Val fidgeted with her hair, and her hand was slapped away by her mother. "Don't do that Mei," She said in quickly Chinese. "Leave your hair alone. You'll muck it up."

"It'll be fine, Mother," Val replied. "Nothing bad will happen." She started fidgeting with the hem or her red dress.

"If you don't act like a proper lady, no one will want to marry you," Her father said in heavy Russian.

"Leopald is being forced to marry me," She fired back. "I don't want to marry him."

--

Soon enough Nora was walking in with her family in all green which made her red hair come out like never before. Her dress was long and simple, but her hair was done up in complicated braids and a bun to tie them all together. A few strands hung loose in front of her face as she began to look around for Valeriya, her heart pounding nervously. She couldn’t tell if it was the normal nerves she got when coming to an event like this or the fact that that entire evening she had developed a crush on her new found friend and every time she thought of her it brought the feelings of exuberant butterflies to her stomach.

--

"He can still refuse to marry you, Valeriya," Her father said angrily. "And I would have thought you would know not to argue with me." Val opened her mouth to fire something back, but with a look from her mother, she closed it.

"Yes. Sorry Father."

"Ah, Romanov!" Her father cried as he saw Leopald's father. Leo and Val shared a look. They'd known each other since they were kids, and neither of them liked the other. And Val was the only one who knew Leo was gay.

--

Nora gave up on looking soon, thinking maybe she wasn’t there yet, and went over to grab a glass of champagne. Her mother would think to find her over by the wine and such, but she didn’t want all the proposals tonight. She just wanted to see Val.

--

Leo and Val intertwined their hands with a quick glance from both their fathers. Their mothers 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 sweet. She's a Top Tier too. Red Panda."

Nora saw it. She didn’t want to, but she had. Their interlaced fingers, Val’s lip gloss smudged on the man’s cheek. She shrugged it off and approached 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 lip gloss smudge on his cheek before returning her gaze to the miraculously gorgeous Val.

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 Nora’s 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 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.

Nora blushed harder, her entire body filling with jealously as Val kissed the boy’s cheek. She growled quietly before taking 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.

Nora’s suspicions seemed true as she blushed, letting go of her. “Sorry, that was intrusive of me to do. 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, giving 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 Val’s 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."

Nora smiled gently, giving Leopald a thankful look. She made a bee line for the bar, which was only a short distance from where they were standing. She cringed, wanting to give herself a face palm 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?” Nora asked, turning around and trying to sound as confident as she could muster. She poured herself a glass of champagne, taking a sip almost right away. This left a little nude lipstick blot on the side of her glass.

Val 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 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."

Nora 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.

"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.

Nora 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 the speakers amplified it hugely. 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.

Val’s 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. She watched 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…” She started.

"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.

"I would like to announce something that will hopefully put us Amur Leopards back on the map!" Aleksei yelled, and a cheer went up in the Amur Leopards. Val and Leo remained silent. "My daughter, Valeriya, and Alexander's son, Leopald, have been arranged in marriage! It will be the wedding of the century!"