#pathshipping

Prompt 5: Dance.

So. This one's fun bc I finally get to do one for the comfort ship!! I love getting to write Mason, he's one of my favorite ocs and Celeste, who belongs to @kohakuhime, is the love of his life and they bring me joy. This is gonna take place post series as another imagining of their path together

Previous Days Prompts

Day One || Two || Three

Hope you enjoy!

Mason knocks back the shot of whiskey with ease, before he went back to flipping through his noted. The music in the bar thumped loudly in the speakers just barely drowning out the lively conversations happening all around or the slamming of hands from art wrestling competitions just mere tables over.

It was one of the nicer ones he'd been to since Paradius fell apart; and he couldn't turn something down when they were offering a discount night. He and his traveling buddy would be able to get their fill -- whenever she got there -- at a decent price with the money they still had left over and it was a nice enough night for them they could sleep in the truck if they had to, before they'd pick up and move on.

Being in Texas so far hadn't resulted in any luck. He had had his doubts to begin with. Frankly, he wasn't even sure that his boys would be in the states, probably having scattered themselves across the world. But, well...he had to start somewhere. Even if it took him until his last breath, he was going to put the effort into finding them and making sure they were safe and know that they had a place to turn to, someone to turn to. That they were still loved.

He wasn't sure they'd even want anything to do with him. He understood if they didn't; after all he had done, all for the blind devotion to the man who ruined their lives and they didn't know it until it was too late, he didn't really want to be around himself much either. But Raphael and Alister had cousins that would probably desperately want them home; the papers he found at the ranch the one night he snuck back home were enough to prove that.

And Valon -- Valon, his brave, wild, and fearless boy -- had someone special trying to find him. She had for years; and there was no way that he wasn't the baby she had had ripped from her arms. It wasn't like there were that many Valons his age and from Australia, or with a thick brown mane of hair like hers or a laugh like that.

He had to make sure they got reunited and then he could disappear. Once all his boys were taken care of, he'd just. Disappear. If that's what they wanted. It'd probably be for the best, anyhow. A man still struggling to get all his memories back and who had stupidly done what he had, who committed unforgivable horrors when he was old enough to know better, wasn't what they needed. They needed stability.

He just...probably should stay hidden, after that. The boys probably hated him anyhow. His family...his siblings, his Mama, his son-in-law...his still living daughter...

Well. They wouldn't want him back. He didn't deserve to have them back, either, not after he resented all of them but his Katie for all those years, because of a lie.

...He just had to set things right. That was all he could do.

The shuffling of footsteps and somebody scooting into the booth in front of him made him look up from his cheap spiral notebook. Mason couldn't help the laugh that rumbled in his chest as he saw the excitement practically vibrating off of Celeste, hands folded perfectly in front of her as she grinned at him. Three months of traveling together and she still found new ways to be even cuter. "I take it ya got some good news?"

"I just found us a way to make an easy five hundred bucks."

Well. That was good. After their meals, they'd probably have maybe $100 left over; that would be used for gas and any immediate necessities. $500 could go a longer way; cheap motel room for a couple of nights, restock on a couple of essentials. They could get close enough to the next safehouse for him to check for the boys. He didn't want to touch the money hopefully still stashed away there, just in case they came by one of them and needed it more; and also because a very petty part of him didn't want anything from Dartz. At the very least, this money was a good push in the right direction if they got it.

"Great! What do we gotta do?"

"They're hosting a dance competition here tonight!" She told him, voice lilting in glee. She dug around her pockets for a moment before unfolding a flyer and sliding it across the table for him to look over. It was an advertisement for the very bar they were in; a dance competition for anyone to compete in for a chance at a $500 cash prize. "We enter into this, win the prize -- we might just be able to get to sleep in real beds for a night!"

