Mear
"W-would you... like to d-dance, Shupple?" I asked feeling a strange rolling of nervousness in my voice. The large amount of people had all but set me on edge, but I was trying increasingly to stay calm and collected through the entire manner.
Shupple seemed to convey a look of confusion for a moment, and impulsively, I put my hand up in a calm manner. Or rather as calm as one who is ready to bolt out of the room due to the sheer size of the crowd could be. Shupple just stared for a few seconds before seeming to register what I had said. By that time, I found that my face as starting to shift colors, and I was fighting off internal nerves to drop my hand just then and remain standing by the wall as if the entire incident had not even occurred. However, Shupple cut these thoughts as she nodded and took my hand. I blinked surprised for a moment that she had actually complied, and for a moment I was stunned about what should be done. After this small moment of confusion, I came back to my senses, and I slowly started to lead Shupple onto the dance floor.
My hands were nervous and seemed somewhat uncooperative, but as we turned to each other fully, we took each other’s hands gently and started to move slowly with the beat of the violins. As we started to move, my mind increasingly moved off to a question as to who was playing the music, but that was suddenly shoved off as Shupple seemed to make a strange movement. My eyes seemed to come into focus, and I realized that I hadn’t even noticed my vision had started to blur just a fraction.
I realized that Shupple had started to look up at me, and I found myself looking back down at her. She looked about as nervous about this entire scenario as I was, and I didn’t doubt that we were thinking along the same lines of manner. I was about to say something, but then Shupple cut me off and started talking first.
"D... do you want t-to head o-outside instead?" Shupple asked somewhat between a whisper and a normal voice.
I gave a quick nod thankful that Shupple had suggested it. We both started to move off the floor still swaying and not really walking until we came to the wall again. After that, we broke apart and headed towards the back door of the ball room.
It is indeed ironic that one who makes a mansion sometimes cannot remember what he built in the entire place. This effect was transgressing in my mind as I looked out to the deck that led off of the backroom of the ballroom. I honestly didn’t remember making it and yet decided to not worry about it for at least a certain fraction of time. It wasn’t time for my thoughts to move off so spontaneously.
Shupple moved her head back and seemed to be observing the clock. My eyes moved up as well and found that time had shifted approximately thirty three minutes. I suddenly remember that Shupple had said that she would only come for a little part of the dance, and I wondered if she was going to leave right then and there. However, this didn’t seem to be the case as she just turned around and then leaned on the railing looking out. I stepped forwards and leaned a fraction of my weight on the railing as well.
"Beautiful night..." Shupple commented somewhat surprising me. I hadn’t even started to think of what to say. “I used to play on nights like these, chasing my dad around the lawn behind our house and then tripping and falling, I ending up laughing in the end. It was so much fun back then with my parents..." Shupple half laughed before falling into silence.
“When the moon was out like this,” I started not even sure where I was going with this. However, my voice seemed to know internally. “I’d stay up late drawing it reflecting off the water in the lake where the smeargle colony I stayed in was. Several others did sometimes as well, but they were usually younger ones who would tell stories about what they would see and draw one day. I used to say I would draw the entire world onto canvas. However, I found you can’t draw everything in the world. Things change too fast….”
I felt somewhat of a sick feeling remembering leaving the colony. It had been a mix of a glorious day and a terrible one. My younger sister, Samantha, had begged me to stay to the point of tears, and yet the convictions of one bound and determined to draw the world caused me to disregard this and leave. I sighed more or less reflecting for a moment on this judgment but then shifted it aside.
“Things change in phases…. Like the moon,” Shupple answered not looking at me but out towards the moon. I let my eyes drift as well towards the white orb that dominated the sky.
“M…” was the only answer I returned with as I started to think on this elliptic nature of change.
“But... unlike the moon, they never really change back,” Shupple concluded. “No matter how much... you wish them to….”
I had no idea what to say. The statement was true, and yet I felt suddenly depressed by it. I had long since understood the concept that time was very flexible in direction, and yet this concluded that it was not flexible to any degree. Letting out a sigh, I dropped my gaze from the moon and looked back at Shupple. She seemed to feel my eyes and turned her head to meet them. We both exchanged peaceful looks.
“… thanks,” I said after a moment. Shupple seemed confused as to what I was actually saying, and I was suddenly set with a confusion of why I had said it. After a moment, I just released the design of logic in it and let my voice carry the undercurrent of thought that always seemed to run through my mind.
