Varsha stared down into the eyes of one determined woman. “Why?”

“Is it wrong for a mother to wish to see her child attend something for once?” Angela put her hands on her hips as she got an even more determined look on her face.

“And if I don’t and I refuse to go? Or even if I don’t find someone to go with?” Varsha crossed her arms and gave the same stare back.

“I’ll tell your most embarrassing secret.”

“You wouldn’t…” Varsha’s mouth went agape as she grumbled. “Fine, give me the stupid dress.” She snatched the dress, necklace, earrings, and everything else from her mother’s hands. “You are a pain in the a–” She turned back and her mother was gone. That woman… Had a weird sense of humor.

After many minutes of grumbling to herself, she packed a backpack up and headed to the Highlands from where she was. It took her a while to find her bearings but once she knew where she was she made her way to where she knew the dragon Hacesh would be.

Once she found him she dropped the bag and rubbed the back of her neck. “So I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a problem… I was wondering if you wanted to attend a dance with me so my mother doesn’t lose it and run her mouth about something… Save me from being blackmailed?” There was a nervous laugh from her lips. “I can understand if you have no interest in it though. I barely do myself but I simply don’t know anyone else.”

He hadn't expected to see her again so soon after their brief encounter in the Hightlands with her sister when they had been hunting for a dragon, not knowing it was him. But he was still happy to see Varsha again, probably always would be, they got along well. But her request had been one he hadn't expected, to say the least. A dance, she wanted him to attend a dance with her because her mother seemed to have something on her that she'd tell people if Varsha didn't go.

He thought it over for a minute and for reasons that were his own, and the fact that liked Varsha enough to actually want to go with her, he nodded. ”I'd be happy to go with you, Varsha. But I'll meet you there, I want to head into another town for a moment and get something.” He had replied and once he knew where it was had taken wing to do what he had wanted to.

At the Cathedral later on Hacesh's huge form passed over head once as he wheeled in the air dropping down further to the ground. But as he came down he shifted to his normal self and landed easily on two legs as he caught the attention of, well, pretty much everyone that was outside at the moment. But he ignored them looking over them to look for Varsha, who wasn't that much shorter than he was in fact. He smiled once he found her and approached. ”Sorry if I am late.” He apologized. ”The tailor worked as fast as he could.” Hacesh wasn't wearing his normal loin cloth.

Instead he had went out and bought and specially tailored pair of pants for himself for the night. They were black and formal looking on his legs and had a hole in the back for his tail to poke through. He was still barefoot and topless of course but this getup, for what it was, would suffice for the night. ”I figured my normal look wasn't, uh, formal enough for the evening, so I thought of this, I hope you like.” He chuckled and held his hand out for her with a smile. ”Shall we head inside?”

Varsha had a smile on her face and chuckled a bit more. “Thank you for wanting to go with me. I soothes me a bit to know that Mother won’t have this victory.” At his request she simply nodded and thought about it. “I have to go get changed myself.”

The contraption that her mother got for her was a slick dazzling red dress with off shoulder straps. It flushed out at the bottom in spread across the ground though currently, it was in her hand as she held it off the snow. Her red hair was pinned up in their wild natural curls. With rubies around her neck and hanging from her ears, she looked elegant unlike most of the half drows she had come across. This was her mother’s plan. Gods know how long she had been planning it.

At the front of the Cathedral, she stood there and she waited for him. Once he found her she smirked up at him and chuckled just a bit. Her green eyes looked over his form and nodded in appreciation. “Thank you for taking my request seriously.” She bowed to him the best she could in the skin tight dress. “For what it’s worth, I think you make a very handsome monkey-suit dragon.” She pushed herself up the rest of the way as her red lips met his scaly cheek.

Taking his arm she winked at him as they made it inside the Cathedral. “They told me stories of this place. Apparently, my sister’s father came from here… Not surprisingly she is a half angel. My mother will be here so forget me if she is… a bit of a pain in the ass tonight.” Once they found the ballroom she got dizzy for a moment as she looked around. “This is fantastic… the rumors about this place didn’t hold any lies.”

She spotted her mother talking with several other people. “Time to get it over with.” Angela turned around in her spectacular purple and blue dress to great them both. She was smaller than her daughter but her presence… Well, it sort of drowned everyone in the area. It was more like a love drunk effect and Varsha smiled towards her. “Love suits you well Mother. Hacesh, you know my mother but recently she lost the Earth domain and well she is the Weaver of Love now as well.”

There was a smirk on the goddess’s face as she bowed softly. “It is very nice to meet you again. Like my daughter has said I am the Weaver of Love…. And may love be in your favor tonight.” That playful smile on her face was a bit nerve-wracking to the half-drow as the goddess brought up her hand and touched Hacesh’s face… Then touched Varsha’s.

