Falter

Amber eyes shifted; the swirling pool of velvet temptation in the glass was ignored in favor of the sight of the floor filled with desire, cruelty, passion, and spinning bodies. The dizzying buzz was nothing new; a small torment that he handled with care so as not to allow it to take over. It wasn't numbing, he kept his own thoughts about him. Still, it craved his attention, and it wasn't the only thing that tugged.

She was just as discrete, twice as hungry, and infinitely more forceful. She always managed to capture him – a single moment, a movement, a word, and he was fully attentive. Even from a distance.

She did it accidentally…

She held onto their hand with one of her own, gripped their slender shoulder carefully with the other. They were fragile, uncertain and shaky. They had no place on the dance floor, least of all with her. They held too much place with her when they shouldn't, and somehow had earned far more time than he approved.

The buzzing rang; the comfort of madness beckoned. He refused.

Eyes narrowed as they moved with her, the gentle music giving the two among many their time, their tempo, their movement. It wasn't fair! It was tormenting, tortuously slow, and he knew she could feel his eyes on them. Those emerald pools had glanced his way more than once, concerned.

She did it on purpose!

Soul frowned in annoyance, the small simple glass set down on the table he'd been trying to wait at patiently. The golden glance given to him as he left Kid's conversation went ignored, as did the question thrown his way. The song had slowed to a stop, and the two on the floor had paused, the more fragile needing reassurance that they hadn't been completely awful. She offered just one more song to help them feel more relaxed and at ease. She reached for his hand, a small and gentle pull-

"Soul?" The song had started; the white haired easily slipping into Crona's place; he offered a small smirk at the blonds questioning look.

"Mind if I cut in?" The amber gaze glanced to the soft lavender haired, nodding his thanks at the uneasy affirmation. As if a 'no' would have made any difference.

Maybe it was the way he had taken Crona's place, but Maka looked thrown off as he started leading, stepping closer to her with a small movement that motioned for her to take the step back.

I'm leading this one.

The younger seemed to quickly get over her surprise, falling into step as the white haired continued on; a delicate hand on her waist, another entwined with hers.

"I thought you didn't like dancing?" Maka teased lightly, her voice still a little quiet, as if not to call attention to them; he didn't realize that he had lead them closer to the center, far from the edge of couples where they had started.

The Meister looked up at him curiously when he didn't answer; the hand at her waist tightening its hold on her for just a beat as ruby and emerald gazes locked. He could see the shiver that ran down her spine, feel the slight stagger in their footing when he remained unresponsive.

Then there was that ringing; why couldn't it just take a break? His focus was split between trying to keep the noise at bay and the delicate hold he had on his partner as they moved along the dance floor. The white noise seemed to have faded as he spun her under his arm, easily pulling her back into his grasp and closer than before.

"Soul?" The uncertainty was evident across her expression; she knew he was acting different, that something was wrong. His steps were off; he had faltered somewhere down the line. His stomach felt tight, he could hear the blood pounding in his ears as his heart decided to race forward without him. She moved to stop them, the concern she held for him easily overpowering the thought she had to keep them moving.

"You worry too much." he smirked lightly, pressing on. He knew that look; she wasn't pleased about him trying to psych her out. She didn't need to know that right now he was far from perfectly fine. He was keeping tonight for himself; the people around them seemed to fade to unimportant shadows and glimpses. What was important now was just them, the music, and the never ending ringing.

The tempo seemed to pick up; the hired band Kid had chosen played their instruments so it reached out to those on the dance floor, who easily matched the rhythm, puppeteering the dancers into a faster pace, quicker steps, closer movements. It was a twist, a turn, a spin, with each partner being so precise even while making each new movement up as they went along. Soul would turn them, spin her, pull her close; Maka would follow into step until they got too close, then she would create her own movement and make space again between them. She teased him; tempted, brush, and move away.

She did it on purpose.

They were directly in the center; pairs around them let the two have their own air, glances of curiosity and awe turned their way every other step. The evidence was clear that there was a power struggle between Meister and her Weapon on where the dance was heading. He fought for a passionate tango; she argued for a steady waltz.

