Turn Off the Lights (Karma & Roman the German)

Roman paced through the open doorway into the garden, a little dizzy and extremely nervous. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go at all. He was supposed to head down to the ballroom, socialize a little, then leave after an hour or so. He wasn't supposed to have idiotically waltzed up to the one person who could convince him to willingly place himself into more trouble than he could survive.

He walked up to the gate at the edge of the raised stone patio and leaned on it, looking at the lights floating peacefully around the yard. One drifted near him and nearly bumped him in the nose. It seemed that whenever Roman came out here, into this semi-paradise he'd known since he was a child, everything would be okay. Just as long as those little orbs of lights stayed in the air, lighting his way. He smiled to himself, lost in a nostalgic daydream.

Karma walked through the peaceful garden. It really was beautiful. She watched as a light floated down to her, spinning around her before she reached out and cupped it gently in her hands. She didn't know what it is, but it had a pleasant warmth about it.

Stepping carefully as not to ruin anything, she walked around, noticing Roman. "Roman." She greeted casually, walking up to him and opening her hands to show him the light. "What're these?"

Roman turned around, and smiled, "Fliegen Sternenlicht. That's flying starlight in English. I don't know why we kept the German translation, the other one is much more poetic."

He took out his wand, a grin on his face, "They're fun little toys." He prodded the one that Karma was holding and it instantly came to light, becoming a little brighter than all the others and pulsating gently. He softly used his wand to guide it around the patio, and each light it past became slightly brighter as well for just a short second, so that a wave of light followed it wherever it went.

He landed it back in front of Karma, leaving it to float freely, "I used to play with them for hours when I was really little. I called them fairy suns."

Karma's eyes widened in glee as she watched the lights dance. "Flying Starlight." She whispered, spinning to keep the little ball in sight. They were beautiful. And she wished she owned some.

Or at least...

She stepped closer to Roman, smiling softly. "They're beautiful." She whispered, her eyes meeting his as she purposefully got into his personal space. "Really."

Roman's heart began to beat rapidly, but not so fast that he was paralyzed. He was almost used to Karma... almost. He smiled back, "You're beautiful, too." He winced at his own words. Could he get any cornier? And of course she knew she was beautiful, who didn't.

Roman gave an apologetic smile, as if to say, At least I tried...

Karma smiled. "Thanks, Roman. You aren't so bad looking yourself." She said softly, her eyes going around him before she smiled. "Dance with me?" She asked, gesturing to the patio. She lowered her voice and glanced in the direction of the balcony, where Jet and Roman's parents were standing. "For appearances if nothing else." She smoothed down her dress, the same one she'd worn to the Christmas ball, and smiled softly at him. "Ask me. Louder." She almost whispered.

Roman laughed. This certainly wasn't what he expected, but it was a lot less uncomfortable. His smile faded a little bit when he noticed who was on the balcony.

Roman looked over at his parents and rolled his eyes. Of course they were there, watching. He wasn't sure who the people were that were with them, but they were probably the parents of someone else. Either that or business partners. Probably both. Regardless, he put on a smile, offering her his hand with a small bow, "Shall we dance?"

Karma smiled widely and nodded eagerly. "Sure, Roman." She said, taking his hand. "Thank you, kind sir." She elaborated, winking at him.

"Very well done." she whispered to him with a small smile. "Very impressive." She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought them intimately close to begin their dance. "You get to lead, this time."

Roman adjusted Karma's arms back to a more appropriate position, giving a nervous laugh, "Pretty sure my parents would assault you with legal fines if they saw that." He began dancing, keeping a steady pace with the loud music emitted from the distant ballroom.

"One nice thing about throwing all these parties is that you become an excellent dancer, ya?" He waltzed them around the fountain in the center of the large open space, occasionally checking to see if his parents were still watching them.

Finally, he glanced up to see an empty balcony. Roman stopped dancing, and bowed again to Karma, "Es ist schon eine Ehre, it's been an honor." He turned to leave, hoping that maybe this was all she wanted out of him.

Karma smiled softly. "Sorry, I haven't danced in a while." She grinned as he led her through the dance. It was nice.

When he bowed to her, she bit her lip and smiled. "You know I don't speak that, Roman." she said.

"Hey wait!" she said, reaching out and taking his arm. "You don't have to leave just because we aren't dancing anymore..." She frowned and looked at the ground. "I mean, I know you have to go be a host, but..." she turned sad, suddenly. "Can't you at least show me how to control the Flying Starlight?"

Shaking his head, Roman said, "Don't apologize. You're very good."

He sighed. No, that wasn't all she wanted. Though he wasn't as upset as he thought he would be. He was actually having a nice time. Karma was acting...well.... decent.

