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You hid behind your coding, your husktops and wires, surrounding yourself with mainframes and matrices. The foolish built castles of numbers and data, you knew better than to focus all your time on a palace. Instead you built what you pleased, raising your defenses and claiming your own sort of empire. That was your world, that was your life, and you were more than content.
But the fates have a way of messing things up for content trolls, and in your case, this arrived in the form of a revolution, the biggest one since the days of the Summoner, the falling of an Empress, and, most disturbing of all, two new quadrantmates. The world had done an acrobatic pirouette off the handle, and you had helped it along. Of course that was a cause for celebration. Winning the war, the glorious victory, a brand new Empress, add it all together and you had a festival just waiting to happen. You understood that perfectly.
The only thing you had an issue with was the attempt to inclue you. And of all the things they could have chosen, of all the bloody idiotic things you could be doing, this was the absolute worst option.
They took you dancing.
Flames flickered higher and higher under the Alternian night, as the crowd laughed and cheered, whirling around in circles and star bursts. Lowblood and highblood alike spun in an old pattern dance, nearly lost to the sweeps of tyranny. But your girl had brought back the old songs along with the old fashions, and everyone was having a marvelous time. There were still pockets of resistance, certainly, but the main battle was over, and laughter ruled the day.
You rested against one of the courtyard's pillars, varicolored eyes reflecting reflecting the firelight in unusual ways. Your matesprit was glorious, all color and life, as she danced from troll to troll, smiling at each partner she graced with her hand. She was absolutely lovely, lithe and graceful, her unruly hair already falling from the graceful style it had been put in.
When you had first seen her in that dress, it had taken you a moment or two to remember how to talk. The first time she twirled for you, the idea of breathing had vanished from your thinkpan entirely. The slender gown fit her perfectly, even if she had needed help with the laces. And when she spun--as she did now--the skirt swirled out around her, embroidery in bright gold and rich violet flashing as she danced. Absolutely perfect.
Her newest partner set your teeth on edge, in a very pleasant way. Eridan Ampora had filled out quite nicely over the sweeps, and the violet-colored vest he wore was beautifully crafted, Kanaya's handiwork evident in every stitch. You would know, she had fitted you for a matching one in gold. Resisting the urge to grumble about duality, you decide to enjoy the sight of your kismesis leading Feferi across the floor, watching as he beamed down at his matesprit.
Odd? Certainly. But the three of you made it work, day by day, sweep by sweep. A soft smile crept across your face as you watched them dance together, delighting in their happiness. Then the dance changed, and you lost them in the crowd. Karkat went past, waltzing with Kanaya. He was surprisingly good, and her tendency to mother him had been set aside for the night.
Tavros sailed by next, looking utterly terrified to be in Terezi's arms. He hid it well, though, and your moirail grinned wickedly at you as she went by. Poor kid. She was leading, of course, far faster than strictly necessary. Meanwhile, Tavros tried to avoid hitting anyone with his rather magnificent rack and sparkly new wings. Ten sweeps, and the kid had turned out to be a mutant.
"Well, he'th in good company," you mutter to yourself with a chuckle, watching as Terezi steered him dangerously close to a group of her rival legislacerators. Unfortunately for her, they all had the sense to duck.
"Wwho is?" A lazy drawl comes from the general vicinity of your right shoulder, and a cool arm drapes over you in a rather possessive manner.
You freeze up, a low growl rumbling in your throat, one that's abruptly cut off as a smaller limb slips around your waist. "I think he meant Tavros! The wings, right?" Feferi smiles up at you, clearly delighted to be in your presence.
"Exactly right, FF." You sling an arm each around Feferi and Eridan, digging your nails into his side even as you brush your fingertips lightly over hers. The two of them share a grin that makes your horns spark, and you fidget slightly. "Tho, I think it'th going well--" And you're cut off by the incoming rush of the crowd as your quadrantmates haul your bony arse out onto the dance floor.
"No no no HELL no!" Your protests fall on deaf fins, though, and the music picks up again as another circle dance kicks off. Feferi takes your left hand, and Eridan your right. It's all you can do not to trip over yourself as they pull you into the dance. Once you've finally found your feet, you get a chance to look around, spotting the rest of your group of twelve, grudges set aside for the night
You manage rather well, grateful for the soft boots that Kanaya had insisted you wear. Then the dancing starts in earnest, and you find yourself passed from stranger to stranger, barely able to keep track of who had you last, desperately trying to find your rhythm.
After a few rounds, you thump into a familiar chest, smelling of sea salt, old wood, and gunpowder. The seagrift prince smirks down at you, cocky and self-assured as he promenades you across the floor. "Doin' alright there, Sol?" You'd like nothing more than to wipe that grin off his stupidly finned face, but all you can manage is a "Fuck you" before he's passing you off to Feferi, his hands lingering as though he didn't want to let go.
Your Empress, on the other hand, is ocean breezes and growing things, the closest to sunlight you'd ever want to come. Her smile sweeps over you like a wave, and you have to remind yourself that she's real in your arms as you spin her, the light falling perfectly on her dark cloud of curls. Her giggle is bubbling water, whole-hearted and infectious, and you manage a grin of your own in reply.
"Ignore him," she murmurs, ocean waves on a distant shore. "You're doing magnifishcently!" You want to smile, to tell her that she's reaching, but you're in another troll's arms and the moment is gone.
Just when you think you're about to drop, both of your hands are scooped up by varying shades of cold. The three of you make your own small circle, and the dance floor clears as you whirl around. Eridan's throaty laugh joins Feferi's bell-like peals, and you find yourself joining in.
The Empress and Her Consorts, thoroughly undignified and having more fun than Alternia's seen in sweeps. The three of you are powerful together, strong enough to take on the world, and the twelve of you together are completely unstoppable.
As you collapse into the pool-like recuperacoon that Feferi maintains for just such occasions, you smile again, Eridan finding his way into your lap, an arm wrapped around Feferi, who leans back against you, settling herself as gracefully as she would on the throne. You're the last one to fall asleep as you watch your quadrantmates drift off, both fighting to stay awake for just a moment longer. But you've never minded missing some rest if it meant getting the chance to see their cares melt away in slumber.
Of all the bloody idiotic things they could have done, they took you dancing. And you've never had more fun.