Satine woke gradually to the sounds of her ceiling fan gently humming and Padme stirring about in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher from the sound of it. She opened her eyes to see slits of light coming in between her closed blinds. She took a quick glance at her phone, 7:10. Satine wasn't a morning person by nature, but she had adapted to it over time. Padme on the other hand was very much a morning person and living with her had helped take the edge off them for Satine. She had to admit that it was nice to have their time to themselves in the morning when they could eat breakfast and go through their daily exercises at their leisure before heading off to the studio for the day. Satine talked herself into getting out of bed and threw the covers off her body, thankful for the cool air from the fan relieving her skin of the May heat. She groggily stumbled into the bathroom and splashed her face with some cool water. She toweled herself off and headed out to the kitchen with a bit more grace, feeling more awake now.
Padme had finished unloading the dishwasher and was pouring food into a bowl on the floor for their cat, Binx. Binx ran over from his spot in the window at the sound of the kibble hitting the bowl, emitting his strange high-pitched mewl as he did. Satine bent down to give him a pat on the head before moving on to investigate the refrigerator.
"Split some grapefruit?" she asked Padme as she pulled what was maybe the most misshapen grapefruit she'd ever seen out of their produce drawer.
"Ohhh, yes, grapefruit sounds good!" Padme agreed.
"This is the ugliest piece of fruit I have ever laid eyes on." Satine pulled a plate and knife out as Padme sat at one of the high chairs across the counter from her. Padme tossed her long, silky hair over one of her shoulders.
"Mmmm, I thought so too. I had to get it—no one else could love a melon like that." Padme explained as she accepted her wonky half of the melon from Satine, who snorted in agreement.
"It's good though," Satine admitted after swallowing her first bite of the tangy and unusually juicy piece of fruit.
"The ugly ones always taste the best, that's the secret." Padme replied with a smile, idly thumbing through her phone.
Satine took a few more bites of her grapefruit before grabbing some Greek yogurt from the refrigerator, she didn't bother getting a bowl. She just opened the container and stuck a spoon in, taking a bite before offering the tub and the spoon to Padme, who accepted it thankfully.
"Big day today," Padme said around her spoonful of yogurt, smiling brightly at Satine.
"Ugh, I suppose." Satine responded and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.
Today was a different sort of day for them than usual. They were supposed to go to a recital for another dance company, a primarily male dance company, that their artistic director, Bail wanted to recruit for an upcoming project. Bail had been talking to the head of the company for a few months now, planning behind the scenes. Satine had a feeling she knew why he'd sought this specific company out. Bail had founded the company they danced for, a strange sort of new age company, a few years ago. Ballet was the center of the dancing they practiced, but he fused more contemporary and modern into his pieces and he enjoyed pushing the limits of tradition. Satine and Padme had been training with Bail for years and gladly joined "The New Republic Dance Company" when he'd founded it. They had jumped at the opportunity to keep training with him and he'd developed them into the stars of the company. Bail had very talented female dancers, the most talented of which nowadays were Padme and Satine, but the company had been lacking in male talent recently. The most talented of their male dancers had been around Bail's age when the company was founded and the last of them had retired a few months ago.
Bail liked choreographing duets and he had been unsatisfied with his current male talent thus far. Only a few had the versatility he was seeking for the project he was working on, and they weren't ready for some of the more complicated things he no doubt had planned for future shows. Aside from that very few meshed with Padme, and none of them had any chemistry with Satine.
The whole thing made Satine antsy. She found performing duets a bit distasteful if she was being honest. She didn't usually like being touched and the touching was all quite necessary, and it all involved a great deal of trust, which she did not have in any of the male dancers in their company. Just last week one of them, a man named Tal, had dropped her during a lift, and not a particularly hard one either. She still had a yellowing bruise on her right hip from the incident.
Padme and Satine were usually soloists, and they really preferred it that way. When they had performed duet pieces recently, they had been with each other. Satine and Padme were both very strong and could do many of the less strength-based lifts with the other. Bail liked the way they looked as dancing partners, with Satine's alabaster complexion and shoulder length, silvery gold hair contrasting beautifully with Padme's toffee colored skin and flowing mahogany hair. Satine's long and elegant lines paired with Padme's shorter and softer ones. The thing that made them better partners for each other than any of the current males in the company was the simple fact that each completely trusted the other. Trust and chemistry went a long way with a partner, and they had plenty of it between the two of them.
