#fall formal

Orctober- Fall Formal. 

Your name was Brianna Wright and you sat at your lunch table, by yourself, eating and doing homework so you didn’t have to do it at home, listening to the music on your phone through your headphones and drowning out the roar of the other students, most of which were sitting with their partners discussing details of the fall formal and since you were painfully single, you did your best to drown them out while trying to not let it get on your nerves before you took a break and snuck a peek at where your crush usually sat at his table not too far away but he wasn’t sitting there, he must still be going through the lunch line you supposed before you turned back to your homework. It was your first week back to school in your senior year and you noticed how everyone seemed to settle in. Couples had split and come together over summer break and made new friends and lost old ones. Things changed and yet stayed the same. 

Your crush was none other than Kihro Soche, an orc who actually worked for your dad along with Kihro’s dad Kidron who was a partner with your Dad’s business and operated his own sister branch downtown, the first to do so several years ago. Hell everyone at Kihro’s table worked for your dad because their dad’s worked for your dad and they were their own father’s apprentices. It’s not that they were mean to you or picked on you, no, far from, they were always polite, both on the job site and in school but that was as far as it went because while all of you were friendly, you just weren’t...friends, or at least you felt they weren’t. Despite your dad’s success and your own younger sister’s popularity, you were surprisingly a loner. You were all business while you were in school and on the job site and you took your own education seriously, which meant you were dream for the teachers who often got you to tutor the jocks, most of which were orcs- to make sure they stayed on their athletic teams, while your teaches handled the trouble makers. Because of this you were neither bullied- nor popular because the only time anyone joined you at your table was when they wanted something from you, usually academic help. You lost count of how many “I owe you one’s” you had with half of all the teams in the school but you were never going to be one to call in those favors. 

But despite all this Kihro was special. He wasn’t on any teams and he never asked you for help with anything because he was not only very intelligent himself but he was also more or less the leader of his group. You liked to suppose that if this was a few hundred years ago that Kidron would be an orc cheiftan and Kihro would be the next cheif after his dad stepped down. You had known him for several years as well and he had been to your house when your dad made Kidron a partner in the business and it was your first big “official” meal that you had cooked. Kihro had been with you when you collapsed on a job site this past spring, Kihro was the first one to get to you and actually picked you up and had woken you up and held you as your dad called 911 and he had carried you to the ambulance and his family had visited you in the hospital after that. That’s when your crush on him started, at the tender age of 16 and now that you were 17, it didn’t show any sign of letting up, it just got worse. But while he was always friendly with you and when you had been on the job site together you two worked really really well together but that’s where it appeared to stop and every day you just accepted that you two were just too different and that as much as you fantasized about you two getting together, it was never going to happen. He just wasn’t interested. 

Your dad was a plumber by trade, a master plumber at that and he co-owned Wright Plumbing with your Papa, your mom’s dad- Larry Franks and together they ran the biggest- and in your opinion, the best- plumbing business for the west side of the Great Lakes Region. Your dad employed about 75 other plumbers, almost all of them journeymen in their own right and allowed them to bring their own children- the vast majority of them being sons- along with friends and family into the business too as their apprentices. Your dad had hired about a dozen orcs and a half dozen dwarves and other halflings at first, all of them remained and were now running their own branches of the business in the different communities and in the decade since then, the business grew and expanded almost exponentially. Your dad didn’t care what clan these orcs came from either, he employed everyone who was competent and because of this, he was able to hire from all the clans in the area and they all got along for the sake of the business and wore their uniforms with pride and because of the physical nature of the business, orcs, dwarves and halflings also had the intelligence, intuition and strength and stamina needed for the work and they always gave the best results while having high ethics and morals while doing so. Your dad made sure all of them were protected by the union, had very generous wages, large enough to solely and very comfortably- support large families on. The business also had the best health, vision, dental and life insurances the company could get, they got sick leave, maternity leave and even their apprentices made good money- often double minimum wage just to start out and then going to triple with experience, skill and expertise and a lot of these apprentices got headstarts on their own journeyman’s license requirements, many of them getting their liscences once they graduated high school. 

