birthrightgreen | AU for _deadlydance_, set immediately after "The Price"

She flashed him a look before she realized she was being teased, then smiled, rueful and apologetic. "They're a bit much when you're used to being on your own."

Rainier rolled his shoulders, quietly easing into a quadrille the as the orchestra played the first few bars. The couple closest to them came to stand next to them, respectful of the distance they sensed he desired.

"I'll share a secret with you," he murmered as the steps lead him to bruh by Surreal. "They can be a bit much, even when you're not."

Surreal laughed, a happy, relaxed sound. "Say it isn't so," she teased lightly as she brushed back past him.

"I like your laugh."

Rainier whispered it the next time their shoulders touched, and open, even honesty there. Nothing more, and nothing less.

"I don't need to say that for it to be true." There was a certain grin this time. "And you and I both know they prefer it that way."

She flushed, smiling a little. She didn't think anyone had ever given her such a simple compliment. "Thank you."

The next turn, she grinned at him again, face a little flushed from the exertion of the dance. "That's how they like things, I think."

"It is," he agreed. "And what they like, is what is." And something he was bound to, proud to be a part of.

The steps were natural, so Rainier could focus on watching her dance.

"How long will you be in town?"

She nodded. "At least they tend to like things I can support." Unlike the Queens she'd come into contact with--or tried to avoid--before.

"Indefinitely? Permanently?" She shrugged one elegant shoulder. "I needed a change of pace."

The dance ended, and this time Rainier deliberately pulled Surreal closer, signaling the rest of the males on the dancefloor that she would be with him for the rest of the evening.

He made sure the teasing light in his was clear and visible.

"I can arrange for that, you know."

She arched an eyebrow slightly at the presumption, though she supposed he had the right until she told him otherwise.

She didn't push away, but looked up at him, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"For a change of pace?"

"For a change of pace," Rainier echoed, signaling the orchestra's conductor. His extended presence at the dance hall over the part years guaranteed he could dictate the entire evening's program instead if he was so inclined.

Instead, he chose a single dance.

Daemon may own a few of the Court Dances.

But the tango was his.

She gasped slightly, just the smallest intake of breath as she moved into his arms. The frame they made, close enough to feel the heat radiating off of him.

A tilt of her chin, half-challenging. It was a seductive dance, breathtaking if performed properly.

But it was neither gentle, nor friendly.

It was her favorite.

It was not a subtle dance.

Instead, it was a study in contrast. A soft his of breath, the rough pull of bodies against one another. Only to seperate again. And although he had seen, and danced it otherwise? It was a dance that spoke to the complementary diffrences between female and male.

This was not just a dance.

It had to be timed perfectly to work, the pushes, the pulls, turns that could so easily become slaps if not stopped, violence simmering underneath the grace.

It was a perfect allegory for the Blood.

She let him lead, but she fought for control, keeping space, then letting him pull her against him, eyes not leaving his for a moment.

Rainier pulled Surreal against him from shoulder to knee as one hand stroked the length of her arm in a lingering caress.

And then on the next push, it changed. For a brief moment he yielded, giving her the opportunity to take point, and control of him.

He watched her. Waited for what Surreal would do.

Her fingers tightened on his slightly for balance as she stepped over, weaving between his legs, back and forth, hips twisting.

She brushed against him with a slight smile.

One foot slid up his leg, hooking around his waist as she leaned in.

For once Rainier was still, his breath a thin hiss between clenched teeth. And perfectly willing to let Surreal take the lead again in the future.

In the future.

Pressed together once more, and then apart, there was a dip that brought her dangerously close to the floor.

Her hand tightened on his shoulder, sliding around to the back of his neck, fingers resting against skin as she let him dip her back. She went with the movement.

A momentary surrender.

Breath catching, she was there, suspended until he pulled her back up.

He held her.

The music held for him.

And slowly, inch by inch, Rainier pulled Surreal back into both his arms.

She stilled when she was standing, one hand still on his neck, the other in his hand. She'd had misconceptions since watching his dance with Daemon.

They'd slid away a bit over the past couple of weeks. After learning what else he instructed young males with.

They'd never be lovers. Her body was mocking her calm certaintly of the afternoon, tension coiling through her stomach, poised, just. Waiting.

With one foot Rainier traced a circle on the floor. Then another step, and another circle. The tango would fail so miserabley between two partners because it demanded that two bodies act as one.

And yet still remain individual. The push and pull had to remain. It was where the dance was born. Surreal, so far, had matched him step for step. Gentled by a slow in the tempo, Rainier forced hhis blood to cool as his arms encircled Surreal.

It was a gentle embrace. There was space.

The knowledge that she could pull free at anytime, sent through touch. Not mind or words.

The space gave her room to breathe. A blink to reorient, frame firming again, that little defiant lift of her chin.

The hand on his neck slid back to his shoulder, a lingering touch that reestablished the boundaries. Palm to shoulder. She didn't pull away, but the tension back in her arms kept him at a distance.

With a smile Rainier freed one hand and tucked it under Surreal's chin, lifting the tilt of it that much higher.

He liked it even more than her laugh.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the touch, then narrowed slightly, searching his eyes for any sign that he was mocking her.

His smile held, an easy pleasure there.

The dance was over, too.

"Would you like some air," he offered. "Something to drink?"

"A drink would be...lovely, and some air," she said with a smile, letting suspicions ease back.

AU for _deadlydance_, set immediately after "The Price"

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