A Dance with Ruby Red

Mysterious Stranger

Grian stared up at the crystalline chandelier. It sparkled brightly in the candlelight as he watched it carefully. He wondered just how long he could stare before someone could pull him out of his trance and onto the dancefloor. He sighed, and begrudgingly peaked at the dance card tied delicately around his wrist. It was nearly full. His dear friend Scar had been more than a little excited that Grian was finally joining in the marriage market and had all but dragged him around the pristine ball venue introducing him to a plethora of suitors ranging from burly men to elegant women. But if Grian was to be honest with himself, he wasn't the slightest bit interested. He had only joined in due to the pressure of his siblings, claiming that he could possibly become the "belle of the ball" if he tried.

Grian smiled disingenuously as he watched his brother and sister, Mumbo and Pearl, wave and give him excited thumbs ups from across the room. He loved them, but they were too much when it came to these parties. Grian took a step back to lean on a pillar and looked back up to the chandelier as he remembered their reactions to his 'sudden interest' in it all. Mumbo spat out his coffee and Pearl fell off of her chair when he first told them. They were beyond excited to finally watch their brother find love and tormented him endlessly about gown styles, proper etiquette, and more nonsense he couldn't wait to escape from.

Grian crossed his arms across his stomach, arms scratching against the glittery red fabric and sighed, "The sooner the better."

"Oh yea? What are you looking forward to?"

Grian jumped in surprise at the response to the sentence he thought was in his head and turned to find its source. Standing a few feet away, leaning on an adjacent pillar was a tall and rather dashing man with bright almost yellowish blonde hair. He had tawny skin, light but clearly sunkissed from time spent outdoors. He wore a dark near black suit with dazzling red accents. But his most striking feature was his deep ruby red eyes. Grian stood stunned for a moment before lifting his fist to his mouth and clearing his throat.

"I'm... I'm sorry?" Grian stuttered weakly, any attempts at sounding dignified thrown out the window.

The tall man leaned toward him, shoving his hands in his pockets and smirked, "You seem eager for something. And considering you are the most interesting person in the room, I simply can't resist asking what that might be."

Grian could feel his cheeks grow warm with the man's forwardness. He had never seen someone so rudely confident, much less catch him off guard. Grian's face scrunched from one of surprise to annoyance as he ran his hands down the fabric of his dress and spoke.

"I don't think you need to know. I don't converse with tall, mysterious strangers that pop up around corners." he said, attempting to regain what little dignity he had lost as he continued, "How do I know you haven't used that line on everyone in this ballroom?"

The man smiled and moved suddenly, gently but firmly grabbing Grian's wrist and scribbling in his dance card. He seemed amused at Grian's face at the bluntness and leaned to whisper in Grian's ear, "Because if I had, no one in this ballroom would be staring at us..." before nonchalantly walking off and disappearing into the crowd.

The stranger's words sunk in and Grian turned to face the ballroom and to his horror everyone in sight was in fact staring at him. Grian felt like a parrot surrounded by cats when he felt a familiar hand on his back begin pushing him away.

"Nothing to see here folks," Scar half-shouted to the crowd as they all turned away awkwardly with his boldness, "go back to your partying and don't worry about us!" Grian grunted as Scar basically shoved him out of a door into a beautifully cultivated garden. His siblings followed soon after and the trio began harassing Grian with questions and comments about the man in the black and red suit.

Grian didn't hear them. He simply stood shocked before grabbing his dance card and flipping it open, skimming through the list of names until he found it. The last name and a little note, written boldly in red staring up at him as his friend and siblings scrambled to take a peak.

"Looking forward to 'the better' - Tango Tek"

Authors Note: I'm back from hiatus and decided to write a new story! Be sure to vote and comment if you like it! I've only written oneshots so far so if you like this let me know!