Work Text:
“You…want to have a Valentine’s Day dance?”
“Correct,” exclaimed Toshiko, “the chance to sow the seeds of love is just within reach! In all my infinite wisdom and kindness, I have graciously given you all this opportunity!”
This is what Ingrid called everyone to the dining hall for?!
“Come on, y’all,” Ingrid said. “These past few days have been rough on all of us. I think it’ll give us a chance to relax and have fun!”
“And…how exactly is this going to be set up?” Wenona asked.
“No fear, me and Broskii are here!” Jett said. “Broskii has agreed to provide the music for the dance, and Cass & I will help with the decorations!”
“You got it!” Cassidy said, flashing a peace sign at the rest of them.
“Eloise and I are in charge of the baking!” Jean bellowed. Eloise gave the group a shy smile as confirmation.
“There’s gonna be food?” Kai asked.
“Y-yes,” Eloise replied, “Um…red and pink cupcakes, to be specific.”
“Chocolate flavored!” Jean clarified.
“And uh…there will be punch, too,” Eloise added.
“Well? How about it, y’all?” Ingrid chirped.
The rest of the group remained silent, seemingly reluctant about the idea.
“I personally think it’s a wonderful idea,” Wolfgang agreed. “I will make sure to attend. I believe it will be a wonderful bonding experience for all of us Ultimates.”
“Feh,” Grace huffed. “I’ll come too, I guess.”
“Hmm…” Ulysses hummed, adjusting his glasses. “I suppose…I have nothing better to do.”
He looked over at Wenona, giving her an inquiring look. She looked back at him, and gave Ingrid a calm smile.
“Alright. I’ll be there.”
Kai gave Ingrid a wink, and flashed her a peace sign of his own. “Who can say no to chocolate-flavored cupcakes? I’m in!”
“Alright…” Ulysses said, writing in his notebook, “that means Ingrid, Toshiko, Cassidy, Jett, Mark, Eloise, Jean, Wolfgang, Grace, me, Wenona, and Kai are going to be there. Desmond, Damon, Eva, and Diana have not confirmed their attendance yet.”
Desmond nodded. “Of course I’ll come.”
The rest of the group turned their attention towards Damon and Eva.
As usual, we’re singled out again.
Eva was the first to speak up.
“I think I’ll pass.”
“Hmph. Not surprising,” Grace sneered.
“I’ll pass, too,” Damon concurred.
“Unacceptable!” Toshiko retorted. “All the others are willing to give my magnificent idea a chance! Everyone will attend the occasion, and you two are no exception!”
Damon was about to retort back, but Wenona spoke up first.
“We’re showing up in our regular clothing, correct? It’s not like the wardrobes have much else to wear.”
“Actually,” Ingrid said, “our lovely Diana Venicia has found a way around that.”
“Come to think of it, where is Diana?” Kai asked.
As if on cue, a cheery voice suddenly spoke up behind them.
“Right here~”
The group turned to look behind them, appalled to see Diana roughly dragging Tozu by the horn on his mask. She gave them a bright smile before speaking up again.
“Tozu is going to provide us with proper attire to wear to a Valentine’s Day Dance! Isn’t that right…” her voice became dangerously low, and there was a scary look in her eyes before she continued, “...Tozu?”
While Tozu’s face was mostly obscured by the mask, there was no mistaking the genuine fear in his eyes.
“Y-yes, yes of course Miss Venicia!” he quavered. “E-everything will be ready to go, whenever you need it.”
“Splendid!” she exulted. “I have outfits picked out for all of you, I just need your approval. So come to my room whenever you’re ready~”
Diana giggled, and then trotted off. After she left, the group turned back to the basement dwellers.
“Are ya really not coming, Bargain Bin?” bleated Cassidy. “You’re really gonna miss out on chocolate flavored cupcakes?”
“The cupcakes are not what is important!” Toshiko whinged, stomping her foot on the ground in frustration. “Mochi is sacrificing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”
Damon simply huffed, crossing his arms and looking off to the side. “This is a Killing Game. Romance hasn’t exactly been on my mind. I’m not going, and that’s final.”
“But-”
“Ugh, just drop it!” Grace shouted. “Nothing we say can convince this stuck-up soybean!”
