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Essie walked downstairs to find all of the furniture pushed against the walls. Marvin was in the middle of the room, quite literally hovering over a book, with his eyes and hands blazing with green magic.
"Marvin? What are you doing?"
He looked up at her voice, grinning. He dropped down to his feet and walked up to her. "Good morning, tiger!" He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek.
"'Morning... but that doesn't answer my question." She smiled up at him, her green eyes sparkling.
"Skootle sent me this song, take a listen." Marvin pulled out his phone, scrolled for a moment, then handed it to her.
Essie looked at the title and artist. "'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,' John Mayer..." She hummed and hit play.
The moody twang of a jazz guitar started up, accompanied by the thrum of a light bass undertone. After a few seconds the vocals began--it was a man singing in a dusty but smooth bittersweet drawl and lamenting about his lover.
"Marv, what's this got to do with-- Oh." Essie beamed at him as the song played. "You wouldn't."
Marvin beamed back. "I totally would."
She shook her head, laughing incredulously as she handed back his phone. "Jackie'll kill you if you start a fire in here... especially if it's the fourth time this month."
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hey, no need to call me out like that... And the last time doesn't count, I didn't know that Poptarts were flammable."
Essie rolled her eyes, giggling at him. "You're incorrigible."
"Wossat mean?" He tilted his head, adorably.
She booped the pink triangle nose of his mask. "It means you're a dork and I absolutely love it."
Marvin stuck his tongue out. "Works for me. But look, I learned how to cast heatless fire--" He began to move his hands, but Essie took them in her own and stilled them.
"Wait, before you do that..." She let go and ran from the room, her footfalls echoing up the steps. Marvin heard her voice from upstairs, followed by Heinrich's. A moment later she came back down, carrying a bright red fire extinguisher.
He stared at it, a little hurt by her lack of faith.
"Better safe than sorry?" She set it down by the door.
He still looked dismayed, but shrugged it off. She wasn't wrong...
"Fair enough, I guess. Okay! Would you mind closing the door? Thanks..."
Essie pulled the door closed, while Marvin shut the curtains. The room was fairly dark now. She watched as he began to perform his magic, green light flashing in his hands and curling up like wisps of smoke from his eyes.
Then the room ignited. Essie gasped as soft green embers floated through the air like burning snowflakes, and gentle emerald flames flickered along the walls. She held her hand near one, and it was warm, but not hot.
Shadows danced and leapt lazily on the ceiling, and ribbons of virescent light flitted like the Aurora Borealis in the empty air between them. Near the ceiling, orbs like paper lanterns glowed quietly against the darkness.
"What do you think?" Marvin was watching her reaction with a proud grin.
"Holy shit," she breathed, at a loss for more articulate words. "It's beautiful..."
"Heh. I've been working on getting this right for a few months now...." He picked up his phone from where he'd set it down and put on the song again. Then he slipped it into his pocket, turning the volume up.
Essie stared at him as he approached her and bowed, offering her his hand.
"May I have this dance?"
She blushed and took it, hiding her blush with her other hand. "You may. But first.." She reached up and slipped his mask off over his head, exposing his face. The mystical light from the artificial fire played across his features and reflected luminously in his eyes. She placed the mask down on a nearby table and then turned back towards him with a slightly bashful grin. “I should warn you, I don’t know how to dance..."
Marvin smiled, entwining his fingers with hers and drawing her closer to him. “That’s alright. You’ll pick it up. I’ll show you…” He lifted her arm out slightly, putting his other hand around her waist. She instinctively mirrored him, and he laughed gently. “No, not quite..” He corrected her, moving her free hand to rest on his shoulder. “Just like that.” He began to move his feet, one step forward, one step back, one step forward, one step back...
Essie giggled as she fell into rhythm with him, looking first down at the floor then up at him, her eyes starry. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face as they danced together, surrounded by the unearthly, swirling lights. It was as if the flames and their embers were dancing with them, somehow synchronised with their movements like ripples in a serene, glassy lake.
“See? You’re getting it.” Marvin gazed down at her, and she felt something tug at her heart. Time seemed to slow down and watch for a moment as the two of them drifted aimlessly around the makeshift dance floor, content in each other’s arms. The outside world ceased to exist, and the boundaries of the room seemed to dissolve as Essie found herself lost in his eyes. The music faded, the only sound she could hear was the beating of her heart. Or was it his? The two pulses seemed to intermingle and intertwine, almost as if they beat as one.
“Hey, Essie.” He smiled at her, his eyes dazzling her. “I gotta tell you something.”
She stared up, thinking he was going to tell her he loved her. “What?”
He smiled wider, and instead of replying he leaned down towards her. His eyes fell closed, and she didn’t even have time to think. Later on, while replaying events in her head, she would realize that she couldn’t remember closing her own eyes.
Marvin kissed her, and to her it felt like the world had halted in its turn. They were in their own universe, dancing together in the space between one heartbeat and the next. She couldn’t tell where she ended and he began, all she knew in that moment was that she could stay there like that forever. She couldn’t think, didn’t need to think, didn’t want to think. The sensations that coursed through her body felt like the fire that filled the room, warm and glowing and alive.
After what could have been all of eternity, or just a single second, Essie opened her eyes to find that she was leaning her head against his chest, and that he was holding her tenderly. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.”
And they kept dancing, so slowly together, as the room around them burned.