Neo Politan also seemed to notice Emerald's new notoriety. While the newly famous girl sat out in the eatery during dark hours sorting through even more newspapers in a red floral robe, the silent inmate approached.

Neo sat down at the same table as Emerald, placing down a box of chocolate truffles. She rested her head on her hand, monochromatic eyes twinkling in a smile. Neo pulled out a notebook and scribbled out some words.

'These one's are my favorite.'

"Oh, really?" Emerald smiled back. "I have those ones too, although I much prefer the Tukson box." She turned back to her newspaper. Neo sat there for a moment, staring back at the smiling image of Emerald on the cover. The in-colour Emerald flipped down the paper and met Neo's eyes. "Hey, you know something?"

Neo perked up and tilted her head in a 'what?' statement.

"You're in here." When Neo showed interest, Emerald simply grinned. "Yeah, you're right in the back next to the obituary. Wait no, I think you actually are part of the obituary. My mistake." Emerald went back to the newspaper.

Neo scowled for a brief moment, before silently chuckling. Smiling, she wrote out another statement and held it in between Emerald and the paper. A finely arched green eyebrow was raised at the words 'I have a great idea.'

Neo retreated the notebook, and added more text to the sentence. 'Ineed a new second half to my sister act. What do you think?' Emerald gave her a level stare in response.

"Ladies and gentlemen."

Emerald could practically hear the prison speakers crackle.

"Introducing Neo Politan, in an act of desperation."

Neo stood up from her chair, and walked over to where a single spotlight shone. Instead of a black pencil dress, she was wearing a corseted flapper dress in a black and pink ombre. A flighty tune began.

Neo pointed to herself, smiled, and did a choreographed dance to the beat. When she was done, she gestured to an empty space on the prison floor. She hopped onto the spot she had just pointed at, doing a second dance with moves complementing the previous choreography. All of the moves were laughably simple, only a couple of kicks and wild turns and gestures. When she was finished, she gave a slight shrug, as if to ask how she could manage.

'What do you think of the idea so far?' Neo handed another note to Emerald, who gave a raspberry in return. Neo paused a moment, before deliberately spelling out: 'Well just wait until you hear about the second act. The first is shit in comparison.'

Neo continued doing her sets of dances, except much to Emerald's dismay they actually became better and more complex, making moves Emerald hadn't ever imagined before. Emerald tried to pry her brain away from the image of Neo performing and back to the newspaper, but her memories of the old performances of Neo's that she had watched in the past melted perfectly into the prison scene. The music reached a crescendo while Neo performed a large range of final moves, now atop the cell balcony. Neo slid down the stair rails and spun towards Emerald, slamming onto the prison stool and ending with her face close to Emerald's.

Emerald blinked rapidly for a moment, Neo's eager face still close to hers. Emerald felt her heart speed up, a heat blossoming in the pit of her stomach. "Why would I ever partner with you?" She spat, and Neo flinched back. Emerald pushed away from the steel table. She stalked back to her cell, leaving the newspapers. "Enjoy your late-night reading."

A/N Merry actual Christmas