Sorry about the long delay with this chapter, I've had a crazy month and just couldn't keep up with it. This story is not dead, I can promise you that!
Chapter Eight: Dance the Night Away
The Vytal Dance was two days away now. Kim and the master tailor she worked under had finished the final preparations on Team BLAC and AYST's outfits for the event. The boys of the two teams had just left the tailor's shop with their outfits and were headed back to Haven Academy. All their outfits were protected inside sturdy garment bags.
"Man, they killed it with these tuxes," Cyrus said.
"Yes, they did indeed kill it," Yin replied.
"Ya know, I wonder what the girl's dresses look like?" Cyrus inquired.
"We'll see the day of the dance," Lucas stated, "seeing as how good our outfits came out, the girls' must be just as good."
"Speaking of the girl's dresses," Roy chimed in, "Yin, I heard Al wasn't getting one made, what's up with that?"
"She brought a traditional dress from her island when we came to Beacon," Yin replied, "when she heard there was to be a dance for the festival she packed it. Surely you've seen it hanging in our closet."
"I don't go in there much, all my stuff is in the drawers under my bed," Roy replied.
"Fair enough," Yin stated.
"So…" Roy turned his attention to the Grey Brothers, "you guys find dates yet?"
"I'm probably just going to go stag," Lucas replied nonchalantly, "most of the girls I know here all have dates anyway."
"What about Tawney?" Roy inquired.
"She's nice, but she'll most likely be going with her partner," Lucas replied.
"What girl wouldn't want to go with Nikolas," Cyrus chuckled.
"Speaking of girls," Lucas turned to his brother, "have you asked Bianca to the dance yet?"
Cyrus seemed to freeze at the question, he continued to walk, but his upper body remained stiff looking and his face had turned a slight shade of red.
"Uh…" Cyrus laughed nervously, "no, I haven't."
"Why not man?" Roy inquired, "we can all tell that you like her, and I'm willing to bet that she likes you back."
"I don't know, we're partners, but I've never really seen her in that way," Cyrus stumbled over his words.
"Bullshit," Lucas said through a fake cough causing the other two boys to laugh.
Cyrus punched his brother in the shoulder, "shut up."
"Come on man, you're not fooling anyone," Roy stated.
"Yes, it is apparent, no matter how much you try to play it off, that you do have some feelings for Bianca," Yin added.
"I'm not going to confirm that," Cyrus replied, "but what if I did?"
"Then ask her to the dance man," Lucas said.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Roy stated.
Cyrus thought to himself as he continued to walk with his brother and friends. He thought about what they had said, about Bianca. They were right, no matter how much he tried to play it off, he did indeed have feelings for his partner. He thought she was perfect in every way, she was kind, smart, fun, and on top of all that she already was, she had beauty to match. The most beautiful thing about her was the first thing he noticed, her eyes. Even though they were silver like his, they had something more to them, depth, personality, the drive to be better than she already is.
As the boys of Teams BLAC and AYST were making there way back to Haven, the girls of the teams were having lunch in Haven's cafeteria. As Alyssa, Alani, and Ebony were talking amongst themselves, Bianca was quiet, many things were on her mind; an upcoming test, combat training, but mostly the dance at the end of the week and the person she wanted to go with.
"How do I ask him?" Bianca mumbled aloud.
"How do you ask who?" Alyssa inquired.
Bianca turned red as a strawberry, "huh!? You heard that!?"
The other three girls burst out laughing at their friend's embarrassment. Bianca's embarrassment turned to annoyance at her friends for laughing at her.
"Thinking about Cyrus, are we?" Alyssa teased.
"N-no," Bianca stuttered, her face still bright red.
"Oh come on B, quit being so shy," Alyssa poked her cousin with her elbow, "the dance is in a couple of days, why don't you ask Cyrus to take you, I'm sure he'd say yes."
"Bianca, trust me," Ebony stood and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, "we've all seen the way you look at him and we've seen the way he looks at you, give it a shot, I'm sure it'll be worth it."
"How would I even ask him though?" Bianca asked as Ebony sat back down.
"Just talk to him," Alani said, "you two are friends, so it shouldn't be too hard to bring it up."
