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She doesn’t take into account just how tight the dress is when she lets the server bump into her.
The plan had been to let the man nudge her, just enough to spill the smallest amount of her champagne down the front of the gown, allowing her the excuse of cleaning up to slip away from the party to seek out Bo Yul-Bayur. Simple and clean- save for what will be splashed across her chest.
What she doesn’t expect, however, is for the man to be called for by another party goer in the same instant she walks into his path. The call makes him turn suddenly and instead of simply bumping into her, the server shoulder checks her. Hard. Shoving her back and sending her stumbling as the two sizes too small dress catches around her calves.
Nina is certain she’s going to fall, but at the last second she feels a strong arm grasp her around the waist, keeping her from a very inelegant collision with the floor.
“Oh!” Nina gasps, righting her footing to steady herself, “oh, thank you so much, sir!” She says breathily, quickly pasting an all too grateful, flirty smile onto her face as she starts to turn to look up at the tall Druskelle, “you seem to-”
Her breath catches in her throat, because of course it’s Matthias who has his arm around her. Of course it’s Matthias who’s rescued her yet again.
He looks down at her with those faux brown eyes and seems just as shocked as she is to find them in this position, even though he was the one who caused it. “Apologies,” he mumbles briskly, snatching his arm away as though touching her burns. The bow he offers her with the apology is polite, if brief, and does little to hide the pink blush rapidly coloring his too pale cheeks, “my lady.”
He moves to turn, to flee as calmly as he can from the situation he has placed them both in, clearly embarrassed. How long had he been in the ballroom? Was him being near simply sheer, dumb luck, or had he sought her out? Had he been… concerned for her after they parted ways?
“Wait!” Nina calls, grabbing at his arm before he can get away. The action does make him stop, does make him turn back toward her, and- oh, yes, perhaps there is the slightest bit of worry lacing the questioning look written across his face.
“Could I offer you a dance?” She asks suddenly, much to her own surprise, the words rushing out of her before she can stop them. She plasters on that flirty smile again to save face, trailing her hand up his arm, “after all, you did just save me from what would have been a rather embarrassing situation.”
A frown creases his lips as he steps back toward her, glancing around quickly to make sure no one else is close enough to hear. “Nina…” he warns quietly.
But Nina, of course, rises to that challenge. She steps practically into him, so close their chests are nearly touching. It forces her to crane her neck to look up at him, her hand still lightly gripping his arm- the fact that he hasn’t moved to shake her off does not escape her notice. “You’re going to deny me? It’ll look more suspicious if you don’t dance with me now- people heard me offer.”
“...it’s a bad idea.”
They both know he’s not talking in terms of the mission.
She cocks her head oh so slightly, the smallest of smirks playing at her lips as her eyes flit quickly over his face before she says, lowly, “I’ve had worse.”
Disapproval is written clearly across his features but when she meets his gaze again she finds his eyes burning with want- a look she hasn’t seen since those last few challenging days on the ice, when they had gotten so close and yet remained so far. It makes heat pool low in her stomach, makes her heart speed up suddenly in her chest, and, oh, perhaps this is a very bad idea indeed.
But before she can dial back, dial down, she’s watching Matthias step back. Briefly, as he dislodges her hand from her arm, Nina thinks she’s scared him off. Good. Good. Dancing was a bad idea and she was clearly just kidding, after all. They have a mission. A job. And surely Kaz has noticed them by now and is already plotting their demise for getting off track-
Then Matthias is bowing again, though this time it’s deep. Inviting. And far more elegant than she’s ever seen him be before. He holds out his hand to her and Nina swears to every single one of her Saints there must be another Heartrender hidden among the Ice Court guests, because her too rapid pulse comes to a halting stop.
“My lady,” Matthias starts, the slightest hint of teasing mirth in his voice, “may I have this dance?”
Nina has never in her life been more grateful for her ability to stop her blush dead in its tracks.
“Of course,” she replies seamlessly, because despite her internal screaming she is good at playing whatever part she must, “how ever could I say no to a gallant hero such as yourself?”
To that Matthias doesn’t reply, but nonetheless Nina curtsies politely and places her hand in his own, letting him guide her to the center of the room just as the orchestra begins to pick up into a ballad.
“Can you even dance?” She hisses under her breath as he gently pulls her in, keeping a modest distance between them but still leaving them far closer than they’ve been since those frozen nights they spent together after the shipwreck.
Matthias scoffs under his breath in return, his free hand settling on Nina’s upper back, just below her arm. “Of course I can dance,” he grumbles, tightening his fingers around the hand he still holds, “it’s part of proper druskelle training- we’re meant to be seen at court on occasion, after all. Can you dance in that dress?”
“I can dance in anything,” she bites back as, much to her shock, Matthias begins to lead her- quite confidently- across the dance floor.
He spins her out. Pulls her back in, letting her back press nearly to his chest. “You could barely walk in that dress.”
Another spin, leaving them face to face once more. She glares at him. “I can walk just fine. He bumped into me harder than I expected. Tell me, are all Fjerdans built like they’re made of bricks? Because that would explain the distinct lack of intelligence.”
