Nerd's fic reminded me that I haven't actually posted part 2 of the Old England Avipity scene I wrote lolll-
So here it is! :D
(Link to part 1)
“YOU HAVE TO CATCH ME FIRST, SEREN!”
The words had barely finished echoing through the ballroom before Avibeth realized, too late, that perhaps challenging one of the kingdom’s most decorated swordswomen to a pursuit event… had been a tactical miscalculation.
Because Lady Serendipity did not run. No. Running implied urgency. Running implied disorder. Neither of which Lady Serendipity was willing to show.
She advanced through the ballroom with the terrifying calm of a woman who already knew the outcome. Nobles scattered before her like frightened pigeons.
“Move.” She spoke as she passed a gawking nobleman, who just yelped and jumped back.
Her voice was not loud. Not angry. Somehow worse.
Avibeth backed through the dancers, grinning nervously.
“Oh, come now!” she called. “Surely we can discuss this like civilized people!”
“You forfeited civilized discussion when you weaponized a cheek kiss.”
“It was a diplomatic maneuver!”
“It was a crime.”
“Against who?!”
“Me. And my dignity.”
The surrounding nobles were fully invested now. Absolutely no one was pretending to be otherwise.
A countess whispered, “Five silver on the knight.”
“Ten on the heiress reaching a chandelier,” another noble replied.
Cowards. Enablers. Every last one of them.
Avibeth darted behind a group of musicians.
“Gentlemen!” she declared dramatically to the orchestra. “Shield me!”
The violinist looked at Seren approaching across the floor, then looked back at Avibeth.
“…Respectfully, my lady, absolutely not.”
Avibeth pouted at that.
Traitors. All of them traitors.
Avibeth pivoted sharply, skirts whipping around her ankles as she slipped through a cluster of dancing couples.
Seren followed without missing a step.
Stars above - how was she so fast?
She wasn’t even trying. That was the offensive part.
“SEREN-”
“Avibeth.”
“This is becoming hostile!!”
“You started a foot chase.”
“You threatened to carry me!”
“A tactical maneuver.”
“I WAS EXPRESSING JOY!”
“Joy at my suffering, it seems.”
Avibeth laughed breathlessly and scrambled up two decorative steps leading toward the musicians’ balcony.
Gasps erupted through the ballroom.
Seren stopped. Slowly. Dangerously.
“…Avibeth.”
The heiress froze halfway up the stairs.
That tone.
Oh.
Oh no.
That was not annoyed Seren.
That was the tone.
The one reserved for reckless plans, dangerous heights, and moments where Avibeth’s survival instincts had personally offended her.
Unfortunately, Avibeth had an audience.And an audience demanded commitment.
Dozens of eyes turned up to watch the commotion. Avibeth spread her arms dramatically, causing Seren to fold her arms.
“Get down.”
“No.”
“Avibeth.”
“You cannot simply remove me from my own social event!”
“I absolutely can.”
“I am beloved!”
“You are thirty-four minutes past curfew.”
“TYRANNY.”
“Get. Down.”
Avibeth, in a moment historians would later classify as an avoidable escalation, took another step backward.
The hem of her dress caught slightly.
Her balance shifted.
Tiny. Barely noticeable.
Except, Seren noticed. Of course she noticed.
The knight moved instantly.
Fast enough to startle half the ballroom.
One hand catching Avibeth’s wrist before she could stumble properly.
The room went quiet.
For one brief second, music fading to background noise, Avibeth looked down.
Seren stood below her, grip steady, expression tight around the edges.
Concern. Real concern. Sharp enough to cut through the chaos.
“…Careful,” Seren said quietly.
The single word landed softer than it should have.
Avibeth blinked, and her adrenaline dipped just slightly.
Then, because she was Avibeth Local and incapable of letting sincerity survive unchallenged, she smiled.
“…What? Worried about me, Lady Serendipity?”
Seren stared at her. Long. Flat. Entirely unimpressed.
“You are standing on decorative stairs while wearing irresponsible footwear.”
“…So yes?”
“…Get down.”
Avibeth grinned.
“Make me.”
Silence.
Oh.
That... That had been a mistake.
The ballroom collectively sensed it.
