* * * * *
Humming a simple tune to himself, Steiner left the barracks and headed straight for the soldiers mess. The small room was packed and quite alive with noise. A usually unheard of thing at this time in the morning, but then again this was not just any day. A visitor, from the far off kingdom of Genovia was coming to sign a treaty with Alexandria.
He loved treaty signings. It meant that for one night he would have a chance to get out of his armor and into his best dress clothes. Dancing had always been a passion of his, and he could not wait to humiliate the General and her ineptitude at the very idea of dancing. For once he was sure there was no way he would be bested.
Grabbing a plate and moving along in the substantial line up, he selected his breakfast, and moved to sit at the table reserved for the Knights of Pluto. Haagen and Weimar made idle chit-chat about whom the other was going to be dancing with. Laudo read a book, pausing ever so briefly to take a bite of his pancakes. Steiner could just make out on the spine "Dance and Rhythm by Sir Lyle Forsythe" and he smiled.
"You can't learn to dance from reading a book, Laudo. One needs to be taught to dance." He said, taking a bite of toast. He waited for a response.
Laudo simply looked up, ate another bite, and continued to read.
"Speaking of dancing. If you'll notice, there seems to be one member of the army who is conspicuously absent" Said Dojebon, who ,until now, had remained silent.
Steiner glanced at the heavily occupied table in front of them. One spot stood brazenly open, no one daring to sit in it. "Indeed." he said and stuffed a fork full of eggs into his mouth. "Any sightings? Any at all?"
"Nope" Laudo said without looking up.
Weimar and Haagen both wore similar expressions of bewilderment. "Who?" they asked in unison.
The Captain simply ignored them and turned his attention to a group of soldiers heading towards the table which, a moment before, had been the topic of their conversation. He recognized one of them, and chose her to speak to. "So, Danielle," he addressed the tall brunette, "Where is the General this morning? In her bed, I imagine, wallowing in preemptive self pity?"
Danielle smirked and turned away, continuing on her path to one of the many tables reserved for 'Squad Beatrix'. She ducked her head toward the shorter woman beside her and said something, which caused the tiny blonde woman to look back at the Pluto knights and burst into laughter.
Steiner puzzled over this for a moment, before there was a low chuckle behind him.
"Preemptive self pity?" A melodic, all too familiar voice repeated.
Steiner exchanged a worried look with Dojebon before putting on his expressionless battle face, and turning to meet the General's scrutinizing glare.
Steiner smiled patronizingly. "Nice to see you this morning, General. I trust you slept well Worry free dreams, I imagine?"
"Of course." the General said, and adding her own equally disrespectful smile, she continued on the way to her table.
Steiner pushed another fork full of eggs into his mouth, and waited for the General to seat herself. He watched as she began to eat her breakfast in the usual manner. Could she have forgotten?
"So , General Have you mastered the fine art of dance, yet?"
Silence fell over the mess at his words. Everyone had been waiting for him to bring it up. hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to the General.
Beatrix continued to, politely, chew her mouthful. She glanced over her shoulder briefly, then looked back to her own table and sipped her juice.
Everyone who had turned to look became uninterested when the General did nothing. The conversation around the room quickly returned to normal.
Steiner's eyes widened in shock. She had to have heard him. Could she ignore such an obvious invitation for a fight? He tried again.
"Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time General. Can you dance Or do you intend to make a fool of yourself like you did last year?" he said, and let his eyes return to his plate.
The General dropped her fork to her plate, and stood up so quickly, her chair hit the ground with a sharp crack. Steiner looked up just in time to see her, before she shoved him backward out of his chair and on to the ground. Regaining his breath, he became aware of something cold against his throat. He opened his eyes. The General towered above him, Save the Queen drawn, the tip to his jugular. Steiner tried to get up, but the General prevented this with a foot on his chest.
"It takes a lot of gall to insult Beatrix of Alexandria, Captain," Beatrix said, "But to do it twice You must be stupid, or Suicidal." She pressed Save the Queen more purposefully to his throat to get her point across.
