After the meeting ended, to Jack"s surprise, the entire gathering dissolved into what could only be described as a party, with wine and ale being served, some of the adventurers and Company members breaking out musical instruments, and others dancing to the jaunty tunes they provided the gathered ma.s.ses.He was generally content to sit on the sidelines and laugh at the increasingly drunk revelry going on, but before he knew it, he was being offered drinks and being asked to dance by several of the female adventurers, as well as one of the male adventurers, all of which he politely refused. The person who finally managed to get him off his behind was Rose, who grabbed his gloved hand with hers and with a wild, playful look pulled him to his feet and tried to drag him into the dance circle. He playfully tried to resist, but at the cheers and jeers of the others around him, he finally relented and joined her.
He did his best to keep up with her, but while he was able to at least move on beat, she moved like a well-practiced expert, her lithe muscular form shifting and twisting in time with the music, her eyes closed as she lost herself in the rhythm. One more than one occasion, he caught himself just standing there, watching her, before he realized how he looked and started dancing again to avoid drawing attention to himself. The moves she made had all the power and grace of a fighter"s strikes and parries, and even shared many of the same angles and forms. Looking around, he could see he was far from the only person paying her a lot of attention. She was absolutely mesmerizing.
As the song came to an end, her eyes shot open and glanced over at him as she grinned, her chest rising and falling as she worked to catch her breath.
"This is fun!" She said.
"You like dancing, don"t you?" Jack said.
"I don"t get to do it nearly enough. It"s like all of the fun of fighting with none of the drawbacks." She said, wiping faint beads of sweat from her forehead. "After we get Ellie back, we need to go dancing in Hawkport. I think she"d like that."
"Sounds good to me." He replied.
He was about to turn and head back to his old seating place, when the band started playing another tune, this one much slower and softer than the last. He felt someone grab his arm, and he turned to find Rose holding him, looking at him pleadingly.
"Dance one more with me?" She asked, her large golden eyes shining.
The look on her face made his heart stop for a moment. He hadn"t ever seen that look from her before. He"d always been attracted to her as well, and he had gotten the sense she"d been flirting with him in the past, but he"d never once gotten the sense she might actually be interested in him. Like, actually interested as more than a companion.
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This was different, and he suddenly felt his heart starting to race. He swallowed hard.
"Yeah, uh, sure. Be happy to." He said, turning and heading back into the circle with her.
Without prompting, she grabbed him around the waist and pulled him close to her, before guiding his hands into what his dorky brain would identify as the "80"s movie slow dance position". The only thing lacking was teased-up hair and a Spandau Ballet song.
He was grateful to be wearing gloves and armor. It actually made it possible for him to have physical contact with her without pain. Thinking of this, he remembered Frumpkin"s comment about "forge gloves" when he"d first made his wish. It ws infuriating how often the old man was right.