Disclaimer: Not the last time I checked. You might want to ask Tamora Pierce, she would probably know who owns them. Teehee. Although, I own half of what Neal does. So there. Ahm... the line, "I will go wherever you want me to, Yoda" belongs to the movie Miss Congeniality. And whatever else I forget to disclaim belongs to them. So... yeah.
A/N: All right, you caught me. So I had just read Arrows Flight for the first time and was a little excited about the EXTREME hottishness of Kris. It's not my fault. So anyway, the line, "It was intended to be a brotherly kiss. It didn't stay brotherly for more than an instant" belongs to Mercedes Lackey, that genius who owns Kris, Dirk, and most especially *sigh* Skif. Does anyone know if that's him on the back of Winds of Fury? I think it is, but I've only read the Talia books so far, and I just looked fondly at WoF. But if it is, then seriously, I WANT HIM. Right here, right now. Teehee. Thief. Teehee.
Is it that we've been together much too long?
The answer may not be in black and white
We're always trying to prove who's right or wrong
And now we're giving up without a fight
But I know when you're gone
I'll wish I held on
Heart – Surrender To Me
Underneath the Surface – Chapter 10 – The Rules of Attraction
"He's coming tomorrow? Here? Now? Why? Why in the name of good Mithros would he come tomorrow? That's absurd! Ludicrous! I think I'm going to have a hemorrhoid. Do you think if I had a hemorrhoid he wouldn't come? That would be convenient. Very much so, actually. Do you think so, Thayet?" King Jonathan of Conté asked his queen, Thayet the Peerless, his voice dripping in sarcasm and disdain.
Thayet sighed. "I know this is last minute, but we have to make the best of it. It's not everyday a diplomat of the kingdom of Tyra decides to drop by. Just – we'll have to accommodate them as well as we can."
"So what do you suggest, Thayet?" Jon asked her, rubbing his temples roughly with his fingers.
Thayet bit her inner lip, careful not to smear any of the cherry rogue that was spread carefully across her soft mouth. "We could always have another ball," she said, shrugging her dainty shoulders and cocking her head.
Jonathan looked up in mild annoyance. "Another one? Do you realize how many we've had in the past month? Even I'm getting tired of them, and you know me, Thayet. If you keep making me come to these things I'm going to become as bad as Raoul or Alanna and then where will I be? A king that doesn't come to his balls. Pah." He shook his head.
Thayet glanced at him crossly. "And do you have a better idea, high and mighty? It is custom to treat foreign diplomats with that kind of courtesy, you know. Holding a ball in their honor is protocol, not even mentioning all the extras we'll have to drop in. All those fruit baskets..." she shuddered. "But honestly, Jon. Think of something better and I'll be all for it. But until you do, I propose we have a ball." Thayet said, her voice crisp and clear. Jon sighed and buried his head in his hands.
"They just had to pick tomorrow to come without notice, didn't they?" he asked quietly, yet hiding a derisive tone behind his soft words.
"Of course they did, dearest," Thayet told him. "They simply love to irritate us with these things and make us throw balls for them last minute. I'm sure it's their greatest joy to annoy the King of Tortall," she said sardonically.
Jon looked up at her and scowled before he sighed and softened his features. "Fine. We'll have a bloody ball. I don't care though. Just – get someone doing something, for Mithros' Sake! We only have a day to coordinate this entire thing! I figure we can get Oakbridge to drill the pages in serving, and Numair can decorate and move the tables with his magic I'm guessing, and the cooks will have to work extra hard, but they'll probably be able to pull it off..."
Thayet hid a smile from her husband behind a Yamani fan. She had taken to carrying one with her wherever she went. It came in handy, especially in front of foreign diplomats who decided to get a little too friendly for her tastes.
"Good. Now that it's decided, I've already taken the liberty of telling the cooks that they need to prepare, and Oakbridge that he's going to have to have the pages serve, and Numair that he's going to do the decorations. All that's left is – nothing." Thayet nodded smugly.
Jon looked up at her incredulously before breaking out into a grin. "Did I ever tell you that you're amazing?"
"I know," Thayet responded as Jon laughed.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"What?" Cleon asked loudly as his wife laughed heartily. "There's a – there's a ball? Eek."
Ermelian chuckled. "What? Scared of the big, bad, ball?"
"No..." Cleon started. "It's just, last time I was at a ball, Merric through whipped cream all over me. It wasn't fun."
"He threw whipped cream on you?" Ermelian asked. "How did he manage that?"
"He was drunk," Cleon explained. "And he got a hold of some of the cooks' stores, and voila. A whipped Cleon." Ermelian snorted as a yawning Kel came up from behind them.
"What's this I hear about drunk?" she asked sleepily, covering her mouth as she sat down next to them at the breakfast table.
"Oh, remember that last ball where Merric got drunk and-"
"Got the whipped cream all over you?" Kel finished. "Yeah, that was funny. He should do that again."
Cleon shook his head and returned to his breakfast platter, stabbing his sausage lazily. "There's going to be a ball."
Kel's head darted up to look at him. "What?"
Cleon nodded glumly. "Tell me about it. I don't want to get doused with whipped cream again." He shuddered.
"Oh, come now. Think of the bright side. There will be dancing, and food..." Ermelian looked at her husband hopefully. "You can't honestly not go. It's your duty as knight of the realm."
Cleon blinked and looked at her strangely. "One, there is always a ball to go to, no matter what time of the week it is. There will always be dancing, there will always be food... and I do not want to go." Cleon crossed his arms over his chest.
"Oh, come on, dearie. You have to," Ermelian pleaded. When she saw that Cleon's look hadn't changed, she tried another tactic. "You'll be sleeping on the floor for a couple of weeks if you don't go with me."
Cleon instantly turned white as he swallowed the last of his food. "Ack. That was harsh."
