Chapter Text
“A gala?”
Loid nodded slowly in response to Yor’s quip.
“It’s just an annual Christmas party the hospital likes to throw to show some semblance of a healthy workplace environment” he stated, his voice tinged with annoyance. Yor thought back on her current wardrobe, pondering if she had anything appropriate for this event. I don’t really have anything other than my black dress and the various outfits we wore for the Eden interview…
“We can take Anya to town and possibly shop around for a nice gown if you’d like,” he said, somehow magically reading her mind.
How did he…?
Yor quickly shook away her surprise at how powerful Loid’s intuition was and flashed him a smile.
“I would love to, Loid,”
Twilight ignored how his heart fluttered at that simple smile and quickly cleared his throat.
Yor wore a velvety deep maroon dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress trailed down to her ankles but had a long slit which opened tastefully around her thigh. She stared at herself in the mirror, unsure of herself. Small (faux) diamond studs adorned her ears, along with a simple teardrop necklace which accentuated the sweetheart neck of her dress.
Meanwhile Twilight wore a simple dark gray suit, choosing to match his tie and pocket square in the same dark red as Yor’s dress. He stared at himself in the mirror, thinking back on the day they bought their outfits.
“Are you sure this dress looks good on me?” Yor asked, twirling around to see how the dress fell along her body. Twilight’s throat felt suddenly dry before he weakly choked out a simple “It looks great on you, Yor”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, bringing him back to present day. What a fool he was, somehow tongue-tied over seeing a beautiful woman. Despite all the missions where he had courted various women, he never once struggled to maintain composure. Yet with Yor…
“Loid?”
Her voice rang through the house down the hallway and once again, Twilight was brought back to the task at hand. He walked out of his room, determined to get through this event and maintaining the appearance of a perfect family.
He ignored just how starstruck he was when he met with Yor at the door as his eyes followed the way the dress hugged her body in the most tantalizing way.
Flashing a gentle smile, he offered his arm to her
“Shall we?”
Yor smiled warmly and gently wrapped her arms around his.
“We shall.”
They arrived at the chief-of-medicine’s lavish mansion. An egregiously offensive display of wealth that normally Twilight would find tacky but brushed that aside as it gave him an excuse to go somewhere nice with his wife.
Fake wife.
Twilight frowned at the thought although unsure why he was so annoyed.
Yor held onto his arm loosely, too busy gawking at the decorations and the guests all dressed to the nines.
“Wow… I honestly feel like a princess just being here…” she said quietly to herself. Although she is a princess, but not quite the one that would be welcomed guest at events like these.
Twilight looked down at her fondly, wanting nothing more than to make her feel like royalty. “Then let’s enjoy ourselves, Princess,” he responded coolly. Twilight realized how embarrassing that sounded and began mentally berating himself while maintaining his picture-perfect smile.
Princess? What the hell was that Twilight?? You really are getting soft-
“Oh?” Yor’s eyes grew wide, her cheeks dusted with pink before letting out a soft giggle. “Then that makes you, my prince!”
Oh god she was trying to kill him. Twilight gawked at her, feeling his shoulders tense and his ears glow red before clearing his throat and looking away. “Right… let’s go in then…”
The hustle and bustle of the crowd was almost deafening. Various people, dressed extravagantly chatting and drinking. Yor and Twilight found themselves standing side by side, giving each other small glances before quickly averting their eyes. Their backs pressed against the walls of the gaudy mansion.
Why am I so nervous? It’s just Yor…
Twilight furrowed his brow, frustrated and his schoolboy emotions before clearing his throat. “I’ll get us some champagne.”
“Oh I’ll come-“ Yor started, her shoulders alert as she started to walk towards the servers with glasses
“That’s alright, I’ll be right back” Twilight interjected. He needed some respite to be alone with his thoughts. He tried his damnedest to ignore Yor’s shoulders slump in disappointment and did his best to calm that sinking feeling in his stomach urging him, almost forcing him to apologize and take her with him. Yor stood up and leaned back against the wall before flashing him a meek smile.
“Alright, I’ll be here for you” she said softly.
Twilight’s eyes widened at her docility. It took him a moment to realize how desperate Yor wanted to appear domestic- the perfect wife. He tore his eyes away from her and took large strides to reach the server. God he’s an asshole, what kind of husband leaves his (fake) wife alone in a strange place with a bunch of strange men-
“Forger!”