He tilted the black ball cap he wore to keep attention off of him down further as he hesitated. "Celly, I ain't exactly much of a dancer -- I don't think I'm good enough to get us a prize like that." He glanced up, hands shooting up in defense as quickly as the words left his mouth. "Not that I wouldn't love to dance with ya -- I would, it ain't you; I'd love to get to be your dance partner, any guy would be lucky to, i just--"

God he was bad at this.

Why? Why did he have to get so tongue tied and googly eyed over Celeste? He wasn't supposed to get these kinds of feelings again. The first time around had done enough damage to him as it was; he knew a second relationship could just end in heartbreak and this time it'd be his fault. He didn't want to put anyone else through that.

But she was also an angel on earth and the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was kind, but a spitfire and nothing could hold her back from what she knew she needed to do. She was funny and patient, never put on airs, and she was a pinnacle of strength.

He'd been falling for her from the moment he first laid eyes on her and it scared the hell out of him.

It also tended to make him jumble his words.

Celeste didn't care. She playfully rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "Mason, don't sell yourself short! I think we've got a chance!" She told him. There was a faint dusting of pink spreading across her cheeks as she tucked some of her hair back behind her ear. "B-besides, it'd just be a nice way to relax and I think you'd be a great dance partner. A--and, it looks like we only have a little bit of competition."

Mason eyed the dance floor for a moment, shifting in his seat. Well. He wasn't lying; he didn't really dance. If he ever had, it was before the accident and he couldn't fully remember if he had or not to begin with.

But there was something hopeful in her and he couldn't say no to that face.

"Guess it wouldn't hurt none to try," he finally relented, giving her a smile. " 'Specially if it means real beds for us and a shower."

Celeste grinned, pushing herself up from her seat and she stepped out, holding her hand out to him. "Well, then, how about we get some practice in?"

He laughed, letting his hand wrap around hers as she tugged him along. "I can only promise I'll try not to step on your toes."

"I could just step right back on yours; make the judges think it's a new dance." She teased, giving him a wink.

"Celly, I think ya could sweet talk anyone into anything."

°°°

The competition started about a half an hour after they started practicing. Celeste had been right; there was only three other couples that moved onto the dance floor when they announced it would begin. They would, as they found out, would be judged on style and passion, as well as how long they could stand out on the dance floor.

There had been some nerves as they practiced together, Mason trying to be conscientious of making sure he didn't step on her feet, or stumble or otherwise make a fool of himself. Celeste had seemed just as nervous originally, letting him guide her through it. But, as soon as they realized what they were doing, they laughed and it made all the difference.

Once the competition properly kicked off, they were practically gliding across the dance floor. The other competitors, the spectators and even the judges soon began to fade out of their thoughts and attention. All Mason saw was Celeste grinning at him as they tapped along to the country songs playing.

They gave a bit of a line dance (it was one of the only ones Mason found himself remembering), hands locked together. He'd pull her into his embrace to guide her around the dance floor or twirl her around as they got lost in each other. At one point, he spun her out for them to both get some freestyle each and he smirked playfully as he picked up a rose from a vase on one of the tables, sticking it between his teeth and offered her a wink, clapping his hands to the beat. Celeste burst out laughing, still keeping up with trying to shake her hips, her arms out stretched to him to come back to her.

Two of the other couples, for one reason or another, quit about halfway in and left them with only one other couple to compete against.

"I got an idea." He whispered with a grin, swaying with her.

"What's that?"

He almost asked if she trusted him. He knew that was too dangerous a question to ask; it wasn't like he really was that trustworthy.

"I'm gonna do a lift. You okay with that?"

His back would probably hate him later. But this would be worth it.

Her eyes went wide for a moment, a blush settling on her cheeks before she finally nodded quickly. He offered a reassuring smile and spun her once more before pulling her back by the waist to lift her into the air. His hand found her thigh for support as he then proceeded to dip her.

Their faces grew close and they were both red.

But the grins settled in and, in, any other case, he would have kissed her and not stopped.

Maybe in some lifetime he would have deserved her.