A Dance with Ruby Red

History of a Diamond

"Where have you been?" Impulse questioned from his chair, pouring a few shots of brandy from a nearby bottle into a short glass and holding it up to Tango. Tango took it thankfully and took a big gulp before plopping onto a nearby sofa in the lounge.

"I took a brief visit to the Champions Ball." Tango muttered, ignoring the way Impulse shot up from his seat and took another long swig of the aged liquor.

"The Champion's Ball? You mean the first ball of the marriage market season?" Impulse practically shouted as he stood up from his seat and began pacing around the cozy study, "I thought you weren't interested in finding a match this year!"

Tango slouched under the accusatory gaze of his best friend and sighed, shuffling off his blazer and rolling up his sleeves in an attempt to get more comfortable before the lecture. He was about to respond when Impulse cut him off.

"Why didn't you tell me you wanted to go? I would've introduced you to everyone I know" Impulse complained. It was no secret that due to Tango's long trip, he was pretty unfamiliar with the social situation in Hermiton Proper.

"I just wanted to take a look around is all," Tango huffed, placing his now empty cup on a nearby side table, "I didn't think I'd meet somebody"

"You met somebody?" Impulse shouted. Tango winced and slouched deeper into his chair. It was going to be a long night of explanations.

"...And that's what happened." Tango stated, twiddling his thumbs awaiting a response from his best friend. Tango couldn't read his expression. Was it anger? Fear? Or even worse, disappointment?"

"So what you're saying," began Impulse, head in his hands as he tapped one foot on the ground, "is not only did you show up to this ball, appearing out of nowhere to most people in this city, but out of everyone you possibly could have flirted with, it was the diamond of the season?"

Tango froze in his seat as he took in Impulse's words. Every year, one special young lord or lady was chosen as the 'diamond of the season'. This meant the King saw something special in them whether it be looks, personality, or purpose. It was someone entirely different every year and Tango thought back to the stories he's heard about them. The Diamond was always the most sought after at the marriage market balls and was often taken rather quickly by some rich nobles. But how could Tango have known that the charming and pretty lord he had flirted with the day prior was this year's diamond? He hadn't been around when the diamond was picked about a week ago and he cursed himself under his breath about causing such a scene in the ballroom. This would certainly appear in the Hermiton Herald article by tomorrow afternoon.

The sound of Impulse clearing his throat sent Tango's heart rate into overdrive as he fiddled with his hands. He hadn't even known the young lord's name until he made it out of the ballroom and halfway home when a stranger, seemingly not from the party due to her dark cloak and mannerism stopped him to ask if he was interested in the diamond and what his plans were. Tango simply told her he didn't want to start any trouble and wouldn't comment and continued home. He had intentionally left this part out of his description of the night so as to not let Impulse worry about the potential for a scandal. Scandals were all the talk these days amongst the high class and to be honest, Tango hated it all.

"Tango," Impulse began, watching as Tango practically melted into his seat, "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into because you're about to have a lot of competition."

Tango blinked, staring blankly at Impulse before questioning, " I'm sorry, competition for what?"

"Competition to marry the Diamond of course!" Impulse exclaimed, standing up tall and clapping his hands together, "If you're going to go after that blondie you're going to need a crash course on everything that's happened while you were overseas."

Impulse began rambling about the many things Tango had missed, he had only been back for a few short weeks now and hadn't had the chance to catch up. Tango smiled as Impulse began pulling out old newspapers, articles, old invitations and more miscellaneous papers and objects to help explain his timeline. Tango simply grinned, he was lucky to have such an amazing friend.