Dreadlords Dance for all that we've been through

[Zinnia]

Dealing with Victoria was...a bit more than Zinnia was up for at--well, ever. She and Silas seemed to have some sort of history together, though, and Zinnia wouldn't stand in the way of that. She gave a smile and a nod to him, knowing that they'd get a better opportunity to enjoy each other's company later.

The wallflower decided to live up to her nickname and hover by the punch bowl near Maz and Trix. On her way, she passed Houri and Zaire, and gave the latter a knowing smile. Finally!

As she approached the bowl, she made her presence known.
"H-hey guys. Enjoying the n-night?"

---

Proctor Snicket was most displeased. Initiate Von Fleet had dismissed her summoned canine companions, certainly, but she'd disrupted the decorum of the dance in a fashion most unscrupulous! The portly proctor pushed his way through the waves of wayward students, intent on delivering distinct discipline to Victoria. And by Kress, the rhetorical retribution he intended to impart upon that ill-mannered initiate!

"A WORD, MISS VON FLEET!" he hollered as he hiked his huffy self towards her. This simply wouldn't stand!

Assuredly, neither she nor anyone with her would abscond by the time he'd caught up to the pernicious punks. Bah, if only his own magic wasn't constantly interfering with his ability to impose important arbitration! It seemed every initiate between himself and his destination was doomed to dive into his present path! Yet resolute he remained, as he was renowned so righteously! Onward!

 

[Odessa Urahil]

"You aren't wrong." She agreed with Ivan. Leander was...temperamental...on a good day. His second comment got a quiet chuckle from the white-haired girl. "I liked Natasha more. Only because I'm confident she could obliterate him if was being an ass." She rolled her eyes. Life would have been so much easier had Lothar slit Natasha's throat and not hers in some sort of binding contract. Leander would never see her coming.

Let's not worry about any of it for tonight. You really do look beautiful.

Her cheeks reddened when Ivan took the lead. He was right. Their problems had nothing to two with Ivan or Odessa. Perhaps now was the time to distance herself from the drama that surrounded-

Oraya! blah blah blah blah Houri blah Odessa blah blah

Her eye twitched and she brought their dance to a halt. A glare was sent directly towards her obnoxious worse half. "We can stop our worrying after we send Leander home." She grumbled, dragging Ivan along with her until she stood before Leander.

"Can you stop embarrassing me? What the hell are you going on about?" She could have kept the conversation between the two in their heads, but instead chose to draw even more attention to His Obnoxiousness. "Are you crazy? Honestly what is wrong with you? Leave the poor girl alone."

Ivan Skender Leander Urahil Oraya Urahil

 

[Zaire]

Houri's head canted to the side quizzically at his initial question. If she hadn't wanted to dance with him, why would she have asked? She opened her mouth to say just that when he seemed to realise the silliness of his own question and finally led her back to the dance floor. As they walked Houri couldn't help but cast a quick look in his direction. Their mission together a few weeks back had cleared the air in many regards - she knew he no longer hated her - but it had also brought up more questions like why did he always seem in pain when he looked at her? She'd asked her sister what it could mean and she had merely smiled and shook her head, claiming such answers could only be answered by Zaire. When she'd asked Ollie he'd merely shrugged. If a guy couldn't figure it out, how was she supposed to?

Perhaps she would get some answers during this dance.

The musicians seemed glad that one of their most devoted dancers was returning to the dance floor and she flashed them a bright smile before they readied their instruments. Houri turned to face Zaire and offered the usual curtsey in return to his stiff bow, then took one of his hands in hers and rested the other on top of his shoulder. If she had any issues about his height Houri did not let on.

When the music started she gave him a hesitant smile before letting him lead. She knew he would probably have preferred to be with Lumen, but maybe she would be enough in her stead.

The music began and there was a silence that settled comfortably between them. Zaire’s thoughts tried to bombard him, anxieties and nervousness shouting at him but they were unable to break the serenity that the boy felt with her hands on him. A touch that tethered to him to the ground, keeping him from the languid feeling of being too high in the clouds.

