1000 hits::party: Woohoo! Thank you everyone for reading, and in some cases, reviewing! It's a non-shounen-ai snippet (surprising, i know). Ra/Cs Tz/Kt and Ru/Ti

Warnings: None at all.

Dragon Knight Snippets

Rath had always thought the night was beautiful. The stars were pinpoints of light shining behind a pinpricked black veil. The breeze drifted about him lazily, refreshing and calming, and Rath felt himself being lulled into a state of laxness. The cheerful conversation of Thatz and Rune hummed besides him, breaking occasionally with Rune's quiet chuckles or Thatz's deep boisterous laugh. He could hear the ballroom music drifting into the balcony they were standing on, and smell the tingling scents of the warm food that lay on the buffet table.

"Hey Rath, here comes Ceisa," Rune smiled as Thatz punctuated his words with an elbowing that made Rath choke on the wine he was sipping, "Towing along Kitchel and Tintlett," he added, grinning at Rune's light blush.

Rath took a deep breath, wondering why he was so nervous about turning around. Cesia was waiting for him, after all. Oh, wait, that was what was making him nervous. Finally deciding to throw caution to hell, he calmly turned around and froze, sucking in his breath as he stood immobile. Thatz and Rune breezed past him, the first going to playfully kiss his date as the latter wrapped an arm tenderly around his.

"Hey Rath," Cesia smiled shyly, lowering her eyes in embarrassment, but to Rath, the lowering of those long, thick eyelashes over honey-golden eyes looked more coy than anything, and he felt a blush rise to his face, spreading warmly.

She's… beautiful…

Silk clung to her figure, an hourglass enveloped in rich dark cloth that dipped just enough at the bust tantalize, but not scandalize. Supple, pale muscle flashed behind a carefully positioned slit in the fabric, accented by the silver embroidery. Nestled on her collarbone lay a large crystal, fastened by a silk chocker. Underneath, he could see the thin thread that held her amulet.

"Um, uh, you…" he stammered, unable to get the words that had flashed through his mind to travel to his mouth and out. Cesia quirked an eyebrow at his repeated attempts at coherency, sighed, and shook her head, taking his arm.

"Well? Are you going to yammer all night or are we going to dance?"

There was an undercurrent of exasperation, and maybe bitter disappointment in her voice, and Rath wondered why. He hadn't done anything wrong, and yet the tight grip on his arm was enough to clue him in. He'd known Cesia long enough to know by the withering look she gave him and her brisk step to the dance floor that he'd done, or not done, something that clearly hadn't made her happy.

"Oh, Cesia, you look darling!" Cesia whirled around to find Cernozura making her way over, and as she engaged in small talk with her, Rath took a quick look around.

Rune and Tintlett were already dancing. Rath was entranced by how faerie-tale looking they really were. It was exactly what he'd imagined the prince and princess of his childhood fairy-tales to look like. Tintlett's translucent wings flitted gently from between curled golden tresses, and Rune held her gently, like she was water in a cup, and the slightest misstep could spill her. The elfin prince leaned forward, whispering in his princess' ear. A beautiful smile adorned her face at her lover's words, wings fluttering happily, and Rath wished he knew what Rune had been murmuring, because it obviously made her happy.

He found Thatz and Kitchel only a couple feet away and gave a despairing look to the green-haired knight. Thatz winked at him, signaling for him to pay attention, and siddled closer to Kitchel, if that was humanly possible, considering they had been close enough before for people to mistake them for a large creature with two heads.

"You look hot, baby," he smiled softly, kissing the corner of her mouth. Kitchel giggled and threw her arms over him.

"Look who's talking."

Rath decided it was high time for him to look away when they began to engage in actions that so far he'd only caught when he was a kid from Lykouleon and Raseleane when they thought no one was looking.

Suddenly, Kitchel's face was below his, staring up him upside down as her dipped form was held by Thatz.

"Aren't you going to comment on her dress? She laced up pretty just for you, you know."

Rath blinked, and had to blink again as it all clicked in his mind. Kitchel giggled and gave him a conspiring wink as Thatz waved. They then disappeared back into the dancing crowd, just as Cernozura left and Cesia turned back to him.

"So, are we going to dance?" the snappy tone was still there, and Rath swallowed and nodded, taking her hand and placing his other one on her shoulder blade. He felt slightly giddy, and the pressure of her hand on his shoulder, her warm breath tousling his dangling earring as she leaned closer didn't help at all. Her scent seemed to fill the millimeter that separated their bodies, airy and sweet like fresh fruit, underscored with the dark scent that singled her as a demon.

She gave a small sigh at length, "At least you're a good dancer…"

He was about to turn on the defensive, and snap back something along the lines of 'what's that mean?' when he caught sight of Rune and Thatz watching him, making eloquent signs for him to calm down. Tintlett and Kitchel looking at him with a mix of amusement and curiosity, and Kitchel motioned to her dress.

"Oh," he blushed and looked down, turning back to Cesia, keeping his eyes lowered, "Um, Cesia…"

"Yeah?"

"You, uh, look really nice," okay, so it wasn't exactly break-through in originality or slickness, but it was the best he could do with his hear hammering in an odd rush he'd only previously associated with demon-hunting ecstasy. After a pause, he ventured a look up.

"T-thanks," her face was crimson too, but there was a soft smile on her lips, and Rath was glad to have made up whatever he'd done wrong in the first place. As she raised her eyes to Rath's, they locked for a moment before both looked away embarrassedly.

It was then that Rath realized that Cesia was very much like the night- they were both beautiful.

I'm holding the next chapter hostage (don't know what it is yet) until I get 230 reviews. Any suggestions for upcoming snippets?

Old Fiat- I read it. I had to leave though, so I didn't get a chance to review, but I might drop by to do that. It's snippet, not drabble (which you spelled wrong) and I have the choice to read something or not, especially if it's not that good anyway.

Vera-chan: Kaistern is huggable, and loveable, and adorable :huggle:

Angstluver: I felt kinda bad for making Kaistern suicidal and depressed... i really need to write a happy Kaistern/Alfeegi... hope you had fun on vacation! Country fair... wow, that'd be so cool! Kiss Kiss was beyond awesome. Thank you!

Aquajogger: Sounded like you were having a bad day and I didn't help it with the depressing snippet :sweatdrop: Sorry about that.

Puppy: Ice skating! That's an awesome idea! Hm, maybe we can have that happy Kaistern/Alfeegi after all... drunk dragon knights fun

Kage Ohkami: Lol. Thank you::pats Kaistern: I'll be nicer to him next snippet. It was sad... I feel bad for Kai-kai and Feegi.

Next snippet... I guess it'll be ice-skating! Or who knows, I migh just come up with some random idea and use it instead... til next chapter!