บท 101: The Nearness of You
Morning dawned upon Dante's Moon with the harshness that sunlight in outer space hits all objects with no atmosphere. The rocks began to heat up to 230 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface.
Inside the moon, however, it was a glorious golden morning touched with a bit of crisp cool air.
Candi was already up and dressed in her black cat burglar suit, ready for the talent show. She was lacing up her ballet shoes when a tap on the door sounded.
"Milady!" A voice called out. It was one of the attendants coming around to help her get ready for the event.
"Come in!" She called out.
The door opened and the attendant came in carrying something red. It was a tiny red thing with a ballet bodice attached to long sheer red skirts that fell to the ground.
It had slits that went to her hips, allowing full motion of her hips while showing off her strong muscular dancer's legs in semi-transparency. There was no neckline and no sleeves, so sheer red gloves were included with the dress.
"Wow. Where did this come from?"
"This came for you last night Milady, from the Princes Jason and Jared. They did not want to bother you as they saw you were busy practicing for the event today so they left it for you."
Candi's eyes teared. The twins were always so good to her, and never asked for anything in return.
She reached out and touched the dress. It truly was a signature J&J piece.
"Please tell them I said 'Thank you!'"
"You can tell them yourself, Milady. They will be in the audience cheering you on."
Candi nodded as she got into the red dress with the attendant's help.
The attendant was putting finishing touches to her hair and makeup when Dante poked his spiky blue head in through the half-open doorway.
"Ready? Wow!!!" He whistled with appreciation, his green eyes sparkling. "I've never seen you in red before. I think my heart just died and went to heaven."
Candi laughed. "You're so silly."
He walked through the doorway, a tall imposing aristocratic figure wearing a black tuxedo suit with tails.
"You're looking mighty sharp yourself."
Dante laughed.
"Thank you." He held out his hand.
"I'm your escort for the evening, Princess. Your pumpkin chariot awaits." He gave a bow.
Candi laughed again. He was just too funny.
The ride to the Space Amphitheater was short and sweet, with Dante teasing her all the way there, making her laugh until tears sprang from her eyes.
"Stop! You're making my eyes water and ruining my makeup!" She cried out at one point, holding her stomach from the slight ache of laughing too hard.
"You can always say it's part of the makeup for the performance. Red ballet dress, black tears. That is perfect harlequin looks!" He came back at her, causing more laughter and more tears of mirth.
The Space Amphitheater was a large bowl-shaped spaceship covered by a clear glass dome. It was mostly used for huge concerts and sporting events so there were plenty of seats all around the bowl, rising up to the nose-bleed level.
It was called Diamond in the Sky because it floated high above Erenveil's atmosphere, sparkling like a diamond when the sun hit the glass dome and the light refracted back to the ground.
The Space Amphitheater was not as far from Erenveil as Dante's Moon was, but it was most definitely within the region that was formally classified as outer space.
After entering through the docking bay, Dante took her to her private backstage suite located at the top of the dome, where there was a full view of the center green field surrounded by hundreds of rows of seats.
All the seats were filled with people and the revelry had been going on for awhile with opening acts. At the moment however, the last opening act had cleared the stage.
In to the middle of all that vastness, the ground opened up and the ubiquitous glass platform that Candi would forever identify with the Avgo Events rose up from its depths.
A huge cheer roared from the stands. This was what they had come to see. Aside from the very first introductory event, all other events had been visuals only.
This would be their very first chance to see, in person, the final four contestants who would all most likely be married to one of their Princes.
"There is a lot of people here." Candi murmured as she pressed her hand onto the glass window that separated her from the crowd below.
From behind, Dante had spread his legs a bit to shorten himself so that he could rest his chin on top of her head.
He folded her body into his and they both stood behind the glass, gazing out into the crowd. The woody spicy scent of his body mingled with hers, creating an unforgettable heady mixture that caused Candi to almost forget to exhale.
"Don't forget. You're the front runner by a large margin." Dante muttered into her ear.
"It's still scary. What if I—"
"You will win," he interrupted her fears. "But remember this, Candace. It doesn't matter what placement you get or what your score is. You will always be Queen."
He nuzzled the back of her ear and dropped a kiss on the back of her neck.
"I don't want to ruin your stage makeup or I would kiss you properly," he said with regret-tinged voice.
"We haven't really had a chance to become more intimate, but I promise you this. I will move heaven and earth to give us that chance to be together. Just trust in me."
Said the man whose words were worth his entire intergalactic fortune.
Candace smiled and absorbed the warmth and gentle kindness from his body like a flower absorbing the light and energy from the sun.
He had always been such a soft sweet person to her that she wondered why people kept saying he had a terrible personality and anger management issues.
At the moment, he was murmuring in her ear, a deep sensual rumbling tone that vibrated through her body.
It was as if he was murmuring sensual love words. All she had to do was not listen to what the words meant and it was as if he was making aural love to her.
"Normally, the Avgo Female in the lead will get to go first."
The words being formed from his sensual shapely lips created gentle puffs of air that tickled her ear.
"For this event, however, the least of the Avgo contestants starts the show."
Dante paused and gave a shuddering sigh, as if his heart could barely contain the words he spoke.
"And you, my heart, will be the star of the show. You will emerge after all the riff-raff have done their thing and you will show them what a real Avgo Female Queen is."
He paused to press a deep kiss onto the crown of her head.
"Take a look, my love." Dante whispered to her, his voice husky with love.
He was telling her to look but his eyes were closed and reveling in the heady nearness of his woman. He could feel sparks tingling all over his body, and all he was doing was holding her body from behind.
"The old goat has arrived onto the platform. The Abilities and Expertise Avgo Event has officially begun."
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