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It's been a day since the incident and Damian still hadn’t figured out how he managed to ask Anya Forger to the very important charity ball where all of the connections to the Desmond family were attending. He would be bringing a (cute) commoner girl! Damian was mortified, and also the most excited he’s ever been in his life. He could show Anya the perks of being extremely upper class, he’d teach her how to waltz, and maybe he’d even get to-
Damian shook his head, no this was crucial to his plans. Demetrius was going to be there, and he would be the centerpiece of the party as usual, the perfect representation of a good son. Even though his father was exposed as a traitor and wannabe dictator, the Desmond family still had power thanks to their connections and because Demetrius was smart and had potential as his father’s prodigy.
Damian was…well, he was six going on seven. He had seven stella stars, and he was the top of his class. He had a future too, but with Demetrius going into politics, maybe he had to rethink his life decisions. Life decisions like asking Anya Forger out to the charity ball.
Oh god what was he thinking? He thought about backtracking his request, but one glance at the horrible cardboard drawing Anya drew for him (She even exposed her terrible art to his dormmates just so she could remind him that she was going as his date, how adorable, so cute, and utterly despicable of her ugh) made him reconsider. He couldn’t break her heart, he was a gentleman after all. Plus, a Desmond always follows through with his promises.
So damage control it was. He had to salvage this. He and Anya were going to be Eden’s cutest and most prestigious couple (c-couple?) Yes, he could show Demetrius that he had everything under control.
Objectively, there was nothing wrong with Anya Forger. Anya was already pretty. Despite being the shortest in their grade, she was the prettiest and the cutest girl in class in his completely objective opinion (H-huh, what the hell?!) so her appearance wasn’t really an issue. Maybe he could do something about those weird horns (But they were really really cute…) Her attitude though…Yeah it needed some work. He chalked it up to her being a commoner girl, but she needed to act upper class for his whole plan to work.
In class, he saw her sneaking a bag of peanuts and chewing on them as loud as possible. Was she trying to be sneaky? Mr. Henderson was too deep into his discussion of Mesopotamia to notice the chewing. Yes, her eating habits needed work too. What if she embarrassed him at dinner? They’d get kicked out, and Damian would have to move across the country in shame. In his turmoil. He didn’t notice Anya start to chew quieter.
It was recess and Blackbell had to go outside when he went up to Anya’s table. “Hey you-”
“Sy-on! What’s up?”
“We need to practice for the dance. As my date you need to be presentable.”
“Presentable? Whaddya mean?” Oh my god this girl was hopeless. Damian pinched the bridge of his nose..
“We need to practice our waltz, and coordinate our clothes!”
Anya blinked at him like he said the sky was green. Then she snapped her fingers, “Oh, right right, of course Sy-on!”
“First of all, you need to start calling me by my name.”
“But your name is Sy-on”
Did she even know his real name? Anya puffed her cheeks (cutely) “Fine, Damian”
(D-damian, she said his name…why did it sound so perfect if she said it? He was going to pass out in front of Forger before they even made it to the dance) “Good, k-keep doing that.”
“O-h kay Dames, what else?” She grinned.
Hm, she was being strangely cooperative today, ignoring the silly nickname. “Do you even know how to waltz?” It took him three months just to get the steps right, there was no way she’d be better than him, so he could teach her and show her the moves (N-not that he was excited to anyway!)
“Yep, and for your information, I happen to be the best at waltsing!”
“Hmph, whatever, we’ll still practice after school, got it?”
“Wait, does this mean I get to go to your house?” Her eyes were sparkling and Damien totally wasn’t staring and committing this exact moment and second to his life memories. “Can I bring my papa?”
“No” Why was she so obsessed with his house anyway? “I can ask pop--Mr. Forger for permission so you can stay after class or whatever.”
Anya’s eyes widened, oh no! Was he out of bounds? He cleared his throat, “Maybe we can practice at the auditorium, w-when there’s no one there.” Normally, the seniors would have their PE at the courtyard, so the auditorium was free from 3-4pm, exactly after study period. He could work with that.
“You’d really talk to papa?” Anya squeaked, why was she so excited?