Toshiko glanced over at Damon, giving him a look akin to puppy eyes. He simply shook his head, and turned away.
------------------------------------------------------
Damon found himself walking through the halls, trying to get away from the excited chattering of the other Ultimates. He stopped, however, when he heard two voices from Diana’s room. He wasn’t normally one to eavesdrop, but something in the back of his mind was nagging him to listen in. Pressing his ear to her door, he tried to make out what was being said.
“Are you suuure you’re not going, Eva?”
“Positive.”
“But…I picked out a perfect dress for you! I was even going to do your hair and makeup!”
“Not interested.”
“Aww…well, okay…if that’s what you want…”
He couldn’t hear anything after that, so he assumed the two girls had stopped talking, and walked off. Making his way through the hallway, his mind started to wander…
…wander to Eva, specifically. She wasn’t interested in going to the dance, either, which didn’t surprise him. Even so, he couldn’t help but wonder how she’d look in a dress…
“No. No, don’t even go there,” he told his thoughts. But it was futile. The image of her in a dress, with her hair styled, dressed all pretty (even prettier than she normally was) for the dance…his breath got caught in his throat.
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts.
This is a killing game, Damon! Romance isn’t supposed to be on your mind!
He huffed, thinking back to the discussion at the dining room. Diana was terrifying when she was angry, he’d admit. But was she really scary enough to intimidate Tozu , of all people? Why would Tozu agree to help out with something like this? It’s not like he was under any real danger; Mara was keeping a close eye on the group to make sure nothing happened to him. So why would someone like Tozu be on board with something like this? It didn’t make sense…unless…
Unless…
Someone must be planning to kill someone. That was the only explanation. There’s no way Tozu would volunteer to help out with anything unless it involved a murder.
A murder…
Something was going to happen tonight. Something big . And he was going to make sure to put a stop to it.
Marching back to Diana’s room, he swung the door open, making both Eva and Diana jump in surprise.
“Hi Damon,” Diana said, “need anything?”
“I need to speak to Eva. Alone.”
“Oh. Uh…okay.”
Before Eva could speak, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of Diana’s room, leading her towards his own.
“Damon,” she protested, “you don’t have to drag me. I can walk.”
He ignored her until they got to his room, where he shut the door. Before even giving her a chance to regain her bearings, he spoke up.
“We need to attend the dance.”
“What?”
“We need to be there at the dance, Eva! Someone’s planning a murder !”
“Huh?!” she pushed her glasses up in surprise, before crossing her arms. “Who? Give me the details.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know who.”
“What? Then how did you come to that conclusion?”
“Because, Eva, think about it! Isn’t it strange? Tozu was oddly compliant about helping out with the dance. Someone like him wouldn’t do something like that unless he had a conflict of interest!”
“I see your point,” she said, “but I think Tozu was just intimidated by Diana. I can't blame him, I was a little scared, too.”
“No!” he objected. “Why would Tozu be intimidated by anything? He’s got a 6'3 woman wielding an AR-10 at his beck and call!”
“Hmm…”
“Eva, we can’t let a murder happen. It puts all our lives at risk.”
“...alright. I’ll go with you, then.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good. But if we want to attend, we can’t be suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” he started, “whoever it is that’s planning to murder is probably going to be suspicious that we showed up despite being so adamant about not coming earlier. And if they figure out we’re there to stop them, they might target us. It puts us in danger.”
“...I see.”
“So, we have to act like we changed our minds because we genuinely wanted to come. And we have to appear normal at the dance. No excessive investigating, but we need to subtly keep a close eye on everyone.”
“Very well. I suppose we’ll wait here until the dance starts, then?”
“N-no!” he declared. “You…you should get Diana to…do your hair and makeup.”
A look of dismay crossed her face. “For what reason?”
“I-I mean, if we just show up like this, it’ll be suspicious. We have to look like we actually prepared to come.”
She sighed, before looking off to the side. “...okay, fine. I’ll let Diana dress me up.”
Damon almost had the urge to pump his fist in the air, before mentally slapping himself.
What is wrong with you, Damon?!
He needed to stop thinking about Eva in this way.
She crossed her arms and looked him up and down, making a shiver go down his spine.
