Brynn stared at the dance floor uncomfortably. Fyora had insisted on having a party in honour of her and Hanso, but Brynn felt awkward in her fancy dress, and Hanso hadn't even bothered showing up. She took a seat in one of the chairs that lined the faerie queen's ballroom.
"May I have this dance?" a deep voice asked beside her. Brynn looked up.
"May I have this dance?" Hanso repeated. Not waiting for her to reply, he pulled her up, saying "I'll take that as a yes." He dragged her over to the dance floor.
"Hanso, I really don't dance-" she tried to say, but the ixi interrupted her.
"Nonsense! This is a party, for us. I didn't get new clothes just to be told that 'I really don't dance,'" he said, making finger quotes.
"Speaking of which…Where did you get the clothes?"
"I, ah, 'borrowed' them," he said.
"Hanso!"
"I'll return them later!"
Brynn sighed. "If you don't…"
"Yes, yes, I know. Now, how about that dance?"
At that moment, the song switched to a slow song. A very long slow song. Brynn bit her lip.
"Fine," she said. Hanso grinned and pulled her over to an empty bit of dance floor.
They danced, not speaking. Brynn felt awkward. She really wasn't a dancer, and she doubted Hanso knew much either. He was surprisingly good, though, so Brynn just tried to follow his lead.
After a moment, Hanso spoke. "Something wrong?" he asked.
"What?" she said, looking at him. He shrugged.
"You've been awfully quiet, that's all," he said.
"Like I said. I'm not really a dancer."
"You seem fine to me." There was no sarcasm in his voice, which surprised Brynn.
"Really?" she said. He nodded.
"Oh, Brynn, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"Yeah?"
"Well, right before I 'joined' Xandra, you said I l- and then stopped. What were you gonna say?"
Brynn stared at the ground, her orange cheeks turning bright red. "I was saying, uh…" she looked for a lie, but none came. "I was going to say…" After a moments pause, she finally blurted, "I love you." She had expected Hanso to be shocked, but instead, he smiled, and then did the most surprising thing he could do.
He kissed her.
Brynn closed her eyes, kissing him back. He pulled away after a moment. Brynn's eyes flew open, and she stared at him, shocked. "I…I mean...Do you…" she trailed off, and Hanso answered her unspoken question.
"Yes," he said simply, and then Brynn kissed him. And he was kissing her, and she was kissing him, and finally they had to pull away for air, and they stared at each other awkwardly. Brynn's cheeks were even redder than before, and Hanso's was a very reddish purple. They laughed nervously. The song ended, and they broke away. As Brynn walked back to her chair, a voice come from behind her.
"May I have this dance?"
This time, Brynn turned around, smiled, looked Hanso right in the eye, and said, "Yes." Then she kissed him again.
Maybe parties could be fun.