A Grim Meeting

“Are you trying to escape the banquet, too?”

If there was a way to describe the man's voice, it would be like a mix between velvety and husky.

Xeran coughed a little more before responding. “Obviously, why else would I be here?”

The man smirked. “Fair enough.” He patted the seat next to him and made a little more room for another person to sit. “Care to join me?”

Normally, Xeran would have sneered and walked off to a more secluded location without any humans, but he was pretty tired of trying to evade everyone and act up the part of Prince Adrian, so he gave in and sat next to the stranger. Looking up above the man's head, he saw the words “Cedric Sterling” pop up above him. Quite a nice name…for a human.

For a while, neither of them spoke. They just drank in the cool, night air and relished in the quiet that they both needed from the banquet. “You know, we've met before, right?” the man, Cedric, spoke, breaking the calming silence. He laughed at the confused expression on Xeran's face. “I figured you might not remember me, you were in such a rush. In the castle—my father and I came early before the banquet to help set up—you nearly slammed me through the window when you knocked me over.”

The confusion melted into recognition as Xeran's face drained of color recalling the other night.

Xeran sped down the hallway, mumbling expletives with a pissed-off look on his face that would ward off anyone who heard or saw him. “Let's just get this over with so I can fucking get some sleep…” he whispered to no one. He rounded the corner and ran into some human who couldn't be bothered to look where they were going. After being forced to give an apology, Xeran hurried away without giving them a glance or helping them up.

“That…that was you?”

Cedric laughed again, a little louder this time as if he couldn't help but help at Xeran's terrified expression. “I had heard you were a tad meek and quiet, but hearing you cursing to yourself with such an annoyed look on your face…I couldn't help but find you…interesting.”

Xeran flushed in embarrassment. “I'm…I'm not…”

Whatever Xeran was going to say was interrupted by loud bells chiming in the distance. Xeran froze in fear—the only time bells toll for reapers is when one is dead, which only happens on the rare occasion—so he was only slightly panicking.

Cedric noticed the terrified look on Xeran's face and patted his shoulder in sympathy. “You haven't been to a banquet before, I presume?” Xeran shook his head (it was easier to play dumb than to say the actual reason for why he was so scared). “Don't worry, I haven't either, but I remember my father saying that the bells are for when the first dance starts.” Cedric crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “I don't really know why they do that, though, the bells are so annoyingly loud from over here that I'm not even sure people inside will be able to hear anything after the banquet.”

Xeran smiled slightly at the eye roll. Cedric smiled back with even more fervor. “I'm glad that made you smile.” Before Xeran could process what he said, he uncrossed his arms and held out his hand towards Xeran. “Care to dance?”

Xeran didn't really have anything better to do at the moment, and he would rather not run into anyone else in the banquet hall, so he accepted the strange man's hand. Cedric guided Xeran into the grassy field near the garden—far enough away that they were difficult to find yet close enough to still hear the instruments playing in the banquet hall.

Grim reapers may have participated in some human traditions (aside from several reapers that he knew, including himself), yet dancing was always something all reapers actively avoided. Whether it was because there were so many particular types of dances that it was hard to remember what steps were for which dance or because dancing was quite awkward in general (especially the ones that required a partner), Xeran couldn't say. He just knew that he was not made to be a dancer, and that was precisely one of the main reasons why he didn't want to dance with that girl earlier…whatever her name was.

Once they reached an area that Cedric deemed okay to dance in, he hovered his hands gently over Xeran—one over the small of his back and one holding his hand. Xeran had no idea where to put his other hand, so he just left it at his side. Cedric snorted and placed Xeran's hand on his shoulder before returning it to the position it was in prior. Xeran didn't want to admit that he was embarrassed (again), so he just acted like it was intentional by turning his face so his slight flush wasn't visible.

Cedric led them into a slow dance, stepping in a rhythm that he seemed to know extensively well and one that Xeran had only seen in the aftermath of a terrible accident. Too many dancing accidents to count, all stemming from either an inexperienced partner or a misstep. Xeran never really cared much about the way humans died, but he did try to mark down how many of them die in similar ways, and dancing was surprisingly up there next to playground mishaps and one-too-many ventures into the woods alone at night.

Xeran focused back on the present and realized he was actually dancing quite well! Albeit, Cedric is the one doing most of the work and I'm just following whatever he's doing, but still! I can dance! I've bested humans at something they practice years for in only a few short minutes!

Feeling quite smug, Xeran decided to take the lead and drag them around the grassy field they were in, Cedric stumbling a bit at the sudden change. The man didn't seem to mind—in fact, he looked quite delighted at being defeated by Xeran's superior abilities.

And Xeran could also admit that he was a tad happy about that, too.

They danced for what seemed like hours but was really only for about thirty minutes. Once the music in the banquet hall ceased their playing, the two men ceased their dancing as well. Xeran had been avoiding direct eye contact with Cedric the entire time (it's way too awkward to stare into someone else's eyes when you're only a few inches apart from them!), but a minutes after they stopped dancing, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at the man's eyes. Cedric was already looking at him, a soft and kind expression on his face.

Before Cedric could open his mouth and say anything, Xeran suddenly saw him freeze in place, as if time had suddenly stopped.

Actually, he wasn't the only thing that froze in place—the grass stopped swishing in the wind; the wind itself, for that matter, stopped, too; the distant chatter and soft music also came to a stop. It was as if someone pressed pause on the world and all its inhabitants…aside from Xeran himself.

[Warning: {Adrian} has lost 50 GR Points! Total GR Points Balance is currently: 5 GR points. Please continue to obtain GR points to the best of your ability!]

You have got to be fucking kidding me.