The Glass Scientists micro-fanfictions

The Dance

Gentle music filtered through the air, perfectly civil chatter raised just a little above it so the speaker could be heard above the general din. Each and every one in the room were accustomed to this, it had long since become a routine for them, playing a part that was expected of them. Conversations flowed in the same way every time, and yet each party behaved as though the dusty dialogue was fresh and unfamiliar. It was maddeningly tedious, but it was simply a fact of life and so all that mattered was that the smiles seemed genuine and the tone of voice sounded perfectly pleasant.

Drifting out of a dying conversation, Emma was feeling exceptionally bored. She looked lovely, that was for sure. Dressed in an elegant gown of blues of various hues, a necklace of silver and sapphire twinkling alongside the earring of a matching design, the palest blue gloves clasped in her front as she walked, her golden blonde hair bobbing as she moved. But for all the glamour, it was all very tedious. She knew she was expected to be there, expected to be polite and courteous, smiling at those her father said were deemed worthy of smile.

It was dreadful!

It had gotten to the point where she was practically begging for something to break the monotony of the grandiose lifestyle that she was equal parts blessed and cursed with! It was practically madness, and she hated it! She wanted to be grateful, she knew that she was lucky to walk among the very best of society, but by god were they dull!

A hand took hers before she had even realised that one was close enough to realise that anyone was close enough to reach her.

"May I?" asked a woman she'd never seen before, inviting her to dance.

The stranger was dressed in the scandalous scarlet that she'd long since associated with sin and shadows, feathers bouncing and bobbing as they twirled about. She radiated a confidence about her, an aura that shone from her in an almost hypnotic way. The smile that curled up her lips was earnest, rich with a blood red and shining in a way that seemed to promise a sort of danger that Emma didn't understand but was delighted and mesmerised by.

As the two whirled and twirled, two nameless strangers existing in a world of their own at that moment, unaware of anyone else on the floor as red and blue spun into a royal purple, it felt as though time had slowed yet raced at the same time. Not once could Emma find herself capable of dragging her eyes from the other, something mysterious behind the other's eyes that she wished to understand but knew she never be able to, not with the path her life was drawing her down.

When the two broke apart and the enigmatic stranger vanished off into the crowds again, her heart was racing and her breath was coming fast. Her hand rested upon her chest in a poor attempt at settling herself, a smile upon her face and a lightness of her heart.

In her delight, she didn't realise her necklace was missing.