Quiet Backstage: A Series of Lippa Oneshots

Empire

"Five, and six, and seven, and eight." Lin clapped to the beat of the song that wasn't playing at the moment, but he groaned in frustration before starting his next eight count. "You guys aren't getting it!"

The six dancers in front of Lin stopped their movement and stood, staring at Lin.

"It is tombe, pas de bouree, royale, royale, prep, triple, land, turn out of it, land in tendu quaze devant." Lin repeated the steps to the girls. "Do it again." Lin stood with his arms crossed and watched as the dancers still execute the steps wrong.

The girls stopped and waited for their teacher's approval. Lin simply crossed his arms and started stuffing papers back into his binder. He slowly started exiting the studio.

All six dancers faced the door, waiting for Lin to return. He didn't.

"Ladies?" Another one of the studio's choreographers, Pippa, came into the room. "Is everyone alright in here? I heard the door slam, is everyone okay?"

All six girls nodded. "Is Lin mad at us?" A young dancer named Caroline asked.

Pippa anxiously bit her lip and looked over her shoulder, searching for Lin. "Do you want me to go check, Loves?" The dancers nodded. "Alright. There's water in the fridge, yeah? Relax for a bit." Pippa quietly closed the door, and went looking for Lin.

She found Lin in his office, typing away at his computer. "What?" He asked, hearing the door squeak open.

"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Pippa slammed the door shut. "You have six dancers in there that are terrified that you hate them now! What are you doing?"

"I needed a moment, so I'm taking one." Lin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I feel like those girls don't want me yelling, so they better appreciate this moment apart."

Pippa sighed, sitting across from Lin at his desk. "Lin, I love you, you know that. And I know that in your head, you're building an empire. You need to not look at the empire, you need to look at the bricks. Those girls are the bricks that are building your empire."

Lin took his glasses off and lowered them to the desk. He ran a hand over his head and stared at Pippa, completely tuned into what she was saying.

"Can you build a castle with broken bricks?"

"No..." Lin trailed off.

"Exactly. Don't focus on the empire right now. Start small."

~~~~~

Guys, I've been competing and rehearsing all weekend. I'm possibly injured, so we love that.

I had this thought for a really long time about an AU about Lin being a choreographer at a studio and I don't know, guys, but here we are.

Anyway, hope you all liked it.

Lots of love xx