Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Chapter 15

"Hello," she said to Billy, trying to not seem awkward. "I'm sorry about that. I was pulled away before I knew what was happening."

"It's fine," he grunted quietly. "Let me show you my friends."

He was an absolute bore, Valkyrie soon discovered, and so were his friends who looked as if they had been pinned down and groomed by their parents with a struggle before coming to the party. They didn't say anything between themselves except to comment when they saw someone trip or make a slight mistake dancing, or to say how much they hated someone's dress, or how a person had apparently slept with someone once upon a time and the scandal of it.

Valkyrie sighed. She opened her purse and looked at her phone. She'd been sitting there for at least ten minutes with nothing to do and the nerves were gone now, replaced by impatience. She sighed again, loudly.

"I'm sorry," one of his female friends, whose name she had forgotten, snapped. "Are we boring your highness?"

She looked at her with annoyance. "Yes."

She sneered at her. "You're as irritating as they say."

"Considering that comes from criminals and people annoyed that I'm better than them at catching criminals, I don't see that as much of an insult," she replied with an eye roll.

"Great," she sneered. "Take your entitled-ness and ugly dress elsewhere."

Valkyrie sighed sadly. "Anton isn't going to like hearing this. I really didn't want him to have to hurt anyone tonight."

She got up and noticed the friends look between themselves quickly in a bit of a panic, but she walked away. The other teens were in packs talking just between themselves and she didn't feel like intruding, so she left through one of the balcony doors into the cold, late summer air. The door had been open a crack so it wasn't so bad. Outside were some younger people than her, but not so much as the other children within. It seemed as if people nearer her own age were here.

"Hello," she said, gently pushing the door to.

"Hi," one of them said, a probably the youngest there. "You're Valkyrie Cain."

She nodded. "I've been told," she said. "They're being incredibly boring inside. Is it okay if I stay with you a while?"

They shrugged and said it was fine and got back to talk about something that had happened at one of their schools. Valkyrie didn't listen but did stand beside a few of them to look into the grounds. It was a manicured look, unlike the hills and trees of the much smaller grounds Valkyrie owned. She loved the woods though. The manicured look was already getting boring.

"Who are you?" She asked randomly to the girl beside her.

"Nadia," she said hesitantly, then stuck her hand out to shake. "Nadia Robin."

"That's a pretty name," Valkyrie said with a smile. She looked to only be a year younger or maybe a few months. "What are you doing outside?"

"Same as you, it's boring inside. I have no one to dance with," she complained with a small tug on her lips that made her seem as if she didn't want to make a big deal of anything. "I want to dance all night and no one even asked. So I'm just standing here waiting for my parents to be done."

Valkyrie nodded. "Same," she said. "Though I'm still hoping I get to dance so I'm not too fussed about leaving. Anyway, I didn't get dressed up to go home so soon."

She snored. "I didn't even want to wear this," she said, looking down herself. She was wearing a boyish dress in a pretty yellow that went well with her light brown skin, making her look like a bright sun in the sea of sophistication. The boyish cut didn't make her look any older, but looking closer, Valkyrie noticed they couldn't be too far in age, it was whatever had been done to her with the dress, make-up and hairstyle that de-aged her. It seemed to only work because Nadia still had some baby-fat in her cheeks, but Valkyrie didn't think it would look right on her much longer.

"It's pretty," she stated, "but it is a little young."

"Especially next to you," Nadia joked. "We should swap."

"Not a chance," Valkyrie said, sipping the last of her drink. "Anyway, I'm bigger than you. What would I wear?"

"Nothing?"

"I don't think my friends would like that," she smirked. "Do you have a drink?"

Nadia hesitated. "No, I suppose not."

"Here, let's go get one together," she said. "Then we can ditch them with my friends and we could dance a little?"

Nadia was still and Valkyrie could only feel her shaking hands and her heart beating nervously. It was fairly innocent what she said, but even Valkyrie had heard the way she'd said it. She'd flirted. "Um," Nadia said, then seemed to shake herself and grinned. "Actually, I'd love that."

