Mercenary Tales

by Slendy

0-7 Take My Hand

It was a peaceful day at Canterlot Castle.

*Crash!*

"Fuck!" Slowly, Sora lowered his fist from the door, sighing with a smile at the muffled curse inside that followed the collapse. "How the hell does this work again?"

Sora, with a fool's bravery, opened the door to W's guest room to find quite the perplexing sight. W was standing with her right leg running horizontally across her left knee with her right arm bent toward the ceiling and her left across her chest. She made the oddest of faces, trying to decipher the book propped up on the writing desk with squinted eyes, antenna twitching while her tail swayed to keep her balanced.

"Is this some kinda... ritual to use your Arts...?" His dry tone startled the calm and cool mercenary into falling onto a heap on the carpet like she just failed a game of Twister.

"I-I uh, S-Sora-!" She suddenly spun around to sit with her legs crossed with a nervous smile, her cheeks stained red at her position before. Right now, he saw more of Aoi than the mercenary. "How-how... ahem, how's life?"

"Crashing," He smiled lightly, his black braids swaying sharply as he dodged a book. "Come on, what's up with the whole... I don't even think that legally can be called dancing?"

"It's... a work in progress," She smacked her lips, head drooping. "Okay, yeah, I suck..."

Sora closed the door and took to grabbing the book she was reading. Well, W couldn't read Equestrian, so it was more a picture book, but considering it was for a pony, he assumed she had been trying to translate the images into a human posture this whole time. He understood her concerns, he was the only human until now. Closing it, he crossed his arms at her. "Is this about the party to celebrate the defeat of Kranon? You know Mom said you can just skip out on it after the ceremony, seeing as you hate... well, everything pony-related."

"Hey, I think Astra's adorable, thank you very much," W jabbed her tail at him, making him chuckle.

"Aside from her -- but it's fine if you want to."

Now, W looked to her lap again, hands pressed to the carpet with a firm frown and scrunched up face. Then she made a distraught noise, turning her head the other way as her cheeks darkened. "... I wanted to dance with you..." Sora had gotten used to hearing her this quiet when she was extremely shy or nervous but he prodded, kneeling down.

"What was that?" She shot him a glare; she also knew he knew.

"...I wanted... to dance... with you..." She met his ocean eyes as they crashed into flaming orbs. "Happy now?"

"With you? Definitely," He picked up her left hand, pulling the silverette to her feet while grabbing her right to place it on his shoulder. "Now, I'm a little rusty since, surprise, no human dance partner for yours truly."

"No, really?" Her sarcasm earned her a flick to the forehead. She pouted but stared at their feet as she shuffled awkwardly. His hand still locked with her left.

"Don't look at our feet," She reluctantly stared back into his eyes and that stupid handsome face of his. "I think you know the whole 'dancing like fighting' so just slot that in and follow my lead, okay?"

"Alright... ah," They began to move, and W clumsily followed, moving to nothing but their footsteps. Then Sora wrapped his free arm around her lower back, holding W's steady as she was drawn closer to her partner, mesmerized before she tripped and fell against his chest. "Shit..." She rubbed her nose, embarrassed but Sora didn't even appear phased.

"Let's try that again, you'll get it," He encouraged and they kept practicing.

More and more W made a small mistake or stomped on his foot, but not once did Sora let it bother him, he accepted it, adjusted, and move forward. He was a literal river of tranquility that tugged W along, they bumped and jerked in strange ways but inevitably their pattern was corrected, and their actions formed a smoother journey against the current. And W wasn't glancing down constantly with a nervous twitch, she was dancing, real dancing not that crap at nightclubs that she would never partake in personally.

When W snapped from her trance, Sora was much closer as he took her remaining hand and placed it on his shoulder, wrapping his last arm around her waist until the two were nearly nose to nose. W was caught off guard and stared directly into his gaze, Sora, in one of the rare devious moves had made her flustered for words. Locked in his little trap, she accepted she was played and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his breath tease her lips while their dance devolved into a slow spin in each other's arms.

"You know, I think I'll be looking forward to this party for once," Sora whispered, his face a little pinker. "...if you're there."

"Pfft, cheesy much?" W snickered but lovingly pecked his lips with half-lidded eyes. "Good thing you're cute when you do it."

"Like you're any better," Sora argued, tightening his hold around her attractive body. "You go from flirty to girly like it's a split personality."

"And that's a problem?" She raised a brow, leaning closer.

"No... not really," He sighed, admitting defeat to capture her lips again, savoring that sweet flavor she chose for today. The brief kiss reluctantly ended soon after when a knock at the door tore them from their faces.

"Prince Sora, I was told you'd be here?" One of the Guards had found him.

Slowly, he unraveled his arms from W's back. "I only came to check up on you since it was between duties, but I've got a lot to deal with, the city's still on clean-up with all that Originium laying about."

"Get the feeling you wanted more but sure let's go with that little white lie," W dismissed with a wave.

Before Sora could open the door, he was abruptly pulled back to W's side as she hungrily smashed her lips into his, only allowing him to breathe after another knock at the door broke the heated exchange, Sora's face a crimson mess as W's let the scruff of his shirt go, licking her lips. "I-I'll seeya..." He muttered.

"Can't wait, Fly-Boy," With a wink, W was left to her own devices, shadowing how her arms were held by Sora before turning. "Okay, so like this, then back-step, then turn..." She'd never say it, maybe not until tonight, but he was a good teacher. Smiling to herself, the mercenary danced to her own racing heart, memorizing the forms without that useless book.

End

Author's Note:

Another lovely moment between W and Sora with some dance lessons. It's fun writing the contrast between them, Sora's a Prince so he has responsibilities to attend to, and W is a complete wildcard who does her own thing. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Renegades!

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[Veo Skride]

Love is in the air~