The Dance

by Jaded-Night

Section One

At first she wanted to decline the offer - after all it would be a long night for something she had to go to alone, practically. She knew Cecil a little, but really not enough to assume she would have any amount of fun with him. He was nice and had a good personality, but, she had a feeling he would be off socializing with everyone else and she'd be left watching a ton of gorgeous hunters and shifters enjoying themselves while she sat out, the lonely human. She didn't know who was in good relation with Cyan's family; she knew the Soleils could possibly be there, but, aside from that, it was a complete mystery. She didn't even know Cyan's family completely - his parents were a mystery and both his sister and him weren't going to be able to make it due to hunter jobs elsewhere.

Of course Cyan had told her this in advance, though he was rather short about the whole thing to begin with - a dance in his family's honor was nothing more than a waste of effort to him. He figured they'd already made their name with their impressive abilities and records, there was no need to flaunt with an over the top party.

She agreed, somewhat. They were already plenty impressive and she didn't understand what the point of a party was, especially when their two better hunters couldn't even make it anyway. Still, she took the invitation from Cecil, Cyan's younger brother, as a sign of respect which she didn't receive much of from hunters or shifters. In this, she decided she had to go.

When she got there it wasn't exactly as she had expected - it was her first time going to Cyan's actual home, and really she expected something huge. It wasn't huge, the house, anyway. The property seemed to sprawl out for a long way with no neighbors, the dance was inside, but a lot of people seemed to enjoy the outdoor section. She was a bit confused where to go. No one looked familiar to her at all and she wanted to duck away in her car before she finally saw Cecil approaching her.

"Hey," he said, "I've been waiting for you. Are you humans always so late?" He asked. He grinned. He knew very well she got a lot of disapproval for being human - it wasn't exactly a strong creature to be amongst hunters and shifters, and she was the only one that was ever around them. He also knew she would accept his trash talking as a simple gesture of amusement.

"Only the girls," she said. She smiled at him. He reminded her of Cyan in a lot of ways - they didn't look any different in age. Hunters, like shifters, didn't age as fast as humans so the few years between them wouldn't mean much. He had the same golden-brown eyes she loved so much, it made her sort of sad to look at him knowing Cyan was off hundreds of miles away and wouldn't be back for a long time.

"Well, you can look around the house all you want," he said, " I know Cyan was too rude to ever bring you here, but, you can tell which room is his right away, I assure you. Him with his outdated weaponry and all."

"Haha, ok," she said. She could tell she was getting in the way of his prior focuses.

"Remus is around here somewhere, he was excited to know you were coming," Cecil said, sensing her unease.

"Alright, I'll try to find him."

"He'll find you sooner or later," Cecil assured her. He gave her a smile and a nod before wandering off. It didn't surprise her he didn't really pay much attention to her. It was amazing as it was that Cyan did. Their loyalties were supposed to lay with Shifters, but, Cyan was the odd one. The only one that she had ever found, really. Of course in prior meetings with Cecil he had been a lot nicer, but, she had a feeling that was because of Cyan.

Feeling as lonely as she had first assumed she would feel, she wandered into the house doing exactly what Cecil had suggested. She didn't know where she was going, but, eventually when she opened a door she not only found what was clearly Cyan's room, but, she found Remus sitting on the end of the bed.

"It's quite interesting the stuff he has," Remus said, "isn't it?"

"Honestly I didn't even look since I just walked in the door," she said. She felt a lot more relaxed around him. He was like Crevan in a lot of ways - he didn't hate one creature to the next because of what they were. On the other hand, though, he was very outgoing and much more personable than Crevan. He was easily a safety net for her in this place.

"Well, you better look fast because I have a surprise waiting for you."

"A surprise?" She asked, glancing around the room. She didn't really want someone to be in there. She had a feeling if she laid on Cyan's bed she would smell him. That's what she really wanted, at first, but now Remus had her interest.

"Of course. Mean Cyan left you here to go to his family's party but you have no real date, though I would happily chance it for one day if my parents weren't here to disapprove. So, I made sure I brought something to keep you occupied and happy for the night. You are far too gorgeous to go without someone to admire you." He said. He gave a lopsided smile as she blushed. She was looking exceptionally well. She didn't want to put much effort into her looks at first - after all, there was no one to impress. Then she realized she probably should show up looking her best, just in case Cyan's family was wanting to judge her, though, she didn't see anyone other than Cecil so far that looked like they were related to him anyway.

"Someone?" She questioned. As interesting as Cyan's room was with instruments and old bows and arrows with some personal value to them, she was sure, she would have rather had him there to talk to her about what it all meant.

"Yes. You done? I can hardly contain myself."

"Yes, I can be done." She laughed. He hopped off the bed. He was quite different from the Nights. In fact, he was completely different. His short, tousled sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes weren't at all like the Night clan. They were almost like two completely different species, the two families.

"Good! I assure you, you won't be disappointed at all."


Section Two


Aiden twirled the old gun around in his hands as he stared at Wolf, who was staring at him with a death glare that would have made normal people shudder and run. But, Aiden had something to keep himself safe, so, the grin on his face was secure.