Satine had a feeling she knew what Bail was planning with this collaboration scheme. He wanted to find partners for Padme and Satine for his new project.
"Do you know anything about this company?" Satine inquired as she begun putting her hair into a braid.
"Hm, no I don't. Bail's been pretty tight-lipped about them, I think he wants us to be surprised and give him our first impressions and feedback based on what we see tonight." Padme answered, pulling her own hair up into a loose bun at the base of her neck.
"Figures." Satine muttered.
"What do you think he's looking for?" Padme inquired, getting up to throw her grapefruit skin in the trash.
"Something for his new project. Better partners for duets." Satine mused, focusing on not getting her fingers tangled in her braid.
Padme giggled, "Oh, that wouldn't be so bad!"
She shoved Satine's shoulder playfully as she came around the counter to place her plate in the sink.
"Just think about all of the fun pieces we could do!" Padme was clearly more excited about this than her.
"I thought you didn't like dancing with a partner?" Satine arched an eyebrow.
Padme shrugged, "I don't like any of the options available to us presently, but I like the idea of having a partner. I mean I love having you—don't get me wrong—"
"I can only lift you so high, throw you so far…" Satine sighed continuing to work on her braid.
"And I suppose I'd be excited to dance with someone new- if I had to go through duet practice with Rush for a partner all the time, I might feel the same way." Satine teased, placing a tie around her now finished braid.
Padme made a face.
"You're right about that." Padme confirmed, giving two quick nods of her head.
Rush was normally who Padme paired with for duet classes, and he had a sizeable and quite apparent crush on her. He'd recently taken to texting her and asking her out for dinner or lunch. Padme for her part had been very polite, but his feelings went unrequited, and she'd be happy once she could have less contact with the man.
Satine placed her plate in the sink with Padme's, and let Binx, who was meowing at her feet, lick the last of the yogurt off the spoon.
"I'd think you'd be excited to find a good partner too, considering what your options have been." Padme said sagely.
"I'm just afraid they're all going to be that way!" Satine remarked, brushing her hand over her bruised hip.
Satine had no chemistry with any of the male dancers, Tal was careless and never focused enough, he made mistakes and he couldn't keep in time with Satine. He kept in time with the music fine, but you had to respond to your partner as well, and he was no good at that. In addition to him there was a man named Pre. Satine hated Pre. He might have been her least favorite duet partner. He was overconfident and did not keep his touching to the strictly necessary, which wouldn't be entirely unwelcome from an individual she didn't wish she could squash like a cockroach, but then again, that was being unfair to cockroaches.
Satine wiggled her shoulders, as if trying to shake off some unpleasant feeling and walked over to their living room. They had cleared a roughly ten foot long section of wall off where they had placed a barre when Satine had moved in two years ago. Most of the floor in their living room was covered by some kind of oriental rug or piece of furniture, but there was a sizeable chunk of uncovered wooden floor in front of the barre. Behind it hung two full length mirrors side by side. The boop of the Bluetooth speaker connecting to Padme's phone could be heard as Satine pulled her leather ballet slippers on.
Padme joined Satine at the barre after getting her own shoes on.
"What did you pick for us this morning?" Satine inquired.
"Something fun." Padme responded, a glint in her eye.
They both put their left hands on the bar and their feet in first position. They began their morning bar exercises as Satine heard the first chords of Xavier Dunn's "Fuckin' Problems" cover start, and she cackled as Padme smiled cheekily over her shoulder at her.
"We look ridiculous." Padme said smiling at their reflections as they pliéd.
Neither of them had bothered to put on anything appropriate except for their shoes. Satine was wearing a thin silky tank top of pale blue that came to about the middle of her hip bones and some underwear. Padme was dressed much the same, with a pink crushed velvet tank top that had a crisscrossed back and a pair of tan lacey underwear.
"This probably covers about as much as just a leo does," Satine mused, "but I think your choice of underwear makes your ass look better." She teased as she smacked Padme's butt with her right hand.
Padme pretended to look scandalized before pushing her rear back into Satine and laughing. They continued with their exercises—mostly without distraction.
This morning routine had been their ritual since moving in together. They would wake up a couple hours before being expected at the studio, eat breakfast together, go through their exercises at the barre, and then sit in the living room watching something nonsensical (their favorite recently was The Bachelor) while they went over their notes from the day before. Then they put on their dancing clothes; Padme preferred long or three-quarter sleeved leotards and short wrap skirts, Satine preferred sleeveless leotards and dance shorts. They packed snacks and lunch together before starting on their journey to the studio.
