Magi: Judar's Princess

41. Forces Behind The Scenes

I stared up at Judar, my nerves a muddled mess. Finally he let out a brief sigh, grabbing me by the hand and walking past me, jerking me along with him.

"You've always been such a pain," he growled, causing me to rehash every single time he'd called me a pain, or troublesome, or a bother, and I suddenly felt a little wrong for even making contact with him tonight.

He halted right in the middle of the dancing crowd, spinning me abruptly as a new song started to play.

I twirled and came to a halt, my wide eyes meeting his as he pulled me close enough for our chests to brush against each other. "I thought you didn't dance," I said in a trembling voice, amazed that he didn't just shoo me away at the first sight of me.

He rolled his crimson eyes before spinning me again and catching me rather elegantly by the waist. "I don't, but I never said I couldn't," he muttered. I peeked back at him, catching sight of his cheeks flushing pink under the festival lights.

"Judar, you really don't have to..." I said, feeling a little guilty that he actually got up to dance with me.

"Tch, as if. You're so annoying and stubborn, I doubt you would have let me tell you no," he said, his hand brushing along my hips, causing my face to heat up.

(I would have left you alone, actually...)

I was sort of glad he didn't though. I was over my own embarrassment, indulging in the fact that I finally had someone to enjoy the festival with- even if it was Judar.

Just as the song had come to an end, I tripped over something and fell against Judar, landing heavily against his chest.

He was quick to react, his arms catching me by the waist and pulling me back upright.

"S-sorry," I stammered, glancing around at the ground in an attempt to find whatever I'd tripped on. I questioned whether or not I was just a klutz when I found that there was nothing there.

Judar only shrugged, making his way out of the throng of people.

---

"Damn, I thought for sure that would spark something!" Alibaba said as Jafar pulled back his red fiber threads from the dance floor before Mei could lay her eyes on them.

Jafar then let out a sigh. "I don't know if pitting them together like this is the best idea though," he said flatly but still consenting to Sinbad's ridiculous orders.

"We'll have them all patched up before the night ends!" Sinbad roared, apparently a little too chipper from the mass quantity of alcohol he'd consumed.

Little to Mei and Judar's knowledge, Kougyoku, Hakuryuu, Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana, and Sinbad were all plotting little mischievous acts from behind the scenes.

---

I hastily followed after Judar as he wandered through the festival.

"Don't you have a whole plethora of new siblings to go play with or something? Go cling to one of them instead of me," he growled, not bothering to slow down for me.

"Well, as much as I prefer that option, everyone seems hellbent on doing anything else but staying with me," I snapped back, stumbling along right on his heels.

Judar let out an angry noise, spinning around abruptly to face me. "Fine!"  he yelled. "What is it that you wanna do? Just tell me so we can get it over with," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Normally, I would have felt bad for forcing someone to keep me company... But I was buzzing with a devious joy.

I dragged Judar from stall to stall, casually making small talk now and then, despite his ignoring me completely as he trailed grumpily along with me.