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The music starts playing the moment Wrathion drops the needle. Some kind of a waltz that Anduin faintly recognizes from an event of some sort before, but he has never quite kept up with the trends of the court, not like the brunette did.
He smiles, amused, as Wrathion then turns to look at him; his crimson eyes glowing softly, their shine rivaled by the opulent amount of jewelry he’s wearing tonight. The brunette reaches out his hand to him, the many layers of golden bangles making a soft sound on his wrist, and he smiles back at Anduin with that look of mischief that has drawn the King into many a trouble before. And he’s weak to its call again, raising his own hand and placing it in Wrathion’s, the dragon’s warmth immediately seeping through the thin layer of his elbow length royal blue silk gloves that are adorned by pearl bracelets.
The blade in Wrathion’s fingers had kissed his skin gently as he had taken it into his own steady hands to trim his beard as he wished. Anduin had decided to indulge his husband’s vision, and agreed to be dressed up for the night like he was nothing but a pretty doll for the dragon to customize instead of the High King of the Alliance. That sharp blade cutting through coarse hair, smoothening the skin of his throat, finding shape where his beard yearned to grow in the resemblance of a wild bush. Moving with the steady confidence of a trained rogue as Anduin tilted his head further back and straightened his legs out in the hot water of his bathtub.
Wrathion pulls him in closer, and the King tries to not stumble in the heels that the dragon made him wear. At least, mercifully, they are mid height and not much higher than the heels of his riding boots, but they are thinner, which had threatened to make him roll his ankle more than just once tonight already. And he has no idea where Wrathion could even have found them in his size and matching blue.
But his attention is not on his uncomfortable footwear or their mysterious origins, but on his husband before him. Wrathion is looking extremely pleased with how his plan had come together, looking gorgeous in his shining crimson dress that compliments his shape perfectly; and if the appraising look Anduin is gaining from the other tells him anything it is that his husband greatly appreciates how he looks in his tight, blue dress as well. No matter how silly he might feel in it.
‘Is this really necessary?’ Anduin had asked when he felt the dragon’s hands glide up his thighs, his fingers pulling along a pair of lacy underwear that would have sent the archbishop, half the nobles, and Genn into their early graves had they known their King, pure of virtue, was hiding underwear meant for concubines under his clothing.
‘I am just being thorough, my love,’ Wrathion had whispered hot into his ear with a mischievous smirk evident in his voice as he straightened up, and pulled the underwear up into its place on his hips where it felt like it was wedging between his cheeks and bundling up everything up front into a lacy little pouch. The only reprieve Anduin had was knowing that his husband was wearing a matching pair, and unlike him, Wrathion tended to look amazing and not just a little bit alluring in fancy underwear.
Anduin steps into form before him, placing one hand on Wrathion’s bare shoulder while the dragon’s hand goes for his waist. Allowing the other to have the lead in their first dance since it was his idea in the first place. They count the beat, and then step into it with a pull from his waist. The rhythm of a waltz coming to both of them from muscle memory. For Anduin from his ballroom dance lessons from his youth, and who knew from where the dragon might have learned all the popular dances of Stormwind court but he had always looked like a natural at it.
The blonde had never quite gotten the hang of dancing, always having felt awkward and like he had two left feet, until he discovered that having the right dance partner changed everything. Dancing with Wrathion felt natural, smooth, and it was easier to stay in the rhythm when you felt a connection to your partner that allowed you two to sway to your own metronome.
Anduin looked up from their feet once it was evident that he wasn’t going to step on any toes or break his ankle, and his blue gaze was met by a blazing ruby one. He smiled fondly at the dragon’s intense look on him, feeling maybe foolish but never like his husband did not find him desirable. Wrathion's lips turned into a fond smile as well, leading them in their dance around the empty ballroom that echoed with just the sound of the record player and their steps. Allowing them to for a moment lull themselves into their own private little universe.
The dress closed from the back, and with every button that Wrathion tightened Anduin felt like the dress was revealing more and more of his body’s shapes as it hugged him tightly, making him feel almost naked. Near the end he felt like he could barely breathe from the tight embrace of the fabric, and he did not envy all the women who had to wear something like this for every formal event.
