Pre-Dance Jitters
"I hope you enjoyed your meal," Terran wished them as he led them down the hall towards the sound of music. "As there are minutes before the ball begins, I thought I might interest you gentlemen in a trip to a room where you could wash up." Without needing an answer, the older man turned them down a short hallway and indicated the room on the right side of the hallway. Within was an expansive bathroom filled with mirrors, ornate sinks with hot and cold water, and a towel boy, beyond the usual things one might find in a rest room.
"So… they were certainly cheerful," Nephrite said as he washed his hands, a smile on his face.
Zoisite, standing near the door, picked a mint out of a dish built into the wall that stood just below eye level. He looked at it, gave an experimental whiff and put it in his mouth. "Wintergreen," he informed a curious Jadeite.
"And teasing," Kunzite added, "Weren't they, Endymion?"
Endymion took a towel from the boy, his hands clean and warm, "I think Jadeite knows the answer to that one."
"Ha ha, very funny," the blonde said, checking his reflection.
"Really, though, that was a lot of fun," concluded Nephrite.
"And informative," Zoisite offered, approaching the mirror himself.
He didn't say anything more. They all remained quiet until Endymion couldn't let it pass any longer, "So," the prince said just as Kunzite was putting his formal gloves back on, "Talking cats."
Everyone froze for a second, as if they had been trying to push the thought out of their own minds before he had mentioned it. Zoisite unfroze first and opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Nephrite. In a Zoisite-esque tone, Nephrite proclaimed, "they must be aliens."
Jadeite snorted, putting his gloves back on as well.
Kunzite shook his head and opened the door, "Don't discount anything just yet," he stated cryptically. He left the room.
Zoisite's eyes were wide as he stared into the mirror where Kunzite's reflection had just been. "Does he mean…" he wondered aloud. "Kunzite!" Zoisite called, moving as if to wipe his hands off on his pants but, thinking better on it, turned to grab a towel from the towel boy. "Thank you," he quickly said, drying his hands in a frenzy and tossing the towel back to the lad, "Wait! Kunzite?" in seconds, Zoisite was gone from the room as well.
Jadeite groaned, "Don't tell me Kunzite believes in that stuff, too. Now Zoisite will never shut up about it."
"But you heard what he said – we shouldn't discount anything yet, and Queen Serenity had called them 'guests' – doesn't that seem a little odd to you?" Nephrite commented, drying his hands.
"Not you, too. This just gets better and better," Jadeite declared, walking out of the bathroom.
Nephrite, putting his gloves back on, turned to Endymion. "What do you think?"
"I honestly couldn't tell you."
Nephrite shrugged and raised his hand to open the door.
"Nephrite?" Endymion asked. The brunette put his arm down, waiting. Endymion cleared his throat, wondering himself what he had meant to say. In the back of his mind he had questions he did want to ask Nephrite – most was advice, really, about Princess Serenity. What should he say? Should he start with a joke? How can he show her that he likes her without being too obvious? What was considered too forward? What wasn't forward enough? And how could he ask all of this without seeming as oblivious as he felt about all this?
"You know," Nephrite said slowly, "As honored guests at this thing, I think we get to choose whom we dance with first… Personally, and I think Zoisite would agree with me on this, I think you should ask Princess Serenity to dance the first dance with you." He smiled knowingly, "it's only polite, right?" He left the room.
He knew? How did Nephrite know? 'Couldn't possibly be all the staring you did over dinner, now could it?' he thought to himself sarcastically. Turning around to face the mirror, he ran a hand through his fluffy black hair and readjusted his cape. Asking Princess Serenity to dance was an excellent idea, he decided, and, for the first time in his life, he silently thanked his red-headed mother for her insistence upon dance lessons.
The music spilling out of the ballroom had been joined with hundreds of voices, all talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the dance to begin. Prince Endymion and his generals stood in a room off of the top of the grand staircase that led directly into the ballroom, waiting for their introduction. The prince didn't care much for this sort of thing – standing above and before everyone, the exact center of attention – but he didn't exactly have any say on the matter.
Being the center of attention came with the territory of being Crowned Prince. This had its disadvantages – such as never being free to act as he pleased, having his every word and move scrutinized and analyzed into oblivion – along with the obvious advantage of always having your opinion heard and considered. His solution to the disadvantage was to speak sparingly (and only when he had really thought things through) and always keep his ears open. Zoisite and Kunzite helped him with the rest.
"So, who gets whom?" Nephrite asked, breaking the waiting silence.
Zoisite opened his eyes and stopped muttering names under his breath, "What do you mean?"
"For the first dance – who wants to dance with whom?"
The blonde rolled his eyes, "Nonsense," he muttered.
"It's actually a valid question," Kunzite voiced. "Just so there's no embarrassing confusion for the first piece. Endymion should dance with—"
"Princess Serenity." Endymion stated. There would be no question in this – he was determined to really talk with her. … even with Jadeite smirking his way.
"Naturally," Kunzite continued, "I'll dance with Aphrodite—"
"Really, now?" Nephrite drawled.
"It's only proper, she being the leader of the senshi and I being in charge of you larks," the silver-haired general brushed off.
Jadeite snorted, "Yeah, has nothing to do with that long blonde hair, her blue eyes or that perfect face, does it? You're really suffering in this, aren't you?"
"You can dance with her after I do, if you're that enamored," Kunzite said, but there was a touch of stiffness in his voice that Endymion only noticed through years of experience with the man. He had heard him laughing at Aphrodite's remark earlier, then. He smiled to himself.
"We'll get to that when we get to that. First dance: Zoisite, Jadeite?" Nephrite demanded, strangely on task.
"Athena."
They all looked at Zoisite, a little shocked that the serious one of the bunch had a preference.
"Oookay," Nephrite nodded. "Jadeite, I think you should go with Bellona. I'll dance with Demeter. We good?"
Jadeite shrugged.
"Good, that's settled then."
They waited in silence, listening to the voices outside grow louder then softer as the band tuned their instruments.
"It's forward with the left foot first, right?" Jadeite asked in a rush.
"Well which do you mean?" Nephrite asked mischievously, "the left foot or the right foot?"
"You know I meant the left foot! Quick, the band's warming up."
"You're right."
"My right? It's supposed to be my right foot?"
"Nephrite, leave him alone. Jadeite, you were correct – forward with your left foot is the first move," Kunzite clarified.
"The Queen and Princess!" a herald announced loudly and Endymion stood a little straighter. She was waiting out there, somewhere, and he was about to be called out to join her. The crowd without hushed to a silence so profound that he could easily hear the Queen welcoming the attendees.
"I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight in welcoming our guests from Earth," Queen Serenity's voice rang out clearly, even through the thick door. "Their presence brings us great pleasure and we hope that further visits such as this can happen in the future, strengthening the bond between our two great kingdoms. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce to all of you, Prince Endymion and his four generals, General Kunzite, General Nephrite, General Zoisite and General Jadeite."
The door opened and, right on cue, Endymion and his friends stepped onto the landing.