Several nobles physically stepped backward.
Seren’s expression went dangerously calm.
“Very well.”
“...Wait.”
Too late.
In one swift motion, Seren climbed the remaining steps.
Avibeth yelped.
“SEREN-!!”
Strong arms around her waist. Solid, unavoidable.
The world tilted violently.
“SEREN?!”
And suddenly, she was upside down.
Thrown neatly over one armored shoulder.
The ballroom exploded: gasps, laughter, scandalized shrieks. Someone dropped an entire pastry tray.
“SERENDIPITY-!” Avibeth flailed dramatically, wings puffing indignantly. “PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!”
“No.”
“THIS IS KIDNAPPING!”
“No, this is transportation.”
“I AM A RESPECTED NOBLE LADY!”
“You are currently cargo.”
“CARGO?!”
Seren descended the stairs without the slightest difficulty.
Unbelievable. Offensive. Utterly rude.
Avibeth pointed accusingly at the crowd as they passed.
“YOU ARE ALL WITNESSES!”
The countess from earlier raised her wine glass.
“Excellent form, Lady Serendipity.”
“Thank you,” Seren replied calmly.
Treason. At her own party no less. The audacity.
Avibeth groaned dramatically and crossed her arms upside down.
“This is humiliating.”
“Good.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
The ballroom doors loomed ahead.Freedom, or imprisonment, depending on perspective.
Avibeth wriggled slightly.
Dangerous decision.
Seren’s grip tightened immediately, not painful, just secure. Steady. Protective. Annoyingly grounding.
“Stop squirming.”
“You tossed me over your shoulder like stolen potatoes!”
“You ran.”
“You escalated!”
“You initiated.”
“Technicalities!”
The cool night air hit them as Seren carried her outside.
Music muffled behind closing doors.
Moonlight spilled silver across the courtyard.
And finally, Seren set her down.
Avibeth straightened immediately, feathers puffed in offended disarray.
“How dare-”
“You nearly tripped.”
Avibeth stopped.
“…That is unrelated.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Silence.
A breeze stirred between them.
The adrenaline from the ballroom chase lingered warm and electric in the air.
Seren adjusted one glove.
Avibeth fixed a crooked bracelet.
Neither moved.
Then, quietly, Seren sighed.
“…You scared me.” The words slipped out before she could stop them. Small. Honest.
...Dangerously honest.
Avibeth’s dramatic outrage faltered instantly.
“Oh.”
Seren looked annoyed with herself already.
Wonderful.
Excellent.
Fantastic.
“Don’t make that face,” she muttered.
“What face?”
“That one.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“The guilty face.”
“I do not have a guilty face.”
“You absolutely do.”
Avibeth opened her mouth, closed it, then shuffled half a step closer.
Smaller now. Less ballroom queen. More… just Avibeth.
“…'m sorry.” her voice was soft. Real.
Seren’s expression softened around the edges despite herself.
“…Thank you.”
A pause.
Then, Avibeth tilted her head.
“...Soooo.”
Seren narrowed her eyes immediately.
“No.”
“You don’t even know-”
“You’re about to ask if surviving public humiliation earns a distraction kiss.”
“…Maybe.”
“No.”
“Not even a tiny one?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Cruel.”
“Curfew.”
“Heartless.”
“Walking. Now.”
Avibeth sighed dramatically.
“…Fine.”
Two steps. Three.
Then, quick as lightning, a tiny kiss against Seren’s jaw.
“BONUS DISTRACTION KISS!”
And Avibeth darted away into the courtyard cackling wickedly. Silence.
Seren stopped walking. Completely still.
The moonlight suddenly felt very unhelpful.
Across the courtyard, Avibeth turned around while retreating.
Victorious. Insufferable. Radiant.
“…You’re all red.”
Seren pointed toward the carriage with military precision.
“WALK.”
“YOU’RE BLUSHINGGGGG-”
“AVIBETH.”
“YOU LIKE THE DISTRACTION KISSES!”
“I LIKE ORDER!”
“LIAR!”
And somewhere inside the ballroom, a noble opened a betting pool for how long before House Local’s knight and heiress became everybody else's problem officially.
