-Art by @huangdanlan on Twitter-
Ugh. It was the last place I wanted to be, that ballroom. I never was too social, especially not in large crowds like this. I awkwardly stood at the side of the grand hall, playing with my fingers nervously as I watched hundreds of people dancing elegantly with their partners.
I heard the clacking of heels and turned to my left to see Baise approaching me. She wore different from her usual attire. Her dress was long and silky, it was an emerald colour which complimented her eyes. Her hair was made how it usually was with her classic yellow ribbon and she wore a little more makeup for the event.
She held the end of my hair, twirling the strands inbetween her fingers. "You look beautiful tonight." She complimented me.
"Only because you helped me with my hair and makeup." I blushed. The woman chuckled softly.
I didn't intend to be so dressed up for this dance because, frankly, I didn't really care about it at all. I only went for Neon's request but after arriving it seemed useless seeing as she immediately abandoned her three bodyguards to go and join a handsome young man who offered her a dance.
Me and Baise stood at the sidelines and watched as the happy-go-lucky girl danced through the night. Baise looked around the ballroom before asking "Have you seen Kurapika?" I told her I hadn't.
He practically disappeared as soon as we all arrived. I would be lying if I said that I noticed his absence. It wasn't that I didn't care about him, It was just that I didn't care about him. I knew Kurapika and I knew he would take care of himself, wherever he may have gone. It was always like that back at the mansion too- he would just mysteriously disappear for a while and nobody would question it. I laughed. What a strange boy he was.
A tall, pale man made his way over to where Baise and I were. He had slicked back brown hair and his golden eyes longed for amusement. The charming young man held out his hand in front of Baise with a lovely smile. "May I have this dance?" He asked her with a grin.
Baise looked at me as if asking me to do something. I only smiled at the older woman and gave her a little nudge. Go on, I told her. She took the man's hand, still staring at me with shocked eyes. And then they were off to dance.
I saw no problem in it, there wasn't any sign of danger in the room and Neon looked like she was having fun. Besides I was still there to watch over everything. It was all fine.
Things remained that way for like ten minutes. I did admit, it was a little lonely leaning against that wall without Baise but I didn't mind too much. It was just pleasant listening to the classy orchestral music while watching the attractive man dancing with my even more attractive friend/co-worker. And Neon too, who I saw occasionally laughing with different partners each time.
"My, my, what is a lovely girl like you doing standing here all alone?"
An old lady, with a smile so gentle and eyes so kind, came out of nowhere. She wore a yellow cardigan over a long pink dress and her grey hair was tied into a low bun.
"Ah, I'm not one to dance." I answered her politely and the woman only laughed.
She looked back at the crowd, "Nonsense. Everybody over there is having a great time, why don't you go join them? It's a captivating dress you're wearing so go show it off, I'm sure there are a lot of gentlemen who would love to dance with a young lady like yourself." The women gently gestured me forward, the same way I had done with Baise. Whatever goes around comes around, I guess
I was pulled into the crowd and soon found myself being spun around to the music by a dazzling man in a blue suit. With another spin I was sent off into the arms of another person, this time a lady in a sparkling dress. And it continued like that, dancing and switching between numerous partners.
It was more fun than I expected. A lot better than just watching everyone do it. Some people were fun and would spin around with me very fast, laughing as we did so, and others were a lot more gentle and held me like I was the most delicate thing in the world. Occasionally some of my partners would say or whisper words to me, something funny which would make me laugh or even a simple compliment which also brought a smile to my face. It was wonderful- sharing short and adorable interactions with all kinds of strangers. The people of Yorknew city were so interesting!
A long haired man let go of my hand as he sent me off so he could dance with the new woman who had arrived. I was suddenly engulfed into the embrace of the next person. Their hands were soft and feminine and at first I thought it was a woman who was just wearing a suit but as my fingers collided with the sensation of iron chains I knew exactly who it was.
"Kurapika!" I said with surprise in my voice. The boy stared down at me through his chocolate eyes. "I didn't expect you to be dancing. Is that what you've been doing the entire time?" I snickered at the blonde.
He sighed as he swayed me back and forth. The music had changed to a more lower and calmer tune. We only blended in with everybody else who switched to slow dancing. "No, I was walking through the building for a while to make sure there really was nobody here to attack the boss. I was found and dragged here to dance against my will." He said.
I giggled. "What luck, huh? Well at least now you've been graced with the opportunity to dance with me." I said jokingly. The boy spun me around and only then did I notice he had been taking the lead the entire time, I didn't expect him to be this good at it. Blondie can dance? since when?
"I didn't know you could dance." I said as I intertwined my fingers with.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."
"Then what else are you hiding, Mister Mystery Man?"
"You look enthralling in that dress." He suddenly said. I almost chocked at the sudden compliment.
He's so weird, I thought. His face hadn't changed, he still looked as cold as ever. His words became meaningless to me. "That didn't sound very sincere."
I felt the grip on my waist tighten as he moved his body closer to mine. "I mean it. You look beautiful." If he brought his face any closer he'd hear my racing heartbeat.
Red and embarrassed, I turned my face away from him. If I looked into his eyes any longer I might have exploded. It felt incredibly out of character for him to be acting this way but I wasn't complaining. There was always that underlying friendship between us two but he never made me feel the way I did until that moment. Because within mere seconds of swaying with him I became nervous, shy and tensed.
"You look nice too." I finally mumbled a response. He did, really. I didn't acknowledge how good he looked in that suit when I first saw him. It wasn't the least bit fancy or significant in any way yet he pulled it off to make it look like it was worth a hundred bucks.
Kurapika chuckled, "Just as always, you get embarrassed so easily." So that was it, I thought. He only wanted to see me shy. I never found out why he made the effort to see my predicted reaction.
Admitting his real intention didn't bum me out as much as I thought it would because I was still glad I got to dance with him since out of all the wonderful people I moved with that night, Kurapika made me the happiest. I sat in comfort the entire ride back. I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to lie in my bed and drift away. I was happy.
Kurapika was the one driving the black Mustang with Neon in the front seat chatting his ear off about her night. I sat in the back with Baise. "You looked like you had fun with that guy. Were you glad you danced with him?" I asked her as Neon and Kurapika had their own conversation in the front.
Baise nodded. She knew that I knew. "His name was Toshi. I like him a lot. We exchanged numbers." I gasped and expressed how happy I felt for her. "What about you? Did you enjoy dancing with Kurapika?" She smirked. She said his name in almost a whisper so said boy wouldn't hear. He didn't even notice.
"I stared at her dumbfounded. How did you know?"
"I saw you both dancing."
"Oh." I mumbled simply.
SHe only smiled and said, "It looked like you were having fun."
"I was. But I'm not in love with him."
"I know, I'm just teasing you, kid."
After arriving back at the mansion Neon went to call her father immediately to tell him how much she enjoyed the ball. Baise left to her room. Kurapika disappeared. I joined Melody on the couch. "How was it?" She asked.
"It was good," I nodded and then I looked away from her and spoke quietly as if speaking to myself. "I never knew that blondie could dance."
~