To celebrate the business’ success, your dad often hosted company picnics every summer, they had been potluck at first but as the company grew and became successful, the more he could afford to put into them and make them the blow out events they were- that were the highlight of the year for his employees. Your dad had competition BBQ joints come in and cater to the event, roasting hundreds of whole hogs and a couple hundred chickens that got fried and barbequed and got dozens of kegs of different kinds of beer too in addition to it still being a potluck. You had wanted to work up the courage of asking Kihro to dance with you at the company picnic but your dad had you working the grill for most of it, grilling your body weight in steaks over a dozen times over all day, which you actually enjoyed doing because you loved to cook and worked wonders with meat but you just never got the chance to get away long enough to ask Kihro to dance with you and you knew there was no way he was going to ask you to a school dance and at the end of the night you just accepted that it was your fate to be forever alone and so close but so far from what you wanted. And with your health being as bad and as fragile as it was now, you knew there was no way you were going to go into plumbing as a career yourself so the only times you saw Kihro was either at school- which you were going to be graduating early from in a few short months, or at the company picnics or home shows. That was it, so you accepted the fact that eventually you’d drift apart and be strangers at some point and grow out of this silly crush. And you were scared of asking him and him rejecting you or asking in front of his friends and all of them telling their dads who would then report it to your dad. You were stuck and there was little to nothing you could do about it other than accept the situation as what it was. 

What you didn’t know is Kihro had been crushing on you hard for the last 5 years. There was a reason he was the first one to you when you collapsed on the work site, because he had been watching you for a long time and knew that something was wrong for months and when you had dropped to the ground, he had dropped what he had been holding and ran like the wind to get to you and he picked you up and cradled you to his chest and would not let you go and it wasn’t until the paramedics came that he finally gave up his hold on you and he had been the one to really push his family to visit you at the hospital and to see you so sick and practically skin and bones and so close to death, had nearly broken him and he had never prayed so much in his life for you to pull through. Swearing to any god that would listen that if you could pull through, he would do whatever it took to take care of you and never have you this close to death or danger again. But his dad forbade him from doing anything about his attraction to you and he made good money and was able to save a small fortune as an apprentice but it wasn’t nearly what he expected your father to demand for a guy like him to be interested in his daughter. Because while your dad was relaxed and easy going at work, he was especially protective of you and your sisters. 

Kihro had wanted to ask you to dance at the company picnics for years now too but his dad had shut him down every time and he knew your dad’s rules of not dating while in school but to hear that you were going to be graduating early after first semester, before winter formal- since your dad had casually mentioned it to his dad, he knew his window of opportunity was going to shut forever and if he didn’t ask you to at least one school dance- he felt like he was going to die, hell- he’d dance with you in the middle of this lunchroom if he thought you wouldn’t die of embarrassment. He tried to get as close to you as he could, when in class, he tried to pair up with you when you were in the same classes together and tried to be as friendly and nice to you as he could be without being creepy or causing any suspicion on your part and he just ADORED you. To him, you were already perfect and already the girl of his dreams because you were humble, sweet, kind, intelligent and had a great sense of humor and you could cook like nobody’s business and you were great with your little sisters and fantastic with his younger siblings and you just oozed ‘mom’ vibes which he was really into. One of his teachers had said that with women there were a couple of types- the fun kind that you dated and the marrying kind and to him, you were both. He had questioned his attraction at first, thinking it was only because you were the “boss’ daughter” and “off limits”, things he couldn’t have- according to his father and everyone else who worked for your dad and he had thought that he only wanted you because he couldn’t have you. But the longer this attraction lasted and the more he thought about it and pondered it, the more he realized that he really didn’t care if you were the boss’ daughter or not. Wright Plumbing could go down and out of business tomorrow and that wouldn’t change how he felt about you because you were an amazing person all on your own and it was your own personality’s merits that attracted him so strongly.