Today, their routine was no different. They decided to ride their bikes instead of walking due to the heat, the asphalt of Manhattan only serving to accentuate it. The bike ride was short, only about 5 minutes, cutting their walking time in half. When they got to the studio, a converted brownstone building with old bricks, Bail was waiting for them, smiling when he saw them. He worried about them commuting to and from the studio by themselves, even though they lived in a relatively safe neighborhood of Manhattan, just outside of the Upper Westside, and the path to the studio didn't take them through anywhere terribly dangerous. He'd given Padme a taser and Satine had warily accepted pepper spray that she kept in her dance bag.
The studio looked like a traditional brownstone from the outside, but on the inside walls had been taken down between rooms to create more space and the décor was decidedly modern. The classrooms and dance floors were well lit with bright lights and a catwalk above two of the main floors so that directors could look down at the dancers from above.
Bail put came to walk in between them putting one arm over each of their shoulders.
"Hello my radiant beauties. Do you know what today is?"
"Tuesday?" Satine supplied drily.
"Very funny, Satine, but no! Today, is the day," Bail paused with the explicit purpose of creating a dramatic effect, Padme rolled her eyes, "we see if we can find you suitable partners." Bail wore a wide grin, his perfect teeth opalescent under the studio lights.
Padme giggled. Satine groaned, a low sound that came from deep within her tired soul.
"Come now, mon chéri!" Bail admonished, "Give them a chance, these men are nothing like the men you've been dancing with." He brought both of their heads together with his, huddling them together conspiratorially.
"You are great dancers, beautiful, the lights of my life, but we cannot hold this company together with you two alone. You need counterparts, dancers that can elevate you, make you better, make you even more beautiful than you already are, oui?" He locked eyes with Padme and then Satine. "This project is going to be big, and we need it to be as successful as possible. We want to please our benefactors."
Bail was right, with the retirement of the last of the founding male dancers, the company needed a boost, needed for this collaboration to be successful. The building next door to the studio had been bought by a wealthy patron of the arts. An older man that had interest in Bail and his odd company and had donated a hefty amount of money. The building had been renovated into a theatre and had a hall that led directly from it to the studio. Bail didn't want to disappoint him with the first big production that would be hosted in the new theatre. Satine's livelihood, at least her livelihood as she knew it could be best preserved by this collaboration going decently well.
Satine sighed, "Oui." She agreed.
"So what I need both of you to do tonight, is to pay attention, mmm? Tell me what you see, I cannot catch everything with just my own eyes. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, and find someone that catches your eye." He winked at Satine.
"I think we can do that." Padme said with a small smile at Bail, Bail looked to Satine, and she nodded her ascent.
"Excellent!" Bail clapped his hands together.
"Now that has been settled, show me that modern piece you've been working on!"
The rest of the day passed without preamble. Satine and Padme showed Bail the piece they'd been choreographing themselves for a modern showcase, which he was immensely pleased with. Then they attended their pointe technique class and a jumps class before stopping for lunch, which they ate on the balcony of Bail's office, sitting on the ground with their feet dangling over the edge between the bars of the iron railing. After eating, they took an hour with Bail to do barre work, and he gave them the rest of the afternoon to workshop their modern piece.
After they had finished, Satine and Padme headed home, a bit earlier than usual. They made food when they got home, both being ravenous. They kept cooked white rice handy in Tupperware in the fridge and frozen salmon and tilapia fillets in the freezer for quick and healthy dinners. They ate and then showered, preparing themselves to go see their potential collaborators' recital. Satine elected to let her hair air dry and she wore only mascara for make up. She selected a pastel yellow sundress with eyelets and a beige pair of flats to wear. She adjusted the necklace that was ubiquitously around her neck so that the clasp was at the back of her neck, where it belonged.
Padme dressed similarly to Satine, in a lilac sundress with split cap sleeves and pristine white flats. She had done her hair up in an intricate braided knot and she had put on a shade of nude lipstick.
"You look lovely." Satine remarked, offering Padme her arm.
"As do you," Padme replied taking it and walking them downstairs to wait for their car.
…
"'The Order?'" Satine scoffed, thumbing through a program in her plush burgundy theater seat. Padme was seated next to her and Bail was seated to Padme's other side.
"At least their name is as gaudy as ours." Satine closed the program on her lap and folded her hands over them as the lights began to dim and the chatter around them started to die down.