Twilight's eyes turned towards the sound of a loud and burly man. He caught eyes with a gruff man and large shoulders. He recognized the man, an orthopedic surgeon and a typical one at that. Loud and boisterous, even during surgery and dropping crude comments to all staff, regardless of seniority simply because he was the best in his field. Twilight knew not to get on his bad side as the surgeon was quite friendly with the chief of medicine as well as other friends in powerful places.
“Dr. Reed, what a nice surprise,” Twilight said with a smile hiding his annoyance at having to deal with this man rather than going back to his loving (fake) wife.
“Loid my boy, I see you finally brought your babe of a wife!” the man cackled before slapping Twilight’s back lightheartedly albeit with more force than necessary. Twilight grunted upon impact, doing his best not to spill the two tall glasses in his hands. “Yes well, it’s not often I can bring her to a place like this…” Twilight stated, his voice laced with frustration.
“Man, if she worked in our hospital, she’d have a hard time keeping the other surgeons off of her…” Dr. Reed said, staring off at Yor’s direction. Twilight felt a surge of possessiveness growing within him, getting increasingly harder to ignore.
“You’d better be careful, leaving her alone like that! Someone might-“
“Dr. Reed.”
Twilight was fuming. Under any other circumstances he would have kept his cool, but someone speaking of his (fake) wife with such vulgarity he had no choice but to interject. “Need I remind you who you are speaking to?” his voice low and thick with rage.
The surgeon went silent, shocked at other’s sudden outburst. After all, Dr. Forger was known as the epitome of calm, it was a rare sight to see him out of sorts. Before long, the man released a hearty guffaw, slapping Twilight’s back once again.
“Hahaha! All I’m saying is that you’re a lucky man Forger!” as he continually slapped Twilight’s back.
“Yes- Well- I-“ Twilight attempted to say between slaps although each slap seemed make him lose his train of thought.
“I’ll let you go back to your wife, she’s waiting for you!” Dr Reed lulled and winked at Twilight before catching the eye of another coworker and leaving to entertain them.
Twilight stood back up, relieved of the onslaught from that man’s “friendly” slaps. He found himself eager to return to Yor’s side although he couldn’t help the nagging thoughts of why he was feeling so possessive of her all of a sudden.
When Yor caught sight of him and flashed him her iconic warm smile, he felt his stomach somersaulting and his ears begin to flush pink. Calm yourself Twilight…It’s just Yor. It’s just Yor. It’s just-
Her fingers brushed his as she reached for the glass and he could feel the electricity firing from his finger tips shooting up to his skull. His eyes followed her hands as she brought the glass up to her lips, shiny with gloss that made her lips so tantalizing. It would be so easy for Twilight to just lean in and-
“Oh, it’s quite sweet! How delightful,” Yor said to herself after taking a small sip of champagne. She knew she had to pace herself but it was taking all of her strength not to knock the whole glass back along with possibly a tray full of glasses with the way Loid had been looking at her. Was there something on her face? Her lips? Is it smeared? Why is he looking at her so intensely??
She brought a thumb up to the side of her lip and looked up at him “Is there something on my face?” she asked innocently.
Cute. So cute.
His brain was short circuiting. She was trying to make his heart burst, that’s the only possible reason she would pose like that. Who would naturally look at someone like that if they weren’t trying to seduce him?
Twilight had to bring himself away from his thoughts, seeing Yor starting to question why he was taking so long to answer. He straightened his back and brought his hand up to his mouth to clear his throat. “Ah no, there’s nothing there- I just thought… it would be nice to go for a dance?”
“Oh, I’d love to Loid!” Yor exclaimed as she clapped her hands together in excitement. Twilight felt his shoulders ease and he released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding before offering his arm to her. Yor gently looped her arm around his, flushing slightly. Twilight couldn’t help but swell with pride, noticing a light dusting of pink across her face.
A simple waltz, that was all.
Or at least, that was what Twilight thought it would be.
She was incredible. Matching his lead with stride. Yor was spinning gracefully as Twilight guided her. The couple found themselves lost in each other simply going with the flow of the song. He was shocked at just how quickly she picked up on ballroom dancing. Where could she have possibly learned this?