But he and the others were just...scared, scared of rejection, scared of your dad, scared of their own dads and any retaliation they might experience if they even tried to ask you out. But Kihro was done being scared and yesterday had been his journeyman’s license exam and he had passed it with flying colors and he was ready and prepared just in case this blew up in his face. Because as a journeyman there were other plumbing companies that would hire him, granted not for as much as your dad offered his journeyman’s plumbers that had been with him for a few years but it would still be a living that he could support himself in case this went south. So here he stood, kind of frozen in fear after getting through the lunch line and so nauseated from his anxiety he couldn’t even look at his food as he looked from his friends who were giving him the thumbs up and nodding over to the table you were sitting on before he forced his feet to move forward, mentally counting down the steps as he mentally rehearsed what he was going to say to you over and over in his head. He really didn’t want to screw this up. 

It wasn’t until you noticed movement in your peripheral vision that you looked up and nearly let the food in your mouth fall out as your jaw practically dropped as you realized he was walking towards you before he sat down across from you. 

“Hi,” he greeted you and you could tell he was nervous and you started to worry that maybe you were about to be the victim of a prank and he could see the fear in your eyes and it made his anxiety whirl in chest even more. 

“Hi…” You answered slowly after you swallowed before you just subconsciously held your breath, waiting for the floor to drop.  

“Um, look, I just...I wanted to ask you if you’d like to be my date for the fall formal.” He blurted out so quickly you didn’t really catch it. 

“What?” You asked as you leaned forward and tried to focus harder on him over the roar of the other students. 

“I wanted to ask you to be my date for the fall formal.” He repeated as you frowned in confusion. 

“Uh...is this...some kind of trick or a joke or a dare or did you lose a bet or…?” You asked as you were more confused than anything and looked from him to the other table he usually sat at and saw them all staring before they tried to look away and act casual which for you was a red flag as panic gripped your own chest as you looked from them back to Kihro worriedly. 

“No! No, I didn’t lose any bets, this isn’t a dare or a joke or a prank or anything like that, I swear. I would never dream of doing any of that, especially to you. No uh. I just....look, it’s senior year and my dad said that he had overheard your dad say that you were graduating early and so you won’t be in school for the winter formal or prom, otherwise I would be asking you to go with me to that, but um, I know you usually don’t go to the school dances and I know your dad is really strict with you about the whole dating thing but it’s senior year and I’ve chickened out the last few years and if I don’t at least ask you to one dance before you’re gone for good- I’m always going to wonder what might have happened if I just asked or hate myself for never having the guts to ask out the one girl who deserves to have fun the most because you work just as much and just as hard as I do. And please, don’t think I’m asking this, thinking that you’ll put in a good word for me with your dad either and this has nothing to do with the plumbing side of your life, I just...I just wanted to ask you to the dance.” He confessed and you wanted to cry tears of relief and happiness because holy shit, you had to be dreaming, you must have passed out again and hit your head, this had to be a fantasy, there is no way this was real. Any moment now you’re gonna shake your head out of your haze and see that you were indeed still alone at your table and had imagined all of this. 

“Really?” You asked, almost afraid you were dreaming as you finally exhaled and took a few deep breaths to catch your breath again. 

“Yeah,” He nodded. “So...what do you say?” He asked, both hope and fear clearly on his face as he in turn held his breath. 

“Yes.” You agreed. 

“Really?” He lit up with the brightest, most excited smile you had ever seen him wear. 

“Yes really.” You laughed. 

“Ok, thank you, thank you so so so much, oh gods, I was about ready to have a stroke and pass out, that was harder than the journeyman’s license test.” He breathed in relief and held his stomach and put his other hand over his racing heart that had been pounding so hard in his chest he feared it was going to break his ribs as he caught his own breath and finally relaxed. 

