Prompt: Dance
Originally Written: 1.3.2009
"Dancing is wonderful training for girls, it's the first way you learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it."
-Christopher Morley, Kitty Foyle
"Come here, your hair's messed up…"
"For God's sake, Trucy, we have to leave in five minutes! I don't really care about how messed up my hair is!"
Well, they didn't have to leave in five minutes; they could be fashionably late, but Trucy somehow doubted that Apollo would approve of that idea. Having an obsessive-compulsive personality didn't really affect their social affairs in a positive way. Still, he was her 'date' of sorts to this little…party kind of thing that the County Public Prosecutor's Office held every New Year's Eve. She looked at Pearl, who was pulling on the hem of her rather short black dress, which flattered her developing figure very nicely. Trucy had sprung this on the poor girl only a few days before while she was still in Kurain, minding her own sweet business. Since then, Pearl came down to Los Angeles, unloaded her things at their house, and flipped out about not having anything to wear. For someone who came down to the city twice a year, tops, she was very in tune with typical teenage life.
Trucy herself wasn't really all that concerned with her appearance for that evening, wearing a simple white blouse and black skirt. To compensate for the simple outfit, she had put on a decent amount of makeup. Pearl gushed about how good she looked, yet she wouldn't let Trucy say anything remotely positive about her. Where that girl received her inferiority complex, she'd never know. She was effortlessly phenomenal at anything she did, her personality was everything anyone could ever ask for; she was basically the epitome of perfect. She'd deny such a claim, but it was true.
"Alright, are you ready?" Pearl asked, sighing heavily. She had put her gold hoop earrings in, got her high heeled shoes on, and looked absolutely stunning. Trucy couldn't help but feel that the guys would be all over her like flies to fruit. Trying to imagine Pearl willfully dancing with men—who were probably much older than her—was enough to make Trucy laugh out loud. Despite hormones being rampant at sixteen years old, the once sheltered girl was instantly repelled by men, most likely from being taught that they were the weaker sex. From what she said, Morgan Fey wasn't the best of mothers.
Trucy smiled and said, "Yep, I'm ready if you are!"
Pearl beamed in response, looking for all the world like a goddess.
"Tell me again, Gavin, why exactly do I have to come to this thing?"
Klavier shook his head, playing with his hair. "No one said you had to come, Daryan, but you'd be the only one who wasn't coming," he said teasingly, knowing that the detective placed his reputation before many other things. Probably even his career. Klavier really wasn't in a position to criticize that aspect of Daryan's personality, because he too shared that trait. That didn't matter right now, though; this was an event reserved for people attached with the law somehow, even if it was an obscure attachment. Hence why Herr Forehead's friends were coming. To be honest, he wasn't sure who he wanted to hit on more; Fräulein Detective or Fräulein Trucy. The former would be more socially acceptable, considering Trucy was nine years his junior.
The sad thing was that he was actually thinking about this.
"That's great and everything, but I have better things to do," Daryan grumbled, fixing his already-straight tie. Unlike Klavier, he wasn't used to formal affairs and looked extremely out of his element. It was highly amusing to watch, and it would be even more hilarious once they actually got to the talking and mingling part involving other human beings.
Daryan was a special one, that was for sure, and that was alright with Klavier.
It's not that she was nervous. Really. There really wasn't a reason to be scared of going to a party with hundreds of people, most of them twice her age. Trucy would be there with her, after all.
Trucy was the crutch of her life, the one person she could talk to in any circumstance, from the small inconveniences to the huge catastrophes. She'd keep the fact that she loved her in more way than one a secret forever. Who knew if Trucy swung that way? Pearl wasn't about to risk a beautiful friendship for something that would probably end up in bitterness and broken hearts, anyway.
Sticking close by her friend—crush?—Pearl entered the hall feeling oh-so-intimidated. For all anybody knew, she could've been a person who never in her life saw more than five people in a place all at once. Her dress felt too short, her jewelry overdone, and all the details she had been so meticulous about suddenly seemed scandalous. Keeping close by Trucy and Apollo, she cautiously followed them from behind until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Touching did not sit well with her, and Klavier Gavin soon found out what happened when people did touch her.
Daryan decided that he liked her the moment he watched her shove Gavin away, gripping her shoulder as though he had tossed acid on it.
Sure, she was hot, but if she didn't swoon over the pretty German boy that just scored her extra points. It didn't even cross his mind that she just might not like the feeling of other people on her skin.
She spun around to see her friend's horrified expression, and she apparently reasoned that she must've done something wrong. After having something whispered in her ear by said friend, she started apologizing profusely to Klavier, looking for all the world like she just murdered someone.
So she really didn't like to be touched.
Still, she looked nice enough. It was cute how she started to hide behind her friend in shame, still guilty after what she had done to Klavier. Her head was buried in the crook of her friend's neck, trying to hide her embarrassment.
