Nesterio was the first to approach when the dance ended but he still couldn't muster up anything intelligible. He had trailed after them rather helplessly as if in a trance or perhaps finally just breaking free of one as they had begun to dance on air. Although not levitating, both certainly weren't bound by certain kinds of gravity. They had whirled, twirled and spun their way above the VIP crowd and out into the more open space beyond the pavilion for all to see. When they had finally gracefully landed after a few songs worth of wowing just about anyone and everyone, Nesterio was particularly mystified.
The shifting and growing crowds that were all enthralled in the display too had somehow made only enough room for him to be the first among the Nine Crowns to gain direct access to them once more. Zory seemed to barely notice him over the other standing closest to her and Trixxie but Nesterio still had yet to shake the idea his effect on her was growing as well.
"Oh, Nero." Tawney sighed from afar.
"Mari?" He practically panted against the feeing of how tight his chest was after watching everything unfold.
After having nosed his way through the crowds that were flocking to compliment them, there she was again. There she was standing right before him again and he still couldn't bring himself to just get it together for so much as a second.
When she had begun to dance with Trixxie while joining in on the show, everything he thought he knew about the feelings that were stirring within him realigned. That flawless degree of aerial gliding they had just witnessed was well beyond any words he could even think of to describe it. They were a sight to behold whether your heart was weary or not.
As they had pranced around spinning this way or that way together while practically walking on air, small patches of light had gathered beneath their feet at every step. All the precision involved was a level of walking on water many prophecies his people cherished had mentioned in art as well. The fact that Trixxie could already do it spoke miles to how much more this guest of honor could soon teach many.
"Um?" Zory breathed unevenly as he became aware of his rather uncouth proximity. "Hello again."
"Hi." He exhaled just as raggedly.
There was something so incredibly magnetic about what he had just watched that his mind was still spinning over every last image that would undoubtedly be ingrained in his mind for perhaps forever. It was a night to remember, a milestone in which nothing else could ever subtract from. A core memory regarding what peace the Yin-Yang dynasty may yet be willing to officially make, but also a tipping point in life as he knew it regardless. This was monumental.
He had heard the tales of how many stars had to align for just two to meet, but no explanation regarding this feeling had done it any justice. Her effect on him was immediate and it was absolute but somehow still only growing stronger by the second. It was taking every ounce of restraint he had left not to cave to the temptation to reach out and touch her at least once even with Matilda watching. Zory hardly seemed even real at this point, perhaps some wild imagining turning wilder still in light of how wildly inappropriate the Yin-Yang dynasty could view even a single unwelcome but friendly hand on her.
Nesterio had thought this girl was truly indifferent to him at first, but the likelihood she had truly refused his hand earlier because of conflicting customs was now slim to none.
She didn't want him to touch her and he could tell and he did oblige. He still believed from the bottom of his heart that his whole universe would shift the second she allowed him the chance to satisfy the curiosity that could surely kill more than one catty brat in the room for failing to stand down when it came to Zory. He wasn't even concerned about any or every incident of whatever backlash would come from Matilda nor her people if he chomped a the bit against the social pressure to mind his manners any more openly.
Whatever collared sort of feeling he was shaking, the short rope his date liked to keep him on again and again was never going to work as well as it usually had before this moment, it simply couldn't. The guest of honor who had commanded he behave with honor while having yet to breathe a word to him about what honor even required for her was on another level. Simply being graced with her presence as she stood before him was enough to make him wonder about a whole mess of things. He hoped to seize whatever opportunity she may yet give for him to try to not dig his own grave in public opinion regarding his conduct tonight even further.
Until he finally broke free from anyone else who had ever kept him wrapped up neatly in a perfect little box, Nesterio in all his usually glory unraveling out of the blue beyond reason would help no one. Whether this woman was going to ever view him as at least a friend or not here and now was choking off his sense of reality. He had to try again. She had already made it clear she was departing shortly. He had to try to learn more before she left, he simply had to.
"Lady Ryomari?" He dared to nod in open regard.
"Hi." She teased, her voice barely above a whisper as if finally speaking solely to him with earnest attention. "Are you alright, Nesterio?"
