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Luz was sitting on Eda's couch, comfortably reading, or more like re-reading, the Azure books, distracting herself from her university school work. It was some research project about a famous mansion, only ever coming alive every couple thousand years. Eda said it was a party for the ages, a celebration started by the titans. Of course Eda had also mentioned only the considerably wealthy were invited, which didn't exactly describe Eda. Luz was building the motivation to work on the history project, sinking deeper into her books. She glanced out the window to see how much daylight was left, which wasn't much, but also saw Hooty actively eating mail. She jumped from the couch in a panic, rushing through the door.
"Hooty! You gotta stop eating the mail!" She grabbed a handful of mail out of Hooty's mouth. Luckily he hadn't had the chance to devour most of it.
"Sorry! Hoot hoot! I saw a bug on it!"
"Yes, well there are plenty of other bugs out here…" Luz trailed off as they flipped through the mail and stopped on a black envelope with no return address or stamps, only a three eye like symbol on the back.
"What's that?" Hooty peered over her shoulder as she flipped it a couple more times to be sure of what she was seeing.
"I don't know." She put the rest of the mail out of focus as curiosity begged Luz to open the strange envelope. Inside was a formal invitation, though with several common misspellings and grammatical errors. It seemed to describe the very event she was researching, the party house of the centuries. She couldn't believe she was holding an invitation to the 'party of this century', or at least that's what it said on the invitation.
"Oooh! A party! Can I be your plus one?" Hooty said excitedly.
"Uh, actually it specifically says no plus ones. Sorry, Hooty." She finally got the end of the invitation. It seemed strict though at least the dress code was flexible. Luz wasn't actually all that sure if she wanted to go let alone what to wear. Ever since becoming half titian, she's a lot taller and even a little more muscular than before, though still has her nerd arms. This meant it became difficult for Luz to find clothes that fit her anymore.
"Aw, do you think you'll be going? Party of the century does sound fun!" Hooty leaned into Luz playfully.
“Pfff, maybe. I mean if the stories are true, only rich snobs are invited. I’m not sure why I was invited, I’m a broke college student.” She tried denying that she wanted to go, seeing how shady the invitation might be.
"Maybe you should stop worrying, worry bug and have the time of your life!" Hooty tried to sound excited for Luz to cheer her up, strongly encouraging her.
"Yeah. I'll have to get ready right now if I want to get there in time." She looked up at the near night sky before running inside, putting the rest of the mail down on the table.
The moon was now fully in the sky, the woods pitch black if not for the light spell Luz held in her hand ahead of her. Her ears perked up at the sound of muffled music. She picked up her pace and low and behold was an abandoned house filled with colorful glittering lights inside. Chatter and music could be heard from outside along with glowing frog robot eyes following her. She looked up at them as Luz approached the door, fidgeting with her invitation in her hands.
The robots made an odd whirring sound before one of the two standing there held out their hand, "invitation please." It calmly stated, though Luz couldn't help but get nervous as she gingerly put the envelope and letter in its extended palm. "Thank you, you may now enter. Please enjoy." It said a little louder than Luz expected, quickly retracting its hand, stuffing the envelope in a shredder slot in its chest.
The music was immediately five times as loud as it was outdoors, filled with voices, all trying to talk over the entire room. Luz didn't seem to recognize any of the faces as she carefully walked through the crowded room. It felt claustrophobic in the midst of it, finally reaching the other side of the room to what can only be seen as a bar. A couple people lined up along the side of the bar, one wealthy witch already passed out with a drink in hand. However it took her a minute to look down and notice there weren't any chairs, at least any left at the bar and the drunken witch had impressively fallen asleep standing. Luz looked around for the chairs and realized all of the bar stools looked to have taken to a table in the middle of the room. At the table were several men, women, and other folk surrounding a slightly smaller figure with a drink in hand, entertaining all of them with what Luz assumed to be a very interesting story given that they all seemed to be listening so attentively. Luz was slightly entranced with every little thing she noticed about them, their fair skin, shiny suit, charming grin, and eye-catching red and orange catlike eyes. It was incredibly distracting, they even seemed to notice her gaze across the floor before the drunken witch slid off the counter and with a thud, had hit the floor still asleep. Luz jumped a little at the noise, looking at them before slowly drifting her gaze back to only realize that someone now stood beside them. She was spooked again, trying to catch her breath a little, but it was taken again when she realized the very figure that had half the room's attention was now standing next to her, leaning calmly on the counter. Luz looked around for a second to find that the attention on them went away while standing next to her.
"Hello. Mind if I get a pretty lady as yourself a drink?" Luz couldn't believe how calm she was keeping despite having someone as handsome as themselves right next to her.
"I wouldn't mind. Anything you recommend?" Luz felt like that in the moment they spoke too quietly out of shyness but surprisingly they nodded as though none of the crowd in the room existed and they just heard her crystal clear.
"I'm a personal fan of bourbon but you look like you might like a good Rosé yourself." They waved politely at the bartender to come over and they began pouring the two drinks. Once Luz picked up her crystal glass, the deep red rippled in the glass. They gave the motion of cheers before downing their own amber colored drink, reflecting in the light only for a couple of seconds. Luz looked at her own glass again and took a small sip, tasting the bitterness followed by a light floral taste. Luz shivered at the bitterness, still not used to alcohol ever since she turned 21. She was 22 now but that wasn't really the point she thought.
