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Fiction Main
notes: Frost's First Fic Ever. Hetcest if you squint.
three-four
by Frostfire
River...dreams. Watching, around and around and around, count the steps and you learn the dance. One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, watch and count but you can't look, can't look. "Waltz," she whispers, awake. "A ballroom dance in triple time, with a strong accent on the first beat."
Simon smiles at her from the doorway. He hasn't been watching, he doesn't know. "Good morning, mei mei. Who have you been waltzing with? Were you and Kaylee playing again?"
He's right, but he's not right. The human mind is incapable of believing two simultaneous concepts which, in existing, create a paradox. But she isn't human anymore, she's broken. Two left feet. "I danced. Kaylee didn't. She was frightened." Curled up, no feet at all, and even with two left feet River knows how to waltz. "One-two-three, one-two-three." Bang, bang, bang. Can't look.
Simon frowns. "Did you have a bad dream?"
Sudden, brief anger. He never understands, and she can't tell him. He doesn't hear the music. "It's over," she says. "One-two-three, and I turned the music off."
He takes her hand, entwines their fingers. She studies the tangle. "Were you dreaming about dancing?" She feels the smile, and turns her face up to the sudden warmth. "Do you feel like dancing? I'm no match for the family prima donna, but I think I could manage a waltz..."
"No." She yanks her hand away. Can't waltz with Simon, never never never, one-two-three, one-two-three, "There's only one of you," she says. "Only one. Only one. I turned the music off, and there has to be three, anyway. Triple time." Understand, Simon. Understand.
"Mei mei--I'm sorry, I--" He reaches out.
Offering his hand to a lady. He should know she has two left feet, and she'll step on him. She ducks the hand and runs, careful to keep her steps off the beat.
=fin=
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