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 Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 2:23 pm
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Alternatively: Diesel's Delirious Dance
What the heck is that? It sounds bizarrely like music. Really current alternative rock music. Well that’s sure out of place here.
In a fit of either total brilliance or utter laziness, Diesel uses his space pocket as an actual backpack, meaning everything he carried around to school wound up in Halloween world with him. For the most part, it’s useless stuff: crumpled papers, dry highlighters, and old candy wrappers. But as fate would have it, there’s an old iPhone 8 in here! If Ellian is going to get caught with electronics at school, there’s sure no way he’s handing over his actual phone. This one may be out of service, but it’s still got all his music on it.
Too bad it’s just an iPhone… Not like they’re that loud or anything.
But if the Globe Theater doesn’t need speakers, why the heck should he? It’s not like Diesel has much of anything to do besides figure out how to get the best quality sound for a Halloween world block party. You guys look hella dreary, did you know that? Someone should really lighten the mood around here...
This ORP takes place over a period of two hours on the 4th day of being trapped in Halloween world. That’s all the juice Diesel’s iPod has in it! But as it’s been stated, there’s not much to do for fun around here. There’s not much to do at all besides be terrified, and that’s not really how you want to spend your time, is it? You might as well enjoy the music while it lasts.
Diesel will snatch people off the street to dance with and sing to. Just ping or PM me if you want your character involved this way!
The Playlist
Opening Track: Diesel’s favorite, Discovery Channel
Track Two: Centuries
A new poll will go up every other day to determine the next track that plays, and I will make a post in character as Diesel denoting the song switch. I’ll also include options that people send me, so gimme those sweet music recommendations! He’s likely to skip over music that is sad or too demure. This is a limited window of happy that he doesn’t want fogged up with sad (and hey, for all you know, this is the last music you’ll ever hear. Are you even gonna make it back to DC? Who knows).
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 2:24 pm
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“This seems like… an egregious waste of time,” Rakovanite muttered as he sat on the ground with his back against the entryway to their temporary home.
But then again, even he had trouble thinking of something that wasn't a waste of time. They had food. They had the minimalist supplies the world allotted. There still wasn't really enough information on what they should be doing to try and leave this plane, but neither were there means to acquire such information. Besides facing the monster head-on. Which seemed...
Unwise.
But as he glowered at his younger brother, Rakovanite couldn't help but think there had to be something Diesel could do that was more useful than this.
Diesel, of course, being a pariah of Things Rakovanite Disagreed with, disagreed. "I am so bored," he lamented as he set an old iPhone into a hallowed-out stone funnel that had been positioned on the wooden railing in front of their shelter. "I am so ******** bored I would rather shoot myself in the face than spend one more minute sitting here in the dirt. If you wanna do that, fine. That's your prerogative, but me? No thanks. Hard pass."
Since he'd brought entertainment with him, there wasn't any reason not to make use of it. And Diesel was an upstanding citizen. It seemed cruel not to share. It wasn't like he was the only one bored.
He clicked the phone to play, and the intro to his favorite song blasted through the phone's speaker to be further amplified by the use of his fun stone contraption. Loud? Well, not really. He'd wanted boom box quality, but that wasn't in the cards in a place like this. But it was good enough for at least the next couple houses over to hear.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:28 pm
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"Oh, I don't think it's so bad," Narcissus argued as he stood perched against the wall next to Rakovanite. "I think it's nice that there is any comfort of home available, no matter how brief it is." It might have been different if they needed to hunt for food or build a shelter or weave coverings to survive, but... Most of that was already done for them, to the extent where people like Narcissus, who didn't know how to do any of those things, didn't feel pressed to immediately learn.
Maybe he'd have to later, if the stay ended up being more prolonged than they feared, but not right now. Thank god.
He would've thought most people would be into a window of respite, but... Narcissus glanced down to the man sitting by the door. He hadn't really seen anything that made Rakovanite happy. In any of their meetings. Ever. He crouched down. "You know, I read a psychiatry study once that claimed productivity and morale shared a linear correlation: when you feel good, you're more likely to do things that advance your situation. And then when you do things that are helpful, you're liable to keep feeling good and keep doing beneficial things."
"And when you feel bad, it's more difficult to be active, so you actually feel worse, and it gets harder and harder to be productive. It's actually really fascinating how moods tend to facilitate themselves."
But that wasn't entirely what he was trying to get at, here. "Um, so I mean, I guess my point is, do you want to dance?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:19 pm
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The flow of Pendour's days here was not so different from the flow of them back at home. She worked as much as she needed to, although here that meant more gardening and gathering and less graphic design. She spent the rest of her time in bed, drifting between sleep and worry.