"So what's your name?" Luz was still too flustered to start anything complicated.
"Darcy, nice to meet your acquaintance. Now what is a little doll doing all on her lonesome?" The bartender had already refilled their glass but this time they took smaller sips, devoting all of their attention to Luz.
"Luz, Luz noceda. Nice to make yours too. I got here pretty late it seems. With how fancy everyone is dressed I'm worried that I stick out like a sore thumb." Luz laughed nervously, looking away in embarrassment.
"I think you look absolutely divine." Darcy inched closer, "but if you don't want to dance, we can find a room upstairs. We could get away from the noise together." Darcy leaned in to whisper into Luz's ear before slithering off to the stairs, giving Luz a knowing glance. Luz felt shivers at Darcy's offer. She could barely take her eyes away, deciding to take her chances, putting down her drink to pick up her dress and follow Darcy. Meanwhile Darcy had already turned a corner, Luz rushing slightly to keep up, entering a room that was far bigger inside than she expected, dazzled for a moment, dimly lit by a small candle and fireplace that Darcy had lit, placing the candle on a small inn table by a chair and sofa. Luz looked up to the ceiling seeing a crystal encrusted chandelier with shelves of books on almost all the walls. The rest of the walls had elegant paintings decorating them. Luz resisted the urge to pluck out a book and sit on the couch by the fireplace, reminded why she was here when Darcy gently closed the door behind her.
"This place looks amazing!" Luz said, mystified.
"Not as amazing as me as I take it." Darcy said with a mischievous smile.
"No, no. I mean you look lovely too. Handsome? Gosh I'm making this awkward aren't I?" Luz kept stuttering over her words, avoiding Darcy's gaze.
"Handsome will do but we can keep things slow. No need to rush, darling. We have the entire night to ourselves." Darcy stepped forward, tilting their head to try to keep eye contact with Luz.
"Okay." Luz spoke meekly as she realized how close Darcy was, feeling her face get warm. Luz noticed a couple of strands of hair had fallen out of place on Darcy, who was giving a comforting smile to Luz. Luz recollected their thoughts, making a move to put the stray hairs behind Darcy's ears, Darcy leaning into the touch. Darcy put their own hand on top of hers, reaching out their free hand to softly hold Luz's other hand, taking a small step forward to Luz. Luz reflexively took a small step back but not enough to put much distance between her and Darcy. At this point Luz felt like her entire face went red, every touch of Darcy's sending a fluttering tingle through her entire body. Her heart was racing, waiting for Darcy to make a move, send a signal, something, but it never came. Darcy waited patiently for Luz, keeping what little space between with a knowing gaze as to say that they would keep their word and take things as slow as Luz wanted to. After a couple seconds, Luz started leaning in herself, closing her eyes and moving slowly to give a small quick peck on Darcy's lips. When Luz opened her eyes, her racing thoughts barely had any time to think of anything before Darcy had leaned in themselves to give more extended pecks, tightening their grip on Luz's hands slightly, slowly guiding Luz to the wall behind them by the flickering fireplace. Darcy held their hand slightly above Luz's head, only for a few pecks later to give one last one that lingered as they pulled away. Luz opened their eyes in confusion as Darcy gave them that same charming look as before, the golden light of the fireplace hitting most of their features.
"Why'd you stop?" Luz said, still a bit breathless.
"I just wanted to make sure you wanted to continue. And for you to catch your breath of course." They seemed to notice Luz's slightly elevated breathing but Luz was more focused on how calm Darcy managed to keep. It kept Luz's own anxious nerves calm seeing Darcy's own confidence.
"Yeah, of course-" Luz, was a bit interrupted by Darcy's lips hitting hers. Luz felt some sort of desperation out of Darcy's far more passionate kisses, deeper with every one. She almost felt Darcy was the one entranced with Luz but with a hunger she couldn't describe. She felt like she was in heaven and began to truly tune everything else out until she felt a sharp sting in her lip from Darcy taking a small nip out of Luz's lips. Luz squeaked a little at the pain. "Hey-" Luz objected for a moment before Darcy gave a small smooch to the place Darcy bit a little, grinning slyly in their kisses.
