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“Stop whining and get back to your feet.” Even Vil was slowly getting tired of having to drag Floyd up from the floor every few seconds when the eel suddenly decided he'd had enough of the lesson. Couldn’t he understand how important this was? The Pomefiore prefect was moments away from losing his patience when the merman grumbled but finally got up.
“Don’t wanna dance the girly part tho…” He complained once more, almost making Vil snap at him. Instead, he took a deep breath, taking Floyd’s hands in his own. He resembled a troubled puppy rather than an annoyance so Vil decided to give him a pass – just this once.
“There’s no girly part in dancing.”
“Is too!”
“There’s not.”
“Is t-”
“If you’re just going to repeat the same thing with no argument, you can just shut your mouth and continue practicing your steps.” His tone bittered as the eel only gave an annoyed huff in response to his words. “There’s no such thing as a girly or a manly part in dancing. There is only the leading role and the following role.”
A pout came over Floyd’s face but then he glanced away, like a small child trying to hold back their anger. “Then let me be the lead.”
Vil heaved a sigh, reaching out to turn Floyd’s face back to him.
“You can’t be the lead, you don’t know the steps. If you could just learn them, I’d let you lead all you wanted.”
The eel’s face lit up momentarily before suddenly scrunching up again, all the excitement leaving him as fast as it came by. He gave the older boy a suspicious look, pulling his hands away. “You’re not just trying to trick me?”
“You’re not learning the steps anyway so I have no reason to trick you, do I?”
The gears were turning in Floyd’s head for a bit before he grinned widely, and immediately slumped back to the floor. Vil could only roll his eyes at the eel’s childishness. Sometimes it really could drive him mad, though today he was mostly just done. Letting his stern expression fall, he sat down by the mirror, leaning his back against it.
That seemed to have got Floyd’s attention as the merman turned to look at him with a curious expression. But neither of them said anything and the silence stretched uncomfortably in place of their usual banter. There was simply no energy left for it on Vil’s side, and a part of him felt like crying.
Of course, he knew what he was getting into when accepting Floyd’s confession. The eel had seemed so passionate and excited back then that the third-year honestly thought the usual flimsiness that accompanied him would dissolve the more time they spent together. A terrible misconception as it was turning out. While Floyd’s feelings for him remained, the motivation to do things for him did not. And now here he was, stuck before a big formal event, with a partner utterly unwilling to learn any of the dances they would be needing.
“You’re being too serious, betta-senpai… It’s no fun when you’re like this.” And he even had the guts to whine and act annoyed. Vil gave him a tired glare, not even bothering to lift himself off the floor. The cool of the wood beneath him and the mirror behind were calming. As he let his muscles relax, a strange mixture of resignation and relief washed over him.
The eel stretched his arms out before hopping back up on his feet and making his way over to Vil. Without warning, he grabbed the prefect’s arms and pulled him back up. It was so sudden and abrupt that Vil almost stumbled, barely catching himself as Floyd’s strong arms wrapped around him.
One hand on his waist, the other interlacing their fingers. Somewhere along the way, he must’ve turned on the music, though it wasn’t the one they were dancing to before. A fast-paced song filled the room as Floyd all but spun him around. His steps were even messier than during practice and Vil almost tripped over his feet a couple of times before finally landing on the merman’s chest, almost too tired to even glare up at him properly.
“What are you doing now?!” He growled through his teeth but the wide grin on the eel’s lips wasn’t very promising of an answer.
“What do you think? I’m dancing!” Floyd’s expression turned so genuinely confused for a second but then he was back at practically dragging him around in his own bouncy rhythm.
Vil stumbled over his steps once more, desperately trying to make some sense out of Floyd’s chaotic dance moves. “What kind of dance even is this?! The steps aren’t matching!”
“Steps? Who cares?” It was more of a groan this time as Floyd was obviously getting annoyed with his attitude. But how on earth was he supposed to match him up? The grip on his hand disappeared, both of Floyd’s hands wrapping around his waist before he picked the third-year up like he weighed nothing at all. “Look, it’s more fun this way.”
Swinging the Pomefiore prefect around almost like a rag doll, Floyd cut an almost perfect pirouette, and for just a moment while he was fully in the air, Vil thought he may have caught semblance of sync with the music. Floyd dropped him down after the spin, just grabbing his hand and this time, Vil gave in and let himself be taken along. One step, two jumps, three quick steps… It was no standard dance but the merman’s movement was getting contagious.
“See~? Betta-senpai can do it too!” The happy cheer he got out of the eel at such a simple thing made him chuckle. The bitterness was slowly leaving him. Moving just like this without any set rules was not that bad after all. A little voice in the back of his head nagged him that they should be training but he just couldn’t peel himself away from Floyd’s captivating little dance.
Come together, then leave again, each of them dancing on their own, in their private little world, until those two worlds connected and intertwined and they were spinning all around the room, not in an embrace but just hand in hand, matching each other as they went. It wasn’t coordinated, and to an outsider, it couldn’t have been beautiful either. But right at that moment, Vil felt on top of the world.
The song ended as suddenly as it started and the two of them stood panting in the middle of the room, drenched in sweat but with smiles lighting up their expressions. Vil was about ready to call it quits when Floyd skipped over once more, this time taking a proper hold of him, much to his surprise. The first tunes of their song started playing through the room, and the Pomefiore’s prefect found himself utterly flustered.
Floyd’s face was flushed from the wild dance just before, his hair was sticking to his face, and his shirt was almost wet to the touch. But his eyes twinkled with something much softer than the raw unbridled energy that’s been pulsing through them up till that moment.
One, two, three, Vil stopped counting the steps at one point, simply letting himself be guided through the dancefloor as if in trance. Floyd’s firm hold was always there to keep him on the right track and lead him around at just the right pace. How could someone go from a wild animal to a charming partner so fast… he really reminded Vil of the old tale of the Beauty and the Beastly prince. In the sudden relaxed dance, the third-year leaned in, resting his head on the eel’s shoulder just as the last notes of the song hung in the air.
Floyd purred under him, bringing a hand up to brush some hair out of the blond’s face, and for just a moment, Vil leaned into the touch. He slowly opened his eyes, gazing up at the taller boy. It was unusual as his heels usually made him taller than both the twins. But like this, in his gym shoes, he was actually quite a bit shorter. The merman let out a laugh and that was what seemed to have snapped Vil back to reality.
Without any more hesitation, he reached up, pinching the offending merman’s cheek as an unamused smirk grew on his face. “So you knew the steps the entire time, you villainous eel! You were just making a fool of me!”
Whining at the sudden pain, the second-year recoiled back, holding his cheek with a pout.
“So mean! And I tried so hard to not mess up too… Betta-senpai really is ruthless.”
Hearing all of that, Vil’s face softened again, more, until he was stifling a small laugh. He stepped closer again, patting Floyd’s messy hair ever so gently. “Right. You did really well. And thank you for the first dance too. Tomorrow same time?”
Floyd groaned, slipping from under his hand and making his way to the door, but he stopped there, turning back for a moment. And with an only slightly bothered face, he mumbled an agreement.