Varsha felt dizzy for a moment before Angela let her hand down. “I do hope you enjoy the food we prepared. It’s good meeting you again Hacesh.”

Upon seeing Varsha and what she was wearing Hacesh smiled. ”You are looking amazing tonight, Varsha, it suits you very well. Though, I can hardly think of anything that wouldn't suit you.” He spoke, being honest in his opinion of her looks but teasing a little at the same time. She was stunning in that dress, she easily put ever other female here on a lower level in his mind already. She returned the compliment about his own suit and he chuckled. ”I'm not used to it, I'll admit that much, but I'll keep them for sure, just in case.”

Arms linked together they headed into the Cathedral, Varsha speaking of it while Hacesh took in the place. ”In all my time I have never came here before tonight, which I now find sad, this is spectacular indeed. I wish I had come to see it sooner, but to share it with you for the first time, makes it even more special.” Hacesh spoke with a grin but he kept his eyes looking around at the building and its beauty.

They walked through the crowd, Hacesh knew he was getting some looks but he was used to that at this point, he was here for Varsha and no one else. So, when it came time to meet her mother in person, the dragon did notice Angela's own radiant beauty but he wasn't allowing him to ogle her or take his fullest attention away from Varsha. He smiled to the Goddess as he learned that she had lost the Earth aspect and gained Love instead, he hadn't heard of that change, so it must have been recent. ”A pleasure to meet you as well, dear Goddess.” Hacesh replied with a bow of respect towards Angela, still going his best to not allow her aura to take his mind away from Varsha.

He had a moment's look of confusion when Angela touched his face lightly and then did the same to Varsha, Hacesh blinked a couple of times as his mind went foggy for a second. Must have been from all the power that she radiated, he thought, so he ignored the feeling for now, not knowing how Varsha felt. The words from Angela did, however, catch his attention and he figured that Varsha would be upset possibly by them. ”You as well, Angela.” Hacesh replied once more as Angela took her leave of them.

The dragon smiled and looked back to Varsha with a playful grin. ”Would you like to get something to eat, or would you like to dance?” He asked. ”I will warn you, I am no great dancer.” Wouldn't stop him from trying though, would be fun to try again after hundreds of years out of practice, at least that many anyway, maybe more, it was hard to keep track sometimes. He'd follow her in whatever her choice was, even if she came up with a third option.

Her dark features flushed a bit as Hacesh spoke to her. He was very flattering and he practically always had been. “I could probably think of a few things.” She chuckled joking mostly about silly little outfits she had seen Sularian girls wear.

It had to be something in the atmosphere of this place. The romanticism of it all. It made what Hacesh was saying stand out like a brightly light candle. She took a deep breath and smirked a bit up at him. “I’m glad I could share this moment with you as well. Not many people get to enjoy the amazing views of Zets’Ki with someone they care about.” It was hard to say what made her care about the dragon as much as she did. They had met only a handful of times and yet she did care. It was unlike her.

Once they were in the ballroom all it took was Angela to come over for Varsha to be nervous. Any man would gawk at her mother for one reason or another but Hacesh… He didn’t. His attention was fully on her. Even Angela seemed to take notice of this as they spoke. They didn’t refer to her as the Beauty of the Conclave for nothing.

Angela took her leave shortly after the fog had washed over both of them. “She makes me drink,” Varsha chuckled up at Hacesh to answer his question. “Honestly, that made me insanely nervous. I can never tell what it is she will do. Unpredictable and yet strangely predictable at her age.” Varsha led him over to the refreshment table as she got them some wine. “Stay far away from that punch I can only imagine what Dalanesca put in it. I would rather know I’m drinking alcohol than not know.” She jested up to the dragon as they drank and toasted each other.

Savoring the sweet wine in her mouth a strange thought crossed her mind… Then it seemed a strange action as she put the wine glass down and took Hacesh’s away from him. “Come,” her voice was strong as she took both his hands and led him out to where everyone’s was. “I have not danced in a long time either. I was raised in the courts of Arri but… I am afraid I am just as terrible as you.” She jested lightly to make him feel better.

The first twirl of the dance let to Hacesh and her taking out one couple but Varsha only dipped herself in Hacesh’s arms and took a peek at them for a second before coming back up to meet him. “I’m pretty sure they will be alright.”