It was something he expected; it wouldn't be like her to succumb so easily when things changed. She liked how they had been going before, while he wanted to follow the music, to pick up the pace, to stop the ringing.

Her gasp enhanced the dip, sharp teeth drawn into a wide smirk as he leaned closer to her. The hand at her back kept her only a few feet from hitting the floor; jade orbs widened with the thought that with one slip of his wrist, she would fall. Scarlet sparked, enticement reflected as she was pulled up, pressed against him tightly; within one movement the tango properly began.

The strings grew louder, the pitch heightened. Soul somehow felt more in his element, like it was resonating with him; the more it manipulated him, the more he manipulated Maka.

She was kept close, his arm tight around her middle, their fronts pressed close enough that the air around them was much warmer than before, their breathing close and in pattern with the steps. She wasn't used to this dance, and her feet moved quickly in attempts to predict the next movement; she would stumble, and he fixed her.

The scythe maneuvered them, covering their faults and errors. His footing controlled her; nudging gently, changing course. His hands handled her body so she had no option but to follow. He operated her; Weapon in charge of Meister, arranging and changing the power level they had shared before.

It was empowering, riveting; Soul was the engineer of her body, completely and without argument. The ringing was in full swing, creating a new beat that overpowered the strings, just as he overpowered her.

And she knew it.

Bright bottle green eyes stayed wide; almost panicked, with no chance to calm. Her face flushed, realizing her arrangement in the weapon's hold trapped her, made her uneasy. There was no possibility for escape; she was cornered in the middle of the dance floor.

He twisted her, she pun out, he pulled her back in. She stumbled and fell against him, his hand flashed out and arranged her again so she had a leg hooked along his waist. She was lifted, and she didn't even notice until both feet touched the ground again.

There wasn't a moment of thought. Every time he moved she followed. His push and pull created new waves and sparks – colliding, distancing, and reacting; everything had sped up and the blonde felt she had no choice but to get lost in the flow, or be left behind.

The room around them slowed, even as their pace only continued to race erratically, and in a heartbeat she was faced toward the watching crowd; the two were literally the center of attention, and Soul wasn't even aware of it.

Her back was against him, a hand possessively at her center, the other slipping slowly from hers to rest on her shoulder. He lingered closer, the warm breath against her neck sending a purposeful current through her. His hands chased the shiver down along her sides; he mapped her curves, felt her quiver beneath him like a key.

"Soul…" She was his new instrument, and he the Maestro player. She turned to face towards him, eyes muddled in the distinct and powerful cloud of something he'd never seen in her before. There was no name, no previous thoughts or worry of seeing this new expression; he only knew that he liked it.

Amber eyes closed, burning the sight into his memory before reaching out to call to her. The sharp grin moved down, pressing against the side of her neck, ignoring the hand against his cheek that was meant as a signal for him to stop. Pricked edges brushed against sensitive skin, the older pressing her closer at the sharp inhale. He could feel her soul answering his, a sharp key hit somewhere deep between them. He could feel her, every last bit of her, react to him…

She was his.

He didn't hear the music stop. He didn't hear the clapping. Their fellow students were under the impression they had planned this; and so his illusion regarding their unpracticed dance had gone smoothly.

All he could hear was the notes of the piano, and the ringing.

Authors Notes:

So… This happened. I'm still not one hundred percent sure how, but it did.

Image was drawn by my girlfriend on her deviantart. If you want to see it, her username is That-CrazyCat.

Go look at it because I said so. She's the one who drew that to make me finish this, she completely inspired this fic.

Don't be creeped out by that babe.

In good news, this may not stay a one-shot. Haha, I told you guys, I can't do an actual one-shot. They become more!

We shall see. Maybe.

I also may try submitting this to my creative writing course just to stun my teacher. Wish that luck!

"I finally got a chance to look at Falter, and all I can say is WOW! I am very in love with this one; it was all kinds of dark seductiveness and sultry words that just left the mind begging for more. I could exhaust a thesaurus with my gushing on this piece, so I think we'll save the cyber-space and suffice it to say that this is one of my top three stories from you (and I love all your work, so that really means something!)"

-Vivacia18, Beta Author