Somehow I Always Find My Way To You

[portolan]

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[floresco]

"Isn't that what we're supposed to do, as pirates? Turn every neighborhood into a pirate one?"

She steps back, keeping hold of one hand and lifting it up to spin herself under his arm.

[portolan]

"Who will we steal from then?" he teases, delighted as she spins herself. He takes over, twirling her back the other way and out from him, then curving her back across his front so he can catch her other arm, her back to his front. "Not just anyone can be a pirate."

[floresco]

Glad he can't see the look of surprise on her face when she feels her back press lightly against his chest, Aerith manages to sound normal as she giggles in response. "Not with the way you work. You've hardly left any piracy for anyone else!"

[portolan]

He has the strange urge to put his nose against her hair, but instead puts his chin on top of her head, reminding her how short she is. "I'm not going to argue with that. I am the best."

[floresco]

It's hard to explain, but she's a lot more aware of him when they're standing like this, a notion that loses some of the tension behind it when he props his chin on the top of her head and she has no choice but to roll her eyes.

"You don't need me to compliment you, you do enough of that yourself." Huffing at this positioning, Aerith reaches behind her to prod him in the side, gently.

[portolan]

If he was pressed, he'd admit to feeling that heightened awareness too. Maybe that's why he puts his head on hers and teases; no tension in that.

He sighs dramatically, squirming as she pokes at his side. "No, I have to compliment myself because you are never have a good word to say about me. I'll waste away with no support. Always have been good at taking care of myself." And as he soliloquizes, he jabs a finger into her side, all but forgetting they were in the middle of a dance.

[floresco]

Jumping slightly when he turns the tables on her and prods at her side while he talks, Aerith shifts against him, pressing back against him before squirming sideways in an effort to evade capture.

"You've so full of hot air, you've got to let it off somewhere, darling. I wouldn't be a good wife if I didn't give you an outlet."

[portolan]

"Am I so helpless without you?" he laughs, amused as she squirms against him and -- something else. Something he doesn't quite realize until, still laughing, he's taken the hands he's still holding and crossed his arms in front of her, holding her tightly to him and lifting her off her feet so she can't get away. With the music still playing cheerily, he spins her around, her legs and skirts flying, and he has the strange thought that he hasn't been this happy in a long time.

[floresco]

Yelping when he tightens his hold and pulls her off his feet, Aerith laughs at being spun, kicking her legs gently as she continues to squirm around against him. "Balthier! You brute!"

[portolan]

"Louder. I don't think everyone heard you," he laughs, but he spins them toward the edge of the dance floor, plopping her down and panting before giving her a cheeky grin. "Are you going to run from me now? Or are you going to bully me into submission?"

[floresco]

Aware that she's flushed, Aerith fans her hands in front of her face and scowls at him once he sets her down and draws away before reaching for a flute of champagne moving by on a passing tray.

"I'm going to bully you into submission, of course." Tipping her head back to down the sparkling liquid, Aerith sets the empty glass down and moves towards him, coming up just a hair too close as she reaches up and tugs his collar ever so slightly out of place while meeting his eye evenly.

[portolan]

He reaches for a flute of his own, downing it and aware he's breathing a little hard.

He laughs at her threat, but doesn't expect her to actually come at hime, suddenly finding her very much in his space. "It'll take more than a tweak of my wardrobe to break me. I'm sure you'll manage." Has she always had that freckle on her cheek? Funny, he's never really paid that much attention.

[floresco]

It's surely just the sudden rush of alcohol into her system that makes her so at ease with being this close to him, leaning in as near as she dares - which is probably closer than most - while she sizes him up with those bright eyes.

"So it's come to this hmm?" Her fingers play at the fabric of his shirt while she fights off a smile. "If you can't have compliments, you'll throw a little moody?" She grins as she uses the term, one reserved for her when she was at her most petulant back in the castle.

[portolan]

It would be easy to tease her, poke fun at the childish term clearly applied enough times to stick. But he finds himself holding his breath, so aware of how close she is, and raising a brow. “And if I do?”

