The Elegant Love Society practice party meeting went about as well as one might expect upon hearing that Henderson's plan was to throw a party for students during school. There were illicit substances, makeouts, and more than makeouts happening. Loid and Yor had tried to warn Henderson about the dangers of such an undertaking, but he gave the members much more credit than was due. The founding pair felt so bad for Henderson when they saw the students breaking away to behave poorly that they spent the whole party thwarting their fellow member's attempts. Despite their best efforts, the party remained at a firm teen rating.
"Well, we did warn him," Yor said after Henderson lectured the society on their failure.
"We did." Loid yawned. "How bad do you think it would be if we took a nap next period?"
She sympathy yawned. "Bad. We have trig next term; we can't afford to be behind in algebra." She paused feeling the tiredness in her bones. "Scratch that: I can't afford to be behind. You're a math prodigy. I bet you could pass the trig exam right now."
Loid blushed. "You're overestimating me."
"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, would you tutor me on matrices? I'm so lost."
Loid laughed. "Did you fluff my ego to get me to tutor you? You're sneaky."
"No! I meant it. I think you're good at math, but also I do need help. Please?"
"Fine. I can help you during study period."
"Thank you!"
He put his arm around her shoulders. "For the record, I would've tutored you anyways. I care about you."
Yor blushed. "I care about you too."
"Are you sure you're good?" Loid asked.
"Probably? You explained it well," she said.
He hurried after her down the steps away from the building. "Here." He gently grabbed her wrist and pulled a pen from his pocket which he opened with his teeth and used to write his name and number on her forearm. For some reason, he had drawn a heart next to his name. He recapped the pen and put it in his pocket. "Now you can talk to me about math whenever you want, or anything else." He kissed her wrist before releasing it.
During this exchange, Camilla's car had pulled up on the road next to them, and Camilla had rolled down her window. "You two are so cute it makes me sick," she said. "Get in, Yor. We've got shit to do."
"Yes, Camilla. See you later, Loid," Yor said with her face still red. She left Loid's side to get in the car.
"I can't wait," Loid said to Yor before turning to Camilla. "Please take good care of her."
"When haven't I?"
"It's happened so often that I've lost count."
"Okay, fair. But it's not like that anymore. We're good now, right Yor?"
"Right!" Yor said.
As the car started to drive away, Loid heard Camilla ask, "Why do you have your boyfriend's number on your arm?"
"Um—his family moved recently and had to get a new number."
Camilla thought this answer was suspicious. 'Why wouldn't he just call your number from his new place?' But she decided to let it go for now, after all they really did have much to do before the party tonight.
"Are you sure this is all necessary?" Yor asked while a hair and makeup team attacked her from all sides.
"Yor, I swear to God if you don't stop talking they will make a mistake that will leave you looking like a gremlin, and I won't do a thing to correct it," Camilla said as she micromanaged the team of stylists. "No, no, no! Don't make her look like a disco ball. I said glamorous golden princess, not camp!" 'That was too harsh to Yor.' She rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Yor. That was harsh of me. This is all necessary. If all goes to plan, Forger will forget how to breathe."
"That sounds bad."
"Oh, sweetie. How cute. No that's exactly what we want. Please trust that I will make you look phenomenal. Well, more phenomenal."
"Camilla?"
"Yor," Camilla responded sounding more than a bit exasperated.
"Thank you. Please remember to take care of your own getting ready, too."
Camilla floundered to find a response. "Whatever," she said faintly.
Yor giggled. 'It's nice to see Camilla trying, but she's still Camilla.'
"Now for your love of Forger, stop moving your face."
It was time. Camilla had a servant lead Yor to the doors she was to enter through. The party had started an hour and twenty minutes ago so that most people would have arrived by then. Yor wasn't sure why Camilla had insisted she go through this door, but she figured Loid had a reason to ask her to do so. 'I wish Loid was here with me.'
The servant gave her the cue and the two doormen opened the door for her. Yor walked through the door and onto a little balcony area above the ballroom with a grand staircase down to the dance floor. She caught sight of Loid at the bottom of the stairs in a green velvet military jacket with gold accents, grey jodhpurs, and a green and gold mask. She smiled fondly at him.
Loid reveled in the sight: Yor was wearing a delicate light gold ball gown covered in a deeper gold brocade of rose thorns, matching light gold gloves, a tiara of golden roses and steep thorns, and a gold filagree mask of matching thorns. Her hair was down but pinned away from her face. Her eyelids and high points of her face shimmered gold, and her lips were a deep red.