Valkyrie grinned in relief and held the door open for Nadia. When they were both through, Billy and his friends looked ready to jump on her, but Valkyrie slipped her hand into Nadia's elbow, getting a side eye and then a smug smirk from her new friend Nadia, which made them hesitantly lower into their seats seeing they weren't needed and had lost their opportunity at regaining favour. The girls held onto each other as they crossed the room and Valkyrie realised that both of them were not heal wearing people.

"Hello girls," Bear said when they arrived at the bar.

Weasel and Wolf were there with him and turned from speaking to each other intensely beside Bear to look at the girls. They both didn't do anything for a moment and then near identical, cheek-splitting grinned arrived on their faces.

"Valkyrie," Wolf greeted. "Looking for drinks?"

Valkyrie nodded nervously but luckily Nadia knew how to deal with nosy idiots. "We'll have cranberry juices, thank you."

Valkyrie tried to hide a smile as Wolf laughed and ordered for them, Valkyrie walking them the rest of the way over.

"I thought you were being chummy with Billy-goat over there?" Weasel grinned. "Get bored already?"

Nadia laughed. "You got left with William?"

Valkyrie scowled. "I wasn't given a choice. I was pawned off by his father."

"What did poor Bill do to get such a poor reputation?" Wolf asked, handing them their drinks. Valkyrie's had another pink birthday straw the staff had apparently brought with them.

"It's that he doesn't do anything at all," Valkyrie explained.

"Him and his friends don't know how to talk normally," Nadia revealed. "They're rich emo kids that think they're better than everyone else because they can think and be themselves. Crazy concept, right? Must be why they all act the exact same."

Valkyrie giggled, almost blushed that she was actually giggling, and ended up giggling more. Wolf and Weasel covered her embarrassment by laughing over her and then handing their drinks over, so she could recover. She sipped it and realised she still her hand on Nadia's elbow though she didn't seem to mind and a lot of the other couples were doing it, so she kept it up though they weren't a couple and it probably wasn't okay. It didn't seem to be not okay with Nadia though. Which was good.

"So, what do you two plan on doing instead?" Wolf asked.

Valkyrie shrug. "We'll think of something. How long do we need to make plans for?"

Bear checked his watch. "At least four more hours, we can politely leave then since we technically have a child."

"I'm not a child."

"Do you want to stay for four hours or for seven hours?" He asked pointedly.

She sniffed. "Depends how much I can think to do."

Nadia laughed, and they put their drinks on the tall table the Dead Men had claimed and Valkyrie was taken by the hand to the dance floor by Nadia and Valkyrie noticed that though her hair had been done up in tight curls, it was dark, almost black, with a slight red-brown natural tint, and must be rather long when it wasn't in its child-like updo on top of her head. The song finished, and the girls made perfect time, taking a place a couple just vacated.

"How do girls dance?" Valkyrie breathed.

Nadia hesitated. "You're taller. You be the man."

"Okay," Valkyrie said. "Okay. I might be able to do that."

"Might?" Nadia smirked. "How much do you dance?"

"I dance a lot, but not like this," she said. "Ballroom is only this afternoon. I think I remember what I practised though."

Carefully, Valkyrie placed her hand on Nadia's and the other on her waist politely – she'd seen enough movies and recognised the song at least vaguely and knew the type of dance that went with the song – and they set off, taking a few moments to ease into it before Valkyrie started to relax in her position and even pulled off a spin for Nadia without knocking her hair and they went seamlessly into the dance again.

"Do you dance much?" Valkyrie asked quietly. Talking normally somehow was more distracting than whispering.

"Not properly," Nadia admitted. "Mostly just in my room like everyone else, but I have dance lessons for ballroom. My mum wants a perfect, proper daughter."

"You just need a nice dress and to dance, that's not too bad," Valkyrie smirked. "I need to fight for survival. I mean, I want to do it, but the expectations are more extreme."

Nadia grinned. "I'd love to do that."

"Maybe I can bring you one day. You need to get training first though," she said, eyes glancing at Nadia's small arms but kept facing her partner. "It really is dangerous. And protective clothes."

Nadia smiled disappointedly. "I won't be able for a while then. Mum would never let me not be a small pretty princess."

Valkyrie hesitated, then went for it. "You look beautiful though, so it's not all a loss."

Nadia suddenly smirked at Valkyrie with a mischievous look in her eye. "Valkyrie Cain. Are you flirting with me?"

