—First Person POV.—
"It's not that," He starts, eyes avoiding my own as a nervous chuckle meets my ears "I don't really know how to dance with a partner." He admits while timidly lifting his free hand up to rub at the back of his neck.
An embarrassed hue of crimson dances it's way across his face and my eyes flicker from the chanting crowd to him again.
With a gentle squeeze, I pull his gaze back to me—offering the redhead a reassuring smile when I step in front of him and tug his arm down so I can clasp his other hand in my free one.
"Just follow me," I command—lifting our joined hands slightly as I pull him into the crowd.
He follows without question, his brows furrowed as he stiffly wanders with my movement and steps into the flow of the people.
There is a lot of room thankfully, so I skip backwards without any issue, his crimson eyes watching my bubbly actions before the couples around us holler in unison and a clap sounds throughout the warm air.
I smile, following the slight stop in the music and nearly falling over when his foot accidentally stepped on mine "Ouch—" I stumble to the side and my shoulder bumps into someone.
Eijiro hurriedly pulls on our joined hands, bringing me back to him while saying a quick "Sorry!" To the people we briefly disturbed.
It takes a moment for me to regain my footing and when I finally look up, his crimson eyes are already watching me with a glint of guilt in them.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I'm really cut out for this kind of thing.." The lantern lights flicker off of his somber expression and I pause—a chuckle slipping from my lips.
"Look Red," I smile while my thumb runs over his knuckles in a soothing motion "It's okay, just keep following me." He obliged as I continue to pull him back with the crowd—our steps falling into the rhythm, albeit a little later than everyone else.
He does end up accidentally stepping on my feet a few more times and when I wince he quickly apologizes but I try not to let him pay any mind to it for long—instead giving him time to relax and move with me.
"Now listen to the music and repeat what everyone else is doing!" I call out as a few people around us are spun with the flow of the song—dirt kicking up when the duos stomped and continued to repeat the dance all over again.
It takes a few moments, but he finally seems to loosen up to the music—one of his hands briefly letting go of mine so I could spin.
My voice lifts with a laugh and he's proudly smiling when I'm pulled back into him. Our hands catch once more and we're whisked throughout the rhythm of the crowds.
As another song starts up, it only takes him a few minutes to catch the cycle and repeat it along with everyone else.
We separate to clap in rhythm with the music but as he reaches out to grab my hand again, I shift his grip to my waist and step to the side—watching his flustered expression when he moves with me.
His grip tugs me to the side before I could walk into another couple.
My body is pressed up against his whilst his fingers interlock with mine "Am I doing good?" He wonders, those beautiful crimson eyes gazing down at me with hope and a hint of nervousness for my answer.
I brush my mask to the side so he could see my smile "You're doing amazing, Eijiro." I answer, now reaching out to cup the side of his cheek, my fingers lightly grabbing the jaw portion of his mask and shifting it to the side so I could kiss him.
He cocks his head, leaning into my touch and in return, I lean back, letting out a stifled giggle against his lips.
I can feel his smile as he continues to follow after me—the hand on my waist lightly squeezing my side, causing me to jump and let out a gasp of surprise when he suddenly dipped me backwards.
The feeling of his sharpened teeth grazes my lower lip and that's when I finally break the kiss with giggles chasing my action.
His eyes open half-lidded for a moment as he tries to kiss me again but I pull back as a new song starts "Eij, come on we need to keep up—" He plants another kiss on my lips and I'm close to melting back into it—
Until a grumble escapes my stomach and we both pause. My face flushes with embarrassment when he pulls away and lifts me back up from my dipped position.
"...Maybe we should get some food." He points out, moving us to the side so another couple could take our place in the crowd "Maybe," I reply and his hand slips from my waist. Following his movement, I quickly move his mask back into position—leaving only his eyes visible to me as I set mine back too.
And with our locked hands, I lead him out of the crowd—our forms weaving through the people surrounding and watching the dancing crowds.
It isn't too hard to find the food stands—since the smell that lingered nearby was so strong and well, it was seriously right there "Oh, how about deer meat? You haven't really had much meat recently," I bring up, tilting my head to look over at his mask.
He nods in agreement, following me into a line that strung from one of the amazing-smelling cooking stands.
—Time Skip.—
I could feel Kirishima's anxious form looming behind me and a short glance over my shoulder showed his crimson eyes cautiously glancing around while I conversed with the lady behind the desk.
She continued to smile kindly at our masked figures, our chatter coming to a short pause as I reached into my pocket and pulled free our little stash of gold I had brought.
"With the whole festival deal going on, how much do I owe for one night?" I question out loud, briefly glancing up to see her expression flash with confusion.
"Only one night?" She wonders before bringing her hands up in a surrendering motion "I don't mean to pry! It's just, most folks stay for the week long festival, it's a little odd to see a 'one-nighter,' you know?"
I chuckle at that, easing her sudden nerves and pulling a small amount out "Yeah, I figured it'd be an odd sight, but me and my husband here were just passing through." I excuse, nodding my head back to the redhead for a moment.
Her eyes flicker behind me, nodding along with my words "I see! Just one night to rest and then you'll both be on your travels tomorrow?" She asks with her friendly smile still present.
