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Lights shimmer above him, crystals twinkling and intertwining from the chandeliers that decorate the room.
he can't remember the last time he's been in this kind of event, perhaps when he was younger, watching the people dance around him in dizzying patterns. celebrating something he couldn't care less about.
things like the spring, the fertility and arable land, granting the vast territory quantities of food that would last the whole season
or maybe the nobles, the aristocrats and their great achievements
maybe the winning of wars, gaining more and more dominion of the areas around their enclave.
good grief, he really couldn't care less
he isn't even all that sure why he had agreed to all this in the first place. father had insisted on the gala, that he needed more experience engaging with other nobles (other than the same ones he'll hang around constantly) in preparation for his coronation. making connections, learning basic manners and social cues, yadda yadda. he finds it dreadfully unnecessary, but when insisted to, there's this itch inside him, this need to please his father, to please the emperor.
well— he's the soon-to-be emperor. he can hear the grunt in his father's gruff voice, hear the scolding from a mile away. he has responsibilities now, or... well, soon-to-be responsibilities.
none of that is the point; the point is that Sharpness is beyond overwhelmed because this was supposed to be a rehearsal event, and now it's becoming an entire grand royal ball of some sort. people are having way too much fun, drinking and dancing and running circles around eachother, and he's bored and tired of standing around. he has nothing to do but watch the crowd mingle and awkwardly look around at the all too lavish ornaments and walls and paintings and floors.
it's incredibly tacky, if anyone would care to ask him, and his family has always had the worst taste when it came to garnishing the palace.
all this wealth and for what? twenty billion chandeliers shoved into a single huge ballroom?
Sharpness knows for sure that's the first thing he'll get rid of when he 'officially' owns the palace and all the lands and everything. there shall only be one centerpiece chandelier, thank you very much.
it's not like he's all that interested in the political aspect of ruling, not like he ever truly understood what he's meant to do in that area.
"what's goin on in that head of yours?"
Saparata has the gall to interrupt his moping, but Sharpness shortly after forgives him mentally. he's a great friend and all, despite his irritating nature of prodding. "you've been quiet for the past, like, ten minutes. you should really try these tarts, dude, i can't stop eating-"
ah so that's why he sounded muffled when he spoke.
"no thanks, Sapa, i don't like the way they make the cheese taste."
Saps only shrugs, an even more muffled "more for me i guess," leaving the boy's lips.
he has no idea why his father insists that he must know proper manners when not even Saparata has any, despite his status. he's not as much of a mess as Saps, and he's really starting to think his father needs to be more lenient with him.
that thought aside, he quickly mutters an excuse at Saparata to roam around, barely waving the boy goodbye. he might've something about getting a drink when all he really wants to do is leave.
but he's truly grateful Saps was there ofcourse, it's not often someone he considers tolerable is able to attend these events, or be invited in the first place. A mere mention of Cow would get him a scolding, since the guy was actually the son of the gardener, and not any of the ambassadors or dukes he was expected to associate himself with. a shame, really, they're all snobs and incredibly hard to talk with for more than fifteen minutes. he's tried, trust him.
he would have loved to have Evourai here too, but the Chancellor was probably off with duties somewhere else, and Sharpness can't remember the last time they had seen eachother either;
it feels like only yesterday he was training with him, letting the day pass by as they hung out at the courtyard and filling the space with the swoosh of their swords.
he can almost feel the air of the arena, smell the blades of grass fresh after rain.
he holds in a sigh, letting his feet guide him across the marbled floors to wherever was quieter, hands trailing the tables near the large walls and corners to grab one of the champagne glasses sitting atop the readied refreshment trays,
saccharine and syrupy sweetness fill his senses, it's like he's drowning out all else with the drink. the pads of his thumbs brush against the textured glass, feeling the coldness there.
he'll sip it every other second or so, but he goes back to people-watching.
it feels so odd
this is an event meant for him, yet he feels anything but present at the moment.
all he can feel looking at the people around him is boredom.
is this really the people that adore him? the people he'll have to fraternize with for the rest of his life?
