Less than fifteen minutes after they got to the venue, Allen's phone buzzed. Allen, are you here?
It was Road. Yes.
Can you meet me in the room next to the vending machines? It's open.
Since he was already at the vending machines, it was easy.
The adjacent room was a utility closet that someone had forgotten to lock. They were going to regret that. Once word got out that there was a bit of genuine privacy to be had, all kinds of things were going to happen in here, some of which were likely to make a mess.
The current occupant looked like a pixie that had made its home among cleaning supplies after raiding several different houses for clothes. She wore a blouse so large it almost hid her shorts, a waistcoat that was cut very small, and a pair of thigh-high stockings as well as her usual platform shoes.
"Hi Allen!" Road once again threw himself at him, but this time he was expecting it and caught her easily. "You were already down here, weren't you."
"Yeah," he said.
"I thought so," she said. "All teenaged boys ever do is eat."
He laughed. "How do you know?"
"When Tyki was a teenager, he ate all of my snacks, and now all you have to do to clean out the refrigerator is open the door and put David in front of it. What's your song today? It doesn't look like your usual sort of thing."
"It's something Cross assigned for me." Although that wasn't why Allen was dancing it.
"Oh! Okay, well, I have something for you, if you'll take it."
His present. "Road, you didn't…"
"No," she said, laughing. "This isn't your present. It's a favor I want to ask of you."
"What?" he asked.
She pulled out a bottle. "Will it screw up your costume to color your hair?"
He took the bottle from her and looked it over. It was a dark brown temporary dye. "What?"
"Can you do this?"
"Um…I suppose, but why?"
She looked more serious than he'd ever seen her. "What will happen if you win today."
Allen laughed. "Wait, you think I'll win?"
"I don't know. I think you have the best chance you've ever had, but I won't go easy on you. I want to know what you think will happen if you do."
"I don't know," he said. "I'll get yelled at less." He'd spent enough time at the Order to know that there was no such thing as not getting yelled at at all.
"But will anything change?"
"What do you mean?"
"Will the Wars end? Will the Rouvelliers stop blackmailing their dancers? Will Lavi be okay?"
"Lavi?" Allen asked, alarmed. "What about Lavi?"
"He's dancing against Tyki," she said, "and even though Tyki's a little hung over, Lavi won't win. What will happen to him afterward?"
"I don't know," Allen said, but he went back to the image he'd had of Daisya hanging in the stairwell, not a memory, just his own reconstruction.
"Right, but you know it won't be good. It doesn't matter if you win or I do. It won't change anything. I'm doing my best, but I can't make them listen. They just ignore me even harder."
Her voice quavered, and he reached for her elbow to steady her. "What are you talking about?"
"Allen, don't be stupid!" she said, shaking him off. "People are getting hurt and even dying. I'm trying to stop it, and no one will listen."
"I'm sorry!" he said. He hadn't considered the possibility that she would care that much about the Order's dancers, but that wasn't all. "Is this about your mum, too? I looked her up. I know what happened, and I'm so sorry." Then a thought struck like lightening. "Was she the 80s fan?" Was Road trying to remember her mother when she danced?
"Yes," Road said. "She especially liked Kate Bush, so they told me I can't dance to Kate Bush anymore. That's how they're dealing with it, by trying to make me shut up. And it has to stop, Allen. It has to."
She was panicking, her voice rising with frustration and fear. "Hey!" he said. "Shhh! How will me coloring my hair help?"
"Because with your hair white, you look like a ghost. I need you to look like a regular person."
"What?" Did he really look that strange? "Why?"
"I don't have time to explain, and it won't make sense to you, not yet anyway. After this is over, I'll buy you dinner and give you your present, and I'll tell you everything. Unless you're leaving tonight?"
"No," Allen said. "We're spending the night here."
"So are we. I promise I will make time for you when the competition is over." She held the bottle up. "Please?"
It was a small request for him, but not for most dancers, whose hair was as much a part of their performances as anything else. "How did you know it wouldn't mess up my costume."
She smiled. "Your costumes are all things you can get at the shops, and you don't wear any special make-up or anything."
He laughed. "I could never manage proper costumes," he said. "Mana was disabled and Cross was Cross."
"I'm sorry about Cross," she said again. "For what it's worth, he gave you everything about him that wasn't bad."
"You think so?" he asked, unsure what about Cross besides dancing might not be bad.
"Yes. Marian Cross was an amazing dancer, and so are you."
"Thank you," he said. "All right, I'll do this, but you owe me dinner and an explanation."
"Anything you want," she said, smiling with relief. "Will it be hard for you to get free?"
"I don't know," he said. "I'll have to ask. I don't think so, though."
She handed him a bit of paper "Here's my number. Call me when you know. We'll figure something out. Oh, and don't let Winston scare you just because he's a Campbell. He's showy, but he's out of practice and he's not as good as you anyway. And don't talk to him, not even if he talks to you. He's a jerk. He'll just be trying to rattle you."
Good to know. "Thanks," Allen said.
She hugged him. "Thank you!" Then she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and dashed out into the hall.
Allen looked at the bottle. He had no idea how it would look, but it wouldn't matter. She was right about his costumes. He could shave his head and it wouldn't make a difference, which made this a small favor and he owed her. If he beat her today, it would be partly because of her coaching. When it came to turning his mistakes into gifs and delivering bad news nicely, she'd been as good as her word.
It also meant he was much shorter on time than he'd anticipated when he went down to raid the vending machines. If he was going to do this, he needed to find Johnny.