It did not help that Wrathion had chosen a dress for him that opened into a near obscene slit on his thigh that reached almost high enough to have his lacy underwear flash anyone whenever he raised his leg. He was fairly sure that if anyone had looked at him from just the right angle from the side the fabric would not have been hiding anything.
‘You look gorgeous,’ the dragon had whispered next to his ear, his warm arms wrapping around him loosely and his warm body pressing up against his back. Anduin’s eyes raised in the mirror from staring at his body into meeting his husband’s ruby gaze over his shoulder, where Wrathion was looking at him with naked adoration and desire, and the blonde could almost tell himself that he didn’t look as awkward in the dress as he felt.
They danced and they twirled in slow circles along to the music, standing closer together than was really proper to actual etiquette. But no one was here to see them nor scold them, allowing the two men to brush close enough to feel their warmth through the thin fabrics of their dresses, and for the more flowy skirts of Wrathion’s dress to tickle the bare skin of Anduin’s thigh. It was intimate, it was fun, and even Anduin was finally warming up more to the whole ordeal as he saw pure joy dance in his husband’s eyes.
‘What is this?’ Anduin had asked when the dragon had pulled something out from a little, dark box and brought it around the blonde’s neck to fasten it there. It was a pendant style necklace with a silver chain of pearls paced out evenly, with a huge blue sapphire coming to rest in the middle of his chest in a similar style to the ruby one Wrathion usually wore. He had already been decked in pearls all around. On his wrists and in chains on his dress, and even in the form of little pearl earrings that somehow attached to his earlobes with clips. And so the pendant felt like a lot on top of all of that.
‘It is my gift to you, love,’ his husband had told him casually as he fastened the clip behind his neck and then reached one arm around Anduin so he could tug and fuss the pendant into its proper place on his chest. ‘The Pandaren call it River’s Heart. I thought it would compliment your gorgeous eyes perfectly, I made it myself,’ Wrathion had elaborated then as he had placed his hands gently on his shoulders and admired his handiwork from the mirror.
Anduin had brought one hand up to gently touch the gem on his chest like he might break it if he was too rough. He had seen the dragon shape metal and earth before, had seen him cut gems and rocks and weave them into the most beautiful handcrafted garments and decorations with both his magic and skill. To think that he would go through all the trouble to locate a stone all the way from Pandaria, just so he could shape it into this highly detailed pendant for him. It was such a thoughtful gift even when the blonde was not huge on wearing jewelry on the daily. It would still be something he would treasure and keep somewhere in his drawers where he could see it every time he went looking for something so he could smile again and again at the sight of it.
The song came to an end and their steps drew to a synchronized stop as well. Without a word, as if it had been planned from the start, they shifted the positions of their hands so that Wrathion’s fingers now rested on Anduin’s shoulder and the blonde was tightening a hold from around the brunette’s waist, swapping the hold of their leading hands.
The next song that came from the record player was slower, something that he actually recognized from before and Anduin started to lead them into a slow sway together. Wrathion easily followed his lead, even dressed as he was in his ridiculous looking heels that he didn’t appear to have any problems with, and looked at him with such affection that the human felt spellbound by his glowing gaze.
The dragon was wearing light makeup, which always complimented his features, especially his eyes when they were circled by the dark kohl that Anduin had no idea how he managed to draw into such precise and sharp lines. His beard and brows were perfectly groomed as always, his hair looking perfectly wild and soft as it swayed along with their movements, and he was wearing dangling golden earrings with big ruby stones embedded on them.
When Anduin swirled Wrathion out in their dance he gained a full view of his flowy dress and the way its skirts twirled. It was tightly cut around his torso with a lace decoration along the edge on his chest, crowned by a rose on his breast, the only contribution the blonde had had in their outfits tonight when he had brought flowers for his husband, and opening out into multiple layers of loose skirts from his hips that grew longer in the back and left his legs bare from the front. His sleeves were also long and flowy, with tails that moved along with his movements like ripples in water and that thought really encompassed how Wrathion looked in his dress. Lively. Flowy. Moving. The dragon hardly was ever still, his movements fluid like water and his dress complimented him perfectly.
The dragon twirled back to him and into his arms, smirking at him and Anduin realized that he must have shown every emotion available on his face for Wrathion to look so smug. He only rolled his eyes softly, because it wasn’t like he was trying to hide his admiration anyways no matter how it threatened to go straight to his husband’s head that was already big enough as it was.