It took Steiner a moment to regain his voice, and when he did, he was at a loss for what to say. Needless to say, such an intense reaction wasn't expected. He nodded dumbly, and thus was able to stand again. By the time he had gotten to his feet, she had already returned to her morning meal.
Glaring at the back of the General's head, Steiner righted his chair and retook his seat. Laudo still had his face buried in his book, though his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, and when the Captain looked to the other Pluto Knights at the table, they all looked as if they were all desperately trying to hold in their own amusement. He then decided that Captain Steiner of the Knights of Pluto would not be so easily triumphed over.
The hard, petulant look returned to his face immediately. Steiner crossed his arms, leaned back casually in his chair, and, though it was a bad idea, open his mouth to speak.
"I take it ,by your reaction, that I have struck a nerve. Have you not improved at all?"
Beatrix again got to her feet, and not wanting to find himself in the same position as earlier, Steiner quickly rose also.
The General, though, ignored him. She turned towards the woman who had been seated next to her and spoke, "Akemi," Beatrix addressed her, "Will you please assist me in denouncing this idiot?" She ended this by extending her hand to the soldier, and casting a malicious glance at the Captain.
"Gladly." Akemi said taking the General's hand and rising.
Beatrix then looked to a short blonde haired soldier, "Angela, Clair De Lune, if you please."
The blonde smiled brightly, "Of course!" she chirped, and began to hum the basic tune to Clair De Lune, the anthem of Alexandria.
Akemi and the General began to dance to the fast paced melody. What they put on could not be accurately described as a dance. It was more a system of complex spins and steps that was amazeingly beautiful, and flawlessly perfect. When they had finished, Akemi re-seated herself, and Beatrix turned to Steiner.
"It looks like you have no idea what your talking about." She said, and turned from him.
Dojebon's voice was smooth and level as he said, "I hate to say this, but I agree with her." He finished his sentence be gesturing to the retreating generals back.
Steiner's smile had not faded, and began to applaud slowly. "Well, General, I must say, you lead beautifully, unfortunately, women do not classically lead in dances," he watched her turn back to him stiffly, and he extended his hand to her, "If you will allow me?"
Letting her eyes drift to his hand for a moment before taking it, Beatrix called to Angela, "Again, if you dont mind?"
Angela simply nodded and started again.
For a moment the two heads of the Alexandrian army just stood facing each other, unsure of where it was appropriate to rest their hands on a fellow official. Eventually Steiner closed the space between them by mode of a purposeful step and placed his hand gently on her hip. She immediately took his cue and raised one hand to his shoulder, the other sought out his free hand and occupied it.
Steiner, always proficient in dance, found his head empty of all the steps, and he could feel his palms beginning to sweat. "Uhm...." He mumbled as he again tried to recall exactly what he was supposed to be doing. "I thought you were leading?" Beatrix teased quietly, and everything came swooping back.
Readjusting his grip on her hand, he began the dance. She followed him effortlessly, and it began to seem as if they were not dancing at all, but somehow floating just above the ground.
When the song ended, Steiner's hand had somehow migrated from resting platonically on her hip, to having his arm wrapped around her hips, hand splayed across the small of her back. Their faces were mere inches apart now, and the Captain must have looked thoroughly confused, because he felt it.
"I thought you couldn't dance," he said quietly, and the General snickered lightly. She leaned in and brought her lips to his ear, so close that her breath played along the skin there.
"I had to make it look like you could best me at something." She said, then pulled away slightly.
As she left his body space, Steiner immediately became aware of the many pairs of eyes focused on them, and he jerked away from her so violently that he nearly fell over. The Generals throaty laughter filled the air and she returned to her table, tossing "I win." Casually over her shoulder.
Steiner returned to his table in a huff, forced again to wallow in the pity of defeat as the Pluto Knights took turns making jousts at him, and exclaiming how he had 'Been so close!' he watched the back of the woman in front of him closely, filled with a new found respect for her, but still assuring himself that, one day, he would hold the trump card.