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Perfection is a strong word. Especially when describing someone. There was practically nothing Cadence would describe as perfect–well, maybe her instruments. Nothing beat her instruments. Call it vain, call it how you wish, she did not care.
The only true things that mattered to Cadence were her and her instruments. But considering this, why the hell was she at this dinner party? Her, of all people, at a dinner party of all things. She was above this! There was absolutely no good reason she had to go, well, except for one particular reason.
Celestial.
If Celestial was the sun Cadence might as well be a damn sunflower. Her obsession, though she would actively deny it being an obsession, ran deep. Anywhere Celestial was rumored to be, Cadence would surefire follow. After all, a sunflower always faces towards the rising sun.
~
Cadence eventually found herself wandering the halls of the place their dinner party was hosted. It was much quieter out here. God forbid she had to listen again to Voidbreaker trying to interpret Telefragger’s charades and failing miserably.
No, she couldn't handle it. She sighed as she kept walking down the corridor, only the sound of her heels making any sort of noise.
'Fuck this', she thought. 'I could've been somewhere else with my instruments.' She glared at nothing as she picked up her pace. She rounded the corner rapidly only to smack straight into someone else.
"What the FUCK?"
Picking herself and her hat up, she was ready to chew out whoever she just ran into only to freeze. Suddenly her mouth felt extremely dry. None other than Celestial was picking herself back up and dusting off her dress, looking quite irritated at what had just occurred. Cadence was absolutely and undeniably fucked.
"What the fuck are you doi- oh, it's just you." The moth, who a second before looked like she was about to rapture everyone in her path, suddenly looked deadpan tired. She sighed and looked down in embarrassment.
"Sorry about that", then slowly looking upwards towards Cadence. "People have been getting on my nerves all night. And I don’t think the alcohol is helping.”
A light giggle sounded as Cadence began to laugh. Celestial looked at her with confusion until the clock pulled herself together.
“I see we both escaped the banquet then?”
“Void below, tell me about it.”
“At least you did not have to endure Voidbreaker and their pathetic attempt to talk for Telefragger. Neither horrible but truly a saddening sight to behold.”
Celestial laughed at that, a heartful, cheery, laugh that almost sounded like a bark. A small but genuine smile formed on Cadence’s face, though it was impossible to see under the clock attire she was wearing.
Through her laughter, Celestial exclaimed, “At least you didn’t have to deal with a winged man who did nothing but talk about the star-shaped bartender! If I knew any better I’d think he was head over heels!”
It was Cadence’s turn to bark out a laugh. She didn’t notice, but a small blush appeared on Celestial’s face as she laughed. The two continued to giggle until finally calming down, though once in a while one would let out a small snort.
After a bit of silence after their shared laughter died down, Cadence decided there was an opportunity she may never have in the future laid out in front of her. After mulling the thought, she decided to take the leap of faith.
“Have you ever danced?”
“That’s like asking if a Razorbloom takes to the skies. Cadence my dear, of course I do.”
“Would you like to-GAH!”
Without warning, Celestial takes Cadence’s hand and guides her further down the corridor, leaving Cadence unable to finish the question she had for the moth. After a brief walk she suddenly turns left and guides the clock into a seemingly empty room. Celestial lets Cadence walk farther into the room as she shuts the door softly. Turning to the clock she smiles softly and walks towards Cadence.
“Well then, shall we get started my dear?” She approaches Cadence and slowly takes Cadence’s right hand into hers and puts her other hand just below her left arm.
Cadence couldn’t help but let a wash of fear run over her. She knew how to waltz, but only as its leader; this was the first time she'd be its follower.
With a deep breath she nodded at Celestial that she was ready. Slowly, they started to move. With every move, Cadence counts silently in her head. 1,2,3, the first set, 1, 2, 3 the second set, rinse and repeat.
A rhythm was forming between the two as they continued to dance. An intertwinement of souls, the binding of time and space, confined to just a small room for a brief amount of time.