That was what she was doing when she heard a faint sound drifting through her window. Music. Sleep hadn't been coming, anyway, so Pendour slipped out of the creaky bed and then made her way out of the creakier door of the house she was sharing with the brothers.
It was the iPod that caught her eye first. It laid there in the middle of the dirt path, close as close to where people would be walking, many of them in high heels or heavy boots. She'd gotten used to all the auras at this point, almost, and it was only when she looked up that there were three people there, all dressed head to toe in black, and one of them that she'd met once before.
Well, she'd heard something of a truce, and maybe that would make this a good place to try for connections. Maybe not. Maybe it was just her curiosity edging past her nerves.
In any case, she walked towards the rainbow-haired senshi. He was a stranger, and he didn't seem occupied. Pendour held her skirt out in her forefingers and curtsied deep. That wasn't how you danced to this genre of music, she knew that, but she also spent so much time wearing this ballgown and so little time getting to curtsy in it.
"Is this a dance?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:57 pm
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Not bothering to wait around for someone to answer him, Rory snorted in annoyance and made his way through the gathered costumed people toward the village at the edge of the forest. He did, however, listen as he went, and was at least able to learn that they had all gotten here the same way, through that weird fog. And no one knew why. He figured they'd all find out in the fullness of time. In the meantime, why not explore a little?
He whistled a little tune as he entered the village proper, nothing in particular. This was like one of those creepy video games his older brothers played back home in Ireland; he half expected zombies or some shite to suddenly start lurching out of the shadows. As he walked and whistled, he began to notice music that wasn't him drifting through the square. He stopped and listened, then followed the music to its source, an iPhone stuck in a stone funnel that was acting as an amplifier. Clever trick, that! With a grin, he listened to the tune, ignoring the fact that there were other people nearby; he recognized it from some years back, when it got heavy rotation on the radio.
"You an' me, baby, we ain't nothin' but mammals…" Singing along with the chorus, he remembered the video too, and began to dance a little to it. Before too long he was dancing like a monkey, having a grand time and not giving a s**t who saw him. He'd likely never see any of these people again anyway, so what difference did it make if he made a bit of a fool of himself?
Indigo_Plateau here's your Galway Girl XD
EchosSweet just cause you're nearby XD
stari_maga just cause you're nearby XD
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:11 am
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The White Moon had... an unreasonable number of pretty girls, Diesel thought as a young woman with long, wavy white hair and a particularly opulent dress approached from one of the nearby houses. He hadn't been at this whole powered thing for hardly a week, but he definitely hadn't seen any chaos pretty girls flitting abut. Which was maybe as good an indicator as any what the 'right' side of things was.
The whole 'what was going on' and 'why' and 'how' of this war was mostly lost on him. Diesel didn't care about the reasons people picked their sides and didn't hold it against them if anyone else's was different than his.
So as the Order woman approached, he didn't do anything more than offer her a flash of a grin as she curtsied. Any other details about her exact faction or rank were mostly lost on him. He didn't have the experience to know what visual or aural cues indicated what, and he didn't need to know anything else besides that he liked her immediately. She just strolled right up to him without giving a single s**t, and he appreciated that. He laughed and dipped into as much of a formal bow as he knew how before extending a hand for her to take. "Is if you make it one, hon."
"I'm-" He paused briefly to cast a quick, almost nervous glance over his shoulder toward his brother, and seeing that Rakovanite was not in immediate earshot decided to offer up his senshi name, rather than the forced mineral one, Cervantite. "I'm Diesel," he said, flashing another quick grin.
To Diesel it had always seemed obvious that if they were going to be in this bizarro world for more than a couple days, they'd need to find something- anything- they could do that would be a distraction from the monstrous creature that hunted them in the mist. And it pleased him on an existential level to see a young man with dark red hair bopping to the music.
The guy seemed to know the tune pretty well, further delighting Diesel as the red head started dancing like the Bloodhound Gang. He laughed, vibrant and excited as his dark eyes sparkled with glee. "Haha! You know the words," he crowed. "I wondered if anyone would! It's kinda old." Older than him, anyway.
The music didn't linger, though, before the next track started with slow chords, jumping to something more from this decade, and probably a little more familiar, Centuries.
