I'm essentially answering my own prompt (drunk Baxley).

She couldn't remember laughing this much for a very very long time. It wasn't so much the drink, she hadn't even had that much anyway, not to her recollection. No it wasn't the drink, it was… the extraordinary dancing. She smiled again, and broke into a laugh just thinking about it, as she lead him along the servants' corridor towards the back door.

She was holding on to his hand and pulling him along with her.

"Steady on," Joseph told her as they reached the end of the corridor.

She gave him a moment's breather while she opened the door, but then she took hold of his hand again pulling him out into the cool air of the night.

"I thought some air would be good for us," she told him.

He looked back at her, utterly non-plussed and she snorted with laughter again.

"I think we're drunk," she explained to him when she'd composed herself enough to speak.

A smile of understanding spread across his face and he laughed as well.

"Yes, I think we probably are," he replied.

"When you were dancing," she told him, "You were flinging me about quite a lot."

"Oh," he was suddenly very serious, "I'm very sorry."

"No," she told him, touching his arm gently, reassuring him, "It was nice. It was very… unusual. Well, anyway, I liked it so you don't have to be sorry."

She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Does the servants' ball always get this lively?" she asked him, and then, a moment later, considering the likely reality for a moment, "Or were we just a lot livelier than the rest of the room?"

His smile widened to a grin.

"Probably," he conceded, "This is the most I've ever enjoyed the servants' ball, anyway. I had a lot of fun dancing with you."

"I'm glad," she replied, "Oh god," she murmured, clasping her hand to her mouth at the thought, "We probably looked a bit like Miss Denker did that time when she came home singing."

She buried her face against the front of his shirt, half embarrassed, half just laughing at the thought of it.

He smiled too.

"Do you mind, though?" he asked her.

"No," she replied, looking up at him, quite serious for a moment, "I know I probably ought to, with her Ladyship having been there and everything, but I don't. I had a really good time with you and I don't think that's something I should have to be sorry for."

"No," he agreed, "You're absolutely right."

But she was laughing again suddenly, holding on to the front of his shirt with gentle fists.

"Do you remember when Miss Denker came back that night?" she asked him, "She embraced me. And spun me around. And sang."

"Like this?" he asked her, holding her in his arms for a moment and twirling her dramatically.

She shriek a little, and then laughed.

"Yes, like that," she replied, "But you didn't sing."

"I decided that would be improprietous in this setting," he told her very sternly.

She snorted with laughter, allowing her hands to fall into his again.

"Let's dance again," she told him.

"Here?"

"Yes, here."

Somehow, though, maybe it was because they were tired by now, in the less confined setting their dancing was more contained than before. They were dancing closer together and he was humming a slower tune under his breath than anything that had been played that night.

"It's nicer out here," he remarked, "It helps helps you keep cooler?"

She looked up at him, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Does it?"

He looked back at her, and swallowed.

"No."

It was no surprise to either of them when their dance became slower and even closer. Or when their lips brushed gently against one another's.

They looked at each other for a brief moment. She smiled warmly before settling her head against his chest. He pressed a single kiss into her hair, his hand holding the middle of her back now. They continued dancing.

Please review if you have the time.