"I'll tell you what," Alyssa chimed in, "when the boys get back, if you want some alone time with Cyrus, Luc and I will go hang with Team AYST."
"I'd be ok with that," Ebony stated.
Alani nodded in agreement to Alyssa's idea.
"Yea," Bianca replied albeit a bit apprehensively. She would go along with her cousin's plan, but she didn't know if she would have the courage to ask Cyrus. Even if she did, she didn't know if he would accept or not.
The girls finished their lunch and headed back to their dorms. Along the way, Alyssa, Alani, and Ebony kept reassuring Bianca that all she had to do was speak up about how she felt and maybe Cyrus would accept her feelings, but she still felt uneasy.
As they approached the dormitory they were staying in, they saw the boys of both their teams walking up to the door. They were all smiling and laughing amongst one another. Bianca's heart began to flutter as she saw Cyrus, the nervousness inside her growing.
As they entered the building, Cyrus quickly turned, and he saw the girls making their way towards them. As he saw Bianca, he gulped, and his cheeks turned a slight shade of red. Before entering he waved to them, a gesture all of them returned.
As the girls reached their rooms, they saw the boys hanging up their outfits for the dance in their room's closets. Ebony and Alani entered their room as Bianca and Alyssa stood outside theirs for a moment.
Alyssa placed her hand on her cousin's shoulder, "you can do this."
Bianca took a deep breath and nodded with a confident smile.
Alyssa slid open the wood and rice paper door and Bianca walked in and sat on her bed. As she did this, Alyssa motioned for Lucas to come to her, after which she pulled him out of the room.
"What was that about?" Cyrus asked.
"I don't know," Bianca lied, "hey, can we talk for a second?"
"Yea, sure," Cyrus replied, "actually theirs been something I've been meaning to ask you anyway."
"Really? What is it?" Bianca inquired.
Cyrus sat on his bed across from Bianca. He felt nervous, but un beknown to him she did as well. The two of them cared much for one another as friends and partners but each were unsure if the other felt more behind that.
Cyrus went to speak but got choked up. He quickly cleared his throat, "you know what, how about you go first."
Bianca turned a bit red, "oh no, you go, please."
Cyrus took note of Bianca's blush, and he calmed himself, "how about this, on three we say it at the same time."
Bianca took a deep breath, "ok."
"Ready?" Cyrus said.
"1…"
As Cyrus spoke the final count Bianca's head and heart began to race with the thoughts of what he might ask her. She thought of backing out and changing her question. They raced in her mind for what seemed like hours but were only mere seconds.
"2…"
At the last moment something shot from her heart to her mind. It told her to stop hiding her feelings and face this moment like it was an opponent in the combat arena, one that she wouldn't fail to overcome.
"3…"
"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" Both blurted out simultaneously.
Cyrus went wide-eyed and Bianca covered her mouth in surprise. They were filled with happiness at what they heard the other say and smiles adorned their faces.
Bianca uncovered her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything Cyrus took her hand. He stared into her silver orbs and she stared back.
"I'd love to," he said.
"Yes!" Alyssa's voice could be heard on the other side of the rice paper and wood door.
"Shush, they'll hear us," Ebony stated.
Cyrus and Bianca looked towards the door, with slightly surprised looks on their faces. However instead of being annoyed at their friends for spoiling the moment, they chuckled at their antics. They believed nothing could spoil this moment.
The day of the dance crept ever closer as the students of the various academies tried to find dates and decide what to wear. Meanwhile, Team SLVR was finishing up the final preparations for the main hall. The dance was looked forward to by many a student as a day to relax, have a good time, and not worry about anything. However, some found themselves worried about the dance itself.
Cyrus stood in front of the changing room mirror as he inspected his dark gray tuxedo for any faults. It hugged and contoured to his muscular physique but wasn't too tight. The cuffs fit snug to his wrists and the sleeves were the perfect length. His slacks were long, but didn't touch the floor, stopping at his ankles. He double and triple checked, but he couldn't find anything wrong with the finely made garment.
Lucas was straitening his light gray jacket, he wasn't that interested in formal ware but for the dance he could make an exception. As he was getting ready he saw his brother fidgeting with his outfit in the mirror. He noticed that his brother's nervousness was growing the closer the dance came, and with it less than an hour away he would need to calm himself if he was going to have a good night.