Ermelian snorted indignantly as Kel continued to watch them. Apparently, no love had been lost because of the recent revelation that had come to light about her and Cleon. They seemed as happy as two newlyweds. Which they incidentally were.
"Oh, come on, Cleon," Ermelian said softly, tracing a smooth finger up Cleon's tunic. He visibly went red. "Come to the ball with me? I promise, you won't regret it later," she whispered softly, a small smile escaping her face.
Kel coughed. Sometimes, she really thought people needed to learn what tact was.
Ermelian turned to look at her, smiling sweetly, yet with a bit of vileness that Kel hadn't expected to see. She pulled away.
"Yes, Lady Kel?" Ermelian asked her, slinging an arm around Cleon's shoulder so that she faced Kel.
Kel blinked. "Ah... it's nothing. Just..."
"Just what?" Cleon's wife asked her, giving her a faint scowl beneath her smiling face.
'Guess she's holding a grudge,' Kel thought forlornly. 'Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. I shouldn't have opened my mouth like that.'
"What she wants to say, but won't," a voice said from behind Kel as she felt lips press against her cheek and arms wrap around her. "Get a room."
Neal smiled as he sat down next to Kel. The Lady Knight turned to look at him, her features blank. "What, no kiss hello?"
Ermelian snorted under her breath. "Now who needs a room?" she muttered. Neal looked at her and stuck his tongue out, acting the childish prat.
He returned his gaze to Kel and leaned in closely to her, touching his forehead to hers. Kel felt heat rush to her cheeks. And certain other parts of her body. It was much too early for this.
"Sleep well?" he asked, keeping his face close. Her raised a teasing eyebrow.
"Like a baby," Kel told him, scowling as she pulled away. Neal simply laughed in amusement.
From across from them, Cleon coughed conspicuously. Kel blushed and averted her face from his scrutiny. Cracking his knuckles, Neal looked down at the plate he had carried from the food line. "Mm. Breakfast," he said before busying himself with his eggs.
Kel sighed as she returned her gaze to her own plate. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cleon watching her strangely. His gray eyes were penetrating as Ermelian ranted on about - something. She tended not to listen to the girl. Kel looked up at Cleon. He met her eyes before turning his glance quickly to his wife.
Kel shook her head. She sometimes wondered if people knew something about her that she didn't. Maybe there was a nice notice flying around the palace that told her deepest darkest secrets to the world. Gossip at its best. Not a comforting thought.
She busied herself with her food, trying to forget the steady heat coming from her side where Neal was sitting. She hadn't even bothered trying to be truly mad at him for last night. She knew she would just end up forgiving him anyway. However, she had firmly told herself that she was not going to act like she had previously. No flirting, no use of hands – our mouths for that matter – no being aroused by him... probably...
Kel gritted her teeth into her food. This wasn't right. She should be thinking these things...
And yet, she found that in every spare moment of time she had, she was.
She was thinking of him, and what it would be like to be with him, and love him, and be able to do the sorts of things to him she would never have dreamed of doing with Dom... She couldn't stop, albeit she tried hard enough. It was like a drug – once you started, you couldn't stop.
And the over excessive presence of that drug didn't help one bit.
Kel was huddled so deep into her thoughts that she didn't notice Yuki and Dom come in together, talking animatedly like old friends.
Neal, however, did.
He supposed he should have felt something bordering on jealousy as he watched them talk together on the breakfast line – but he didn't. It should have disturbed him, he supposed, that he didn't have a certain protectiveness over her like most normal lovers did. That he didn't mind when she talked to another man. That he thought it was perfectly fine for them to have an intelligent conversation where Neal couldn't keep an eye on them.
He supposed it should have disturbed him. But it didn't.
In fact, the thing that disturbed him more was the fact that he knew every ripple of color in Kel's eyes by heart. Every fraction of green and brown, every tiny sparkle that shone brightly in her expressions, every look of joy and happiness on her face. That was what disturbed him.
Yet somehow, he didn't mind.
Kel jumped when Dom came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, startled, but then smiled. Did Neal sense a twinge of uneasiness radiating from her?
Yuki came up and sat next to him. She smiled at her soon to be husband and reached over and squeezed his hand before saying, "Good morning."
"Morning, love," Neal told her as Dom sat down next to Kel, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Neal saw Kel stiffen out of the corner of his eye, but let it go. Ermelian, strangely enough, saw it as well, yet decided not to mention it. This particular morning had been tensing enough. Cleon, however, had no particular qualms about voicing his worry for Kel.
"All right, Kel? You look like you've seen a ghost," he expressed, turning to her and looking at her with worried eyes.
Kel blinked and flushed. 'And I thought only Neal could read me so well... Perfect.' She smiled uneasily at him. "I'm fine, Cleon. Why would you think otherwise?"
Cleon looked at Dom one last time before shrugging and returning to his food. The mood was effectively ruined, for Kel at least. Was she that transparent to all her friends?
Apparently, however, the mood wasn't ruined for the rest of their small group. Dom and Yuki were continuing their previous conversation, which turned out to be about some kind of politics. It was almost bordering on gossip – but it wasn't. Kel didn't want to bother paying attention. She had never been too keen on keeping up with the affairs of state, although she found it inevitable at times. However, this time, she found herself being drawn into it by a certain squawking noise emerging from Neal's direction.
"What? Ball? Tomorrow? Eek." Neal grimaced.
"Now you know how I feel," Cleon told him, nodding his head solemnly. "It's mad what they make us do."
"No, it's not that," Neal started. "I – um – had an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. You know, it's very difficult to get an appointment this time of year!" he exclaimed at his friends' outrageous expressions. "Oh... shut up all of you."
"Aw... does poor little Nealan need a widdy biddy haircut?" Kel teased him, turning to him and running fingers through his hair. Neal winced indignantly. "You can get them done at the palace, you know."
