Love is Just Around the Corner [Closed]

Luxanna was not going to be seen by anyone before she was able to see Tsubine. She had no idea why, but she felt this need to surprise the Emperor with everything that she had gotten on her trip. Luxanna needed to relax. You couldn't even really call that a trip. It was a worry filled rescue mission that had the ability to go very, very, very bad or very good. She was just glad that it didn't go for the the former. Now, she was back in the massive palace of Laplace that she had recently been calling her home. Soon, she would officialize it by having a Noir base built here and continue being the Emperor's 'unofficial' adviser. With Masa safe and Nadia home, she felt... free.

And with this new found freedom was a new found urge to prank. Luxanna currently held two things within her hand. One was a dildo of unnatural size that she found in one of the back alley sex shops of Zakat's more shadowy neighborhoods. It was wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap and had a giant navy blue colored bow wrapped around it. It wasn't hidden at all. The moment she'd lift her invisibility cloak, you'd know exactly what it was. The other thing she held was Tsubine's actual gift, something that Luxanna was quite happy to pick up. She really didn't understand why she felt the need to buy a gift, but she did. And now she finally arrived at the Palace of Laplace.

"Ugh..." she sighed under her invisibility cloak, avoiding being hit by anyone walking by. She slipped her way passed some guards and into the palace. It took her a while to find Tsubine, but once she did, she noticed that the woman wasn't up to her usual demeanor. This immediately worried Luxanna, but she over heard a maid talking about the Emperor being depressed and was glad to find out she wasn't hurt or sick. "This will bring her mood up!" Luxanna thought and followed the Emperor around until she made it to a room. She was going to immediately follow in, but a momentary lack of attention paying caused her to drop the massive dildo. One of the maids glanced back, so she dove onto the massive dildo and used her invisibility cloak to hide it. Once the maid turned away, she picked it back up.

Luxanna then opened the door to Tsubine's study and just stood there, knowing Tsubine couldn't see her. When Tsubine spoke, Luxanna just smirked and walked over to the table, setting the actual gift down under a chair across from her. She then stood up straight, being careful not to reveal herself and then stepped over to Tsubine and stood next to her, about three feet away so she wouldn't get smacked again. She dropped her invisibility cloak and gave a big smile, "Hey beautiful! Was this the size you were talking about?!" Luxanna held out the massive dildo toward Tsubine and had a huge bratty smile on her face. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down and giggled, "I figured since the one's Lunaria showed you before weren't up to your standard... this big guy might help you out a bit."

Luxanna was slightly taken aback by how much she had actually startled Tsubine. She didn't even get a chance to attempt to help her before the surprised beauty gave Luxanna a present of her own. Luxanna blinked a few times, a smirk crawling onto her lips. "That... was a nice view..." she mumbled and then transfered her gaze upward to Tsubine's face. "Yes, I'm back." she smile and blinked again, pleasantly surprised by the light that began returning to Tsubine's eyes.

Luxanna tore her eyes away from Tsubine and went to set the monster dildo down on the table, "The woman's body is quite... resilient; I'm sure we'l-..." Luxanna was caught off guard by the sudden hug she received from Tsubine. She smiled softly as Tsubine held the two of them against each other and found herself wrapping her arms right back around this beautiful woman. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, actually relaxing some, "I'm glad to be back..."

Luxanna jumped a bit at the sound of giggling. Her cheeks turned slightly red because she knew immediately who it was. Before she could turn to see and yell at them for it though, the two closed the door and she narrowed her eyes at it. "That was completely expected..." Eira whispered to Lunaria in secret out side of the door as they began walking down the hallway. "Finally. Now, if the Emperor doesn't get laid, I don't know what else to try at this point!" Lunaria replied with a slight giggle.

"Yes... I am safe, Nadia is safe, and Masamune is safe..." Luxanna repeated the three names she would have explained to Tsubine for leaving, "A few of my members did in fact get targeted and killed on the same day as the attempts on yourself and the rest... But I don't want to talk about that right now, but I'll explain the rest of the details later..." Luxanna pulled away from the hug and stepped back over to a chair, "For now... We have this." She pulled out a finely wrapped gift.