Hacesh chuckled at Varsha's words as he mother walked away and together then went and got something to drink. ”Age does funny things to some when you for as long as we can, I find. Maybe it has for as well, would I know if it did? If I live to be six thousand years old, what will I be like?” He pondered curiously as Varsha got them some wine, Hacesh wasn't picky with what he drank, though she warned him away from the punch. ”Hm, thanks for the warning.” He replied with a grin as they toasted. ”Too a wonderful evening.”

He drank and soon after Varsha had set her glass down and took his hand after taking his own glass away. He had a puzzled look on his face, this was unexpected, as he was led to the dance floor, Varsha confessing she hadn't danced in some time herself so he'd be in good company.

They started to dance and at the first twirl Hacesh felt his tail strike someone and Varsha next took out that person partner. The dragon felt bad but dipped Varsha anyway, something telling him in the back of his mind to keep going, focus on her, more so when she confirmed that they'd be okay, hopefully. In any event that action earned them some extra room on the dance floor, since Hacesh wasn't able to tuck in his tail up closer he'd trip over it himself, or trip Varsha.

For both that hadn't danced in some time they soon seemed to slip into an easy rhythm together, keeping better time with the music and not knocking anyone else over, yet. Hacesh became a little more assertive over the course of the dance, pulling Varsha close to him as they danced slowly in a circle together, leaning forward and gently placing his forehead to her own. It was a sign of affection from him, akin to kiss almost, whether Varsha knew that or not was unknown. He cared for Varsha, more so than he thought he would given how short of time they had known each other and few encounters they had had over that time. Yet now they were dancing very close to each other and even still Hacesh's wing suddenly came around to embrace Varsha as well, furthering the intimacy and in a way their privacy as no one could see beyond Hacesh's wings around them.

”Am I, being too forward, Varsha?” He finally spoke in a whisper for her ears only, his forehead still to hers unless she had removed herself from the intimate action.

Varsha smirked towards Hacesh and chuckled. “I’m beginning to think old age makes you riskier as well as risque.” She clinked her glass against his with a grin. It would surely be a good night for them both. “May it keep getting better,” she added to his toast with a smile.

Draining her wine she was quick to put it down as soon as the idea sprung into her head that they should dance. The look on his face was clear to read as she chuckled. It would be funny watching a dragon such as Hacesh dance not that she was any better herself. It was more his stature that made it funny in her mind.

One person was caught up in the comedy act the two were putting on. Though to them, it was nothing of the sort. Their focus was entirely on each other and the fog over her mind did not seem to want to lift anytime soon. If she had better-thought patterns at that time she would have realized what was going on but with Hacesh there it wasn’t easy and she couldn’t divert her thoughts.

The longer they went the more Hacesh pulled her closer. Her hands gripped at him with each tightening. They slowed down and she met his forehead with her own. She couldn’t put her finger to it but it seemed so much more intimate than it looked. It made her breaths go almost heavy as she found herself closer to him than originally intended.

After a few moments of thought, she smiled up at him and pressed her lips to his scaly cheek. “If anything I am ashamed I have not been just as forward.” She whispered back to him before pressing her forehead against his once more. “Feels like ages have passed since I’ve had such a nice evening,” their voices were low as they spoke within the miniature room he had created for them. “Wouldn’t be as nice if you weren’t here Hacesh.”

Her green eyes took a peek up at his as thoughts weaved in and out of her mind. “It’s kind of crowded here… don’t you think? Why don’t we go find a place to ourselves? I’m sure we can still hear the music from there.” It was quite loud but somehow she didn’t think they really needed it anymore.

He was happy when she met his forehead with her own, it was a good sign that she at least liked him and didn't want to keep him at arms length. He could hear her breathing pick up slightly and that made his own rise a little as well as they danced slowly together. By the time Varsha broke the silence between them they were very close together and Hacesh smiled as she kissed his cheek after her spoke of being forward.

He chuckled lightly at her flirtatious words. ”It has been some time for me as well, Varsha, I am happy that I can spend it with you as well.” He replied his voice quiet enough for her only to hear him, but then his face looked puzzled at her next words of the dance floor being too crowded. He thought a moment and then smiled with a nod. ”I think that is a wonderful idea.” He held his arm out for her and together they left the dance floor, much to some of the other dancers' relief, and then the main ballroom itself.

As they made their way through the Cathedral, they stayed close together until they found an empty room and went in to see what it was like, they could still hear the music from the Hall. The room wasn't overly large, a table a couple of chairs and a cot, must have been a room for travellers to stay in for a night on their pilgrimage.