He doesn’t deign to answer her but Nina finds herself almost surprised when he doesn’t drop her in retaliation as he lowers her into a deep dip.
They dance in silence for a time, both simmering in their own frustration with each other. Still, a part of Nina remains in awe of just how good the hulking Fjerdan currently holding her is at dancing. The way he moves, the way he holds her- it’s beyond something simply required in training. Matthias spins her out again and, for the briefest of seconds, she lets her eyes flutter shut, seeking that all too familiar beat of his heart.
It’s there, clear as day- Nina’s quite sure she could pick out that oddly comforting rhythm in a sea of people. The muscle thrums steady as always, so typically Fjerdan, but there’s something else there- the tiniest, most miniscule change in his orderly pulse as he pulls her back in, as he holds her close.
It picks up.
Matthias is enjoying this.
Her own heart rate speeds up again at the realization. Ballroom dancing - of all things, she never would have suspected this big, serious man to be able to dance at all, let alone very much enjoy it. Oh, how cute.
When he guides her back into his chest again she opens her mouth to quip at him about it, tilting her head up toward him to gauge his full reaction to the witty remark she’s going to make.
But the teasing words die on her lips, because she finds the man already looking at her, and their eyes lock with such intensity it nearly sends her into palpitations.
The breath catches in her throat with an audible hitch under the weight of his gaze. Nina is no stranger to lustful looks- she’s always welcomed them with flirty smiles and open arms. But this is no simple look of lust, no average amount of longing for intimacy.
No, the heat in Matthias’ eyes is practically scalding. It burns her, burns within her, rattling her to the very core of her being.
Nina knows want. Nina knows desire. But as Matthias’ fingers tighten once more around hers, as the music swells around them and he sweeps her along with it, Nina knows this is neither of those things alone.
This is all of those things and more.
This is need. Sheer, raw need. He looks at her like a starving man looks at food, like a desperate sinner seeking salvation who has found a benevolent god to kneel in worship to. He looks at her like she is the sun and the moon and every star in the sky and he has reached out and touched them and he will never be the same.
There is an ocean of complexity between them. A deep, dark chasm of anger and betrayal and distrust and even hatred that churns like the hurricane that they were first swept up in, that first bound them together. It’s freezing, and terrifying, and threatens to swallow them both whole at any given moment.
But floating atop those violent waves is also that sliver of wood that saved them from the storm. It’s that need, that desire, that love - all so undeniable it kept them alive in an environment that wanted nothing more than to see them dead. And if that tiny piece of shipwreck was enough to see them safe to shore, perhaps this is just enough to see them to a beautiful new tomorrow.
Propriety be damned, he is holding her so close now. The music builds and suddenly Nina finds herself in the air, Matthias having lifted her clear off her feet and well above him to spin her in time with the orchestra.
She is a Grisha in the middle of the Ice Court, the man she may well love is wearing a uniform that screams danger to her, and they are both in the middle of a job that could still very well cost them their lives- but in this moment, this exact, frozen instance of time, she can’t deny there’s something magical about this. About waltzing with him in this dazzling, glittering ballroom. It’s like they’re in a faerie story. Matthias lowers her back to the floor but he does not let her go. He keeps her tucked into his chest with a hand at her waist and looks at her so lovingly it makes her feel like she’s a princess and he is a regal prince and this is only the beginning of their wonderful happily ever after.
For just a second they are not soldiers from enemy countries. For just a second they are simply two people who could fall so deeply in love if only given the time.
But all good things must come to an end. There is a sharp crescendo and their faces are so close it takes every bit of her willpower not to close those last, miniscule inches to press her lips to his and finally seal the deal. She watches as his eyes dart to her lips and oh, Saints, she wants to kiss him so bad it’s almost painful.
But, just like always, there is no time. The music slows. The dancing slows. And then it all stops. The song comes to an end and all around them people are clapping politely but they stay pressed together- chest to chest, eye to eye, with Nina’s hand on his shoulder and Matthias’ low on her waist, both of them breathing far too hard.
Still, there is a job to complete, and they have wasted far too much time lost in a distant fantasy. Matthias blinks once and Nina watches him come back to himself as his hand drops away from her. He steps back, establishing that gaping distance between them once more, and drops down into a final bow.
But because he seems to be just full of surprises today, he does not release the hand still tucked into his own. When Nina rises from her curtsy she meets his eyes once more, only to find him still bent at the waist.
His eyes don’t leave her own as he dips his head and presses a deep, lingering kiss to her fingers.
This time Nina cannot stop the blush before it colors her face.
Matthias clearly notices, as the slightest smirk graces his lips as he pulls away, finally releasing her. “Thank you for the dance, my lady,” is all he says before he rights himself and turns on his heel, leaving Nina alone with her thoughts on the ballroom floor.
“Oh,” she breathes as she watches him disappear into the crowd, trying desperately to check her quivering heart. There is no time for blushing like a schoolgirl, Nina tells herself firmly. She is no happy-go-lucky princess, he is no charming prince, and this is no enchanted ball that will lead them to a happy ending.
They are soldiers, after all.
And there is still work to be done.