Encounter

Author's Notes: An overdue fic for fandom trumps hate, haha. I put my all into this, please let me know what you think! Its plot is a little liquidy, I'll admit, but I hope it's a fun ride nonetheless :) I have no idea how to tag this tbh. This is the problem when you're a filthy pwp smut author. Tagging is easy when you write pwp. idk how to tag for non-pwp LOL.

As the music flowed and ebbed throughout the ballroom, Bright Noa found himself sticking to the walls of the room. He had been used to stuffy uniforms, but this formal event had him feeling suffocated. Sweat rolled down his neck as he adjusted his collar. Part of him wanted to pop open a button or two, but he wouldn’t dare. Not at an event as important as this. So, he’d just have to suffer and hope that he could leave soon. Dark eyes scanned the room. Half out of obligation to the safety of the higher-ups and nobility, and half out of sheer boredom.

A flash of gold caught his attention.

He blinked.

It was gone.

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose. The stuffy atmosphere must have been getting to him. Slowly, he peeled himself off the wall, grabbed a glass of the bubbling wine that surely cost more than his life, and headed towards the outdoor balcony. The sensation of cool, night air washed over his sweat-dampened face. Another sigh, this one out of sweet relief, escaped him.

He sipped on the twinkling glass of wine before leaning against the balcony railing. His eyes drifted towards the night sky. The glow of the moon was so bright that it nearly drowned out all the stars.

Gold twinkled in the corner of his eye. He swallowed. What was going on?

“Is it right to assume that this isn’t your typical scene either?” A voice, deep and dark like the coffee Bright craved, rumbled at the base of his spine.

“Excuse me?” Bright muttered as he turned towards the voice.

That same shade of pale gold, surrounded by a silver mask, greeted him. A man, around his height and age, stood in front of him. Gold, silver, and crimson decorated his slightly imposing physique. While they were of similar builds, there was something dark and possibly dangerous surrounding the blond.

“I asked you if this was not your typical scene,” the blond repeated with an airy laugh. “You looked as if you were ready to explode inside the ballroom.”

Bright sputtered. He gently tugged on the collar of his uniform as he looked away. “...To answer your question, no. This is my first formal event.”

The blond chuckled.

“Finish your drink and come with me, Officer Bright.”

Bright blinked. How did he...?

Another chuckle and grin graced the masked man’s features. He held out his hand towards Bright, who quickly gulped down his drink. Alcohol immediately buzzed through his veins and made his chest feel warm in a way that he felt particularly worried about. Hesitation bubbled inside his chest for a moment before he took the blond’s hand.

Anxiety bubbled inside Bright’s chest as he was pulled back into the festivities. He swallowed. The blond squeezed his hand tightly before they stepped onto the dance floor. A hand rested on Bright’s waist, forcing a gasp from the brunet, before pulling him close. The song swelled as they began to dance. Any sort of training fell from Bright’s mind as he tried to keep his eyes on his partner’s feet. It wasn’t as if he had never danced before.

He had.

He even took extra dance lessons when he learned he would be attending this ball at the insistence of his superiors. Just so he wouldn’t humiliate himself.

His grip on the blond’s shoulder tightened as he closed his eyes to avoid the amused smirk on his lips and the heaviness of his gaze. The mask he wore hid his eyes. What colour were they? Bright wondered as the music began to take control of him.

The strings of violas and cellos swirled around him. Horned instruments seeped into his mind, and the bass played inside of his heart. The drums carried him closer and closer to alcohol induced nirvana as it began to spread across his body.

“There we go.” The blond chuckled. “Sometimes you need help to dive in and relax.”

Songs melted into one another. Bright didn’t know when one ended and began. All that mattered was the strange magnetism that made him unable to pull away from the masked stranger. He could feel the stares of his superiors as they danced. If he were sober, he would have rushed to apologize for making a damned fool of himself. Right now, however? He was hard-pressed to care.

Part of him wanted this moment to last forever, even if he didn’t care to dance.

The masked man smiled before leaning in. His heated breath tickled the shell of Bright’s ear and sent chills down his spine. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“...Yes,” Bright whispered.

Wordlessly, he was led into the gardens. The sound of water rushing through a nearby fountain and bubbling in a shallow brook drowned out the distant music and constant chattering of the ball. Moonlight draped across the rose bushes and various other flowers that Bright didn’t recognize. What he could recognize was the beauty that each colourful petal held. The faint mist that sprayed across the flora caused them to sparkle under the moonlight, much like the stars in the sky. It took his breath away.

“I figured it’d be easier to talk here,” the blonde murmured, stepping towards one of the bushes. He plucked a pale rose from the bush. As he pushed off the thorns from the stem, he looked over towards Bright and smiled. “Forgive me for just pulling you onto the floor. I wanted to see you loosen up... among other things.”

“What do you mean?” Bright whispered as the blond stepped towards him. The man held up the rose to him before tucking it into the lapel of his uniform. “Excuse me?”

“Think of it as a farewell gift. As well as this,” the blond muttered as he leaned in. His breath ghosted across his before he kissed him.

