Event Private Finished A Dance to Bond All Souls

It felt really enjoyable to be dancing with Lily. Left Paw continued right along keeping them slowly gliding around through the steps of the waltz. They'd found their rhythm and just sort of stuck to it so it required very little thought other than keeping a vague eye on the crowd around them to avoid any wayward dancers colliding with them.

Living on a space station didn't seem all that remarkable to Left Paw anymore but that was exactly the point. It was only that way because of their experience with it. Objectively speaking it would be a fascinating thing to someone who lived planet-side. Just like living here on the island with all it's forests and things was unusual to the Paws. "No, we transferred to the main campus of the academy for school so we could experience living down here. And additionally to meet more people here," he added as he thought about the fact that they were in fact at this very Ball to do the latter. Well, to meet and dance with people. People like Lily.

Lily had pretty much given her own identity away at the mention of being on the student council. It was not a large list to go through. Left Paw wondered if she would be able to identify them. They hadn't had any very significant interactions in the past but the fact that the two Paws were always in relatively close proximity meant they could be identified by someone who was aware of them previously. Even with their masks. The somewhat pale skin tone and black hair was not necessarily great for identifying them. However the bright crystal blue eyes peering out from behind the wolf mask were fairly noticeable.

Left Paw decided that they would give Lily the option to learn their name or not when the time came. It was entirely possible she might enjoy the puzzle, but revealing their identity was no great loss to them so it would be a puzzle with the answer available should she want it.

There were a great many things they could talk about that Lily would probably enjoy hearing of. She seemed to show interest in everything so far. But Left Paw wanted to know about her too. She'd lived on the planet, on this island even, for quite some time. She seemed like an interesting person to get to know. "You sound like a very busy person, with all the duties from being on the council. Are you enjoying it though, despite the additional responsibilities?" It sounded like being on the council could mean a lot of extra work to make sure things ran smoothly.


Right Paw and Two Stripes were just quietly enjoying their dance nearby as they stayed in sync with the others. Three Stripes had come to the edge of the dance floor and then decided to watch from there. She could enjoy, and probably critique, the rest of the pack and also all the other dancers. She was pretty damn glad the Paws had invited her along despite the age gap.

Left Paw's mind was filled with all kinds of things, as usual. The steps of the dance. Thinking that Lily was interesting to talk to. What was going on with Right Paw and Two Stripes. Thinking about whether Three Stripes was going to be impressed with their dancing or not. Idly noting that Lily's eyes were a nice icy blue. The last one was mainly because the two of them were making eye contact.

"So far you appear to be handling the position of President appropriately. We are not very politically-minded so we could be incorrect, but perhaps expecting to win would have made you less desirable as a candidate," he offered. If she'd been going in with the expectation of winning she would have been less open to advice or adapting to changes. And adaptability was arguably one of the most important things in any situation as far as he was concerned.

They thought back to when they moved to the island. It had been fairly quick once things like housing were in place. "We transferred a little more than five months ago during spring break- just in time for the Lilac Music Festival. We do live off campus though rather than in the dorms." It had been a lot to get used to but their studio apartment had turned into their safe haven of sorts. Living in the dorms just wasn't an option for them due to personal issues.

As Left Paw continued looking at Lily's eyes, perhaps a little bit distracted, he made a rare misstep that took them off balance a little bit. Nothing serious, and they were able to recover, but for just a second his eyes widened a little in fear. The stumble had happened just as Right Paw had rotated around to the maximum distance they had decided to maintain at the Ball. It pushed them just a tiny bit further than they were prepared for, and although it wasn't close to a dangerous level of distance it was an unexpected jolt of panic.


In the crowd Three Stripes was watching the dancers, missteps and all. She had to give it to them- aside from that one their form had been pretty good so far. Another sip of her water and then she went to go drop off the glass. Two Stripes looked at Right Paw in concern when she too showed a bit of panic and quickly made them rotate around so that Right Paws was again closest to the other duo.

Parents. Family. Another subject that Left Paw was very ill-equipped to talk about. They didn't know where all the various places in the Narrow Reality were so the added note was indeed helpful. "That sounds like a significant adjustment to have to make. The dorms are quite well-equipped though from what we were shown so at least you should have a reasonable level of comfort there."