"Sorry princess, just wanted a taste." Luz let it go as Darcy got back into the motion with Luz but just as soon, their kisses began to trail down to her neck. Luz flinched at the soft ticklish kisses, giggling a little from the kisses. She shivered a little when Darcy had taken it up a notch and gave a lick to the crevasse of her shoulder. It felt like electricity for a brief moment before a sharp pain replaced it. Darcy had suddenly tense up and switched to holding down Luz tightly around the wrists against the wall. Luz squirmed as much as she could but didn't have much of anywhere to go. As Luz continued, Darcy only bit down harder, blue blood dripped from Luz's shoulder, staining her already deep blue dress with a deeper shade. Luz felt that Darcy's strength was just simply inhuman but Luz wasn't going to let herself give in at that fact. She ripped one of her balled up fists from Darcy's grasp, using the momentum to hit them, feeling a hard crunch under her knuckles. Darcy had been flung back, accidentally tearing Luz's shoulder in the process. Darcy hissed, holding their face while Luz held her shoulder to try to stop the bleeding. As Luz's face was scrunched up from the pain and betrayal, she tried looking to see what Darcy had been doing but there wasn't enough light to fully make out Darcy's face as they grunted in pain. Though as Luz tried seeing what damage she had done, she noticed moths began gathering around them. Luz looked around at the bookshelves and realized there were several more gathering towards Darcy. A crued snap coming from Darcy brought Luz's attention back to them as they readjusted their posture from hunching over. They rubbed their jaw with odd green blood mixed with Luz's blood dripping from the corner of their lip. Darcy's expression was far more salty than before.
"You hit pretty hard, doll face." They whipped the corner of their lip with their thumb, sounding slightly displeased, though there was still plenty of blood left on their face.
"What the heck! Why did you bite me!" Luz shouted, feeling a bit dizzy from their wound but it had already begun healing because of her titian magic.
"Well because I was hungry. What other reasons would it be." They grumpily took out a napkin from an inner pocket in their suit, trying to clean themselves up.
"What, so you're some kind of vampire?" Luz still in disbelief that Darcy acted like it was some everyday occurrence.
"I suppose it's something like that. Besides I don't believe I invited you to this party anyways, it's your fault for trespassing."
"I did not trespass! And don't think of shifting the blame on me, you're the one who hurt me!"
"You managed to get a good swing in so I think we're mostly even. Aside from trespassing." Darcy looked over at Luz's direction after stuffing the napkin back into their side pocket, crumpled, "blue blood… you're that titian. No wonder you were invited. Sorry jumping to accusations, I wasn't aware titans came so small as adults." Darcy fixed the cuffs of their suit, still standing in the shadows with a small swarm of moths surrounding them. Darcy seemed unbothered by them, not even paying them any mind. Luz wondered if Darcy even realized they were there at all.
"Maybe that's because I'm half titian, but that still doesn't explain why you bit me!" She took a second to see if the wound had healed, taking her hand off for a brief moment to see only to feel the sharp pain come back. She quickly put her hand back to cease some of the pain. She looked back at Darcy despite the dark and only barely seeing Darcy's agitated face and the rest of their silhouette.
"What do you want me to tell you?! Because the honest truth was that I was starving, wanted a snack, and then I smelled your strong scent fill the entire room. Maybe even wanted to have some friendly chat with the pretty lady, I don't understand what's so unbelievable about that!" Darcy sat down on one of the couches in frustration with their arms crossed, almost sounding like a bit of a spoiled child.
Luz blushed at their notion that Darcy had called them pretty but shook her head, trying to refocus but she couldn't keep angry at Darcy.
"I suppose I just didn't exactly envision my night going like this. I was honestly gonna have a few drinks and head home." Luz walked over to the seat next to Darcy and their , unfortunately for Luz, an adorably grumpy face lit by the candle from earlier sitting on the inn table.
"I guess this night hasn't worked for the both of us then." Luz noted that her pain was mostly gone, fresh scar tissue formed where Darcy had chomped down at, taking a look at the scar and realizing that her hand holding her shoulder was now blue as well.
"Tonight hasn't been that bad of a floop, I mean I got to kiss someone handsome, I think that's a plus. Mind if I can borrow that napkin you had earlier?" Luz held out their hand, showing Darcy the mess on her hand.
Darcy rolls their eyes a little before pulling out the napkin again and handing it to Luz, looking away with a little blush on their cheeks.
"Is that blush I see?" Luz teased, "I didn't realize that a flirtatious vampire like yourself gets embarrassed over someone calling them handsome~" Luz cleaned her hands up along with as much of her shoulder as she could reach.
"No! It's just most of the time people don't mean it. They always just want my money or power!" Darcy seemed to get sensitive around the topic, raising their voice before letting an awkward silence fill the room. Darcy looked away with a masked but still hurt expression.
"I'm sorry for teasing but I do mean it when I say I find you handsome. I'm surprised you had any interest in me at all." Luz moved to Darcy's side on the couch, interrupting Darcy's gaze at the fireplace. Luz smiled comfortingly at Darcy, taking a clean part of their napkin and cleaning Darcy's cheek gently.
"You're not doing this because you feel bad, right?" Darcy let her continue what she was doing.
"Yes, but no. I care about you even though I don't know you all that much. That being said, I'd like to get to know you better." Luz gave an apologetic kiss on Darcy's cheek.
"Right…" Darcy sounding suspicious of their kindness, "so you're not doing this because-" Darcy concerns cut off by Luz holding a finger up to their lips, having a serious face painting Luz.
"I am doing this because I want to and because I'm a decent person. Not for any other reason, okay?" Darcy shook their in confirmation. They moved Luz's hand trying to lean in for a kiss nervously. They looked torn in Luz's eyes but moved into the motion. She wasn't sure if this would be a good idea. The kiss filled with an explicable sadness, it felt more tender than the other times. The two holding each other for the rest of the night.