Chapter Text
He’s a dangerous leering striking figure of confusion and sharp hits, and to her absolute shock, Kagura finds herself unstable in the midst of a battle. Not the first time ever, and the memory of Erza’s emotional appeal is a fresh lesson, but it still fills her with an embarrassed rage that this ridiculously sloshed panther is besting the controlled grace of her blade, even hampered by that flashy purple suitjacket. Granted, her feet are far more unsteady than usual, and she can’t quite seem to pin down where the ceiling is, and why exactly were they fighting in the first place? But it’s still unlike her to lose. At anything. So she snarls in frustration when his palm lands another hit, this time to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, and she’s about to launch into an ill-considered attack, this time just pure rage and no calculation, when suddenly a set of triangular black marks is the majority of her field of vision and tequila-scented breath gusts across her face-
“Now, now, my lady, it seems you can’t handle your white wine?” And his hand is infinitely gentler when wrapped around her waist, and white-hot static fills her head as she realizes he’s holding her up -
The room shakes and a few heads turn as people lose their balance and fall to the floor, dragged down by the crushing weight. Someone wonders if it’s gravity magic, and Yukino recognizes the feel of it. Across the room, Risley gets a wide-eyed look- why is Kagura using Gravity Change in the palace, during a silly brawl? Such a misuse of her magic was very unlike her- was it the alcohol? She hadn’t thought her master had gotten that drunk. She tries to locate Kagura across the room, but gets sidetracked by a spirited uppercut from a pink-haired girl.
Bacchus makes a ridiculous O-shaped face as his body is crushed into the floor, and Kagura can’t help but harbor a suspicion that he’s grinning , even as she definitely hears the pop of one of his shoulders dislocating from the pressure. She lifts her sheathed blade, ready to deal a blow to wipe whatever that silly expression is off this unsettling man’s face, when her ear catches a sound from the battle around her- someone whimpering. And she comes to her senses, her head whipping around to take in the scene around her. How could she! Unleashing Gravity Change in a room like this, with these people, loads of innocents caught in the width of the magic circle. She let this ridiculous man’s game get to her and warp her goals! Shame fills her head again, but this of a different kind, and the fiery drive lessens a bit. Her sword arm gentles.
So, of course, he trips her and pins her down with a palm on her ass.
“Victory is certain when your soul is WILD!!-”
The echo sounds from across the ballroom, “FOUR!!”
The hand lifts from her ass and she knows she’s blushing red to the tips of her ears, but she prepares to say something courteous about a good fight and exit the room- she never intended to do anything with Yukino’s life debt other than offer the girl membership at Mermaid Heel, and this whole brawl was only worthwhile if people were having fun- and here she was, taking her opponent way too seriously. Something about him made her lose sight of her goals, and that frustrated her to no end. She starts to rise to her knees, and is stopped by a strong slender hand, - suddenly familiar -, on her shoulder, sliding down to her collarbone.
“You’re a pleasure, Missssss Kagura” comes the slurred voice, hot breath, and she flinches as a lip grazes her ear. Control. It’s fine, he’s just an annoying drunkard, keep your cool.
She remains silent. Barely. And is once again caught off guard as the hand on her collarbone exerts effortless pressure and her body is swung around to face him, off balance, the Drunken Falcon lounging haphazardly in a deep stance and somehow still controlling her movements despite an apparent lack of control of his own. He stares at her for a moment, and his weight shifts ever so slightly. She watches him list to the side, gently, gently, ever so slowly- then pop ! His shoulder relocated by way of his hand on the floor. She looks down, flinching slightly for the pain she must have caused him.
“Fight me sober”
The words catch her off guard. As do the ones that slip out of her mouth, fairly unannounced as they bypass her inhibitions- “I’ll do just fine fighting you drunk”
His eyes widen comically, impossibly large. “ohHOOO my lady, you don’t have to ask me twice, I’d crush you drunk anyti- ”
The slap surprises both of them, it seems, but Kagura regains her balance and feels slightly better having managed to hit him once- until the force of her slap apparently whirls him around, impossibly, to his arms wrapped around her waist, his sweaty forehead pressed against hers, and those annoying marks filling her field of vision, how did we get here? again? , and this time she gets a better feel for the true strength of his hands at close range, as her chest is pressed against his for just a crushing moment-
“Fight me drunk, and I’ll fight you sober, eh? Sounds WILD!” and he lifts his chin to howl and as the echo starts to sound she incredulously watches herself bite his exposed throat.
The howl cuts off in a whimper and he releases her, quite suddenly. Is he blushing ? It’s probably just the lingering glow of his drinking. She steps back, fights the urge to bow politely and ends up doing it anyway, then walks away, keeping her eyes straight forward even as she desperately searches for an exit to be her salvation, hoping desperately that absolutely nobody saw the weirdest fight of her life.
Bacchus drops to his knees and watches the most intimidating woman he’s ever met stalk away. For a moment, grateful that she seemed too wrapped up in her decision to end their duel to notice that she actually had the advantage over him- and what a pleasure! To fight her- all grace and whirling perfection, clean perfect strikes and no wasted energy, a focus like nobody else in the world. That’s the kind of fighting he’ll never be able to do. So of course he couldn’t resist the chance to test out how well he could hold his own against her. And now he knew the answer. He would never be able to beat her, in a million years, no matter the training, no matter the blood alcohol level. She was in a class of her own, and even when handicapped, she was utter perfection. So of course he had to try again. Just another little taste of those piercing eyes.
“Until next time, Miss Kagura”