"This is your real present..."

"Aww, I thought you'd be thrilled to receive such a big gift." Luxanna gave a big smile and just giggled at the thought of her trying to fit that thing inside. The image was hilarious, but not something she'd ever try and force on the poor woman. As she handed the actual gift over, Luxanna paid close attention to Tsubine's face to get her reaction. Luxanna couldn't help but smile when Tsubine's eyes shined even more. She was glad to have done something right for her and felt Tsubine deserves something on the nice side. It wasn't every day that the Emperor of Zakat was a beautiful woman, trusted ally, wonderful friend and trusted you enough to establish an entire branch of your organization in her city.

When Tsubine decided to try it on and told Luxanna to turn around, she gave a soft nod and did. Luxanna waited a few seconds and glanced back, finding herself staring at Tsubine as she began to undress. When she noticed Tsubine about to turn around and look, she quickly turned the other way and crossed her arms along her chest. "She told you to turn around, so keep facing this direction... Show a bit of restraint Luxanna... A bit of restraint..." she told herself, but ended up looking back to continue watching Tsubine get dressed, "Oh, you have no self control you idiot lesbian." When she looked back though, she realized there had been enough time for Tsubine to be fully dressed.

"Woah." she thought and just stared. When Tsubine turned back around, she'd notice Luxanna was in a bit of a trance, staring the woman up and down. Luxanna was absolutely stunned by the immense beauty that Tsubine just radiated. Tsubine was always beautiful, but there was something about that outfit that just let her shine even brighter than she had every day of her life. "No wonder I wanted to see her in it..." Luxanna thought and shook her head to snap out of her own self-induced trance. "You... look... absolutely..." Luxanna spoke as if she was having a hard time figuring out which word she wanted to use. Superb, stunning, marvelous, magnificent, alluring, gorgeous, exquisite, dazzling... were all words that passed through Luxanna's mind, but finally she found the right one and smiled...

"Perfect."

"Home?"

"Home...?"

"Home..."

"Yes, hom-... BIRTHDAY!?" Luxanna's entire expression fell. Her eyes opened extremely wide and her jaw dropped. She listened to Tsubine explain that Luxanna had missed her birthday. It was just a few days after she left!? Luxanna was stuck! She didn't know what to do! She left before Tsubine's birthday!? She knew it was to go find Masamune and help Nadia not freak out constantly, but it was just a couple of days! "I... missed... your..." Luxanna's slapped her hands against the sides of her head and she began pacing back and forth, "I have to... gift... party... outing... dinner... What do to?! What to do!? I can't miss your birthday and come back without a birthday present! We have to do something! Can we plan a party!? No... It's too late for that... I bought a gift, but it's not a birthday gift!! That gift is just because I wanted to get you something! But what to do, what to do!?"

"Got it!!" Luxanna froze in mid step, turned her head toward Tsubine, and smiled, "I think it's about time that you went on another one of your outings, don't you think?" Luxanna's tone was speaking of Tsubine taking on her disguise and going out to have some fun. "From what I've heard, you've been depressed for a while now, so I think a bit of air and fun... and just doing... stuff... might help. You need a vacation! So... get dressed in something that fights to dull down your perfectness... and I'll meet you at the front door, in your disguise... yeah. And we'll go... do... everything we possibly can. I even got a pay day from the Noir, so no Emperor money... None. Zip. Nada. I get to show you a good time..." And with that, Luxanna ran out of the room, stopped, turned around, and picked up the giant dildo, "I'll get rid of this..." She walked out of the room and tossed it at a passing guard, "Get rid of it. I don't appreciate you guards playing jokes like this one me! It's inappropriate and uncalled for!" With that, Luxanna waved to Tsubine and hurried to her room, where she would get dressed in one of her other outfits, and make her way to the front gate and wait for Tsubine.

While she was waiting, Luxanna was trying very hard to figure out what sort of place Tsubine might want to go. She was thinking of every place she knew within Zakat, which wasn't much since she really was a lot newer to the place than she realized. She had been here a while, but didn't know everything. That will end up changing once the Noir base was established here. Suddenly a pleasantly familiar voice sounded and she looked up to see Tsubine. She blinked a couple times and looked her up and down. "If I'm the one catching the stares, it's merely because my boobs are showing, because the beauty prize is definitely on your side." she told Tsubine with a serious expression.

