Ch9-8: Victory Dinner
“She’s a cutie,” Edge beamed a wide, suggestive smile past Ben’s shoulder towards Joran on the other side. “And I think she’s got the hots for you. Believe it or not.”
Ben nearly spit his kantal all over the nice white table cloth in front of him. Which wouldn’t have been a good thing, considering Cecil had all but begged him to try to mind his manners at the royal victory dinner. Already, the Half Lunar was on the receiving end of some rather quizzical looks from the nobility that feasted along with them.
Edge’s smug grin indicated that he was having a whole lot more fun at the dinner than he had a right to. Being a King, he didn’t pay any attention to the formality and pomp at all. Not the frilly table decorations. The even more frilly-seeming food. The red and gold banners that hung from the walls. The plush red carpets that lined the floors. The wide, heavy dining table that was covered colors, textures and smells.
“It’s too bad I can’t understand a word she says,” the Ninja intoned with a fake sound of remorse.
“It’s probably better for her that she doesn’t understand you,” Rydia rolled her eyes from across the table. Then she shook her head, looking at Joran. “Please don’t mind him. He really just doesn’t know any better. I think someone dropped him on his head as a baby.”
Joran’s eyes boggled for a moment in complete belief.
“Don’t worry,” the Half Lunar assured her. “It’s not real. It’s just a human saying. I think?”
Ben didn’t know how it worked that Rydia could speak to and understand Lunars without really knowing the language. Someone had mentioned that it had something to do with the magics of the Underworld and gifts from King Leviathan.
Whatever it is, it’s nice to know that one other person here at the table can offer Joran conversation and support.
Though Ben didn’t know a whole lot about the Caller, she seemed nice enough. She had hardly so much as blinked when she found out the truth of his identity. Not to mention that Joran said that Rydia had been kind to her, even when Rydia was the captive of the Daear.
“Awwww! Come on now! You’re breaking my heart, Rydia!” Edge protested with a big-lipped pout.
“Give me a break. The only thing breaking your heart is the fact you can’t try your hand at seeing how successful you would be at hitting on a Lunar chick,” Kain snuffed, pointing one end of the fork across the table.
“Aw… man. Highwind! You gonna start in on me too?” there was a hint of mirth in the Ninja’s tone. Enough to make Ben wonder if what Kain said was really true.
Quite suddenly, the Half Lunar found himself feeling a tad defensive of the girl. Then, surprised at the intensity of his own response, Ben shook his head out to clear it. But the scent of sweet rolls left his senses fuzzy.
What am I doing? Ever since I’ve been around Joran again, everything’s felt so strange.
He glanced over at the girl, watching as she poked through the meal on her plate curiously. Despite everything she had been through in her time on the Blue Planet, there was still the sweet pureness in the way she held herself. Every time he was struck by the thought, he felt both drawn to and repelled from the girl.
I know she confessed her feelings… she said that she was in love with me. But does she know what that really means? Does she know anything about what I was… and still am?
Joran peered up from her plate and seeing that Ben was looking at her, offered him a genuine smile. She had been doing that a lot lately, he realized. In fact, she had been far more open and happy over the past few days than he remembered seeing her be even back on the Lunar Homeworld.
It just wouldn’t work out in the end. I know what she’s hoping for. And I don’t think I’m the one that can give it to her.
Ben attempted to offer a watery half smile before he turned back to finish the last bit of food on his plate.
She deserves something far better than a half-breed Ex-Dark Lord.
The dinner had fallen to the wayside as guests took their fill of the meal. All that was left was idle chatter across the table top and the sound of quiet music playing somewhere not too far away. When Cecil finally rose from his seat, it seemed to be the signal that supper was officially over and everyone was free to move and mingle as they wanted.
People did just that – rising from the table and wandering off into little clumps of friends and acquaintances. Not wanting to be one of the few people left sitting at the table, Ben got up as well, wandering to stand off near the kantal serving station. He did everything in his power to make it seem like sipping his drink was the most socially engrossing endeavor known to man.
I wish things had just ended with the meal. These royal social situations are so awkward.
Ben didn’t know many of the people there. And though they didn’t seem to outwardly scorn him, it was obvious that not too many humans were thrilled at the thought of coming up to mingle with Golbez.