“And did you pass?” You asked curiously. 

“I did, with a 98.” He answered proudly which made you clap in excitement. 

“That’s awesome, I’m really happy for you.” You offered. 

“Thanks.” He smiled bashfully before he dug into his meal, finally getting his appetite back as did you too before you tried to figure out matching outfits, of course now that you were having this conversation yourself, this kind of thing stopped annoying you as you exchanged phone numbers to stay in touch. 

“So if you’ve been wanting to ask me to the school dances for a few years, why is it just now that you’re coming over here and actually talking to me?” You asked as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 

“Because I’ve been a scared and gutless piece of shit being too scared of your dad and what he could do to me if it didn’t go well.” He answered honestly as you frowned. 

“My dad separates his home life and his business life pretty well, besides, I have absolutely no say in anything to do with Wright Plumbing, I think the worst you’d ever have to face is him giving you the “rules for taking my daughter out” talk. Like that’s it. Now I would worry for you from your clan’s side because if you fuck up bad enough, I know the clan self polices themselves. But from my dad’s side, no, I don’t think you have that much to worry about, not really. I mean, I do, because he’s the head of my family and I live under his roof and he has always tried to control every aspect of my life so please don’t do anything that I would catch grief over but we’re both practically adults, I think we can trust ourselves and each other to behave as such.” You reassured him as he had a look on his face you couldn’t really read.

“Well, then let me reassure you that I would never dream of ever stepping out of line and do anything inappropriate with you so you don’t have anything to worry about from me but you’re not wrong about the clan thing, they would bury my ass in a hill if I ever did anything to jeopardize their position with the plumbing business.” He confessed. 

“Well, considering all of that, you’re risking a lot just to ask me to a dance. If our positions were reversed, I don’t know if I would have the guts to do what you just did. I mean it took me nearly dying for my dad to realize that plumbing was not for me and I worry about all the apprentices that work under their fathers because granted plumbing is a good skill and a good trade and something that you can make a really good living off of but I worry that it’s been forced onto you guys like it was forced onto me and how many would leave if they woke up one morning and realized it wasn’t what they wanted to do with their lives but they’re afraid they won’t find anything else that will pay as much as my dad does or maybe if they wanted to be artists or clothing designers or restaurateurs or just..any other profession than their dad’s profession that they won’t get the same support.” You reasoned and Kihro was dumbstruck by how profound your statement was because that was very much an issue a lot of them dealt with, granted he personally didn't, but still. He realized that they were wrong to not socialize with you for fear you'd expose that to either your father or theirs. 

“So..what are you going to be doing then?” He asked curiously as he leaned forward to really listen to what you had to say as you mirrored him and leaned forward to and now you felt like you were in kissing distance. But he probably wouldn’t be down for that. 

“Medical massage therapy. I’m going to White Heron. That’s just off of Westnidge.” You answered proudly as Kihro’s eyebrows shot up in surprise but a smile bloomed on his face. 

“Wow, that’s...not anything like plumbing.” He chuckled. 

“I know right? Kind of the point. It was either that or engineering school to design roller coasters.” You shrugged as Kihro barked an amused laugh. 

“Well both seem like a lot of work but a lot of fun, would you be comfortable enough to practice your massage on me though?” He asked boldly but hopefully because the thought of having you massage him sounded like heaven, although how he wasn’t going to pop a boner while you did so was going to be the hardest part unless you just needed private homework practice, he’d be all about that. 

“Yeah I would, White Heron has a spa so the students can get their required practice hours in, it’ll be a few months before I’m allowed to give massages but they’re only $35 for 50 minutes. But again, both of us will have to be professional during the treatment.” You nodded as your cheeks stained rose while your own smile turned a bit bashful. 

“Yeah, I think we can do that.” He grinned with a nod as your grin mirrored his before his grin turned mischievous and he gave you a quick peck on the lips right before the bell rang, blanking your mind of all rational thought and reason. 

