As Daenerys stand elatedly with her new friend, she realized that laughter had not been the most suitable of responses… but it was all that seemed to come out in the moment, as it often had been. There still wasn't much that Dany knew about the man, but something she had learned was that Jon Snow was beyond hard to grasp. It seemed that for every quality she found less than admirable, there was one she found more than a little appealing, and that thought alone was enough to bother her more than she cared to admit.
No matter how hard she tried to find Sansa's eyes among the strangers or focus on the stories her new friend bought, all she could think of was Mr. Snow.
How he had asked her to dance— again. How before she knew it she had given him a most favorable reply and now as she drink from her crystal she began to feel that anxious bubble coming to whisper its hello again. Could Jon have asked solely to heal his wounded pride? Could it be something else entirely that she just couldn't begin to fathom… Whatever his reasoning may be, not knowing and speculating didn't help her one bit. The much larger issue was that Dany still didn't know how to feel about him or his seemingly constant swings in mood towards her. Something told her she wouldn't for some time, if ever.
Just as promised within the half hour she spotted Jon walking gallantly towards her with arms locked behind his back just as they always were. His brow was lowered but he was not frowning as he frequently did; his mouth was relaxed and his eyes were almost soft. Jon didn't speak when he reached her, he just slide a hand for her to take as he simultaneously lowered his head in a graceful bow. Dany took a breath in inspecting the hand presented, tossing an almost pleading look towards Jamie as she swallowed and placed her own within his apprehensively.
When his thumb closed over her fingers she felt that same wave from before hit her heard in the chest, and she moved her gaze from their grasp to his face wondering again why she'd agreed to this. He held a strange look behind his amber eyes that seemed almost vulnerable and she certainly did not know its meaning anymore than she had the others… After a moment Jon nodded once, turned still holding her fingers softly between his as he lead her towards the set.
Daenerys felt each pair of eyes pull towards them as he lead her slowly to the line of couples. The onlookers were unable to hide the surprise from their faces or conceal the gasps at the sight of them passing hand in hand and it was then that she finally found Sansa; the way her eyes lit only reminded Dany again of their aberrance in appearance…
It did not help anything that Mr. Snow wasn't exactly known for being very agreeable or that in his entire stay in the county, he had not danced once; even when there had been ladies free and waiting for a hand. But now, here he was standing with Daenerys Bennet of house Targaryen: The poor blooded dragon, and daughter of a man driven mad... Even if the eyes of their neighbors weren't glued in equal amazement to her own, she'd have known she was out of place.
When Dany watched him discreetly with breath hurried and forced, she wondered what game he could be playing at. The prickle of anxiety washed over her, sending a shudder of warm needles almost powerful enough to make her turn and flee. She very nearly did, if not for his eyes… At first he wouldn't look at her, but once he did it all changed; seconds before the music started he pulled his gaze from his feet, locking them on hers... and there it was: that look.
The instant he met her gaze her lips parted and she almost forgot every injustice he'd ever sent her way... Any terrible thing she'd heard of his name... Seconds later the music commenced and they bowed to each other as they silently began their dance; the nerves she felt began slipping away to the slow Arco of the violin. The soft hymn swam like tadpoles in the lake outside as the sounds danced alongside them and within them during each steady motion. Each light step was done with ease, but a blanket of silence lingered heavily between them.
As they dance quietly she began to find the silence unnerving. Not enough to distract from the effortlessness of their footsteps however and as much as she hated to admit it, Jamie Lannister had been correct: Jon Snow was more than agreeable— at least in this regard…
But as the minutes slowly trickled on Daenerys began to wonder if silence would be all he would have to offer, and prayed for the next thirty minutes to pass quickly. Only the more she idly thought about it, the more she realized that there was only one thing that could be of greater punishment to him… obliging him to converse.
"I love this dance, it is one of my very favorites… Do you enjoy it Mr. Snow?" Dany asked breaking their silence as they spin slow circles with hands low to their sides touching softly at their fingertips.
"Indeed, it is most agreeable." Jon replied smoothly beside her ear as they turn and separate, circling between the other sets of couples fluidly. He didn't speak again, only stepping lightly in airy footsteps around her hardly ever looking to her face.
Daenerys swallowed as she let out a breath and pursed her lips, trading places as they continue through the footsteps in silence. She pulled her tongue across the bottom of her teeth before speaking behind a relaxed smile, "It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Snow… For I've started on the dance, it would now be appropriate for you to mention the size or the room, or remark on the number of couples."
As their hands parted and they stepped to the side, he smiled belatedly looking to her pensive eyes with affirmation behind his own. "Whatever it is you wish me to say, I shall."
"At the present, your reply will do… Perhaps, by and by," Dany paused as they step together in the center of the room, walking forward with hands linked like the silver chains of her necklace. "I may observe that private balls are much more pleasant than public ones, I find these variety become rather crowded, and the room far too small. But now, as you prefer it— we may be silent."
