths. It was why Layla also did so much of her Christmas shopping during this particular event. But as a rush of wind blows through them and a shiver runs down her spine, she starts to question that decision. For the time being she’s willing to tough it out, but as they start walking towards the direction of the food stalls the snow seemingly out of nowhere begins to fall twice as hard. 

Wrapping her arms around herself and tugging her coat a bit tighter, Layla’s mind is quickly changed. “Actually… maybe we should head inside,” she suggests, offering him a small and apologetic smile. “If that’s alright with you?” It likely would be considering he was the one that gave the option of going to the dinning hall in the first place, but she still wants to make sure. Back when they were together, what felt almost like a lifetime ago, it was easier for her to just make the decisions between them at times - but now she felt that was no longer her place. Over the years she’d never been exactly certain where she stood with Hades - what they were or meant to each other anymore - and had always been careful not to cross any lines she potentially shouldn’t.