Louder than Bombs | KNJ

Tae & Ava

Taehyung approached the willowy brunette like he would a difficult math problem. With great reluctance and some internalized tantrum throwing.

It wasn't that he didn't have an appreciation for beautiful women, and Ava Moreau certainly qualified as drop dead gorgeous. It was that woman came inherent with so many...entanglements.

He paused a moment to consider that word, then nodded slightly to himself. Yes, entanglements was a good word. That, and a lack of a straightforward manual, made Taehyung leery of dating.

He'd watched his older brothers go out on dates, but he and Jimin and Jungkook had determined that things were just fine in their lives without trying out dates themselves. Though, as Taehyung stared at his best friend now, he thought perhaps only he and JK were left in that promise.

Sighing a bit to himself, he wandered over to where Ava Moreau stood and casually leaned on the railing next to her. He waited until he knew she'd seen and recognized him, then turned to face her.

Ava's eyes assessed him completely and he wasn't sure how he felt about that either.

His tuxedo tonight was his own. He'd had it custom made a while ago when Namjoonhyung had thought that it would be good to have in case they went to events like this at some point.

Tae didn't mind the fancy clothes either. He liked the way they felt, and he liked this particular suit.

But when Ava Moreau ran her eyes over him, he suddenly had a different opinion of it. He didn't remember the suit being so warm before, or the bowtie under his chin to be quite so constricting. And when she gave him the slight smile he'd seen on her dozens of times before when he'd gone to visit Jungkook with Jimin, suddenly tonight, he found that it affected him in ways he'd never considered before.

And he didn't like that idea at all.

Ava stood at her post and let her eyes roam over the crowd below. She knew she stood opposite her sister, Blair on her right, JK on her left, so that any attack that could potentially hit Lara, they had an angle for all shots.

Their ace in the hole was Paige, who stood on the third-floor balcony, looking frankly quite stunning in her royal purple gown. Ava had watched as men she recognized vaguely came to stand next to the others and when no one had set up an alarm, realized that these were men she knew.

Her first instinct then when she felt a man standing next to her was less concern than normal. She turned slightly to see Jungkook's friend Taehyung standing next to her. But not looking as he ever had before when he'd come to the house.

From the wingtips on his shoes, to the precisely starched bowtie, Ava was positive she had never seen this side of Kim Taehyung before, and it made her smile to realize what had been hiding behind all that motor grease and paint he was always covered in. He looked casually elegant, and as relaxed in a tuxedo as he was in a baggy t-shirt and shorts that he always wore over to see Jungkook. It made her smile to think of the duality between the two Kim Taehyungs and she wore the smile as she greeted him.

"Good evening Taehyungssi," Ava said softly, and he grunted in acknowledgment before turning back to look over the crowd. His eye caught Jimin's and then Jungkook's. Kookie indicated to his left, and Tae looked to see Yoongihyung standing next to Blair.

Finally, Tae thought and while privately he was very happy for his hyung, he was even gladder that potential for Yoongi to be less of a grumpy shit than usual would now present itself.

Tae swept the remainder of the second floor, then checked up to where Hoseok and Jinhyung were stationed tonight and got a nod of ok when he looked at Jin.