Camilla smiled from behind her black feather fan, watching from a balcony on the other side of the ballroom. Forger did look sufficiently out of breath. 'Damn, I do good work.' She was attired in a plain long black dress that hugged her body with a long slit up the leg and a neckline that was off the shoulder on one side and on the shoulder on the other creating a pleasing asymmetry. Her hair was pulled in a taut bun on top of her head, and her face was completely covered by a full face black and white mask with metal fillagree extending up from the right eye and out from the left like black metal feathers. If people were going to think she was a promiscuous villain, then she would be worst promiscuous villain they had ever seen.
A short distance from the pair, Dominic in a black venetian jester mask and black suit with white appliques only on the lapels, right sleeve, left leg, and black bowtie took a picture of Princess Yor's grand entrance and her lovestruck smile. The flash was on which was too bright for Yor's eyes and caused her to fall down the stairs.
Luckily, Loid had begun moving toward her before the flash, so he was in position to catch her easily. "You seem to have fallen pretty hard for me," he said. 'Oh, no. That was so cheesy. Why did I say that?'
Click. Click.
Yor laughed. "I didn't know you were such a dad, Loid."
He helped her right herself. "I have to train if I'm going to be a good father someday."
"Somehow I don't think that's going to be hard for you."
He blushed.
Camilla snapped her fan closed loudly and called Frankie over. She was loathe to associate with the little weirdo, but, with her recent plummet in popularity, she didn't have other options. Plus it was the least the weirdo could do when he showed up to her party looking like her henchman. What kind of person wears a black cape to a masquerade? "Tell that Fool to turn off his flash right now before I come down there and break his camera," she said.
While Frankie ran down to the person, the Fool, or Dominic, took more shots of Loid and Yor with flash.
"Look, guy. My boss says you gotta cut the flash or you're out of here. I don't care if you are press," Frankie said.
"Your boss?" the Fool said.
Frankie tilted his head in the direction of the black villainess on the balcony behind him. She gave a wiggly-fingered wave while her masked face was obscured by the feathered fan.
Dominic had to admit she cut a fine figure whoever she was. "Fine."
"Wait. Dominic?"
"Yeah?"
"Oh, that's too funny."
"What?"
But Frankie was already walking back to his mistress laughing the whole way.
The band began playing the first song of the night which was a slow song, but it wasn't the one that Camilla had picked for her Cinderella and Prince Charming's first dance. She hmphed as she hurried down to the band. She grabbed the band's manager by the ear backstage. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Sorry, Miss Bronson. Someone else told us you had changed your mind and requested this song instead."
"Who?"
"The guy in the jester mask."
'That Fool! The next time he gets in my way, I will put an end to him.' "Let me make this abundantly clear: I am the client, and if I'm unhappy, none of you get paid appropriately. Now what song are they playing?"
"The one you requested. I'll go make the change now." The manager ran off and grabbed the bassist to tell her to change the song. The song did change as promised.
Camilla stepped out from backstage onto the dance floor and dramatically opened her fan while keeping her intense gaze on the Fool. 'Try me. I promise it'll be the last time.'
Dominic stopped snapping pictures when he realized that this was not the song he had asked for. Then he saw the Villainess's aggressive fan opening and stare. 'Sorry, Villainess. I had to try to make Camilla feel better. I picked something that I knew she liked, so she would feel more comfortable and maybe come out to dance with me. Okay, so that was a stretch.'
Loid elegantly led Yor onto the dance floor, and they started the first waltz of the night. Yor thanked whatever higher powers there were that she went to Eden where ballroom dance was a required subject for all students. Yor had never had a dance partner who was so in tune with her as Loid. She never wanted to dance with anyone else again. Loid felt warm from Yor's close proximity, awe for her beauty and grace, and disbelief that he was the guy dancing with her. They danced a few songs together before she led him away to the balcony overlooking the gardens of the castle.
That was the cue for the string lights on the shrubs and trees in the gardens to turn on, but they didn't. Camilla scanned the gardens and saw the Fool flipping the switch off for the lights. He walked away to get a better shot of the pair. Camilla sent Frankie to flip the switch again while she stalked after her prey. She got close enough to be directly in the way of his shot as he was looking through his viewfinder and beckoned to him with a finger.
"Who the hell do you think you are undoing all of my hard work?" she whispered harshly once he had taken his camera away from his face and joined her. She was angry, but that was no reason to ruin Loid and Yor's evening.
He held up a press badge from the Eden Herald.
"You really think that gives you the right to change my playlist, mangle my carefully timed lighting, and attempt to murder one of my guests of honor. What kind of asshole…"
"I wasn't trying to kill anyone. Everyone messes up sometimes. I'm sure even you, Villainess."
She snorted. "Not as often as you do, Fool. Fitting costume by the way. The way you've 'accidentally' bungled every part of my plan up to now is truly the work of a great fool." Her voice had raised to her normal speaking volume. She noticed at this point that the Fool looked striking in his suit, but it reminded her of someone.