“Huh…?” You swooned breathelessly as your eyes fluttered back open and Kihro was both smug but also biting his lip because he was kicking himself for not doing that sooner, especially for you to have that reaction to him before he leaned forward and kissed you again, this time, you took a firm hold of his shirt and really kissed him back. Not believing that Kihro was the one to give you your first kiss and what a kiss it was. Unfortunately you don’t have any more classes with him for the rest of the day. 

You felt like you floated the rest of the day and got home and started dinner and couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Hey Brie, how was school?” Your dad asked when he came home and peeked into what you were cooking. 

“It was good, Kihro told me he passed his journeyman’s license yesterday with a 98.” You reported proudly. 

“Yeah I know, I put together a sign on package for him that he should be signing this weekend.” He answered. 

“Oh good, he’s been a really good employee for how long now?” You tried to ask casually. 

“Oh a good five years, now that he’s a journeyman, he’ll probably be Kidron’s second in command of the downtown branch.” Your father predicted. 

“Good. So if he asked me to the fall formal, you’d be ok with it then?” You presumed before your father did a complete 180 and nearly snapped his neck whipping his head to the side to look at you incredulously 

“He did what?” He asked. 

“Kihro, the guy you’ve employed for the last 5 years, who’s father has been working for you for 12, who you’ve known since he was 5, who’s father is one of your most trusted OG’s, from one of the few families who came and visited me in the hospital and it was Kihro who got to me first when I collapsed and it was Kihro who knew something was wrong with me before anyone else did and it was Kihro who carried me to the ambulance himself, asked me to a school dance, I can go with him right?” You repeated. 

“You’re too young to date.” Came your father’s reply as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

“I am aware of that rule of no dating while I'm in high school. And this is a dance for one night, there will be chaperones, I’m sure you’ll be demanding that Grace come with me which I’m cool with. You already track where I am on my phone constantly, have I not done enough to earn your trust so that I can use my own judgement on something like this? Hasn’t it been you who has taught me how to read and deal with people and how to be perceptive and use my own concience and insticts. Besides, don’t you think I know that not only would you kill him if he tried anything, but his father and his clan would too if he dared step out of line because I’m “the boss’ daughter” and he actually made a point to say that him asking me to the dance had nothing to do with you or his job or his father’s job or anything like that. It’s just a case of a boy asking a girl to a dance. This shouldn’t be this complicated Dad. Most fathers around here don’t get the luxury of really knowing who is asking their daughters to the dance, you do though and if Kihro has earned your trust and respect enough that you want him working for you and being the second in command at your downtown branch, that should be more than enough. He should have earned enough trust and enough respect that you can trust him with me, for one night at a school dance. That’s all this is right now.” You defended. 

“But what if he wants more than that from you? I don’t think you’re aware how different orc culture is compared to our own.” Your father posed and you wanted to scream but today, you were ready to fight. 

“You’re right, I don’t know everything about orc culture because all I know is what I’ve witnessed myself. But I’m sure there are others who could teach me about it if Kihro and I started dating. But if you want to play Devil’s advocate, let’s go. Worst case scenerio if you say yes, is I go, he get’s handsy because he manages to smuggle in a whole fifth of tequila or vodka or whatever and he gets hammered drunk and looses all his senses, he wants to be a two pump chump and I say no and he forces me to have sex anyway and rapes me because he’s twice my size and probably ten times my strength, he could do it if he really wanted to. Would that be fair in saying that is the worst case scenario?” You posed as your dad crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t say anything but you could tell that you hit the nail on the head with that one. 

