Rated Borderline T/M for implied sexual reference. Prompt line will be bolded in the fic!
#02 - Running Late
It was the night of Mimi's masquerade party. Taichi had just taken a shower to cleanse off the dirt and sweat from soccer practice. With one towel wrapped around his torso and another other his shoulder, he grabbed his phone from his bathroom counter which had been sounding off like crazy.
One of the beeps from his phone indicated a message from Mimi, which was another reminder about the party. Another was from Yamato:
"Please show up, or else I'll never hear the end of it."
But Taichi tapped through his messages with Sora, whose beeps had been unusually silent that evening. The last time he heard from her was before he headed into soccer practice, when she called him to remind him to pick her up on the way to the party. Before then, she had been nagging Taichi to make sure he got a tuxedo for the party, and that she'd take care of the masks.
He dressed into his tuxedo, then fixed his hair in its wild tame. He wanted his hair to fly freely, even if the mask was meant to hide who he was.
As soon as he knew that he looked good, he went out the door, holding his phone against his ear to call Sora.
Except, when Sora answered, she sounded frantic.
"You don't have to pick me up, Taichi. Go on without me," she said.
"What?! Sora, you've been talking about this party for weeks!"
"I can't. Tell Mimi I said sorry, okay?"
"Sora-!"
Taichi groaned after realizing that she had ended the call, but he continued his way toward her apartment anyway.
He knocked when he got to Sora's door, and he heard Sora shout from inside that it was unlocked. When he entered, he found her standing in the living room, wearing a black, lacy dress that hugged the curves at her hips, its sleeves just off of her shoulders, its skirt flowing down to her knees.
Taichi was speechless.
"Wow, Sora, you look…"
"Hideous!" Sora said, frowning.
"What? No…" Taichi walked over to Sora who was on the verge of tears.
"It looked perfect when I tried it on in the dressing room, and now…"
"Hey, now. Would you believe your boyfriend if he told you how amazing you looked?"
"You're my boyfriend. You're supposed to say things like that."
Taichi cupped her cheeks with his palms. "And, if I said that I looked 'hot'…"
"You wouldn't care if I said otherwise. What's your point?"
Sora's judgmental expression made Taichi laugh. He knew he succeeded in distracting her from her current insecurity, however ridiculous it was, and he showed it off with a smirk before leaning forward to kiss her.
"If I showed you how beautiful you are…" he added after breaking off the kiss, then following it with one deeper than the last. "…Would you believe me?"
Sora responded by kissing back, and Taichi knew his distraction attempt was successful. Her arms snaked around his back and she moved closer.
It was only until she pulled away and broke off the kiss when he realized he was caught in his own distraction.
"Well…" said Sora, her face flushed from the heat which Taichi felt between them. "I think I have an alternative option…"
"An alternative…?" Taichi turned and watched Sora disappear into her room. A different dress? He didn't know Sora to be that kind of girl to even buy a lot of dresses, much less two for the same occasion. Had Mimi given her that strong of an influence in frivolous spending over the years?
"Hey, Taichi, can you come over here?"
"I thought you didn't want to be late to the party," he said, judging by her timid voice. "Don't tell me you hate this dress, too." He approached her room and found her standing behind her door with her head peering out.
"Taichi, I'm not wearing a dress…"
Sora opened the door further, revealing that she had dressed down to her undergarments, leaving Taichi speechless once again.
"An alternative…" she added, blushing and unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket, then moving forward to meet his lips with hers.
Taichi felt his own cheeks warm up as he returned the kiss and removed the jacket, dropping it on the ground. As Sora led him into her room, he realized it was he who had a strong influence on her with his distractions, and that they were going to be late to the masquerade party.
15 Dec 20