And If You Tell My Heart...

[Isolde Moore]

Isolde was the first student to arrive. She was wearing a turquoisey coloured dress that went to just above her knees and it was strapless.
The room that thwe hotel were hosting the dance in was done up for the Valentines dance.
"Yay, another valentines dance," she muttered sarcastically. There were pictures of cupids and then cherubs and also hearts were littering everywhere, like they had reproduced a thousand times or more.
She walked across the room over to one of the teachers.
"Excuse me ma'am but where is everyone?"
The professor stared at her in surprise, "They haven't arrived yet, you're about fifteen minutes early,"
"Oh, ok, thank you ma'am,"
"You're welcome,"
She went over and sat down by the punch bowl and waited for the swarms of couples to come in.
Yet again, she would be alone for this Valentines day.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Heels.
The last time Madeleine had worn a pair of heels had to have been... oof... about three years ago, at her mum's friend's wedding. However, this woman had decided to get married outdoors... on a beach. Luckily it was a nice day for her, but Madeleine's heels weren't exactly well equipped for the terrain.
Stupid mother and her stupid choice of shoes.
Tonight, Madeleine had decided to get over her skepticism about the power of heels and try wearing a beautiful pair of pewter-coloured ones - and she was already feeling a bit of a smugness as she realised she was walking two inches above her usual height.
It felt pretty good.
And thank goodness she had the balance of the cat she frequently transformed into.
As she'd promised herself, Olivia had had no part in this choice of outfit, and so Madeleine wasn't wearing anything revealing or evocative of bad memories. That also felt pretty good.
And she liked her outfit, she really did. Her dress was a pale sky blue satin, strapless, and ending below the knee, with a silk ribbon tied around the middle in a bow [click here]. Since it hadn't warmed up much since earlier in the evening, a deeper, turquoise blue pashmina was thrown around her shoulders.
She had to admit, she felt kind of proud of all the coordination. The colours of the dress, wrap and shoes all matched perfectly with the necklace she had been given on becoming head, and the sparkling sapphire ring on her left hand. For someone who didn't really think about her clothes all that much... she felt she'd done pretty well. Although, some things never changed. She'd been left without a weapon tonight, and was just going to have to rely on her male Warriors being able to bring well-concealed knives with them. Her instincts were telling her that this was going to go smoothly, though.
And in another change from the norm, her hair had been gathered up at the back and pinned up in a tastefully messy hairstyle, several tendrils of hair at the front left to fall alongside her face.
Still, it was really left to what Lee would think of it. After their date on the roof of the school, they'd gone back to the dorms and got ready, agreeing to meet at the hotel. Now, Madeleine was sitting on a bench under the trellis lit by fairy lights.
Waiting...

