so raise your glass (Lyra + Lance)
Lyra wasn’t usually one to attend parties like this one, she wasn’t really interested in the hooplah that sometimes went on in the adult world, but she was getting close to being an adult ehrself, she already lived alone. She fed herself, traveled all over the region. She knew the world was a vicious place and maybe she shouldn’t have been out here all on her own in a world full of people who might have had bad intentions, but she never saw bad intentions in people. She only saw good, and maybe that made her a child still, but she didn’t care. Right now, she was here to have a good time and that was what she was going to do!
She was blending in fine, her figure made her look adult enough for mosts eyes, she didn’t really look like a child when she wasn’t wearing overalls and a large hat. Funny how that worked, huh? She smiled as people smiled at her, and she accepted a fizzy drink from a passing tray. She’d been told the name but she didn’t care. It tasted good, and that was enough for her. She walked slowly, just savoring being out in the party, whether was here to be Lyra or “Gertrude” as her invitation said.
She smiled as Lance recognized her, but then he was gone again. She furrowed her brow, not looking pleased at all. Rude! She wanted to call after him, but he was gone so fast she didn’t have time for it. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and kept walking. She’d find him later, apparently.
She downed the rest of her drink, and she made towards the bar. She would just have to have another one of those bubbly things, since Lance apparently didn’t have time for her. She accepted one from the bar, and she looked up as Lance appeared again. She smiled happily at first, but he spoke before she could. She narrowed her eyes, playfully.
“It’s good to see you too.” She said with a sip of her drink, turning herself to face the man. She pushed off the bar and moved passed him but not before reaching up to wrap her small fingers around his wrist to pry it from her shoulder, but instead of dropping it, she pulled him after her. Holding the wrist of the Elite Champion was not as cute as hand-holding but you know, take what you can get.
“I’m not a kid either, I’m almost 17. And I’m here by invitation.” She said matter-of-factually. It wasn’t completely a lie, she did have an invitation. She pulled them outside so she could sip her drink and talk without having to yell or constantly have people try to steal the companion she was stealing for herself.
She smiled again, once outside. She backed herself against a railing, cocking a hip to the side as she looked at him. She cocked her head to the other side and smiled at him, biting her lip as she toyed with the hem of the dress around her thighs, “Bet you didn’t recognize me! I don’t recognize me! I look great.” She said tugging on the dress’ end with an excited voice. “Oh! I meant to tell you, I met Elite Champion Wallace the other day. He told me I was beautiful and you’re calling me a kid. Rude, I like him better.” She rambled with a sip of her drink. She might have looked like an adult, and sort of acted like one, but she was a light weight when it came to alcohol.
Lyra sure did have a lot of fire in her tonight. Lance didn't think that was an effect of the alcohol, but he was sure it wasn't hurting. Almost seventeen. Did kids like her even know how young they sounded when they said stuff like that?
It didn't matter. Lyra shouldn't be there. Maybe, if he'd put a few more drinks into him he could've let it slide. Let the girl have fun once in a while, the little voice inside his head whispered. She deserves it, hardworking as she is. There's nothing wrong with unwinding once in a while.
But she was a kid! Lance looked around and couldn't help but notice the direction in which every head that passed had turned and where every eye had traveled. It made his skin crawl, made him want to knock them all out. She didn't seem to notice, but it was all he could see.
"Lyra, listen to me." He sighed as Lyra pulled him along. There was no reason to be had, it seemed, that Lyra would even listen to at this point, but he was trying anyway. "You shouldn't be here, you're-"
But she was looking at him funny and fidgeting with her dress, and he was uneasy, and now she was going on again, talking about Wallace and who knows what, and-
Better?
Whether Lyra had intended for it to be a trap, Lance fell for it hook, line, and sinker. It was the combination of ego and alcohol that flicked some switch in his brain, made the word grate against his ears like he knew every sound would tomorrow morning. He put up his hands, a flimsy defense.
"Hey, hold on a second!" Lance scoffed. "What does Wallace have that I don't, huh? Besides a bunch of water pokemon. I got a couple of those- the best ones." He could've gone on. There was so much to say about Champion Wallace and his dress sense. Just what was he thinking wearing that gauche cape around everywhere? But Lance could tell by the look on Lyra's face that his arguments would get him nowhere.
He sighed. Maybe there was some other way to get her to see his absolute superiority. The music inside slowed down a little, and it gave Lance an idea. He held out his hand.
"How about this, then?" he asked. "There's no way 'Champion Wallace' can dance half as well as I can. And you can be the judge."