"I was trying to get the best shot for the paper! It's my job." His voice raised to meet hers.
"It is not. You aren't paid or graded for your contributions."
"It's still my responsibility!" He yelled. "Not that you would understand that."
"Excuse me! This whole party is my responsibility. You know, this event you've been sabotaging all evening." She yelled back.
"Oh boohoo, your perfect party was almost ruined. That's no excuse for you to be so rude or selfish."
"Selfish?! Do you know why I'm running this party? Because I wanted to do something nice for those two. How is that selfish!"
"It's selfish when you make it all about you!"
"It's not—" she growled. "You don't know anything about me!" She jabbed her index finger into his chest, not realizing that at some point they had both edged close enough to each other for her to need only extend her finger to reach his chest.
"And you don't know anything about me!" He stared down into her blazing golden eyes, eyes which reminded him of someone.
"You're infuriating!" She screamed.
He ripped her mask off and his own and his own before kissing her without looking at her. 'Camilla's not going to like this.'
Camilla also kept her eyes closed when her mask was removed not wanting to see the smirk on the boy's face. She was shocked when he kissed her but, more shockingly, not angry. She recognized the Fool by his kiss.
They kissed until neither had any breath in their lungs. As they gasped and regained their composure, Dominic blushed while looking at the girl he'd been in love with, and Camilla reddened in embarrassment while replaying what she had just shouted at her sweet Dominic.
"Well, that certainly makes it easier. I was worried you would be hurt by me kissing—you."
Camilla had to laugh at the absurdity. "I guess we really don't know each other as well as we'd thought."
"I'd really like the chance to learn about you again." He kept her close.
"What are you saying?"
"Camilla, please don't make me go back to not kissing you. I love you. I have for a long time now. I will do whatever you need from me, but please please let me do it from your side."
"Dominic—what—but I'm—you can't be serious."
"More serious than death or taxes."
She chuckled softly behind her hand. (Her fan having absconded at some point during their make out, and her mask at her feet.) "I can't promise that I'm going to be a good girlfriend now."
"I can deal with that. Wait, does that mean…"
"I love you, Dominic. And yes, I would like very much to be your girlfriend again."
He kissed her again but gentler this time.
She broke away too soon. "Come on. I need to explain some things to you." She led him into one of the side rooms of the castle. She told him everything about her drug experience including the trauma that started her on that path. He took it very well only showing his concern for her though he felt anger at the person who assaulted her. The pair were not seen for the rest of the evening.
Yor and Loid had wandered far enough into the garden by the time the yelling started that they only heard it distantly. They were in front of a series of fountains when all the lights turned on.
"Wow," Yor whispered.
Loid only noted the lights from his peripheral vision. They were nice, but they paled in the comparison to the golden princess holding his hand. He could watch the way the lights gleamed in her eyes forever if she would permit him. "Having fun, princess?"
Yor blushed. "I am. Camilla said my costume was Thorn Princess, whatever that means."
"She said mine was Agent Twilight, but I don't really get it either."
They laughed together.
"Thank you for this, Loid. It's been a great night. You did a good job planning everything."
"Oh, you're welcome. But you should know I didn't plan this. Camilla did."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry. Did I disappoint you?"
"No, I just—she was trying to give you the credit. She's not the same as before."
"No, she isn't. I can't express how sorry I am that I was the one who got her put in there."
"I know. And I know that I forgive you. And I think Camilla does too."
His chest constricted the way it did when she did something that reminded him of exactly why he loved her. And, boy did he love her. "Yor?"
"Hmm?" She turned her head toward him.
He grabbed her jaw like he was going to kiss her cheek, but as he leaned in, he noticed his trajectory was all wrong. 'I want to kiss her, of course, but what if she doesn't want to kiss me?' He froze.
She grew impatient waiting when she could feel him so close, so she edged forward the last few centimeters.
It had all the ingredients to be magical: a beautiful garden in a castle, a masquerade ball, their royal attire, and their dream partner. Trouble was that neither of them had kissed anyone before, so the angle was wrong and their noses bumped against each other and why did her neck hurt. Loid tilted his head a little and it was perfect.
Until they realized that they were kissing their dream person who had no reason to be kissing them here away from the party goers. The overthinking set in, and the pair broke apart. They couldn't bring themselves to look at each other after that.
"I have to go," Yor said.
"Why?"
She didn't answer but took off. 'Either I will find Camilla and she'll get a ride for me home, or I'm walking.'
"Wait, Yor!" He wanted to run after her, but for what? 'Clearly she's mad about the kiss. I went too far. Not only is she going to break up with me, she's never going to talk to me again.'