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Oh.
Oh, look at her.
Just look at her.
That just wasn't fair.
Because Kira had tried. She really had. She'd locked herself in the bathroom that morning, and forced herself to take a good long look at herself in the mirror- forced herself to smile at reflection, and like what she saw. Eventually, something had clicked inside her head. Eventually, her eyes seemed all the larger, all the more appealing; her hair seemed soft, and silky; her skin, clear and creamy... just a couple of blackheads, no big deal. And look.
If she tied her hair up, it was sort of nice. It was... elegant? And look. If she used some blusher, it would light up her face, wouldn't it? And look. That shade of gold seemed to suit her... it really, really did. And she'd put on the gold dress, and looked at herself, turning this way and that.
She was skinny. But that was okay. Lots of people wanted to be skinny.
But god, it was like she was a boy, there was nothing- no. She was nice. She was her own figure- like her mum, right? Lots of people wanted to be this small and skinny.
Lots of people envied her.
They must... surely a little bit?
Ugh, but her face- why was her nose so thin? Why did she look so pale and drawn and why-
No.
Kira had sighed, and showered, and gone through the day in a haze. Valentine's Day hadn't been... particularly wonderful. For half a second, she thought of going to see Deron in Cardsdale, before remembering that she was going to break up with him. It wouldn't exactly be the greatest way of saying, "Happy Valentines," now, would it?
And for a much longer second, she thought of going to see Arihant. They were going to the ball tonight, after all. Maybe they could extend their date-
It's not a date, Kira.
She had a boyfriend, anyway. Even if she was going to dump him.
Stupid Deron.
Stupid Arihant.
Stupid Lee.
Why was he looking at her like that?
"What?" Kira said, taking the final step from the Entrance, the corners of her lips turning down. "Too much?"
She'd just tried so hard...
"No," Lee said; too abruptly, it seemed, too hurriedly. "No, Kira. You look really... just really nice." An awkward laugh. "Still can't used to seeing you dressed up."
"Oh, right," she forced an awkward laugh, the perfect imitation of his. "Yeah, sorry. You too."
And they'd been okay, for a bit, walking down, laughing, chatting. It'd been okay. She'd been okay. And for a few minutes... just a few... she'd let herself relax into it, and let herself believe that he meant it.
That she did look nice.
But...
That's when they saw Madeleine. That's when Lee stood stock still; suddenly speechless, his eyes as round as coins as he saw her shine...
Kira's stomach flipped sickeningly, her shoulders slumping.
That's right, Lee.
Just look at her.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

The fairy lights were brightly twinkling amongst the foliery of the evergreen leaves on the metal trellis they were wrapped around. They were pretty, and they made a nice effect, but if Madeleine was honest, where some would say they enhanced the beauty of tonight, she felt that they killed it slightly, by shining so brightly that they couldn't see the stars anymore.
Her heels tapped lightly against the ground, growing more impatient by the second. It wasn't that he was late, because it was still early... she just wanted him to be there.
A few people, couples and lone people drifted past her, a couple of Warriors mock-saluting to her as they walked through the gardens in front of the hotel into the doors of the building.
It was getting warmer, strangely. Madeleine wasn't sure how that worked, but it was probably just some form of heat given off by the fairy lights, so she unwrapped her pashmina from her shoulders, letting it slide down her arms to rest around her elbows, leaving her bare shoulders exposed.
Then, not too long later, Lee and Kira came into view, laughing and chatting, and Madeleine felt a rush of affection for him as she watched him chuckle, hair messy in the gentle breeze.
He looked good - well, he usually looked good, but tonight he looked really good, in a soft cream shirt with the top buttons left out, and a black jacket left open.
And Kira, of course, looked absolutely beautiful, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight like some ethereal being.
When they caught sight of her, Lee stopped, standing perfectly still, staring at her.
And she couldn't help but feel a little apprehension. She'd thought that she looked nice...
Rising from her seat, she stepped through the trellis towards them. "Hey," she smiled, slightly shyly.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Neither girl should look like this.
By now, Lee supposed he should be prepared for these formals. He'd been through two, already, for goodness' sake. At each formal, Maddie had managed to stun him and Kira had managed to look... scarily better than she should, if that made sense.
But dammit, they'd done it again.
It was bad enough when Kira came out like some kind of tinsel fairy; a gleaming combination of silver and gold. She wasn't meant to look that grown-up. Kira still felt like a girl to him- just like his kid sister, even though she was just a week younger. She'd just looked so nice, with her hair twisted up into an elegant bun, when he was so used to seeing it wild and flying.
And Maddie...
Maddie was beautiful, as always.
She stood up, her bare shoulders exposed; the fairy lights dancing strangely across her skin as she walked towards them. A shy, nervous smile played across her lips.
As she approached, Lee drank her in, his eyes wide as coins.
"Hey."
"Hi, Maddie," he said, surprised to find his voice was still working. "You look amazing."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine's blushed in pleasure at that; her cheeks flushing pink as she kept moving towards them.
"Thanks," she said, her smiling becoming less nervous and more gratitude. "You look great; I'm rather impressed."
Lee was still looking at her intensely, so intensely that she had to pull her eyes away from him to bring her colour back to usual. So instead she turned to Kira.
"You look beautiful, Kira."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Okay, that wasn't even funny.
The best she could manage was a weak smile; a feeble imitation of Madeleine's beam. The clogs in brain weren't turning properly; she knew she had to acknowledge the compliment, and to do Madeleine justice, return it ten-fold. But something wouldn't let her. Envy blocked her up; jealousy bit back her tongue.
So she just smiled, and nodded, and hoped Madeleine understood that she really did want to pay her a compliment.
"Shall we get going then?" Lee said abruptly, stepping forward; his eyes almost black with intensity as he took her hand.
Kira stood, suddenly separate; suddenly, the third wheel.
"Yeah," she nodded, already dreading the night ahead of her. "Let's go."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Lee caught her hand, and Madeleine fell into step with him, heels clicking lightly on the path up to the hotel.
"Have you noticed the enhanced height advantage?" she asked him, breathlessly. "I think I should wear heels more often; it feels pretty good."
It really did feel good. For once, Lee was less than nine inches taller than her; there was only about half a foot's difference, and that was a novelty that felt... rather brilliant.
Actually, it meant that she was taller than quite a few people here tonight, and she was feeling quite smug about that. Okay, maybe a lot of them were first years, but for once, she wasn't the smallest.
She wasn't the tallest, either, of course... but adding a few inches was something to make you smile.