She most certainly knew he most certainly was not at all alright regarding his normal degrees of composure or glaring lack thereof. A powerful zelestial-type like her was likely all too used to random men randomly throwing themselves at her feet as he surely was tempted to, but there was something new and different in her voice now. It was restrained but genuine concern that did a whole other level of a new number on him.
The celestial-types were known to find even the first dose of a voice intoxicating if their fates were long destined to be intertwined. Even a friend or distant relative could cause it to some degree, but he knew then and there that he definitely didn't want this woman to just be his friend.
"Your Grace?" She prompted almost cheekily.
It wasn't uncommon for high-ranking celestials such as him to be addressed as such, but he certainly didn't like hearing her address him as anything but by his name one bit.
He hadn't realized just how love drunk he had been on her from the moment she had addressed him by his name until she had chosen to not. She was smart, probably too smart for her own good. It was possible she had elected to call him Nesterio as if only for the formality of not regarding him as a friend yet enough to calll him Nero. He had never been much a fan of his given name before now.
She was likely playing a chess match of sorts, telling him everything he needed to know while being duty bound to tell him very little at all in this setting. Every little move she mad thus far implied it was done while knowing just how entirely all-consuming hearing it said by her voice and now hers alone could be to him. It was a beacon at any hour whether it was one of his darkest hours or not. Hearing her call him Nesterio for the very first time served tot help buffer him from sorting out this feeling. Even just the thought of her trying to address him as Nero or anything else was stirring something.
"Hi." He said firmly. "You are more than welcome to call me Nesterio, Lady Mari… I in fact must insist, okay?"
"Uh-?" Tawney started before clearing her throat. "Nero?"
Her friend was clearly a lost cause as nothing about his aura reacted to her calling out to him. People slowly made way to allow the other eight members of the Nine Crowns to finally form a new uniformed front several meters off.
"Yeah, okay… Nesterio?" Her husband supplied warily.
"Nesterio?" Tawney called gently.
Her attempt to restore him to his senses only made the lot of them fade out of his conscious awareness even faster. They clearly weren't the ones he desired to hear call him anything at that point. If Trixxie's parents were to be labeled as the sticks of the Nova Alliance, Nesterio would be the glue and he was clearly coming undone for reasons they could suspect but not confirm without inviting the increasing level of hostility that was radiating from Matilda to spike even further.
"Hi." He beamed down at Zory without a single care in the world for what anyone had to say about it. "There's a million things I want to say right now, but I'd like for the first to be an apology for how not at all well the initial greeting went over on all accounts, Lady Mari… The show you helped put on for Trixxie was surely not just for Trixxie and it is us who are truly honored you accepted the invitation to begin with… We are in your debt for how unwelcomed you may have felt on three accounts and it won't happen again on my watch."
"Water under the bridge." She shook her head only slightly as she broke eye contact to avoid becoming even half as starry eyed as he already was. "I'm not the type to cry over spilled milk nor spilled tea for the matter."
"I don't care about your history with Leif." He promised almost darkly as he looked her over unashamedly. "Lady Mari, I've technically met you before too, haven't I?"
She seemed to almost light up with some sort of surprise as her eyes snapped back to his. He couldn't shake the feeling she had been fully counting on any lack of recognition which only made him all the more curious about her.
"Nesterio…?" She led with a wide grin of amusement he couldn't place either. It was eager, hopeful even. "Do you still like extra large red velvet cake shakes with an unholy amount of extra whipped cream, a light caramel drizzle, absolutely no sprinkles and two to four cherries on top?"
Of all the things he had expected she might have to say about their connection being rekindled instead of sincerely only forming right out of the gate, that certainly hadn't been one. He typically ordered them for delivery as of late to then privately enjoy in whichever office they were brought to. He didn't like to make a show of his closet diet choices in public given his status as the main authority on crackdowns regarding adequate nutrition for their soldiers.
"How do you know that?" He whispered, clearly taken aback at how that had rolled right off of her tongue.
"Varies by mood, right?" Zory asked with something just shy of jubilance making her even more radiant than before.
"Mari?" Nesterio gulped uneasily.