~.~

He wasn't surprised to hear her slip into the room with him, but he made a show of rolling his eyes and giving her an exasperated smile as she reached for the bottles beside him. She lined them neatly along her arm the same way he had, and he huffed a chuckle.

"You're not supposed to be helping, y'know." he teased her, knowing full well she'd followed him for the moment of quiet.

Her shrug was shallow and easy, but she didn't look his way. Elliot hefted the bottles he was carrying to reach out and tap his knuckle against her hand. She looked at him then, with wry eyes and a raised eyebrow, and it took him a second to open his mouth because she was-

Well, she was a teensy bit beautiful.

He'd had too much to drink to dare find a way to tell her so, sure that being sober would stop him. But she was, relaxed in non-combat clothes, her hair curled loose on her shoulders in a rare style. Her eyes glittered, the silvery streaks on her cheeks reflected in the depth of them. She was always beautiful, at least in his eye, but right then, in the dimly lit storeroom, he couldn't think of anything he'd ever seen that took his breath away more.

Her lips quirked.

"What?"

He realised he was staring.

He chuckled again, glancing away as though it could hide his thoughts, busying himself by reaching for another bottle.

"This is supposed to be your party, remember?"

She rolled her eyes, taking the bottle he offered her and lining it neatly in the groove of the others on her arm.

"I didn't win alone." she hummed, and Elliot flashed her his best Mirage smile, complete with wink.

"No, you killed a lotta people to get there."

She groaned softly, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, but she was smiling. Or, well, she wasn't not smiling. It was there, just beyond sight. He could see it.

Well, then it wasn't beyond sight, was it? It was, uh, just… barely in sight? Either way, he was confident few people could see it if they were to look, and he could, so…

He'd lost his train of thought.

"We won as a team." she corrected, amused, and he waved a hand in the air as if she'd said something boring.

"You beat us to Kill Leader by miles. This is your win. You're supposed to be celebrating!"

She gave a gentle snort and shook her head.

"Whatever, I still couldn't have done it on my own."

He made unconvinced noises and a brief flicker of playful frustration crossed her eyes, before she smiled properly and busied herself again. He heard it coming, before she even said it.

"What's her name?"

For some reason, some reason he had decidedly not been thinking about until right then, an embarrassed discomfort flittered through his gut. She'd noticed. Well, of course she'd noticed, probably lots of people had, and it was- Well, nobody was probably surprised but-

Elliot met her eye when she turned to glance sideways at him, and he didn't know why he secretly wanted her to look… sad. Or something. Well, he knew why, but it-

Urgh, not a thought he should chase, and he shook his head. His pretence was probably weak as hell, but if it was she didn't seem to mind, when he looked at her with an innocent expression.

"What's who's name?"

Wraith's smile slipped, maybe, before she rolled her eyes again. Was he imagining it? That- That! right there, that… twitch. Like she'd suppressed something. Swallowed her words. Elliot's heartbeat struggled to stay steady. Suddenly his mouth was dry and his gut felt guilty and all he wanted to do was- was-

Wraith lifted a final bottle and stepped away with a faint sigh, heading for the door with careful steps so that she didn't drop anything.

"Elsie." he blurted, feeling like he'd somehow upset her, and wishing he didn't wish it was for the secretive and selfish reason he kept buried in his heart.

The vision of the blonde leapt into his mind and reminded him how ridiculous he was being, and how he was displaying exactly the behaviour he so hated. Man, he should ease up on the drinking, and make it up to Elsie. Wraith paused at the doorway and looked back at him, and that time her smile was warm, and brushed aside his fears.

"She's beautiful." she said as she disappeared back to the busy club, to stock the bar for his friend Greg, who'd offered to co-tend with him so that he might get to enjoy the dancing at some point.

It was, after all, Elliot's party, Greg had said with a laugh as he'd agreed. Or Mirage's, really.

Elliot couldn't stop the whisper that fell from his mouth, but she was gone and couldn't hear it anyway.

Probably best, because "So're you." was a terrible line, and wouldn't help anything. Best she didn't know.

~.~

Wraith had actually joined the others, his friends and their other contacts at the GameHub, other Legends from other Elite Leagues who'd secured their own victories time and time again. Friends, or as close to friends as you could have in that place knowing that eventually you might be facing off against them and pitting your own life against theirs. She was actually there, on the darkened dance floor with the sweet smoke from the machines swirling around her, and the strobe lights glinting and refracting in her hair, and Elliot's breath caught as the crowd parted for just a second, as he looked at her.

