Planetary Go: Damian and Iva (And Karma)

Not going to stop. Not going to stop. Not going to... Damian drew to a stop as Iva took his hand, looking down at their interlaced fingers. His face was still a rather bright shade of red.

He shook his head. "I..." The boy squinted - the habitual expression he made when he was thinking about what he wanted to say. "You weren't. Well, maybe a little bit." Damian peeked up at her through his fringe, then sighed.

"Look. I did like Karma and... well, she's pretty and all, but... Well, I didn't come with her, did I?" His expression became vaguely mulish. "Anyway, I - that is... We were having a pretty good time, yeah? And this," Damian held up their joined hand, "it's sorta... nice, isn't it?" He gazed at her uncertainly, his lower lip caught between his teeth.

Iva smiled at Damian's words, her clench on his hand softening. Something about him not knowing what he was doing made her happy, because she didn't know what to do either.

"Dimi," She put her hands on the side of his face and bent down slightly. There was a brief pause as she internally debated the situation.

Oh, she might as well.

She finally laughed softly before she pressed her lips against his. It was soft and innocent.

"It is very nice," She agreed, breaking away.

Damian looked away shyly after Iva kissed him, this time. "Right, so... we're good, then, huh?" he uttered a bit awkwardly, though, a pleased little smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Did you want to stay and... dance and stuff?" Damian asked. "Or were you really gonna go?"

Iva matched his smile, even though her lips was suddenly become very itchy and bothersome to her. Great, she thought, I shouldn't have done that.

"I will dance more, if you want to," She said, adjusting her gloves carefully. "I was having fun,"

Damian smiled at her, the expression lighting up his eyes. "Me, too," he said. He offered her his hand.

"I still want to know your favorite color, by the way."

Iva placed her hand in his, a coy smile on her face. She stepped ahead of him slightly, her eyes twinkling with pleasure.

"Yellow. Like a sunflower," She said softly,

"Pretty," Damian remarked, letting Iva lead the way. The boy smiled to himself. This was certainly one of the most confusing nights of his life, but he liked it.

"Thank you,"

Iva tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and noticed one of her dangling earring had disappeared. Unbothered by it, Iva merely took off the other and tucked it into her dress. She turned back to Damian and smiled.

"You can lead if you want. Boys like to be in the lead, yes?" she said, sowly walking heel-toe to let him gain a head start.

Karma glanced back at the couple with a smile as she sat at her table alone. Evie had finally left her alone, and Ethon was no longer present. She smiled because they'd done it. They'd passed the test.

Everything was going according to plan.

Damian smiled. She never made him feel like a little boy - which for a twelve-year-old who was a bit small for his age was rather easy to do. Even when they were quarreling the first time they met.

"Alright." He walked ahead, holding firmly to her hand as he wove a path through a crowd of people. Coming to a relatively open space of dance floor, the boy turned back to the girl with a grin.

"Y'know," he said, "I think I'm getting the hang of this. Just watch - I'll be better, this time."

As the walking into the room, Iva saw Karma, sitting alone. She sort of felt bad for thinking horrible things about her friend, but everything was okay now, so she didn't really care.

Iva put her arms around the Hufflepuff's neck and pulled herself close to me boy.

"Oh?" He mumbled, comfortable with the proximity, "Show me your dancing then,"

Damian flushed red, though, he'd long lost track of the reason why.

"Well, now, I'm probably gonna step on your toes," he said, only half-joking. Merlin, he hoped he didn't. He'd been trying very hard to avoid doing so.

"Fine, then," Damian declared. "Prepare to be amazed." And he just hoped it would be a good kind of amazed.

Iva nodded, then started dancing slowly. She progressed faster and faster as time went on, smiling devillishly. She would glance down every once and a while to make sure he was okay, then would look back at Damian. She gave a soft smile before going silent, enjoying the motion of the dance.

The pace they started at was rather manageable, Damian thought. Or maybe not. Or... waitaminute. He shot her a knowing smirk as he figured out that, yes, she was gradually picking up the pace; he wasn't just imagining it. The boy took it as a challenge to do his best and did just that.

He let out a laugh. This was rather fun. Who'd have thought?

Iva grinned up at him, then looked away to the sparkling room around them. She tapped her fingers absentmindedly on his spine as they danced.

"You dance well. You should have more confidence,"

"Or maybe I'm just doing well because you're so good," Damian grinned back. An odd sensation crept up his spine as her fingers tapped against it.

Looking into her face, he found himself becoming acutely aware of her. How close she was, the smell of her shampoo (he was fairly sure that was what it was), and the steady beat of her heart. He could hear it, with his enhanced hearing, beating in her chest. He could hear his own, and it was beating a bit rapidly.

"Would you be my girlfriend?" he blurted, face turning red. "I mean... that is... well..." He had to swallow before saying quickly, "IthinkIreallylikeyou."

Iva looked up, well, down, at him, confusion clouding her eyes. She blinked, then flushed a bit. There was a long moment before she cleared her throat, obviously caught off guard.

"But, Damian," she gave an apologetic grin, "I thought I already was?"

Damian's face maintained a bright crimson. "Oh, well, um..." he stammered awkwardly. "I wasn't sure. So, I..." The boy nodded. "You are. I just wanted to make sure.

"I'm glad," Damian added.

Iva nodded, even though her face only conveyed confusion. Gosh, english people were so weird, she thought as the song slowly came to a close. She paused in between the songs, ready for him to start.

"I am glad too," she nodded