"I know," he protested as he removed Kel's hands from his head, moving them down to his shoulders. "But they have this – special – oil that they put in! It's not my fault! It takes a lot to get the look I have!" Kel snorted as she leaned in closer to him.
"You're such a girl, Neal. Even I'm not that bad and I am a girl," she said humorously, lowering her voice.
"You sure didn't say that last night," Neal said before he could stop the words from escaping his mouth.
Yuki blinked.
Dom blinked.
Kel scowled at Neal as she promptly removed her hands from his shoulders. Neal looked away from her as subtly as possibly. Ermelian had a bit of a smug look on her face, like she knew all along Kel and Neal were having a bit of a love affair, and Cleon simply sat there, eating his breakfast as if nothing unusual had happened.
The silence that stretched across the friends seemed incessant. The only distraction present was the sound of Cleon's chomping. Neal slowly turned to look at Yuki.
"Neal?" she asked him, her eyes accusatory. Neal gave her a weak laugh.
"Er – Heh... um, kidding?"
Yuki's nostrils flared despite her trained Yamani teaching. "Kidding?" she asked, her voice almost bordering on a growl.
Neal shook his head, smiling tightly. "It's an inside joke, Yuki. Sorry to disappoint you if you thought I was having a love affair with Kel."
Yuki blushed a deep crimson, and, in her embarrassment, didn't notice that Kel did too. The ever-observant Cleon, however, did, and put the information aside for later use.
"I – I didn't think you were having a 'love affair' as you so tactfully call it with Kel, I just – oh, I don't know," Yuki sighed in frustration, taking her fan from her waistband and hiding her awkwardness with it. Dom looked at the three of them in something bordering in amusement. He knew that Kel would never cheat on him. He put complete faith in her and her devotion to him. She and Neal had been friends for too long for them to suddenly decide to get together now, anyway. Besides, wasn't a good relationship based on trust?
Ah, the joys of naivety.
"Good," Neal said, giving Yuki an impertinent look. She scowled at him from behind her fan and removed it from her face to hit him in the back of the head with it.
"Ow!" Neal cried as Yuki hid her face again. "Why did you go and do that?"
"Because," Yuki told him, waving her fan. "You were being an insolent pig."
"Oh," Neal began, "Great. Just great. I'm never going to stop being the insolent pig I am, so why do you even bother?"
" 'As the priest said to the princess,' " Kel began.
"I live in hope," Neal finished, turning to her and smiling. She returned his look with the tiniest of blushes. Yuki raised an eyebrow.
"Just how many inside jokes do you two have, anyway?" she asked, irritation rupturing her usually calm, composed voice.
"Well, we have been best friends for longer than I can remember. It's inevitable for us to obtain some inside jokes," Neal said as he lifted pert eyebrows and looked at her.
Yuki scowled and turned to her food, obviously not wanting to talk anymore. Silence covered them then, taking hold firmly as the remainder of the friends finished their breakfast. Dom was the first to finish, and the first to leave. He kissed Kel on the cheek, noticing the blush that crept up her cheeks with a smile. Ermelian snorted from her seat next to Cleon, while the red head just continued to eat. Yuki didn't bother to look up when he departed, and Neal was left with a very strange feeling in his stomach, much to his growing uneasiness.
Yuki was the next to finish. It was odd that of the last two to arrive, they were the first two to finish. She stood and Neal looked up at her. She glanced down at him and frowned. "I'll see you later?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in a question.
"Sure," Neal told her. Yuki's frown faded as her mouth crinkled up into a small smile. Turning to Kel, she grinned.
"Do you have anything to wear for the ball?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
"I'll find something," Kel assured her, looking up to her and giving her a confident smile. Yuki returned her expression and gave her a small nod.
"Not just something," Yuki told her. "Tomorrow, you will be spectacular. Today, we will go shopping, and you will get an appropriate dress, and I will make you into a lady yet."
Kel was about to protest when Yuki held up a hand. "You want to impress a certain-" she leaned in closer "-Domitan, don't you?"
Kel glared at her, close mouthed. Yuki grinned pleasantly as she leaned over and kissed Neal on the cheek before exiting. Kel growled from the back of her throat.
"Does everyone know what is going on in my love life?" she asked when Yuki was out of hearing distance.
"Anyone that cares," Neal answered her. "So little happens in it that this is big news. You putting the-" he coughed –"moves – on Dom is quite important to us." He smirked smugly.
"Oh, it's not like it's even that interesting," Kel hissed. "You said it yourself, we haven't even had sex!"
"We never had sex," Cleon interrupted, looking up from his food for a moment with blank eyes. Ermelian hit him over the head with the flat of her palm.
Kel blinked. "So many retorts. So little time to chose."
Cleon frowned and rubbed his head. "You just had to do that, didn't you, Mel."
Ermelian seethed at him. "At least have the decency not to say those sort of things while your wife isn't in the same vicinity as you!"
Cleon looked down meekly and blushed, as his freckles became indiscernible from the rest of his face. Ermelian simply scowled at him.
Neal coughed. "Well, in any case-" he looked to Kel- "the fact that you now have a beau, my cousin no less-" he snorted "-is quite big news amongst us green knights. It's not every day that your best friend goes and makes herself eligible to become one of the family."
Kel looked horrified at the thought. "Gods help me. I forgot that I might end up being related to you. How frightening." She shuddered.
Neal snorted and gave her a look. "Gods help you? Gods help me, is more likely. I'm going to be related to a mad female who knows more about me than I do, for Mithros' Sake. Now that's frightening."
"You can't honestly think that being related to me is worse than being related to you."
"If the riding glove fits..." Neal smirked. Kel scowled at him pointedly. She had forgotten that she had told him that Dom had given her a pair of riding gloves. Damn.