Zaire cleared this throat. Though the music was nice and it complemented the dance the two found themselves in currently, the silence could only last so long. Surely they were expected to speak to one another. It was almost a unspoken requirement.

“You dance really well.” Zaire began, looking away from her face as he spoke but then feeling incredibly self conscious of doing so. What if she thought he was trying to just stare at her chest? His gaze went back up to her face and he silently swore to look at nothing but her face for the entirety of the dance.

Houri

 

[Victoria Von Fleet]

Victoria let the shouts from the proctors fall on deaf ears. She wasn't even close to scared of getting in trouble with them. Victoria didn't get scared of anything, how could she when she had their nightmares at her fingertips.

She felt Silas grasp her shoulder and she turned back slightly. He was apologizing, her pout slowly turned into a grin and her eyes lit up. She leapt at him, wrapping her arms around him as she giggled, all hurt forgotten.

"Wanna help me? We'd have so much fuuun." She released him and spun on her heel, glaring at Zinnia, hands behind her back. "Not you though, just Silas." She curled her lip, she didn't like the girls that fawned over him, not for romantic reasons, but because they took his attention from her and she ended up missing him.


Silas Artesto

 

[Rowley Stone]

Rowley just watched Livia with a smirk, watching her face as he reacted to the drugs and then her declaration of her dancing abilities.

"Sure sure sure. I believe you." He said in a clearly condescending way to poke at her.

The girl probably was a decent dancer, but really? Next to him, her light would be dulled by his own brilliance. He was just about to take another sip of wine before it was yanked from his hands by Liv. Ro snorted as he just leaned back in his seat.

"I don't imagine it was complicated. Leander was an ass. Houri bit back, which Leander never seems to expect for some odd reason. Then he could put on his ass, because Houri likely wanted to make a little bit of a statement...Or the gods were just finally giving Zaire a break."

He added the last bit as Rowley remembered the adorable lovesick puppy that looked like he was ready to fight the gods themselves to stand next to Houri.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Liv turned back and offered the wine to Rowley. "I suppose that is the most logical answer." Anyone could see the moony-eyed Initiate looking to Houri since everyone had arrived. and Livia certainly saw the redness to his eyes. "Finally the boy got to dance with the one he wanted all night." She came to take a seat beside him and frown lightly, pursing her lips in thought.

"It is nice to see everyone at least enjoying themselves." Save for Leander, who seemed to have a horrid time dancing with her to start, and Livia's untimely discovery at the outhouse. "I do not need to ask how you are faring." A smile tugged at her lips as she turned her head towards her company. "I daresay you would be having the best night, except I am keeping you from the walking calamity that are Von Fleet's canines."

Selfish of her to steal him away, but she also would not want to be alone out in the outdoors. Livia would rather the presence of Stone than that of Leander or that other guy...

"If you wanted to go back to the dance, I would understand... but I do think I better retire for the night. As handsome of a face you possess, I cannot deprive the rest of our cohort from viewing it too. They will throws sticks and stones at my windows. Last time I will give you a chance at freedom: Would you like to return to the dance?" It would be too forward of her to extend an invitation to return with her to her room, would it not? In the private confines of her room, there was no telling of Liv's mood once away from the festivities. "You can keep the wine and powder. if you like..." Combined, they could deliver a temporary distraction from the haunting dead eyes of Initiate Schmidt, but Liv would not keep it up all night to avoid such memory.

Rowley Stone

 

[Ivan Skender]

He saw her cheeks redden, watching on as her demeanour towards him soften as their dance went on. He moderated his step, bringing their tempo to a slower, more intimate pace. He looked at Odessa, offering her a complicit, warm smile, as he felt his chances with her restored.

That was however, until all hell broke loose.

