*-*-*

[15:24] ice ice baby:

Charlieeee you know how Paige was going to walk Georgia with me today??

Well I met up with her and she seemed okay but then we were walking and she just said she was tired and left???

Do you think I did something wrong??? (-д-；)

[15:32] Charlie:

She was probably just tired. You're overthinking it.

Also not that I'm not sorry for your distress but I'm over here being a pining lesbian so ttyl

[15:33] ice ice baby:

Oh, right, my bad. I'll go bother Deanie unless he hasn't unblocked me yet...

Have fun with Princess Joanna! ;)

[15:39] Charlie:

Put that winky face away or so help me...

[15:40] ice ice baby:

(･ω<)☆

[15:45] Charlie:

Sometimes I just really can't understand how Deanie got to be the way he is.

This is not one of those times.

[15:46] ice ice baby:

So harsh! (T⌓T)

Fine, Georgia is a good listener.

***

*Charlie's P.O.V.*

The ball comes quickly that evening, and Charlie is having the time of her life.

Joanna is in her arms, head tipped back and laughing merrily, as they twirl around the corner of the dance floor, almost stumbling over each other's feet because they both keep giggling. They're maybe a teensy bit tipsy, just enough to make everything seem even more delightful than it is, and the strains of music all around are enough to make Charlie positively giddy.

"I've missed dancing with you!" Jo exclaims. Charlie dips her, and she accordingly wraps her leg around Charlie's, the side of her foot stroking Charlie's calf. Charlie swallows, pulling Jo back upright, and sends them both into a spin turn.

"I've missed you, in general," she answers breathlessly. There's a heady sense of exhilaration in every movement they make together—Joanna's hand on her shoulder, Jo's other hand in hers. Jo's legs, against her own. 

Jo, here, with her after months apart.

The song ends and they stumble off the floor, still laughing, hands still joined. Jo squeezes Charlie's fingers and Charlie squeezes back, nudging her with a hip. Joanna bumps her back in return, and Charlie's heart sings at the sight of that smile.

'I could kiss you,' she thinks, but doesn't, because while she wouldn't mind doing that right here in front of everyone, she knows Jo is more private and would probably not appreciate it particularly much, right now.

"Let's go get something to drink," Joanna suggests, still trying to catch her breath. "And maybe some air?"

"Sounds good," Charlie agrees. 'No more alcohol, for now,' she figures, and the two of them wind up with glasses of chilled sparkling fruit juice in their non-joined hands as they weave through the mingling crowd to reach the glass doors to the terraces.

Outside, the music is softer, and it's much easier to hear each other speak. It's not as hot and stuffy as it is inside, either, and Jo closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Charlie just looks at her, bathed in moonlight with the golden glow of the light from indoors highlighting her blonde hair, and wonders how one person can be so beautiful.

'I could kiss you,' she thinks again. But then Jo isn't standing there being kissable anymore, she's tugging Charlie to a bench and sitting down, sipping her juice, and Charlie follows eagerly.

"So," she says, twirling a lock of Jo's pale, silky hair around her fingers, which makes Joanna smile again. She braided the flowers from the crown into it, earlier, after the crown itself fell apart, and Charlie still can't stop smiling at the memory. "How are you feeling about the politics for the week?"

Jo shrugs, elegant and fluid. "I think it's all going to work out pretty well," she says. "I think that in light of the Ruritania-Pandora alliance, there are possible avenues to trade deals between Víteliú and Pandora, too. Right now we're neutral, you know? But I think we could both find some things profitable." She pauses, wrinkling her nose, and adds, "Plus, I think Mikey is very pleased that Prince Sam is off the market."

Charlie blinks. "Really?" she asks, eyebrows raised. "Why's that?"

Jo rolls her eyes. "Why do you think?" she asks. "Means that even if Víteliú and Ruritania were to renew the terms of the old alliance, he wouldn't be able to marry me."

Charlie snorts. "Right," she says. "I should've guessed that. Honestly, Joanna, he's so protective of you it's a little weird..."

"I know, I know," Jo sighs. They've had this conversation before. "I've actually talked to him a little bit, recently, and he knows that no matter what, decisions like that will be mine. I'll listen to his input, I mean, but I won't let him walk all over me. He means well, but he needs to step back, you know?"

"Yeah!" Charlie cheers. "I'm glad you guys were able to talk about it. Do you think he'd throw a fit if you, ah, did want to court someone or be courted?"

Joanna glances at her, something unreadable flickering in her eyes for the briefest moment before she looks back into her juice and smiles. "I think he'd throw a fit, probably," she shrugs, "but he wouldn't do anything more than that. Which is fine by me."

"Good to know," Charlie hums. Feeling a little bit bold, she lets go of Jo's hand to hook her arm around her friend's waist, drawing her close, and beams. "I'm glad you're here, you know."

"I'm glad I'm finally getting the chance to be with you again," Jo says, melting against her side, and oh boy Charlie can never move again, not when Jo is leaning into her like this. "I've missed you so much, you don't even know!"

"I think I might know," she teases lightly, hoping the darkness is disguising the blush on her cheeks. "I mean, I think I probably missed you just as much, so..."