“I assume you’re going to be wearing what you usually wear?” she asked, playing with a lock of her hair.
“Well…I guess so. Did Diana pick out an outfit for me, too?”
“I believe she did.”
“...then, I’ll wear what she picked.”
“Okay.”
They stood in silence for a few more moments.
“I should go get ready,” she said, moving to walk out the room. “Um…pick me up when you're finished getting ready, too.”
“Y-yeah,” Damon replied. “I will.”
------------------------------------------------------
Damon had just finished getting himself ready for the dance. Diana picked out a simple black tuxedo for him, similar to what he normally wore. He kept his snake tie on, as well.
He made his way to Diana’s room and knocked on the door.
“She’s almost ready~” Diana said from the other side of the door. He could practically hear the smile in her voice.
“D-Diana, don’t you think this is a bit much?” he heard Eva say.
“Nonsense! It looks incredible! You look incredible!”
Just then, the door swung open, and both girls emerged from the room. Diana was wearing a frilly pink A-line, her hair was down, and she had on three-inch high heels. But that wasn’t what Damon was focused on.
Eva was gorgeous .
She had on a black, strapless, form-fitting dress that shimmered in the light and hugged her body beautifully. Her hair, although still bearing the curls around the end, was much more wavy than usual. Her bangs, the part of her hair she normally played with the most, were swept in a side part, perfectly framing her face. Her makeup was more bold, with visible eyeliner, eyeshadow, a dust of blush on her face, and shiny lip gloss. She didn’t have her glasses on, seeming to be wearing contacts instead.
Damon could only stare in awe, his mouth agape.
Maybe Diana’s talent is so useless after all…
Eva refused to meet his gaze, clearly embarrassed. Diana, on the other hand, was erupting into a fit of giggles.
“You both look so nice with some color in your cheeks! You’re normally so pale!”
“C-color..?” Damon stammered.
“Yes, Damon~” she drawled. “You’re a blushing mess.”
Dang it.
He’d hoped the warmth he was feeling in his cheeks wasn’t visible to anyone else, but that was clearly not the case.
Diana continued to smirk. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone now. Have fun~”
She trotted away towards the dining hall, where Damon could already hear soft music being played. He cleared his throat to try and maintain his cool demeanor.
“You look nice,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“….thanks. You too,” she said, still refusing to make eye contact.
“… *ahem* …so…shall we go?”
“…y-yes, I think we should.”
He was about to start walking to the dining hall, but then he had an idea. Walking over to Eva, he gently took her hand in his own.
The blush on her face, which he thought was makeup at first, got darker. “W-what’s the meaning of this…?!”
“Calm down, Eva. It’s less suspicious this way.”
She swallowed, and then nodded slowly, clearly still flustered by the gesture. They walked together, hand-in-hand, towards the dining hall. Once they were in front of the double doors, Damon let go of her hand and opened the door for her, motioning for her to go in first. She gave him an embarrassed look, but complied anyway.
Once inside, the two took a look around. It was pretty dim, aside from the heart-shaped lights that flashed periodically around the room. There were at least 60 cupcakes on the table, along with a huge jug of punch. Mark was stationed at his pad, mixing a song Damon had heard before but didn’t know the name of. Judging from the vocals, he guessed it was Katy Perry.
Damon then eyed everyone at the dance to make sure no one was doing anything suspicious. Jett and Cassidy were trying to lunge towards the cupcakes, with Jean holding both of them back. Ingrid was still moving some of the furniture around, and Diana was talking with Kai, who was eating a cupcake. Wenona was leaning against the wall, seemingly deep in conversation with Ulysses. Wolfgang was speaking to Grace on the other side of the room, a soft smile on his face. Desmond was sitting on a chair next to Eloise, his arm around her shoulders.
Ugh, talk about cheesy…
Once Toshiko spotted Damon and Eva, her eyes lit up and she walked over to them.
“I knew you would come, Mochi.”
“Did you now…?”
“Indeed. My intuition told me you could not bear to miss such an intimate moment with your beloved.”
Beloved…? Is she talking about-
She huffed and gave him an indignant look.
“Do not stare at me that way, Mochi. Both of you walked in here with your hands intertwined. You are dressed up for the occasion. And the color on your faces is evident. A matchmaker is never wrong.”