"Yes Ma'am." I answer with a nod of my head—my eyes watching as she counted the coins and paused, looking my visible eyes over for a moment.
Then she slides the pile back over to me, not even keeping a full quarter of the piece to place in the drawer before turning and plucking a set of keys from one of the hooks behind her.
"Well in that case, there's really no use in making you pay so much just for one night." She explains while holding the objects out for me.
I blink in surprise as I collect my gold and grab the keys with hesitant eyes—glancing up at her with uncertainty in my expression "Really? Are you sure? I'd be happy enough to pay—"
She cuts my words off with the shake of her head, waving her hand to the hall to the right of her desk.
"It is just one night and we have more than enough rooms to suffice, ma'am please enjoy." She insists "Your room will be on the second floor, take the staircase at the end of the hall and then keep walking until you find the number on the keychain."
Stashing my wallet back into my satchel, I give her a grateful bow before grabbing Eijiro's hand and moving past the counter—my eyes are trained ahead, ignoring the bounty-board strung up on the wall nearby.
"Thank you, please have a nice night!" I call as we make our way down the hall—easily following her instructions to find the staircase and our room.
Upon unlocking and opening the door, we are met with a dimly lit room, the lanterns burning gently to light the area as we entered and Eijiro closed the door behind me,
"Huh, there's actually a bathroom in here?" I point out as I walk off to the side, looking over the many unlit candles stationed around the barrel-like tub
Eijiro makes his way further into the room while I inspect the area—a little 'thump!' catching my attention and causing me to peak around the corner to see he had plopped onto the soft-looking bed.
"Did she really just give us this for free??" He wonders in disbelief as a loud sigh of exhaustion and comfort escaped his lips.
"No, she gave us a.. One-night discount." I excuse with a playful smile, walking over and setting my satchel off to the side before I grabbed his arm and attempted to drag the soldier.
"Now get off the bed!" I demand lightly while the redhead lets out a laugh at my attempt to move him, his crimson eyes looking up at me while a sharp-toothed grin played on his features.
"Why? It's so comfy!" He beams, pulling me back with ease and causing me to fall on top of him with a huff "But you haven't had a bath, you're getting the sheets dirty!" I exclaim.
He just rolls his eyes at my 'cleanly' antics "You forget, you're not a Lady anymore.." He teases in a sing-song voice and I deadpan offendedly.
"Being clean doesn't have anything to do with me previously being a Lady. It's just called having 'good hygiene,' Eijiro!" I scold, placing my hand on his chest and pushing off of him.
He just continues to playfully smile, showing off his sharp teeth as he watches me struggle—soon loosening his grip so I could finally be freed to stand up again.
"Fine, if you don't want to shower, I might as well." I huff, grabbing a nearby pillow and smacking him once before trotting off to the bathroom once more.
I catch him lifting the pillow from his face, another laugh meeting my ears as I plucked a candle lighter from beside the lantern lighting the bathroom.
It doesn't take me long to light the few candles lining the tub and when I go to remove my top garment—I glance over my shoulder and deadpan.
"Don't tell me you suddenly want to bathe now." I point out and he smiles sheepishly, his blush barely visible beneath the candle light as he waits patiently outside the line of the bathroom.
"Please, My Lady?" Eijiro asks, trying to ease my clear annoyance from his earlier shenanigans and I pause at the title "Who?" I question, turning away to hide the growing hue of color painting my features.
"(Y/n).." He drawls lightly "Can I please come in and bathe? I like it when you scrub my hair." He inquires hopefully.
I can literally feel his puppy-dog eyes burning into my back as I discard my top to the floor and nod my head towards the tub "Hurry up and get in before I change my mind, Red." I state, hiding the small smile now growing on my face.
And he wasted no time in bolting into the tub.. Still fully clothed.
"Eijiro! You're clothes!" I exclaim and he reaches out for me—water splashing everywhere and dimming the bathrooms lighting while I practically fought him to remove his vest and pants.
"You'll still scrub my hair for me, right??" He asks through the chaos and I fight the urge to remove him from existence right then and there.
"Not while you're fully clothed still—we're going to have to hang these out to dry now!" I argue, moments before he manages to drag me into the tub with him.
The water soaks my lower garments and bandeau while the soldier hugs me from the front, caging my scolding figure with his own happy one.
His head dips beneath the surface of the water for a moment and when he comes back up—his hair had flopped down, leaving a mix of red and.. Darker strands against his forehead.
I'm still trying reprimand him but the redhead knows I couldn't stay mad when he rolls over, happily placing his head in my hands and waiting for me to start working my fingers through his messy locks.
I sigh and don't comply, telling him I won't do anything until our clothes are hung to dry.
And I swear this soldier can be the fastest creature on the planet when a few seconds later, he dashes off with both of our wet clothes in hand—hurriedly hanging them on the outside balcony before returning to finally be pampered by me.
As his naked body leaned back against my own, I can't help but smile towards his accomplished and relaxed expression—my hands running through and working the soap into his slowly darkening hair.
'Huh, is his hair turning.. Black?'
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