ballet shoes

x. efface devant

the walk to fifth avenue was a breath of fresh air. for a moment, the chatters of the people around and the echoing ambulance siren calmed carter. he silently walked behind diana, who looked back at him almost every quarter of a minute.

"i can't believe this place. don't you get dizzy walking with this..." diana dropped her jaw for a more dramatic expression. "crowd?"

her hands flailed around, gesturing to the busy streets of the city.

"you'll get used to it..." carter mused.

diana looked back at him, eyeing her brother ridiculously. "that's something you're not most likely to say."

carter only raised a brow.

diana dragged him into a store, and he only lazily obliged. the overwhelming rows of bags and shoes welcomed them as they entered. he looked around, finding something to waste time on as diana hurried to the nearest pair of heels she could grab.

carter crossed his arms and slowly walked around as he waited. rows and rows of fashion pieces stretched out to every corner, every girl in the store was either fitting a shoe too small for her, or drooling on a bag that cost more than her monthly rent. carter shook his head, both perplexed and uninterested.

he halted as the conversation of him and diana momentarily played in his mind, just before they decided to take a stroll in fifth avenue.

"she will understand, carter," she soothed, "if you'd only tell morgana the truth why you disappeared, she will understand you."

a humorless smile escaped from his lips. would she, really? he doubted that. besides, he even doubted whether she still remembered him. it had been a whole year, many things could happen.

one of those could be morgana forgetting about him.

carter didn't even want to begin thinking about the things that changed about her. did her hobbies change? did her humor change? did her hate towards snow change? did her love for music change?

one thing was for sure⁠ — she was still as beautiful as she was yesterday, and the day before that, and the year before that.

and then, one particular pair of shoes caught his eyes.

carter licked his lips as the shoes glimmered under the soft lights. it was a pair of ballerina flats⁠ — something that strongly reminded him of morgana. it was a shade of midnight blue, and small silvery snowflakes adorned its edges.

snowflakes. morgana.

carter walked over to where the pair of shoes were resting and held one up. he let his fingers trail its tips and heels ⁠— touching it so carefully as if it was a delicate glass. he felt the soft velvet fabric of the shoe beneath his skin ⁠— and suddenly he was turned back to the time when morgana's silk porcelain skin brushed against his for the first time. he remembered how soft it was that he just wanted to trail his fingers ever so gently down her arm. he skimmed over the details of the little silver snowflakes and he remembered how she was to him before and now ⁠— mysterious but beautiful.

"are those for her?"

carter quickly put the shoe down and looked over to diana, who was smiling softly at him. she walked past him, reaching over to grab a hold of the shoes.

"these would look perfect on a ballerina, carter," diana remarked as she traced the fine snowflakes.

carter bit his lip and glanced away. he didn't want to imagine morgana on those shoes ⁠— he was afraid he was indulging himself too much already.

"if you don't buy it, i will." diana smirked. "these would look fab on me, you know."

he turned his head to his sister as quickly as he put the shoe down just a moment ago. his eyes narrowed, clearly knowing that diana was only doing this to set him off.

he sighed, raising a finger for the nearest sales attendant.