"You want me to pick something, huh?" Luxanna asked and then smiled, "Then we have quite a few places we need to go." Luxanna smiled and stepped up beside Tsubine, sliding her hand into Tsu's. With a gentle tug, Luxanna began walking along, leading her through a few of the streets. It was colder today, but not too bad. At least there was no snow hitting the ground and the sky was clear. "So, while we walk, tell me about yourself?" Luxanna asked, "What exactly did you do before you became the Emperor? Oh, and if I ask a question you do not want to answer, please do not feel obligated to do so... I know people have things in their past they prefer to keep to themselves."

As they walked, Luxanna happily listened to Tsubine and asked any questions she could come up with. The first shop they would stop at was a costume shop. "Alright. There's this club in the city that I found while looking around... I was able to become a member." she explained as she looked around the store, "They meet every night and do different themes. If I remember right, tonight's is a couples costume party... You go with someone, dressed up as something that matches the other... So you can dress like twins, or two officers... or even some of those actors you see in those movie things, ya know? And there's a jewelry shop next door to help us find a few things to do the costumes up."

"Any ideas on what you'd want to go as?"

"A simple farm girl?" Isn't that interesting. Luxanna was also just the daughter of a fisherman and his wife. She nodded when Tsubine mentioned Rydian; she did remember what she had been told before about her being there. Once Tsubine was done explaining, Luxanna was asked about her own childhood. She looked away, her eyes looking a little sad, but irritated at the same time. "My childhood..." she spoke calmly, "... really was just a mess. My Father loved being out on the open sea so much that he didn't care whether he was leaving his wife and child alone... I can't even count the times we got robbed, mugged, sick, or anything like that and he wasn't there to do a damn thing to help... When he returned and things were explained to him, he apologized for not being there and still left..."

"Honestly, I don't think he cares even now, but Mom and I sold his stuff, took that money and went traveling." Luxanna looked down while she was telling this story. She didn't know how else to explain it and was trying not to tear up. "While on the road, she got sick and... well, passed on. I wrapped her in a blanket and buried her in an unmarked grave under the largest tree I could find in the middle of Silverwood Forest... I was only thirteen... I didn't know what else to do. I still haven't been able to find her grave... After that, though, I traveled south until I found Fennmont. From there, everything sort of fell together... Nothing too interesting happened before I met my friend Pariah, Nadia, and we sorta just created the Noir... Pariah said it was supposed to give people who didn't have a family a chance to have one; It's expanded a lot sense then and I don't know what I would have done without them."

Finally they made it to the store and Luxanna explained what they were going to be doing. "Good. I didn't want to do the regular ol' dinner and walk thing that so many people do." Luxanna spoke as if this were some sort of date, but she didn't catch that she had done that. She began looking through some of the costumes and thinking about what the two of them would look good as. "Hm... with those sexy ass legs of yours, we should pick something that shows them off." Luxanna said and then realized exactly what she wanted to do, "Oh yes. And that bust... I know what we're going as. Hehehe." Luxanna searched through and after a few minutes, she finally found the outfit, "Ha! There's a dark blue and a light blue one here too... There's also white, and green, but I figured you'd prefer this."

Luxanna stepped over to Tsubine and showed her the costume she was talking about. Turning Tsubine toward the mirror, she held the bra piece up in front of her. "And don't worry, we'll get some coats so we don't go walking down the street all half naked and stuff." she explained with a big smile, "We'll do your hair up into a high pony tail and braid it down, put on a little of the over-flashy jewelry... and definitely turn a few heads at the party." Luxanna smiled widely, definitely excited, but about what? Sure, she wanted to go to the party and show Tsubine a good time, but the idea of seeing Tsubine in an outfit like this was almost too much for her to handle. "Hehehe. Don't forget the other colors if you want to try those..." she reminded and nudged her toward the changing room to try on.