he starts to note that he'd rather be back at the drill grounds, refining his skills (one can never train too much; he will always have more room for improvement) or perhaps in bed, melting into those silky sheets and letting his worries fade into background noise.
now that he thinks about it, he should be in bed. he gets a bit cranky in the morning without proper rest, and with the overwhelming racket and movement around him, he's already starting to feel a tad exhausted.
he needs an excuse to leave, surely his brain can come up with something, and maybe his father wouldn't even notice his prompt disappearence.
as he's debating on whether or not it's worth it, his eyes zero in on a glint of purple in the sea of people, sticking out like a sore thumb.
hm...
it's almost funny because of its odd appearance, standing out from all the other colors amongst the atmosphere. it's certainly not the most saturated purple, but it's definitely prominent amongst all else.
he focuses his vision a bit more, and he nearly chuckles to himself when he realizes that those are ears, and that the reason he noticed it amidst the huge crowd and surroundings was that the ears themselves poked up above the heads of the masses.
he continues to sip from his drink and starts to vaguely wonder about which kinds of hybrids would have those sorts of features. the safest bet was a rabbit, since, well, they did have long ears and all—
but he suddenly flinches when he notices the fact that the ears had gotten closer. way closer than before. so close he can actually attach them to a head, hair and face now.
he averts his eyes as quickly as possible when the person fully approaches the table. he truly, sincerely does try his best not to make it look like he's staring, but then the person starts (what sharpness assumes he's doing from the loud clattering of silver plates and utensils) to pick up alot of pastries and proceed to shove them in their mouth and arms. he can hear the rummaging, the noises of glass clinking, and curiosity gets the better of him as he slowly turns his head and eyes to glance at the person once more.
he sees a white, tidied and ruffled collared shirt, adorned by a pendant and a ribbon wrapped around the stranger's neck. in addition, there's also a cobalt colored vest, really accentuating the dark lavender hue of the person's hair.
as he's watching the person scarf down an assortment of fruits and baked goods, Sharpness starts to think about the last time he had seen other rabbit hybrids around. hell, any other types of hybrids around.
it's not like he doesn't consistently hole himself in his room most of the time (the other half is spent training tirelessly and keeping himself in shape) but he's pretty sure Cow and Saps might be among the only hybrids he truly does see regularly, ones residing near palace quarters or at events and not townsfolk or anything of the sort.
the color of the person's fur really is simply striking, he can't help it when his eyes keep wandering back to the long ears when they twitch, or the fluffed hair and small tail.
he nearly drops his drink to the floor when the person abruptly clears their throat. they look as if they were mid-chew before they swallow and actually start speaking.
"can i help you man? you're kinda staring."
Sharpness taps his fingers against the glass he thankfully still holds firmly in his hands. he pouts for a couple of moments, panicking (embarrassingly) as he struggles to utter any words.
he isn't sure what he should say, so he simply mutters out whatever he can,
"i... don't think i've seen you around before?"
he doesn't sound his most confident, because he isn't, but he hopes the other currently observing his every move doesn't take any note of it.
"ah that's cuz im not actually from around here. totally crashed this dude's party, whoever it is." the person shrugs with indifference, continuing to stuff another bread into his mouth. "...huh?" Sharpness can only squint his eyes in response. this person is way more odd than he had initially thought.
the person swallows it down, coughing and hitting his chest a bit as he keeps talking. "yeah, i even stole the shit im wearing from some rando i talked to earlier. trapped him in a pantry or somethin of the sort," he says it with no shame, casually, like it's an everyday kind of thing for him.
"you what?" Sharp lowers his drink down on the table, leaning his body back and really giving the person his full attention now.
"jeez dude stop judging, i just wanna eat good every once in a while, okay? so what if i need to pretend im some posh dude to get in. these nobles eat real fucking good, y'know." he shrugs and then points at the drink Sharpness had put down on the table just now. "whatcha drinking by the way?"
