Midnight Wonders

6.0.5. Midnight

It was almost midnight. Cora pushed through the crowd, shaking her head at dancers who approached, and ran to Tristan as he turned under the sparkling lights, a shining beacon. His face lit up too, and he was beautiful.

"Cora!" He ran and and met her in the middle, taking her by the arm to steady her. "You look lovely."

"Thank you," she said. "And so do you!" He did. Even with the mask. It was unfamiliar look, especially compared to her standards of attraction outside (which she didn't even really know, and maybe they weren't even her standards), but he looked exactly as she might have imagined a prince. Which he was. But somehow so much more and less. "Do I get to keep this dress forever when we get back home?" she said. "Does that count as stealing?"

"I think you've given enough," Tristan said. "Yes, you can keep it. You haven't anything else to wear."

"Oh, wonderful!" Cora said, twirling in it. "I feel like Cinderella. Do you know who that is?"

"No, but you can tell me."

"We can watch the—" Cora paused. "Wait." It occurred to her that Tristan wasn't coming with. He was going to be here, and Cora was going to be outside, and then she was going to be awake while Luc was at work and she would have to watch Cinderella by herself.

"Are you dancing or can I steal you?" A woman ran up to them, skirts just as whirly and twirly as Cora's. She looked eager to reach for either Cora's or Tristan's hand.

"Oh—we're dancing!" said Cora. "Sorry. Maybe later!"

"Later?" said the woman. "There's no time for later!" She laughed and ran off to find someone else.

"You can be real-life Prince Charming," said Cora as Tristan took her hands, drawing her in to dance. "I'm real-life Cinderella, except I can't talk to animals and I don't have evil stepsisters, and I could never be that nice to put up with them. I know you don't know what I'm talking about, but just pretend you do."

"Of course," Tristan said pleasantly. "I always know what you're talking about."

The lights were dimming. It happened slowly as they danced. Cora hardly noticed it. Tristan's grip on her was firm—not harsh; there was a gentleness to it. He was careful with her. And he held her like he didn't want to let go.

This was all incredibly foreign and incredibly familiar at once. Cora figured she shouldn't have been surprised by it, all things considered, but the feeling was still strange and at this point she had to accept that it was strange.

She supposed the most foreign part about it was that she was around so many people. Even within the Yew she'd mostly only ever been around Lavinia, and Opellia, and Tulla (she could see the latter two twirling off in the near distance, their sashes a bright streak of color amongst all the white and dulling gray of the rest of the world as it darkened). And Symphora. Outside, before Emma had come around, it had been only Luc for years. And sometimes Mr. Jacobs had come and visited her with Catherine, but everyone had things to do and places to be, and Cora was just...at home. In her room, really, because she had been likely to fall asleep as soon as she got out of bed.

The lights continued to dim, and Cora saw around them partners changing hands. It almost seemed choreographed, how smoothly everyone did it. But it became clear it wasn't when a whirling couple came around and bumped into them—into Tristan, and quite intentionally. They collided again after a moment despite Tristan trying to lead himself and Cora away.

"Switch!" one of them hissed. "You've been hoarding her since we started!"

"I can't hoard her, she's a person," said Tristan. "And she doesn't want to switch. Do you?" Cora shook her head vehemently.