Trials and Tribulations // One-On-One // CLOSED

Leo and Val intertwined their hands with a quick glance from both their fathers. Their mother's looked on expectantly, and Val gave Leo and quick peck on the cheek. They then excused themselves and started to walk away, keeping their hands together until they were out of sight. "Have you found anyone yet?" Leo asked as they grabbed a glass of champagne each.
"Um…I met someone today. She's really sweet. She's a Top Tier too. Red Panda."

She saw it. She didn’t want to but she had. Their interlaced fingers, Val’s lipgloss smudged on the man’s cheek. She shrugged jt off and appraoched her. It’s not like she had a chance at being more than Val’s friend anyways, no matter how bad she wanted it. “Hey Val.” She hummed as she approached the two, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked her over. Gods, was she gorgeous, “Who’s this gentleman?” She asked, glancing over at the man that Val stood with, trying her best to ignore her the lipgloss smudge on his cheek, before returning her gaze to the miraculously gorgeous Val

~

(hey you don't have to bump it up
i know that its there but im often offline for a period of time when i get distracted with school)

Val smiled at Nora, then quickly dropped Leo's hand, knowing what it would look like to the red panda. Leo understood the message sent by the hand drop and kept a little bit of distance. "This is Leopald," Val replied. "I know that I said he was kinda stuck up before, but I was trying to make you feel sorry for me. Really, he's the kindest Amur Leopard I've ever met."
"Call me Leo," He said, sticking out his hand. "I'm guessing she went on her mini rant about how I'm a leopard and named Leopald? She does that a lot. And you don't have to worry about me stealing her. We might be engaged to be married-forcefully at that-but I'm gay. And off the market with an amazing Snow Leopard boyfriend."

A whole hot wave went over her body, her cheeks turning a bright pink as she ran her hand through her dress. “Thanks” was all she managed to get out, not really being able to lie about the fact that she wanted Val, badly. She looked up again once the hue of rose had calmed down and greeted herself to Leopald. “And I’ve already heard about you” she added at the end, a small, playful smile on her lips as she spoke to him. She turned back to Val, biting her lip, “you look… gorgeous” she muttered, the familiar blush crawling back onto her cheeks as she spoke.

A blush spread across Val's cheeks, closely matching a lighter shade of her dress. "Uh, thanks," She said awkwardly, not really not knowing how to react. It was only just occurring to her that she wanted Nora badly, but she knew it would never happen. She looked up at the balcony and spotted hers and Leo's parents looking down at them expectantly. She grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheek quickly. She looked back up and saw them move away to have their own conversation.

She blushed harder, her entire body filling with jealously as Val kissed the boy’s cheek. She growled quietly before takiing a hold of Val’s waist, blushing hard when she realized what she was doing. “This place is prissy, I can feel it in the air” she laughed, wanting to glare at Leopald but knew that he was in the same situation as Val, who probably already had a crush

Val stiffened slightly when Nora took hold of her waist, knowing what it would look like. "Could you…maybe…not do that?" She asked, trying not to show how much she wanted it to continue. It wasn't that she didn't want it happening: it was that she knew what would happen should her father see her with someone. She'll never forget the first time she brought someone home to visit her parents, that wasn't Leo.
"You have no right bringing someone home to see me!" He yelled, slapping her across the face. "And you have no right to be involved with my daughter! Leave my sight!"

Her suspicions seemed true as she blushed, letting go of her. “Sorry, that was intrusive of me to do, plus you probably have a boyfriend that wouldn’t want me holding you like that” she replied, laughing nervously afterwards as she rubbed the back of her neck. She ruffled her silk dress, moving it around as she found her stance a little away from Val to give her the space she had asked for. Damnit Nora, why’d you have to go and make a fool of yourself! she mentally scolded herself. “Would you like to go and grab some drinks?” She asked, still not looking up from the smooth, marble tiled floor of the ballroom as she spoke

An apologising look crossed her face, and her eyes portrayed the same emotion. "No, it's not that…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say. Leo squeezed her hand knowingly.
"Yes, drinks would be lovely," He said in reply for her, trying to remove some of the current tension hanging in the air. "We might even bump into some friends on the way there, right Val?"
"Uh, right."

She smiled gently, giving Leopald a thankful look before beginning a bee-line to the bar ,that was only a short distance away from where they stood, hoping they’d follow. She cringed at herself, wanting to give herself a facepalm right then and there.

