#wolxexarch

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The Crystarium was up in celebration. Night had been fully restored to all of Norvrandt, the Sin Eaters were no more--at the very least, their numbers dwindled beyond immediate repair--and, above all else, the Warrior of Light had survived the endeavor. Miraculously and surprisingly, so did he. G’raha had fully prepared and expected to perish after the defeat of the final Lightwarden; instead, he stood alive and well at the base of the Crystal Tower, a happy smile ever present on his face as he watched all the invited denizens of the First celebrate with long deserved joy.

Tables of food that had been labored over the past several days in preparation for this night outlined the center court of the Crystarium. Idle chatter, laughter and music filled the air; people were talking, cheering, drinking and dancing the night away. Even some of the fae folk had joined in on the celebration with the promise from Feo Ul that they would behave… for the most part, anyway. He was certain some harmless, playful pranks had been pulled, but so far nothing that warranted his immediate attention and Urianger’s scoldings.

It was a joyous sight to behold to be sure, one that made his heart swell in delight. To know that the sacrifices that had been made up until this point hadn’t been in vain, and that generations to come would enjoy the permanent presence of the moon and stars. That the future of Norvrandt was secure and safe, and the monsters that haunted their every waking moment would become nothing more than simple stories of warning.

As his eyes traveled about the courtyard to watch all the smiling faces, his gaze inevitably settled upon her. The Warrior of Light. She had returned to the First by his invitation and was welcomed as the Guest of Honor among the crowd. Currently she stood with the Eulmorian couple, the Chais if he remembered right. She listened so intently as Dulia chattered away animatedly at her, a small smile gracing her normally stoic face. It brought a sense of relief to him to see that she appeared so relaxed, and he could only hope she felt the way she looked.

Nothing would bring him more joy than knowing the Warrior of Light was truly at ease both in body and mind. She more than deserved a holiday, however brief.

G’raha’s smile joyful smile softened to a look of pure adoration as he watched her. She was out of her armor and in clothing far more comfortable and suitable for the evening, her hair messily braided with a few flowers weaved in. The lanterns and the light of the full moon were practically accessories to her appearance, illuminating her with a beautiful, soft glow… His heart fluttered. She had always been beautiful to him and tonight was no different.

Unfortunately for him, what he hadn’t realized was how long he had been staring at her. Not until she had looked back at him, her smile fading slightly and her miqo’te ears perking up in surprise. He tensed up as they made eye contact from across the courtyard, his breath hitching in his throat. Oops. He averted his gaze quickly, suddenly overwhelmed by the flustering thought that she had caught him unintentionally staring so smittenly.

Although he refused to look back, he could see out of the corner of his eye that she made motions at the Chais before making a straight stride toward his direction. His lips pressed hard together as his heart began racing faster and faster with each step she took toward him. Surely she had intended to go anywhere else? Perhaps Thancred or Y’shtola were idling around behind him, and that he had mistaken her glance in his direction as her noticing his awkward gawking from afar? Maybe she wasn’t actually walking over to question why he was staring at her--thus leading to a horribly embarrassing conversation about how beautiful he thought she was--and was instead headed to spend time with her friends? Yes. That must have been the case--

“G’raha!” She said, suddenly, sending a spike up anxiety up his back at the use of his real name. “Good evening!”

In the blink of an eye, she was right there in front of him. He stepped back in surprise, resulting in her grinning wide with a playfulness that both made him nervous and sent his heart spiraling into a fit of joy. He had always found her smile to be very adorable.

“Ah--ahem.” He cleared his throat as he attempted to calm himself. “Good evening. I hope all is going well for you tonight?”

She nodded. “The party is lovely, thank you again for inviting me.”

“Of course.” He responded with a small smile. “We couldn’t celebrate the return of night to all of the First without the very person who made it all possible.”

Her beaming expression seemed to falter at that. “... So you just invited me as a guest of honor, then? No other reason?”

“P-pardon?” He asked hesitantly.

Her lips puckered as she puffed her cheeks in what looked like disappointment. G’raha blinked once, confusion and worry quickly washing over him.

“Was there supposed to be another reason?”

“No.” She murmured between her lips as she looked around the room idly. “I suppose not...”

What was that? He thought. She sounded so disappointed.

Before he had a chance to even ask, the music provided by a small gathering of performers had changed, catching the attention of both G’raha and the Warrior. They both watched as the atmosphere in the courtyard shifted with the music, and several people paired up to dance together. The very sight filled G’raha with a sense of happiness again, at least, that was until the Warrior looked back at him curiously, then that happy-feeling faded to nervousness. She was eyeing him up and down, a finger tapping thoughtfully against her cheek as her tail flicked side-to-side.

“... Do you want to dance?” She asked.

For a second, he thought his heart had stopped.

“W--... What? Dance?”

“You know, like them.” She pointed to the multiple pairs of people dancing in the courtyard together.

