Young Writers Society

"Hello, pleasure to meet you all," Evron said, eagerly shaking hands with the vampire, demon, and human, each in turn. "I'm Evron, and that's Thana, and over there is our wonderful commander Tasha Hunter."

Auryon seemed a bit taken aback by their enthusiasm, but shook their hands nonetheless. Kratzer smiled and greeted them before answering Boris' question, though it was a bit late.

"You can most certainly say 'we,'" he affirmed.

"Did you know about this?" Evron asked excitedly. "Tasha hasn't gotten out on the dance floor for anything but pleasantries in years."

James gradually began to lengthen his strides as they led up to a climax in the music. He gave up on conversation and put his focus in the dance. He kept the steps simple and easy to follow, but sped up the pace. With the extra movements, he remained mindful of his cape. It wasn’t long enough to trip on, but he wanted to avoid it getting awkwardly caught on anything as it flowed behind him.

He gave Tasha another twirl, his anxious heart racing along with the music. He savored the moment she twirled back at him, and their eyes met again with what felt like a feeling of mutual understanding. If he was reading it right. If he was reading it right. He hadn’t questioned himself so much about understanding what was going on behind someone else’s face for a long time, nor had he desired to know so much as he did in that moment.

He took in a few quick breaths and smiled. Again.

As many times as he had read of romance, or listened to the poetry of love songs, never had he known what it felt like for his heart and mind to race in a way that blinded him from common sense. Because he knew that this - this wasn’t sensical. It was foolish, and he couldn’t bear the thought of how it would end, if her smile was as true as his.

He didn’t know he could feel this way: that he could enjoy someone so much in something as simple as a dance. It was terrifying, but he didn’t know how to escape it.

Tasha felt a small laugh escape her lips as she spun away from him, holding herself on the tip of her toes and reaching towards the opposing wall before twirling back to James. As she transitioned her weight onto her inside foot she felt her boot slide on the slick floor and she moved forward to counteract the sudden loss of balance. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt herself lose balance, and in the middle of dancing, and the floor came closer - and she suddenly found herself in James' arms, catching her before she hit the ground. Her face flushed as she was pressed against him unexpectedly and her gaze looked to his countenance almost searchingly. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, or what she sought. It would make things so much simpler if whatever this was wasn't returned.

But she wanted it to be. Hopelessly. She knew it, too, even as she met his eyes and shifted her weight to recover her own feet as the last few notes of the song faded.

James couldn’t help it. He let out a breathy laugh of relief as he caught and held Tasha steady in his arms, slowly bringing her back to her feet.

“I’ve got you,” he said with a smile, before gradually loosing his arms and letting her go, though he didn’t want to. He kept a hand on her shoulder, then slid it down her arm down to her hand to hold. He gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you,” he said softly, keeping his eyes locked with hers. “I haven’t had that much fun in a very long time.”

She almost wished that he'd never let go. Of course, she knew he'd have to, but...she didn't like it, despite her better judgement. She opened her mouth to answer and found herself tongue-tied for a moment that was far too long for comfort. The flurry of emotions jumbled the words that she struggled to form into a coherent sentence.

After what seemed like an eternity she finally managed to get the words out. "I...You have only yourself to thank, James. After all, all I did was accept an invitation," she smiled up at him, her fingers entwined in his. Oh stars above, she never wanted this to end, though she knew she'd have to let go...

“Were it anyone else, I can guarantee you I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself half as much as I did with you,” he said, before he could bite back his words. Regret, fear, and every anxious thought stormed in his mind in an instant, and he struggled to keep his smile. Oh gods... what am I doing? I can’t be falling in love. Not now, not ever. I shouldn’t be feeding this feeling. She knows it will never work. Gods. Tasha, forgive me.

He looked down at their hands. He brushed the back of hers with his thumb. “And it is just as difficult to say yes as it is to ask. You could have just as easily said no, and we would still be stuck on the outside as mere observers. It goes both ways.”

Tasha was, by nature, an impulsive person. She always had been. She'd worked very hard to train that out - and, for the most part, she'd succeeded. But in that moment as she heard him speak, as he spoke of how much he'd enjoyed it, as she felt the warmth of his presence and the sensation of his fingers around hers...

Either he felt the same or he didn't; no reason to prolong it and make the entire thing that much more difficult...right?

"Yes to which question?' she asked, feeling her heart slow as time seemed to freeze. For a moment, she found herself stuck, trembling, afraid like an antelope in the torchlight.

Then, before he could answer her, she leaned up and her lips met his.

James’s eyes went wide as she leaned forward, but the moment she touched her lips against his, he closed them. His heart began to pound in his chest, and heat rose once again to his face, but this time with an increased fervor. His hand slipped out of hers, and without any thought, he pulled her close - one hand on her back, the other at the nape of her neck. Everything within him told him it was wrong, but in his heart it felt right, and that had to count for something.

So he returned the kiss, and though it still terrified the living daylights out of him, he knew without a doubt that he cared for Tasha more deeply than he could find words for.

Everything faded away. Even the music. Even the thoughts of Rendra, and her schemes. Even the awareness that others would be watching.

It was just Tasha.