Cadence felt like she was in a trance, the woman she had been so enthralled with was in this room and she was dancing with her. The clock on her head was starting to become very hot and stuffy. She knew she wanted it off, but didn’t quite want to risk showing her face to the moth. Eventually it would have to happen, she knew that, she just wanted to savor the moment she had with the most perfect thing ever.
Cadence stopped with Celestial giving her a tilt of the head in confusion, not noticing the crack running across the clock’s face. Signaling the moth to give her one second, Cadence turns away and takes her hat off.
After a brief moment, a harsh crack rings across the room. After a few more cracks echo around the empty room, the clock surrounding Cadence’s head shatters and disperses into thin air. Celestial doesn’t know what to do with herself other than awkwardly stand there as the former clock turns to face her.
Her face was,well, not what Celestial expected it to be. Long pitch black hair that seemingly turned into claws at the very ends of it. A pair of teeth with extremely large canines sat in the middle of her pitch black face, with a single eye that seemed to bore holes into Celestial with its intense stare. Cadence lets out a small squeak and turns back around again, covering her face with her hat. The once stoic and confident woman turned timid and Celestial could not understand why.
Celestial slowly started walking towards the shorter woman. She placed a hand on her shoulder and turned Cadence towards her. She still held the hat over her face and Celestial could feel her slightly shaking.
“You don’t have to hide your face from me Cadence.” Celestial spoke softly. “You know I do not judge, right?”
Slowly, the hat came down. Cadence’s thoughts raced as she stared back up at the moth in front of her. She let out a deep sigh before she spoke.
“Sorry, I’m not quite comfortable with people looking at my face.”
“And why is that?
Celestial gently took Cadence’s hands into hers as she spoke. Cadence shifted uncomfortably as she struggled to find the word to explain. Before she could muster anything, a voice rang out from the corridor outside.
“Celestial? Are you there? I know for a damn fact you need a ride home.”
Cadence swore she could hear Celestial curse under her breath, but the voice kept going.
“You got the keys on you anyways so it's not like you can worm your way out of this one. Let's get a move on.”
“Void below I should have never let that disgusting worm hitch a ride with me here. Cadence my dear, I apologize, we must cut our time short for now.”
The taller of the two sighs as she lets go of Cadence’s hands and begins to walk towards the entrance of the room. As Celestial approaches the door she stops and turns around towards Cadence again.
“Thank you for dancing with me, my blossom.” A small smile plasters her face. “And you are beautiful my dear, so much so the roses of the garden would be quite envious of you; never be afraid to show yourself to the world.”
With that, she turns on her heel and slowly opens the door and heads out into the once quiet corridor. The noise of Catalyst’s remarks and jabs snap Cadence out of her daze. She felt like she could not breathe. There was no way, right? Celestial, the woman she had been admittedly crushing on for a while now, called her beautiful? She had to be dreaming, but as much as she wanted to pinch herself she would not wake. The voices of Celestial and Catalyst had long disappeared by the time Cadence stepped out of the room.
It was quiet once again but she felt something in the palm of her balled fist. Turning it towards herself and opening up her hand revealed a single flower petal. It was a pink, almost purple, petal that looked like it had been torn. Balling her fist, Cadence pulled it towards her chest and cradled it there.
It was a reminder of what had happened that night, proof that it was not a dream. Proof that this damn dinner party was worth it in the end. Cadence smiled and put the petal into the feather of her hat. Then, she starts to walk back towards the banquet hall. Maybe she’ll go back to listening to Voidbreaker again, or confide in them what just happened. Either way, there was a slightly noticeable bounce to her step as she made her way back.
~
Celestial turned the two petals in her hands. Maybe it was stupid to leave the third petal with Cadence but something in her told her that it was the right idea. She closes her eyes and sighs, it's going to be a long drive home. Her mind cannot help but wander back to Cadence. Her voice, her confidence, even her presence seemed to dominate her thoughts. Slowly, she let sleep overtake her. Her last thoughts before fully going under were about Cadence.
Even if it takes forever, she will remain here.
Watching.
Waiting.
Until she can be together with her again.