"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings like that," Val said to Leo, both looking hurt and sorry.
"I know you didn't," Leo replied, squeezing her hand. "I know that you're afraid of your dad sometimes. And it makes sense. He's a big Russian dude in the Top Tier. My dad's the same. But maybe you didn't scare her off."

They were soon at the bar, drinks of all kinds laid out in front of them. “What do you guys want?” She asked, turning around and trying to sound as confident as she could muster at the moment. She poured herself a glass of champagne, taking a sip almost right away which left a little nude lipstick blot on the side of her glass

She looked at the options, quickly deciding on a Sauvignon Blanc. "Look, what happened before," Val started, trying to find the words. "I couldn't risk anyone seeing us like that, in a way that could be seen as romantic. It's not that I don't like you enough, it's that…well, the last time I took someone home that my dad didn't approve of, I was slapped across the face and he was threatened."

She stood there, stunned. “He what?” She asked, her voice possessive. Although she heard her tone, she didn’t correct herself; if someone was capable of hurting one of the most beautiful women she’s ever laid eyes on she didn’t understand how the fourth world war hadn’t broken out yet. She then realized the fact that she said she liked her, a hot pink blush returning to her cheeks, “so I have a chance” she muttered out loud what she thought was just in her head

"He did what he thought was right. He's a big, heavy, strong Russian man. After that, I learnt better." She sighed, remembering the time that it happened. She then blushed deeply at Nora's soft remark, not knowing if she meant to say it out loud or not. She was about to say something more when a voice resounded throughout the ballroom, amplified by a microphone. Upon inspection, it was clear to see that it was Jonathan Eraklyon, one of the most well known orangutans of the Top Tiers. He was above on the balcony, a place where everyone could see him.

She took another sip of her champagne before jumping slightly at the squeaking noise the mic made when spoken into. She hesitated to cover her ears but it did hurt quite a bit. She waited for him to begin speaking as she tried to calm down the bright red blush on her cheeks

Val and Leo covered their ears, as did many of the other members of the feline family. Even Jonathan himself seemed to flinch, but he tried not to show it. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for attending."

Nora nodded slightly, her gaze fixed on the man before them. She soon let her gaze slip to Val, her eyes caressing her body as she thought of a sonnet, ‘doth without touch do touch’ she remembered, although not exactly where the line came from.

Her ears twitched, almost as if she could feel Nora's gaze on her. "As you all know, this is the 21st Eraklyon Family Ball," Jonathan continued. "All of you here are either Top Tiers or High Tiers. If you are not either of the Tiers, leave immediately. Now, I would like to invite my good friend Aleksei Petrov to speak a few words."

When Nora saw Val’s ears twitch she blushed roughly, patting down her own ears before smoothing out her dress as Aleksei Petrov came onto the grand balcony, her stomach turning in on itself. She remembered meeting that man before, along with Val. She scooted over to the paling Val, “is that…”

(wait she might not like val then
aleksei's her dad…)

Okie. I shall change it. I had a different idea originally but I just wanted to see what that’d do first. Sorry😣

When Nora saw Val’s ears twitch she blushed roughly, patting down her own ears before smoothing out her dress as Aleksei Petrov came onto the grand balcony, her stomach turning in on itself. She remembered meeting that man before, along with Val. She scooted over to the paling Val, “is that…”

Okie. I shall change it. I had a different idea originally but I just wanted to see what that’d do first. Sorry😣

(oh i don't have anything against the idea but…you know…i just dont think it'd end up working how you think)

(Alright. Well, I changed it…let’s just go with my new response)

"It's my father," Val replied, her eyes never leaving the Russian.
"Thank you, Jonathan," Aleksei said, accent thick. "And hello everyone. This has been another wonderful night, no? Another year, another ball, another time of showing the other Tiers how much better we are!" A cheer went up. He had always been very blunt with his English speaking.

Nora rolled her eyes, wrapping her arm around the other’s body and giving her arm a reassuring rub, just to let her know she was there for moral support. “I really don’t like your dad” she muttered in a low voice into the other’s ear.

"I don't really like him either," She replied, trying not to show how much she really enjoyed this hug. Her father had always been strict and abusive when disobeyed, whereas her mother had always been kind and caring.