First Leander's bellowing, then the chandelier gliding away over their heads, and then that strange girl with the hellish dogs that barged into the dance floor. Kress, what had he even been expecting? A civilized occasion? At the Academy?

Before he knew it, he was being dragged along towards Houri and Leander, trailing just behind his date. He would get to them just in time to hear Houri's snarky comments against Leander, to which followed Odessa's chastising. His face twisted slightly at the cringe display.

While this evening Leander had made his presence known at the most inconvenient of times for him, Ivan couldn't help but sympathize with his friend. Not enough to take his side over Odessa's, though sufficiently to make him want to save Urahil from the full-blown humiliation he was currently suffering.

- "Now, now." - He smiled, turning around to swipe a couple of unattended wine glasses that stood on a nearby table. He offered one to each of the Urahil twins. - "Let's not make a big deal out of this." -

With a shrug, Ivan looked around. The ball room was still recovering from Victoria's attack, with many of those present either too busy, or otherwise distracted, to have been paying attention to Leander's outburst. - "No one's gonna remember this in the morning." - Hopefully the alcohol would help in that regard.

- "So let's just enjoy our evening shall we?" - He turned his gaze back to the twins. - "Even if only for those who couldn't attend." - He threw a look at Leander, facing the other initiate so that Odessa couldn't see his face, and gave him the most overtly complicit look he could muster. - "I heard Natasha's still stuck in the library for resits." - He softened his features, really hoping Leander would have gotten what he was hinting at. - "She sure could use this distraction." -

In truth, Ivan had no idea if this was true, but if it got Leander out of the ball room, and to stop blundering into his night with Odessa, it was a ruse he was willing to try. Plus, with the embarrassment he'd just suffered at the hands of Houri Luana, it was for the best if Leander would just retreat out of the celebration. If Urahil could just fuck the resentment he was bound to be feeling out of his system, all the better.

Odessa Urahil Leander Urahil​

 

[Iscandor Karon]

Iscandor walked in to the prom room still straightening his collar. Yes, still tidying himself up as he walked, that was how late the young man was. His slick, wet hair from a couple minutes of washing managed to become presentable with a few quick brushes, and he put the cosmetic tool back inside his small pack which was soon discarded in a corner. No sense in taking away from style for the sake of practicality, especially in an event such as this.

Scanning the room, a few things became clear: The Urahil twins had started fighting again, and Odessa's date was currently stepping in. Well, if that was still happening after he got food, it would surely be worth a listen. Next, Zaire was dancing with Houri, and the poor guy's entire body looked committed to staring straight ahead and not tripping over his own feet, let alone his date's.

All in all, pretty normal for the Academy. Nothing surprising here, which was both a comfort and a worrying thought, somehow. Spying another interaction, he would then turn his focus to the duo of Qunnick and Stone, and judging by the easy smile of Rowley and the suggestive look Livia was returning to him, Iscandor should turn away, not wanting to imagine the gory details of what they probably planned to do later in the night.

Finally, Zinnia was walking away from Victoria, who seemed to be socializing with Silas and going over to the drink table where Maseno and...Trix, was it? Realizing he didn't know much about any of these people besides their names and faces, things he knew due to the proctors usually having to reprimand them at one time or another.

Speaking of Proctors, it appeared the portly Proctor Snicket was rushing over to "Miss Von Fleet", angry and ready to start scolding. As he watched the poor man try to advance through the crowd, he quickly realized what the proctor had sensed. Some sort of magical residue was in the area, darkly colored. Iscandor shrugged to himself as he began walking to the drink area, not at all surprised.

Honestly, simply counting how many mischievous firecrackers there were in this ballroom alone, he might have been even less surprised if there was more evidence of fighting. However, this very night, most initiates seemed to be handling themselves...respectfully, and he would do the same. Well, excluding Leander, but nobody seemed to like him anyway.