---
Rakovanite couldn't suppress a roll of his eyes and a muted groan of annoyance as a few people wandered by and actually engaged his stupid little brother like they didn't have anything better to do. One of them he even recognized as Pendour, the knight he'd encountered during his training with Sylvite months prior. Maybe he should have expected as much from such a softhearted thing.
He tipped his head away from the scene, bringing his focus more in line with the Dark Mirror next to him, who was rambling something as he tended to do whenever a simple thought crossed his mind. Rakovanite didn't mind the psychology lesson. Narcissus seemed like a decently smart man who could actually be helpful in trying to uncover the means by which they'd be able to leave, making him 'valuable,' as far as Rakovanite was concerned.
Until the last question left his lips.
Rakovanite leveled the full force of his disgusted expression on the other man. Did he want to dance? No, he didn't ******** 'want to dance!' He wanted to go home and play on his computer and be in his bed. Dancing was reserved exclusively for weekend at the club, when he was liquored enough to not care who saw him. Not for the middle of the street in a deserted village where a monster was trying to abduct them to do who knew what with.
It didn't matter how much he liked this song. Rakovanite scoffed derisively and turned to glower back in Cervantite's direction. |
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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:42 pm
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Don't look at the cracks, Pendour reminded herself. Her gaze drifted up to his forehead when she tried to look into his eyes, so she shifted to looking at his hair instead. It was rainbow, and beautiful.
Don't say anything about being broken.
"I'm Pendour," she said, and she smiled at his hair too. "Um, it's nice to meet you." His hand was warm in hers, she noticed. That was something she could think about, too. She danced. It wasn't waltzing. She knew better than that. Dances came up in her life from time to time, from weddings to charity balls, and she didn't always lurk at the edges of them. She shook her shoulders and her hips, and kept light on her feet, and she found herself smiling at the much needed movement.
Her rhythm wasn't perfect, but that didn't seem to bother her. She was putting in her best effort.
Someone else was dancing, too, someone who wasn't Chaos, and that made it feel like she wasn't doing anything too strange. She nodded at him, too, to the beat.
She paused, rapt, when the music changed, and in that moment, her eyes went bright as bright. "Oh, I know this one," she said, and as the beat picked up, she started to hum along.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:54 pm
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Hearing over the music that he was being spoken to, Rory slowed down his monkey-dancing and grinned at the other man. "Yeah, I've heard it in club not that long ago! it kind of stuck with me." As if to emphasize that he had in fact heard it recently (and no doubt seen the video as well), he resumed his dancing, approaching one of the girls standing nearby and making moves toward her as if he was picking nits from her hair. "Sorry, m'love," he apologized before dancing off to continue his monkey moves.
He spun around as the song began its fadeout and moved to approach the other guy, hand extended. "Name's Rory," he introduced himself, letting more of the Irish accent slip through. "I don't reckon you have a clue what's goin--"
Then Centuries started to play, and he let out a loud happy whoop. "Yeah! WOOO! These guys are GREAT!" Rory began to dance to the new song, much slower than the previous one but much more deliberate and aggressive. It was clear that he'd seen the video for this one too, with its Roman gladiatorial combat. "Remember me, for centuries!" he sang along with the main part of the chorus, with the occasional yip during the verses as he danced, arms flailing and hands balled into fists. He was trying not to hit anyone...
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 2:19 pm
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No, right, of course, obviously Rakovanite would give him that filthy look like he’d stepped in something vile, and turn away from him without saying anything. Obviously he would do that. Narcissus’ offered hand withered back to his side, and the twitchy smile he wore faltered just a bit.
It definitely wasn’t like he was looking forward to the thought of them being close enough to dance, bodies touching and swaying to whatever rhythm was available.
But Rakovanite looked wholly agitated by the entire affair. Maybe it really was best to leave him be to sit and stew alone, away from everyone else… Well, no, that sounded awful, and even Narcissus knew that wasn’t really what he wanted, so it was just a matter of trying to coerce him into- Into not doing that? “Uh, w-well, of course you don’t have to. I just figured- since there m-might not be any opportunities after this-”
Oof. Well, it was true, though. If they didn’t get out of this village, they certainly wouldn’t be hearing Fall Out Boy very often, but the thought probably wasn’t encouraging so much as it was depressing.
Narcissus cleared his throat and tried again. “Maybe I should ask Cervantite then?” He offered instead. “It l-looks like he’s having a really good time with everyone else, so…” He pushed his weight from the wall and made as if to head over towards the small group.
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 2:21 pm
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tatterpixie Sorry for the delay, y'all! I'm making sure to pick everything up and get it moving again, including this!
