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Returning from a quick round around the Citadel, you took your place beside Nyx. Just as he had been doing when you left about fifteen minutes ago, he was letting his eyes slowly wander through the large crowd of people that had gathered within the courtyard. The usually empty space was filled with musicians, performers and smiling guests from all over. Had you not been on duty, an event like this could have been a lot of fun. Unfortunately, since you were on duty, the event was proving to be painfully dull. Despite this, Nyx hadn't complained once. “So, are you having fun yet?”

“Of course I am.” Greeting your obvious sarcasm with a crooked smile, Nyx nodded. “I'm having a ball.”

Shoulders drooping at his response, you felt your brows furrow. “I hope that wasn't a pun, because if it was, it was awful.”

“I'm just trying to liven things up for you a little.” Quietly chuckling at your insult, or possibly his own joke, Nyx adjusted his stance and shrugged. “Besides, it wasn't that bad.”

Not at all impressed by his attempt at making a joke, you didn't even try to spare his pride. “No, it was pretty bad.”

“You really know how to cut a guy deep.” Sighing softly, Nyx placed a hand over his heart and pretended to be hurt by your words. His act over almost as soon as it had started, his smile returned and his attention turned to a slightly more important subject. “So, I guess there was nothing to report?”

“Nope. Nothing at all. Everything's exactly how it should be, which is good, but also boring.” The festivities had honestly only been going on for about an hour or so, but you were already bored out of your mind. It wasn't that you wanted something to go wrong, of course, but staring into a crowd for hours on end could drive anyone a little insane. “These things always seem to go on forever, and we're just kind of stuck standing here.”

All too aware of that fact that you weren't the most patient person in the world, and were prone to getting bored quite easily, Nyx made a suggestion. “No one said you couldn't do a little dancing yourself.”

Even if you had been willing to do something like that in front of a bunch of nobles, diplomats and such, his idea wouldn't have worked. Turning him down without giving the subject a second thought, you shook your head. “How am I supposed to stay on guard if I'm dancing?”

“We're not the only ones on duty here.” A teasing glimmer lighting up his eyes, Nyx made quick work of your excuse. “A dance or two should be okay.”

“Maybe...” Sure you'd already been beat, but not willing to admit it, you shook your head and denied his suggestion once more. “I really don't think I want to risk it though.”

“So you're bored, but you don't want to do anything to fix it?” Though he stole only a sideways glance, Nyx still managed to make it clear that you weren't fooling him. “Hmm.”

You should have let the subject end there, but your pride wouldn't allow it. “It's not that I don't want to do anything, it's that I'm working.”

“That sounds like an excuse to me.” Not at all convinced, Nyx scoffed.

Once again, you tried to keep yourself from saying anything else, as you knew each sentence you uttered would only dig your grave that much deeper, but it was no use. Less than a minute later you disputed his claims. “No, I just don't feel like getting into trouble for fooling around when I'm supposed to be keeping watch.”

Sure he now had you right where he wanted you, Nyx turned to face you. Even before he'd uttered a word, the smug, victorious smirk he was wearing was more than enough to tell you'd been defeated. “What if you had permission?”

“Huh?” Heart dropping to your stomach, as you couldn't find an argument for that suggestion, your voice came out as little more than a whisper. “I guess it would be alright then.”

“Good.” His smirk now a wide smile, Nyx gave your shoulder a firm pat. “Then I give you permission to dance, or mingle, or do whatever else it is you want to do.”

In a slight state of panic, and disbelief, you weakly shook your head. “Can you do that?”

Laughing at his small victory, Nyx nodded. “I just did, didn't I?”

Unsure what you could say to deter him at this point, you quietly mumbled to yourself. “Yeah, but...”

“But?” He echoed. “But what? You can't think up another excuse, can you?”

“I wasn't making excuses.” Crossing your arms over your puffed out chest, you snorted at his unwanted, albeit correct accusation. “I'm just taking this job much more seriously than you are, obviously.”