“Now, if that were to happen, yes that would be horrible and unforgivable but thankfully they make something called the morning after pill and they make birth control I can get on but just for the sake of argument, if he knocked me up, I have a choice, get an abortion or keep the baby and become a teenage mother. Both are options in that horrible circumstance but that’s the risk any girl takes in having sex. But back to Kihro- you know as well as I do that orcs tend to self police themselves within their respective clans. Do you really think his father would let him continue breathing if that happened or hell his whole clan would hunt him down because in cases like that clans get together and there would be an orc hunt of a scale I can only imagine and there wouldn’t be anywhere Kihro could run and hide that he wouldn’t be found and then they would all let you take the first shot with your shotgun because not only did he just dishonor his family line but he dishonored his clan and he just put the clan’s honor into jeopardy by literally screwing the daughter of one of the few humans who employs a good number of the clan members and gives them more opportunities than most do and is an invaluable ally to every clan around here, and it would put tension on the relationship the Stormbreaker Clan has with all the other clans and would make the clan itself a target. Now, would you say that’s a fair assessment?” You proposed and waited until your father nodded his agreement. 

“Now, let’s flip the coin and look at the best case scenario. Best case scenario, he comes, picks me up, drives me there, keeps his hands to himself, doesn’t drink, doesn’t do drugs doesn’t do anything dishonorable in any way. And we still manage to have a good time. And he drops me off at home before curfew and that’s that and we just remain friends and he’s still gainfully employed by the end of the night and you separate church and state or in this case personal life from business life and allow me to have a life usually enjoyed by most girls my age in our society. Now let's take this one step further, he asks me out and he wants to have a romantic relationship with me which I am open to, he asks me to be his girlfriend and again, for the sake of argument, I say yes to that but only after I get an education from multiple verified sources about how different you say their culture is from ours because if I was going to enter into a romantic relationship with him, I would want to go into it with my eyes wide open and know what I was getting into, so let’s just say for the sake of this argument, that all that happens and, we date for a while. And either it doesn’t work out and we aren’t a good fit for the other and we part- or if, and I mean if, it does work out, we fall in love and want to get married. Then it’s still up to me if I want to marry him or not. And let’s just say I do marry him. You would then- have a son in law who is in your business and you get to keep the business in the family, not that that would ever be my motivation for saying yes to him because ultimately the business may thrive or die with the seasons but marriage is for life but it would be a perk and you get to have human-orc halflings for grandchildren if my Crohn’s goes into remission and stays in remission long enough for me to pump out a few kids and you just get to deal with my decisions and the consequences of those decisions whether they be positive or negative.” You paused to take a breath as your father listened closely. 

“Kihro obviously took a very great risk and leap of faith to even take the chance in asking me to the dance and he has had an interest in me for, apparently, the last few years but his own father has shut that down because of our situation and then when he heard that I'm graduating early he realized that his own window of opportunity to ask me to a dance was closing and that if he didn't ask, he was going to lose the opportunity for good and he would have always wondered "what if" and been upset with himself that he didn't just bite the bullet and ask instead of letting his fear of you and what you could retaliate with or the fear of his own father and what he could retaliate with- stop him. So since he took a great risk, I want to reward that by letting him have the pleasure of taking me to a dance. That's all we're asking for right now. I realize that it’s your job to take care of me and keep me safe and you’ve done an amazing job, just, give me enough rope to hang myself on with this. Please.” You requested. 

“Fine, one dance.” Your father begrudgingly agreed. 

“Thank you, now if and when you want to invite them over for dinner this weekend so you can lay down the rules and the law, but only if you will assure and reassure Mr. Soche that he gets to keep his job and all the other orcs from the Stormbreaker clan get to keep theirs too because this should never endanger all of that.” You specified. “Does that sound fair to you?” You offered. 