Arriving at his desired location, he'd immediately notice Maseno being held by Trix and start to speak. "Is this a bad-" He would begin to ask, before noticing the young man's leg was broken, no matter how well he seemed to hide it with his pretty crutch. "Are you alright?" He'd ask instead, changing the topic. He didn't expect a real answer, but hey, what the hell?

Remembering Zinnia was also there, he'd look over to her with a nod of acknowledgement. "My bad. Didn't mean to ignore ya. You look nice." Iscandor would say this genuinely, with a bit of an apologetic tone, but he also tried to be normal about it and not sound like he meant anything more than that. Not that they knew each other at all, but it could still be taken weirdly.

As had become habit, he unconsciously took out one of his knives and began to play with the deadly weapon, intricately twisting it using various parts of the hand and letting it almost cartwheel across his fingers. The cold steel comforted him, for some reason, and he began to feel less weird about barging in on the group. It was not as if they were going to tell him off for it, and if they did, his smart and dirty mouth locked away behind a casual mask would reveal itself in the most spectacular of ways.

 

[Houri]

Houri had been looking up at the chandelier - the disco ball - when Zaire spoke. The voices were still arguing about whether or not it was wise to let Leander Urahil walk out of here alive or at least maimed in some way. Some way that would scar so that he remembered her every. Single. Day.

But the girl in the middle of that swarm of voices was too busy enjoying the music to really ponder on any of her friends suggestions. The lights that rippled through the crystals above calmed her unravelling mind and allowed her to slip once more back into the trance of the dance. She was so lost in it that she almost didn't hear Zaire's words. She blinked. Then blinked again and glanced down.

"Thank you," her smile seemed to make her glow from the inside out. This dance was not the wild freeing thing that it had been with Silas, not the cage Leander had offered, but something... soothing. Comforting. "If I hadn't got magic, my father used to say I should have done into bandari," the far Western form of dancing popular in the region her family had hailed from.

"You're very good too - much better than Leander," she didn't have to take over from Zaire and remind him of the right moves. With Zaire she could simply enjoy it all - the music, the movements, and the conversation.

 

[Rowley Stone]

Rowley didn't say anything at first, just slowly reaching over and taking both the bottle and the powder in each of his hands. He stood up with a grin and offered her arm.

"I can dance another time and the others will get over my horrific absence, but how many times will the great Mrs. Quinnick grace me with her presence."

He understood the right things to say and he just told them. It wasn't overly complicated. Liv looked tired, but more than that she looked...alone, and that was no fun for anyone. Besides, the events he had missed were likely already over, and the dance would inevitably die down after that. So there were no better options than to go with Livia.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

She took the offered arm without hesitation, having found a liking to it all evening. Outside in the cool air, it had been nice to experience the slight breeze, but the temperature had dropped as the night progressed. The short capped sleeves of her dress offered little warmth, but sidling up next to Rowley offered her temporary heat.

"Too right you are. And not just anyone gets to see my room." It was neat and orderly, and she would definitely insist on him taking off his shoes before entering.

Lazily, with no real rush, she lead them both back to the dorms while keeping a keen eye out for any Proctors prowling about.

Rowley Stone

 

[Trix]

Gone was the irritation and protective glimmer the bully of the upper year had shown. Trix went back to tapping her fingers along to the music along the back of Maz's chair and looking around the room with the same bored expression she had worn for most of the night. Her gaze wandered from one cousin to the other, then to the Urahils still gathered on the far side of the hall. It looked, from this distance, that the girls were giving Leander a rough time of it.

Good.

He wouldn't try anything else tonight, Trix was certain, and anything else Houri could most certainly take care of herself. So she looked instead at Maz and with a big sigh put one of his arms around her neck.

"Come on little cousin, I think you're done for the night. You'll have to give Houri her dance next time."

 

[Maseno Luana]

Something ... about this juice.

It hit him like a landslide, with great intensity and jarring surprise.