[Arihant]

Late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late.

Arihant’s mind had been full of this word and only this word for the past ten minutes at least. For the ten before that, he had been marginally calmer, but that word had still been in all of his conscious thoughts, racing around his head like a chronically overexcited bumblebee. Clearly he was going mad. Clearly.

But he found that he had neither the time or inclination to worry about this right now, because he still found himself incapable of finding his way through Cardsdale. It was like a bloody maze, for God’s sake! How did anyone find their way around here?

He should have asked for a map. Or directions, or a- a compass or-

No. No, he was just being ridiculous. What he should have done was refuse to come at all.

But- but she’d looked so hopeful, hadn’t she? Or… well, maybe ‘hopeful’ wasn’t exactly the word for it. And she’d have – would she have been disappointed if he’d said no? It seemed like she would have been, but… He knew full well that that wouldn’t have made sense. It didn’t even make sense that she hadn’t had a date in the first place, he knew that. Probably she’d had plans with someone else – someone she wanted to go with – and they’d fallen through. He was fairly certain that he was probably one of the last guys in school who had managed to escape going to this evening (this evening that was clearly to make the girls of the school happy. Not that that bothered Arihant, or anything; it was just obvious that that was what it was for. He’d never heard of any man getting as worked up over the dance as the girls he had heard talking had been) and so he was perfect as a last resort.

That thought – that he was her last resort – it didn’t bother him. It really didn’t. It made sense, after all. He wasn’t terrible-looking or anything, but… well, he didn’t fit in at that school. (That school that he was yet to leave – he had decided several days ago that he would, but… He hadn’t been able to bring himself to just yet. His bags were sitting packed in his bedroom for the moment when he got up enough self-control to force himself to go.) And he was pretty short. 5’11”… Well, it wasn’t awfully short, but it wasn’t tall either. His hair was far too scruffy and flyaway (he conveniently ignored that, as his hair was curly, this was probably to be expected) and he was so skinny he practically looked emaciated. It was pretty much a given that Arihant wouldn’t have been the most sought-after guy in school for the dance. No, that wasn’t what bothered him.

What bothered him was that he had said yes.

He stopped running as he realised that he had come full circle and was now standing where he had started once more. In the square.

“Dammit!” he cursed, searching around himself for something – anything – that would give him a hint of where to go. What was this place? No signs, no handy little ‘you are here’ signs… His more rational side tried to remind him that this was not Vienna, not the city he had grown up in as a child, but a sleepy little village that probably saw very few people who didn’t know their way around it inside out. However, his irrational side was in no state to listen and continued cursing until he heard faint strains of music beginning to play around the corner.

