Work Text
Samuel followed behind Wenz and Ima as the five of them walked through the streets of Archeon’s capital. Caleb walked beside Samuel and was talking to Silo as the butler reread the list of items the cooking staff asked him to buy while they were out. As they passed by an open area with a crowd, Ima stopped walking and reached an arm out to stop Wenz as well, causing Caleb to almost run into him.“Look, it’s the Barrett sisters! I used to watch them anytime they came to our city or the neighboring ones. They are amazing.” Ima started walking towards the crowd that had formed around the small stage situated in the middle.On the stage were two women, a skeleton and a witch, gliding and dancing around the stage to the music played by mobs either off the stage or sitting on the edges. Samuel felt himself freeze in place as he watched the two sisters dance. Particularly watching the skeleton. He barely registered Caleb making a joke at him with a knowing smirk on his face.The two women sang the lyrics as they made their way off the stage into the crowd. The mobs parted to let them dance through.They danced together in typical ballroom dancing and then split to pull in other mobs to dance with them. Soon enough, quite a few mobs were dancing. But in the middle of them, the witch had picked up the skeleton and had her balancing on her back on the witch’s hand.The skeleton opened her eyes and locked her gaze onto Samuel. He felt captivated by her. A smirk stretched across her face as she got down and started pulling her sister through the mobs towards the small group away from the crowd.Ima looked overjoyed to see the sisters making their way to them. The two of them stopped in front of Ima and Wenz to bow to them. It was an odd bow, they each had a foot pointed out in front of them, their other knee was bent, one arm sat across their stomachs and the other reached out to their sides as their bodies were bent at their waists.The two popped up quickly as they continued to sing the lyrics of the new song. The witch held a hand out for Ima to take and the skeleton reached a hand out towards Samuel.Samuel felt his face heat up as Caleb nudged him with his elbow. He gave the woman his left hand and was pulled towards the middle of the crowd with the other dancing mobs. Ima and the witch were not far behind them.The skeleton pulled him close and led him through some ballroom dancing, spinning him out before pulling him close and dipping him. He stared in wonder at her as her hair cascaded around them, before she lifted him up again. He briefly heard a wolf-whistle from where he last remembered Wenz, Caleb, and Silo were standing.The skeleton leaned in close to him and let her voice go soft despite her sister's voice getting louder as they sang,“‘Cause I don't care, if I lose my mind,”She pushed herself back and danced away from him to meet her sister and they both finished the song,“I’m already cursed!”They held the last word for some time with one hand each held high and dropped into bows when they finished. Samuel and Ima stood with the crowd to watch the rest of their show.“The one you danced with was Victoria, Samara danced with me.” Ima explained as they watched the sisters dance with other bards on the stage.“Victoria, huh?” Samuel didn't even mind the teasing he got on the way back to the castle. Victoria listened to Samuel as he retold stories about his time in the trials. The two of them were walking through the castle’s apple orchard. She watched as his eyes lit up upon recalling the moment he found out he passed the second set of trials. Or when he got to place his statue on his pillar at Archeon’s trial grounds.She found it cute how he tried to tell her a story with his hands. Gesturing in the air to something she couldn't see. Trying to map out a room or area. She just couldn't help but love it. She couldn't help but love him.“So, for this trial, honestly I think it was just a filler,” his left hand circled in the air, “we had to throw knives at a target. Weird as all Nether.” He moved his arm as if he was actually throwing a knife, “And see who could get the highest score. So, replace our bows and arrows with knives.” He gestured to the bow on his back and then held an imaginary one out and pulled back an imaginary arrow before pretending to throw another knife.Victoria had an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face before taking one of her throwing daggers out.“You mean like this?”She stopped walking to aim at an apple hanging in the open. She threw the knife and watched as it soared through the air until lodging into the fruit. She walked underneath the branch and did a small jump to grab her knife and pulled both it and the apple down.She cut it up and stabbed a slice with the knife and held it out to Samuel who followed behind her, his face slack with awe. He took the slice and bit into it, but his eyes stayed trained on her. She smirked at the man before looking down to grab a slice for herself.“How do you get more and more amazing each day?”It was just a whisper, but the quiet night allowed Victoria to hear it. Her face heated up and she looked at Samuel with her eyes wide. His face softened with a smile and the normally awkward man lifted his hand to hold her face.“I do mean that, Victoria. Please, never cease to amaze me.”His thumb brushed over her cheek before he took another slice of apple and walked back a bit. He found it cute how Victoria could hand out compliments like they were smiles yet froze up upon receiving them. He couldn't help but love it. He couldn't help but love her.