Summary: Nico, Maki, and Nozomi attend a ballet performance by Eli. With NicoMaki conversations bookending the night.

Maki had never been in the Communications Residential College before. Nico had a single, but claimed to spend most of her time in the common areas, especially the lounge where she'd left Maki to make a quick change for the ballet they were attending. A student watched Maki over the top of his laptop as she paced the small lounge.

"You're with Nico?"

"Ummm…we're going to the ballet together..she told me to meet her here…"

He pointed to the wall behind Maki, cutting off her flood of things he wasn't going to remember. "I just didn't see you on the schedule."

Schedule? Maki turned to see a large whiteboard, the week laid out in a grid, with two other grids to the left, Goncharov and Waa-Mu, days and hours marked. Every space was filled, details with arrows linking projects and classes.

"You don't know me. How could you see my name?"

"The Nicoboard says nothing about dating. Ever."

Before Maki could say anything else about any topic, Nico continued, pushing into Berk's space.

"Nico will be saying nothing at all to you in the future, Berk, if you don't stop harassing Nico's guests."

"Just a reminder, there's a betting pool on who you'll date, with side bets for orientation." Berk smirked.

"Nico is a workaholic so Nico will be collecting the pot at the end of the year."

"You're too cheap to gamble."

Nico huffed, "Who do you think started the pool?"

Maki had started speaking before Nico's latest comment, "I'm a-spec."

Berk took a moment to check her out, "Figures. Staying in the safe zone, eh, Yazawa. No tasty temptations."

"Nico is going to start a book on how soon you take a plunge off the roof, Berk." WIth a kick that shook the table his laptop was propped on, Nico spun. Maki was leaning in, reading the entries.

"I'm not on here."

"Told you." Berk muttered.

"Nico is updating. This was last minute."

"We planned it last week."

"Nico only posts work related things."

Maki pointed to "meet Umi and Kotori for breakfast."

"We were talking costumes."

"Hmmmpphh." Maki's arms were crossed.

"C'mon, Maki. We're going to be late. You don't want Nozomi speculating on why we were late."

"Ha! I know that one." Maki looked too pleased with herself, "Nico couldn't stop talking about Nico."

Nico grimaced, dragging a surprisingly solid Maki out of the room as Berk took a pic to post on TWIG.

BerkBlerd: Is this THE No1Nico torturing an actual date? Wrong captions only.

###

Nozomi was dressier than either Nico or Maki and seemed nervous.

"You're late."

Nico glanced at her phone, "There's ten minutes."

"It's open seating. We're going to be stuck in the back rows. You know I wanted to be early, Nico."

Maki had pulled out her ticket from an inside jacket pocket, ready to hand it to the usher. Nico slid hers out from the back of her phone. Nozomi fumbled in an oversized bag.

"Calm down, calm down. It's fine. Eli won't know when you sat down. Or where."

Nozomi took a deep breath, smiling at Maki.

"Hi, Maki. Thank you for making sure Nico made it before curtain."

Maki tilted her head and chuckled, "She does talk to strangers a concerning amount."

"Berk wasn't a stranger and Nico dragged you out of there." Nico stomped to the entrance, "Plus, Nico is building her brand 24/7. All hard work."

"No one should do anything 24/7." Maki followed. "How are you not exhausted?"

"She is." Nozomi whispered, too near Maki's ear for Maki not to jump, "She doesn't ever stop to notice."

"Huh."

Nico led them to a bank of seats on the right, in the second row, close to the stage, bit maybe some sight line issues, but Nico figured Nozomi would prefer proximity. The stage was set with three columns, a matching marbled bench set up stage left.

"George Balanchine. Nice." Maki was reading the program while Nico searched the audience for familiar faces and Nozomi looked for any sign of Eli.

"Not much overlap between dance and theatre audiences." Nico grumped.

"This is just a class showcase, Nico. Probably mostly friends."

"Balanchine would draw out dance aficionados, but he doesn't really cross into musical theatre."

"Balanchine? Is he the composer?" Nico asked.

"The choreographer. Igor Stravinsky is the composer for Apollo."