"Oh... shut up. Just-" she raised a hand at him "-shut up."
Neal laughed heartily at her, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. "Gods, you're insane."
"You would know best," Kel said, making a face at him. Neal merely grinned as he shook his head and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he decided at that minute to turn back to his food and continue eating.
Kel sighed. What was it with men and their fascination for food?
Ermelian sighed as she finished her food. "I'd best be going. Must go down to town and pick up a dress."
"You could come with us," Kel offered as Ermelian got up. Cleon rose to match her, but she put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down.
"That's all right, Keladry. I was planning on going down with my maid. You can stay here, Cleon."
Cleon looked up at her, eyes questioning until he shrugged at last. "If that's what you want, Mel." She nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and left, her footsteps echoing in the mess.
Cleon looked after her wistfully. Neal glanced at him in concern. "You all right, Cleon?"
Cleon blinked and averted his gaze from his wife. "Oh, I'm fine." Neal eyed him skeptically. "What?"
Neal shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that you always seemed so happy before. It's a change. She seems – discontented."
A heat rose to the red head's cheeks. "Oh, she's just mad at me for something I said." When he didn't care to continue, Neal urged him on.
"What did you say, Kennan?" he drawled in a boorish voice.
"Ahm..." he coughed. "Well, before the marriage, I had told her that I hadn't been seeing anyone. Ever." He looked down and scratched his head sheepishly.
Neal blinked. His lips played upward in a smile he was trying to hide. A snort was emitted from his mouth. Kel coughed to hide the laugh that was coming from the back of her throat. Suddenly, Neal burst out in such laughter so abruptly that Kel almost jumped.
"That's ridiculous! Everyone's been with someone! I mean... even Owen's not a virgin!"
Kel blanched. "Too much information," she informed Neal with a tight grin.
"Sorry," he told her, turning back to Cleon in a fraction of a second. "How could you tell her that! I mean... you really screwed yourself over! Why did you tell her that?" he asked incredulously.
"Well..." Cleon began, frowning thoughtfully. "It was a couple of days before the wedding, and she was – well, nervous about… you know... so I told her that I hadn't to make her feel better. So be quiet."
"You-" Neal coughed "-you have, right? I mean, before the wedding, anyway."
Cleon turned redder than Kel thought was humanly possible.
"Oh my," Neal said softly, a grin etched across the features of his face. "How did you not have sex? I mean... I had sex when I was – gods, a second year page? I think so. But – gods!"
Cleon barely managed to keep an irritated sigh from escaping him. "That would have made you sixteen, Neal. It's not like you lost your virginity when you were twelve." His voice was dry and sarcastic.
"Well, so? Big deal. Now how did you not lost your virginity before your wedding?"
"Well," Cleon began defensively, "I liked... Kel. And... well, she wasn't exactly going to let me crawl into her pants anytime soon. So I just... didn't." He shrugged indifferently.
Kel snorted. "You know I would have," she said as she rolled her eyes. "You just had terrible timing. And by the time you became betrothed to Ermelian, I wasn't in love with you anymore. Don't feel bad, Cleon. I'm sure other people around here are still virgins." A small smile played across her face.
"Yeah?" Neal asked. "Who?"
Kel blushed and raised her eyebrows.
Neal looked at her disbelievingly. "You?" Kel nodded. "Oh. Huh."
"Honestly, Neal. What do you think me for? A harlot?"
"Well, not a harlot, per se... I just always sort of thought that you... weren't. I don't know." He flushed.
Kel scowled at him. "Who did you think I lost it to, if it wasn't to Cleon?" she asked, her anger starting to mount.
"I don't know!" he cried. "You did spend a lot of time with the Own..." he shrugged.
Kel blinked before punching him in the shoulder. "Gods, Neal! What is wrong with you?" she demanded of him.
"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder. "That hurt!"
"Good!" Kel shouted at him, hitting him over the head with the flat of her hand. "I hope that hurt too!"
"Gah! Would you two stop?" Cleon bellowed above the noise of the two friends. Kel and Neal turned to glare at him, their eyes shooting daggers at him. "... Or you could just go back to what you were doing," he finished meekly.
Kel turned back to Neal, her eyes fiery. She glowered at him before turning away and crossing her arms over her chest.
Neal frowned at her with soft eyes. Sighing, he took her arms and uncrossed them before whispering, "Kel?"
Kel turned and glared at him. Neal stared at her intently, his eyes apologetic. Kel looked at him for a moment more before sighing and abandoning her irate gaze. "Oh... just be quiet. I know I can't stay mad at you. Don't remind me."
Neal grinned. "Of course, milady. Anything you say." He snorted and kissed her on the cheek for the second time that day. Tingling, teasing heat spread throughout Kel's body as her face flushed. "Blushing, milady?"
Kel effectively scowled at him, unable to think of anything remotely intelligent to say.
This time, Neal kissed her on the nose.
Kel looked at him, jaw set harshly into a grimace. "I'm going to hurt you, you know that?"
Neal grinned cheekily. "Alas, one day, I can see you hurting me. It won't be permanent though. And then I'll just come back for more. You know I will."
Cleon coughed suggestively from across from them. Both Kel and Neal turned their attentions to him as he looked at them.
"You know, you two really have to stop acting like lovers or someone's going to get the wrong idea," the red head told them solemnly.
Neal gasped playfully. "How did you know, Cleon? My love!" he exclaimed, turning to Kel. "He knows," he whispered exaggeratedly, trying desperately to keep a straight face. "Alas!" he cried, flinging his hand up to his forehead in a mocking gesture. "We must be more careful," he said slowly and precisely, lowering his voice.
Neal kept a carefully horrified face until Kel snorted, setting off a chain reaction of cackles from Neal. He bent over in laughter, closing his eyes as he rested his head on Kel's shoulder for support. Kel looked at him, a smile drawn up on her usually blank features. Cleon looked at the pair in a mixture of amusement and perplexity.