Harvelle laughs a silvery, velvet-coated sound. 'I could kiss you,' Charlie thinks, again, because apparently, she's not going to get that idea out of her head no matter what tonight. "Alright," she cedes, "that's fair. We've both missed each other a lot."

They sit outside and talk, swinging their legs back and forth as they sit on the bench and look at the sky, occasionally sipping at their juice. Charlie spends every minute intensely conscious of Jo's body against hers, certain that right now she could die happy when a third voice joins them—

"Sorry to interrupt, but could I join you, ladies?" Lady Channing Ryabova asks, approaching from behind. Charlie blinks, glancing at Jo, and then nods her assent.

"Sure thing, Channing," she says, making room on the bench by scooting closer to Jo, who does not seem to mind in the slightest. "What's up?"

Channing sighs. "Lord Tran," she says, sounding aggrieved. "I know he has ... feelings for me, and I thought I've made it clear I'm not interested, but he's like a persistent puppy that doesn't understand the word 'no'. I would feel bad for kicking a puppy, but sometimes he makes me sincerely consider it anyway."

Jo winces. "Ouch," she says sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Lady Ryabova!"

"Oh, please," Channing waves a hand. "It's Channing. We're all friends here, right?"

The blonde's face lights up. "Right!" she says cheerfully. "I just didn't want to presume, that's all."

Although Channing's presence means the soft intimacy is gone, Charlie thoroughly enjoys sitting outside in the moonlight between the two of them. Jo regales them with a tale of her adventures in court with Prince Michael and exclaims at the softness and volume of Channing's hair, Channing shares her hair care routine in detail, and Charlie tells them both about the latest shenanigans that Deanie got into.

As if summoned, Dean himself appears at some point. With no preamble, he stalks up to Channing and informs her, "Kevin is looking for you. In case you wanted to know," and then scowls before he marches away. Channing sighs.

"I can go talk to him," Charlie offers, as any good friend would.

"I'll come with you?" Jo says immediately, giving her a squeeze. "If you want, I mean..."

"Of course!" Charlie says quickly. "I'd like that, and we can go back to dancing after we talk to him."

Joanna smiles radiantly (all of her smiles are radiant). "I'd like that," she echoes in agreement. She pauses, glancing at Channing. "Will you be okay?"

Channing nods quickly. "Yes, probably. Thank you for distracting him! I'll just use that to slip back inside and he won't notice."

Armed with their solid plan, the three of them start heading toward the doors. They're almost inside when Charlie pauses.

"Wait," she says, realization dawning. "Wouldn't it be smarter if you went straight to the dance floor with either me or Jo? No, with Jo—he wouldn't be able to step in that way, it'd be super rude. And I could go talk to him in the meantime so he doesn't notice when you leave the floor."

"Oh," Joanna says. Then she laughs. "Good plan! I'm surprised we didn't think of that first."

Channing laughs, too, sounding distinctly relieved. "Yeah, me too," she admits. Then she smiles at Jo. "May I have the next dance, my lady?"

"I would love nothing more," Jo answers, and Charlie pretends she doesn't regret the fact that she has to let go of her for this plan to work.

Armed with their new, even more, solid plan, they reenter the ballroom. Joanna and Channing make a beeline for the dance floor, while Charlie peers around until she spots Kevin's slick black hair. To her surprise, he's not moping around alone, but is instead talking to... ah, that's Sam and Paige.

"Don't go over there," Deanie's voice appears at her elbow, and she almost jumps.

"Why not?"

"Sam has been flirting with Snap Pea nonstop for like, the entire night, and it's making me physically ill," Deanie answers, glaring daggers at the back of his cousin's head. Paige glances around, almost as if she can feel the force of Deanie's animosity, but doesn't seem to think there's much cause for alarm. She does step a little closer to Sam, though, as she rejoins the conversation, which is kind of cute. Sam looks pleased, too.

"Has Paige noticed?" she asks wryly because the fact that Sam's attempts at flirtation always seem to slide off Paige like water on a duck's back is a fact that gives her no small amount of amusement.

"What do you think?" huffs Deanie. "There is a reason I feel sick. Maybe if Snap Pea figured it out, they'd go like, be gross in private and I wouldn't have to look at that all the time."

"Oh, Prince Dean," Charlie sighs, stifling a laugh. "I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how couples work. Anyway, come on! Let's go talk to them."

"What? No," Deanie glares, but when she starts walking, he falls into step behind her anyway, just like she knew he would. "Ugh," he mutters. "I hate you all."

"Whatever you say, Deanie," Charlie hums and dodges out of the way with the ease of practice when he aims a swat at her head.

***

*Sam's P.O.V.*

"Did you enjoy tonight?" Sam asks, beaming down at Paige as he walks her back to her suite. "I know I did."

"Me too," Paige says, and Sam grins even more broadly. He's glad Paige enjoyed herself, as well!

"It's too bad you stayed away from the alcohol," he muses, teasing, and glances at Paige out of the corner of his eye. "It was quite charming when you swept me off my feet last time."