“Huh? Uh, yes?” He already did before. Mr. Forger wasn’t exactly how he imagined Anya Forger’s father to be (Pink hair, squinty-beady eyes, and also a mustache for some reason.) He was…normal? And kinda nice too. Anya must have gotten her…eccentricities from her mother or something. “If I need to. A-and, we need to bring our guardians anyway, so maybe we’d have to coordinate too.” He trailed off.
Anya beamed, “Ohkay Sy…Damian” (Wow, he was never gonna get used to that)
So here he was, at the auditorium. Alone. With Anya Forger.
Deep breaths. He had the courtesy and the insight to ask Jeeves to haul the music player over beforehand, so all they had to do was…
“Prepare to be blown away by my walls sy-ian”
“Sy-ian, really, what does that even mean?”
“Heh, your name is really complicated” Yeah, try Demetrius’s name, I bet she wouldn’t even be able to pronounce the first syllables, he thought. Maybe that’s why everyone always conveniently forgets his existence? Because his name was complicated but it wasn’t as complicated as Demetrius’s-
Anya seemed to be deep in thought, “I like Damian though.”
HUH?! “W-wha, what? What are you?” His head was spinning, oh no, they really should turn on the air conditioner in here, wait were his legs shaking, was this really happening?
“Your name, Damian” She clarified. Anya always ended up butchering his name though, “Day-me-uhn, Duh-men, Deehmoon” She sing-songs, “See it sounds nice!”
His teachers told him to breathe 30 times, slowly, in and out. “Whatever!” He flinched from the volume, why was he like this?
“Call me whatever you want, but we have an objective here Forger or did you already forget!” He didn’t mean to snap, but his face was already feeling like it could explode any second now.
Anya didn’t seem to mind though. He went off to the music player and turned on the piece he had smuggled from his father’s personal collection.
The hush of the auditorium allowed the soft melody of the piano keys to reverberate through his body. It was the most soothing song he had ever heard since that day he walked in on Demetrius playing the melody on the piano. It also happened to be the song Demetrius requested to play for the waltz at the ball. He knew because he saw Demetrius practice every night.
He turned to Forger who seemed to be staring at him, her eyes widening. “Well,” He took a deep breath. “M-may I have this dance?” He held up a hand towards her, just like his tutors told him.
Anya stared at his hand for a split second before taking it. His hands were sweaty and unpleasant, but Anya squeezed his hand as he pulled her towards him. This was fine, just follow the steps.
This was easy, he thought. He held Anya’s right hand and gently guided her other hand to his shoulder. He placed his hand on her back. This was fine.
The melody slowly rose to a lively tune, He stepped with his left foot forward, directly stepping on Anya’s unmoving feet. So much for knowing how to waltz.
He sighed, the steps were simple, he had to step with his left, then move to the right, then he’d bring his left foot next to his right again…then he’d step back with his right foot? Then move back, and repeat. Yeah, he huffed.
She giggled, “Sorry sorry, gimme a second sy-ian.”
“If you didn’t know how to dance, you could have just told me!”
“No, no, I do know!” She repeated indignantly.
This time, he repeated his motions, left foot first only to collide with Anya’s left. “What the-!” Why was she like this? “No you’re supposed to step back with your right foot!”
“Uh..” Anya looked sheepish this time. This was going to be a long, long day.
They kept repeating the motions with Anya making mistakes at every turn. His foot was starting to hurt, and his patience…well he never really had that covered in the first place.
“I should have known someone like you wouldn’t be able to do something as simple as a waltz” The words came out more biting than he’d liked, but he was tired. “Why are you always going out of your way to ruin my life?”
What was the point of doing all of this when they were just going to be an embarrassment in the ball anyway. She’d probably just stay in the corner and when they’d dance she’d step on his feet and all of the Desmond clan’s connection would call him a pitiful child again. Why did it have to be Forger? Pathetic, annoying, stubborn Forger. If he had asked anyone else, he would have already been done with this dance thing already. The music was starting to grate on his ears too-
Sniffling. His head snapped up only to be greeted with the sight of Forger crying. She was hiding her face with her right hand, but he could clearly hear her sniffles and see the soft heave of her chest.
“Wh-” Before he could say anything, he met those green eyes that were currently red rimmed.
“Dummy, meanie, jerk, I hate you!” And in an instant, Damian’s heart shattered into a million tiny pieces and he wanted to fall on the floor and maybe lock himself up in his room forever. Anya ran out of the gym before he could do any of those things.