When Neal opened his eyes, they were wet from unshed tears. He looked down from his spot on Kel's shoulder. "Hey. Those are your breasts."
"Yes, they are, Neal," Kel said matter-of-factly.
"Huh."
Cleon coughed again. He was getting quite tired of interrupting possibly uncomfortable moments.
"Would you mind removing your gaze from my chest, Neal?" Kel asked, setting her lips in a tight smile.
"I do mind, but because you asked it, milady, I shall do so, to conceal our secret." Neal snorted as he straightened himself up. Kel sighed as she turned to Cleon.
"He's like a sex fiend. He has no self control." She shook her head mournfully as Neal looked at her dejectedly.
"Hey, I have self control!" he voiced, pouting at Kel.
"Yeah? When?"
Neal blinked. He struggled for a moment, thinking. Finally, he came up with an answer.
"I have self control where My Lord Wyldon is concerned. He's never going to be able to get me to do more knightly exercises than I want, now that I've got my shield. I know exactly when to stop where that's concerned."
"That doesn't count," Kel said dryly.
"Oh. Then, no, I don't." Neal shook his head as if to emphasize that fact. Kel merely shook her head.
"You're hopeless, Queenscove."
"Hey. You never said you didn't like me being a sex fiend."
Kel blushed and tried to keep her features as blank as possible.
"You're blushing again," Neal informed her, smiling sweetly.
Kel smiled sweetly back at him before getting up and climbing over the bench she and Neal had been currently sitting on. "I'm going to get ready to go out with Yuki. I'll be back before late."
"Goodbye, my love! I shalt pine!" Neal cried after her as Kel shook her head and walked away. Before leaving, Kel indistinctly heard Cleon's voice over the hum of the crowd say, "Hey, that's my line!"
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"So where do you want to go?" Yuki asked Kel as they walked the streets of a rather bustling Corus.
Kel shrugged as she peered into a nearby window. "I will go wherever you want me to, Yoda."
Yuki blinked. "What?"
Kel shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind." Yuki raised an eyebrow, but dismissed Kel's rather strange, arbitrary comment.
"Right. Do you want to head down to Lalasa's?"
"All right. I'm sure it will be packed to capacity now that the news has spread, but it doesn't matter." Kel walked past Raven Armory wistfully, sighing as she eyed a set of daggers that were hung in the nearby window. Yuki noticed her look and creased her forehead.
"You want to go in?" she asked.
Kel shook her head. "Later. After the dress order is in."
"Fine. Let's go."
As Yuki and Kel walked through the throng of people, they noticed with grim fear that a small mob was gathering outside of Lalasa's shop. The mob was comprised of what looked like an eager group of court ladies, all waving purses enthusiastically, jumping up and down to get the attention of a rather pretty lady near the front of the store.
"Listen! I have taken all the work I can handle for the short amount of time the King has given us to prepare! There will be no more offers made! Do you hear me? No more!" Lalasa screamed over the noise of the crowd. All of the ladies looked suddenly forlorn. "Now, I all suggest that you go to the next dressmaker you can find, before they decide to stop taking offers too!"
An echo of moans cam from the crowd, as it slowly dispersed, leaving Lalasa standing near the front, leaning up against the doorframe. She sighed before turning to go inside.
"Lalasa!" Kel cried from a distance, waving. Lalasa instantly brightened, a smile coming to her face as she waved back. Kel and Yuki walked quickly to meet her at the door, faces cheerful.
"You seem to have a lot of work on your hands, Lalasa," Kel told the smaller woman as she greeted her.
"You don't even want me to go into it," Lalasa said to Kel. "It's amazing how pushy some of the women here can be when they're in dire need of a dress." She shook her head and sighed.
Kel laughed lightly. "How many orders do you have so far?"
Lalasa chuckled. "Half a dozen. I'll be up all night as it is."
Kel's eyes widened. "Half a dozen would take an average dressmaker... gods, at least a week, give or take a day or two."
"That," Lalasa informed her, "is why I'm not an average dressmaker."
Kel snorted. "You've met my friend Yuki, haven't you?" Lalasa nodded.
"You've come to me for dresses before. I remember." Yuki bowed.
"You have much skill as a seamstress, Lady Lalasa," Yuki told her politely.
"Come now," the plump, dark woman said, a smile appearing on her face. "No need for formalities. I'm not a lady anyway. The only reason I am where I am today is because of Kel, here." Lalasa grinned at Kel, who gave an embarrassed nod.
Kel cleared her throat. "I'm guessing it would be too much trouble to ask you to make an exception for us, with the dresses?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lalasa blinked. "No, of course not. Just..." her eyes lit up. "Wait. Come in, both of you."
Lalasa opened the door to her shop, motioning them to come inside. "Come, come. No one's holding you back." Kel and Yuki followed her uncertainly into the shop, as Lalasa went behind a counter and started rummaging through something.
'A chest,' Kel mused randomly, watching her old maid search through the trunk. 'Wonder what's in there.'
"You wouldn't mind wearing something I've made already, right? Just to save me the time. If it doesn't fit you or you didn't like it, I'll make you a new one, except this would save me quite some time..." Lalasa continued to rummage through the box until she pulled out a piece of cloth. Shaking it out, she held it up to Kel.
"Will this do? If it fits, I mean. I'll make alterations, if need be."
Kel viewed the dress with a mild indecision. It was beautiful, sure. The dress was layered, yet strangely simple at the same time. However, it was also red. Red was the color of lust. Kel did not want to think of lust at the ball tomorrow night. The neckline, although adorned by pearls and beautifully fashioned, was dangerously low. Kel didn't think she could stomach it.