Paige's cheeks turn pink alarmingly fast, and she hides her face in her hands. It's incredibly endearing, especially the part where they're still walking and she's relying on Sam's hand on her back to keep her from walking into anything while her face is hidden. "I act so silly when I get even a little bit past tipsy," she mumbles. "Don't remind me..."

"I thought it was cute," Sam assures her. Somehow, if the noise Paige is making is anything to judge by, that doesn't seem to make it any better.

"Let's talk about something other than how stupid I act when I have alcohol," Paige suggests (begs, really).

"Alright, if you insist," Sam says, "although I still think that it was a perfectly good night and you didn't do much of anything wrong. Anyway, we can talk about tonight instead! Even though we spent practically all of it together anyway, so I'm not sure what there is to talk about. What did you think of the Harvelles?"

Paige seems to shift entirely when they go from laughing and joking to talking business and politics. She holds herself a little bit differently, a thoughtful expression on her face, and says, "I think I overall got good impressions from both of them. Prince Harvelle seemed like he was trying too hard to be intimidating, and I think he was uncomfortable with some things, but overall his heart is in the right place, as far as I could tell, and Princess Harvelle was surprisingly genuine. I don't think we talked to their retinue enough for me to have an accurate read on them, though."

Sam hums. "So you don't think the Prince and Princess acted suspicious, though?"

Paige shakes her head. "Not that I could tell," she says. "I mean, it's always possible that I could've missed something, but they both seemed honest to me."

"Alright," Sam says. "We don't know that there is a plot, either. It's just a thought, something to watch out for. Don't worry about it! We'll find out more tomorrow, anyway. Parties are always farces. Everyone pretends to have a good time and hides their true motivations, but those always come out in court and at the meetings."

"Yes," Paige agrees. She glances up at Sam as they round the corner, nearing her rooms. "...I didn't get the sense that you were pretending to have a good time, though. Were you?"

Sam smiles genuinely. "No," he says. "Not this time. This time, I was actually enjoying myself. Mostly thanks to you."

Paige looks relieved, smiling back, as they stop in front of her door. "Oh," she says. "Okay. Good. Um, I'm glad, to hear that."

"Yes," Sam says, amused. It's easy to slide his hand from where it rests at the small of Paige's back to her hip, pulling her close for a quick hug. "Well, given that it's midnight, I guess I should let you rest," he says, drawing back. Paige lingers for a moment, staying close, which is rather nice before she steps away and nods.

"Good night, Sam," she says. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night!" Sam says. He waits until Paige's door closes with a click before he walks away. And once he's content that there is no one hiding in the shadows of the hallway, he breathes out a content sigh and literally skips back to his room.

*-*-*

[00:04] Paige:

alright, so I know you're asleep considering it's 4 in the morning

but when you wake up I could use some advice?

[00:05] homobipboa:

Sup?

[00:05] Paige:

WHY ARE YOU AWAKE

[00:05] homobipboa:

what kind of advice are we talking here?

[00:06] Paige:

ITS LIKE. PAST 4 IN GENOSHA BELA WTF

[00:06] homobipboa:

Paige. tell me what kind of advice you need and ill tell you why I'm awake.

is it the kind of advice where I'm gonna have to come over there and stab a mofo

[00:07] Paige:

no!!!!!!!!! it's nothing like that omg

its

um

......romantic advice?

now why are u awake

[00:07] homobipboa:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROMANTIC ADVICE!??!!?!!!!!!!!!

I am awake, bc..........

Reasons™ ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

NOW GIMME THE DEETS???? is it Sam?? is it someone else??? no, Sam, right????

[00:08] Paige:

THAT IS NOT AN ANSWER SHAME ON YOU

it's definitely Sam............

Bela this is so awkward fml what do u do when u have a crush on ur own fiancé

[00:08] homobipboa:

Paige

I'm laughing

ur falling in love with ur arranged fiancé

ur life sounds like one of those trashy romance novels

[00:09] Paige:

I knowww shut upppp

besides im p sure a novel has to be like over 50000 words or whatever and my life isn't interesting enough for that lol

also, this is not advice???? ur so unhelpful

[00:09] homobipboa:

alright, hows this:

get drunk, pole dance for him, sweep him off his feet and seduce him w the power of ur thighs

[00:10] Paige:

...

alright! lets go back to the romance novel thing, that was the worst idea i've ever read

[00:10] homobipboa:

Paige its 4 in the fuckign morning idk what kind of advice u expect to get out of me

[00:10] Paige:

go to bed!!!!!!!!!!

[00:11] homobipboa:

plot twist I AM in bed

now tell me more abt Sammmmmmmmmm

[00:11] Paige:

nope u ruined ur own chances with the pole dancing. ill tell u tomorrow u should sleep now

[00:12] homobipboa:

is this just u looking for excuses to get out of me interrogating u or something

[00:12] Paige:

no this is me being concerned for your health!!!

the sooner u sleep the sooner i spill!!!! good night!!!!

[00:12] homobipboa:

fiiiiiiiiiine but I expect the DEETS tomorrow

good night Paige! <3

[00:13] Paige:

<3!