Arriving at his desired location, he'd immediately notice Maseno being held by Trix and start to speak. "Is this a bad-" He would begin to ask, before noticing the young man's leg was broken, no matter how well he seemed to hide it with his pretty crutch. "Are you alright?" He'd ask instead, changing the topic. He didn't expect a real answer, but hey, what the hell?

Maseno looked aside to his fellow Initiate and offered him a wane smile, "Iscandor," he greeted, "I am not alright, but do not let that fact disturb your evening. Please enjoy yourself-"

His arm was moving. He didn't recall moving his arm. Bleary amber eyes shifted to discover just what was occuring and found his cousin wrapping his arm around her shoulders like a winter scarf.

"Beatrix," he remarked, blinking hard, "whatever you have put in this ... beats the hell out of the Nurse's potion."

And suddenly he was standing. Or Trix was standing. Was he standing? Did he even have legs? Oh, yes, there they were. This was terribly disorienting. Maz shook his head in a poor attempt to clear it, gestured to his crutches to bring them to his free hand and tucked them both under one arm to follow her out of the dance hall.

"She looks so beautiful, doesn't she?" was his last comment on the subject of his sister before the pair of them were slowly off, back to the Healer's wing.

THREAD EXIT

 

[Zaire]

“Bandari?” Zaire inquired, a genuine curiosity in his bi-colored gaze. He had thought he had heard of it before, but just as much as he thought he knew what the dancing must have looked like, he thought just as much that he had no idea what bandari was. It was better then to ask her to clarify. Or better yet, show him.

“Is it just something you do on your own or do you need a partner?” Zaire’s feet were quiet against the floor but moved in tandem with Houri’s. There was a natural sway to their bodies, as if it were their feet following after their hands or their heads. The twists and turns felt natural, an innate instinct that both the initiates harbored in their hearts.

Zaire smiled then. He couldn’t help it. He knew it was arrogant. He knew it was silly. He knew it was boyish and nothing like a dreadlord should be, but Houri’s warm hands paved a path of adoration from her simple, acceptable touches all the way to his heart.

Houri

 

[Houri]

"You can do it with both - it's just a style of dance from the West. My family have tried very hard over the centuries to become a good Anirian family but... there are a few traditions they haven't wished to lose. Bandari is one," for which she was ever grateful.

More students and proctors began to leave the hall as the night wound down. Nobody made a move to shoo them from the hall however and the musicians seemed content to keep playing until the last couple left the dance floor. She caught sight briefly of her brother and cousin and a smile tugged at her lips; poor Mas. He so loved to dance. To be stuck with Trix instead...

They twirled and Houri lost sight of them.

"Do you enjoy dancing?"

 

[Zaire]

“Yeah, I do, actually.” Zaire said with a fondness that hadn’t shown itself in recent years. He had loved dancing. He had loved music, too. He had loved being outside, under the sun or moons didn’t matter, in the company of others. He had forgotten those things as he spent more and more time alone in his room, hiding from the world.

“Can you show me bandari? I want to try.” A nervous smile quickly formed and he looked away to the ground. His talk with Zinnia made him look back up to Houri’s face. “I’m a fast learner. Might even impress you with how fast I can pick up moves.”

Houri

 

[Houri]

"Now?" Houri raised her brows in surprise and expected Zaire to laugh at her suggestion, but he continued to look at her earnestly. The voices bubbled in the back of her mind as her emotions danced from one to the other in quick success before settling on... excitement. "It's not really the right music... or the type of occasion. It's not seen as very civilised this far East," a faint blush spread across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. "But let me see if they know anything..."

Letting go of his hand she glided towards the musicians who flashed her a grin, eager to see what one of their more prolific dancers wished to request. There were a few hushed minutes as she explained, gesturing, the the conductor seemed to ponder on it for a while before nodding in agreement. The band finished the quadrille it was playing and then the notes changed. Most had now left the hall and Houri tossed out all care for decorum as she kicked off her shoes, motioning for Zaire to do the same.

"Okay, so you put your feet like this..."