'Actually,' Kel mused, 'I think I'm more concerned about whether Neal could stomach it. I don't want him flaunting over me and making it painfully obvious. Mind you, I don't know what 'it' is, but I still don't want people knowing. And that neckline's much too low.'
"Do you have anything less-" Kel coughed "-less promiscuous?"
"Not for anyone as tall as you," Lalasa told her, frowning. "Don't you like it?"
"Well, sure," Kel began. "It's just... very..." She cleared her throat. "Low? Is that the right word?"
"At least try it on," Lalasa petitioned as she eyed Kel expectantly. Kel looked at her helplessly for a moment before scowling and grabbing the dress from her.
"Oh... fine. But only because I want you to get some semblance of sleep this night."
"Good," Lalasa commented, turning back to her 'chest of horrors,' as Kel had decided to dub it. "Now, what do we have for you..."
She pulled out another dress that looked like it would fit Yuki. "Since I don't remember your measurements, this is the closest thing I could find on spot. Here, try it on," Lalasa said, holding out the dress to her. The piece was a pale peach, sleeveless and layered, with beads that ran over the neckline. Yuki, for all she would have preferred a kimono, was impressed.
"Why does she get the one with the high neckline?" Kel protested as she noticed the difference between the amount of cleavage each dress would give.
"Because she's not as tall as a horse," Lalasa replied as Yuki took the dress, bowing.
"I owe you my gratitude, Lalasa," she told her gratefully, as she turned to look for a place where she could get dressed. Lalasa noticed her searching and turned to a side room.
"This way, dear. In the room where no peeping onlookers can see us girls." Lalasa led them into a closed room as Kel muttered under her breath, "Horses aren't that tall..."
Kel and Yuki quickly undressed, removing their clothes until they hit their undergarments. From there, they carefully put on their dresses, treating them with the respect the deserved as works of the best dressmaker in town. Kel didn't want to look in the mirror at the far side of the room. She was afraid that if she liked the dress too much she would go and buy it.
Yuki finished first, for all her training in this sort of womanly thing. She turned to Kel and offered to help with the lacings on the back of the dress. When Kel got a good look at her, she wasn't surprised that Yuki looked like an angel.
'She'll certainly look better than the Yamani lump,' Kel thought unhappily as Yuki moved to tie her strings. 'No wonder Neal always liked her better than me. Jealous, me? Never.'
Yuki finished and turned Kel around gently. The Lady Knight was met with a smiling Yamani woman, who was looking at her admiringly.
"I hate to say it, Kel, but you certainly can pull it off." Kel eyed her skeptically as Lalasa came over to them.
"Don't you both look marvelous? Why don't you go have a look in the mirror over there?" She motioned towards the far side of the room. Yuki walked over to it contentedly, Kel grudgingly. She did not want to fall in love with this immoral dress.
Kel approached it and looked at herself.
'Fuck.'
"Oh, Kel, you look wonderful!" Lalasa told her as she came towards her and touched her shoulder. Yuki nodded as she looked at her own reflection.
"Yes, you look great, Kel. Now what do you think of this? I don't look too pale, do I?" she asked, running fingers over her stomach and raising her eyebrows.
"Oh, shut up, Yuki. I know you're just rubbing it in. You have a higher neckline than I do; no need to go flaunt it." Kel eyed her dress with irresolution. It was beautiful; in fact, it made her look like something resembling a porcelain doll. However, it was also a very sexual looking dress. It had very sensual curves that Kel vehemently did not like. In her opinion, she looked a bit too much like a trollop for her liking. "Evil devil spawn," she murmured under her breath.
"Oh, what are you talking about? Half the court ladies wear ones lower than you do, anyway. What's the fuss? It isn't even that low! And I am not an evil devil spawn," Yuki complained as she turned to Kel. Abruptly, she frowned. "Lalasa, come over here, would you?"
Lalasa walked closer to Yuki with raised eyebrows, hands behind her back. "What is it?"
"Do you think she needs a corset?"
Kel's eyes widened at the mention of the word corset.
Lalasa frowned at Yuki's suggestion. "Hm," she murmured as she circled around Kel. "You know, I think she might. Good idea."
"Oh, there is no way in hell you are getting me into a corset," Kel objected fervently. "I-I don't even know how to get a corset on, much less wear one!"
Yuki blinked. "It doesn't take much brain power to know how to wear a corset, Kel," she said dryly. Kel blushed before reverting back to her former plea.
"But I can't wear a corset! It's – immoral! I don't even have any breasts to begin with!"
"Of course you have breasts. You wouldn't be a woman if you didn't. Just think of the corset as a..." Yuki searched for the correct words. "A push up breastband." She smiled and shrugged.
"This is not happening..." Kel moaned as Lalasa went off and fetched a corset for her.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Kel eyed the corset loathingly, garbed in only her undergarments. She did not want to wear the thing. Maybe she would feign illness... that always seemed to work for those swooning court ladies. They were always feeling faint, or something to that effect. Truly, Kel thought it was a bit ridiculous, but if it would get her out of the ball tonight...
For the remainder of last night, Kel and Yuki had come back to the palace and spent the night in Owen's rooms with Neal, Cleon, and Ermelian, since she insisted on tagging along with Cleon almost everywhere. They had talked, played chess, and finally gone to bed. Neal had walked Kel to her room, and had acted like he was going to say something important before kissing her on the cheek and leaving. It had left Kel feeling very confused and perturbed. She didn't like Neal constantly kissing her, no matter how 'chaste' he meant it to be. It scared her that she wanted something more.
A knock came from the other side of the door. That would be Yuki. She had told Kel that she would come to her room before the ball to help her get ready, since Kel 'couldn't seem to get the corset on properly.' Mostly, Kel thought, Yuki had wanted to make sure that she put it on at all, and not gone to the ball with just the dress on. How she hated living in such close confines with everyone.