Although Luxanna desperately wanted to say yes to the offer on finding her mother, there was no way she could do that. That would literally be taking advantage of her friendship with the Emperor and using Zakat's resources for a very, very seflish reason, no matter how understandable that reason was. Luxanna shook her head, even if she didn't want to. "N-No... That's alright. I knew I probably wouldn't find her when I chose to bury her there..." she explained and then dropped the subject.

As they were looking through the costumes, Tsubine didn't seem to find a color that she liked. Luxanna, on the other hand, found the exact color she wanted immediately. It was a dark purpose color with red jewels on it. It was the first she tried on and once she looked herself in the mirror, she decided it was the one that she would get for tonight. Obviously all of the jewels on their outfits were fake, but that was the point. It was "costume" jewelry. Dull laugh commence.

"You having a hard time?" Luxanna asked as she watched Tsubine run out and grab another. Luxanna found herself staring at Tsubine's chest as she ran toward the rack and then at her ass as she ran back into the dressing room. She waited for Tsubine to come back and, browsing the racks while still wearing the costume. Once Tsubine came out, Luxanna could tell easily that she was much more comfortable in that one. "I was right when I said you'd look amazing in these..."

"How come you seem so much more comfortable in that one..." Luxanna said, having to force her eyes back up to Tsubine face after they unwillingly traveled down toward her bust a few times. The bra section of the costume showed Tsubine off fantastically. "I am going to have the hottest date at the club tonight..." Luxanna said, stars practically forming in her eyes. "We'll take these!" she said as she picked up two coats as well. She grabbed their other clothes and folded them.

"We're wearing these out, so put your other clothes in the bag and put on the coat. It will keep us hidden from prying eyes until we get to the club." Luxanna said, handing over the coat after she paid for everything. "I know a place we could get our hair done..." Luxanna said, but then tilted her head, "I noticed a certain... something, when I mentioned doing your hair. Be honest, are you okay with that? I just figured you'd not want someone to recognize your style."

When Tsubine turned that compliment right back around at her, Luxanna could not help but stick out her chest and jiggle it a little. She smiled when she did, giggling at her actions a bit. "We're going to have a lot of fun tonight..." she said, adjusting her boobs within the top. "No problem. I'm glad I'm getting the chance." she replied with a gentle smile. When Luxanna asked about Tsubine's hair, she was a little worried and confused by the sad look Tsubine got. When it was explained to her, Luxanna just smiled and shook her head. "You're silly. You don't have to feel bad about that." she told her and giggled over it, "Honestly, I'm quite similar. Although I do let people do my hair sometimes, I usually prefer to do it myself... If you don't want to let someone touch your hair, I completely understand."

Luxanna jumped when Tsubine suddenly got an idea. She watched Tsubine step into the dressing room again and waited for her to return. While she waited, Luxanna put on her ear rings and strapped on the heels she would be wearing to this thing. "Nice..." she said about her heels and then looked up to see Tsubine had come out with her hair down. She blinked in a pleasant surprise, smiling at the wonderful sight. "Wow... Yes, it is the second time." Luxanna said as she walked around Tsubine, obviously checking the woman out, "It's going to be fun showing you off to everyone. Hehehe." Luxanna giggled excitedly about this. She wondered if anyone had ever gotten to see this side of Tsubine before. She knew it was likely, but something told her that it wasn't as likely as she originally thought.

"Uhm..." Luxanna looked to a mirror and at her hair. She wasn't going to sit for an hour just to have Tsubine watch her get her hair done. "I think I'll copy." she said as she pulled the ribbon from her own hair and placed it in her bag. She ran her fingers through her hair, undid the braids, and let it fall back. "There." Luxanna said and smiled toward Tsubine, "The party starts in less than thirty minutes, so if we want to get there on time, we should go." Making sure her coat was buttoned up all the way, Luxanna took Tsubine's hand, placing their bags in her other, and began leading her along. The walk to the club was about twenty minutes away, on the opposite side of Laplace. Upon arrival, the party had started and people were heading inside. Once they got in, Luxanna lead Tsubine to a locker.