Sharpness blinks for a second or two, looking between the glass and the rabbit in a few quick glances before managing to vocalize, "it's a Chanoine Frères, just champagne with—hey! what the—"
Sharpness manages to swiftly grab the guy's arm before his hands could fully grab the glass. he frowns deeply at the stranger (who snorted right after and is now fucking laughing for some reason)
"what is wrong with you? if you want it that badly get your own drink—" "—chill for a second, would ya? i'm joking, i'm joking!" their loud snickering is beyond just obnoxious, and Sharpness' face proceeds to redden in embarrassment.
goodness, the audacity of this strange man.
he puts his elbow back on the table, his hand starting to circle the drink protectively. he's sure he's giving this guy a nasty stink eye, but the rabbit doesn't react much other than with a widening smirk.
so, so obnoxious.
this might be the most awful first impression Sharpness has ever gotten from someone.
and that says... quite a lot.
"you know, you're not really all that funny to me... how is any of this funny?" Sharpness raises an eyebrow, fingers going back to lightly tapping against the glass, gently feeling the texture of it.
and the man goes on to snicker once more, with a hand perched on one hip as he speaks,
"well, i don't know about you, but this is genuinely the funnest thing i've done yet. maybe you should try free will," he answers with characteristic insolence. Sharp frowns a bit, head tilting as he leans more of his body weight onto his elbow. "what kind of life do you live for that to be the highlight of your week?" Sharp nearly lets out a laugh when the stranger's eyes narrow quickly, as if staring daggers at him.
"the kind of life you wish you were living, bud. what kind of life are you living, huh? betcha get your maids to dress you up and serve you breakfast in bed," he pushes his hair back smugly as he says it, but the ears bounce back into place, and Sharpness struggles not to smile stupidly at it. the man must've noticed Sharpness' poorly concealed amusement, because he rolls his eyes shortly after.
"that's seriously rude, im perfectly capable of doing all that myself..." he chuckles a bit as he says it, and he can't help but notice how eccentric this strange and completely random guy is. his idea of a joke might be distasteful, but he's just so... so comically absurd that Sharp finds it funny anyway.
"surely you are. you totally look like it too," a grin accompanies the sarcastic remark, nice and wide as he says it. his own elbow finds its place on the table as he mirrors Sharp's pose.
Sharpness wants to laugh in response, maybe banter a little more, but he doesn't seem to notice the music that slowly emerges into the background. and almost instantly, there's a hand on his shoulder, gripping it as gently as possible.
"there's a fucking orchestra?" the man says it with so much genuine surprise, as if it's shocking, and Sharpness honestly doesn't know what the big deal is here. he shrugs a little at the guy's reaction, trying to shake off the hand currently still gripping onto his shoulder. "well... yeah? usually for these kinds of events my—"
"oh my god, we have to dance."
Sharpness is a bit perplexed when the man's hand moves down his arm, slipping into place around his wrist. he can barely even let out a yelp as the stranger tugs him forward, dragging him along.
"hey- wait wait wait can we talk for a second?—" he narrowly avoids hitting someone with his shoulder "—please before i knock someone over or- or..." his heartrate picks up exponentially, and his hand feels tingly and sweaty as they squeeze through the crowd, but the stranger doesn't give the impression of someone that would care enough to let go just yet.
they continue to pass through smoothly, at the relentless pace the man dragging Sharpness along sets, and all Sharpness sees as they maneuver through is the back of the guy's head.
it's just... such an eye-catching color for hair to be, and it looks incredibly soft to the touch too.
he actively tries to ground himself, focusing on the back of his head and the soft fur and ears and not any of the poor folks' faces as they carelessly force themselves through.
but he might've tried to focus a little too hard, because he barely even notices when the people surrounding them start to thin out. in almost no time, they're near the center of a clearing in the crowd, the types of clearings that would open up for the few partygoers whom actually want to dance.
Sharpness' eyes fleet around the area, head turning as he instinctively searches for an out.
and when his eyes meet with the stranger's, the first thing he notices is the very visible pink hue of them. had he really not made enough eye contact with this guy to not know what color his eyes were?
the second is that the guy is smiling again, widely.
for a moment, he forgets he's currently in the middle of a clearing, a clearing made for dancing. near the damn dead center at that, too.
he wants to smile back, and like the most natural response ever, he does.