"Kel? Open up. It's your local evil devil spawn, keen and eager to get you ready for the ball." Kel frowned at the door. "And don't frown. I know you are," Yuki said from the other side of the door.
'Damn her.'
"Oh, I'm coming. Don't get your loins in a knot," Kel called as she got up and opened the door for Yuki, staying out of sight of the hallway, in case someone was passing by. Wouldn't want something 'happening' to walk by and see her in her underclothes.
Yuki walked in, as perfect and pristine as ever. Her hair was styled upward in something resembling a loose bun, and face paint covered her features lightly. The dress was as elegant as ever, and did not make her pale, no matter what Yuki might have thought. In fact, it made her look downright splendid.
'Damn her.'
"Come on, now," Yuki told her as she took Kel's hands and led her towards her dressing area. "Let's get you ready. We only have a couple of hours. This might take a while, after all."
Kel turned white. "It's not going to take that long. I mean... put on the corset, put on the dress, maybe put some gunk in my hair, and I can go, right?"
Yuki eyed her in amusement. "This is the first ball you're going to where you and Dom are a couple. You honestly think I'm going to let you go out with just some 'gunk' in your hair, as you call it? You have to be kidding." Sweet laughter flowed out of the Yamani as she stepped closer to Kel. "You're going to have half the male population of Corus looking at you tonight, whether you like it or not." Yuki gave a small smirk.
Kel wondered whether she knew that Neal very well might be one of those men.
"Now, let's get you ready. We don't have all night, after all," Yuki grinned evilly as she grabbed the corset off its hanger.
Kel sighed. This was going to be a long night.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"There," Yuki said finally as Kel was allowed to open her eyes. She had been sitting in the same chair for an hour, thinking the same perverse thoughts about doing bodily injury to Yuki, having the same pale colored paste spread across her face. She had closed her eyes about ten billion times for Yuki to put some shiny green colored powder on her lids, spread her mouth about twenty billion times for Yuki to apply rogue to her dried, chapped lips, and stretched out her face about thirty billion times to allow Yuki to apply blush to her cheeks.
In reality, it wasn't nearly anywhere near then, but Kel never claimed that she didn't like to exaggerate.
"You're done," Yuki told her as she motioned for Kel to stand up. Kel needed a bit of help, due to her stiff leg muscles.
"Thank the gods above," Kel said dryly as she walked over to the mirror. She was met with what she thought she would see – a radically changed, drastically altered version of herself. She had gone through every beauty technique Yuki could think of. Her eyes now stood out green instead of their normally darker brownish color, she looked flushed from the amount of blush Yuki had put on, and to top it off, her breasts looked bigger.
'Although,' Kel mused, 'it might be better that Neal won't be able to tell when I'm blushing or not.'
"Don't you like it?" Yuki asked her as she came up from behind her. Kel cocked her head to the side.
"It's – different," Kel said finally. Yuki scowled.
"Just – different? You don't like it?" she asked, her face drawn into a frown.
"No, no," Kel answered quickly, not wanting to offend her friend. "I like it. I just don't feel like me anymore," she said with a sigh. Yuki slid over to make Kel look at her.
"Listen. Nothing and no one can make you feel like something you're not. You'll always be you, Kel. Always. Now, I need to go to my rooms to get something. You've got about a half hour to kill, so just don't wipe everything off by the time the ball starts, all right, hun?" Yuki gripped Kel's hands tightly. "Promise me you'll show up intact?"
Kel snorted and nodded slightly. "Promise," she said as Yuki grinned.
"Good," Yuki said as she turned for the door. She eyed a nearby table as she slowly opened it. "You know, Kel, you might want to put that on."
Kel followed her gaze to the table, and what was on it. Her pregnancy charm.
Kel glared at Yuki's retreating figure.
She sighed as she heard the door click shut. 'Maybe I ought to wear it... not that I'm going to do anything to get myself pregnant, that's for sure. I don't love Dom, and Neal is getting married. That doesn't mean that I love Neal either and am just using his marriage as an excuse, though. I don't love either of them. I can't. So there. I am fully aware that most of that didn't make sense. Why am I justifying myself to myself? This just sucks.'
Kel moaned as she grabbed her charm off the stand and eyed it furiously. The truth was, she did feel like she needed to justify herself to someone, and if she could get herself to fell she was justified, then all the better. She didn't want to have to, but...
'I don't need this,' Kel finally decided. 'I'm not going to have sex tonight, or any night anytime soon after this. It'll be a statement for every man that has ever courted me. I am not going to be bedded by someone I don't want. Yeah. That's good. Maybe I need to get it made into a pin and flash it around to everybody so they all get the picture.'
Kel shook her head. She was making herself sound ridiculous and silly.
Kel was jolted out of her thoughts by a jarring sound coming from behind her door. She eyed it wearily. Maybe Yuki had forgotten something. That was probably it. Some... thing that she had clumped on her face during that dreadful process. Kel shuddered.
Kel walked over to the door and gripped the handle uncertainly for a moment. Her palms were sweaty as she turned to the knob slowly, grasping it tightly. The lock clicked open and she opened the door.
Neal stood there, holding two different tunics.
He wore a white dress shirt and breeches, and had black, shiny boots that glimmered in the light. His hair was tied back in a neat horsetail, and it was evident to Kel, although probably only to her, that he had put hair gel in it. His green eyes passed right through her as he strode into the room.
"All right. I need your advice. The brown one?" he asked as he turned around to face her. "Or the green..." his voice trailed off as he took a took a hard look at Kel. She glanced at him, trying to avoid his gaze, and the pressure emanating from it. She clutched her own arms as if she was cold, running her hands across them nervously as Neal took her in.
"By the Mother..." he whispered as he dropped both tunics in sheer shock.
Kel scowled at him. "What? Is there something wrong with you?"
