Dancing on Eggshells | KSJ

06

ESCAPE PLAN TWENTY is a bit of a crazy one, and Lucia tells Seokjin as much.

"Why on earth would you even consider doing that?" He shakes his head in disbelief.

"I don't know, it seems like it would be fun."

"And you're saying the plans are in motion right now?"

"Maybe?"

He sighs and waves Lucia off, letting her get a headstart per their agreement.

Wind whipping her hair, she chases after a carriage going at a snail slow pace on the road out of the palace, the white skirt of her dress bunched in her hands. The coachman starts to pick up the pace when he sees Lucia, allowing her only a few seconds to jump and grasp at the carriage door, throwing herself into the carriage.

With shaking, strained arms, she laughs mostly because she could swear she heard Jin shrieking in the distance. Sticking her head out the carriage window, she looks back at Seokjin trying to catch up on his loyal steed in between the sun-bleached tendrils of hair being thrown every which way.

"Are you going to ruin my whole career, princess?" Seokjin grins, obsidian glinting with mischief under the morning sun.

"If you don't get to catching me soon I will, sir knight," Lucia sticks her tongue out at him, feeling the jerk of the carriage throwing her back into the coach when they hit a bump in the road.

She laughs as her head hits the seat cushions, confident that she heard Seokjin shriek in surprise this time. When she recovers from the fall, Lucia swings open the carriage door, her laughter piercing through the sharp wind as she reaches out and takes his hand, letting the touch burn and melt her hand in a flurry of sparks. Every spark sears her skin until her heart is on the verge of combusting, unable to contain the utter bliss and intoxication his every touch creates. She lets out a small sigh of content, watching escape plan twenty speed away towards town without her as she sits in Seokjin's arms.

She feels the truth dance on the buds of her tongue and genuinely toys with the idea of setting it free before deciding against it, letting herself fall deeper past flecks of obsidian into the endless warmth behind it.

THE NIGHT MARKET is especially busy on the weekend. Luckily, Jin and Lucia don't mind one bit, using the crowd as an excuse to let tan knuckles brush paler ones.

"How nostalgic are we feeling tonight?" Lucia hums, looking at the booths to pretend as if her arm isn't igniting like fireworks were set off under her skin.

"Ramen levels of nostalgia," he hums in return, taking her hand in his to pull her over to the very same stall they had ramen at their first time at the market together.

Once they have their ramen, instead of sitting at a table, Lucia grins at Seokjin. He begins to question her but she interrupts, taking his hand and pulling him through the crowd towards the outskirts of town and to the fields where the townspeople send their children to play during the day.

"Stargazing with some ramen because it sounds fun," Lucia grins at how the moonlight highlights the obsidian in his rolling eyes.

They sit in the field in silence as Seokjin begins to eat, their sides pressed together.

"Sir Knight Jin," Lucia hums, a teasing look dancing in her eyes, "you forgot already?"

He squeaks out a laugh, leaning against her as he tries to catch his breath and unknowingly steals hers. "My apologies, Princess Lucia," he says, contently plucking a piece of pork and mushroom out of her bowl.

Their teasing comes to a lull as they eat and watch the night sky, the settling silence blanketing around them.

"Hey, Lu?" Jin hums quietly, not wanting to shatter the peace of the scenery.

"Yeah, Jin?"

"Can I ask what happened those weeks after you returned to the palace? You were so... sad."

Lucia sighs, setting her bowl to the side as she turns the question and its answers over in her mind.

"Well, I was most definitely sad. I scared my sisters and stressed Tova out when she's bogged down by so much already. I don't want to burden her more. And-" Lucia takes a deep breath as she pauses, looking up at Seokjin and meeting his sympathetic eyes of obsidian and the caramel that had shifted to amber under the darkness of the night. "And one might say I was sad because I had hurt and scared you too."

"If I am honest, I think seeing you so depressed hurt more than not being able to find you," he sighs, eyes fluttering shut as he lays back against the grass and Lucia shortly follows.

"How so?"

"Well, I guess it's because when you were gone, I would still be able to find you and make you laugh when I caught you. But, then you were right in front of me and sad, and I couldn't chase after you and make things better."

Lucia hums in response, memorizing every confession as she contemplates what he's said.

"I was scared because I couldn't see the melting bits of caramel in your eyes and how the tilt of your lips seemed to hurt you in a way I couldn't understand. You felt so cold," she lets out in a whisper. "But then, when you dragged me out and told me you'd catch me, everything just kind of clicked, and I knew it would be alright as long as you were there to catch me and I could feel your warmth."

They could both feel the other's breath still at the confession, neither daring to say what was left unsaid. But they both know at that moment, the burning of their skin as they stop bothering to dance on eggshells is not something they alone felt.

Together, they jump off cracked eggshells once more and dive deep into the burning warmth of each other's embrace, no longer afraid to melt under the heat alone.

Together, they jump into pools of obsidian and amber and the afternoon sun.

And together, they fall deeper than ever before.

I love how often I forget to update and now I'm writing more Lucia arc for some reason. Although, depending on what I write, those will probably be bonus chapters so it's gonna be fineee