"wh—" Sharpness chuckles a little in confusion as he comes back to himself, arms folding on themselves infront of his torso, "what are we doing here? could you have maybe, like, asked—"
"i don't give two fucks, dude. i wanna dance cuz i've never done it in a place like this yet, and you owe me, so,"
"i'm sorry, owe you for what again?" Sharpness' frown quickly finds its place back on his face. The rabbit chokes on a laugh.
and as his arms reach out to Sharpness, Sharpness finds that for some weird reason, he doesn't flinch at the contact.
"loosen up!" his voice is enthusiatic as he pulls Sharp in, "cmon we've gotta dance you can't just stand around—" and in a blink of an eye, Sharpness' arms are stretched out, hands holding onto the other's, "trust me it'll be fun."
he doesn't know if he should trust the words of a man he had just met, but he can barely protest it when he wouldn't know what excuse to use if he wanted to escape anyway.
that is, if he actually does want to escape.
and right now he's having a hard time knowing what he even thinks or feels anymore, in this kind of situation.
Sharpness lets out a short, nervous laugh, as the arms start to move him around. at first it's gentle sways, spinning idly while holding onto eachother.
he starts to sincerely feel like he's lost his rationale already, letting a stranger drag him into a dance. but it's so easy to let go for a moment. so easy to let the hands and arms holding onto his guide him.
it's only when the stranger's grin widens once more, that he notices he might be planning something else.
and as if everything he had done that evening hadn't been enough,
the man swiftly moves his hand into Sharpness' , intertwining the fingers there and holding it out further, while his other arm positions itself around Sharp's waist.
Sharpness furrows his eyebrows, cursing himself for feeling a bit embarrassed with the way the awkward hold from before switched to a firmer, more proper stance.
their speed begins to increase as the stranger guides him, the sways having more and more intent as they go, and then they really start to move, spinning around the space as if it's their own.
and it's not like Sharpness even knows how to dance at all! sure he had lessons when he was a tad younger but he proved to be useless and his father deemed it a futile and hopeless case, but—
this didn't even feel like dancing!
Sharpness yelps with the violent sways, the twirls and shift of weight on their feet,
their steps glide across the marbled floor in quick succession, it's like they're lightweight together spinning atop the ground.
the man swivels Sharpness around once or twice, before there's a quick (but very light) dip.
being lowered so swiftly and shortly, Sharpness almost yelps once more, but what irks him is that the stranger has the gall to giggle at his reaction.
and what irks him even more is that he can feel his face redden in response,
and it's purely embarrassment! maybe with a side of frustration but, how else is he supposed to feel?
certainly not excited or exhilarated.
right?
and he's sure the fluttering of his heartbeat isn't any of that at all, that his smiling as they nearly fall over is just a twitch of the muscle.
that him laughing as the spins get more dramatic is just a nervous response, nothing more, nothing less.
with how the world blurs and spins into nothing around him, he doesn't even have half the mind to notice that everyone's gazes are on them, watching them make fools of themselves with their nonsensical whirling in random, senseless directions.
and when their spinning does come to an end, it's thankfully near the balcony, away from the lingering eyes Sharpness hadn't even noticed were on them in the first place.
they both catch their breath near the open air, the stranger stumbling onto the terrace overlooking the city below, dragging Sharpness in with him.
his arms lean against the parapet, breathing the cold night air in deeply.
he starts to feel a bit chilly, but it's incredibly contrasting to how warm he felt from all the action from before. he chuckles a bit, mostly to himself, as he turns his head to the lavender-haired stranger beside him.
he's looking outwards, to the few street oil lamps lighting up the city.
and Sharpness can't help the smile that sneaks its way onto his face, with the silly way the guy looks.
and after successfully regulating their breath and heartbeat, the man finally speaks up again.
"now you get to say you've done something fun in your life for once. you're welcome," he says it cheekily as he looks back at Sharpness.
how endearingly annoying...