Scratch that. His heart definitely had stopped. The nervous feeling increased as his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. He quickly waved his hands back and forth.

“Aaaaa--! No! I don’t know how!” He blurted out.

He was mentally kicking himself for not having taken those lessons Krile tried to force him into all those years ago. When will I ever need a skill like that? He recalled himself saying. Foolish. A chance to dance with the Warrior gone in an instant because his younger self’s inability to foresee the future and the unreasonably ridiculous crush he would develop.

“That’s okay.” She said as she reached over, taking him by his crystallized hand. He froze up from her touch. “I can help you!”

Wait. WHAT?!

He stumbled after her as she gently tugged him toward the dance floor, the blush on his face deepening. He had half a mind to resist her, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. A part of him wanted to do this, regardless of how completely embarrassed and anxious he felt. Already he could feel several eyes trailing after them, and he was certain the Scions were among them, ready to pounce on him the second the Warrior looked away.

She turned around suddenly. G’raha had barely enough time to catch himself before colliding into her. They stumbled a bit, but he straightened up quickly as he collected himself with a clearing of his throat. He had a somewhat of an appearance to keep up for the people of the Crystarium, after all. He noticed the Warrior stifle a laugh, and the pink blush on his face deepened. Nothing could get more embarrassing than the Warrior of Light giggling at his clumsiness, right?

Wrong. Without warning, she had guided his right hand to her waist, causing him to tense up. Instinctively he swallowed hard, his face turning about the same shade of red as his hair. This… This was an innocent gesture for sure, but was a level of closeness with her, specifically, that he was not prepared for. While he was still in the process of mentally trying to catch up with the fact that his hand was on her side, she took his left hand within her own, rested her free hand on his shoulder, and began taking the steps that would lead them into a dance. Unprepared for the sudden movement, his feet automatically shuffled after her, causing him to fumble about awkwardly as she took the lead.

G’raha couldn’t help but continuously look down, trying desperately to figure out where and how to position his feet in comparison to hers. At the same time, he tried very hard to keep eye contact with her, which was practically impossible both because he was overwhelmed by the feeling of their closeness and because he was mostly watching his feet. Due to his constant shifting of attention, when she stepped back suddenly in the dance, it caught him off guard and he stumbled forward and tripped over himself, nearly smacking his head down into her shoulder.

He stepped back from her, hands releasing her as he did with an apologetic look that basically said “I told you so.” She shook her head and she stepped right back up to him, repositioning his hands to try again. She wasn’t going to let him escape apparently, and was determined to see this through. He should have known better, she had never been one to quit. She was going to have G’raha dancing like a professional by the end of this whether he wanted it or not.

A few steps in, already his feet were tangled up in themselves. He staggered right, stumbled left. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t move in-sync with the Warrior, who seemed far more skilled at this than anyone would have guessed. She had such refined grace to her steps, so much so that he was starting to feel bad for her. Here she was trying to dance with him, and he was simply falling over himself, unable to keep up. She must have felt so embarrassed or tired of his inability to catch up--

She suddenly spun him outward, and pulled him back in. He prayed no one heard the small yelp of surprise before he smashed into her on the pull-back, his feet unintentionally stomping down onto her toes. He stumbled back from her again, his face running hot with furious embarrassment as he watched her look down at her unarmored toes with a slight wince.

“P-perhaps this was a bad idea?” He said as his ears pressed flat against his head. He backed up further. “My apologies, but we should stop--”

She walked right back into his personal space again and grabbed his arm firmly, pulling him back with a smile. 

“You’re doing so well though!” She said as she pulled his hands back into position. “Let’s keep practicing! You’ve almost got it!”

That fiery determination to teach him was still burning in her eyes. He couldn’t help but be inspired by her will to keep going at this, despite his shortcomings. He pursed his lips and nodded, and their dance resumed. Or, her dance resumed. Whatever he was doing was hardly qualified as a dance.

One, two, three. One, two, three. Gradually, he could feel his movements getting a little bit smoother, and his feet weren’t shuffling about as much--SMACK. As he dipped to the left with her, they collided with another pair of dancers, who stumbled away in response to the sudden crash. G’raha ducked his head as the Warrior grinned apologetically and waved her hand, and the pair stared at them a moment before resuming their dance.

“Are you sure about this?” G’raha asked in a whisper as he looked at the Warrior with growing concern. “There are plenty of other people who are probably far better at this than I.”

“It’s fine.” She said. “Let’s try again, okay?” 

“But--!”

Her grip on his hand tightened reassuringly. “I want to dance with you. No one else.”

G’raha’s head jerked back in surprise, his heart fluttering to the sternness of her expression and the tone she had used. Her mind was made up, and he knew from experience that no matter how hard he pushed her away, she would continue to come back. She was so, so stubborn… Oh how he loved that about her.