"So, you understand our arrangement?" Aiden asked. "Remus has given me the go ahead, she's here! You should smi~le."

"I will do no such course of action," he said. His stern expression wasn't unraveling in the least. Aiden was a bit disappointed in this.

"You will, at least when you leave this room or your precious gun goes poof. I will be waiting to see you actually smile. Can you even muster one up?" He stretched and stood up. Today he was dressed up a lot more than he would have been had he been at one of his families gatherings, but, he had to be if he wished to stay hidden amongst them all. Of course his scent would be way off, so he simply borrowed Remus's clothes to cover up his scent as much as possible. His normally silver eyes were covered with green contacts - a color off enough from his eye color that it would completely throw people off.

Wolf didn't respond, he had no need to. Aiden knew he was annoying him.

"Oh, and, don't forget you must listen to everything I say. One wrong move and I will destroy this old thing. Well, I won't, but I'll give the signal for it to be destroyed." He grinned again and handed the gun off to Aimee, who didn't think what he was doing was wise or necessary, but gladly obeyed him.

"The good thing is, if you do listen, you can have it back and flee like you always do. Though, who knows, maybe a little of my therapy and you will love the girl, hmm?"

"That is a far off assumption that will clearly not occur in this childish evening you have planned."

"Maybe. Maybe not. You know what would be really fun? I could tape the whole thing and leave it on Cyan's bed for his return home. I just might if you continue arguing with me. Only reason I wouldn't is because my dear brother would sadly disapprove of such meanness toward Cyan."

Aiden walked to the door. "Now then, I guess your date is ready. I will be watching from somewhere in the room, queuing you along since you clearly need the help."

He opened the door and motioned Wolf to go through it. Wolf did as instructed, which pleased Aiden. It looked as though he really would do anything for that silly old gun.


Section Three


Reina joined Remus as he escorted her to the main room. It was rather packed with people - or shifters, she assumed - though most of them were in casual conversations rather than dancing to the rather upbeat song of the moment. It was loud inside, though. Reina much preferred Cyan's room where she could hide away from all the people she had been hoping to avoid.

She was curious, though, and Remus wouldn't allow her to hide anyway. He had his hand on her back as he eased her into the room.

"They should be here any moment," he said. Reina looked at him steadily until his eyes grew excited. "Ah-ha! There he is, right on time. What a gentleman."

"Who?" She asked. She wasn't sure who he was so excited about, she didn't know anyone he knew, hardly anyway, so why he had made her go along with him was beyond her. Looking in the direction he was glancing, however, it was easy to spot who he was talking about. "What? Why is he here?" She asked, backing up a couple of steps. She had a feeling a lecture would ensue based on what she was wearing - Wolf would make the whole thing even worse, she was certain since he had a way of doing that no matter the situation.

"To see you," Remus said in a sing-song voice. "Aren't you lucky?"

"Uh, probably not?"

"I promise he actually is here for you, see, I found you a date so you wouldn't be all lonely!"

"A date?" She laughed. "He'd rip your head off if he heard you say that."

"You'll see, but you won't see standing around here talking to me," he said, putting an arm around her to drag her forward. Wolf seemed pretty level when they approached, though Reina had a feeling he wasn't happy, as usual. He barely glanced at her before looking away. Then he looked back at her and gave her a nod.

"Reina," he said. Something seemed off - maybe it was him attempting to be nice, but why?

"Hey," she said, trying to figure out what was going on. Did they pay him? She doubted he would do this for money, he was already full of money anyway, she was certain. She didn't even know where they had found him or how they had gotten his attention to do anything, as far as she knew, he was trying to avoid anyone associated with her.

"May I escort you to a dance?" He asked, holding an arm out to her. She just stared at him, uncertain of his motives.

"Uh..."

"Oh stop being bashful," Remus said, giving her a good push into Wolf. She stumbled and her hands landed on him to catch her fall. Wolf didn't back up or run away or get angry like he normally would have, maybe that was because it wasn't her fault. Then again he didn't blow up at Remus, either.

"You two have fun," Remus said with a small wave. Reina backed off from Wolf again, she could feel her face flush red.

"Sorry," she said, "I'm not sure what's going on but you don't have to do this for whatever reason it is."

"I insist," he said. That was too short of a phrase for Wolf. Something is up.

"Why?" Of course, she wanted to take his offer, had it been legitimate she would have without hesitation, but it was quite clear every action he made was rigid and forced. "You're a bad actor, you know."

"Can I not ask you for a simple dance?"

"You aren't even talking right," she mumbled. "But sure, if you insist so much I guess I will torture you and agree." She hooked her arm around his. At least now she had something to occupy her time, though the whole thing was rather bizarre. She wasn't certain Cyan's family would even invite Wolf, so again, she was confused on how he even got in. They were getting some strange looks even, though that probably had less to do with who Wolf was and more to do with his strange hair.

She couldn't deny he could actually dance once they got moving, though, in fact she was surprised.

"Who would have thought you could dance," she said, "considering you hate touching people."