"They give members a locker so none of their stuff goes missing... A lot of people show up here having to change too." Luxanna explained as she opened the locker, set their bags inside, and then took of her coat to set it in too. She helped Tsubine with her coat as well, placing it in the locker for her and then locked it up. She looked excitedly to Tsubine and then lead her down a hallway to the party. You could hear the music the moment you stepped out of the locker. There were people in costumes everywhere, some dressed in Cierian, Braukan, and Arcadian costumes. They even passed someone who was trying to dress like the Queen and Knight of Arcadia, but were unaware that the Knight did not wear a suit of overly bright white armor. "And here we are." Luxanna opened the door and inside was a large dance floor. The music was loud, Arcana-made sparkly lights flew around, and the music was quite catchy.

"Do you dance at all?"

Luxanna smiled and nodded when Tsubine replied to confirm the question. It had been a while since Luxanna had any fun like this, so she couldn't imagine how long it had been since the Emperor had. It wasn't surprising when Tsubine said she didn't dance and Luxanna just giggled, the more fun-loving side of her coming out. "It's alright," she said and looped her arm around Tsubine's, "I'm not the best dancer, but as long as you know how to move your body, you can learn to do it. Just move with the music." Luxanna took her arm and pulled her out to a spot on the dance floor.

As they got onto the dance floor, the music began pretty loud, as if there was an enchantment that muffled it if you weren't dancing. It was a little startling to Luxanna, but she quickly shoved it off. She got to the spot and turned to Tsubine, lacing her fingers with the woman's and beginning to dance. "Just get the beat into your head and move." Luxanna told her, "If you need to, even watch some of the other's to see if you can move like them... Either that, or you can just keep your eyes on me." Luxanna's smile never would fade whlie the two were out there dancing with each other.

A few seconds later, the music changed to something that made her look toward the D.J. of this place with a raised eyebrow. Why? Because the music mimicked something that an Arabian Dancer would move with. When she looked to the D.J., she noticed that she actually recognized him and pouted a bit. "He's doing that on purpose..." Luxanna leaned in to Tsubine's ear and told her, "He's the one that got me the membership here, so now he's picking on me. He saw our costumes and decided to put on this type of music. If we're not careful, he'll put the spotlight on us."

"Are you good with your hips?" Luxanna asked her, but as that was done, the spotlight did shine down on them. Luxanna glared up at the guy again and then grabbed onto Tsubine's hand. "My friend here will not be joining me in this dance... for she is new to the art." Luxanna told people around them as they all began looking toward them. Luxanna placed a soft kiss on Tsubine's hand and then whispered in her ear, "Members have to do a solo or partnered dance if the lights shined on them... I won't make you dance with me, but if you do wish to join in, I have no problem with it."

And with that, Luxanna bent over and quickly stepped back until she made it about ten feet from Tsubine's side. As she did, she lifted herself and spread her arms upward, moving in graceful and elegant manner. The music began to speed up and Luxanna began to dance. The dance she was doing was native to the south east of Arcadia, not many even knew how to do it. It consisted of rapid, hard, and fluid hip movements that always seemed to strike at the drum of the musics beat. With a few rolls of her hips and the bouncing of her breasts, Luxanna would be called amazing by a newbie and pretty good by a professional. She intentionally glanced over to Tsubine a few times with a flirtatious glint in her eyes, sort of a 'do you like what you see'. After a couple of minutes, the dance ended.

Luxanna hurried back to Tsubine's side and took in a deep breath as people around applauded and soon got back to what they were doing. "It has been... so long since I actually had to dance..." she said trying to catch her breath, "So... What'd you think?" Luxanna blushed a little when she asked.

Luxanna wasn't really wanting to leave Tsubine's side, but she must. There was no way that she'd make Tsubine attempt this type of dance without knowing at least partly what she'd be doing. Luxanna also knew what Tsubine meant. She'd never be embarrassed by Tsubine, but she knew Tsubine would not be comfortable out here trying this dance either. To ease the woman's nerves, she chose to kiss her hand and step alone out on the dancefloor. She had no problem with this at all. Why? Because she was going to give Tsubine a show. And once that show was finally over, Luxanna returned to her friends side to ask what she thought. She was not expecting an excited hug and a kiss on the cheek. Luxanna blinked a few times, returning the hug and blushing at the kiss.