“…”
“Nevertheless, I am most delighted you showed up. I will ask the musician to start a slow song immediately.”
“S-slow song?! Toshiko, that’s not-“
Before he could finish his sentence, she had already wandered off. He glanced back at Eva, who had her face buried in her hands.
“Come on, Eva. She’s a kid, obviously she’s going to assume things like this. And it’s better for us, anyway. We actually look like we want to be here.”
She slowly took her hands off her face, which was still very visibly red.
“I-I guess you’re right. Anyway…have you seen anyone suspicious?”
“Not yet,” he replied, “but we should still keep on a close lookout.”
The two made their way to an empty couch in the corner of the room, still keeping a watchful eye on everyone. So far, no one seemed to be doing anything suspicious.
“Eugh, gross…” Eva suddenly muttered.
“Huh? What’s gross?”
“Look,” she said, gesturing to where Grace and Wolfgang were. Looking over at them, he saw something he never expected to see, especially not from Wolfgang of all people.
Wolfgang was leaning down, so that his face was close to Grace's. And she was feeding him a cupcake .
What the-??
Damon’s face also contorted in disgust. “Ew. Who does that in a killing game?”
“And in front of everyone, too!” Eva added. “I’m so glad we have more common sense than them.”
“Me too.”
Eva turned her gaze towards Desmond and Eloise. His arm was still around her, but now Eloise was resting her head on his shoulder.
“Bweh…” Eva said, “too much PDA. I hate Valentine’s Day.”
“Hate is a pretty strong word,” Damon replied.
“It’s not strong enough, in my opinion…” she shot back.
“Why is that? Don’t get me wrong, I dislike the PDA, too. But you hate Valentine’s Day because of it?”
She sighed. “Well…there’s a reason, I guess.”
“And that is…?”
“Are you sure you want to hear it? There’s no going back after this, you know. This knowledge can destroy the Earth as we know it.”
There it is. That over-dramatic behavior Damon always found so endearing .
“I’m sure, Eva.”
“Okay.”
She paused for a moment, before speaking up again.
“I…might be a little…envious.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve always wondered what it was like. To have someone care for you the way a lover would. To have someone think you’re beautiful, and like you enough to want to be in a relationship with you. The only times I was ever asked out were for jokes, and nothing more…”
This girl…
Damon almost felt…angry. Angry at the people who played with her feelings for a cruel joke, and angry at the people that made her feel she would never be loved or cared for.
He thought she was beautiful. He found her smile to be the most beautiful thing in the world.
He thought her personality was incredible. Sure, she put up a facade of stoicism, but he’d seen parts of her dorkier, nerdier side. And he found it lovely.
He liked her enough to want to be in a relationship with her. She was smart, funny, gorgeous, and she trusted him .
He would care for her the way a lover would. He wanted to hug her, hold her close, and not let go until she knew that she was cared for. That she was loved.
A slow song started playing.
Wolfgang and Grace were first on the dance floor, mostly due to Grace. She suspended her cupcake-feeding and grabbed his hand, dragging him over and putting her hands on his shoulders. Wolfgang looked a little startled at first, but his gaze grew soft again as he stared down at Grace, who was looking up at him with her own soft smile.
Desmond and Eloise were next. It seemed to be a mutual decision between them, as they both looked at each other, nodded, and took the other’s hand. They were focused on no one other than themselves as they approached the dance floor.
Wenona and Ulysses came third. They didn’t hold hands nor drag each other as they stepped onto the floor, but their eyes remained fixed on each other. Ulysses had to put his hands on Wenona’s shoulders, since she was taller than him.
The three couples started dancing, their bodies swaying to the beat of the music. Damon looked around the room once more, noticing nothing suspicious about anyone or anything. Everyone just seemed to be having a good time.
“Eva,” he said softly, standing up from the couch to face her.
“Yes?” she responded.
He reached out a hand towards her, palm open. She glanced down at his outstretched arm, then back up at his face to be met with a soft smile from him.
“Is this to avoid suspicion?”
“No, Eva. May I have this dance?”
She gasped quietly, her eyes widening slightly in shock. The pink on her face was back, but she met his gaze with a soft smile of her own.
“You may.”
