Chapter Text
The sinner’s journey through the city has been an extremely chaotic one, from the N corp fanatics, to bloodfiends, several syndicates and even some corporations. Wherever they went, trouble followed suit, which made their sparse moments of peace something highly appreciated. This was one of those moments, after their most recent task that included a trip back into the house of spiders and a confrontation against members of the Ring, Mephistopheles found itself on it’s third consecutive day on the road, with the sinners inside of it killing some time in their own way. Some were taking a nap in their rooms, other were reading in silence, playing a board game, or simply chitchatting amongst themselves.
While all of this was happening Charon was driving the bus in her usual, messy way, treating every sign like a funny drawing and every traffic law as a suggestion, paying way more attention to the dials on the radio than the road ahead. After some more turns of one of the knobs on the device the bus driver finally stopped on one of the radio stations with a satisfied smile. The tune coming out of the speaker was a pretty cheerful one, several string and brass instruments playing in unison at the rhythm marked by the energetic percussion of drums, it was the type of music played during a big, classy party on the nests.
“Tap tapity tap, Charon likes it”. Declared the girl before increasing the volume. The music filled the main section of the bus where the passenger seats were located and a couple of sinners hang out. Meursault was silently reading the newspaper on his usual seat as it was his daily routine, Sinclair and Yi Sang were playing a game the young blonde used to play with classmates back when he was a student called “truth or dare”, and the last two sinners present were Gregor and Rodion who were endlessly talking and joking with each other. That last pair was a peculiar one, there were sinners who got along well enough, but none had become as close throughout their journey as Gregor and Rodion. They were friends, a comedic duo, and according to some of their coworkers (mainly Don Quixote and Heathcliff), probably something less platonic.
Even if they denied those claims with blushing faces and nervous laughs, they were aware that it was hard to argue against that idea considering how often they could be seen spending time together.
“My choice is dare” Proclaimed Yi Sang who was sitting a couple rows away, not entirely sure if picking dare after five consecutive truths was the best course of action. Sinclair was caught by surprise, but he didn’t took long before coming up with a fitting challenge. “Well, I dare you to dance to this song!”
Yi Sang grunted after hearing that, “Is it possible to change my answer?” begged the scientist. Sinclair argued back “Sorry Yi Sang, no take-backs!” A single defeated groan came from Yi Sang before he slowly stood up and began to dance, or rather, an attempt to so. He was clumsily swinging his hips from left to right while waving his arms in the air. It was a really amusing sight to the point that Rodion lamented that the other sinners weren’t present to witness it.
“Would this suffice to consider that the dare has been successfully completed?” asked Yi Sang in an almost supplicant tone after no longer than ten seconds. Sinclair took a moment to answer due to having to gold back his laughter, “Y-yes, Yi Sang, that’s ok. The dare was to dance, not to do it perfectly.” With that, the failed dancer sat back with a long sigh.
“Awww is it over already? But the song’s still going!” Said Rodion who was enjoying the show “Never seen a dance that bad in my life!”. Gregor interjected with a chuckle “It was funny an all that, but it’s not like you’re one to talk, Rodya.”
Rodion turned to her to her fellow sinner with an shocked expression “Did my ears heard you right, Greg? Did you implied I’m a bad dancer just now?”
“Are you not?” Asked the veteran, “I vividly remember you admitting that back at the casino, right before you pushed Sinclair to do it”
Rodion stuttered for a moment, surprised that Gregor remembered that detail. “W-well, at least I’m better than you, Greg!” Gregor arched an eyebrow, skeptical, “Is that so? I’ve never seen you dance, so I find it hard to believe. Now if you were to show me…”
This was their usual dynamic, they would joke and tease each other, but it was always done in good fun. Yet this time, Rodion took it as a challenge, Gregor had told her she’s bad at something and she was not going to stand there and take such a declaration, but also, she was going to get back at him. She stood up, and moved to the center of the hallway, extending a hand towards her friend.
Gregor looked back and forth between Rodion’s smirking face and her opened hand. “What are you doing? I thought you were going to dance.”
“This is a fancy song for fancy parties with fancy folk, it’s meant to be a two person dance, y’know?” Explained the woman.
Gregor scoffed, “You might not know this, but a trench is not exactly the type of place where you get ballroom lessons.”
Rodion began shaking excitedly like a kid while still offering her hand. “C’mon Greg! This way we’ll know which of us is the better dancer!”
It took a good moment of silence, except for the song still reverberating, for Gregor to realize that Rodion was being serious about her invitation. Like he said, war is not a place that leaves space for things like dance, and since then, the idea of doing something like this was simply a fantasy in his eyes. Yet there she was, waiting for him to join her.
If this was anyone else like Outis or Meursault (not like either of them would ever invite him to dance anyways) he would simply dismiss them awkwardly and lit up a cigarette. But this was different, she was different. For some reason he found himself reaching back to her. He hesitated, but in the end he still took her hand.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about, Greg!” Rodion quickly pull him on his feet, and even if he stumbled for a moment he stopped right in front of her, still holding each other’s hand. She rested her other hand over his right shoulder. “Now you’re supposed to put that hand on my waist.”
Gregor got visibly nervous. “But that’s…not a hand… I don’t want to gross you out…”
“Greg, darling. We’ve been together long enough that I got used to your arm, so go ahead!” Insisted Rodion in a playful tone.
Even with her insistence, Gregor was still anxious. He slowly positioned the insectile appendage over Rodion. And so, they started to move.
They weren’t coordinated or even on the beat of the music, they moved from side to side, trying their best to not step on the other’s toes, they weren’t sure how close their bodies should be, so the constantly got far and close, and almost fell to the ground on three different occasions, they weren't fancy people, one was a former soldier and the other a backstreet denizen, neither of them lived a life where they could enjoy a melody with a partner. But that didn’t really mattered.
They were having fun.
Gregor was a man who got easily flustered, especially on situations where he felt publically embarrassed, yet this time there was no blushing or stuttering, he paid no mind to the amused glares of both Yi Sang and Sinclair, his focus was on his feet, on the music, and most importantly, on Rodion’s beaming smile, a smile that was contagious enough to also manifest on Gregor’s face.
The sudden sound of the radio station being changed once again ripped the duet away from the almost trance state they found themselves in as they kept on dancing, holding each other tightly.
Rodion was the one who stepped away first and went back to her seat with a slightly embarrassed expression, which was particularly unusual to witness from some that seemed as confident as her. Seconds later Gregor joined her, this time being his turn to tease her first. “So, you still think you’re the better dancer ?”
Rodion didn’t looked at him directly, instead opting to focus on the monotonous view offered by the bus’s windows. “Well…let’s call it a draw, for now.”
“For now?” asked Gregor.
She finally turned to face him after taking a deep breath, her usual smile back, “yes, we’ll settle this matter with another dance some other time!”
Gregor was taken by surprise but he definitely wasn’t against the prospect of another dance with Rodion. “Looking forward to that.”