Rolling his eyes to make his sarcasm perfectly clear, Nyx echoed you once more. “Obviously.” Finally able to keep yourself from saying anything else, the air around the two of you went quiet. This quiet brought with it a feeling of awkwardness, something that wasn't common between you and Nyx. Even so, you managed not to speak. Nyx, however, could only keep quiet for a few moments before breaking the uncomfortable silence. “So, have you changed your mind yet?”

Refusing to take your eyes off of the crowd, you gently shook your head. “Nope.”

Sighing at your answer, Nyx let his shoulders droop and his head fall forward. “This is going to be a long night.”

“I know.” You somewhat smugly agreed. “I've already said that.”

Though he mumbled something under his breath, Nyx said nothing else to you for what felt like an eternity. Once he could take no more of the stilted atmosphere, he piped up again. “You know, we could at least talk. It might help pass the time.”

“Okay.” Immediately nodding, as anything was better than standing in the corner, you urged him to start a conversation. “What about?”

“We could talk about the guest's clothes, judge their dancing, or just talk about the weather.” He shrugged, obviously just glad to be talking at all. “It doesn't matter.”

Your own mind devoid of any interesting topics, you gave Nyx the task of coming up with something. “If it doesn't matter, then why don't you pick the subject?”

With a shake of his head, Nyx let out a groan. “You're no help at all.”

“Yeah, well neither are you.” Eyes narrowed suspiciously, you watched Nyx's face closely. You couldn't prove it yet, but you had a feeling that he was up to something. “You can come up with something to talk about just as easily as I can.”

“I could.” He nodded, unable to keep the corner of his lip from curling into a grin. “But, I don't think that would be as much fun.”

That was it. The clue you'd been looking for. That little, barely noticeable grin was all the proof you needed that he had something up his sleeve. “As much fun as what exactly? Watching me awkwardly try to start a conversation about a random subject?”

“Yup.” He admitted. “Pretty much.” Still not sure what he was planning, you glared at him fiercely. Despite your best effort to intimidate him into talking, Nyx's smile only grew. “Your face is going to get stuck like that.” Now wearing an annoyingly cocky expression, Nyx turned his attention to the crowd. Annoyed, just as he knew you would be, you couldn't help but grumble to yourself. Hearing your grumbling, Nyx looked at you with his brow arched. “Did you say something?”

Crossing your arms again, you shook your head dispute the truth. “No.”

“If you say so.” Looking a little disappointed by your answer, Nyx's smile faded. Trying to rid himself of his boredom, he adjusted his stance several times, fidgeted around with his clothes and even quietly hummed to himself. After waiting around as long as he could bear, Nyx took you by the hand and turned on his heel to leave the room.

Too confused to hold your ground, you followed after him with wide eyes. “H-hey, what are you doing?”

As if the answer should have been apparent already, Nyx gave a flippant response. “Taking a little break.”

At a total loss, but honestly quite glad for the chance of scenery, you didn't try to stop him from dragging you along. “Okay, but what does that have to do with me exactly, and where are we going?”

“Here.” Now in an empty part of the Citadel, Nyx released your hand. “I thought I'd take you somewhere less populated in case your dancing is as bad as I suspect it is.”

Cheeks burning at both the idea of dancing with him, and his little insult, you scoffed. “I never even agreed to dance at all.”

Taking a sharp breath between his teeth, Nyx gave you a sympathetic look. “You're that bad, huh?”

“What?” Blushing even worse than before, you firmly crossed your arms. “No, I am not that bad. I can dance just fine, thank you.”

“Mhm...” Not inclined to believe your claims, Nyx continued to tease you. “I'm sure you can.”

That may have worked on someone else, but you knew all too well what Nyx was trying to do, and you weren't about to fall for it. “If you're trying to trick me into proving it to you, it isn't going to work.”

His plan failed, Nyx took your hand and pulled your body close to his. He may not have been able to trick you into a dance, but he was determined to get you dancing one way or another. “You need to relax.” Smiling down at you, he began slowly moving to the now barely audible music.

“I am relaxed.” Now far less relaxed than you had been the entire evening, your body became terribly rigid making any sort of dancing impossible for you. “Stop this.”