Valkyrie blushed but didn't look away. "Maybe a little."

Nadia smiled and glanced at a couple at moved in the opposite direction as them as a form of fun. "I like it a little."

Valkyrie felt relief. "Thank God. I would be super embarrassed otherwise."

The song ended and they stayed together, still for just a moment before a slower, but still proper dancing, not romantic, one began to be played by the band. "Have you always liked girls?" Nadia asked.

"What?" Valkyrie asked, somehow shocked. She hadn't really thought about it much.

Nadia hesitated. "Well, I thought, you know, because you flirted and got me a drink, and we're dancing, that you might like me, like, wanted to go out some time–"

Valkyrie interrupted her, getting her thoughts together. "Of course, I would. I do. I mean, I'd love to meet you again somewhere and I do like you. Maybe we could make it a, you know, date?"

Nadia grinned, her sunny dress making more sense with the beautiful, bright smile wearing it. "I'd love to! God, this will be so much fun!"

Valkyrie grinned back at her and, noticing the lead up for a jump spin, she said, "Get ready Nadia," moved her hand and lifted the girl in a perfect jump at the same time as the others and then led it into a spin without trouble. They both giggled.

"Let's just dance," Valkyrie said excitedly, feeling a goofy grin on her face. "Dance all night."

Nadia nodded and kept giggling quietly. "I'm so glad we're doing this."

The girls did indeed keep dancing until they were working up a sweat and Valkyrie had begun to play with Nadia, throwing her into spins and even a jump without notice and out of time, but the girl laughed louder every time and Valkyrie found, quite without warning, that she had more than a crush on the sweet, upfront girl already and was glad they had already agreed on a date. Leaving the dancefloor finally, they went, arms fully linked, to get their drinks and talking about places in Dublin Nadia's mother might let them go to hang out.

"You two did amazing!" Tanith said when they, without even noticing, had stopped at the table.

The two looked at her and Valkyrie smiled. "It was fun." She grabbed their drinks and handed Nadia hers. "We enjoyed it."

Nadia nodded and finished her entire drink. "It was. But I'm not sure I can dance all night."

"Heals?" Tanith asked sympathetically.

"I hate them!"

Tanith nodded. "Same here. Nice to have a change of pace though."

"I guess," Nadia conceded.

"This is my sister, Tanith, I was telling you about," Valkyrie said. "And this is Dexter, Saracen and Anton who you met, and this is Ghastly, Erskine and my partner Skulduggery."

"Nice to meet you all," she said politely. "Nadia Robin."

"Pleasure to meet you," Crow said. "Just to warn you, Gifre is coming this way."

"And we're going the other," Nadia told him quickly, glancing left and, taking the new cranberry drink Weasel had got her, pulled Valkyrie along to another part of the room.

"This is going to get boring if we don't do something," Nadia pointed out. "But we might survive."

Valkyrie looked around carefully. "Follow my lead."

"What?" Nadia asked suspiciously.

"We're just going to the bathroom," Valkyrie said. "For now."

Nadia sniffed but went along anyway and the left the hall and went down the stairs at a nice stroll, Valkyrie holding the bannister and Nadia using her limited strength to get down the stairs. It was sort of fun to have someone with the same problems and flirt and joke with them. They clicked with their humour and attitude. There was no reason for it, nothing Valkyrie had experienced before. They just worked.

"Say," Valkyrie asked Nadia, "I didn't ask, but how old are you?"

"Why?" Nadia asked, following with Valkyrie the sign pointing for the bathroom. "Would it matter?"

"You already asked me out, so it's too late anyway," Valkyrie smiled. "But I was curious."

She sniffed. "I'm almost fourteen."

Valkyrie frowned at her. "That's not fair. I thought you were younger."

Nadia rolled her eyes. "Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble of leading along little girls but I'm the elder here."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and gently bumped Nadia's hip like she did with Tanith and they stopped outside the single bathroom. "I didn't mean that. You're just cute is all."

She snored. "I'm going first."

They took turns, taking a moderate amount of time considering the long dresses they had to work around, Valkyrie more so than Nadia's simple, boyish design. After that, Valkyrie took Nadia by the hand with more confidence than she realised she ever had and took Nadia for a walk.

