caught in the middle

"SWIVEL!" Tedros bellows up at the new dancers on stage, banging his fan on the table. Several people jump, and everyone else stumbles to a confused halt. Tedros growls in irritation and stands, stopping the gramophone with more force than strictly necessary.

"You gotta put some effort into those rotational kicks!" he snaps, thumping up the stage steps. "Right now, you all look like cancelled stamps, and it ain't exactly impressin' me."

Valentina sniffs, affronted.

"We are on the stage in the first place. We cannot be scared of the dancing."

"Then act like it." snaps Tedros. She glares at him. Looking around, Tedros can see similar hostile glances, mingling with a couple more apprehensive looks.

"Take twenty." he says sourly. "Come back ready to do it proper."

More scowls as they head off to file offstage.

"It's funny," says Aja loudly. "We've gotta do it proper, but we ain't ever seen you do it."

Everyone stops talking and turns to stare at him.

Tedros tenses.

"You ain't been here long enough." he says stiffly.

"I've been here six months, and I ain't seen you dance a single step." sniffs Bastain.

"I've been here longer, and I ain't either." says Flavia.

There's a muttering of assent.

Tedros closes his eyes briefly. This has been an issue for several weeks now.

When he was first assigned to teach them, in one of Sophie's stupid schemes to try and get him more involved with the new flappers, they'd just been confused. He wasn't a dancer, he was a singer. He was popular, but it didn't change the fact that they'd never once seen him dance. They'd been polite enough about it at first, assuming no one else was available, but as the weeks had worn on, and Tedros had gotten more impatient and snappy with them, they'd started to rally against him.

Now, Aja had finally said it.

Tedros grinds his teeth, trying to work out what to tell them. He can't just say he was shot by a rival of their boss-- most of the new recruits have yet to even see Agatha, let alone know

what Tedros is to her. As far as they're concerned, Tedros is just some singer. There's no reason for him to have been shot.

"I--"

"He used to be our best, and now he can't dance 'cause he's got a fucked up leg."

Tedros turns to see Beatrix striding across the stage towards them.

"That answer your question?" she says brusquely.

The new flappers exchange glances. It's clear that wasn't the answer they were expecting.

"What happened to his--" begins Aja--

"Scram, we want the stage to run through our routine." interrupts Beatrix, pretending not to hear him.

"But he said--"

"She's right, get outta here." repeats Tedros.

They do.

Scowling, Tedros turns away as they clatter down the stairs in a herd, bashing into each other and jostling as they try to get a look at him as they leave.

"They're all gonna be gawkin' at my legs tonight." says Tedros grimly, as the door slams shut behind them.

Beatrix grimaces.