Was that it?

He ran quickly after the music and arrived in front of the building sooner than he would have assumed. He guessed that was his… his ‘powers’ doing it again. He still didn’t know his maximum speed, his maximum strength. He’d have to go back to the… arena thingy… and start training properly. He was a warrior, after all. A soldier.

To be fair, the building didn’t exactly leap out at you – its glory days had clearly passed long ago – but still Arihant felt remarkably stupid for having missed it. He quickly leapt up the steps (literally leapt, higher than he thought possible) and ran in.

Once inside, there were signs aplenty, but here they were useless. There was a pretty steady stream of Orchid pupils going into the dance. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the clothes the men were wearing and realised that his suit wasn’t too terribly out of place, although the tie might have been a bit much. Well, the tie kept the collar suitably high, and that was its main purpose, so he was prepared to appear a little over-formal for the sake of safety. And there were the gloves of course, that clashed terribly with the rest of the outfit – they were much, much too shabby and the tan colour didn’t exactly complement his black suit and tie – but they weren’t an option either. He hoped fervently that she wouldn’t notice, but she probably would. Head of the Spies, he reminded himself.

Well, he at least hoped that she wouldn’t ask. It was for safety.

Her safety. That was another thing to worry about. How was he supposed to tell Kira he couldn’t even dance with her?

He guessed he’d solve that problem when he came to it. For now, his main job was to get in there and apologise for being so very late – he wasn’t sure how much, exactly, seeing as his watch had given up the ghost a few days before, but it was definitely at least fifteen minutes after he’d promised to be there. He cursed himself for being so forgetful, but the fact of the matter was that he’d not realised he had to get ready until ten minutes before he had to be there. One time in which his enhanced speed came in useful, he had to admit.

He entered the hall behind a barrage of first-year girls, evidently giddy with excitement at their first dance. Safely hidden by this wall of oestrogen, he felt he wasn’t quite so conspicuous: but, then again, how was he to know? Never mind. He had to find her first.

It was hard to find anyone in the hordes of people gathered on the dance floor, and then, of course, he soon realised that it was silly to be looking there at all. She didn’t have anyone there to dance with yet.

So he inspected the lines of wallflowers instead, and quickly found her. Or at least- He thought it was her. It was hard to tell from a distance, but-

It was hard to confuse her with anyone else, really. He didn’t know of anyone else who had the same long, silvery hair and ethereal creamy skin as she did, or such blue eyes… She looked older than she had before, and… beautiful. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but that was the only word for it. If he’d thought she’d looked like a fairy before, now…

It was almost as if she wasn’t real. And he was at this dance with her. He was her- her what? ‘Date’ didn’t really seem right for the situation. Wasn’t that what she had said? They were going as friends. Quite right, too. There was such a difference between them… And he could destroy her so easily.

Oh God, he thought, as this realisation pierced him somewhere deep inside his chest. He would break her. He would ruin her.

So leave.

But he couldn’t. He… For God’s sake, just look at her!

And she didn’t look… entirely happy. She was standing with some other people, but didn’t really seem to be… to be there with them. Did she want to be somewhere else? Did she want to come at all?

She was probably upset that her real date hadn’t been able to come, he concluded after a moment. And he was some substitution, wasn’t he? Ask for a dance, and ye shalt receive nought but death.

After spending a second neatly mentally sidestepping this thought – it would lead to too many unpleasant recollections – he managed to scrape up enough courage to actually go up to her. Mostly because his wall of oestrogen had dissipated, and he no longer appeared concealed, but gormless.

He walked up behind – anything else would have been too awkward - her, his footsteps silent on the hard floor (he found it easy to be graceful when that was what he truly wanted) and cleared his throat behind her. She didn’t appear to notice him until he did so – she really was somewhere else, he thought.