Lucas walked up to Cyrus, "hey man, it's not going to fit any better."
"I know, but something just doesn't seem right," he replied.
"The tux is fine, it's you that's not right," Lucas stated, "come on, tell me what's up."
Cyrus sighed, "what if I screw up tonight? Like accidently dumping punch on Bianca or even step on her feet while we're dancing. All these possibilities are just running through my head right now."
Lucas placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "you need to chill, you're just nervous. Everything is going to go fine, you're not the least bit clumsy and you're one of the best dancers I know. You'll be fine."
"Yeah, but what if…" He was cut off.
"Cyrus." Lucas shot, "relax, it'll be fine."
Cyrus took a deep breath, "ok, I'll try to relax."
"Alright then," Lucas replied, "now come on, we've gotta go get the girls."
As Cyrus and Lucas exited their team's room, they were followed by Roy and Yin. They had separated rooms with the girls of their respective teams, with them taking team AYST's dorm to change. Roy's outfit wasn't much different from the Grey Brothers', it was a silver-blue tuxedo, but the coat had a swallow tail to it. Yin's was the most drastically different though, it consisted of a long-sleeved, mostly black changshan that hugged his athletic build, along with a pair of black slacks and dress shoes. The right sleeve was white however, and it transitioned into the outline of a wolf's head on his chest that wrapped around the back and was mirrored on his right shoulder blade.
Lucas nocked on the adjacent room's door, a few seconds went by before he was answered.
"Yes?" Alani's voice called out.
"You guys ready yet?" Lucas asked.
"Yea, we'll be out in a second," Alani replied.
A few moments passed and then the door to the room slid open and the girls walked out into the hallway. Kim was with them, she had come up to the academy since she was Ebony's date to the dance.
Alani wore a traditional sarong dress from her island, it was decorated much the same as her lavalava skirt; solid orange with white hibiscus flowers, it seemed loose and baggy, but it hugged her curvy figure nicely. Along with the dress, she also wore a crown made of orange hibiscus flowers and her usual brown kukui nut lei. She walked up to Yin and placed a lei made of white hibiscus flowers around his neck.
Kim approached Yin and inspected the addition to the outfit she designed for the wolf faunus. She smiled as she turned to Alani and gave her a thumb up in approval.
Ebony and Kim wore complimenting qipao dresses that fit comfortably to the curves of their bodies. Ebony's was royal blue with navy accents and a pattern of flowering vines. While Kim's had the same patterns, but her dress was gold and white. They also wore heels that matched their dresses.
Roy smiled and nodded at Alyssa's dress, causing her to blush with slight embarrassment. It was strapless with puffed shoulders, long, and golden, extending down to the floor. It also had a wide belt of black cloth that wrapped around her waist and hung slightly from her right hip. Finally, she wore a pair of black heels and matching elbow length gloves. She looked like a princess, which technically she was considering her grandfather is the Chieftain of Menagerie.
Bianca looked a bit timid stepping out into the hallway, but all Cyrus could do was notice how beautiful she looked. Her face was done up in slightly more makeup than she normally wore, her cheeks were rosy from blush and her light eyes were accentuated by her dark eyeliner. Her dress was very befitting of her, strapless and white around the breast. It also had a high waist that led down to a skirt just a bit longer and more flared than that of her combat outfit. The material it was made of also had a bit of a shine and light sparkle to it as the light hit it. Along with all this, she wore a pair of white heels that made her a couple inches taller.
Cyrus walked up to his date, "y-you look nice."
Bianca blushed nervously, "th-thanks."
Lucas walked between Cyrus and Bianca, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "come on you two, enough with the shyness, it's time to loosen up a bit."
Cyrus took a deep breath and offered his arm to Bianca, "shall we?"
Bianca accepted and the two began to walk down the hall, followed by their teammates and friends. As they walked together, Bianca had a slight smile on her face. This was the first time she had felt genuinely happy in months.
As the nine of them made their way to Haven's main hall, their combat professor, Ember Haze was overseeing the dance's attendees. She had volunteered to be one of the chaperones for the event. Unlike other's she didn't dress up, instead opting for her normal formfitting maroon sleeveless changshan, slate gray arm sleeves, slacks, and slip-on shoes.