"Bah! It's artistic, dramatic!" Bail insisted, waving a hand derisively at her across Padme.
As the last of the house lights dimmed, the artistic director of The Order took the stage to introduce the company. The man had shoulder length graying hair that he wore half up in a ponytail and a beard the same shade of gray as his hair.
"Good evening ladies and gentleman, and thank you for coming to the first New York performance of The Order. My name is Qui Jin, and I am the artistic director for the company." Satine was surprised to recognize his accent as Northern Irish.
"We are a travelling company, traditionally based in the UK, with the goal of training and developing ballet dancers that might not typically have the means to access the training they deserve." Qui's voice was pleasant and he had the full attention of the audience with his presence.
"We hope you enjoy our performance tonight. Without further pretense, let the show begin." With that, Qui stepped back into the wings and the curtain rose.
As Satine and Padme watched the first two pieces of The Order's recital, a few things became clear. They were indeed a mostly male dance company, and they were very talented. Their dancers were undeniably strong and proficient. Satine found herself thinking that maybe this would work out after all.
As the current number ended, a single dancer remained as the stage lights darkened. The music cue changed, signaling the start of a different piece and when a spotlight focused on the man Satine's breath caught in her throat. He was maybe the most beautiful man Satine had ever seen, the same way the grapefruit she'd eaten this morning had been the ugliest she'd ever seen. And that grapefruit had been extraordinarily ugly. Satine could feel that her mouth was hanging slightly agape but she couldn't control herself enough to close it. The man had tousled auburn hair that shone in the light and strong, beautiful features. You could see the strong muscles of his abdomen through the thin fabric of the shirt he wore and the silhouette of the powerful muscles in his legs was apparent through the black tights he wore. Satine watched intently and was awed by his technical prowess and the height he achieved on his jumps.
Padme leaned in to whisper near her ear, "Satine, you're staring."
"I'm supposed to be staring, I'm watching the performance." Satine muttered back, not quite taking her eyes off the dancer.
Padme giggled a bit behind her hand, "No, Satine, you're staring."
It wasn't often that men caught Satine's eye and Padme was relishing in the rarity she was witnessing.
"He's good," Padme offered.
"Yeah, yeah he is." Satine mumbled, still enraptured.
"Do you like him?" Padme tried.
Satine shook her head. He was extremely technically sound, but he didn't seem to truly connect to his piece or the music. His performance lacked emotion.
"He's too stiff." Satine said, still watching intently.
"Oh my God, Satine! You like him." Padme's voice was reaching the octave she reserved for when she got really excited about things.
Satine felt her face flush even as she tried her best to maintain a completely neutral affect.
"I do not!" Satine rebuked. She couldn't think of anything else to say, she was trying to make a list in her mind of why she didn't like him, but she was too concentrated on willing the blood to drain out of her face.
"You haven't been watching anyone else this closely, where's your program, we have to find out what his name is!" Padme reached into Satine's lap and snatched the program out from under her hands before she could react.
"Bail! Satine likes this one!" Padme whispered much to Satine's growing embarrassment.
"Padme!" Satine whispered desperately, reaching to steal back her program.
A second dancer had joined the first on stage now. This one was taller, with longer sandy blonde hair.
"Padme, we're supposed to be paying attention!"
"Oh hush. Bail, did you hear me? Someone has caught Satine's eye," Padme tried again to get Bail's attention.
"C'est magnifique!" Bail turned to look at Satine, who could still feel the heat in her cheeks giving her away. His eyes were wide with surprise and amusement.
"Which one?" Bail demanded, grabbing one side of the program Padme was holding away from Satine's reach.
"Ben Kenobi." Padme answered, finally having found the name. "The one on our left," she added gesturing to the two dancers now occupying the stage.
Bail waggled an eyebrow at Satine, "He's very handsome." He remarked, leaning over Padme to tell her so.
Satine slumped down her seat, trying to make herself invisible.
"He's alright looking," she mumbled, "If you're into that sort of thing." She added under her breath, trying to deny to herself that she was apparently very into 'that sort of thing'.
Padme was now back to watching the stage.
"He's nice too," she commented, pointing out the dancer to their right.
Satine found him a bit alarming to watch. He seemed a bit reckless. Some of his jumps were so high and at such an angle that she feared he might not land them upright, but somehow, he always managed to.
"What's his name?" Bail inquired.
"Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker, what an unusual last name!" Padme related, examining the program.