Her eyes closed and the ambient voices and tones slipped away, as though herself and James were the only two people in existence. The fear still lurked in the back of her mind but as he leaned forward and pulled her close, even it began to fade, and she wrapped her arms around him.

This had never been supposed to happen. She was supposed to live and die a soldier, a commander, without distraction or complication. She was supposed to be able to keep a handle on her heart. She was supposed to know how to keep a level head and not make stupid, impulsive decisions.

But in that moment the only thought that reached her was that he felt it, too. That she wasn't the only one and that despite the worlds that separated them, their hearts belonged in the same place.

With each other.

The moment seemed to hang in the air, and he wanted to pretend it could go on without end, but there was a time that felt natural to pull away, and he did so.

He didn’t know what he looked like when he opened his eyes, but figured he probably looked as surprised as he felt. He kept her close in his arms, only pulling back enough to look at her face again. A small smile tugged at his lips, but he found himself, truly, at a loss for words. He blinked, trying to search his mind for something coherent. Something that would make sense. That would be true.

“I...” was all he managed to get out.

"I...I'm sorry, I...I..." her voice trailed off as she found herself unable to finish the sentence, at an utter loss. She hadn't really expected him to feel the same way she did - and the realization of the sudden reality hit her like a ton of bricks as the intensity of the moment faded.

Stars above, what had she just done? She wished he didn't have a mask. She wished she could see his face, all of it, and try to read more than his words and the ghost of a smile that danced over his lips.

This couldn't work. They were from different worlds, realities even. At the same time, she found herself unwilling to pull away, to break it off, to change anything, because at that moment, in James' arms...she was hopeless. So completely and utterly happy to be there with him, against him, even if it was at some crazy masquerade where god-like entities ran rampant.

James’s eyes widened and he stared at her. “Wh-what?” he stuttered in reply, his voice barely above a whisper. He knew the pause following didn’t help, but it genuinely took a moment for everything to register. When he finally understood, his hands went to hold her arms, and he bowed his chin down as he looked at her.

“Tasha. N-no,” he started, trying to desperately find language that didn’t feel awkward coming out of his mouth. He had never, ever in his life had a situation like this occur. He had never... ever been kissed by someone he actually, sincerely liked with all of his being. He was wholly unprepared.

“I-I-thank you,” he stumbled out. “I-I’m sorry I-words have escaped me. You-I didn’t expect- well, I didn’t expect that. But it is-was not unwelcome. I’m-“ he stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath. “I do... I do like you, Tasha. More than... more than any other I have known. I know one kiss is... well I don’t know what it means. Frankly, I don’t know much of anything, nevermind what’s going on in-in my own heart. I wish I knew what to say,” he said, a flush covering his face as he again, looked down. “This isn’t supposed to work,” he said quietly. “I wish-I wish it could but I don’t even know...” he stopped, leaving the sentence in the air as he let out a sigh. He was a mess of words. It was best if he stopped now.

"But...we're from different worlds, fighting different wars, and..." her voice trailed off and she averted her gaze. Her heart wanted this so badly, and yet... "I--you--I never...not like this." It wasn't a real sentence but as words failed her she hoped the meaning was still conveyed. "I...I wish I had an answer," she finally managed. "But all I know is...my heart...wants you, and my mind knows...it just...it can't..."

His hands went to hers again, and he held them firmly. He looked up, searching her face and her eye.

“I know,” he said softly. “I feel the same way. No-no matter what way you look at it, it... it all seems too overwhelming. Too complicated. Too impossible. And maybe it is. Maybe it was never meant to be, and what we have is only for a moment. One short, bizarre, in-the-middle-of-a-kidnapping in a masquerade moment. And I ache to think that whatever this is may only last a short while before we are torn apart by our own destinies, our own fates, and our own realities that await us. But if we... if we can hold on to this moment...” He lifted her hands in his slowly up to his lips. “For however long it lasts... it may just be worth it.” He paused, closing his eyes a second before opening them and staring into hers with a foolish, hopeful insistence. “I don’t have many things in my life that are worth holding onto, and though I try - sometimes, it feels, in vain, to find purpose - they all seem to escape my grasp one way or another. I may be terrible at living in the moment and letting myself remain in a memory despite the fact, but I don’t want to lose this. And if I- if we do. If we do. I want to look back on this and say I made every minute count, not regret the words I didn’t say, and the things I didn’t do. I know this isn’t going to be perfect. Nothing in our lives is. Maybe this is the second of happiness fate has reserved for us. Maybe this masquerade, despite all of its chaos, and every unknown that remains, is a gift to us. Not from the gods, but whatever it is that brought life into existence.” He paused, and looked down at their hands intertwined, still held up at his chin. He kissed her knuckles.

“I don’t know what comes next. But I am thankful for you, and I am willing to give you all of me for as long as we have each other. The pain that will follow will be bearable if I know from you, I have the same.”

"If you'll go for it, I'll go for it," she answered, unable to hold back the smile that danced across her lips. "There's few things in this universe worth living for, and this...this is one of them, and if fate will inevitably tear us away then so be it. We...we'll have this as long as we're together and that's...that's got to be enough." She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved closer, leaning her forehead into his chest. "My heart is yours, James, and I find that unlikely to change no matter the distance between us."