She and another professor, a one Flynt Coal, the head combat professor at Atlas Academy welcomed the students to the dance. Flynt still sported a very similar outfit to the one he wore in his youth; however, he now tied his tie and tucked it under his vest that now sported pinstripes to match his pants. His sunglasses hung from the center of his collar for the time being as the sun had begun to dip below the horizon.
"So, how's the wife?" Ember asked.
"Neon's fine," Flynt replied, "she's back in Atlas filling in for me while I'm here."
"How about your son, I haven't seen him tonight. I thought I heard he qualified for the tournament this year?" She inquired.
"He'll be here, junior is like me, likes to be fashionably late," Flynt chuckled.
"I see," Ember laughed.
As she said this, her scroll rang. When she checked it, she saw it was her fiancé. "I have to take this."
"Go on, I got this," Flynt replied.
Ember stepped away from the door for a moment and answered her scroll, "hey honey."
"Hey, how's the dance?" Jamie asked.
"Would be better if you were here," Ember smiled.
Jamie chuckled, "wish I could, but don't worry, we'll have our dance soon."
"So, how are thing's at the bar?" Ember asked.
"Everything is good, I'm almost done preparing for people who want to watch the tournament," he replied.
"You're not installing three more TV's, are you?" Ember asked smartly.
Jaime snickered, "no, you know I did that after my dad left me the place, I'm making sure I've got extra inventory of everything."
Ember laughed, "it will get crazy."
"Anyway, how've you been? How are they treating you over there?" Jaime asked.
"It's been good, better than expected really," Ember replied.
"What do you mean?" Jaime inquired.
"Well, I talked to my friend Sierra and she's agreed to be my maid of honor," Ember said.
"That's one thing off the wedding checklist," Jaime replied.
"I've also smoothed things over with my Sifu," Ember stated, "she's even agreed to come to the wedding."
"That's great!" Jaime said, "I'm glad you could finally do that, I know it's been eating at you for a while now."
"It does feel good, like a weight has been lifted off my chest," Ember said.
"So, do you know how much longer you're going to be in Mistral?" Jaime inquired.
"Including this week" Ember thought for a moment, "just over a month, until the tournament and festival are over."
"I'm not sure I can wait that long," Jaime joked.
"Well if you do, there'll be something special for you when I get home," Ember flirted.
"I like the sound of that," Jaime replied.
Teams BLAC and AYST, along with Kim approached the main hall of Haven Academy. It was a magnificent three tiered pagoda, not the tallest of the campus, but certainly one of the most ornate. They were greeted by Professors Haze and Coal when they approached the entrance of the building. They entered a large open room, two large staircases curved around the perimeter leading to a balcony overlooking the ground floor. The floorboards were a three-tone combination of brown, khaki, and cream, with the latter two colors forming rows that lead to a raised platform in the back center of the room. This central platform was flanked by a pair of two-tiered staircases and a marble statue of a woman at the front giving the illusion it was holding it up. Around the edges of the room were chairs for the attendees to sit and tables filled with gourmet food and drink.
Many of the attendees were in the center of the room dancing and most of the group joined them. The music being played by a rather flashily, yet sharply, dressed band on the raised platform sounded like an upbeat combination of R&B, Reggae, and Disco. However, Lucas made his way towards the punch bowl and leaned against the table while grabbing something to drink, and Cyrus and Bianca grabbed some food from a nearby table.
"This stuff is pretty good," Bianca said after eating some of the sushi she picked up off the table.
"Mhmm," Cyrus agreed, his mouth still full of food.
"So… do you want to go to the dance floor after we finish?" Bianca asked a bit timidly.
Cyrus swallowed his food, "it's a dance, what else is there to do," he chuckled, hiding his own nervousness.
Bianca giggled, "well, your brother seems to have found something else."
Cyrus turned to see his brother casually leaning back on the table with the punch and lazily sipping his drink.
"He'll open up eventually," Cyrus chuckled, "anyway, to the dance floor?"
"Lets," Bianca replied.
As they made their way to the dance floor, the two of them were approached by Sierra Nahla. She had on a long beautiful redwood colored dress with a high slit up her right leg and high heels to match.
