The Christmas Ball

Chapter Two - Friends

When Portia leads them out into the hallway to go to their rooms, Muriel grasps at the sleeve of Asra's coat, tugging him into a conversation.

"I don't want to stay the night here, I'm going back to my hut." Muriel flushes red, eyes darting to the side.

Asra nods, "It is only an invitation after all, Nadia won't mind if you just return in the morning." He pauses, glancing over at Julian, who is prodding at Lucio.

"-I am not overly defensive!" Lucio fumes at Julian.

"Woah, sure seems like it to me." Julian smirks.

Asra's chest hurts. Why? He was the one that told Julian he wasn't in love with him. If anything Julian should be the one hurting, and yet here he is, acting as if everything was normal.

"Can I stay with you tonight, Muriel?" Asra asks, glancing over at his friend.

Muriel seems taken aback by this. He hesitates, "I guess..." He looks over at Lucio. "I wouldn't want to sleep in the same area as him either."

Asra's glad that Muriel figures that Lucio is the problem. Explaining what happened between him and Julian all those years ago would be torture.

Nadia approaches them, her elegant white dress swaying. "I can have Portia set you up for the night."

"I'm sorry, Countess, but Muriel and I will be retiring for the night in his residence. We assure you though, we will return in the morning." Asra tells her.

Nadia seems taken aback, "I'm surprised you don't wish to stay." She sighs. "However, of course you're free to go." Nadia gives a warm smile to Muriel, who quickly glances away. "Goodnight, both of you."

Relieved, Asra and Muriel head out. It's dark by now, even though it isn't too late in the evening. It's clearly winter time.

Asra's breath hangs in the air as he breathes out a sigh and tugs his coat closer to him. He can feel Faust curling up closer to him for warmth.

Muriel doesn't seem to be bothered by the chill. He steps into the deep snow, which for him only goes a few inches past his ankles, and starts off. Asra follows, the snow almost up to his knees.

"I don't understand how I can help anybody." Muriel says under his breath.

Asra doesn't say anything. He knows when it comes down to it Muriel will be able to help.

Muriel and Asra reach the hut with little to no frostbite. Asra's hands are freezing, but he'll live. As they go in the door, they're met by Inanna at the door. She wags her tail excitedly.

Muriel smiles, leaning down and petting her before moving over to the fireplace to light the fire.

Inanna comes over to Asra next. She sniffs around him.

Asra chuckles, "Remember me?"

Inanna looks up at him and wags her tail.

"Yeah I thought so." Asra smiles, petting her. Faust pokes her head out to look at Inanna.

Finally looking around, Asra sees that Muriel already has holiday decorations up. Above the fireplace there is a wreath with a large red bow on top. On the table a set of candles.

In the corner stands a large Christmas tree. It's so tall that it's top hits the ceiling and bends. It's thick with pine needles and on the branches there are intricately carved ornaments.

"You seemed nervous in the meeting." Muriel says pointedly, looking up from the fire, which has gotten quite large.

Damn, so he did notice something was up. Asra thinks to himself, worrying at his lip.

"A little." Asra admits, moving closer to the warmth of the fire. He holds his hands up, letting them get their feeling back.

"Julian seemed nervous as well."

Asra looks at Muriel, panicking internally for a moment. Asra had thought Julian looked chill and calm, though Muriel always had been better at reading emotions than him.

"Why do you think that is?" Asra tries to say casually.

Muriel looks thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure, but I think you know." He says softly.

Asra nods to himself, not saying anything. He knows Muriel won't press him for more. After a bit of silence, Muriel stands.

"I'm going to bed, goodnight." Muriel says.

"Goodnight." Asra replies. He stays at the fire long after he hears Muriel snoring in his sleep. For some reason he couldn't stop his mind from wandering...

~~~

Julian is woken by a slap.

"Hey idiot."

Julian groans, rolling over. "What is it, Pasha?" He asks, his face buried in a pillow.

"It's breakfast time, get up." Portia says, crossing her arms.

Julian tugs the covers up higher, "I don't need breakfast."

Portia sighs, "You're right, you don't need breakfast, you need another slap in the face-"

"Okay, okay, I'm getting up." Julian sighs, sitting up. His curls stick up in odd directions.

"That's what I thought." Portia smirks. "Now get dressed, milady is already up."

"Yeah, yeah." Julian replies, getting out of bed and throwing on a shirt. Portia steps outside to wait for him.

Julian tugs up his pants and heads over to the mirror, where he runs his fingers through his curls. He's always gotten compliments on his hair, but it's impossible to tame.

As he fiddles with his hair, Julian's mind wanders to the previous night, or more specifically, to Asra.

Julian wasn't sure how he felt about Asra. Although many years had passed since they last saw each other, Julian still had lingering feelings of hurt. Now, to top that off, Julian is going to be spending the next month with him planning the Christmas Ball for the Countess.

This time he isn't going to make a fool of himself. He decides. He's going to keep Asra at a safe distance.

As a friend.

Finally Julian decides his hair looks about as good as it's gonna get, he opens the door.

"You take forever to get ready, you know that?" Portia says, leading him down the corridor.

Julian shrugs, smiling. "Beauty takes time."

"You can only say that if you have beauty." Portia laughs. They enter the dining room, where Nadia is sitting at the head of the table. Further down the table sits Lucio, who is staring down at his meal unhappily.

"You know when I was Count I had the servants serve ox tartare for breakfast." Lucio says, picking at his food.

"Well, I suppose you aren't Count anymore, are you?" Is all Nadia says. She looks up as Julian comes in. "Ah, good morning." She says, putting her teacup down on it's saucer.

Julian takes a seat across from Lucio, "Good morning." He replies. A servant sets a plate of food in front of him.

"I expect that Asra and Muriel will be here soon, then we can begin to discuss our plans." Nadia tells him.

"Like any of these commoners can plan a truly grand party." Lucio laughs, setting down his fork. "I think that-"

"I don't think I'll be taking advice from Mr. Masquerade." Julian snorts, raising an eyebrow. He loved taking Lucio down a couple pegs. "After all, you're the reason the last ball went horribly."

"I AM N-"

Lucio is interrupted by the dining room door opening once again. Standing in the doorway is Muriel and Asra.

Asra glances over in Julian's direction. His icy purple eyes seem to cut right through him.

Friends. Julian reminds himself.

Yeah, just friends.