He was getting some mixed signals here. Diesel squinted and swished his lips to the side as he eyed the pretty knight before him.
On the one hand, she’d walked up to him, which he thought suggested she was friendly. And she was holding his hand and smiling and dancing. So yeah, that all seemed great. Totally on brand for what he’d been hoping for out of the remaining battery life on his iPod.
On the other hand, she wasn’t smiling at him, so much as past him. Over his head, even. He wanted to think that no one really cared about this faction stuff in general: here, home, or anywhere. And even though Pendour was being perfectly amicable and polite, there was just something that made it seem like she wasn’t crazy about being close.
Maybe he was thinking about it too hard, though. Maybe the residual fog made him paranoid.
Right. That was all it was. She really did seem totally friendly and definitely not judging him at all. So he danced with her, swirling about her at arm’s length, with his hands in the air and a cascade of rainbow trailing in his wake. “So you come here often?” He teased, still grinning despite his attempts to decipher her.
“Or you got anything in particular you wanna hear? I don’t got it all, but I probably got a little of everything. How ‘bout you, man?” He asked, notching his head toward Rory. “Interested in anything? Don’t know how long we’ll be here, or how much juice I got left, so might as well take the opportunity, right?”
It did kind of please him to just see a normal person here. Definitely no awkward conversations with civilians, probably. And this one seemed happy and clueless and just excited to be here, and somehow that made Diesel a little more excited, himself.
Maybe he could do something fun for a finale...
***
He did not want to move.
Rakovanite looked out at the few that had gathered for Cervantite’s antics, and he found that he simply was not interested in removing himself from where he sat. The thought that it might be his only opportunity to do so, his only chance to hear this music again for the foreseeable future was not very encouraging and served no benefit to making him feel better.
He huffed quietly, dark gaze narrowed on his little brother’s flailing figure several yards away. Rationally, he should be able to just accept that people could enjoy themselves for a few minutes, despite the tumultuous surroundings. He just wasn’t one of those people, himself.
His focus flicked up toward the Dark Mirror boy as Narcissus moved away.
It shouldn’t matter to him at all what this man did. If Narcissus wanted to go out there, it should be fine. Rakovanite shouldn’t ruin it for him by making Narcissus linger back with him. But the thoughts didn’t fully have the opportunity to cement themselves in his mind before his arm flashed out, snapping Narcissus’ hand to the wall to hold him in place because he similarly didn’t want to think about Narcissus out there scooching around and laughing with Cervantite, his filthy brother.
Then he realized what he’d done, and his arm retracted back to himself. “Sorry,” Rakovanite muttered stiffly. |
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 6:19 am
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Narcissus hadn’t been planning on walking away, and as a hand smacked over his own, a pleased sort of wry smile spread across his lips at his successful bluff. He could get the hang of this. He could figure out people no problem. And Rakovanite, for all his typically blank expressions, didn’t seem to be trying to hide anything, so much as maybe not really knowing how to express anything unless startled out of him?
Or something like that. It could just be the thrill of successfully getting what he’d hoped for out of the situation that made him feel like he suddenly knew things about the prickly man. But it was a good start, for sure.
Rakovanite didn’t have the opportunity to pull away before Narcissus’ fingers were curling around his and clasping their hands together. “It’s okay,” he said, quiet but firm. He just wished he could show it instead of only saying it. And maybe showing it was the more important part, anyway- It obviously wasn’t okay, the situation they found themselves in. But this moment could be okay. This moment could be nice.
He laced their fingers together and tugged with very adamant pressure. He wouldn’t be able to yank Rakovanite around anywhere, if he didn’t want to go, but Narcissus could at least send the message that he wasn’t planning on just giving up so easily.
He’d get that dance.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 6:57 am
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Rakovanite scoffed but didn’t yank away as Narcissus pulled on him.
He was definitely Not Okay, and nothing about this was, but the situation did lend itself to allowing him to be just marginally more receptive to casual contact, and he’d never found that he hated it to begin with, so… It was just nice. To let the other man hold his hand.
Narcissus guided him to his feet, and Rakovanite allowed it, but he had no idea what Narci was expecting out of him from there. Even if he had the energy to flail about like his brother (which he didn’t), he definitely wasn’t over here trying to look like an idiot in front of Cervantite’s new friends. Maybe it was presumptuous of him to believe they would pay him even the shred of mind it would take to think anything about him, but the thought was there all the same.
