Perfectly Imperfect

26

     Her smile faltered for a moment, and she quickly dropped her hands by her side and took a small step back from him. Had it been too much? Had she invaded his space a little too much? It must have been terribly awkward for him to have her so close and cling to him after what she had admitted. She hadn't thought about how badly he must feel about it, and now she was beating herself up over it. He was probably having a hard time with her so close to him. "Oh, um..." She looked at the room again. "I will speak with the ladies. When you are ready for a dance, come find me." She reached out and patted his arm, or rather jacket so that she was barely touching him, but it looked like more to the others.

     Then she walked away and found her way to the married ladies, who immediately bombarded her with questions. Aera smiled and laughed, answering them with her perfectly catered answers, and every single one of them seemed to believe her, almost looking relieved to find that her marriage was a success too. She talked to the ladies for a while, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.

     Dennis was still lingering by the drinks until he wasn't. He'd disappeared into the crowd, and he suddenly emerged beside Aera, handing her a glass of champagne. She didn't show how distraught she felt by his presence, so she just smiled at her brother, using the drink he'd brought her as a distraction while she sipped it so as not to have to say anything or react much. He was just smiling and telling some story, though most of the ladies now seemed uncomfortable, mostly due to his very rough appearance.

     With Dennis lingering nearby, Elias approached his wife. He took Aera's hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, "My lady Alhorn, aren't you ravishing tonight?" The ladies within the group smiled and talked amongst themselves at the gesture. Aera shot a look at Elias, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks at his compliment. There were few husbands who would compliment their wife so publicly, as if he had not seen her all night. "I quite like this song; I thought we might dance," he plucked the champagne out of her other hand and handed it back to Dennis. Dennis merely rolled his eyes at the public display of affection and then held the glass Elias handed him. Without verbally acknowledging the disgrace of the man or looking at his face, Elias swept Aera to the dance floor.

     "I will hold on to this for you, sister!" Dennis called after the two as they walked toward the dancefloor. Aera had only managed a few sips before Elias snatched the champagne away from her, which was unfortunate; it was not as if there was anything wrong with it. But it was probably for the best that she didn't drink much of it anyway, not after last time.

     Elias whispered in a half-joke as they walked, "Do you want me to punch him, again?"

     "I am afraid you might break his face if you do," She said with a sigh but then smiled nonetheless. "Thank you for saving me from him anyway. His company is downright dreadful." Aera looked up at Elias with a small smile and then looked at his chest once they reached the dancefloor since it was honestly the easiest way to face him right now. Besides, she was short; she could always make the excuse that it was simply in her line of sight.

     "I was afraid he may have poisoned your drink," he said in a joke that was truthfully less than half joking.

     The mention of poison made Aera look toward where Dennis had been. He was no longer there; he'd disappeared somewhere into the crowd again. She forced a small laugh, but she suddenly felt uneasy. She'd taken the drink from him without so much as a second thought, and she'd drank some of it; she could only hope it was merely champagne. "It is a good thing it did not taste funny then," Aera shrugged, moving her gaze back to his chest.

     As the music continued on, since they joined a quarter of the way through the song, they began to dance. Elias would give a moment for it to warm up before beginning in conversation. He could only sit in relative silence with a smile plastered across his face for so long. He liked to hear himself talk, "Did you find out any interesting information from the ladies? Certainly there has to be some scandal not involving our family name." She was not looking at him, so he took this opportunity to scan the room for his sister. She was dancing with Lord Villot, of course, and looked radiant. She was taking this final ball in her stride.