So he was left on his own, standing next to Joran. Undaunted, the girl seemed to be having the time of her life.
“Isn’t this so much fun, Golbez?” she asked when she finally caught his eye.
Not wanting to spoil her excitement, he nodded quickly.
“The par-tay concept is most interesting,” Joran continued, folding her arms behind her back. Her green eyes scanned the room, watching people. “We should teach the others about it.”
“Others?” Ben asked, losing track of the conversation for a moment.
“Other Lunars? You know, back home?” she answered with a wide grin. “They would really like it!”
The Half Lunar paused, head tilted to one side in thought. He could only stop to wonder at that statement if Lunars did not have festivals or parties. That’s when he realized that in all of his time living on the Homeworld, there had never been a community-wide celebration of any sort.
“Maybe so?” he answered with a pondering frown.
“Of course they would! Oh! See? Look!” Joran broke off into a warm, musical laughter, pointing across the room.
For the first time, Ben realized that the soft lilting music had changed to something a good deal more lively. There was a merry note to the trill of the flute and beat of the drum. And, as was to be expected, the Ninja King simply couldn’t hold still at the sound of it.
Edge was leading Rosa in a jouncy step over the small enclosed dance floor on the other side of the room. The grins on both of their faces made it clear that it was simply a playful, friendly kind of dance. Mis-step after mis-step fell, but neither of them seem to care. The dance was just for the fun of dancing. There was no rhyme nor reason.
Enraptured in the scene, Joran cheered and clapped, “Llonni! Llonni!”
Whatever the purpose of the dance was, it seemed to be getting Edge the attention that he was looking for. A flustered-faced Rydia watched for a long moment on the sidelines before she grabbed a partner of her own. The young Paladin King Cecil couldn’t have looked more surprised than at the moment the Caller grabbed him by the hand and swung him out on the dance floor.
“Golbez! Can your brother dance?” Joran asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“You know what… I really don’t know.” Ben found himself laughing along side of the Lunar girl, watching the two pairs capering across the room.
It took Cecil a moment to get his feet up under him, but when he did, he was certainly a fair match for the dancing prowess of the Ninja King. Spurred on by competitive looks between Edge and Rydia, the tempo was kicked up a notch as both pairs battled it out though dance steps that were completely foreign to the Half Lunar. Whirling and dipping, sweeping out over the floor in flashes of grins and determined brows, it was certainly quite a sight.
The only thing that ended the competition was the closing of the song itself. Both pairs stopped to catch their breath, backing away from their mis-matched partner with laughs and gestures. It couldn’t be determined which set had come out the victor. But that didn’t seem to matter now – the music had started again. A slower song.
With a knowing glance at the Ninja King, Rosa snagged Cecil’s hands in hers, claiming her husband for the next dance. And leaving Edge and Rydia blinking at each other in momentary awkwardness. Other nobles took up the dance, now that the competition had died down, couples joining the king and queen in a slow passing over the floor.
In the middle of the shuffle of light and color, Edge extended his hand to the young Caller. The motion was possibly the most sincere and uncertain gesture that Ben had seen come from the usually pompous Ninja King. A parade of half-decisive emotion traveled over Rydia’s face as she looked at the hand. As if part of her wanted to push him away… but something more true wanted so much to reach out and take it.
Edge arched his eyebrows hopefully.
Rydia lifted her eyes and searched his face.
Then, without warning, she moved forward and put her hand in his. The Ninja had never looked more floored. Rydia seemed to chide him for a moment, though gently and with mirth in her eyes. That was all that it took to bring Edge back down to earth again. Without further hesitation, he began to dance the dance of his lifetime.
Caught up in the unfolding drama, Joran was clutching Ben’s arm, her own slender wrists wrapped around his sleeve. When the Half Lunar looked down, he realized she was watching him almost expectantly.
Uh… wait. What does that look mean?
Her lips curled upwards as she flicked her eyes towards the dance floor, then back to him. It wasn’t hard for him to tell what she was thinking about.
But… but… I don’t know how to dance!
Ben realized he must have tensed up because Joran’s expression also changed. There was a sense of understanding… as if the girl recognized his uncertainty but didn’t blame him for it. Instead, she tightened her hold around the Half Lunar’s arm and began to walk forward, leading him.