As Left Paw's heartbeat returned towards normal he realized that Lily had been looking between him and the others with a worried expression on her face. When she asked about Right Paw after that he decided it was the appropriate time to come clean. "Actually this is probably a situation where honesty is more important than maintaining our mystery. We are one person that is comprised of two linked bodies. Right Paw is our female body and Left Paw, the one you are dancing with, is our male body. Technically speaking you are dancing with the same person as you would have if you had accepted Right Paw's hand to dance. However you are still satisfying the requirement of dancing with a male by choosing this body instead," explained Left Paw carefully. He kept quiet after that to wait for Lily's reaction.

And despite the stumbles and the revelation that Left and Right Paws were, as they had said, from the same beast, both dancing duos continued on with their waltz. Slowly of course, but the dance was still going on. However Three Stripes did rush over to whisper to Two Stripes and Right paw to make sure everything was ok.

Lily had gone quiet and looked fairly distracted after Left Paw explained what they were. There was a concern that she would react poorly. Be disgusted or too confused to handle interacting with them. Perhaps even get upset at them for not being clear from the start.

There was little else to do other than keep leading her through the waltz as she made whatever decision she was going to make. Lily's eyes seemed to look at Left Paw and then elsewhere as her face changed just the slightest bit to show she was thinking seriously about something. Left Paw decided not to try any twirls or fancy turns for the moment. There was probably enough going on for Lily to keep up with and they weren't feeling like taking too many more risks at the moment.

Right Paw split off from Two Stripes just a bit to allow Three Stripes to again join her hands into the makeshift trio of dancers. They didn't want the girl to feel left out, but also the Stripes were the safety backup for the event. The two of them had been teaching the Paws two new skills but because they were not quite proficient with them yet it was up to the Stripes to help them escape if need be. Three Stripes could distract everyone with a special magical dance and then Two Stripes could open a portal to safety for them all.

It might have seemed a little paranoid to have emergency plans for a dance, but it was part of the reason the Paws had been able to agree to go to such an event. Unarmed, too.

"We are... yes we suppose we would share one soul, but you can tell this somehow?" Confusion aside, they were a curious person themself. They did not mind that she had done something to more easily understand what they were but they were interested in what it was. What it had showed her.

They nodded though, as she continued her questions. "Correct, we feel what each of our bodies feels at all times. Effectively were are currently feeling what it is like to dance with you concurrently with the feeling of dancing with our friends over there. It is an alien concept to many people, but that is not unexpected. We are, in fact from a different world where our manner of being is the norm."

Complicated was ok with them. It meant that it was something that would be even more interesting to learn about. Assuming it was something she was wiling to discuss. There were many things the people here did not want to reveal about themselves and the Paws didn't fault them for it. They had their own closely guarded secrets.

Left Paw definitely didn't have a negative reaction to her admitting she wasn't human, or even as she further explained her role in dealing with souls and the afterlife. They quietly listened to her explanation as they completed the spin. It felt quite a bit like the dancing was secondary- a sort of autopilot borne from the two of them getting more used to dancing together. "Then you are charged with being helpful to the deceased just as you choose to help others by being on the council. That is extremely impressive to accomplish without getting too overwhelmed," they remarked with a legitimately impressed tone to their voice.

The blushing was just barely noticeable around the edges of Lily's mask. In many ways it just extended the color pattern from her mask further onto her face. It was a pleasing look on her. Left Paw squeezed her hand just a little bit and gave that small smile again. "We are not bothered by your looking at our soul," they reassured as they took a turn in their dance to bring them a little closer to the other group.

The compliment about their soul threw them off a little bit. They'd never seen a soul, but what did it mean for one to be beautiful? Was she strictly evaluating their soul's health or was it more than that? It was difficult to know. "Thank you for the compliment Lily. You are currently a part of our synergy as we dance though. Without you we might not be enjoying two waltzes at once quite like this." Technically they might have been dancing with someone else, or even have had the Stripes split between them, but they were very much enjoying dancing with Lily.



As things seemed to be calm with the dancing, Two Stripes bowed out to take a break as Three Stripes continued dancing with Right Paw. While taking her break though, Two Stripes made her way over to the woman who had been watching Left Paw and Lily. "Good evening," she said cheerily as she approached Miss Elaine. "Nice night for dancing, huh?"