Bright’s eyes widened impossibly wide as the man took his lips as his own. That magnetism grew so strong that it was comparable to that of the Earth, keeping the two of them on the ground. Sparks crackled under his skin. Heat pulsed through his veins. His heart spun inside his rib cage like the many guests on the dance floor at the ball. He slumped against the blond. Any lingering responsibilities melted away into nothing as he wrapped his arms around the masked man’s neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when they finally and unfortunately parted.

“I don’t even know your name,” Bright murmured as he finished straightening out his uniform in front of the garden doors. “Will you tell me?”

The blond stopped for a moment. Then he swung the door open, and the light from inside spilled onto them.

“...Quattro Bajeena.”

“You’re to be married to a member of Zeon.”

Bright’s mind was spinning as the words of his captain seeped into his pores and bones. They spun inside of him. Memories of that night played in his frazzled mind as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

“I beg your pardon, Major?” was all that the officer could say.

Wakkein sighed.

“You are to be married to a member of Zeon. It was requested as part of the upcoming peace treaty between it and the Earth Federation. You were specifically chosen after your... display at the ball.”

Bright’s eyes widened.

Why him of all people? He was an officer who hadn’t been commissioned yet.

Confusion swept across his features as he slumped into his seat. He swallowed. A hand raked through his now sweat-soaked hair. Memories of Quattro and the now wilting rose that sat in his barrack flashed in his mind’s eye. Guilt and something else panged inside his chest.

“May I know... my fiancé’s name?”

“Char Aznable.”

The Red Comet.

Bright lay awake in his new quarters. He hadn’t been to space before. One of his fellow officers, a Spacenoid, joked that he was one of the ‘Earthborn Elite’ before he decked him out. Now, here he was in an immaculate house in a space colony furthest away from Earth. It had taken days for him to get used to the artificial gravity and the initial vastness of the view of space he got on the shuttle to Zeon territory.

He swore he could feel the colony spin around him as he tried to force himself to sleep.

It was unsettling.

This whole situation was unsettling.

The Red Comet had asked for his hand in marriage. Him, Bright Noa, of all people. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. He didn’t think of himself as a man who made an impression on people, let alone in a crowd. The fact that he and Quattro had seen him at the ball and had him wrapped around their respective fingers was completely mind-boggling.

A sigh escaped the man.

He got out of bed and padded towards the desk in the corner where his belongings were stacked. His fingers brushed along the frames of photographs of his family and vacations had in Shanghai and London. Who knew when he’d see them again? Would Zeon allow his family to come to the ceremony? Would Char Aznable, a man who seemingly popped out of nowhere and became a legend overnight, allow him to go back to Earth?

Would he ever see Quattro again? What if he did? Would they be able to have a relationship? One deeper than stolen kisses in a garden?

Regret panged inside his chest. Why did he go along with this so easily? Why didn’t he try to fight back?

He bit his lip as he reached for a novel. He didn’t read it. All that mattered to Bright was that it was thick and heavy enough to contain what really mattered to him. He cracked the novel open to the middle to reveal a dead white rose.

A smile crossed his lips as he traced along the dried petals and leaves.

He hoped he could see Quattro again.

Even if it was just a passing glance.

The nice thing about the Federation, despite all its problems with corruption and bureaucracy, was that there were all sorts of colours. Every nation had its own traditions that shone through the magnificent broth that bubbled in the planet’s melting pot of cultures. Bright liked to imagine he would have had some of his Chinese family’s customs at his wedding, with red and gold decorating everything and a tea ceremony.

In the Principality of Zeon, it seemed that they went for your very traditional white upon white upon white Western ceremony. It seemed very totalitarian. He might have been just being unfair due to his situation.

Though, what with his groom being the Red Comet... Maybe there would be a splash of colour, the colour of home, at the ceremony.

The thought made Bright smile for a moment.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Discomfort was obvious in his eyes that were surrounded by dark circles, and his lips seemed to be forever turned into a slight scowl. The stark white of his tuxedo washed him out. He didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t like this.

The sound of the doorknob turning and clicking tore him out of his thoughts. Panic pulsed through his veins as he nearly snapped his own neck from how fast he looked towards the door.

He swallowed.

Was it time already?

A familiar flash of gold greeted him. Bright’s heart stopped as a blond man in white stepped into the room and locked the door behind him. His hand ran through his golden locks and pushed them back to reveal a silver mask that hid his eyes.

“Quattro...” Bright whispered. He wanted to rush into his arms and cling to him, but something stopped him. He backed up, not realizing he took a step forward, as words were caught in his throat. He swallowed thickly. “Quattro?”

Quattro smiled. “Bright.” The two stepped towards each other. Bright trembled as his bare hand reached for Quattro’s gloved ones. Quattro gripped his wrist and pulled him in tight. “Apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“...It’s fine,” Bright lied through his teeth. He closed his eyes and breathed in Quattro’s scent. Lavender, clove, and white musk. It wasn’t what he expected, but it made Bright melt into his chest as he embraced the blond. “You’re too late, though. Where have you been? How did you know? Quattro—”

His words were cut off by Quattro’s lips claiming his again.