And then Damian was alone in the empty auditorium. The soft music ends with the last few sad notes of the piano and then…silence. He really was the worst. But that was it right. It didn’t matter. He could just get another dance partner. Someone more elegant, someone less stubborn like Forger. He didn’t want to ruminate on that though, instead he found himself running as fast as he could.
“Anya wait!”
She was faster, but he knew exactly where she was going. The only place where there weren’t that many people around at this exact time.
He raced to the grove outside the dormitories. Normally, he’d get in trouble for running, but he didn’t care. He could get a tonitrus bolt for all he cared.
“Go away!”
There stood Anya Forger. Well, hid, she was trying to curl up in one of the bushes, but her hair poked out.
“Anya look-” He had so many things to say. From the moment he had met her, she had single handedly changed his world, as small as it may have been. How she called him out on his behavior, how she managed to look past his status as the second son of Desmond, sometimes, it truly felt like she was the only one who didn’t care about things like how everyone thought of her.
“I-” But the words wouldn’t come out right, “I-I” He tried again, this time, his throat burned with effort. Why why why was this so difficult. Why couldn’t he say something as simple as sorry I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m sorry for not being a better person about this. I’m sorry I asked you to this dance that you probably don’t even care about.
He couldn’t get the words right. Damian Desmond was six years old and apologizing was the most difficult thing in the world. “Anya-” He tried again. He met her gaze this time only to find her staring back. Her eyes widened.
“Thanks for today” He said instead. His voice was so frail, he could barely hear himself. “Thanks for trying.”
He was supposed to be apologizing, and instead he was thanking her? He really was hopeless. He dropped his head. Desmond’s don’t do that. He was fully prepared for her to punch him again, maybe. Or maybe she’d just walk out, or call him stupid. He closed his eyes, expecting the absolute worst. Instead--
“Sy-on, can you teach me how to waltz?” What?
“Excuse me?” His head snapped up again, the afternoon sun was beaming through the leaves of the trees. Anya Forger was beautiful, her hair was soft, and the green of her eyes were caught in the light. He could see flecks of blue in her eyes. And she was smiling at him, like he wasn’t the biggest jerk of the century.
“I lied about knowing how to waltz.” She explained.
“Well duh.” She stepped on his foot approximately 14 times now.
“Hmph” She pouted, it was the second cutest thing he’d ever seen that day, she was going to kill him someday. “I’m sorry I lied about that. But can you teach me how to do it properly this time?”
“Yes.” He answered, simple. He didn’t need more words this time. “We’d need to st-start with the basics though.”
They practiced again, and again. Slowly, he guided Anya through each and every step. By the fourth run, Anya managed to avoid stepping on his left foot. By the seventh run, they managed a full turn.
“I-I did it!” She turned to him, “We did it Damian!” (Wow, he was Damian again, that was good.)
“It was only a single round, now we have to do it with music” Despite himself, he was smiling. Sure his feet hurt, and his arms were beyond tired at this point, but past the afternoon sunlight and the soft breeze, he felt at peace. “G-good job Forger.”
Anya grinned at him too, her eyes crinkled at the edges when she smiled and she had a dimple on her left cheek too. (He didn’t notice how Anya gently poked her own left cheek immediately afterward)
“Good enough for the dance right?”
“Nope.” He said, popping the p out of the word. “I mean, we’ll see how well we’d do with music.”
“Daww”
“One last round Forger.”
He turned to her, this time, she was illuminated by the orange of the setting sun. He could hear the chatter coming from the dormitories. How he didn’t notice the hours flying by was beyond him. The only thing he could see was Forger in different shades of the sunlight. At the moment, she was the most beautiful girl in the world. (He didn’t see Anya stumble over, cheeks red.)
“May I have this dance?” He extended his palm towards her. This time, Anya smiled before taking his hand.
“Sure Sy-on”
“No, you’re supposed to say-” He cut himself off, “We’ll work on that.” He pulled her close to him, her warmth radiating through the palm of his hand and other points of contact. He could feel the sound of her laughter throughout his body.
And they moved. Left foot forward, her right foot moving backward, he looked down to see her eyes trained directly on his.
