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Robin knows the instant she steps on stage if Jade is up in the box seats without even looking, the weight of Jade’s gaze an ache in her chest.
She’s been finding time to attend concerts in her busy schedule, the promise of keeping an eye on her investment hanging heavy in Robin’s mind. Yet she never comes around backstage, and she never stays through the encore. Alone in the dressing room, Robin knows she could pick out any eager fan and have adoration welling over, but she doesn’t want that. It’d be hollow compared to who she truly wants.
And tonight, there Jade is again, her gaze carrying a different weight when it falls on Robin’s skin, goosebumps prickling across her shoulders. She wants to hook her in, give her a reason to stay, and she feels her mind splitting in two, one part of her performing and one wanting to entice Jade beyond this performance, beyond just a subdued smile. She wants... Ah.
A solution comes to her, bright and perfect, and halfway through her current chart-topping song, Robin lets her voice control slip intentionally. Not enough to destroy the concert, but enough that a ripple passes through the audience, smiles frozen, grimaces fluttering past. The horror of it is electrifying. She could ruin everything about herself in this moment, rip apart her entire future — she dangles it in her hands, eyes locked on Jade. Do you care about your investment? Do you care about this future of mine? Will you stop me if I try to set it ablaze?
By the time she gets to the encore, Jade is still there, her severe gaze sending a thrill through Robin’s core. She strains her voice in the encore, feeling the crack shattering in her throat, and smiles in a daze at the audience, knowing she has dented the value of Jade's investment enough to require her most severe attention.
After she steps off the stage, she’s whisked away to the VIP lounge. It’s the part of her nights she likes the least, but her vocal coach did not miss the strain and shoves a cup of warm tea in her hands, strictly forbidding her from any champagne tonight.
“Your performance tonight was lacking,” Jade’s familiar voice whispers in her ear, brushing back a strand of hair behind her wings.
“My mind wandered,” Robin says airily. She keeps her voice low, and as she sips the honeyed tea she feels a shivering thread of excitement strung between her ribs, making it harder to breathe in deep. It’s the first time she has intentionally provoked Jade and she’s eager to see what it yields.
“To what, I wonder.”
“Investments,” Robin replies, jutting her chin out defiantly even as she keeps her tone sweet. “I cannot help but worry that some of them have been neglected.”
“Is that so?” Jade’s lips curl up in amusement. “And what is it they want?”
“Attention.” Robin’s voice is crystal clear and strong. Jade notices, of course. She never lets anything slip past.
Grabbing her by the elbow, Jade holds her close, leaning down to whisper in Robin’s ear. “Greedy, miss Robin. Perhaps I will have to make sure you have some training to sing without losing focus. We are staying at the same hotel, after all.”
Robin’s breath catches, and before she has time to quip anything back Jade has slid her hand down to her wrist, bringing Robin’s hand up to her mouth and giving her a kiss on the back of her hand. The look in her eyes is as indecipherable as it is rife with promise.
“I look forward to resolving your problems,” Jade says, smiling at her as she takes a step back, letting Robin return to enduring the dreary mingling.
For the rest of the night, she keeps gently touching the spot with her fingertips, feeling the heated imprint on her skin, a shiver running through her each time.