☄ Living in a Fairytale ☄

Proton shook off the doubt, shoved it some where deep in his mind- it wasn’t serving him any use right now.  In fact, the lady had gone ahead and invited him to dance.  Cheeky.  He raised his teal eyebrows, and let a subtle smile curve his lips.

He took her hand in his own long fingered, slender hand, bringing her knuckles to his lips.  He ghosted them with a murmured.  ”It’d be my pleasure.”  Proton’s warm breath ghosting across the back of her delicate hand.

Despite his best efforts, his doubt still lingered, he had had taken a moment to watch the other couples swing into the steps effortlessly, and found some of it coming back to him.  If he could get the first steps right, everything else would fall into place.

Proton kept his warmed eyes on Serena’s as he led them into the swirl of dancers.  The first few steps came haltingly, but after a few awkward moments, as he predicted, his body remembered what to do and his mind soon followed.

His one hand he allowed to slide from her waist up to her shoulder blade, tucking his arm under hers.  In the other hand he held hers, firm, but gentle.  And when Proton was comfortable enough in his own steps to notice hers it was quite obvious that she had been lying.

"You lied, you know.  You’re a natural dancer."  He accused, eyes narrowing, but he kept his tone light as he twirled them across the cobblestone plaza.  Proton smirked, smug with himself for having scored probably one of the prettiest girls at the party.  An award-winning beauty.

Smiling secretively to herself, she watched with carefully concealed amusement as her partner glanced around -- obviously looking for direction on how to start such a formal dance. Like the polite person she was, Serena simply remained quiet and allowed him to lead her at his own pace.

As his hand slid up her side to rest on the back of her shoulder blade, she allowed the hand above it to glide up his arm and perch lightly on the top of his shoulder. To be honest, she was a bit surprised at how firmly he held her opposite hand -- though she was also nothing less than pleased. Even if he hadn't danced the waltz in a long while -- that much was obvious -- he at least had the basic positioning down.

The first few moments of the dance were highly amusing to Serena as she watched the male move in badly suppressed awkwardness. Absently she hoped he wouldn't step on her foot, but that worry was soon forgotten as he quickly became more assured and precise in his movements.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean, monsieur." She feigned an innocent smile at his accusation. Dang ... and there she thought she was actually putting on a good novice show.

In an attempt to casually sway the conversation, she decided to start on a different topic.

"This is Dmitri Shostakovich's 'The Second Waltz'." Serena informed him. "It is typically played for more upbeat waltzes. Shall we try speeding things up a bit?"

He let a smile play around his lips, and favored the young model with it.  ”I look forward to it.”  Gentleman?  He wanted to laugh.  The title was almost an accusation to Proton’s ears, he would have been more comfortable being called an animal.  Beneath the soft veneer of his smile and clothes he knew what he was capable of.

But a waltz?  This too he was capable of.  In truth it had been years, and for a moment he felt worry work its way into his steadfast confidence.  But Serena’s eyes were hopeful, he wondered if he could possibly guide her fragile form through those steps.

"I do."  Was all he responded to her question, plainly.

"Well, that is a relief to hear; because I, for one, am not so talented in the art of dance."

It was of course a lie. Since before she knew how to properly walk she had been dancing. However, if a little fib could offer some sort of confidence to her partner then it would be well worth telling it. Like the other ladies of the party, she bowed her head and dropped down into a formal curtsy.

"Shall I play the gentleman's role and ask my fair companion for the first dance, monsieur?"

With a playful smile she rose back into a proper standing position, holding her head expectantly for the other to take.

Running with a captive was much harder than running alone, she realized after a while, but all those years with Team Galactic had given her stamina on top of physical strength (labor-intense missions killed the weakest links in the team, and made the strong even stronger), so the extra effort was only slightly unwelcome. Her startled captive shrieked, and Mars only tugged harder on her wrist. “This is your fault,” she panted, still managing to put a fair amount of venom into the words. “If I’m going down I’m taking you with me!”

The redhead skidded to a halt, snow flying out from around her feet, and she turned to catch the blonde with an arm around her throat. The pursuers were closer than she’d thought they were, and they stopped instantly once laying eyes on the sticky situation before them. “What the hell are you doing?” one of them shouted.

Mars was so used to carrying some kind of weapon with her that a flash of panic coursed through her stomach when she remembered she no longer carried a knife. Still, she was quick on her feet — her arm tightened around the blonde’s quivering neck, and her free hand met the side of her captive’s head. “You make any moves, and I’ll snap her neck!” Mars warned, the grin she wore showing that she could do it if she so desired. I dare you, it screamed.

“They’re the guys I’m running from, genius!”

"P-pardon ...?"

Her assumption of this person being mentally disturbed quickly began to make more sense in her head. Why would she need to run away from a group of four to five fully grown men? The idea was absurd, certainly ... but if what the woman was saying were really the case, then Serena began to get a tinkling of a feeling that perhaps she had done something terrible.

"I apologize if I've caused any trouble, but perhaps this is all a mis-- Kyah!"

Before Serena could even react to the movement, the woman had snatched up her wrist -- tugging the stumbling blonde behind her as she bolted in the opposite direction. "Wait! My bag--!" A desperate look was thrown over her shoulder when she remembered that her bag was currently away from her person, but her captor didn't seem to spare it any thought. She simply jerked Serena roughly to keep her going, and it took all the coordination the blonde hand to keep her footing on the icy terrain!

"P-please stop! I'm terribly sorry if I've offended you in anyway, but you're--" A loud whimper was ripped out of her when the nails of the other woman dug deeply into the sensitive skin of her wrist. "Y-you're hurting me!"

And then, before Serena's mind could even comprehend what was happening, the woman skidded to a stopped and whipped Serena around until her back was pressed firmly against her captors chest. An arm wrapped tightly around the blonde's neck, half way cutting off her airway, while her other hand found the side of Serena's head and roughly tugged her head into a compromising position. Fair fingers flew up to the arm around her neck, clawing at the material of her sleeve in an attempt to free herself. All her attempts proved futile, however.

With her heart jumping to her throat and her blood pulsing loudly in her ears, it took everything the blonde had to keep calm enough to actually comprehend the words being exchanged between the two parties. But perhaps she would have preferred not to her. This woman ... she was threatening to kill her!? All the color drained from her face as her body turned to stone, a cold sweat running down her body.

“If you just play along, I’m not actually going to kill you. But keep up with the whimpering, I think they’re getting the message now.”

She didn't have to be told twice. But then again, why would she have to be? She was terrified! Whimpering, she cowered away from the woman's lips as far as she could manage in her position -- her body trembling as violently as a leaf caught in a wind storm.