"Eli's dancing as a muse. Terpsichore, music, choral song and dance. She's so serious." Nozomi swooned in her seat, "It's so cute."

"This is about young Apollo, choosing between three muses for inspiration." Maki pointed out the summary in the program for Nico.

"Have you seen it before?"

Maki nodded. "It gets revived a lot. It was a groundbreaking piece in the 60's. Very modern, yet still classical in every resonance." She nudged Nico, "The heel shuffles are fun."

"Heel shuffles?" Nico had only mental pictures of ballerinas on their toes, arms swooping swan wings to the ceiling.

"You'll see."

The lights darkened, Nozomi shifted forward in her seat. When the lights returned, Eli was leaning against a pillar, her white tunic a blaze of purity, her hair glowing like it had been painted with liquid gold.

"Gorge." Nozomi breathed out, eyes wide.

Nico sat up, ready to catch the heel shuffles, whatever they were. Maki settled back, ready to be absorbed in the increasing complexities of Stravinksy's French influenced dynamic strings.

###

Nozomi pulled out a small flower.

"What's that?" Nico made a grab. "Not the traditional rose? Or bouquet?"

Nozomi pulled it back to her bosom, protectively. "It's a hairclip. Eli showed me how to make them."

Nico turned to Maki, "Bury Nico in flowers."

Maki frowned, "At your funeral?"

"Opening night, Waa-Mu."

"O-kay."

Nico rolled her eyes and turned back to Nozomi, "Going bespoke, huh. Classy. You'll impress her."

"I don't understand." Maki ran her fingers through her hair, hitting a tangle, "I thought you just wanted to be buried in flowers."

Nico waved away Maki's comment, "That's to impress everyone else."

"Nozomi. You came." Eli appeared from behind a column, only slightly less Greek goddess looking in a green turtleneck and tan skirt, hair still in a tight bun. "Hi Nico, Maki. Thanks for coming."

Nozomi stepped up to Eli, presenting the hairclip, "You were breathtaking. Everyone's attention stayed on you. I couldn't look away."

Eli took the hairclip carefully, delicately, like it was a living thing, "This is beautiful. Thank you." Eli fluttered her eyelashes, "Thank you so much."

"Not as dusty as Nico expected. You could have done some of that with tap shoes." Nico demonstrated a move, connecting with the floor solidly enough to make a noise.

"Balanchine will haunt you." Then, Maki bowed, "You were amazing. And that lift. You really seemed as light and strong as wings, ready to lift Apollo."

Eli blushed, "Geoff did most of the work."

"Lifts are both dancers, Eli-chi. You were what freed Apollo." Nozomi leaned in, her arm on Eli's, "I would have loved to see what you did with Apollo yourself."

Eli chuckled and patted her abs, "I'll have to spend some more time working on my core."

"I could use a workout partner. But we can talk about that later." Nozomi made a move to put her coat on, "Can I buy you something decadent as a reward after that? A parfait?"

"I am hungry." Eli considered, "It does sound sweet."

Nico groaned, "Nico has an early rehearsal so I won't be joining you."

"You weren't invited." Nozomi grimaced.

Nico saluted Eli with her signature gesture. "Nico Ni. Nico will see you at the dress fitting Sunday."

"That sounds good, Nico. Thanks again for coming."

"Nico enjoyed it. It's good to know about all the arts. Someday Nico might have to play a ballerina." Nico swatted Nozomi, "Text me later."

"Maybe."

Nico glanced back at Maki, who was staring at the stage, still hearing the music. "Coming? Nico has time to walk you home."

"I'm walking you home."

"Either way Nico needs the workout after sitting through 3 hours of other people's dancing."

Maki nodded, restless as well.

###

Maki's steps were slow, her head tilted up, her eyes on the stars. Only a sliver of a moon so the stars spread out to infinity over the darkness of the lake. Nico could almost see their individual colors sparkle when she glanced away from Maki's stunning profile.

"Do you have a favorite constellation?" Maki wondered.

"No. Nico just likes the general view. Although I can find the dippers."

"Eli's dancing almost seemed fitting to be a constellation, especially when she stretched out as Apollo's wings." Maki stepped into the movement, arms wide.

