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The earth ninja's emerald gaze swept over the ballroom, squinting a little against the multicolored lights swinging across the floor from the rafters above. Men and women, all dressed to the nines, mingled around him at their own tables. From his own circular table (one set aside specifically for the ninja, as they were the guests of honor) he could see pretty much the entire jamboree, which included the dance floor.
The same dance floor Cole had been studiously avoiding all evening. Not because he wasn't a party person, of course (because believe him, he could definitely bust a move if he were so inclined), but just because there was no one here he wanted to dance with.
That's all.
(Actually, there was one person.)
But he couldn't think about that now, or really who, now- not if he wanted to last the rest of the night without a) causing a tabloid worthy scene that would be the cover of magazines and newspapers for months, or b) spontaneously combusting on the spot.
Unfortunately for him, Cole had a very small resolve when it came to things concerning a certain blue-eyed friend of his. Also unfortunately for him, blowing up on the spot wasn't as probable as he would have liked for it to be for it to serve as an actual threat.
"Just one quick peek," his mind whispered to him.
Cole didn't need much persuading.
Giving in, he allowed himself to flick his eyes to the dance floor– hoping to catch the swish of an electric blue tie, or a glimpse of the messy auburn hair he loved all too well above the heads of the other guests, or maybe a blur of too fast feet prancing circles across the pale wood of the platform (probably with Nya in tow, giggling and trying to catch up to the lightning ninja, a sparkle in her eyes and a grin on her ruby lips as—)
Nope, bad idea. He shouldn't have looked.
Cole let out out a short, muffled groan under his breath. His feelings for Jay weren't exactly a new thing, but every minute Cole could feel his long built-up control slipping. Eventually he was going to have to do something about it. Preferably many, many years in the future. Or never.
The myriad of people on the dance floor showed no signs of ceasing, and from his place in the room Cole couldn't see any of his other friends.
It would probably be best if I just go.
Cole sighed, angry at himself. Tonight was suppose to be a fun night. But leave it to him to mess it up all for one stupid little crush.
"It's not just a crush," the voice in his head appeared again.
"Fuck you," he replied. The voice didn't have a response to that. Cole reveled in his small victory.
Shaking his head, Cole moved to stand up. But before he could even get a few steps towards the exit, he felt a warm hand loop itself around his wrist.
"Are you leaving?" An all-too-familiar voice asked from behind him.
That spontaneous combustion he had been thinking about earlier? Yeah, that was slowly seeming more and more like an actual possibility tonight.
Cole felt his breath catch in the back of his throat as he turned over his right shoulder (the one that was connected to his right arm, which connected to his right hand, the hand Jay was so so close to holding—)
He panicked. Simpler was always better, right? Less chance to slip up and say something stupid.
"Yeah."
Cole thought he saw Jay's face fall a little at the word, but any sign of negative emotion was gone in a flash.
Great. Perfect. Good going, Cole. Best response ever. He decided to keep his mouth shut lest ruin this conversation (conversation?) even further. Luckily for him, Jay never seemed to run out of words.
Taking it in stride, "Why so soon?" The shorter boy asked. "You haven't even checked out the buffet line yet. That's not like you."
Trying to turn the conversation around, Cole joked, "Actually I have. But they don't have any sort of cake, so what was even the point? I don't belong at parties that can't even be self-respecting enough to have the staple party dessert."
The corners of Jay's mouth turned up into a smile, his sapphire eyes crinkling with laughter. Mission accomplished.
He shot back, "I can't exactly argue with that logic, but please don't go yet! Dance with me!"
The earth ninja's world came to a crashing halt. He MUST have heard wrong. For what reason could Jay ever want to dance with him? "Excu...excuse me?" Cole's voice shook. He was dimly aware of the hand (the one still curled around his wrist, holy shit) tightening.
If Cole didn't know better, he would have thought that Jay's voice sped up, almost as in a panic. "I haven't actually danced with anyone I know all night and–"
"What? Weren't you with Nya all night?" Cole interrupted, now confused. He was sure that the two were friendly, even with Jay's enormous and somewhat one-sided crush on the girl. He was almost positive that Jay would have been following her around all night like a puppy. Unless (and here Cole had to resist the urge to cross his fingers) the earth ninja had been misreading their entire situation.
Jay's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Nya's been chatting it up with some ambassador's daughter all evening. I haven't talked her since before we got here."
Oh. Oh.
Yeah, he definitely was misreading something.
"So you want me to dance with you?"
