Chapter Text
It’s been six months since Lewis’s death and every day, Arthur emotionally tore himself apart. If he had been stronger, his best friend and Vivi’s lover would still be alive. It was because he didn’t like being the third wheel that he was dead. Arthur’s mind tried to go back to the dark road but he quickly pinched his leg through his pants.
"Focus Arthur," the blond whispered quietly as he forced himself back to the land of the living.
He leaned against the wall as he watched people around his age in suits and dresses dancing around, carefree. If they knew that the ghost of the deceased dance instructor still roamed this very dance hall, still looking for the student who murdered her, he would think that they would be more weary. The owner of the dance hall begged Arthur and Vivi to take the case and how could he say no to those puppy dog eyes?
So that’s why Arthur was there, wearing black dress pants, a white long sleeve shirt, and a yellow vest that matched the clip on tie he wore. He hadn’t quite finished his prosthetic and so he wore the fake plastic one in order to avoid stares. As some girls looked him over, he let out a nervous sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. His hair was slicked down in order to look more nice and his two little brown hairs still stood in stubbornness.
"Hey, do you want to dance?" a woman in a skimpy red dress asked. Arthur looked to her, admitting to himself that she would look cute if she wore less makeup and showed less skin.
"Sorry, I’m just waiting for my date," Arthur said with an apologetic smile.
"Well, it seems like your date stood you up," the woman said slyly. "You have been standing here for an hour by yourself after all."
Arthur was shocked that this woman knew he was here that long. When he and Vivi took the case, she told him that she would meet him at the dance hall at six thirty and to be sure to dress nicely. With his nerves running wild, he arrived at five twenty, almost a full hour before the agreed time. It was now six fourty and he was starting to worry that perhaps Vivi finally remembered Lewis, found out that he murdered him, and was now going to leave him behind.
"Well, Arthur tends to come much earlier than needed," a familiar tone said beside the two.
Arthur looked to the left and his jaw dropped. Vivi was standing there and she was extremely beautiful. She wore a long light blue dress with a v shaped cut along with the long blue moon pendant that Lewis gave her when they first started dating. The left side of her dress was cut from her ankles up to her calfs to show off those slender legs but it hugged her hips and chest nicely to show off her features. Her normally clean face had some light make up, just some lip gloss to make her lips look more fuller and shiny while her eyes had some shadow to make her blue eyes pop while the mascara added a mysterious tone to it. Her puffy hair was straighten and was made to curl only just a bit.
She walked right past the woman in red to close Arthur’s jaw so that she can give him a small peck on his lips. “I’m sorry I’m late, I lost the time,” she said as Arthur fought a mental battle to either freak out because Lewis’s girlfriend kissed him or to became the first ever blushing fish to walk on land. It seemed the latter was winning as the other woman huffed and walked off to look for another man to pray on.
Seeing that Arthur was about to freak out, Vivi grabbed onto his real hand and gave it a light squeeze. “It’s okay Arthur, it was just a kiss and the quickest way to get rid of her,” she assured him.
Now Arthur felt sad that was the reason for the kiss but he quickly covered it with a smile. “Oh okay. Thanks for saving me Vi. She was giving me the creeps,” he admitted.
Vivi smiled back to him as she said, “Anytime! But do you know what would be the best way to keep her away for a while?”
"What?"
"You take me out on the dance floor!"
Arthur frowned as he shook his head. “Sorry Vivi, I don’t dance. Besides, we’re on a case.”
Vivi pouted as she placed her hands together as if in a prayer as she put on her begging eyes. “Please Arthur? It will be only for one dance! Besides, we need to blend in as much as possible. Pretty please?”
Arthur didn’t want to say yes due to him of having two left feet but she did have a point. He let out a sigh and went to voice his reluctant agreement but Vivi knew her hamster loving boy enough to know that that sigh was his “okay-I’m-going-to-say-yes-but-I-don’t-really-want-to” sigh. She took his right arm and pulled him without warning onto the dance floor.
"Vivi!" Arthur yelped as he looked back to his spot he had stood at, as if he could find a way back to there.
Vivi wouldn’t have it though as she gently took his jaw in her hand and forced him to look at her. “Don’t you dare look back,” she said. The song had begun and it was nice up beat one. She gave him a smile that melted his heart as she continued, “Just keep your eyes on me.”
Even though Arthur should have lead the dance since he was male, Vivi took the lead and Arthur followed willingly. Soon enough, he started to get the hang of what she wanted to do and he smiled, “You’re holding back.”
A small bell of laughter fell from her lips as she was spinned. “Shut up and dance with me,” she challenged.
Too soon for either of their liking, the song had ended but they danced to the next one. Then the next one. Then the next one. Fast, slow, funny, it didn’t matter. They kept on dancing until their feet demanded to take a rest.
They went to the wall were there was some refreshments and Vivi got them both some punch before they sat on some chairs.
"This is so much fun!" she giggled as Arthur’s main focus was to catch his breath.
"Yeah. Are your feet all right?" he asked. While he and Vivi danced like it was normal, he was still a bad dancer, and had stepped on her feet a couple of times.
"They’ll live," she answered as she waved off his concern.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to play one more song and then we’re going to close," the DJ warned them.
While there was some groans, Arthur looked confused as he looked to his watch. “Strange, three hours went by and that ghost never showed,” he said. When Vivi didn’t comment on it, it dawned on him. “There was no ghost, was there?”
Seeing that she was caught in her lie, Vivi nodded. “I made that up but you’ve been burying yourself in your work and making your arm that you haven’t left the shop in over a month. You needed to go out and have some fun!”
Arthur didn’t know what to say. He wanted to yell at her for tricking him for coming to a dance but he did see where she was coming from. He let out a sigh as he tried to cross his arms and failed due to his fake arm. “Yeah, well wait until I finish my arm. I’ll be able to dance around you then,” he challenged.
Seeing that Arthur wasn’t mad at her, she beamed as she said, “I can’t wait to see you try. “