Thanks HorseLULU for the review! I'm happy you thought the last part was funny!
This chapter is mostly setting up misto and vic as characters - apologies in advance for any ballet inaccuracy- I took a few classes like 8 years ago and tried to research a bit for this chap but there are probably still some inaccuracies TT
"Ready- Across the floor- Five, six, seven, eight…"
Misto took a quick breath and began the sequence. Dancing usually came naturally to him, just like breathing or walking. From the time he and Vick were young it had always been like that- eat, sleep, breath, dance. The natural order of things.
"Yes, Mr. Mistoffelees, yes Victoria, like that!" Misto heard the professor's voice at the back of his mind as he reached the end of the combo. "Everyone, watch how they move their feet and try to imitate! Try to match their speed! You two, can you demonstrate the combo again for everyone else?"
They nodded together and danced back across the floor, two slender figures, one black and one white, in perfect synch.
When the professor motioned for the next pair to try the combo, Misto went to the wall to grab his water bottle for a quick drink. The combo had a lot of leaps and turns- and while he could easily keep up, it was thirsty work. Besides, he knew from years of experience that hydration was necessary for peak performance. Victoria, on the other hand, had stayed where she was and watched their classmates, giving advice and critique to each group as soon as they finished, just like she always did. Unlike his sister, Misto preferred to keep to himself. He preferred to watch from the side as Victoria demonstrated a tour jete for the rest of the class, her lines perfect, as ever.
They went through a few more combos, then the class was over. As they were packing up their bags, the professor's voice cut through the room.
"Remember- next class we are going to be working on lifts!"
Misto felt himself freeze. Lifts. His big weakness. After dancing for so long Misto was very aware of his body- aware of how small he was compared to most male dancers, heck, plenty of the girls in their class were taller than him! No matter how much he hated it, it couldn't be helped. He knew he had hit his last growth spurt at 14, and five feet and four inches was all the height he would get. Sometimes he wondered if it could have been different if he could've just- but there was no point thinking about it now.
Misto could only hope that he could get away with partnering with his sister every class they practiced lifts. As twins they were almost exactly the same size, and he had practiced lifts with Victoria plenty of times before. While their lifts weren't as good as their other skills, he was still pretty good at lifts when his partner was his sister. But he didn't think the professor would let them get away with sticking to one partner the entire class.
"Wanna head back to the dorm?" Misto asked after finding Victoria packing her things.
"Actually I told Plato I'd grab a snack with him. Wanna come?" She told him, not looking up from her bag.
"Who?"
Victoria straightened herself and gave him a disbelieving look.
"We've been in two classes with him for the past three months. Please don't tell me you somehow haven't learned his name."
"I'll pass." Misto told her, shrugging off her disapproval.
"It wouldn't kill you to make a few friends, you know." His sister murmured.
"Yes it would." Victoria didn't laugh at his joke.
"Misto that isn't even funny coming from you!" She paused, as if expecting him to agree to come, then relented when Misto remained silent. "Fine. Whatever. I won't force you. See you at the dorm later I guess."
"Yeah, see you." Misto echoed, then turned to go as he saw one of the guys in their class approaching as if to join the conversation.
It wasn't the first time Victoria had tried to get him to talk to other people. She had been doing that since they started school, but Misto still didn't see why she bothered. He was happy just to dance; he had never been good at talking to people anyway. Besides, Victoria and everyone else had met each other over the summer while he was at home recovering from surgery. It would be weird for him to break into their circle now, when everyone else was already so close.
As he arrived back at the dorm he and Victoria shared, Misto found that upcoming lifts lesson still weighed heavily on his mind. Maybe he would get Victoria to practice with him later. He plopped down of his bed and stared up at the ceiling, mentally rehearsing all the lifts they had ever practiced in his head. As his eyes drifted to the wall, he noticed a mark on calender and remembered.
Groaning, Misto rolled off the bed and two the mini fridge. After finding what he needed, he grabbed a syringe from his drawer and loaded it with clear liquid from the vial he had gotten out of the the fridge. He sat himself in his desk chair, rolled up his left pant leg and carefully positioned the tip of the needle against his thigh. He took a quick, deep breath, then pressed the needle into his glut and injected himself. Sighing, he removed the needle and patted down the injection site with alcohol.
While still not quite easy, giving himself the injection was a lot less harder than it used to be. Over time, he had grown accustomed to it. Once he cleaned up and safely disposed of the syringe, he lay back on his bed again and allowed himself to doze off into a nap. Class had been more tiring than he was willing to admit.
A few hours later, the sound of Victoria unlocking the door woke him. Yawning, he sat himself up to greet her.
"How was your snack?" He asked.
"It was nice! Plato told me about how he started dancing. He's only been in ballet for five years! Whenever I hear stories like that I'm always so impressed- we're so lucky to have started at 5, they say it's much harder to learn after puberty-"
"That's nice." Misto said before she could continue. "Wanna get dinner? I'm starving."
"I'm not that hungry but sure, I'll go with you." Victoria agreed. "Did you remember to take your shot?"