Struggling not to laugh at your awkward, stiff movements, Nyx played dumb and continued dancing. “Stop what?”

“Oh come on. Don't play that.” Though you already knew it would do little, if any good, you glared up at him. “You know exactly what I'm talking about.”

“Oh, you mean the dancing?” Pulling you even closer, Nyx let out a prideful chuckle. “How did that happen?”

Not too red-faced to look at him, you let your head drop to his shoulder in an attempt to cover at least a little of your embarrassment. “You're not nearly as funny as you think you are.”

“I know.” Sighing, though you doubted your words had actually wounded him at all, Nyx continued effortlessly swaying to the music. “You keep telling me that.”

“Apparently not enough, because you keep trying to make jokes.” Your face still pressed against his shoulder, your words came out muffled,
but still clear enough for Nyx to hush you.

“Shh. You're ruining the moment.” Snuggling your body as close to his as he could, Nyx hummed along to the melody, causing his breath to tickle your skin. Though it didn't tickle terribly, it did make your skin grow warm.

Your blush growing worse with each breath, it didn't take long before your heartbeat started to quicken. As tightly as Nyx was holding you, you knew he had to be aware of both your flushed skin and your rapid heartbeat. Embarrassed by the very idea, you tried to bring the short dance to an early end. “H-hey, Nyx?”

“Shh, the song's almost over.” Though he had hushed you again, you were actually a bit glad that he had. Sure, you had wanted to escape the embarrassment this dance was causing you, but in all honesty, you were enjoying every second of this awkward little dance. Unfortunately, just as he had promised, the song soon came to an end, and with it, so did your dance. Even now, however, Nyx continued holding you close. Maybe it was just your imagination, but he seemed to be getting even closer. His eyes now locked on yours, you could feel your whole body start to flush. Though seemingly pleased by this, a confused expression flashed across his face. “What's with that look? Were you expecting something to happen?”

“What?” Jolted back to reality, you quickly shook your head. “No, of course not.” It was a lie, as you could have sworn he was about to kiss you, but you weren't about to admit the truth.

“Oh?” Not convinced by your lie, Nyx chuckled quietly as he placed his palm on your cheek. “Well then, surprise.” Giving only that as a warning, he tilted your chin up ever so slightly and pressed his lips to yours. This wasn't the first kiss the two of you had shared, but it was the first kiss you'd shared in such a very public place. And while that fact made it all the more embarrassing, it also made it that much more exciting. Ending the kiss far too soon, Nyx smiled as he gently brushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “Were you surprised?”

“Mmm...” Ignoring his question, as you were sure he already knew the answer, you cleared your throat and changed the subject. “We really should be getting back you know.”

“I couldn't agree more.” Lifting his voice in an attempt to make his presence known before Nyx could kiss you again, Libertus took several steps towards you. “I was wondering where you two ran off too.” He sighed, though his smile made it clear that he wasn't annoyed with your disappearance in the slightest. “I should have known.”

“Come on Libertus, we were just taking a well-deserved break.” Finally freeing you from his embrace, Nyx laughed at his friend's words. “That's all.”

“Sure you were.” Scoffing at Nyx, Libertus turned to leave. “Now get back to work already. Someone else around here might want to take a break, you know?”

Waiting until Libertus was out of earshot to speak, Nyx sighed but made no attempt to return to his post. “Sometimes I'd swear he does this sort of thing on purpose.”

“He is right though.” At this point, you had absolutely no idea how long you and Nyx had been gone. It hadn't seemed like that long at all, but if Libertus had come looking for you, it must have been quite a while. “We really should get back. If we don't, he'll just come looking for us again.”

“If you say so.” Making his reluctance known, Nyx shrugged, then, with an admittedly handsome, yet somewhat wicked grin tugging at his lips, turned to face you once more. “I guess we'll just have to finish this up later, won't we?”

“Finish what up?” Turning away from him as quickly as you could, simply to hide the blush his words had caused, you started back to the party. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Oh?” His voice suddenly laced with a strange, unfamiliar tone, Nyx began following you. “Then I guess you're in for another surprise.”