The three of them sat and watched the rest of the show in relative silence. Satine busied herself making mental notes about the other dancers, mainly so she wouldn't continue to watch him exclusively whenever he was onstage. At the end of the show, all the dancers came out to bow for the finale. After Ben bowed, he flashed the audience a smile that Satine found incredibly disarming. She could not manage to hide the blood in her cheeks from Padme with the newly brightened house lights. Padme looked at her and dissolved into laughter.
Satine put her face into her hands. The applause died down and the curtain closed signaling the end of the show.
Bail stood up and put a hand on Satine's shoulder, her face still in her hands.
"Would you like to meet him?" he asked.
Satine took her face out of her hands and leaned back against the seat, letting her head hang over the back.
"God, yes!" She exclaimed with her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
…
Bail led Padme and Satine back stage. Bail shook hands with Qui and introduced Satine and Padme to him. Satine hadn't realized how tall and broad he was when she had seen him onstage. He towered over her and Padme. Bail explained to Qui that they were hoping to meet some of the company dancers.
"Oh, certainly!" Qui responded cheerily, "Right this way, ladies, after you, please." He gestured down the hall with an arm.
Satine and Padme padded down a long hallway to what appeared to be a green room.
"Anyone in particular you were hoping to talk to?" Qui ventured.
"I believe the girls were fond of Ben and Anakin?" Bail looked to Padme for confirmation. She nodded.
Qui looked at them knowingly. "Ah, you ladies have good taste!"
Qui called them over, and then he looked back at Satine and Padme and winked, the man actually winked at them, before introducing them.
Satine miraculously maintained her composure.
"May I present to you Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker."
Ben was just a bit taller than Satine and Anakin was almost as tall as Qui. Ben flashed the same disarming smile at them, only this time Satine had fortified herself against such weapons.
"Pleasure to meet you both." Satine stated smiling demurely.
Ben stepped forward, offering his hand for Satine to shake.
"Oh, I assure you, the pleasure is all ours, and who might I have the delight of making the acquaintance of?" She found his voice pleasing. It was smooth and silky, and his accent wasn't dissimilar to Satine's own. His palms were soft, and his fingers were calloused were they rubbed against the back of her hand. His hands were much bigger than hers and she enjoyed the warmth of it against her skin.
"Satine," she answered. She hadn't let go of his hand yet, being transfixed by the blue grey of his lively eyes. He hadn't let go of her hand yet either.
"A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman." He gave her a slightly crooked grin.
Satine internally rolled her eyes.
"Do you tell that to all the women with pretty names?"
"No, just the ones that render me at a loss for other suitable conversation starters." He finally realized he still had hold of her hand and gently let it go.
Anakin had walked over to Padme and was chatting with her and Bail.
Satine smirked at him, refusing to be won over so easily. She kept her gaze icy.
"I very much enjoyed your performance, you're very talented." She told him, plucking a stray piece of string off the hem of her dress.
"You're too kind." Ben responded, though his grin grew in size.
"Actually," Satine began, with a devilish gleam in her eye, "I did find you to be a bit stiff."
Ben's expression shifted, "Stiff?" he asked.
"Yes, quite stiff actually, dispassionate, even." Satine kept her face neutral.
"Dis-dispassionate!" Ben failed to keep his voice even.
"Ah, yes, I've told him it would suit him to put a bit more of himself into his performances, a bit more emotion." Qui offered as he appeared beside Satine.
Ben glared up him.
"Well, one does have to possess a certain depth of emotion to pull from for such things." Satine intimated.
Ben looked offended until he caught the expression on Satine's face, she was messing with him.
"You never know, I could surprise you." Ben quipped.
"Hmm, I'd very much like to be surprised as well." Qui retorted, snapping Ben's attention away from Satine.
Qui placed a hand at Satine's elbow, turning her to face Bail, Padme, and Anakin as he spoke.
"We were thinking of getting everyone together sometime next week for a more extensive meet and greet, maybe lunch and some drinks, do you think you'll be able to join us?"
"Yes, that sounds lovely," Satine answered Qui.
Padme was waving farewell to Anakin, confirming to him that she would be there for lunch.
Satine turned her attention back to Ben.
"Until then," she stated before turning to follow Padme back down the long hallway.
"I look forward to it!" he called after her.
Oh, I'll look forward to it, too, she thought to herself, smiling wickedly over her shoulder at him as she took Padme's arm and then they took their leave, ready to go home.