Such a fluid motion; from the ground, to her feet, and then forward, off her feet again, and into his arms. Her heart leaped; for half a second she was falling, and then he was there, solid, warm, strong arms around her, and she relaxed. Her lost shoe lay forgotten, like some wayward shadow of a fairytale. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, holding on as tightly as she was able. Dagger would have been happy just to run away, ignore the party. Surely, they wouldn't notice if she slipped away for the evening, right?

...Of course they would. She was the Center of Attention that evening.

"...You promise you'll come back tomorrow?"