The pink spotlights made it look like a blossom of blush had appeared on Jay's cheeks. "No, no. You don't have to. Heh. I just felt like, ya know, it's a party and what's a party without a little dancing, right?" And now Jay was definitely panicking, his words rolling over each other as he spoke too fast for his own mouth to follow. "It's probably better, you know, if we don't!"
Jay kept talking, but Cole zoned the panicked chatter out. Jay actually wanted to dance with him. And Cole was raised smart—he knew never to look a gift-horse in the mouth. This was the moment he had been waiting for. "Don't mess it up."
Without saying a word, Cole tugged Jay closer, grabbing the shorter boy's fingers tightly. He made sure not to look down into the other's azure irises, lest he fall apart right then and there, and pulled Jay out onto the dance floor.
It's now or never. Just go for it.
It was awkward at first, with Jay still partially unresponsive with shock and Cole almost shaking with nerves. Eventually, they were able to make their stumbling a little less, well, stumbly, and move in time with the beat of the music. Cole's arms had found themselves resting low on Jay's waist, and the latter's hands were grasped together behind the earth ninja's neck.
Jay refused to make eye contact, but Cole couldn't look away. The mechanic's scarred brow was furrowed in an extremely adorable way, and the sky blue of his eyes could just be seen peeping out from under his half-closed eyelids. Cole felt a fond smile spread across his face.
Jay risked glancing up for a second, "What's that smile for?" He asked, pretending to be annoyed (but Cole could tell he was actually reveling in the fact that he could cause the usually stoic earth ninja to act like a blundering pile of goo).
If Cole was any other person, he probably would have blushed in embarrassment at being caught and probably ended the dance right there. Yet he was not most people, and he skillfully let the expression drop without giving anything away. Cole decided to ignore the question and jump straight to what was really bugging him. He dropped the bomb:
"Why haven't you danced with Nya?"
Jay's brow scrunched together even more, if that was even possible. "Why would I have danced with Nya? Is this because she's the only girl we know? Because if so I—"
"No, no not that Jay, obviously." Cole interrupted, rolling his eyes while gently raising his arm to spin Jay out into a turn.
As the lightning ninja spun back in, his auburn locks bounced a little across his forehead and the earth ninja felt himself fall a little bit more in love.
"What happened to your huge crush on her?" Cole inquired, pretending this conversation was anything but dooming to his morale.
He was expecting a flush of embarrassment or outright denial, even a shy admittance, but definitely not-
"What crush?"
Cole blanched. What the actual hell?
"What do you mean 'What crush', Jay? You've been head over heels for her since we met her!"
Jay managed to look even more confused than Cole. "Well, yeah, I mean I did have a crush on her in the beginning. Have you looked at her? She's gorgeous! And smart, and funny, but I haven't had a "crush" on her in a while. I realized that it was more of an infatuation than real feelings."
Cole felt his heart do a somersault in his chest. "So, you're completely single right now? No lingering feelings for another person?" The words inspired a smirk on Jay's face. Or maybe the smirk was just due to the change of song. This one was more upbeat and fast, definitely more Jay's style. The lightning ninja used the change of mood to switch their positions, taking the lead.
Their dancing became more relaxed and smooth, and Cole couldn't help but feel that the mood had too. Whatever reservations about this confrontation he had had before were slowly slipping away. Everything was going to end up alright.
"Completely single," Jay answered, and with the next words Cole was almost one hundred percent sure he couldn't blame the lights for the pink tint that was rising high on the lightning ninja's cheeks (because the lights had turned blue now, like him). "And totally ready to mingle."
Cole almost choked laughing, and soon Jay was giggling along with him. Playing along, Cole continued, "And do you have a certain person in mind for your mingling?"
A thoughtful look crossed Jay's face, and then he looked straight into the emerald eyes in front of him. The mechanic swiftly brought the earth ninja into a low dip, knocking the air out of Cole in surprise as he peered right back into Jay's irises.
The world seemed to stop for a moment—just the two of them just hanging off the edge of time, as the rest of the world spun around them, turquoise lights catching the eye as they flashed off of polished heels and cufflinks that gleamed as bright as the sun with every twirl of a partner. The music was more of a dull background noise at this point, the bass thrumming in time with the rhythmic in and out of the two ninjas' breaths. Cole waited for an answer, the time stretching out to the end of forever and collapsing into a single second all at once.
Jay blinked, a soft smile forming. Cole felt one appear in return. He lifted Cole up and brought them as close together as their bodies would let them.
"Yeah, I do."