Neal swallowed as he blinked and looked at the fallen tunics without picking them up. "Ah... no. Not really."
"Good. Then why are you staring at me?"
Neal blinked. "Have you seen yourself?" he asked as he came up to her.
"Yes. Of course I have. Your fiancé came and did this to me. I look like some – court lady," Kel spat, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You sure do," Neal agreed, nodding decidedly.
Kel frowned at him. "So?" she inquired, holding out her arms so he could get the full view. He was going to sooner or later anyway. She couldn't hide behind crossed arms for the rest of the night. After all her hard work, Yuki simply wouldn't allow it.
Neal's eyes wandered over her freely and Kel felt like every part of the dress Lalasa had worked so hard to perfect was being slowly peeled off, piece by piece. Neal looked at her strangely, almost hungrily, as he stepped closer to her. Kel's eyes widened unconsciously. What was he doing?
"Er... Neal?" she asked as her voice cracked. Neal moved over to her stealthily, walking with an almost catlike grace, extending a hand to her.
He frowned suddenly. His hand graced her breast. Kel's eyes widened at the audacity of his actions. "I beg your pardon?" she asked as she stepped away.
"Are you wearing a corset?" he asked innocently, backing her up against the far end of the room. Kel visibly swallowed.
"Why do you ask?" Her voice was tense and forced as she felt her shoulder blades hit the wall.
"I've never seen you in a corset before," Neal told her, his eyes giving her a look that promised far more that it had intended. "Are you going to make a habit of wearing them?" he queried, putting a hand against the wall behind her.
"Neal, stop it." Kel's voice shuddered as she whispered at him. "You're scaring me."
Neal blinked.
"Oh." He grinned. "Sorry. I can get a little intense sometimes." He shrugged, but didn't move from his position.
"Would you care to remove your body from its current location?" Kel voiced, a bit more dryly than she had planned.
"No. Where did you get the dress?" he asked, raising sculptured eyebrows.
"Lalasa's," Kel replied. She had been able to regain control on her voice, but her heart was still beating a tad bit quicker than she would have liked it to.
"And the corset?" he asked, running a finger down the side of her breast.
Kel gripped his hand in mid-stroke, clenching it tightly in her hand. "Stop," she whispered. "I'm serious."
Neal frowned and shrugged. "Whatever you say," he finally said, disentangling himself from her and allowing her to breathe easy once again. "So..." his voice trailed off.
They stood there in silence, the tension mounting to an almost unbearable high. Kel gritted her teeth together, willing something intelligent to come to her mind so they could speak instead of just standing there like idiots. Neal turned to Kel, and looked like he was going to say something before turning away. Kel frowned. This was getting ridiculous.
Finally, Kel spoke. "The brown one. The green just doesn't suit you today."
Neal blinked. "What?"
Kel coughed. "The – the tunic. That is what you came here for, wasn't it?" she asked, moving across the room and picking up both of them. "The brown one would look better, although I'm not too sure why."
"Oh." Even to someone who hadn't known him for years, his voice sounded strained. "Thanks," he said as Kel came over and handed them to him. He gripped them uncertainly at first, then removed them from her hands.
Swallowing uneasily, Kel found herself staring at his chest. His shirt wasn't straight. It needed to be fixed. In fact, mostly everything but his hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed and slipped them on. Which he most likely did.
Kel withstood the urge to reach over and fix his shirt. 'I will not give him means to have an excuse to touch me. I'm just – not touchable tonight. Right. Not touchable. No siree, Bob. He's not getting anywhere near me as of now. Nope. Not at all.'
Kel reached over and straightened Neal's shirt.
"You look so rumpled," she told him as she smoothed his shirt down. "What did you do, just roll our of bed?"
"Yup," he answered, his voice shaky as he almost stiffened at her touch. Kel felt him tense, but dismissed it.
"You're hopeless, Neal," she murmured as she shook her head and removed herself from his body. Instead of reaching her sides, where Kel intended them to stay, Neal's own fingers shot out and captured her hands. Kel's body became almost rigid with pressure.
"You love me for it," he muttered as his fingers entwined with hers. Kel looked up into his very green eyes.
"Neal, stop it."
It was almost as if those words had broken whatever spell that had enraptured Neal as he slid his hands away from hers and backed away. A considerable amount of heat spread across his face as he looked down at his boots.
"Um..."
Kel looked at him solemnly before going over to the door and opening it for him. "Maybe you need some air. You're not acting like yourself tonight, Neal." She swallowed as she looked at him. "Pretty dresses and face paint doesn't change who we are," she said slowly.
Gradually, Neal nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled softly. He massaged his forehead with his fingers. "Yes," he said, this time with more conviction. "I – I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He looked down at the floor, blushing. "I'll – I'll see you at the ball. Dom's coming to escort you there?" he asked, walking for the entranceway.
"Yeah."
Neal nodded and met her at the door. Taking her hands in his, he kissed both of them before fleeing into the safety of the hallway. He heard Kel's door shut with a click as he neared the end of the hallway.
'Gods,' he thought as he trekked back to his room to finish changing. 'I'm falling in love with her.'
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
A/N: Whew! That was long! Even longer than the last, and I think more happened last chapter. The beginning of this chapter was a lot of stuff that had to happen that I thought would have taken shorter but didn't. The ball was actually supposed to BE in this chapter, not just the preparations. Don't worry though. I have a nice, fun, little surprise for you all next chapter. You all know that song that goes "I'm... to sexy for my blah, blah, blah?" Yeah. Think of that. Thanks to all the reviewers. Y'all rock my box. Gah. I think I'm really going to start saying that in real life sometime soon. That's what happened with teehee. Now I keep saying teehee to my friend and it sucks. Oh well. Anyway, gotta go spell check this and post. Love you all.
Love,
Stacey
P.S. Does anyone else think that Josh Groban would look like Owen?