Right foot forward, left foot backward, “Am I making you happy Sy-on?”
Left foot forward, right foot forward? He stepped on something just now, it was Anya’s foot, she didn’t seem to mind. “W-what are you talking about?”
Happy? Was he? Much to his horror, he found the corners of his mouth stretched into a smile. Was he smiling this entire time? Oh god. Anya’s mouth stretched into a sly grin as she leaned over and--
Whispered into his ear?! He stepped on her right foot this time, “This is classified information, but I wanted to go with you so you can achieve ultimate happiness!” she said, like she hadn’t completely turned his world upside down.
She wanted him to be…happy? What an idiot, she was crazy, she was the love of his life oh my god. She was probably the funniest and best person in existence.. At six years old, Damian Desmond had already found the love of his sad pathetic life. Wait, Demetrius was still single right? Hah, take that Demetrius!
“Really? b-but I thought you hated me?” He squeaked. He was sure they weren’t even dancing anymore, they were just awkwardly swaying in place. It was the most romantic moment in Damian’s life.
“Nuh uh, I don’t hate you.” She said it as softly as possible. “You are kinda mean though, but I want you to be happy!”
“I-” Was this a love confession? Should he respond?
“Yeah, so you wouldn’t think about world domination!” said the love of his life. The warmth was almost overwhelming, but this time, he embraced it, just like how he squeezed Anya’s hand in his.
“Uh huh..wait what?” Did she just say world domination?
They walked side by side to the waiting area. Their shadows were overlapping on the pavement. If Damian wanted to, he could bridge the gap and take her hand. There weren’t too many people around them, he definitely could. Before he could do anything, Anya was already waving to a figure in the distance.
“Papa!” She yelled, running towards the man.
The man met her halfway and patted her head. “I’m sorry I was a little late than usual. ” His eyes met Damian’s. “Damian, what brings you here?”
“Pops.” He greeted. “Just making sure Anya didn’t trip over herself on the way here.”
“Oh good, she does that a lot unfortunately” Both of them ignored Anya’s indignant “Hey!”
“Papa, Sy-on was teaching me how to walts! Now I can dance like you and mama!” A rush of pink appeared on Mr. Forger’s face for a split second, before schooling himself into a smile. “Really, what for?”
Damian gawked, “Wait, you really haven’t told him yet?”
“Uh..” Maybe he really was going crazy if this was supposed to be the love of his life.
“P-pops, uh, Mr. Forger” He cleared his throat. “I’m going with Anya--I mean, I asked her out to the Eden College Charity ball?” Why did he phrase that as a question, why did his voice crack. He wanted to die immediately.
“Yeah papa! It's this super rich important event where rich people dance with other rich people right?” Anya seemed to be having a conversation with Mr. Forger with their eyes? What was that about?
Mr. Forger smiled, but it was a little dim at the edges. Was it his imagination, or did he clench his fist dramatically? Probably was his imagination. “I see, and you’re going together, as a pair?”
“Yep, Becky said we’re going as dates!” chimed Anya, once again doing evil things to Damian’s heart and internal organs.
Mr. Forger looked like he needed to go to the bathroom, but he was still smiling pleasantly. He was starting to look a little like Demetrius…”That’s wonderful you two, but I’m going to have a little talk with Anya at home.”
“Whu--"
“Wait, Mr. Forger, I was the one who asked her first. I p-promise to take good care of her, I won’t be like my father I swear-”
“Damian, please don’t talk about yourself like that.” Mr. Forger’s eyes were kind, he placed a palm on his shoulder, “Of course we’ll be accompanying you to the dance yes?”
“Y-yes? Yes sir”
“Then may I extend an invitation for you to visit our house?”
What was even happening right now. “Huh?”
“To make arrangements for transportation, and your clothes, among other things.” He offered. “The invitation is also extended to your brother of course-”
“I--”
“Sy-on! Say yes so I can finally introduce you to Bond!”
“I--um, yes pops, I mean, sir!, I’d love to.” He trailed off, “I’m free on saturdays?”
Anya squealed, and he was sure this was going to be the most surreal moment of his life. But for some reason, he could feel like this was the start of…something, he couldn’t place yet. But staring into Anya’s figure as she waved him goodbye, he felt at ease.