“That’s fair.” Your dad decided before he stepped away to make a phone call and you used that opportunity to give Kihro a heads up that he and his dad might possibly be getting a call from your dad to invite them over for dinner to have that “talk” you warned him about as you mentally prepared what you were going to do and what you needed to do to prepare yourself and the house for company. You listened attentively as your dad talked with Kidron and smiled in relief when your father assured and reassured that it was ok with him that Kihro asked you to the dance and that everything would be ok before you got an idea and texted all the orc girls you knew and were friends with and swore them all to secrecy and asked for advice on what to do and how to best please and impress Kidron and his wife Rhiox, all of them were surprised if not excited about the development before they clued you in on more of the orc traditions and customs and the expectations that would be put on you if you and Kihro ever got serious which you found yourself biting your lip to keep your smile from splitting your face in half but you wanted to walk into this with your eyes wide open before you asked for a huge favor that had all your friends squealing in delight before they all eagerly agreed to it. 

“And what did they say?” You asked your dad when he got off the phone. 

“They’ll be over Saturday at 5.” Your father answered. 

“Good, I’ll need to go shopping Thursday then, I’ll have a list and a proposed budget by Wednesday.” You offered. 

The next day Kihro had you sit at his table and kept his arm around you possessively but you were happy you were received so well into their fold and then after school your other friends from the other school districts met up with you after school to give you what you asked for. A catalog to show you the different beads and what they meant in the Stormbreaker clan as you quickly looked it over and were amazed at how such a simple thing was entrenched in tradition and had layers and layers of meaning and how there were traditions and rules for the giving and receiving of beads before you had them bring you to an orc bead store. The best one in the area where you tracked down and bought the bead of your choice. And you didn’t get any bead, you got one that had a lot of meaning for you as well. Because if you were only going to get one chance to give something to him, you wanted him to have this, it would just be hard to not give this to him until the time was right and you both hinted at dating but for right now, you just both had to survive the dance and see how that turned out but rumors had already sprung up and suddenly guys seemed to come out of the woodwork to express interest to which you had to albeit, a little regretfully inform them that you weren’t dating him, that he just asked you to the fall formal and that was it and if they had any other questions to ask Kihro which most of them chickened out because Kihro was himself- very intimidating. 

By Saturday you were amped up. You were cooking a feast with all the necessary components and Kihro's bead was burning a hole in your pocket. You were nervous but excited and hoped you were getting all of this right. 

They arrived and one look at Kihro and he was just as nervous as you were but just having him there, looking at you like you were the moon and had hung up the stars in the heavens was enough for you. You went ahead and poured two beers, one for each of his parents and handed those to them with a warm greeting and welcomed them into your home which both surprised and impressed them before you got to get Kihro a beer too, happy to have the chance and opportunity to touch hands as you passed it over before you all sat down to dinner, Kidron and Rhiox very impressed not just by the portion size but what you cooked. You must have had over a dozen beef femurs split and roasted so that the marrow was easy to get to and Rhiox just kept grinning at you and her husband and Kihro and you could tell she was just tickled by all of this and genuinely happy and excited. Kidron however, you could tell he was biting his tongue and you could just see that he thought all of this was a bad idea and you didn’t know what you could possibly say or do to help assure him that it was actually a good idea. 

“Ok, I’d like to address the elephant in the room. I realize that Kihro took a risk in asking me to the dance, which I’m honored that he did and I’m happy to go with him. Is there anything I can do to earn your respect and trust or assure you or even reassure you that by allowing us to do this is the right choice?” You asked and Rhiox damn near started crying and the smile she gave you told you that she was already so happy and moved that you would ask such a thing in such a respectful way and was very impressed as Kidron simply sat there and blinked at you a couple of times as the ghost of a smile almost started to spread on his face. 

“We already respect and trust you so don’t worry about that.” Kidron answered with a small but gentle smile. 

“Good, I only hope to continue to gain your respect and trust and if there is anything in particular I can do- please tell me.” You nodded and that seemed to be the magic words because after that, all the tension coming from Kidron completely melted. 

“Likewise George. If there is anything I can do to continue to earn your respect and trust, just let me know.” Kihro added as he made sure to look your father in the eye saying that as everyone then looked to your father to see what his answer would be. 