[floresco]

Still too bold from the drinks, Aerith's fingers toy idly with the fabric of his collar, left stuck in a moment of silent consideration after he's called her bluff. Certain that it's all for the sake of maintaining a convincing appearance of a relationship she lets her hand reach higher, lightly tugging on the ends of his hair.

"Then I certainly won't tell you how handsome you look tonight."

[portolan]

They’ve both had a bit to drink, and maybe they’re getting too caught up in their ploy. He’s proud of her, really, but he doesn’t want this to get sticky, not when he’s enjoying her company so much lately.

“Good. Then I won’t have to blush and flee for my dignity because you’ve found my weakness.” His eyes are laughing, even if his mind is traitorously wondering if she finds him handsome.

He reaches out to tweak her nose. “I bet you charmed all the older men to get your way. Being small as a child certainly helps.”

[floresco]

Stepping backward she swats at his hand as he goes for her nose, sputtering in indignance. "You're sleeping outside tonight!"

That is definitely something she's sure married couples say to each other.

"Of course I did, that was my job, wasn't it?"

[portolan]

That gets a full-bellied bark of laughter. "By all means. Try locking me out of my own ship." He has multiple back doors and magical locks keyed to him. He'd be amused to see her try. He doesn't doubt she'd make her husband sleep on the couch, though, shaking his head as he grins at her.

"Your job was to be charming and unmemorable, look pretty and do nothing," he says, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You were terrible at it, clearly."

[floresco]

"On second thought, you don't need any more excuses to be smug and preen do you?" She suppresses the urge to reach out and touch him again, ignoring the desire to pay attention to his hand on her shoulder as it rises."

"At all of it? That's mean!"

[portolan]

"Who is fishing for compliments now?" he chuckles. He has the urge to touch her face, her hair, so he pulls his hand back, busying it with taking something from whatever tray is passing by.

But the last time they drank together comes to mind, and how hurt she was that he was too hard on her, so he finds himself adding, "If you weren't pretty and charming, your strategy of manipulating older men would have never worked."

[floresco]

Aerith also leaps on the distraction whatever canape was being served on that tray presents, lifting three little sandwiches away before snacking contentedly, far too pleased that there was no one to tell her not to eat more than half of one to dwell on how strangely compelling Balthier was when he stood too close to her like that.

Rolling her shoulders in an evasive shrug at his assessment, she gives him a small smile, finishing off her last tiny sandwich and dusting off her fingers before she speaks. "See? A little compliment. Was that so hard?"

[portolan]

He raises a brow, not missing how pointedly he ranks below food and not in the least upset by it. She has good taste.

"This much preening for half a compliment. I think if I give more I shall create a monster. We are evenly matched, princess." It slips out, but no matter; it's a common enough term of endearment that no one should question it.

[floresco]

Freezing for a beat when the term slips out, Aerith remembers herself with remarkable quickness, swatting his chest lightly. "That we are, my prince," it's an awkward feeling thing to say at the moment, but, regular non-noble couples have terms of endearment for one another, she's read about it in books, and she feels the need to cover for his mistake.

"You throw a tantrum for my praise, and when it's your turn, you give me next to nothing."

[portolan]

His grin widens at how quick she is, and at how much he knows she would never call him something like that outside their ruse.

He's had enough champagne to not consider why he's having so much fun poking her buttons. "Oh?" he asks, cocking his head coyly. "Well then. You're a fine dancer and an amusing bully, and you hold your liquor well enough to not be a danger to yourself but not so well you aren't endlessly amusing. You are so adorable that it's hard to stay angry with you very long, even if you're more prone to tantrums than I."

[floresco]

Not bothering to try and act like the things he chooses to compliment her on don't please her tremendously, Aerith's chin lifts proudly, tilting her head from side to side as she playfully basks in the praise.

"And a successful bully," she adds pleasantly, smug that she wasn't the one to fold first, even though he's given her quite a few nice things to say about him, and the alcohol's lessened her restraint.

"You are very handsome, and a good dance partner." Then, quickly, after realizing that's just a bit too sincere for this game they're playing at. "And very good at being annoying."