The sound of their heels seemed incredibly loud echoing in the nightly hallways of the Keep that were only lit by the occasional torch, and Anduin was sure that on any moment they would walk into someone and they would be traumatized for forever when they saw their King sneaking around in a dress and heels in the middle of the night. But Wrathion must have somehow emptied the hallways that they used because they didn’t come across anyone as they walked, holding hands as the dragon led them towards their destination that Anduin suspected was the ballroom.
The dragon still held onto his bad habit of not sharing his great plans with him and as such many times the blonde had to find out for himself what awaited behind the corner. And he felt downright juvenile sneaking around his own home like this with his own husband, like they had not grown an inch from the time when Wrathion had led him through the dark hallways of the tavern in the mists in the middle of the night, and snatched him from right under his guard’s noses so they could go sit outside shoulder to shoulder and watch the stars in secret.
They got back into the slow swing of the dance, and the closer the song drew to its end the closer Anduin pulled Wrathion to him; until they were swaying in place with their bodies and foreheads pressed together. The dragon felt so warm and solid against him, and the blonde could not even word the depth of his affection for him. How even something as bizarre as this night was so Wrathion, and how it just made Anduin love him more. How he brought so much light and life into his daily life, how he made him feel silly, yes, and occasionally so, so frustrated, but also so loved for simply being him.
With Wrathion he did not have to pretend. He did not have to uphold the role of the perfect son, the perfect prince, the perfect King, not even the perfect man. With the dragon Anduin had found a kind of freedom he could not have even dreamed of. He did not need to run away from his duties or everyone he knew to be able to have the freedom to live his life. The dragon embodied freedom, and just by existing in his orbit Anduin felt like he could soak up on it and feel free himself.
The King gazed into the ruby eyes of his husband from up close, his heart swelling with affection as they swayed lightly from side to side together. Thinking of how those eyes had hardly changed from the time he had looked into them under Pandaria’s stars and yet they had grown up, went through so much and finally grown impossibly closer together. And he would not have wanted it any other way.
“Happy anniversary, love,” Anduin near whispered, the emotion in his chest making him feel like he was going to choke up. And Wrathion was looking at him with nothing but pure adoration as well as he replied, his voice a tad bit more steady but still soft.
“Happy anniversary, darling.”
Anduin closed his eyes. Letting go of the brunette’s hand so he could bring both his arms to rest loosely around the other man’s waist as they swayed. And Wrathion brought his arms to loosely circle his shoulders, melding against him like he had been cast to be a perfect match to him.
They remained like that even after the song ended and the record player made only the sound of a soft static, lost in their own world that existed under those faithful stars. Until Anduin broke the silence, his voice sounding a bit more steadier now and laced with the soft smirk adorning his lips.
“I’m going to have chafing from this underwear,” he said, and Wrathion’s lips were spreading into a smirk as well as he replied.
“Well, then you’re in luck because removing those with my teeth will be part of the next act.”
Anduin chuckled softly, allowing his eyes to flutter open and seeing that the brunette was already looking at him with those intense, beautiful eyes of his.
“We will still have to make it back to our rooms,” the blonde said as he allowed their swaying movements to come to a stop, raising his head enough so he could see Wrathion’s face more clearly. Only to see that the dragon’s smirk had gained a mischievous look to it and Anduin paused. Suddenly realizing that the ‘next act’ was lying closer to him than he had realized.
“Wrathion, we have to get back bef—” he tried to say in a firmer tone, but the blonde didn’t get far before his husband was stepping closer to him and grabbing him from under his rear to lift him, realizing that the slit in his tight dress allowed him to perfectly wrap his legs around Wrathion’s waist like this; and probably do other activities too that would require him to spread his thighs.
“Wrathion,” Anduin scolded the other halfheartedly with a laugh, because it honestly was not a good idea to go doing whatever it was that the dragon had planned in such a public place. But as Wrathion carried him forwards and pushed him to sit on the edge of a long table that was covered in white linen to protect it from dust, he couldn’t help but laugh because even something as juvenile as this was made fun when it was with his perfect, mischievous husband. And no matter what adventure Wrathion would pull him to next he would gladly follow him again, and again.