“For what?” Shupple asked.
“For coming to the dance,” I answered, and yet this answer didn’t seem to suffice for either of us. I was left with an odd feeling, and Shupple just nodded and turned her attention back to the sky line.
“Oh,” was her answered, and I found that she had started to reach up and brush hair in front of her face. “It… was… nothing….” Shupple said only a fraction louder than a whisper.
“I mean…” I said finding myself trailing off again into quiet.
“Thanks,” Shupple returned with.
“For…..?” I asked now being the confused one.
“Taking me to the dance,” Shupple answered, and with that I was left with only a tad more confusion than before.
“Oh…” I answered unsure of anything else to say, but before I could say more, Shupple put her finger up to her lips in a ‘shush’ manner, and I complied with this. The silence was overwhelmingly peaceful as we both just stared halfway at the moon and halfway at each other. The sounds of the dance behind us were mixing into the night air, and I found my hand rising up.
“Do you want… to dance… out here?” I asked my voice a little stronger than it was in the ballroom but still carrying a bit of nervousness.
Shupple said nothing, but took my hand again, and we started to move in the night air that seemed restless as it danced on its own to the music of the ballroom that it carried up into the night.
Lee
Kat and I stepped into the ballroom, and Kat seemed to relax more being actually in the room now. There were people already there, and there was some light dance already underway. A few people were off to the side that I had not yet met. It was somewhat of a stranger predicament than I had thought it would be, yet I kept a civil form and put a smile on my face. As I let my eyes move around the room, I found it very well furnished with reds, pinks, and whites. Very festive indeed.
"Would you like to dance?" Kat asked bringing my attention back. At first, I was about to protest dancing so early on, but after a moment of internal understanding that I should be far more courteous than this. I complied after that. Moving onto the dance floor, we started somewhat of a slow dance. I moved with an easy step, but I found Kat had somewhat of a different step. Starting to mimic this step instead, I found the dance flowed much better. Kat seemed somewhat nervous, and I wondered that maybe this was actually her first time going to a dance in this manner. Again the idea that she was young came to mind.
After a few more seconds, Kat had looked up at me, and I wondered if it was a form of habit to look up at people or if she was forcing herself to. Looking down, I found that she was turning a shade of red, and I put down an urge to say anything about the manner. When dancing, it was far more courteous to continue dancing with your partner than do anything else. The song ended, but we continued through the next dance rather complacently.
After the second song had ended, Kat and I moved off the dance floor and stepped off towards the wall where those either too tire or too nervous to enter a dance stood. Off to the right of those standing at the wall was a table full of entrees and sweets in the shapes that festively fit the day. I leaned a bit forwards and brought my right leg up just enough to bend at the knee. It was more of a relaxed pose for me rather than anything else. My eyes moved off to the table of food again.
“Would you like a refreshment or maybe a beverage?” I asked Kat who took this notion over well enough and happily answered yes.
I moved over to the table of food and prepared a glass of the pink punch that was lapping up in a large bowl towards the middle of the table. After this, I also retrieved some lemon square. Believing that this was enough for now, I stepped back and bumped into someone.
“Excuse me,” I said in calm manner hoping that I had not disgruntled the person completely.
Taking a side step, I moved away only to find the floor was slick. Unlike when I didn’t wear shoes, I was unable to keep traction with sandals and slipped. The food and, in almost a projectile method, jumped from its plate and up into the air as I did just the reverse. Reacting quickly, I locked my knees and was able to gain traction again. Moving my arm with a sudden sharp move, I caught the lemon squares that were plummeting to the ground, and with the other arm, I was able to recapture the pink punch that had escaped its cup.
Standing there obscurely with my back almost parallel with the floor holding the drink and food that I had nearly spilled, I hovered a moment before carefully standing back up again. My eyes moved down to the floor where a mixture of pink punch and some fizzy drink had spilled onto the floor causing my near fall to begin with. Careful to step around this, I moved back to Kat with the refreshments.
“Why thank you,” Kat said obviously pleased that I had returned with the refreshments and taking one of the lemon squares from the plate I was still holding and then taking the cup I held out to her.
I repressed a breath that had worked its way up in me from the previous moments and then let it out slowly again.
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I really didn't know what else to say lol. The dance has started!
Mear
Lee
KC
