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There were ten reasons Madame Blanc loved Susie, and her hands were only nine of them.
Her hands were smooth, with ten nimble fingers that set to undo all the ties on Blanc’s self-control until she was nothing but a heaving, wild beast. It was those hands Blanc watched when she limped into the studio while in recovery. Her hands in the air, gracefully posing into each position. She could still feel her hands on her throat as she set healing magic into her neck, all those days ago.
She didn’t know what it said about her that she still dreamed about those hands on her.
If she choked the life out of her, she wouldn’t complain.
It would be attention from Mother Suspiriorum, which she had always thirsted after. She had never felt right in the company of her fellow witches in Berlin, always pretending to own more power than they did, scrambling for more than they deserved. So Blanc wanted more than them. Leave a rainforest plant in the desert, and one would see just what thirst means. It’s why Blanc wanted to lead, if she couldn’t have Suspiriorum’s eye.
But her eye was just what she had, she realized, as Susie turned to look at her.
“Ah,” she said with a knowing smile, “you’ve joined us. I’m so glad.”
The rest of the class turned to look at Madame Blanc.
Susie held out a hand to her, love in her eyes - the love of ages that had seen much and would deign to see even more. It was the kind of love that had done anything and everything, that had slit throats and flayed one’s enemies. It slaughtered and tore, ripping out someone’s entrails and stuffing it down their throat to say, you are mine. Perhaps, it was even the kind of love that would birth something new. But almost nothing was new to Madame Blanc.
And yet, Susie’s eyes seemed to say, there is an even greater nothing you haven’t seen.
When Blanc took her steps towards her, Susie was patient. She was older and younger than anything on Earth, so of course she would wait for her. As she went closer and closer, she felt her head pounding with each beat of her heart. Susie stared at her expectantly.
But Blanc couldn’t set a hand on her hand. She couldn’t dirty her with her betrayer’s touch. She couldn’t give her a Judas’s kiss.
She felt fear creep up her spine, as her refusal seemed to settle onto Susie.
Blanc’s heart beat fast in her chest.
Susie’s mouth twisted to and fro until it settled back into a serene smile.
“Very well,” came her answer. “We will at least have a dance from our master. Our girls will need to see how it’s done…” Her smile turned sinister. “Won’t they?”
She heard the screech of an untuned violin, as Blanc’s arm snapped up without her meaning to.
Her limbs moved in what was at first abrupt jerks before the movements took on a grace. She felt terror wrack every cell in her as her body slipped into Susie’s careful, invisible hands. It was as if she was her puppet, dangling on strings, and she, of flesh and bone and meat, was the prison of her own self-restraint. She heard her bones click as her body snapped into place against her will. She wanted to cry out in apologies, give her every word she wanted to hear. Some part of her knew what she wanted.
She wanted Blanc to act. To do the things she was too reluctant and scared to do before she, as Mother Suspiriorum, took over.
Blanc wanted to give her her loyalty but, more than that, she wanted to give herself wholly to her, body and soul.
That was why, when her body contorted by her power, she did not resist. For who could resist when they were presented with everything they had ever wanted, distilled into one beautiful being? Especially when she could feel her desire to set things right.
But Blanc, as she stretched out an arm, wasn’t sure where a Madame Blanc would fit into her vision of what was right.
Her leg circled, toe pointed, before her foot stomped onto the wood floor. Her breathing picked up as she realized Susie was dancing with her. She could feel her heart lighten as her eyes flicked to her.
Susie was dancing with her, despite her inaction.
And it was gorgeous.
Every movement was precise, every limb hitting exactly where it was meant to, but it held an almost animal magnetism to it. With every movement, Blanc could feel the power coming off her in waves. As the vibrations hit her skull, she, without choice, moved with Susie. Because even though she danced with her, perhaps she still did not trust her enough to let go. Madame Blanc wouldn’t have trusted her, if the situation was reversed.
When the dance ended, Madame Blanc was breathless. She looked to Susie, uncertainty holding her back.
But Susie’s control still gripped her as Susie moved forward, reaching out to gently touch Madame Blanc’s face. Her knuckles graced along her skin, and every touch scorched a path down to her jaw. Madame Blanc could do nothing but blink as her body was sent forward, into Susie’s arms.
No, she thought, please, no. I am not worthy. You must despise me. I am nothing. I am dust on the mirrors to wipe away with your hands.
Because with Susie’s hands, the academy could be shaped into something stupendous. With Blanc’s hands, everything had fallen apart.
But Susie laid her lips on Blanc’s unwilling mouth, anyways.
Every sensation of her lips against hers threatened to unravel her and reduce her to the beast she felt she was. She closed her eyes as Susie forced Blanc’s tongue to dart out and lick Susie’s lower lip, and Blanc could barely breathe. Her mouth on her mouth. Her hands on her hands. Her body on her body. Her eyes were tightly shut, even as she forced herself to put her fantasies out of mind.
Madame Blanc suddenly felt the control go slack, and she stumbled to her knees, nearly collapsing. She steadied herself, despite the soreness of her muscles.
“I am yours,” she whispered, gasping for air. Somehow, no breath was enough. “Every inch of my body is yours.”
“I know,” Susie replied, her beautiful hand gripping Madame Blanc’s chin. “I plan to do much with this body of yours.”
Then, she looked to her audience.
“Know the steps, girls. If you do not, I will help you know the steps.”
Madame Blanc gazed at her, and she wondered if she might know her tenth reason.