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Black Bulls know how to party.
That was what Asta had been told upon joining the squad. It seemed to be a universal truth, but Asta hadn’t experienced it yet. Tonight was his first time and he would say: it was very true.
It was a night of celebration at the Black Bulls’ base after Asta, Magna, and Noelle had come back to the base after a successful first mission. The whole squad had gathered to unwind (although only three people needed to), their spirits high after getting a star and reaching minus… what was it again? Minus thirty? It didn’t matter. Yami had said they hadn’t gotten a star that wasn’t black in so long, and Asta felt proud at knowing he had participated in winning a distinction for his squad.
The music was loud, the food was wonderful, and Asta’s squadmates… They were all dancing and drinking. Happy. Joyful. Asta was in his element: it felt to him like all the village celebrations he used to go to during the harvesting season. There was simply less spilt beer and a lot more noise. He watched his squadmates dance and couldn’t stop himself from smiling or laughing. Now that he had finished his plate, it was time to join in on the fun! He started rising but stopped almost immediately.
“Don’t you want to dance?” Asta asked Noelle, who was sitting at his side.
Asta still didn’t understand her much, but Noelle was his fellow squadmate, fellow rookie, and even if at first she had seemed cold, he had realized it was only because she needed a bit of help. Noelle didn’t reply. She held onto her glass as she watched their squadmates dance and mingle. She looked calm and composed, but it was so clear from how her gaze nearly burned the dancers that she wanted to join them.
“Come on, let’s join the fun!” Asta said.
She hesitated, before throwing one of her pigtails behind her shoulder and having a sip of her drink.
“Those are commoners' dances,” she said.
“Really?” Asta said. “I don’t know about that, but dancing is fun!”
Noelle mumbled something almost inaudible and Asta laughed.
“Come on. Everyone can dance!”
“Not me. I can’t… dance.”
“Why not?”
Noelle looked away. For a second, she seemed sad, or hurt, but she only shrugged.
“I’m not very good at it. I have two left feet.”
“It doesn’t matter!”
He extended his hand to her and Noelle looked at his outstretched hand, then back at the dance floor. Asta beamed at her and he knew she’d follow him, eventually. It would always take Noelle longer to jump, but once she put her mind to it, she wouldn’t back down. And so when the smile edged on her lips and she rolled her eyes, Asta knew he had won.
“Okay, but just one song,” she said, placing her hand in his.
Asta’s grin widened as he led her to the dance floor. He started moving in time with the music and kept his eyes on her, smiling and encouraging her to follow his lead.
At first, Noelle’s movements were tentative, her steps small and unsure— almost robotic. But Asta’s energy and the supportive cheers from their squadmates soon had her loosening up.
“It’s fun, right?” Asta shouted over the music. Noelle rolled her eyes but her lips still curved into a slight smile. As they danced, Asta noticed that she began to move more freely with each step.
He wasn’t much of a dancer himself, but he loved to dance, he loved to feel the beat coursing through his body and clapping in time. But mostly, Asta loved how when he let go and danced without thinking, it made Noelle laugh.
The song ended, and Noelle didn’t follow up on her promise to stay for only one dance.
Asta couldn’t have been happier.
♣
Noelle had danced far too long, she realized as she finally collapsed onto a nearby couch, exhausted. Ballroom dances were less… physically demanding, she realized. Or maybe it was because she wasn’t often asked to dance. After all, why dance with the Silva failure? But Asta had wanted to. He had forced her to stand up and follow him, and while he wasn’t a great dancer, his enthusiasm and energetic moves more than made up for it.
Still breathless, Noelle couldn’t help the laugh that flew out of her mouth when a (quite) drunk Magna stumbled against their captain, and Yami menacingly lifted him up from the ground by his head.
She had no idea it was this easy to laugh.
She had no idea anyone could have fun at parties.
“Ah, that was great…” Asta said, dropping on the couch next to her. When Noelle turned to glance at him, her heart skipped a beat. His hair was ruffled, just a bit, and his face was red from the effort, but what got her was the way his eyes were twinkling as he watched straight ahead.
Oh.
“See?” Asta said, turning toward her. “You can dance!”
Noelle focused back on the dancefloor.
“It was… different,” Noelle said.
“Different? How?” Asta asked.
“Royalty does not exactly dance…” she gestured vaguely at Luck. “...like this.”
“Like what?”
Like it’s for fun. Noelle didn’t reply. She simply looked ahead, at how Magna was trying to copy (and failing) Vanessa’s dance moves, while Luck managed all of them so easily it infuriated Magna. Noelle smiled.
They were so stupid, those squadmates of hers. They were loud and ungraceful, and they didn’t care about Noelle’s status. They could get arrested for half the things they told her, did to her, or had her do.
They were perfect.
The next song started and Finral decided to join in on the fun, putting his glass aside to dance with Vanessa.
“Wow,” Asta said, staring at Vanessa and Finral’s dance moves. “That looks hard.”
Noelle glanced back up, then scoffed.
“It’s not that hard,” Noelle said. “It’s just a… weird variation on some basic ballroom dances. They are butchering it. It’s not even the right song to dance this!”
“Ballroom dances?” Asta repeated.
“I always forget Finral’s a noble," Noelle said under her breath. "You wouldn’t believe it from looking at him…”
“You know how to dance like that?” Asta asked. He glanced at her and Noelle couldn’t help but look away.
“I’m royalty. Of course, I was instructed.”
“Wow,” Asta said. He looked ahead before laughing. “I was never good at dances that have complicated steps! In Hadge, we had parties sometimes, but group dances… I could never join.”
“Do you want to learn?”
The question surprised her as much as it surprised Asta. But she had to offer, right? He had shown her how it was to have fun dancing, she could maybe teach him a thing or two as payback.
Asta turned towards her, his big, beautiful green eyes confused. But then he smiled.
“Sure!”
He beamed at her and stood up once more before offering his hand. His grin was far too bright for Noelle to even think about an excuse. Why would she anyway? She had offered. Noelle humpfed and threw a pigtail behind her shoulder before standing back up. She only took his hand once she was standing before him. She still had her pride.
“You’d better be a correct dance partner.”