"Professor Sage, you look wonderful," Regal said in greeting.
Raine turned from where she had been carefully arranging her hair around her ears for the thousandth time that night. The expensive shampoo she'd been provided at Zelos' mansion had made her hair feel beautifully silky, but it also left it so light and straight that the tips of her ears kept poking through. It made her feel vulnerable somehow. But she smiled at Regal and adjusted her glasses.
"So do you," she said, indicating his outfit with a sweep of her hand. It would definitely be rude to ask just how he had managed to get into the formal clothing with his shackles, so she didn't, but a few theories that skittered through her mind made her eyes crinkle a little in a smile. He looked good with his hair combed.
"Ah, I'm nothing special. Certainly nothing to rival the Chosen." Regal's voice was wry and teasing.
Raine indulged herself in raising one eyebrow. Zelos was swaggering through waltz and tango alike with aplomb, red tail of a braid sweeping many a bare shoulder of the ladies he was entertaining.
"He does seem to be enjoying himself," she commented dryly. Regal smiled. He seemed so at home here, in this swaying mass of silk and velvet, the smell of candle wax and old wine permeating everything. Her hand drifted up to brush her hair again.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Professor?" He had moved to stand beside her, their backs against the wall, shoulders not quite touching.
"I confess I'm not used to this many people," she said. "It is beautiful though."
Genis had mustered up the stammering courage to ask Presea for a dance, but neither of them actually knew any of the steps, so they had settled for shuffling in a slow circle. Genis's face and ears were nearly the same shade of red as his tie and Presea's eyes had their same hooded solemnity, but they were both smiling tiny smiles. Lloyd and Colette hadn't yet made their way down to the dance floor. Raine might have been tempted to go after them in her duties as chaperone, but they were in plain sight on a tiny balcony overlooking the ballroom. They were both leaning on the railing, smiles bright and shoulders innocently brushing.
Sheena was maybe the only person who didn't look like she was at ease. Raine didn't quite blame her; she was wearing an impressive lack of dress and it was drawing quite a few stares. She was clutching a glass of champagne and her spine was stiff as she nodded absently at something some older man was saying to her, his eyes on the wrong part of her body.
"Regal," Raine suddenly began, intending to ask him to take Sheena about the floor in a dance, something to brighten the girl's face and get rid of the leering man, "would you-" But she stopped as Zelos suddenly broke away from his bevy of court ladies and made some ridiculous, overblown bow before the girl from Mizuho. She scowled and said something obviously not very complimentary, but Raine saw the way her shoulders relaxed and she didn't protest all that convincingly as the redhead took her by the hand. Raine didn't quite understand the two of them, but it was clear that Zelos at least understood Sheena. It warranted further observation.
She realized that Regal was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish what she had been saying. She adjusted her glasses, using the motion to touch her ear, making sure it was covered.
"Are you all right, Professor?"
"Oh yes, fine. I'm sorry. It's nothing."
He eyed her for a moment - she could feel his gaze even if she didn't meet it - and then he looked back at the dance floor.
"If I may be so bold," he began finally, "you say that far too often."
She looked up at him, eyes wide and then narrowed in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"Forgive me. I don't mean to be rude." He wasn't meeting her gaze now, shackles clinking as he bowed demurely. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. But he saved her from responding by continuing to speak.
"I wouldn't ask you to share everything with me, with anyone. Everyone deserves their own secrets. I know I have plenty of shadows in my own past and things I have no wish to discuss even now." He was watching Sheena and Zelos dance. Sheena was laughing now, even harder as she stumbled over the Chosen's foot. Zelos had his hands close to dangerous areas, but he was smiling too, his eyes on Sheena's flushed face.
"But," Regal continued, "I know that you, that all of our companions, would do their best to help me with any of my problems. I would need only to share with them." Now he did meet her gaze and she stared back at him, feeling... exposed. And slightly indignant.
"Thank you," she managed without gritting her teeth. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Truly, I didn't mean to offend. That was very forward of me. I apologize." There he was, bowing again. A few strands of his hair fell down in front of his face, blue against the tan.
"No, don't." She waved a hand at him. "I should be the one to apologize. You're right. I do tend to keep more to myself than might be considered wise." Why couldn't she keep her hands away from her damn hair? She put on the brightest smile she could muster. "Believe me though, this time it really was nothing."
He returned her smile, but he didn't look quite satisfied. Of course he wouldn't, he was far too smart for that. For one icy black moment of panic, she saw Kratos before her, with his expression of far too much knowing. It sent a tingle up her spine to lodge in the back of her throat and she looked away quickly.
"Raine? I-"
"Hey, Professor Sage, you all right?"
