Caleb~
“Cal.. You look way too uncomfortable..” Aizis commented, and I knew she was definitely right. My tie was way to tight, and this suit reminded me why I hate shirts so much.
“It’s this damn party..” I growled, worming my finger between my neck and tie to loosen it. “Who the hell’s idea was this anyway?”
“Apparently it was Fudo’s.” Aizis replied. “I heard he has a few days a year where he’s sane-like today, the anniversary of Apollo’s death. It’s only a rumor, but supposedly it’s become a tradition.” We started walking as the hallway got crowded. It looked like everyone was excited for this party, all dressed up and shit. I couldn’t see it being any fun, but whatever I guess.
“Whereare Izu and Alek?” Aizis stood on her toes, trying to see over the crowd. I glanced around too, but didn’t see them anywhere. Huh.
“Maybe they’re both just taking forever to get ready or something.” I mumbled. I looked Aizis over for the first time. She did look amazing in some sort of floor-length dress. I imagined Alek’s reaction when he got to see her, and almost choked laughing.
“Calchi, are you okay?” She looked sort of concerned. And then her eyes got wide and she yelled, “OH MY GOD. YOU’RE CHOKING. GET YOUR TIE OFF. NOW. CAL YOU’RE GONNA DIEEEEEEE!” All the while pulling on the tie around my neck.
“Aizis.. I was.. laughing.. stop. You’re. Making. It. Worse. AUGGHH!” I yelled back. Oddly enough, people didn’t really stop and watch. I guess everyone got used to Aizis by now?
After a few minutes of struggling, I felt Aizis let up. Thank god, I thought, straightening up. But she didn’t let go herself, Alek had grabbed her hands off of my neck and were holding them at her sides.
“Uh Aizis.. Why were you strangling Caleb?” He asked, looking over her shoulder with a mixture of confusion and.. Anger..?
“He was choking.” She said, pouting a little. “I was trying to save him.”
Alek looked down at her for a second, and burst out laughing. She looked a little lost for a second, and then joined in his laughing. I just sighed, I’ll never understand these people..
“HEY! Everyone!” Someone yelled from up above us. We all swiveled our heads to the origin of the voice, the balcony. Oh, it was just the twins. Lyric looked mildly less pissed off than usual, although compared to her dorky, frantically-waving brother, it wasn’t much of a change.
“HI LIRAL!” Aizis waved back, equally as spastic. Alek looked livid, and I noticed that his hand, which was still wrapped around Azis’, tightened possessively. And I could see why as the pair moved toward us- Liral pretty much looked like he belonged in some magazine of gorgeous people. Do they even have those?
“You guys look amazing!” Aizis gushed as the twins reached us. Liral positively beamed at the compliment; Lyric looked like she couldn’t care less. Although she did look great, I’d never actually seen her look.. pretty. But it really didn’t weigh much to me; there was only one girl I was interested in seeing tonight…
“Hello elements!” Fudo boomed from the front of the ballroom (which I never knew we had, but whatever.) “I hope you all enjoy yourself tonight- 12,000 years ago a hero sacrificed himself for not only the world, but the love of his life. May you all follow in his footsteps, become the greatest elements you can.”
Most of the room clapped for him, although most just looked bored- speeches do ruin everything. With a wave of his hand, the band off of the stage started playing. He turned expectantly toward us, except we pretty much stayed where we were.
Then all of a sudden, we saw this little blonde head prancing around the dance floor with some tall black haired kid.
“Geez guys, loosen up and have fun!” Aizis shrieked, laughing hysterically with Liral as they badly waltzed all over. Everyone exchanged looks, and slowly friends, couples, everyone got up to dance or eat. Myself? Well fuck yes, they had nuggets, so I was set. Alek however, was not.
“Really! What does he have that I don’t?!” Alek snarled, watching Liral twirl Aizis around.
“Honestly dude, I think they’re just friends. Go ask to cut in or something..”
“I couldn’t!” He shook his head, “I;m sure she likes him anyway..”
“Are you really acting like a bitch?” I glared at him, “Get your ass over there and fucking steal her away. What good are you doing sitting here?” Not to mention, your girl is here.. Luck bastard..
He nodded, determined. I watched him walk across the dance floor and say something to Liral, who nodded enthusiastically and passed Aizis’ hand over to Alek. There was not much else for me to do, so I just people watched. Some recruits asked me to dance, but I declined. There was someone else I wanted to dance with…
Finally, I got sick of watching Alek and Aizis have a little love/dance fest, so wandered out of the room. Seriously, where could Izumi be? She’d said she would be coming yesterday.
I decided to check her room, maybe she overslept? I took a shortcut through the building, somehow ending up in a long, dark dining room.
“Shit.” I muttered, feeling around for a light switch. Finally, my hand brushed against one, and I quickly flicked it upward. Instead of turning on the lights, it turned on the… candles? All of the candles in the room burst out in flame, helping a little bit with the dark. I sighed in relief; that is, until I noticed the shadow in the corner.
“Who the fuck’s there??” I gasped, pretty scared shitless. The shadow moved into the candlelight, and I caught my breath. Izumi.
She looked amazing. Unlike Aizis, her dress went only halfway to her knees; the reflection of the flame danced across her. I was about to tell her how great she looked when the giggling started. I jumped back in shock, running into a chair at the table. Fuck.
“Izumi.. What in the hell are you doing?” I asked, laughing slightly. If her goal was to scare me, she did a pretty fucking good job. I couldn’t see her face under the shadow of her hair, and she just wouldn’t stop laughing. I started slowly backing up, trying to get the hell out of there. But Izumi slowly started walking toward me, swaying a little with each step. I hit the wall behind me hard. I glanced away from her for a second to see how far the door was. Shit. I won’t make it there… Then I froze, feeling her breath on my face. I turned my head to find her only an inch or two away from my face. She was grinning like mad, her body shaking from the intense laughter.
Then, all of a sudden, she collapsed onto me. I caught her before she fell, hoisting her up so her head was on my shoulder.
“Caleb.. Help.” She whispered into my ear. I glanced down at her.
“What the hell were you doing?!” I demanded, “You freaking scared me to death.”
“I.. Don’t know. It comes.. and goes..” She gasped. I felt her shaking in my arms- she was completely freaked. The Izumi I knew would never act this vulnerable in front of me.
“You’re okay now..” I sighed, stroking her hair. She calmed down a little bit, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Thank you Caleb.” She said, squeezing me into a hug. “I was so terrified.” I looked away, damn she was so cute..
“Ah!, Caleb can you hear the music?” She asked. I strained my ears until I heard it, faint, but still there,
“Yeah.” I replied, sliding my hands around her waist and pulling her closer, “Wanna dance?” She smiled shakily in reply.
“I’d love to.” The faint tones of the band flowed through the room as we swayed to the music. She sighed into my shoulder, the events from a few minutes ago forgotten. She lifted her head up and locked her eyes into mine. I smiled, tangling one of my hands into her hair. She stretched up on her toes as I leaned down.
And it was pretty much the best end to a hellish dance.
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Well, Fudo's crazy had to go somewhere, right? XD
~A