They mostly strolled in silence, occasionally laughing and giggling together at their sneaky walk and eventually found the kitchen which had a door to the outside open wide against the head. There were a few chefs making the little foods on silver platters for the waiting staff to take around the party. They were loud but seemed to be concentrating. Valkyrie looked around the room carefully, then pulled herself back to look at Nadia.

"Hold your skirt," she said, gathering hers up to run faster. Nadia copied and grinned excitedly. "On my count, follow me and stay quiet."

Nadia nodded, and Valkyrie waited two waitresses left with the first of the dessert platters out the 'official' doors and made a dash for behind the kitchen island. The girls crouched behind them and were in easy reach of the door. Slowly, Valkyrie turned and glanced above the counter. No one was looking. Reaching out, she grabbed a bowl of chocolate and crouched. Nadia nearly gasped but Valkyrie gave her a look and she swallowed it.

Carefully, the girls run from the room into the outside. Taking Nadia's hand, Valkyrie started to run and they, with skirts and chocolate in hand, ran through the garden with giggles flying into the quiet night air.

They didn't stop until they were at the little fountain Valkyrie remembered seeing when they had first spoken on the balcony. Giggling and clenching a stitch at her side, Nadia sat on the edge of the fountain.

"God," she gasped finally. "I'm having so much fun Valkyrie. Do you think I can see you again soon?"

She nodded. "I can see you almost every day. I'm not a real detective, obviously, so I don't exactly have to go to work. And my reflection has taken over school since I'm still registered to a non-magic one."

"So it's just me," she said, smiling softly. The music could just be heard from where they were. "I think I can convince my mum after I see you a few times. But, she'll think I'm just making up excuses for money or to do drugs or something insane until she believes that I'm really going on dates. Assuming we go on more, obviously. She's a little controlling."

"Obviously."

"But I should be able to see you, just at silly times, like ten till twelve or something stupid," she rolled her eyes.

"Won't she notice you're missing?" She asked.

"Maybe," Nadia explained. "But my aunt and uncle are visiting, so they won't be thinking about me or my cousins. Mum wants me to make friends in high places."

"Just tell her I'm on first names with the Elders, then," Valkyrie grinned. "And the Dead Men couldn't be safer for you to be around. If you told her someone from the Dead Men would escort us, would that make it better?"

"I suppose," she teased. "But I'd rather keep talking alone."

Valkyrie smiled, and they did that – talked alone at the edge of the fountain for hours, eating chocolates and finishing their drinks they had taken outside with them. Sneaking off, obviously, didn't stop Weasel from finding them when everyone was getting ready to leave much later. They had just watched the fireworks burst above which had been fun but now, it seemed to be time to part.

"Here," Weasel said, passing Valkyrie her clutch. Grinning she got her phone out and had Nadia tell her number and sent a text to the girls' phone somewhere in the ballroom.

"There," she said. "Now we can keep in touch."

Nadia smiled at her and Weasel finally turned from grinning at them to lead them back to the ballroom. As it happened, both girls visited the bathroom again – they'd been gone for hours in the cold and the sudden warmth was a blessing – and just before re-joining the crowd to go home, Valkyrie smiled at Nadia and they hugged for a moment before Valkyrie followed her brothers from the room and Nadia watched her go from besides who must have been her cousins. She kept glancing back at her until she was out of the doors and there was no way to look anymore.

In the car, this time with Weasel, Wolf and Snake, she was able to be silent for just a moment before they all turned to her with matching grins.

"Oh no," she laughed. "I'm not saying anything to you."

"What, why?" Snake asked, smirking. "We're family now, you have to."

"No, I don't," she said. "I'm not telling you a thing."

"Are you seeing her again?" Wolf asked.

"Yes," Valkyrie admitted immediately. "I have her number too."

They cheered for her and they laughed, joked and thought up places Valkyrie and Nadia could go for their date after Valkyrie admitted to that too.

When they got back, Valkyrie wiped the makeup from her face, did her teeth, pulled the dress off and, crawling into bed, looked at her phone to find a text from Nadia saying 'I had a nice night. Hope I get to see you soon x' to which Valkyrie smiled and fell asleep.

AAAHHHGGG tell me thoughts now aaggghhh! :D