She had her eyes closed, probably to help her feel less claustrophobic, and the fingers of one hand clutched a glass bottle close, the others wrapped around the wrist, arms tucked against her chest. She swayed a little in the sea of the music, and she looked so apart from the crowd she was centred in that the treacherous part of Elliot's heart briefly ached for him to join her. To be the only one who stood beside her as though he was really there.

She was… ethereal. That was the word.

Like something from another world who didn't belong, but stayed anyway.

She was beautiful.

"There you are!"

Right on time, the petite blonde appeared at his elbow as if by magic, her green eyes bright as she smiled up at him. He turned away from the floor, giving her his attention fully. He should be celebrating himself, another victory under his belt and a gorgeous woman on his arm. But suddenly, the appeal of her company seemed... dulled. He listened as she spoke to him, eagerness bright and earnest in her face, and he felt the guilty pit in his stomach chastise him.

She tugged him towards an empty space on the floor when the song changed and he downed the rest of his drink, leaving the glass on an empty table as he let her lead him. He forced Wraith from his thoughts and grinned.

They passed an hour on the dance floor and Elliot knew it wasn't her that had him so uninterested. She was pretty, sassy, and friendly. She met his flirting line for line, she teased him and made him laugh, dancing close to him and giving him all the signs. She was almost exactly his type. And she was very interested in him.

But to his dismay, Elliot found himself hesitating to touch her, hesitating to reciprocate her moves. When, several songs later, the beat dropped low and slow and people started coupling up, he felt the heat of her body against his, the hot sultry sound of her voice in his ear. He held her close to slow dance and all he could think was how stupid it was to be leading her on, when he couldn't even give her a good show.

His act was all screwy and he could feel how fake his smile was, hear the hollow echo in his flirting. When Elsie cupped his face and reached up on her toes to kiss him, Elliot felt the heat of her mouth, tasted the sweet syrup of her drink, and knew.

"I'm sorry." he said the second he pulled away, answering the startled look in her forest-green eyes with a sheepish, apologetic grimace.

She dropped from her toes, her face flushing a sharp red that only made him feel like more of a dick.

"I- I'm sorry," she echoed, looking away, "I thought… I-"

The girl was clearly embarrassed, her entire countenance screaming how badly she wanted to run away. Elliot reached out and caught her wrist, and for the first time when her eyes caught his, he told the truth.

"I'm the one who's sorry. I'm… I'm in love with someone else. I shouldn't have-"

Elliot's heart hitched as he realised his eyes were filling. Elsie stared up at him wide-eyed, her mouth opening without anything coming out. He let her go, cringing, expecting all hell and its fury for playing her.

Instead, her expression softened. God, why couldn't he love her? She was so lovely.

Her mouth curved gently, the light glimmering glossily on her lips as she shook her head.

"I.. Thanks."

"W-what?"

She giggled, and jumped up to her toes to throw her arms around his neck. He steadied her with one arm, brain jarring as he blinked.

"For being honest."

Elliot flushed uncomfortably.

"Jane said I was being stupid," she continued, and he vaguely recognised the name of the friend she'd been with when they met.

Brunette, wanted his autograph on her season pass.

"Stupid?" he queried, still lost, unsure whether he should be offended.

Elsie laughed.

"For agreeing to be your date." she murmured, kind of shyly.

That was one way of putting it.

"She's like a total romantic, and she's dead certain you're in love with Wraith. Or that you will be."

Elliot froze, filled to his toes with dread as his mouth goldfished. The blonde paused, her smile wavering, and he realised it must be written all over his face. Before he could say anything, decide whether to deny it, she laughed again, and rubbed her hand down his arm.

"I won't say anything, swear."

When all he could do was blink at her, heart racing, brain panicked, Elsie gave him a mock salute.

"Scout's honour." she added.

"I…"

Her smile was warm, and Elliot was still stuck on the fact that she hadn't called him any kind of name for what he'd done. He felt guilty and horrible for leading her on.

"I'm sorry." he repeated again with a dry mouth.

Elsie kissed his cheek.

"It's okay. I can imagine you can't just… declare your love to your squadmate."

He cringed, and she nodded.

"Well, if it helps, I don't have a date now and I could use a drink…"

She raised her eyebrows playfully when he met her eye and he found himself chuckling weakly.

"Can't have a lady without a drink." he said, and she grinned as he followed her to the bar.

On instinct, Elliot caught himself sweeping the dance floor to catch sight of Wraith, but she was gone. While not surprised she'd probably bailed, - she wasn't one for parties, after all, - he felt the disappointment in his stomach that he wouldn't be able to even try convincing her to dance.

~.~