He never did like outspoken girls.
"Don't worry about it, Pearl! He said it was okay! You're overreacting."
Trucy was dearly trying to convince her friend that she had done nothing wrong and that it was just a mistake, but Pearl wouldn't hear any of it. That defeated look on her face was killing Trucy's mood very, very quickly. She began to wonder if it was a good idea to bring the painfully shy girl here in the first place.
"But—"
Trucy frowned. "No buts! Come on, someone's looking at you," she pointed out, averting her eyes to Klavier's confidante. What was his name again? Daryan Crescend? His otherwise ridiculous hair was down, making him seem a little less rebellious, if that made any sense. Guys like him went against the system all too often—especially if they worked for it.
Pearl turned her head slowly, the mortification on her face clearer than anything else. Hell, Trucy would much rather have shock over fear any day. The spirit medium was gorgeous regardless, but surprise illuminated her features. The idea of talking to anyone after that incident was too unbearable.
"Trucy…"
"Come on, Pearly! Live a little!" She turned her head to look at Klavier, who was motioning for her to hurry their chat up. "You'll do fine, I know it! Go charm him with your wits!" She roughly pushed Pearl towards Daryan, not looking back to see the expression of terror on her face as she crashed into him.
He wasn't even looking when she tumbled and unceremoniously landed against his back.
Spinning around, he saw that she was staring at the ground, pulling on the hem of her dress, whispering, "Sorry." She turned her head to look at her friend, who had run off with Klavier, blatantly euphoric by the German's attention. Frowning, she looked back at him and tried to make eye contact. She failed, miserably at that.
"What's with that look?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. She wasn't just shy—she was borderline xenophobic.
She looked up and recoiled. "Ah, I'm just not…um…used to being in such crowded places. I'm not good at talking to people," she stuttered, still looking away.
He didn't have time to respond, because she had taken his wrist and dragged him over to the dance floor as the music started. Shocked at this brash advance, he played along for fear of incurring the girl's wrath. She was tortured enough as it was, he didn't need to make things worse.
"So tell me your name," she began, wrapping her arms around his neck. It suddenly felt slightly too hot in the room, but he was interested in what he could learn from this exchange.
"Daryan," he managed before clearing his throat and talking more like an adult than a hormone-ridden teenager. "Daryan Crescend."
She nodded, the smallest of smiles playing on her lips. "Mr. Crescend, friend of…Mr Gavin." Her head tilted slightly to the side. "Unless what Trucy's been telling me is wrong."
"Trucy…that's the one who ran off with Klavier."
"Amazing. You could be a detective, you know."
He inwardly cringed. "I am a detective."
Just that one statement completely shattered the somewhat calm composure she was managing to uphold. He suddenly felt as though he would've been much better off if he had kept his mouth shut. "Whoa, calm down, it's alright," he tried to assure her, but she was too far gone.
It occurred to him that he didn't even know her name.
"Hey, you didn't tell me your name."
She chewed on the inside of her lip and looked away nervously. "Pearl Fey," was her quiet response, still embarrassed.
It was a pretty enough name, Daryan resolved, and vaguely familiar, at that. Now, what could he do to make her come out of that shell of hers?
Pearl spoke before he had the opportunity to do so. "How do you know Mr. Gavin, anyway?" She looked as though she was trying to remember something from a long time ago, but was disappointed when she couldn't bring it up.
"Oh God, don't even ask that."
"Why not?"
"We're bandmates, if that helps."
"Bandmates?"
Was this girl living under a rock? Now that he thought about it, she didn't seem particularly interested in Gavin or his identity. If their concert turnout was anything to go by, every high schooler had at least heard of them.
Before going any further, he decided that it was better to know who she was.
"Where do you live?"
She raised her eyebrows apologetically, staring at her feet. "You wouldn't know about it. Nobody does."
This girl seriously needed to stop feeling so unconfident in everything she did and said. Her turbulent self-esteem was starting to have a negative effect on his own confidence.
"You learn something new every day?"
She smiled.
He made her smile. He, the notoriously cynical guy, had made her smile. There was an inexplicable sense of pride in this accomplishment, as though he had actually lured her away from her own little world, her shelter from embarrassment. He'd be the first to admit he wasn't really popular compared to the rest of the pretty boys in the band, but maybe this was a chance to take advantage of her lack of knowledge about him.
He could just be himself, and hell, that's all he really wanted.
She decided that she liked Daryan Crescend, even if she probably didn't impress him. So she kept talking to him, overcoming her own fears to open herself to someone else. She had been so afraid of rejection that she sacrificed the opportunity to be happy in doing so.
There was no definitive way to tell if it was a mutual attraction, but if it was, the reasons were clear.
They weren't afraid to try.