Once more, she positioned their hands, her determination giving way to a soft expression he could not quite place as her eyes locked with his. His heart so foolishly told him it was shy fondness; that she too longed for this closeness, for all barriers and professionalism to vanish and reveal something far more emotionally intimate. But logic told him otherwise. There was no way in any lifetime that someone as magnificent and heroic as the Warrior of Light would view him as anything more than just… Well. He was a side character in her story, nothing worth noting or writing about. Standing beside her and her greatness, he was simply noise on the wind.

They began dancing again, with G’raha stumbling and fumbling after her. But she didn’t quit on him, and continuously encouraged him and guided his steps. The earlier embarrassment hadn’t gone away, he knew people were still watching him fail, but the small bouts of frustration and guilt were certainly fading with each new step he got right. Partially because he was impressed with his progress, but mostly because her face would light up in joy anytime he performed the dance correctly, and he had a front row seat all to himself to witness that bright, beaming grin.

Eventually he got it right. All of it. He was able to match her steps and keep up with her, although his movements were far less refined. He was able to step, lean and twirl her without ever glancing down to his feet. To which he was thankful, it meant he got to spend more time looking at her, watching her move and giggle with glee with immense fondness. The way her hair bounced around her, the delightful wiggles of her ears and tail, the tiny way her nose would crinkle with each grin. He had become so focused on her that the courtyard seemed to vanish, the noise of laughter and people around them fading into the background.

It was just them and the music.

He couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

He carefully pulled her back in toward him after a small twirl, and as she collapsed into him, their eyes locked and their dance halted almost instantly. She was very close, so much so that the tip of her nose had brushed against his, signaling alarms in his brain. Every logical part of him was screaming, he couldn’t let his professionalism falter, he needed to put a small distance between them, bring that wall back up so he wouldn’t say or do something to ruin what they had. He took a breath to speak, to say something, anything to put up that barrier up again, but his words got caught in his throat the moment he saw her eyelids droop and her gaze lower toward his lips.

Her head tilted slightly and he felt her press toward him, her fingers gripping tightly onto his shoulder and hand. His heart began racing, pounding loud in his ears as a warmth pooled in his chest at the sight of her eyelids closing and her cheeks flushing pink in the moonlight. Despite logic and anxiety telling him to run, to back out fast before their friendship was ruined, he didn’t. He instead leaned back toward her, accepting her invitation, his lips just barely brushing against hers in a--

BOOM!

G’raha slammed his forehead into her in surprise at the sudden explosion that erupted over head. They stumbled back from one another, startled, as they pressed their now aching heads into the palms of their hands simultaneously.

“Ow--!” She yelped quietly.

“Apologies…!” G’raha murmured as he rubbed his forehead.

BOOM! POP!

At the same time, G’raha and the Warrior looked upward to the recurring explosions, watching as massive blasts of color lit up in the night sky. Fireworks… He forgot there were fireworks tonight. G’raha looked over toward the Warrior as she returned his gaze. They both smiled apologetically and released a tiny awkward laugh.

This time, he took the step toward her, his crystal hand reaching out to hers. His fingers tapped against her hand testingly, to ensure this step was okay. She responded by curling and locking her fingers around his. G’raha had never seen the Warrior express anything but bravery or anger, so when he saw her bashfully duck her head and her face turning pink in delight the moment their hands pressed together, his chest swelled with a growing love he could barely contain. He tugged her toward him, to which she gave no resistance and quite hurriedly stepped up to him again, clearly hoping to pick up where they had left off.

“There you are.” Came the familiar voice of Y’shtola as she promptly invited herself into the space, freezing them both in place.

Y’shtola’s arm swung around and locked with the Warrior’s, tugging her from the stunned and shocked G’raha, their hand slipping apart as she was pulled away from him.

“Thancred has gotten himself hopelessly drunk and is absolutely convinced that you turned into a Lightwarden and are exploding in the sky.” She continued as she led the Warrior away. She gave a hard, pointed glance back at G’raha. She still didn’t trust him. “He needs you to convince him otherwise.”

“Uh--oh. Of course! Lead on!” The Warrior said.

The Warrior glanced back at him with a hopeless smile, her fingers raising to give a small farewell wave as she was dragged off by her understandably protective mother-figure. G’raha returned the tiny wave with his own, his hand slowly lowering the further away she got. He sighed at the small twinge of pain forming in his chest as she disappeared from view.

Were it so easy...

He turned around, ready to make his way toward a table of food, only to stop dead in his tracks, his stomach dropping and his blood running cold. Behind him stood Lyna, her arms crossed and a knowing grin on her face, and behind her, stood several other Crystarium denizens who looked far too amused. 

“H-h-how long have you all been there?!” He exclaimed in shock.

“Long enough.” Lyna answered. “You weren’t exactly hiding.”

“You’ll get her next time!” One of the figures in the crowd yelled.

“Go for it, Exarch!”

“You have our blessing!”