"Yeah." Misto said, standing up. "Thanks for reminding me."
"We'll start with a simply arabesque into fish lift. How many of you have tried that before?"
Misto breathed. That one, at least, was easy. He and his sister had practiced it plenty of times before. Looking around, he saw more than half of the people in the class were raising their hands.
"Okay, great." The professor said. "We're a little short on guys in this class, so that means you gentlemen will get extra practice as you'll need to work with more than one partner today."
Misto glanced around, taking in the reactions of the other guys in the class. Some were grumbling at the idea of extra work, some looked excited, while most of those who hadn't done lifts before looked apprehensive.
"Mr. Mistoffelees, Victoria, can you demonstrate first for those who are trying this for the first time?"
They both nodded, perfectly in synch with each other as usual. Misto stepped behind his sister as she lifted her leg back into an arabesque, then he reached his right arm around her waist to her hip and held her thigh with his left, exhaled, and lifted. Flawless as ever, when her foot left the floor Victoria gracefully brought her toe to her back knee.
"Good! Yes, like that!" Maybe Misto was overthinking it, but the professor's praised sounded less enthusiastic than usual. Maybe it was just because the lift wasn't as natural for Misto to perform than other moves. Mind still reeling with doubts, Misto set his sister back down. "Everyone else try now!"
"Uh, Quaxo?" Misto blinked at surprise at the sound of his first name, turning to find on of the girl in the class. "Do you mind partnering me?"
Knowing he couldn't refuse without drawing unwanted attention, Misto nodded.
As he stepped next to her he couldn't help but notice that she was taller than him by a few inches. That didn't help his nerves at all. Trying to stay calm, feeling Victoria's eyes on him, he positioned his hands for the lift once the girl was in her arabesque. It was hard not to be affected by how different she was from his sister. Victoria's more delicate legs had been easier to hold than this girl's comparatively more muscular thigh. The moment he began to lift he could feel that it was going quite right, he felt her leg almost begin to slide as he held her. Fortunately, he managed to prevent it from slipped and held her in the air for a few moments before setting her down.
"Can we try again?" The girl asked. "I don't think my leg position was quite right."
Misto shrugged in agreement and stepped back to her side. It was easier the second time, now that he knew what to expect. He got her up without any feeling of possible sliding and in the end it almost felt as good as the lfit he had done with his sister.
"Alright!" The professor's voice cut through the noise of practice. "You all seem to have gotten the hang of the basic one, let's try something a little more complex. We'll stick with fish, but this time the girls will do a few steps first then try leaping into it. Ladies, here's what you're going to do."
Watching the professor, Misto knew Victoria would have no trouble with her part. They had practiced this too, but Misto wasn't as confident with it. Nevertheless, he met Victoria's eyes and nodded when she gave him a look to ask if he was ready.
Watching her carefully as she did a simple turn before the leap, he was ready for her when she jumped. He caught her thigh in the right place at the right moment, secured his other arm around her waist, and the rest was easy. Setting Victoria down, he heard the girl from before step forward, probably to ask if he could partner her again. Fortunately, Victoria cut in before she spoke.
"Sorry Cassandra, I want to try it again, something seemed a little off about that one." Victoria said quickly.
"It looked great to me!" The girl, Cassandra, said.
"I just won't feel right if I don't do one more to make sure it's good. Are you ready, Misto?"
He nodded and got back into position and watched for his moment as she turned and then leaped. This time the catch did feel a little more secure, maybe Victoria hadn't just been asking to practice again for his benefit. Setting his sister down, he realized that it hadn't really delayed the inevitably, he would still have to practice with Cassandra.
"Can I try now?"
Misto nodded, and motioned for her to start. He was sure to watch her just as close as he had watched his sister, but it didn't really help. Cassandra's leg wasn't where he expected it to be when she threw it back and he couldn't catch her thigh.
"Can we try again?" Cassandra asked after she managed to land on her feet.
Misto nodded, mentally cursing his mistake.
He knew where her leg would be this time, so catching wasn't where they failed. Even though he had lifted her moments before, he still wasn't accustomed to her weight. Within moments, it became evident that his arms weren't going to hold it. As hard as he tried to stay strong, Cassandra's thigh still slipped out as his arm dropped under the weight.
"Strong! Stay strong!" Misto heard the professor shout at them from the other side of the room.
He felt like a failure.
"You haven't had as much time to work on lifts as other skills, it's understandable that it wasn't perfect." Victoria said, trying to comfort him as they walked back to the dorm after class.
"Dropping someone is a lot worse than not perfect." Misto argued.
"You didn't drop me though!"
"I've dropped you plenty of times when we practice."
"Not today though." She countered. "Today we were good."
"Yes, I only seem to be able to do if you're there to help me." He said shortly.
"You helped me as much as I helped you!" She reminded him. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Lifts are a lot more challenging for you physically than for the other guys. And even though you're at a disadvantage you're still doing great! It's just harder because you're-"
"I don't want to talk about this." Misto cut her off.
That's all for now! please review and thank you for reading!
You can find me on tumblr transmisto