Lloyd and Colette had finally come down from the balcony. Lloyd looked more comfortable in his suit than she would have thought, and Colette would have looked just as radiant in anything. Lloyd had a hand out, as if to catch Raine. She realized she had hunched over ever so slightly, her hands drawn to her chest, as if she were in pain.
"Oh, Lloyd. Yes, yes I'm fine. Just not quite used to the champagne, I suppose." She hadn't touched a drink all night.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." The young swordsman chuckled and swung an arm about. "It gets all in your head."
"Whoa, careful there, man!" Zelos was there, ducking under Lloyd's arm, taking Sheena down into a dip with him. "We come in peace." He had a smirk on his face, one arm around Sheena's waist as they straightened. The ninja let it sit there for the briefest of moments before she punched him in the ribs.
"Idiot." And now Genis and Presea, both holding plates piled high with chocolate-covered strawberries and finger cakes. Raine suddenly felt crowded. They were all there for each other, all looking out for one another, for her. She took her glasses off and massaged the bridge of her nose with fingers that suddenly felt too tense, too numb.
"I'm going to get some fresh air," she said quietly.
Regal didn't offer to accompany her. Instead, he bowed gently, allowing for her privacy.
"Do you want me to come with you, Professor?" Colette had her hands clasped in concern.
"No, I'll be fine. Someone has a perfume that's giving me a bit of a headache, that's all."
"Bit stuffy in here, isn't it?" Zelos was pretending that he wasn't holding bruised ribs. "Be careful, all right? Not everyone around is as charming as I am."
"Thank goodness," Raine muttered, prompting a laugh from Genis and Lloyd and offended whining from Zelos. It covered her exit, keeping her from hearing any protest Regal might have voiced. Not that he would have made any.
She dragged her fingers down her hair, mussing it as she arranged it down the sides of her head, as she retreated from the net of support being woven for her.
He found her in the end anyway, or rather she found him after she'd wandered through the halls for nearly an hour. He was standing in one of the few balconies to the outside that didn't have some secretive couple in it, his bound hands resting lightly on the railing. He didn't seem any more surprised to see her than she was to see him.
"I'm sorry," she said as she came to stand beside him. "Am I bothering you?"
"Of course not. Your company is always welcome." He still looked out over the top of the city, but his body was turned toward her, including her rather than pushing her away.
"Sorry," she said again, "for just leaving like that. It was a bit much." The volume was beginning to leave her hair with her constant handling and it was easier to pull into place now.
"Mmm, sometimes a large social gathering can be quite overwhelming. The others understood."
There he went again, understanding what she wasn't saying. She stepped forward and laid her own hands on the railing.
"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Professor," he said finally.
"No, it wasn't your fault. I've just never been very good with sympathy. It always seemed a bit useless to me when I was younger."
He looked over at her, but didn't speak, didn't press for more.
"Thank you, Regal," she said finally, meeting his gaze, "for being honest with me."
He smiled then and slowly reached his hands over to brush her hair behind her ears, those pointed ears, the half-elf ears that she'd hidden from everyone, exposing them to the night air. She didn't move.
"Honesty suits you," was all he said. And despite the nest of snakes those words set squirming in her stomach as every secret she'd ever withheld from him, still withheld from him, came to mind, she smiled back.
"Then I suppose I could stand to practice it a little more, couldn't I?"
"Far be it from me to teach the teacher."
She resisted the urge to pull her hair over her ears again as they made their way back into the ballroom.
A/N: This turned out more blatantly shippy than I meant it to, but I'm still happy with it. Couples you see here are the couples I tend to support in this game (at least for mutual interest - some one-sided ships are fun to write about too). Sheelos (Sheena/Zelos), Gensea (Genis/Presea), Colloyd (Collete/Lloyd) and of course, the Regal/Raine dynamic which I have yet to find a portmanteau couple name I'm happy with. Pairs everyone up sort of incredibly neatly, I know, but hey... I didn't actually really see Regal/Raine as a potential couple until the sequel when they did their adorable little flirting espionage (and believe me, it was one of the only good things to come out of the sequel). This story may actually continue into the sequel, just for that dynamic, but we'll see. If anything, it will be broad strokes of canon rather than details.
I actually used to be a Kraine (Kratos/Raine) shipper way back in the early hours of the game, just because I had an overdeveloped sense of shipping. Now I sort of see Kratos as being a secret fear of Raine's: sort of the extreme of who she was in the beginning and what she feared turning into. He knew what Colette was going through and kept silent, Raine knew what Collette was going through and kept silent. He was hiding the fact that he was an angel, she was hiding the fact that she was a half-elf. Sort of irrational on her part, but I really see Raine as having a more complex psyche than maybe even Zelos. She's not my most favorite character of all time, but boy is she fun to write about.