"Are there a lot of winged constellations?"

"Not really. Pegasus. Cygnus the Swan. But they're not visible here. There's Orion, see the three stars in the belt." Maki had stopped, near enough to Nico that they were touching, her arm pointing.

"Oh yeah. So arms and legs too."

Maki laughed, "Roughly. I've always been fascinated by the stars. And the planets. I've gotten some great shots of Saturn's rings. Well, not Cassini or Webb telescope level, but pretty good for my telescope and a camera."

Nico wasn't exactly sure of some of the specifics of what Maki was saying, but humming along occasionally seemed to keep the redhead happy while Nico made a mental note to read up on astronomy. Nico let silence linger long enough so she was sure not to interrupt Maki.

"Nico's very private." Nico announced as they started walking again.

"Sure."

"It's preparation for when Nico is a super ultra famous, EGOT, number one actress in the universe. Nico Ni is for everyone, but me, Yazawa Nico, has a private life. My siblings, my mom, the people I care about."

Maki was obviously listening and choosing her words carefully, "That makes sense."

"You understand Nico." Nico dared sliding an arm through Maki's, pulling her in a little closer, "Nico likes that about you. Maki's a great composer and Nico loves working with you on Goncharov, but Nico sees Maki more as offstage Nico people."

Maki stopped, turning to meet Nico's eyes with a hopeful glance, "What do you mean?"

"Nico doesn't want Berk and everyone who wanders through the lounge to know about things like our lunch date tomorrow."

"Do we have a lunch date?"

"Nico is meeting you at Norris with a bento."

Maki shuffled her feet, "Nico…I…that sounds amazing but…"

"You like to talk to Nico."

"Yes."

"Nico likes to talk to you."

"Good."

"So we don't have to worry about what we call things."

Maki's half smile was impish. "And you don't lose your betting pool money."

Nico shoved Maki back as the redhead roared with laughter. "Nico wasn't thinking about that. At all. Nico was not being pushy. Not pressuring Maki."

"But Nico is pushy."

Nico inhaled, closing her eyes, counting to ten. "Nico is being thoughtful. Maki could try it."

"Nah."

"Oh you…" Nico stomped ahead, then turned, arms flying out. "Anyway, what Nico is TRYING to say is that Maki won't find her name written on the Nicoboard, but if Maki is NICER to Nico, Nico might write in something like 'stargazing' so Maki sees it and knows that their time together matters to Nico."

"So stargazing. For lunch."

"Yes."

"People will read it and be confused."

"Nico doesn't care. Maki will read it and know."

"They'll think you're crazy."

"Whimsical and cute. And Nico still doesn't care."

"You're silly."

"Nico is a genius."

Maki nodded, biting her lower lip, before sliding her arm in next to Nico and letting the shorter woman pull her along, "Nico is a star."

"So we're a constellation."

Maki dropped Nico's arm, spinning suddenly, giddy, eyes on the stars again. "I want coffee. Do you want coffee?"

"Decaf." Nico watched Maki, amused.

"Let's go to my place. You can stay if you want."

"Nico gets the couch?"

"We have guest rooms."

"Nico gets the couch."

"Sure." Maki's grin was bright enough for a sprawling nebula. "Nico can have all the couches. But on the inventory Nicoboard, you'll probably call them benches."

"You're learning."

"Yep."

"Smart and pretty. Nico picks good…friends."

"You just like my benches."

"Less talking, Star Girl, faster walking. Nico is freezing."

"Race you." A switch had flipped in Maki.

"Are you ten?"

"Chicken?"

"Nico is not straining an ankle 'cause you mainlined adrenaline somewhere."

"You said faster." Maki turned, stuck out her tongue, then started power walking, making Nico hurry to catch up. "See, you can do it."

"Nico can do anything Nico wants."

Maki decided to wink, causing her to trip, and stumble fall into Nico, who managed to keep them both upright.

"But Nico does not want to take you for x-rays tonight."

Keeping a firm grip on the embarrassed Maki's arm, Nico steered them home.

A/N: Been tired and sick, but miss writing. Hope your Spring is what you need.

Classical was last week's Femslash Friday prompt on Tumblr.