“Well, I know you are risking quite a bit. And I don’t think I need to explain what the stakes are…” 

“No because that would be unnecessary, it’s a dance, there will be chaperones, we will behave, I don’t know what else I can say without beating this dead horse to a pulp here.” You interjected as Kihro smiled appreciatively at you. 

“Ok, so, that being said, I still want to make sure we all come to an understanding of what the expectations are, you’ll have her home by ten. Grace is coming with you as a chaperone, no drinking, no drugs, keep your hands to yourself except for dancing and even then, hands at her waist. Understood?” Your father insisted. 

“Understood.” Kihro shook your father’s hand as you just wanted to die, you were practically an adult and they were just complicating things. But at the end of the night you got what you wanted- a chance to dance with your crush. As cheesy as that sounded. 

Your mother, despite hating to go shopping, did take you out and got a dress that was both beautiful yet modest, tasteful and becoming. 

But you never got to wear it. 

The night of the fall formal you found yourself in the hospital again, another flare, another near death. But you weren’t alone. Kihro was right there by your side as your family and his went and got something to eat, Kihro not leaving your side though and keeping you company. 

“You should be at the dance.” You murmured softly. 

“Nope, I’m where I’m supposed to be tonight.” He shook his head as he just squeezed your hand that he was holding a little tighter for a moment as he gave you the softest, most adoring smile. 

“I wanted a night with you, that’s exactly what I’m getting.” He added. 

“I thought you wanted a dance?” You gently contended, a half smirk at the corner of your mouth, your voice hoarse from vomiting so much. 

“Do you think you could stand?” He asked which made you frown. 

“I guess?” You answered before he got up and gently helped you get out of bed, your hospital gown hanging off your frame as your robe made sure you were modest from behind too. Kihro was careful to make sure you stayed connected to everything before he got your favorite song to play on his phone and set it down on the bed and wrapped his thick and well muscled arm around your waist to hold you up so that your toes rested on his boots as his arm held you fast to him so that you didn’t have too much weight on your feet as he simply stood by the bed and just swayed to the music with you which you thought was beyond romantic. 

“This isn’t the gown I thought I would wear for my first dance with you.” You chuckled as you just let your head rest on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart and just relaxed in his arms and happily let him hold you up because your strength and stamina had been wiped out. 

“Nah, the gown doesn’t really matter, it’s the girl in the gown that does though.” He whispered before kissing the top of your head affectionately as you smiled gratefully. 

“When you make it through this, would you want to be my girlfriend?” He asked before you lifted your head. 

“Absolutely.” You agreed before he bent down to kiss you softly, his swaying slowing down as your arms wrapped around his neck before his other hand that wasn’t around your waist came up to hold the back of your head as he kissed you earnestly, pouring his soul into it which was sweeter than honey and purer than gold and he still stole your breath away. 

The song ended and he helped you get back into bed before you had him get you your purse in one of cupboards before you got a special beaded coinpurse out, one that you got just to house the bead you had gotten him. 

“I had wanted to give this to you tonight at the end of the night if it had gone well and if we had both worked up the courage to ask the other out.” You said as you handed it to him and he smiled so brightly and proudly as tears came to his eyes as he realized what bead it was before he was on his knees next to the bed and kissing you again and hugging you tight. 

“Thank you Bri, you have no idea how much this means to me.” Kihro thanked you earnestly before he had you put it into the braid in his hair before he presented you with not just one bead- but three because he couldn’t decide on one at the bead store before you had him put it into your hair which he happily brushed and braided exquisitely and just about the time he was done and you settled back into bed, your families came back with food for Kihro and some bone broth for you. 

“Hey dad, we’re dating.” You announced weakly but happily as you pointed to your hair and in particular the beads in your hair with a weak but proud smile as Riox practically burst the windows with how loud her cheer was as she enveloped you into a hug and welcomed you into their family and their clan and told you all about it as she urged you to get better as soon as you could as Kidron and your Dad both smirked at each other, figuring this was gonna happen sooner or later.