Unbeknownst to Twilight, Yor has had plenty of assignments that required her to attend events where she would have to blend in prior to reaching her target. One of the quickest ways to get a target alone is to dance with them first and then ask if they could go somewhere else more private. Yor smiled to herself, reminiscing on the last time she used the same tactic. She was brought back to present day when she looked at Loid’s face and saw how intensely he was staring back at her. She immediately stiffened although she did her best to continue dancing along with the music. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. It wasn’t long until she found herself staring back at those steely blue eyes.
Yor respected Loid, but she couldn’t deny the fact that he was obnoxiously attractive. She often finds herself staring at him when he’s carefully tending to Anya. It was so endearing how much he cared for both Anya and her, she often had to remind herself that she’s not and never will be true family. Afterall, this is just a sham of a marriage to ensure Anya’s attendance at Eden. Yor would often have to remind herself that she is using them just as much as they are using her, since they allowed her to work without suspicion. Still, she found herself longing to be a part of a true family, with Loid being her true husband, and Anya their true daughter.
When Loid looks at her like that she almost forgets she’s not.
The song slowly drew to a close and they found themselves rather close together. Chests pressed up against each other, both with a slight flush along their cheeks. Many of the dancers around them had stopped to admire the two as they were quite possibly the most elegant dancers of the evening.
“Loid…people are staring” Yor whispered at him, she felt her ears burning and her eyes darting between the crowd around them and Loid. She was painfully aware of how close they were together and it didn’t seem like he was letting go of her despite the song ending.
“Well then,” Twilight whispered back, his voice low, “Let’s give them something to look at.”
Soft.
That was Twilight’s initial thought when he captured Yor’s lips for the first time. However, his rational side kicked in almost immediately after and he quickly pulled away. He looked back at Yor, both horrified with himself but even more terrified of how Yor would react.
Yor’s face was frozen. She had a shaky closed mouth smile but her eyes were blown wide with confusion.
“Oh, dear me that dance worked up quite a sweat, excuse me while I wash up,” Yor said shakily, avoiding eye contact and walking away as quickly as possible to the restroom.
Twilight felt his arms fall to his sides and his shoulders slumped in shock.
“Fuck.”
Yor found herself staring down at a sink of running water. Her face extremely red, the flush extending down her chest and spread to her arms. If anyone had seen her, they’d think she was having an allergic reaction. Her head was reeling with what happened. Did that actually happen?
Did Loid….? She thought finally looking up in the mirror. She brought her fingers up to her lips, still tingling from when his brushed hers. It was so gentle, so sweet, and if it lasted any longer, she probably would have kissed him back-
What am I thinking??? She screamed in her head, slapping her cheeks to bring her back to reality. Loid kissing me, there must be a reason for it…
She began pacing back and forth trying to think of logical reasons for a husband and wife to kiss.
Love?
Vetoed. Not an option. This is a fake marriage. Strike that thought. Yor furrowed her brows disappointed in herself for even thinking that.
Oh of course. It’s for appearances.
It’s the most logical conclusion, a husband and wife at a party, danced together and got caught up in the moment would naturally kiss. Loid, being the perfectionist and genius he is would have realized the situation presented and knew the next course of action would be to kiss. Of course.
Yor breathed out a sigh of relief, satisfied that she figured out the enigma of Loid’s actions. She felt sufficiently calm enough to return back to the gala, although she couldn’t quite help but feel disappointed.
She walked out of the restroom and quickly saw Loid off in the distance. Yor ignored how quickly her heart started beating when she saw him notice her. She ignored the wishful thoughts that maybe he did like her and that’s why he kissed her and maybe there’s a chance that she could have the family she never knew she wanted and now she couldn’t live without. Maybe she could love and be loved-
“Yor.”
Twilight stared at her, his voice hushed, his eyes, full of worry. He was growing progressively more and more nervous. Twilight couldn’t believe how quickly he was unraveling just because of this woman. “I apologize for overstepping my boundaries, I should have discussed with you-“
“Loid it’s fine, I understand.”
He stopped. Shocked. Understand? What could she possibly understand-
“It’s for appearances right?” Yor whispered bringing her hand up as if she were spilling a secret.
Twilight once again found himself gawking at her, before clearing his throat and running his hand through his hair in relief. “Yes… thank you for following along.” He couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his stomach that wished that weren’t the case.
The couple resumed their duties of greeting various guests and networking. Throughout the night, Twilight found himself holding Yor around her waist and Yor found herself resting her head against his shoulder.
They looked like the perfect couple.