“Hi,” he said, smiling awkwardly at her. What was normal now? What did he do?

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he blurted out before she had a chance to reply. “I… Well, I didn’t realise what time it was, and I don’t know my way around Cardsdale, and I got lost, and-”

Calm down, for goodness’ sake.

He cleared his throat. He decided that it would be rather too difficult to continue on coherently, and settled instead for silently offering her the white rose that he had bought from a little florist when he hadn’t been so convinced of his lateness. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it didn’t clash with her dress – at least, he was fairly sure white didn’t clash with gold, did it? – but that was pure luck. He hadn’t been thinking of that her clothing at all, he’d been thinking of-

Something dangerous. He had to stop thinking that way. It wasn’t safe… wasn’t safe for anyone.

He’d have to leave tomorrow.

“You look beautiful,” he said quietly, barely able to feel the rose at all through the rough fabric of his gloves.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

She guessed she wasn’t the only one who’d made an effort.
Arihant looked... really, really nice. Really good. He was dressed up and down in a smooth, sleek black suit; perhaps slightly too formal for the occasion, especially contrasted with Lee’s open shirt/open jacket combo, but it definitely suited him. Arihant perhaps wasn’t the stereotypical good-looking guy; but there was definitely something… good... that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. And besides, Kira liked it that he was wearing the suit- it was better than turning up like a slob, like quite a few of the other boys had. Her eyes travelled up and down him; drinking him in- his windswept curls; the dance of the fairy lights across his smooth, dark skin; his large, shy eyes-
He was saying something, muttering incoherently about apologies; but she wasn’t really concerned with that, she was watching him too closely.
Then, a white rose was slipped into her hand, and she crashed back to earth, with a sudden, strange and vaguely inappropriate thought.
Why is he wearing those gloves?
“You look beautiful.”
Oh. Kira’s face fell. He really, really was making an effort. But why did he have to lie to her? She would’ve been just as content with a simple, “That dress is nice”. The rose was already more than necessary.
Perhaps in India, they didn’t have so many formals. Perhaps he was just nervous.
“Thanks,” she said softly, her fist curling around the stem of the rose, almost crushing it. “You look… nice.” She looked away, suddenly nervous, especially since she could feel Lee’s eyes scalding the back of her neck. “Er, this is Lee, as you know…” she said, stupidly awkward, reaching behind, and pushing her cousin forward.

[Arihant]

Well. That was rather clear.

Arihant was (officially) rubbish at the dance thing, too. Lucky lucky him. Another failing to add to his ever-growing list. (OK, so he wasn't actually making a list of his faults. That would be far too pathetic, even for him. And, really, it wasn't as if he needed to. He was painfully aware of how he affected other people; ignorance of his awkwardness wasn't his problem. He just didn't know how to get rid of it - didn't even know if he wanted to.)

But this time - this time, it was extremely obvious that he'd gone too far, which wasn't usually the problem. Usually it was his reserved nature that caused his issues with other people, but this...

It was obvious from the way she looked at him when he gave her the rose. When he told her she looked beautiful. It was evident that he had upset her.

His cheeks began to burn as she answered, barely able to keep eye contact himself.

"Thanks." She took the rose from him. "You look... nice."

Nice. Nice was a good word. Now, why couldn't he have said that?

And she stopped looking at him. Oh God. What had he done?

"Er, this is Lee, as you know..."

Cr@p.

It was hard for even him to believe, but he honestly hadn't noticed the two people who had been standing with Kira before, and he most certainly hadn't noticed that one of her companions was the man who he'd made such a very horrendous fool out of himself in front of before. Lee - Kira's cousin. Of course. Who was marrying...

Was that her? Standing with him? The Head of the Warriors?

Well, that's not too intimidating, then.

"Y-yes - hello," he said, his accent becoming slightly stronger, as was usual when he was nervous. It wasn't great, really, having your every discomfort spelt out so clearly by your voice.