"W-Was I really that good?" Luxanna asked, placing a hand on the kissed cheek and blushing an even deeper red. She didn't notice that Tsubine had pushed her into stuttering. She regained her composure and pushed up a smile as the blush faded away. "I'd love to teach you some of the things I know, but I'm no professional..." Luxanna explained, "It's something I learned in Arcadia a while back. And trust me when I say it's not something you want to learn on the dance floor. With how many muscles and movements I'd have to show you just to get the basics down, you'll want to learn in the comfort of the p-... your own room." Luxanna caught herself before speaking out about the palace. If anyone caught that and recognized Tsubine in that outfit, she'd never forgive herself.

"Let's dance a little while longer!" Luxanna said, knowing Tsubine hadn't really gotten to dance. She pulled her along and continued to dance with her like they had before. After the song ended, it meshed into a much slower song. After listening for a few seconds, everyone on the dancefloor realized it was a romantic song and either changed the pace of dancing or vacated the floor. Luxanna actually didn't know what she wanted to do at this point. She had been leading the night along, but she wasn't going to make Tsubine dance like this if she didn't want to. "Would you like to continue dancing..." Luxanna said and held out her hand, "Or take a break and get something to drink?" Whatever Tsubine's choice was, Luxanna would follow along, not wanting to take either of them out of their comfort zone.

Luxanna wasn't sure which one she'd prefer doing at this point. Part of her wanted to dance to a slow romantic song with Tsubine, while the other part of her wanted to stop dancing and get her heart to slow down. And when she got her answer, she held her ground when Tsubine moved closer. She smiled and held back her nervousness, worried that it'd show on her face, but luckily she was a pretty damn good actress, at least when it comes to things like holding back your emotions.

Luxanna stepped forward toward Tsubine a bit more, pressing her body a bit against her. "Sounds good to me." she said in a low tone, looking straight into Tsubine's eyes with a soft smile. Since Tsubine was taller, Luxanna would technically be the 'female' side of dancing. The hand Tsubine grabbed hers with, Luxanna placed it around on her back and did the same with the other. Luxanna then raised her arms and placed them up around Tsubine's neck, a tint of red on her cheeks.

"It's been a very long time since I've slow-danced with anyone..." she said as she began to move. Their movements this time were slow and fluid. Luxanna kept her body close enough to Tsubine's that they'd be able to read and predict each other's movements. There were a few small steps in each direction, a small weaving back and forth like you'd see couples do when dancing. What they were wearing allowed for a lot more skin contact that normal, which made Lux's heart race.

"When was the last time you got to dance with anyone... before today I mean?" she asked, trying to keep conversation going. If she didn't, a certain urge would overwhelm her. Each second that passed with her looking into Tsubine's eyes, she wanted nothing more than to push herself up and press her lips against hers. The romantic music was not helping her resist this urge, so she had to figure out a way to stop it herself. There was no way kissing Tsubine would be allowed.

That was it. There were only two choices now and Luxanna was getting more and more nervous. She didn't know how long she could hold back at this point. She wanted to kiss Tsubine so, so, so bad. The song hadn't ended and wasn't going to for a while, so there was no excuse to step away and not dance this closely. Her heart began pounding in her chest and she found herself leaning in closer to Tsubine as the two of them swayed back and forth, their bodies seeming as one.

Luxanna's own body heated up from how anxious she was feeling. The thoughts of kissing her overwhelmed her mind. For a short moment, Luxanna began to push herself upwards, but stopped herself and pulled back. "I-I... need to take a break..." she said and stopped dancing. She brought her hand up and waved at herself, putting her other hand over her heart. "The dancing before... it knocked the wind out of me." she said as she backed away, "I just need some air. I'll be right back."

With a racing heart and a red face, Luxanna turned away from the dance floor and hurried along through a crowd of people. She kept going until she made it to the outside, where the air was much cooler and there was practically no crowd. She paced back and forth for a moment, running her fingers through her hair and cursing herself in anger. "You idiot, Luxanna. What the hell were you thinking?!" she said out loud, but at low volume, "You don't have any right... any right at all..."