“Come on. No one is paying attention,” she told him.
He found himself stammering an attempt at a reply, which just made him feel all the more foolish in his plight at feigning some sort of social aptitude. But these things didn’t deter Joran one bit. She simply took his hands in her kind but forthright manner and began to lead him slowly into the first steps of the dance.
Oh no. Oh no!
At first Ben’s feet were lead at one moment, rubber the next, as he stumbled to keep up with the girl. But then, as the sound of the music swelled around him and he peered down into Joran’s smiling face, he felt a strange sensation come over him. A door in the back of his mind somehow opened, a trickle of very distant memory rushed through his body, instructing his feet on how to move. With great surprise, he found himself taking up lead in the dance as if it was something he had known all of his life.
“See! You do know how to dance!” Joran responded with great pleasure.
“I… I guess I do? But I’m not sure how,” Ben admitted with a curled brow.
“It’s simple,” she told him as they began to weave through the other couples on the floor. The motion was smooth and flowing – giving them the appearance of gliding weightless through the room. “We both learned it from the same person.”
“We did?” the statement struck him as curious. “What do you mean? Who taught you?”
“Your father. KluYa.” Joran answered in a quiet voice. She didn’t seem to know if she should mention the name. So she added more information as if to cover the moment of hesitation, “He taught me to dance this dance… we used to play-dance for fun when I was a lot younger.”
“Father..?” Ben murmured, squinting hard. As if he might be able to reach back into the depths of his fuzzy memories for a moment in time when his father had taught him this dance. Though the motions were there and familiar in him as he danced, the walls in his mind did not allow any hints to come through. There was simply nothing. As always.
“He was like a big brother to me,” she answered quietly, pulling Ben out of his thoughts. “A mentor. A teacher. The only one I had there at the Manor.”
“Ah…?”
Joran gave a nervous flushing laugh, “I guess it was pretty silly of me. I was just a little girl… and he was far older than me… but I had such a big crush on him.”
Ben stumbled, missing a step, “You… did?”
“Yes,” she admitted with a sad look. “It’s hard to believe he’s gone. I suppose that’s why when I found out he had a son, I…”
A tightening feeling gripped his throat.
Does she only like me… because of her crush… because she’s looking for someone who will be like Father?
“…I had to meet you. I had to know who you were,” Joran picked her words slowly. “I was so lonely there on the Homeword. I missed KluYa so much.”
If that’s who she is looking for, then I’ll only disappoint her…
Ben fought to keep the dance going, to hide the rising of his own disappointment from her. Maybe it was that she didn’t like him at all… rather, she liked him for who his father was.
But, that’s okay… right? I don’t even know that she should be involved with me at all.
Though his mind told him one thing, he couldn’t argue against the biting feeling in his chest. Of a hope he didn’t even realize he was feeling, already gone sour. Maybe it was the feeling that prompted him to speak when he usually would not, “And what did you think… when you met me?”
“I think that I’ve met you… but I still don’t know you,” she answered quietly. “You’re so much like KluYa was. But there’s a lot about you that’s different from him, too.”
“Is that… bad..?” he was struggling between concern and flattery of being positively compared to his father.
“No?” Joran craned her head back to look up in his face. Her own cheeks colored as words came out, unchecked until too late, “I may have had a little-girl crush on him… but you’re the one that I really–”
They both fell silent at the trailing of words, clinging awkwardly to the flow of music that wrapped gently around them. If Ben had any reservations about Joran’s feelings, that one half statement had been all it took to cast them away.
Motion and music was all that they knew for a very long time. Nothing else existed around them – it was just the two of them, celebrating the company of the other. As the tempo slowed yet again, Ben found himself in the midst of a simple sway, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.
Joran leaned forward and rested her cheek against his lower chest. She was hesitant at first, like one who wasn’t sure how much liberty to take. Ben was too caught up in fighting the rush of butterflies that had just come to life in his stomach to reject her motion. Not that he would – the girl was warm and soft… alive and wonderful.
That’s when Joran told him, “Thank you for giving me one of the best days of my life.”
Ben could only offer a soft smile as they swayed back and forth. Because for once, everything felt good and right.