"i do alot of fun stuff, so thanks but no thanks," he chuckles, brushing a blonde strand behind his ear. his hand starts to thread through his long ponytail shortly after, remembering it must've gotten atleast a little messed up with all that violent movement from earlier.
"pfft- fun like what? what kinda occupation do you even have to be at a place like this?" the man waves a hand around, smirking as he leans his body against the parapet. "this is like, maximum wealth type of shit so you must be a boring noble that something meaningless likee,, i dunno... exotic animal trade?" he glances back at Sharpness with a toothy grin. Sharpness rolls his eyes with a snort.
"not even close... i do sword training sometimes, if you want a hint. i'm considered a swordmaster actually, around these parts," he shrugs with a flip of his hair, smiling smugly at the way the stranger's ears twitch with what he assumes is irritation.
"ah so like a knight then? wait you do kinda look like one with those small armour pieces you're wearing," he points at the pauldron adorning his shoulders, also keeping his cape in place.
"still kinda far, if you wanna know that badly i'm actually your soon-to-be emperor, so—" he starts out kind of confidently, because it'd obviously be a flex to even be able to say that, but the person rudely interrupts him almost immediately "—shit, what?"
"what? what's wrong?" Sharpness tilts his head a bit more towards the stranger, a look of confusion quickly overtaking his face.
"no, nothing, it's just. eh..... like, when- when exactly are you becoming....er" it's the first time Sharpness has heard this guy sound anywhere near anxious, and it's incredibly alarming.
"uh.... like, several months because it's like a whole process and there's a ritual and everything to follow, and my father isn't deceased so it's an even more complicated thing but—" he barely gets another word in before he's rudely interrupted again "—wait wait so, like, you do have- i mean fuck ofcourse you have something to do with politics right? you're like the next fuckin'... supreme leader or some shit," he mutters out the majority of what he's saying, stumbling over his words as he goes about it. he's even started to pace around the balcony, cold air blowing over his hair and features.
Sharpness can't say he knows what's even going on anymore, by this point.
"are you like switching up on me now? just because i'm taking the throne soon doesn't mean i'm some... like, detached from society weirdo or—" he doesn't know- okay well maybe he does know the why it would be a big deal, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal right? he's been nice, he's had manners, he didn't flex it nearly as much as he could've! this guy has been rude to him straight up from the beginning— what excuse does he have? to treat Sharpness like that?
"no it's, hah, it's—" the guy isn't giving him any clear indications, any cue on what he's even stressing about. so what if Sharpness is very upper class, almost the top of the hierarchy? that doesn't make him unapproachable, or stuck up, or rude like this guy is very much being right now, and he keeps muttering and muttering, but what is he even muttering about at this point?
"fuck, he's around here right? isn't he? fuck, i need to... fuck...." Sharpness barely hears anything; he can only stand there with his arms crossed over his torso, giving this guy the meanest stare he can because what is his deal? can he explain himself, or does he have some sort of anxious disorder?
"listen, random dude, can you try your best to tell me—"
"PARKER! PARKER!! ARE YA THERE BUD? I'M DONE ALREADY! IM HEADING DOWN!"
the best emotion to describe how Sharpness is feeling at the moment, is bewilderment.
the second is anger because what the fuck?
before he can say anything, before he can grab the guys arm and demand respect and a well-deserved explanation, the man seems to see something below the balcony and throws himself (with so much precision it must be practised or a typical move this guy pulls) over the railing, disappearing into the leaves of the tree directly below them,
"WHAT THE— HELLO? ARE YOU OKAY? DID YOU DIE???—"
he doesn't know if he even cares about the guy's safety, but the action itself is baffling to say the least.
...
yep, doesn't care.
but he's still slightly concerned for about a second or two before he sees two figures scurry away into the shadows of the night.
he groans, rolling his eyes and laying his arms over the railing, letting his head rest on them.
he looks back at the well-lit, bustling castle ballroom, hearing the laughter, music and chatter above all else.
his gaze goes back to the outside, the dark sky littered in stars and the city far out below, and thinks,
who does that guy think he is?
but most of all
WHO THE FUCK IS PARKER?