Dance
"Dancing above your feather, aren't you?"
For a moment, Name1 was thoroughly confused, and she groped for her license pouch unconsciously; the dance group she had stepped into was three feathers, and she was authorized for four, with only a few lessons to get her fifth. She directed a puzzled look at Name2, before she realized that he was referring to the way she had angled into the group to put herself next to Oranaan, and she blushed to think she was being so transparent.
"He's only a Science Master," she protested quietly, glancing over to make sure the young man wasn't listening; everyone was milling into their dance positions, checking the visibility of the leader, and chatting while they waited for the music to strike up. "It's not that much of a difference."
Name2 chuckled. "'Only a Science Master,'" he mocked. "Only the most famous Science Master in the Empire. And Name3 says he's on deck to be Science Leader at the end of the trimester."
Name1 chose to ignore the ribbing and responded only to the gossip part of the statement, not the implication that she had no hope with the tousle-headed scientist. "Science Leader? Already? Emeroma would approve that?!" Science Leader Emeroma was notoriously hard to pass, and Oranaan didn't have a reputation for being as particular as she generally demanded from her students.
Name2 didn't have a chance to respond, as the orchestra began to play the opening bars of the song, and the dance leader raised her arms for the beginning steps.
Name1 found herself slightly behind Oranaan, and watched his shoulders and shaggy hair as he went through the motions. He was a more enthusiastic dancer than skilled, and Name1 was able to catch his eye and smile, nearly missing the next queue from the dance leader as they executed one of the turns. He smiled back, rakishly, and Name1 dismissed Name2's mocking. This was a participant dance, not a choreographed piece by the guild, and she wasn't constrained to a set of scripted steps, any more than the Science Master was out of her league. She grinned to herself as she raised her arms to the next step, and began her dance in earnest.
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