Annoyance and frustration bubbled up inside Bright’s chest. It felt red-hot as it boiled over. It was the most emotion he had felt in weeks. He wasn’t sure if he welcomed the change instead. His hands gripped the lapels of Quattro’s coat. The smooth silk crinkled under the intense grip of Bright’s shaking hands. He kissed him back. Fury pulsed through him and spilled past Quattro’s lips, which he drank eagerly. Quattro’s fingers found themselves tangling in Bright’s dark locks. Smoothed waves came undone under his touch as he nipped at Bright’s bottom lip, angering the brunet even more. The smooth steel of Quattro’s mask cooled Bright down somewhat, but it wasn’t nearly enough to bring him back down.

Teeth and tongue battled each other in that tight space. Passion and anger duked it out.

Quattro’s tongue slipped into Bright’s mouth and scraped along Bright’s chattering teeth. The taste of mint and metal greeted Bright’s taste buds. The fragrance of flowers and white musk wasn’t enough to drown out the scent of adrenaline; slightly sour, spicy, and musky in a way that perfumers could never replicate. It drove Bright wild.

Gasping, they pulled apart only to kiss once again and again and again.

Blindly, they scrambled towards the vanity. A vase carrying white roses crashed onto the ground, spilling green-tinted water across the pale grey carpet and white petals to flutter around them as Bright sat atop the creaking surface. The taste of metal grew stronger as Bright bit Quattro’s lip. Bloody saliva squeezed past the tight seal of their battling lips and rolled down his chin and dripped onto the immaculate white of his tuxedo.

Heat licked at Bright’s skin. Sweat dripped down his flushed body and seeped into the many layers of silk, wool, and linen. Hunger panged inside his chest. Lust and frustration swam inside his fluttering belly the more they kissed.

Quattro pulled away, much to Bright’s chagrin, to kiss along his jawline. He nipped at the sharp slope of his jaw before latching onto the space just above his collar.

“Don’t—” Bright rasped out.

Quattro didn’t listen. He sucked hard on his pulse, his tongue lapping at the bruising flesh in between harsh sucks, effectively marking Bright Noa as his and only his.

Char Aznable be damned.

Bright would love Quattro Bajeena and only Quattro Bajeena.

With a ‘pop’ that echoed through the now muggy dressing room, Quattro pulled away from Bright’s neck. His lips, stained bright red with blood, curled into a smirk at his work.

The sound of an organ playing made Bright’s hair stand up on its ends.

“Dammit,” Bright breathed. “Why now?”

Quattro chuckled before helping him down onto his feet.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?”

The smug expression melted into a soft one that made Bright unable to look him in the eye.

“To make a future with me.”

Bright blinked. “I don’t even know what you look like.”

Wordlessly, Quattro reached for the back of his head. A heavy click rang across the room as the latch on his mask came undone and fell to the ground. The most beautiful pair of ice blue eyes met his brown ones. They stared straight into his soul. Bright felt his heart jump into his throat and cause his tongue to tie. Quattro chuckled once again before cradling Bright’s face and kissing him softly.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Come with me.”

“...Alright,” Bright whispered back.

Their fingers interlocked. Bright squeezed Quattro’s hands so tight that his joints creaked and popped under his touch. He wasn’t about to let the blond go.

Not again. Not ever.

Char Aznable, Zeon, and the Federation could all go to hell.

Quattro reached for his mask and slipped it back on before they got to the door. Bright was about to bolt out of the church, but Quattro led him to the double doors that held the nave behind them. The doors swung open to reveal hundreds of important Zeon and Federation officials standing up and staring at the two of them.

“Quattro..!” Bright hoarsely whispered. “Let’s go—”

Quattro grinned. “Let’s.”

The booming vocals of a choir singing in a language that Bright didn’t recognize mingled with the organ compelled him to step onto the aisle with Quattro. Confusion swept across his features as they walked to the altar together in a complete disarray.

Why wasn’t anyone reacting to this?

Aside from the looks of disapproval—was it from the state they were in, or were they against this marriage as well, or was it the fact that he was walking down the aisle with someone other than Char Aznable—from the wedding guests, there wasn’t a reaction. It was as if everything was going to plan.

Then it clicked.

Bright looked towards Quattro, who smirked at him once they reached the altar.

That fucking bastard.

The priest began the ceremony as they faced each other. Bright wanted to deck so hard that the permanent pleased expression would be knocked off his damned face. Still, he couldn’t help but feel sweet relief wash over him as their fingers entwined once more.

Quattro Bajeena was Char Aznable.

Those words rang in Bright’s mind like church bells again and again. The words of the priest melted away into nothing as he gazed into Char’s eyes. Even through the silver of his mask, he could see the twinkle in those blue hues that mirrored the smugness on his lips.

“You two may kiss.”

Char leaned in but didn’t completely close the gap. Bright’s eyelashes dusted across the smooth metal of his mask as their respective breath ghosted across each other’s faces.

“I hate you,” Bright whispered.

“You’ll get over it,” Char whispered back.

Then, they kissed, and everything was golden.