"Hey, Bianca and Cyrus was it?" She asked.
"Yea, that's us, what's up?" Bianca asked.
"I've been meaning to talk to you two for a while, but I've been busy between classes and training for the tournament," Sierra said.
"What did you want to talk to us about?" Cyrus inquired.
"It's about this," Sierra pointed to one of her eyes, "we all share the same trait."
Cyrus and Bianca looked at one another and then back to Sierra. Bianca spoke, "ok… what are you telling us?"
"Meet me tomorrow after classes," Sierra said, "the gardens behind the training hall, I'll elaborate more then. Just know this, it's of the upmost importance."
"We'll be there," Bianca replied.
Cyrus nodded in agreement.
"Great! I'll see you both then," Sierra headed off, presumably to rejoin her date or teammates.
Cyrus looked to Bianca and held out his hand, "back to what we planned?"
"Y-yeah," Bianca blushed slightly as she took his hand and was led to the dance floor.
The dance floor was ripe with movement, the dancers moved in rhythm with the upbeat ballads the band was preforming. One of the first songs Cyrus and Bianca danced to was a modern disco track about treasuring a loved one. It's beat didn't invite the most intimate of dances, but the two of them both remained close to one another as they flowed with the song.
As the night went on, they found themselves having too much fun to be nervous about the situation they were in. Their friends and teammates were also having an amazing time at the dance; Roy and Alyssa were a bit more intimate with one another than Bianca and Cyrus while they danced, while Alani and Yin moved to the beat of the music but mixed in a bit of hula style from the islands. Ebony and Kim however, had made their way to the food table next to where Lucas was standing.
As they went on with the night, a few girls near the entrance let a out a fangirl screech, gaining the looks of more than a few of the room's occupants. A dark-skinned cat-faunus boy walked in, followed by three similarly dressed boys, presumably all faunus as well. He wore a triple black tuxedo and dark tinted black sunglasses; odd for nighttime. He wore his hair in a jheri curl fashion.
Bianca ceased dancing, "who's that?"
"No idea," Cyrus replied.
They then overheard a couple of people next to them, "holy crap, is that Eazy-F, why's he here?"
"He's a third year at Atlas Academy and their head combat professor's son," another person replied.
"What's the front man of F.W.A doing at a huntsman academy?" A person asked.
"Wanted to follow in his parent's footsteps is what I heard, he's also a favorite to make it to the finals of the tournament," another person replied.
Eazy-F stopped and so did the three boys following him. He took off his glasses and tucked them into the pocket of his jacket and then popped his collar, "ladies, gentlemen, the party has arrived."
Bianca rolled her eyes and chuckled when she heard him say that last bit, "come on, let's get back to dancing."
As Cyrus and Bianca went back to the dance floor, Ebony and Kim were checking out the dance's latest arrival.
"He's cute," Kim said.
"Very," Ebony replied.
"I'm gonna go talk to him," Kim said.
"Good luck getting through the fan-girls," Ebony laughed.
"I'll be right back," Kim kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.
As Ebony watched her girlfriend head over to talk with the boy, who was now crowded by many people, she saw Tawney sitting alone at the other end of the room. Like the others she had assumed she would be with her partner tonight, but Nikolas was no where to be seen. She then noticed Lucas leaning against the punch table while being very antisocial. So, she made her way over to him.
"Not having fun?" Ebony asked.
"Huh? Nah, this is fun, just not in the mood to dance," Lucas replied.
"Right," Ebony replied skeptically, "you know how we thought Tawney was going to the dance with Nikolas?"
"Yeah, why?" Lucas inquired.
"Well, it looks like we were wrong," Kim pointed to Tawney, "why don't you stop being antisocial and go ask her to dance."
Lucas looked from Tawney and back to his friend. He finished his punch and tossed the empty cup into the trash before making his way across the room. He approached the lonely girl, she had on a simple, yet elegant brown dress.
"Hey Lucas, what's up?" She asked.
"Not much, where's Nikolas? I thought you two would be coming here together?" He said.
"Nikolas already had a date," she pointed to where her partner was on the dance floor.
Lucas turned to see Nikolas dancing with another boy, "oh… ohhh!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure as hell not going to this with Apollo or Oliver," she stated bluntly.