Jon stepped alongside, holding her hand lightly and absently tracing the back of her palm as he think on her words for a suitable reply… Admiring the way her hair was braided delicately atop her head, the small pearls beaded between them as they step side by side to each note of the violin bowing around them.
The next moments were more silent than the last, but as they met in the middle he looked fervidly into her eyes as he continued again, "Is talking a rule in dancing?" When he finished they both turned stepped back, and he watched a sly smile slide off Dany's lips.
"No, of course not… But it is much more fun than being unsocial and taciturn, would not you agree, Mr. Snow?" Stepping closer to him with a sarcastic look behind her lilac eyes and lips as they parted once more with a turn. The dance reset its cycle as they continue the rhythm effortlessly as if they'd done it a million and one times before.
He blinked deftly as he turn around the center with her again, looking down atop that silver head of hair once more, his chest weighing with each moment. "Tell me, are you very well acquainted with the Lannister's?"
Dany wondered why he asked as they step slowly in and out of place, ending only inches from each others faces. "According to Mr. Lannister, our families have been friends for a long time," She offered a short smile as their hands brushed, sending a soft trickle over her as it had every time. "are you very well acquainted?"
Jon did not answer, but the discomfort that spread over his face was clear to Daenerys immediately; and when he finally did off her an answer, it was with forced manner and obvious discomfort. "Very. Mr. Lannister is a man with many friends…"
She cocked her head slightly as both of their hands clasped, pushing through the sweet song coolly. "Is that a lost friendship I am observing, Mr. Snow?"
"Irreversibly so." He answered quick and short, his gaze returning almost entirely back to the one he had always worn: darkened eyes, lowered brow… bored, brooding and far too disagreeable. Better than everyone and absolutely certain of it.
There he is… Daenerys thought as she lightly scoff asking herself what she expected in the first place. She did know who he was when she agreed to this did she not?
"That is quite a pity… But I guess I should not be surprised should I? I do seem to recall you stating that you hardly ever forgave a thing. How unappeasable and deep your resentments lie… how your good opinion once lost," Dany locked her eyes on his tightly, now feeling annoyed at his disposition above all else; ending with a tone of bitterness below her calm silky purr. Realizing more and more how biased of a man he was... "was lost forever."
"It is true." Jon replied skeptically but also assuredly, the confession lined his words as he spoke close to her ear while they walk hand in hand down the line of couples.
"And… If I might ask then, would you consider yourself as one that was blinded by prejudice?" She was pointed in her question, turning in center as she look up at him with a fire in her eyes and voice, insinuating as she spoke... Referring to so much in such little words.
"I certainly hope not." His voice was flat, but you could hear the defensiveness peaking as his brows lowered and went darker; holding his gaze just as penetrating as hers had been.
"It seems to me that someone who never changes their opinion could not possibly be free of such defects. Could they not? Perhaps then, it lies more within your own faults, than in the faults of others." She didn't break his gaze once as she continued down the line, meaning every word she spoke all the while ignoring the soft shiver he sent her.
Jon stopped suddenly in the center of the dance, only inches from her face. The small gapes around them were heard by both, but neither acknowledged as Dany stoped just as quickly as he had. Her pulse elevated with each breath in as she dance between both burdened eyes before her, watching as he spoke. "Why do you ask such questions?"
"To judge your character, Mr. Snow." She returned suddenly still breathing closely to his chest, nearly a full head shorter.
Around them eyes were watching… It was not often that a couple stopped in the middle of a set, but those around did not seem to have been bothered and merely kept on around as the two spoke quietly in the center. The eyes and ears around eavesdropping as they make their synchronized laps around them.
"And…" His response was offered as quickly as she finished, and his amber was unblinking as he stare down, his voice was somewhere between pain and stubbornness. "What have you discovered?"
"Very little… I do not understand you at all." Daenerys paused still not moving from her post in the center of the set. Thinking on all she'd learned and all she'd seen in the short breaths before her… It was almost as if she'd been with two separate people this entire time. She swallowed deeply as she continued, quiet and under her breath gathering notice of the eyes around them. "There are such different accounts of you, Mr. Snow— with others and myself… I find myself exceedingly puzzled about your nature. The more I learn of you, the more I think I know nothing at all."
As Daenerys ended she saw his eyes and face soften, more delicate and kind than she had seen them before. Jon stepped forward towards her placing a hand on her side turning her into a spin and placing them back where they belong in the set as he whispered. "I hope to afford you more clarity in the future." The smoothness was so balletic it seemed he hadn't even noticed they stopped dancing.
When he finished a breeze of music engulfed them and in that moment the ardent prickle that ran through from their fingertips left them alone in the room… The ball at Netherfield was no longer shared with strangers or friends, there were no longer eyes scanning them suspiciously, or the promise of her departure...
It was only her and it was only him.
The soft violin singing in their ears as each footstep landed gently as if air carried them and in that privacy they were in perfect unison; breathless as they spin with eyes locked unwavering on each other with not the slightest concept of time.