"At one point in time such an activity was plausible in certain situations," he said. He suddenly pulled her in a little closer.

"Uh..." she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She wasn't sure what she was allowed to do, either, before he would blow up at her and assume the worst of her. He felt awkward, though, like he really didn't want to be there. She wanted him to want it, though. She almost felt as though he cared for her, but at the same time she could feel his disapproval of the situation. She wasn't looking at his face but she was certain he was frowning. "You can stop," she said, "I can tell you really don't want to be doing this."

"Stop making such accusations," he said. His voice was calm, but stiff. Everything he was doing seemed so forced she wondered why he even bothered trying to put on a show.

"It's just... if I'm going to spend time with someone doing something like this, well... it makes more sense to do so with someone who actually wants it. Never in a million years would you want it and yet here you are." She noticed the music had turned to something slow. She felt sort of embarrassed when her and Wolf stayed out there dancing and a good majority of the others left. She assumed it was all couples - a quick glance behind Wolf didn't help her determine such, though, she didn't recognize anyone there. At least none of them knew her or Wolf, either, for the most part.

"Can you not just be satisfied?" He asked. There a bit of his disapproval came across, perhaps he was using it as a way to let some of it out, yet still keep up the act that he was actually trying to act interested in her.

"Fine," she said. If he's going to play this game, then I'll play too.

She stepped in closer yet to Wolf, at this point every movement they made forced them to brush against each other. Deciding to press her luck, Reina leaned her head against Wolf's shoulder as they danced. Closing her eyes she could at least imagine it was real, not a staged effort, but something meaningful. She really wished it was - it was sort of mean for him to toy with her.

But she liked being close to him. The music and everything was so peaceful she forgot about his odd behavior for a little while. She relaxed into him and it felt natural to be there, something she never expected while being with Wolf. Maybe it was the fact that he actually knew how to dance, that not the whole thing was fake, that gave her just enough to feel this way.

"I will do no such thing," Wolf randomly said under his breath. Reina snapped out of the daydream and looked up at him.

"Huh? What such thing?"

"Nothing," he said shortly. Now he was getting angry as she had expected him to be from the start.

"You're talking to voices in your head or something," she said, "I'd say that's a little more than nothing."

He frowned at her, but kept quiet.

"Well at least now you are Wolf enough to frown, though I'm waiting on the angry lecture still. Though I guess this was your idea, wasn't it? So you really have nothing to lecture about."

"The fact that you could not follow my lead and had to continually move your person closer to mine was unnecessary," he said.

She sighed. "You started it."

"I went as far as necessary."

"Necessary for what? Are you on some "get Reina excited that I might actually have a heart but I really don't" mission? Why?"

"The questions you ask are also unnecessary," he said, "if you would just follow my lead we could perhaps finish this with no further injustice to either of ourselves."

"Maybe I don't want to follow your lead," she said, attempting to leave him. He held onto her, though, not allowing it. "Really?" She said.

"Can you not merely follow directions for this one request?" He said. Again he frowned, and she wasn't sure if it was her or not, it seemed like he was off in his own world again. She gave him a questioning look. What is wrong with him?

"I must do something of my least desire," he said, "and I apologize for unjustly doing such a thing to you as I'm about to, however, I do have validation I cannot speak of in the moment."

She was certain by now her face was just going to remain in a puzzled expression. What is he planning to...

He suddenly brushed his hand along the side of her face, pushing a stray piece of hair away, his hand staying on the side of her face. It was cold against her skin, but she was too confused to care. What...

Leaning in he pressed his lips against her. It was probably incredibly brief but it felt like something that lasted a while, something she enjoyed and wanted to keep lasting. She wasn't sure why she enjoyed it, or where it came from, or what on earth was wrong with him; it just felt... like something. She wasn't even sure of that. Nothing was making sense and before she could react to him he was already pulling away.

Reina just stared at him. She was certain her eyes were wide and she probably looked like an idiot. She was thankful when she heard laughing approaching them, it made her snap back to reality. When she looked at the source she realized it was Aiden. He was the first thing she noticed, the second was the gun he had in his hands.

"Are you kidding me?" She said, easily piecing it together. Of course... he would do anything for that stupid old gun. "I thought maybe..."

"As I said prior to that vile act I had to pursue, I am sorry for taking such actions." He said, immediately stepping away from her to reclaim his gun.

"Wow, you really are heartless. Leave the poor girl after you lead her on to believe maybe you could love." Aiden said, stopping his laughing to taunt Wolf, and, offhandedly, Reina. Wolf ignored him, leaving just as quickly as it seemed he had joined her.

Reina felt like something had broken inside her; a small bit of hope, perhaps? Why would she hope for someone like him?

"I am sorry, human, I just had to get some entertainment for the night and you're as vulnerable as ever," Aiden said. He grinned at her before leaving as well.

She watched him leave, only half conscious of him leaving at all. She had known all along it had been Wolf merely going along with some agenda but why would his stupid gun matter more than her feelings?

I'll have to get him back... someday. She thought, sighing as she found a place to sit down, somewhat hoping she'd find someone to get entertained by in the same way Aiden had gotten off her.