He held stock still, tense as he listened to the boisterous upbeat music that was playing, and stared back at Narcissus through blank red eyes. “Well, now what,” he prompted quietly. It was a bit difficult to be sure, given that Narcissus always seemed jittery and anxious for something to happen, but Rakovanite was felt relatively confident the senshi wasn’t going to just not harass him about this.
But he could be stubborn. And he would be about this. He was tired and grouchy and this was all the most basic nonsense. He wouldn’t be convinced to just “feel better.” He wanted to go home.
Or at least go to bed. |
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 11:30 am
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“W-well, I figure-” Narcissus cupped his free hand around air, approximately at hip height, and gave what could only be described as a little shimmy that started at his shoulders and ended at his knees. And that was the best descriptor he had in him and all the explanation he felt confident giving. “You know?” It was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be easy. They just… shouldn’t think about it too much.
Though that was obviously asking a lot for Rakovanite to accomplish, and Narcissus was well-prepared for the sneer he expected to follow.
He wasn’t going to let that deter him, though. There wasn’t any reason they couldn’t enjoy one peaceful moment while it was presented to them. So he just needed to be brave and persistent- Things he wasn’t all that great at, but at least Rakovanite hadn’t yanked away from him or chewed his head off, or anything. So what was the worst that could happen, really? It would be fine. It would be fine if he just-
Narcissus slipped a hand up Rakovanite’s chest to settle on his shoulder, his flighty magenta gaze darting up to attempt to make eye contact with the other man before thinking better of it and glancing away.
He gave the very slightest tug imaginable: not even so much a tug, really, as just a tiny amount of pressure to ask Rakovanite to step into him, you know, if he wanted to. Not to be an inconvenience or an annoyance or anything, but if he was agreeable, then…? The option was there and open, and Narcissus was presenting it to him, free of charge or complaint. Narci’s smile was nervous, but present. |
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 11:31 am
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What a way with words Narcissus had. Rakovanite huffed softly at the senshi’s peculiar wriggling motion, and he eyed the other man with a very slightly curious look through minutely narrowed eyes. “It is not a slow dance. At all,” he informed Narcissus, in case the other man thought Fall Out Boy was appropriate for anything more than close-quarters gyrating.
Which he apparently did. Narcissus lay his hand on Rakovanite’s shoulder, and Rak shifted the grip on his other hand so that their palms were together and fingers curled loosely around each other.
But it was ridiculous. He felt silly, and given just what he could see of the man standing in front of him, they probably looked silly, for all that it mattered in a place like this- Except it did matter to him. He could conceivably be stuck with this small collection of people for the rest of his life, and Rakovanite didn’t want… Didn’t want what? People laughing at him? Whispering behind his back? Thinking there was something wrong with him? Did it matter if it wasn’t Narcissus or Cervantite?
Narcissus was literally doing the same as he was, and Cervantite was doing worse, from what Rakovanite could see from the corner of his eye.
His head lowered, dark gaze holding on a layer of scrunched up fabric against Narcissus’ abdomen. His cheeks were warm, concealed by his dark skin, as he curled his fingers tighter around Narcissus’ and glanced to him to affirm that he could continue doing whatever it was they were doing here. |
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 11:32 am
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Nervous laughter erupted out of Narcissus’ throat. “Well, n-no, it’s not, so if you prefer to, uh, do-?” Do the more flaily, hip movement dance that Cervantite was doing? Narcissus did not think he preferred that, and his face heated up at the sheer thought of grindy club dances- With Rakovanite. He was pretty sure he’d openly admitted to finding the grouchy agent with his abs and biceps attractive, so- Yeah, well, no need to think too hard about it, anyway. They were just here to try and enjoy the day and not make too much out of it.
Though Narcissus wouldn’t be surprised if Rakovanite picked up on how uncomfortably fidgety he’d suddenly become.
They were holding hands and chest-to-chest, and Rakovanite was not taller than him- Was that important? It probably wasn’t important, but being looked at from that very slight downward angle through dark and narrowed eyes- Um, yeah.
Yeeeeah.
When Narcissus tugged this time, it was less a question and more insistent, but they had all but come into the barest contact before he could hardly even believe he’d done any such thing. Here they were talking about slow dances and club dances (in the vaguest sense of “talking” about something), and Narcissus didn’t mean to pull, but it had just happened that their hips pressed together, and a furious blush spread over his cheeks like wildfire.
What? They were dancing, or they were supposed to be dancing, so they should be close, and Narcissus just absolutely did not know what he was doing here all of a sudden. He’d wanted it to be easy, but he was pretty sure they were both just… uncomfortable. |
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