Over the course of the song Houri launched Zaire through a basic Bandari dance with its odd kicks, twirls, and bends of the body. Even though it was a simple learners version, it was easy to see from those few repetitive steps how Houri had learnt to move how she had.

 

[Zaire]

Zaire almost suggested that they make their own music, but that could come for another time. Maybe on another night, a more private night outside when there were no prying eyes or ears. Zaire rather liked his voice. He wasn’t sure how Houri would feel about him humming while trying to teach him a dance he had never done before.

There was a pause when she took off her shoes, Zaire pointedly staring at the green slippers (nowhere close together but he wasn’t going to point that out) before looking down at his own. Well, what the heck, everyone was starting to leave anyways. He slipped off his shoes, neatly putting them out of the way before coming back to Houri’s side.

He followed after her movements, slight mistakes here and there but fixing them some upon seeing the moves a second time. He was thankful for his childhood, in the freedom of expression there that allowed him to move as he pleased. Zaire had never been a stiff dancer, even if his reserved personality suggested otherwise. By the third time, his movements were decent. Nowhere near the expert like Houri but he felt himself to be proficient. All under ten minutes, not bad, if he were the type to give himself a compliment. If he was sober perhaps he could have learned faster.

“Okay, I got it. Most of it.” Zaire knew enough to not look silly. He liked the dance, even if Houri only had the time to teach him the basics. It was different than the usual Anirian dances taught to nobility. “I won’t trip you at least. Can we try it for real now?”

Houri

 

[Houri]

Houri laughed.

"I'm sure you cannot be worse than my brothers when they were first learning," there had been more than a few trampled feet in the Luana ballroom as their mother and father had taken them through the steps. She indicated for him to start a little away from her how she had demonstrated to begin with. "Remember, it's almost like a story you're telling," each of them would have their own parts and then the story would merge. The musicians waited for her nod and then they began.

The woman always went first which was just as well as the man repeated the movements - it would give Zaire that last second study before he had to copy her. With both solos done the pair met in the middle and performed the next part of the 'story' the tale of the couple meeting, catching one another's eye, and then parting. The solos came again before they met again, the story of the pair falling in love written in dance form. Houri had always enjoyed this dance. Despite the serious undertones there was always a little bit of playful mischief in the way they were meant to move together.

Zaire hadn't trodden on her yet so she flashed him an encouraging grin.

 

[Zaire]

Somehow Zaire felt that statement was false: Maseno most definitely wouldn’t have struggled. He appreciated the sentiment though because it came down to Houri not wanting him to be nervous, didn’t it? Zaire focused first on not bumping into Houri or possibly stepping on her, and was glad that as the two of them moved they didn’t seem to have any issues with possibly battering the other.

His gaze was pulled up from his own feet at times to look back at Houri as she moved. It made him breathless, watching her and how everything— from the music, to the light, to her dress and even her hair— seemed to be just to compliment her. Zaire was grateful for his body being able to move without him needing to think about it, especially as they met in the middle then to be pushed away from one another like two magnets that hadn’t quite figured out their magnetic pulls just yet.

When they were close together again, meeting halfway in the middle, this time, Zaire was bold and added his own slight flair. Not with their dancing or any moves, but as their hands touched for one of the brief, parting touches, he used his magic. He wanted to resonate with her, to connect in a way that he had only successfully done with Dak.

The butterflies in his stomach stopped their fluttering as a calm settled over them. Or, at the very least, for Zaire.

Houri

 

[Houri]

It was fortunate for the state of the ballroom that Houri did not notice Zaire's quiet magical signature. She was far too caught up in the dance and music as she had been for most of the night to think of any kind of magical attack and so had stopped paying attention to the magical spikes in the room. If she had she might have pulled back from Zaire and given him a few choice, angry words about using his gifts on her without her permission. As it was however, his magic only seemed to soothe away those last few wrinkles that had been caused by Leanders outburst and flare her mirth.