Hacesh smiled this could work, they could still dance together to the music if they so wished. But Hacesh's mind was moving to other things and he was unable to put such thoughts out of his mind. He turned and gently shut the door t o give them some more privacy. Hacesh then turned back to Varsha and smiled as he pulled her close again and smiled reaching out to gently cup her cheek. Unable to help himself Hacesh leaned forward to kiss Varsha lovingly, he knew he was doing it of course, and knew that she might not like it, but he was doing it anyway, something in him wanting her to return the kiss desperately. His free hand moved almost on its own to caress her skin softly, careful of his claws even if they were filed down. He just hoped that she wouldn't become angry and tell him to leave, he would, he was no monster in that respect, but he had feelings for Varsha that he hadn't realized until they were alone and not felt for some time either about someone.

They went off to find their own little slice of paradise in the large cathedral. They had apparently not been the only ones to have had the idea but they managed to find a little area all to themselves for privacy. Varsha was looking around the room when she heard Hacesh shut the door. She turned back towards him letting her fingers nervously fidget against the red fabric of her dress.

The fidgeting stopped as he cupped her cheek and she smirked up at him. They were once again close and she chuckled to herself as her mind leaped to the possibilities within the room. If it had been any other time Varsha would have been surprised by the kiss but she shared it with him returning it just as affectionately. One of her hands came up and palmed against his chest gently feeling the scales under her fingertips.

Their kiss continued and she gently pulled him towards the cot. It seemed large enough and if it wasn’t well it would be an adventure either way. Her head was still swimming and if it had been any other time she would have probably been more nervous. Their movements after that seemed… well starved for a better word.

–

The cot did prove too small but they were curled up on the ground with the pillow and blanket that had been on it. She had herself wrapped around him and her head was nestled into his neck. The fogginess had finally gone away and there was no telling just how long they had been in there. If the candles were any indication it was a long time. Her red locks were out of the pins and wild about her shoulders. She only opened her eyes for a few moments to peek up at him and chuckle to herself.

It was interesting, to say the least but at least it was him. He did help her and he was interesting. He also wanted to build up how she thought of herself and so far he was doing very well at that. She pulled the blanket a bit farther up on her as a shiver went down her spine. She had nearly forgotten that this place was near eternal winter even in the room they had found it wasn’t very well heated at all. “I would say goodnight but I haven’t the slightest clue what time it is.” They had only just finished after all. She could hear his breathing and her own. Though she thought hers was a tad bit heavier.

“The music is still going though so that’s a good sign.” She could hear the band not far off inside the ballroom. At least the entire night wasn’t gone just yet.

Her return of his kiss with matched affection made Hacesh's heart flutter slightly, he had hoped she would do so but had been more prepared for her to reject his advances. But she did not, her hand coming up to his chest as they kissed, and she gently pulled him towards the cot, it looked large enough for them, but the odds of it being sturdy enough weren't as bright. Hacesh allowed his mind to slow down and enjoy the moment, enjoy this time with Varsha, a woman he was finding himself caring more and more about each time they met.

---

The floor had to do in the end, as the cot just wasn't up to the task of holding them both during their activities. Hacesh's breaking was faster than normal but not as much as Varsha's, who was currently curled up around him and her head nestled at his neck, Hacesh has his own head close to hers, arms around her. His wings were a little more awkwardly placed, since they were almost as wide as the room, he had them pulled in close as he could but on his back he couldn't get them under him.

But he wasn't in any pain from so he ignored it, instead enjoyed the afterglow and Varsha's scent in his nose. The fog had lifted from his own mind as well and he used the candles to judge how long they had been at it as she did, impressed really they had been that long. He smiled down as she opened her eyes enough to look up at him, she chuckled, but why he did not know, but it made him chuckle all the same.

She pulled the blanket that was over her up more and he felt her shiver, so Hacesh used a little of his magic to raise his body temperature some more to help keep her warm. At her comment he grinned. ”I've lost track as well.” Which for him was unusual to do, since his internal clock, as it were, was usually pretty good, which meant what they had done had been really good to make him lose track.

At her comment of the music Hacesh chuckled again lightly. ”Indeed, more so because I was worried they had heard me roar that little bit at the end there.” But if the band was playing and no one was trying to get inside the room, he hoped that meant no one had heard them, or at least were kind enough to leave well enough alone. ”We can go back to dance if you wish, Varsha, but I don't mind staying like this a little longer.” He craned his neck down to look at her and grinned. ”Besides, if I try and get those pants on again right now I might pinch myself. Or tear them at the front.” He chuckled again. He'd do as she liked, but it was true, he needed a few more moments before he could try and get the tailored pants back on, since he didn't have his loin cloth with him as back up and didn't think it would be wise to walk back in without something covering him. He waited for her reply as he brought one wing over and around to cover her as well like the blanket was to help keep her warm.