He tried to smile, and offered his hand for him to shake (like a reversal of last time, he thought, it was pretty ironic). "Nice to see you again."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

FWAA! SIE HAST REPLIED!!!

Yep, Lee should definitely be used to this kind of thing by now.
However...
Arihant smiled awkwardly, extending his gloved hand, and Lee shook it, in a state of sudden shock.
"Y- yeah," he blinked several times. "You too."
Kira hovered behind just behind Ari; her eyes wide as she watched him, begging him not to say anything about the last time Lee had met Ari- and clearly, begging him not to say anything about Deron. Lee tore his eyes from them, and brought himself back to focusing on Ari.
Then the logical part of his brain clicked into gear.
"Arihant," he said, smiling warmly, and letting go of his hand, "this is Madeleine Baudelaire, my fiancée." He turned and took her hand, leading her into the limelight.
Kira bobbed beside Arihant, looking incredibly nervous. Lee smiled at her, trying his best to reassure her.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine felt bad. Until Lee said Arihant's name, Madeleine had had absolutely no idea who this unfamiliar guy was, and now that she knew what his name was, she knew that he was a new Warrior - at least, according to his form. So far, he hadn't been to any training sessions, or had sought out to find her.
"... this is Madeleine Baudelaire, my fiancée," Lee finished, taking her hand and bringing her forward.
Madeleine couldn't surpress the smile that rose to her lips at that, the first time she'd been introduced to someone as Lee's fiancée. Even formerly being announced as Lee's girlfriend before hadn't been the most common of occurances, but this had a ... surreality to it.
She stepped forward, extending her hand to Arihant. "Hi, Arihant," she said, her quick gaze taking him in and noting the gloves on his hands. "It's nice to meet you."
She decided it was best not to mention being his Head until Arihant brought it up. For all she knew, there could be a big reason for his non-appearance at training; something that she'd have to find out in private.

[Arihant]

His heart was beating rather a lot faster than it should have.

To be honest, even through his gloves, even when it was safe, it never felt... completely right. Touching people. Shaking their hands as if nothing was wrong with him. It almost felt as if he was betraying them...

No. No, Arihant, that's ridiculous. There's no way they're going to touch you unless they... shove their hand down your shirt, or- or something.

And now, he was filled with a most powerful dread that someone would find occassion to shove their hand down his shirt. Excellent.

He tried as hard as he could, however, and liked to think that the signs of his discomfort weren't completely evident. It was bad enough that they'd noticed the gloves. No one had been rude enough to say anything, but still. He could always tell.

"Likewise," he said shortly - rudely? Oh God, he hoped not - to Madeleine, and let go of her hand after shaking it softly. And now... Now what did he do? He tried smiling, but he knew that it must be coming out - as usual - hopelessly awkwardly. It was a pity that he had to live with being so very socially-

Come to think of it, it wasn't a pity at all. It was a blessing. At least no one would want to get to know him better - put themselves at risk or...

He swallowed, and found he couldn't bring himself to say another word.

So, Arihant discovered himself to be rather proficient at creating awkward silences. The one that followed the introduction deserved some kind of medal, at least.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Thank goodness' for music.
The fast, familiar song that kicked into gear couldn't have been any better timed.
"I like where we are,
When we drive in your car,
I like where we are,
Here."
Lee turned automatically towards the source of the music, his eyes sparkling with the reflections of fairy lights.
"Hey, Maddie, I know this one." His hand slipped into hers. "Aren't you proud?"
Kira turned away from them both, putting out her hand and reaching the small of Arihant's back, pushing him forwards and around, over to the side of the hall.
"Sorry about the shove," she said weakly, looking back through the crowds. "It's just... well, I don't think he's used to seeing me with guys, is all."
The second she said it, she felt her skin burn, and she turned away.
"... our cheeks can brush,
Our lips can touch,
Here."
Looking back at him, she smiled as brightly as she could. "Want some punch?"