They spun back together for the final section which was more like the traditional ballroom dances of Vel Anir, the man and woman meant to be entwined forever in one another's embrace. Houri found herself slightly out of breath and made a note she should practise her native dancing more than just the stuff ballroom waltz. As they twirled together she found herself truly looking into Zaire's eyes and feeling...

"Will you keep dancing with me?" she asked almost shyly.

 

[Zaire]

They were connected. Perhaps not as much as they could have been, Zaire didn’t seek to improve Houri’s physical or mental capabilities but he liked knowing that when their souls touched, there was warmth there. He imagined her soul being blue and his red and they would make purple. Or maybe his soul was yellow and hers were red and they would make orange. Or maybe his soul was blue and hers was yellow and— she had asked him a question.

“As long as you don’t mind having me as your dance partner.” Zaire said with a giddy grin. There was a moment when they were just swaying, looking into each other’s eyes. The hopeful glimmer in his eyes dimmed for a moment and his smile faltered. “Houri.” He said, Zinnia’s words ringing in his head.

“I’m…” what was he going to say? “You see, the thing is….” His heart began beating faster. Was it beating faster or was he just high? How high was he right now? Did it even matter? “It’s just that, well, I… you see, I….” Zaire took a deep breath. Just spit it out, spit it out already and tell her how you feel for Kress sake. “I am… going to be a stronger for you. And when I’m strong enough, there’s something… something I’m going to tell you.”

Houri

 

[Houri]

The sudden change in his expression brought back the voices in a rush and with it dispelled the calm and contented feeling she had been enjoying.

Now what did you do?

He's probably thinking of Lumen, wishing she was here instead.

Houri tried to mute them and forced herself to focus on Zaire's words but it was hard. Everything he was saying set off more warning bells. Stronger? Why did he need to be stronger for her? To tell her what? Houri frowned; why couldn't he just be upfront with her now? She hated secrets and these veiled... threats? Promises?

"Why can't you just tell me now Zaire?"

 

[Zaire]

How to tell her that he couldn’t tell her his feelings now because he feared the face she would make? To Zaire it was as clear as day— on a day when he was sober, too— the disgust that would be written over her angelic features. He could imagine the way her nose would scrunch up as if she smelled something foul, how her brows would lower over her dark eyes as if she saw something revolting, and how her mouth would twist down into a terrible grimace as if not wanting to waste another breath on Zaire.

“Because if I tell you now it wouldn’t be fair to you.” Zaire, once emboldened, now felt meek as he could picture nothing but Houri wanting to puke from his confession and maybe go as far as washing her hands to get rid of his loser-germs. His body, once so sure in the movements of the dance, hands that once held hers firmly, now became limp. Zaire took a step away from her.

He wanted to hurl, but he hadn’t ate or drank anything in hours.

“You deserve better than this.” Better than him, currently. Better than him high, better than him hating life, better than him going through life half-assed and expecting things to change without putting the work in. “I need to go.” His stomach churned, and he turned away, putting a hand over his mouth. “I need fresh air.” He mumbled and began walking away.

Shit, why now?

Houri

 

[Houri]

Better than what?

I didn't think his dancing was that bad.

Is it us? Does he not want to dance with us anymore?

He looks like he's going to be sick. Was dancing with us that bad?

It's because we're not Lumen.

Houri watched bewildered as he first dropped her hands as though they stung him, then stepped back and looked at her as though he were going to be sick. She went to step after him but he took another step and twisted away with a hand over his mouth. Suddenly all the joy of the night turned to ash in her mouth. She desperately went through everything she had said or done during their dance searching for what could have made him suddenly change his mind. He'd offered to dance with her all night, hadn't he?

He was just being polite.

He wanted to leave and you made him do the longest dance you know.

You should have let him go after one dance. It was a pity dance anyway, trying to help you save face after Leander.

"Zaire, wait. I don't understand what I did--" she trailed after him and put a hand on his arm hoping to stay him.