Thin Ice (M/M Transmigration)

Chapter 13

Eventually, Cale and Julius wandered back down to the ballroom proper. Magdalena and her fiancé stayed up on the balcony, their voices low as they spoke to each other while laughing. As they left, Cale caught Magdalena's gaze and nodded to her, smiling.

Morgan was nice. He seemed like he had an issue with Julius, but it wasn't to the point where he couldn't be polite and play nicely. And honestly, that said a lot more about him than most people probably thought. It took a lot of effort to be nice to somebody that you actively disliked, even more so if you had a valid reason for it. Hell, Cale knew full well that Julius wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, and Cale was genuinely impressed that Morgan had spent the entire conversation speaking politely and without getting into a single argument.

Julius was still visibly keyed up from his encounter with Sayer—if Morgan had seemed the faintest bit like he could be goaded into a fight, Julius might well have pressed the matter. But Morgan hadn't. He'd been cold, yes, maybe even a little unwelcoming. But never had he appeared like he'd wanted to get into a fight. Distant and polite to a fault, but he had barely even edged over the line to unfriendly.

Cale's hand was gripping Julius' arm, the touch featherlight despite his desire to be closer to Julius. Walking along the edges of the ballroom below the balcony, Cale's eyes drifted over the huge amount of people in it. The ballroom itself was gigantic, surely the size of at least four soccer fields, and it was still full to the point where he was concerned for their fire safety.

The people wore long, flowing dresses with swishing skirts as they danced. Men (and even some women) were wearing elegant suits, with different accessories to compliment their outfits. Peeking at Julius out of the corner of his eye, Cale swallowed his saliva.

Julius was dressed in a black suit, the top of his shoulder-length hair dragged into a half ponytail, the rest of it hanging free. He had long dangling jewel earrings hanging from both his ears and they moved in time with his steps. It drew Cale's eyes to Julius' strong neck, the gentle curve of it and the smooth skin that he could still vividly remember the feel of. The light purple gemstones that dangled constantly forced his eyes to stray back.

His hand squeezed tighter on Julius' arm. Julius turned his head and gazed at Cale, his eyebrows twisting into questioning shapes. Cale simply shook his head.

This wasn't really something that Julius could help him with. Kissing was fine and it honestly made his stomach flutter almost painfully just thinking about it, but going further was out of the question. Not until Julius had graduated and only if Julius still... loved him.

Cale's heart skipped a beat at that thought.

He'd barely articulated it, mostly keeping it shoved in a locked box in his mind. Obviously, he knew full well that Julius liked him and wanted to marry him, Julius wasn't shy about sharing that. But Cale had avoided thinking about the fact that Julius loved him. It made it too real, it made it take up too much space in Cale's mind. Julius loved him. Cale loved Julius. If things went well, they'd marry.

Cale promptly stumbled over his own feet and the only keeping him upright was his hand clinging to Julius' arm.

"I'm fine," Cale reassured Julius when the younger man looked worriedly at him.

Julius laid his hand over Cale's, where Cale had a deathtrap on Julius' arm. "Do you want to go back up to the balcony?"

"No." Cale shook his head and said, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I want to take advantage of it. What do you usually do at this ball?"

"Avoid my parents," stated Julius. "They always tell embarrassing stories to anyone who will listen, and they carry around drawings of us as children to show anyone foolish enough to approach them. They introduce us to everyone we meet and then we're forced to listen to our parents bragging about everything we've ever accomplished. And it's not even about stuff like awards, it's just about a drawing we made once, or a poem we wrote for them; little stuff that nobody but them care about. And as we're standing next to them, we can slowly see the light leave their conversation partners' eyes."