"I figured as much," Lucas chuckled awkwardly.
"Yeah…" Tawney's voice trailed off.
Lucas rubbed the back of his neck, "would you like to dance?"
Tawney was a bit surprised by his question, but she smiled at Lucas nonetheless, "I'd love too."
Everyone danced for hours, but it didn't seem like that long to anyone. After all, time does fly. The song the band was currently playing, was about staying up all night and trying to get lucky. It was more of a modern disco tune, with dashes of techno, rather than the R&B and Reggae they had been playing. By this point it was getting close to midnight, and the dance would conclude soon. Once their current number ended, the band took a quick break, as did the dancers. However, the band had one last song to play before the night was over.
"You're a really good dancer, you know that?" Bianca said.
"I'm alright," Cyrus chuckled, "I'm far better at fighting."
"When I was taught to dance, my mom told me that fighting and dancing weren't too different. Two partners interlocked, however a mistake here only leads to a swollen foot… or a twisted ankle." Bianca replied.
"Your parents had an interesting way of putting things," Cyrus laughed.
"Yeah," Bianca giggled.
Bianca's smile faded from her face as she remembered the state her mother Ruby was in. She tried her best to hide it from Cyrus, but he saw it nonetheless.
The lead singer stepped to the microphone, gaining the attention of most of the dancers, "alright everyone, this next song is for couples, so grab a partner,"
The lights around the dance floor dimmed and the dancers began to pair off with their partners as the song started. Among those were Alyssa and Roy, Alani and Yin, and Ebony and Kim. Lucas and Tawney had decided to sit this one out and relax for the last bit of the dance, but they stayed together to talk.
Cyrus turned to Bianca, "care for one more dance?"
She looked around at how closely everyone was dancing and the thought of being that close to Cyrus made her blush madly.
"S…sure," she took Cyrus's hand.
With her right hand, she took his left and he placed his right on her waist. Cyrus had remained pokerfaced, but he was very nervous, just as much as she was. Cyrus being nearly a foot taller than Bianca made it awkward for her to try and rest her arm on his shoulder, as many others were doing. Instead, she simply rested her hand on his chest.
This was the most intimate they had been all night, and the closest their bodies had been to one another ever. Both were tense at first, but as they flowed around each other they loosened up.
Silver met silver as they danced. They flowed and moved together with the same ease as they fought. Their movements were slow and methodical, yet graceful as well, thus matching the rhythm of the song. Everything except the music faded from the world around them and for a moment it was just the two of them. Neither had the nerves to truly tell the other how they felt, but in this moment, it didn't matter.
The song had reached its conclusion, and with it, the dance as a whole. All the dancers turned and clapped for the band and they returned a gracious bow to their audience. Teams BLAC and AYST, along with Kim and Tawney cleared out of the main hall with the rest of the dance's attendees. Bianca and Cyrus lagged behind however.
"I had a great time," Bianca said shyly.
"Me too," Cyrus replied, "I'm glad we came together."
Bianca blushed as she and her partner stopped walking and faced one another. The moonlight shown down on the two of them. The light reflecting off their silver orbs as they gazed at one another.
Without thinking and unknown to either, they had taken each other's hands and moved closer, closer than they had even been while dancing. When they eventually did notice, neither could bring themselves to stop, they didn't want to.
Bianca stood on her tip-toes as they both closed their eyes and their faces came closer to one another. Both their hearts began to race as the sensation of the other came closer and closer until…
"Hurry up slowpokes, it's late!" Ebony called out.
Bianca and Cyrus quickly pulled away from one another, her face a slight shade of red, and his nervous-looking. They hurried to catch up with their friends, feeling annoyed because of the interruption, yet also relieved in a way.
Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched as they made their way back to the dorms. From the shadows, Rouge, Jet, and Nilah watched what had just happened.
"What shall we do my lady?" Jet asked apathetically.
"Should we purge the Grey Brothers before they get too close with their partners?" Nilah inquired manically.
"It appears that time has passed," Rouge paused for a moment as if to think. She smiled and turned to her subordinates, "we can use this to our advantage, follow me."
The three of them continued to tail their targets all the way back to their dormitory.