AU for _deadlydance_, set immediately after "The Price"

[birthrightgreen]

She wasn't nervous. She had nothing to be nervous about. It wasn't like it was a romantic evening. They'd just worked so hard on the case, working to catch the rabid witch who'd been slaughtering innocent males. And they had, with Jaenelle's help. Now Jaenelle and Daemon were back on their honeymoon and she...

She was here in Amdarh, back how she had been, nursing the bruises Falonar had left. So, why, exactly was she changing her dress? The one she had on was perfectly acceptable. She was going out dancing with a friend. She could use a friend right now. What she couldn't use was a male thinking he was just going to sweep in and carry her off.

Not that he was probably thinking that, but she was suspicious.

He was a male, and years of seeing them abused by her own sex still hadn't made her trust them as a gender. Then again, she didn't trust most people.

With a growl at herself, she finally settled on a black dress with enough slink to impress and a enough swirl to make a statement on the dance floor, no matter how elegant and formal. Hair pinned half up, the rest left down. If people stared at her ears, so be it.

She was ready. It was going to be fun. She kept repeating that. Fun. With a friend.

Just a friend. He wasn't expecting anything. He wouldn't be that foolish.

She just wished she knew what he wanted.

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[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

He nodded.

"Do you go there often?"

There were days that he missed it. But then, what he had known didn't really exhist anymore, before Coven was Circle.

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She shrugged slightly. "I lived there for a while, then was with the Eryiens in Askavi. After I left there, Daemon told me I could use the townhouse whenever I wished. I've only been back to the Hall a couple of times since."

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

The surprise passed over Rainier's face before he could think to hide it.

"You lived in Askavi?" He hadn't known that. He did know she was close to Lucivar, but that was all. And it suddenly occured to Rainier that he had been cataloging information about the woman across from him for some time now.

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"For almost the full year after Jaenelle...did what she did." Surreal's voice was casual, mostly non-committal. "I'd signed my contract with Lucivar after all."

Not that that was why she'd gone.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

"The Culling." It was what Rainier had taken to calling those events in his head, and he shared the word without thought. "I saw the two of you together. Did both of you walk away from a year together relatively unscarred?" There was a small smile there. "From the snarling, of course."

He had seen enough of Lucivar with Marion to know that was all there would have been. Snarling. An abundance of it.

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"We survived," she said with a slight smile. "I wasn't actually in his eyrie, or we might not have."

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Rainier was openly confsed now, because he couldn't out together where else Surreal might have been.

"You lived somewhere else?"

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"Can you imagine living in the same eyrie with Lucivar and Daemonar?" Surreal asked with an arch of an eyebrow.

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Rainier laughed.

"I have an excellent imagination, but that doesn't mean I think it is wise to stretch it that far."

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"Mmm. Exactly," she said with a grin.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

Curious Rainier rested against the terrace banister and studied Surreal.

"Is it really as bad as the pictures in my head?"

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"Daemonar is...an insistent child. He shrieks a lot. And pulls Tas's tail. Lucivar and Marian are...ridiculously happy, which is wonderful for them, but..." she shrugged. "All the frenetic activity can be wearying. I'm used to living alone."

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

He nodded in understanding.

"And being around people that happy, frenetic or not, can sometimes be hard."

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She hadn't consciously meant it like that, but.

Well it was certainly why she couldn't go back to the Hall any time soon.

"Yes," she said simply.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

"You'll like it here," he said with even certainty. "As long as you choose to stay."

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She smiled at him. "I sure hope so, sugar. Nowhere else really to go."

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

Rainier took his own turn studying the lights of the city.

"I seriously doubt that."

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. "There'll always be somewhere, I suppose. Now that there's...family. But all my places are back in Terreille."

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Rainier just nodded, understanding that this might not be a conversation she was ready to have yet. Instead, he smiled down at Surreal. His voice was soft.

"Would you like to dance again?"

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She relaxed the tension that had started again with recent reminders. She smiled looking up at him. "I'd love to."

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

"Is there a dance that you would prefer?" Rainier extended an arm and escorted Surreal from the terrace after vanishing their glasses. "Ladies choice? I can see that it is arranged."

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

"The waltz," she said promptly. She wasn't sure she would survive another tango without doing something foolish.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

Rainier nodded, and the music had already started by the time they reached the floor.

[birthrightgreen.livejournal.com]

She smiled, settling in his arms, fingers curling around his again.

"Did you always love the dance?"

[http://users.livejournal.com/_deadlydance_/]

He settled one hand on her waist. Rainier enjoyed the feel of it there, and knowing Surreal would sense it, he didn't even bother to hide the reaction.

And sensed it was best to keep things open, and honest.

"I have." The first turn. "For as long as I can remember. That doesn't mean I was always good at it, but I did always love it."