She took his hand, and he led her onto the dance floor.
They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds.
Shoot. I don’t know how to dance.
It looked like Eva didn’t, either. Wolfgang and Grace tore their gazes from each other to look at the pair standing awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor. They snickered to each other, glad that they had more common sense than Damon and Eva when it came to romance.
Damon didn’t appreciate being laughed at, so he decided to make a move, putting his hands on Eva’s shoulders.
Their stagnancy had now caught the attention of Desmond and Eloise, who stopped dancing momentarily to help the two out.
“Damon, your hand goes on her waist,” Desmond said calmly.
“O-oh, I knew that…” Damon replied, before his hands slid down to Eva’s waist.
“A-and Eva, your hands go on his shoulders…” Eloise added.
Eva remained silent, but put her hands on Damon’s shoulders, making him shudder slightly.
With that settled, Desmond and Eloise walked away, resuming their own dance.
Okay, we’re in the correct position. Now what?
Damon looked around, unsure what to do after this.
Wenona and Ulysses walked up to them, seeming to show a slight bit of pity at their cluelessness.
“Perhaps you need to show them traditional slow dancing, Ulysses,” Wenona teased.
Ulysses simply yawned in response. “Just…sway to the beat of the music. It’s not that difficult…”
Then the Entrepreneur and Historian walked away.
Sway to the best of the music…okay…I got this…
Damon tilted his torso, trying to sway, but the move came out more robotic than anything.
“Relax, Damon,” chided Wolfgang from the side. “You’re too stiff.”
Damon grunted at the unnecessary comment from Wolfgang, but took a deep breath to try to steady himself anyway. Finally, he and Eva got down the majority of the slow dance.
They were still awkward, nonetheless. Eva stepped on his foot a few times, and he stepped on hers a few more times. Sometimes, they’d sway in opposite directions, and Eva almost fell over backward while they (attempted) to perform the dip.
Even so, it was still romantic in its own way. Their gazes remained fixed on each other the whole time, a soft smile and a dust of pink on each of their faces.
When the dance finally ended, they brought their hands off each other, but not their gazes. At least, not until the lights suddenly turned on and practically blinded them. Looking over at the front of the room, the group saw an angry Tozu by the light switch.
“Okay, that’s enough, you lot. It’s midnight, and I can barely sleep with the racket you’re making!”
“Aww, come on, it was just getting good…” Cassidy said, letting out a loud *burp*. Looking over at the table, Damon noticed all the cupcakes were gone.
Mara appeared in the doorframe beside Tozu, staying silent as usual. Tozu cleared his throat.
“Now that Mara’s feeling better, I don’t have to entertain your requests anymore.”
“Feeling better…?”
“Yes. Mara was unwell for some time, so Miss Venicia…intimidated me. But she shall do so no more! Our enforcer is back!”
… oh. Guess he really was just scared, after all.
Tozu let out a grumble, and then pointed to the group. “All of you! Prepare for bed, now!”
They quickly scurried out the dining hall, not wanting to risk messing with Mara. Eva and Damon made their way back to Damon’s room.
Once they finished getting ready for the night, they settled down in Damon’s bed together. Damon turned to face her, giving her a sheepish smile.
“Heh. I guess Tozu really was just scared, after all.”
“I told you so,” she said back. “So our whole…’acting normal’ thing at the dance didn’t even need to happen.”
“It didn’t,” Damon said. “But…I’m glad it did.”
“…”
“Eva, I know I said we did all those things just to avoid suspicion, but…that wasn’t the real reason.”
“…”
“I…I know you said that all the previous times someone said they had feelings for you, they turned out to be jokes. But…my feelings are real, Eva. I promise.”
“…Damon…”
“I…want this to be real, Eva. I want us to be real. I want to be with you.”
She laid on her back, looking at the ceiling for a few moments. Then, she gave him a smile.
“This is a killing game, you know. Romance shouldn’t exactly be on our minds.”
“Is that a no?”
She looked at him, taking his hand in her own.
“It’s a yes, Damon.”
He practically beamed. Eva Tsunaka was going to be his . And he couldn’t be happier.
He looked back at her on the bed, intertwining their fingers.
“Goodnight, Eva. And…happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Damon. Goodnight.”