He smiled and pulled out his wand again, "I'm sure no one will miss me." Grabbing one of the lights out of the air, he lifted his hand, palm up so that it floated there contentedly, "All it needs is a little magic. Just channel your energy into it."

"Oh, and, keep you're thoughts happy, okay?" Roman held out the Flying Starlight to Karma.

Karma gently took the starlight from him, pulling out her wand and aimed it at the light. She bit her lip and concentrated, trying to make it become brighter.

All at once every flying starlight went out.

The entire garden was suddenly cloaked in darkness. Karma grabbed Roman's hand. "What... what happened?" She asked, her voice shaky as she pulled him into a hug. "Roman... what did I do...?"

Roman looked around, his eyes wide with astonishment, "I-I think you shorted them out." Every single one was out. That had never happened to him before.

"That means you're either very powerful," he took a step back so he could look Karma in the eye, a shadow of worry crossed his face, "Or very, very sad..."

"How did I..." She bit her lip and looked away from him. "Oh." She said softly. She looked around at the darkness and frowned. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice extremely soft. She hadn't thought that would happen.

"Hey, it's okay," Roman shook his head. His eyes hadn't quite adjusted to the light yet, so he slowly moved his hand through the air until he found Karma's shoulder, and tried to make eye contact with her.

"At least now we don't have to worry about any adults seeing us," he wasn't sure if that thought would help her feel, but it was one positive of all the lights going off. Roman wondered maybe for the fiftieth time what on earth she was going through her head.

He had known that she was using him earlier. He was no idiot. But now... she was acting different. A more normal kind of different. Roman held Karma's hand in his. Maybe, just this once, he wouldn't make a complete fool of himself.

Karma watched his hand move through the air warily, moving herself so that it rested on her shoulder instead of... where it had been heading.

"I guess that's one thing..." She said stepping closer to him, a small smile in her voice. "Can you see me, Roman?" She asked softly, bringing them nose to nose without actually touching him.

Roman was caught a little off guard, but he kept smiling nonetheless. I should've seen that one coming, he thought to himself.

"I don't think I need to," he could feel the heat coming off of her skin, and he put his hands around her waist, not really knowing what else he was supposed to do. He laughed a little. This closeness wasn't uncomfortable like it usually was... it was... nice.

Karma leaned her forehead against him and sighed. "Was that a no?" she asked quietly. Moving her head back, she kissed him on the cheek and paused, breathing softly against him. It was too dark to see what color her eyes were.

Whatever happened next depended on his reaction.

Roman was about to respond, when Karma kissed him on the cheek, and his face turned a light shade of pink. He was about to get embarrassed again, but he realized that no one else was there. He waited for one long moment, feeling her breath against his face.

Losing all his remaining self control, Roman ever so slightly tightened his grip on Karma and kissed her. In fact, he almost fell into her, being that he wasn't very experienced with kissing, but he kissed her all the same.

Kama kissed him back. It was far from a good kiss, she'd had better, but a kiss was just a gateway motion anyway. For example...

She broke away from the kiss and slowly, carefully, left a trail of opened mouthed kisses down to his neck, licking the spot softly.

Karma still had enough control not to bite. Pity. She was starting to get hungry.

Instead, she kissed the base of his throat, whispering words of promise, seduction, and whatever else boys liked to hear. They were only words. Dumb humans.

She gently bit down, not enough to break the skin, but enough to leave a mark. She sucked on the lovebite, making it permanent.

Making him hers.

Roman felt a moment of panic when Karma broke away from him. She couldn't leave. Not yet.

He narrowed his eyes. He didn't quite understand what she was trying to accomplish, but he wasn't about to question it.

Roman put his hand under Karma's chin, lifting her face up to his, giving her a confused smile, "What are you doing?"

Kama looked up at him innocently, smiling softly. "Making you mine." She said happily, kissing him again. Halfway through the kiss, Kama left, and Karma took her place.

She jumped backward, her hand over her mouth, and her eyes wide. "I shouldn't have done that." She whined, looking at the floor and taking a few steps back. She ducked her head, her voice small. "I'm so sorry, Roman."

By now, Roman was extremely confused, and even a little worried, but he had stopped caring awhile ago. His face was once again painted with concern, watching Karma back away from him.

It was then that he remembered what Karma was, and how much danger Roman was putting himself in. He stood there for a few moments, torn between terror and compassion.

He couldn't trust her. That much he knew. But everything past that...

"Don't- Don't be..."

Karma shook her head, trully disgusted with herself. What on earth was wrong with her?!

She took a few more steps backward, just in case. "I... I..." Her voice broke, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I have to go." She turned to leave, her lower lip trembling.

Roman had to use all his available willpower not to stop her from leaving, but even that wasn't enough.

"No- no wait, please," He ran up to her, putting his hand on her arm, "Please don't go."

He looked into her eyes. She couldn't leave. Not now, "Please," He added once again.