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Word count: 2383
Estimated time: 12 minutes
This story is about Dysmas' first meeting with his future boyfriend Izku.
For the record, during this time period, Dysmas is in training to become an assassin.
Izku is made and owned by https://northernweird.tumblr.com/
Featuring lyrics from I Hear A Symphony by Cody Fry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xUgg4MnXFA
“Keep your steps light as the stars.” Horatius’ voice rings out across the dance studio, which has 10 students dancing, and a tiefling playing the piano. Each student wears simple, tight black clothing that shows their form without restricting movement. Among the students is a lithe woman with a long brown ponytail, who moves with the precision of a scalpel. She dances with her partner, a chubby orc who is tripping over his heels every time he switches position.
“Lighter, Dysmas.” Horatius says as his eyes scan across the class, landing on the orc. “Put your weight in your calves, not your feet, I don’t want you hurting yourself, or Amara.” The orc gulps after he’s addressed and does his best to reorient himself, only to wind up tripping up on his partner. She scoffs at him as she regains her own composure quickly, leaving the orc blushing. Horatius returns to the front of the studio as the song shifts into a new phrase.
“Flow gentle, like an evening cloud.” Dysmas and Amara shift into the new phrase of the dance, going front to back as they move in opposing directions. Amara gently unfolds her arm outward, reaching with weight and purpose, like every muscle in her arm moves only by her strict will. Dysmas, on the other side, flexes out his elbow slowly, followed by his wrist, then his hand, practically a puppet on strings. Dysmas sees a disapproving glance from Horatius, and quickly looks down in shame. The motions repeated in opposite directions as the two partners continue their dance. Dysmas falls behind the rhythm, earning him more annoyed glances from Amara. The music begins changing phrases again.
“And the finale - spin, spin like the raging hurricane!” Dysmas gulps and pauses, falling behind the beat of the others. He sees Amara and the other students getting into fouetté position and beginning immediately, performing their spins back to back without issue. Dysmas gulps as he looks down at his big feet, raising one of his legs up so his foot is against his knee, and before he can even kick his foot out for his first fouetté, he falls over, just barely catching himself with his foot. The spin sequence comes to an end - Amara finishes her spinning and reaches towards Dysmas, who is not paying enough attention - Amara falls to the ground in front of the orc. The music comes to a full stop, the whole class including the musician looks towards the pair. Dysmas leans down to try to help her up.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have-” Amara pushes his hand away as she starts to stand up.
“Can you not do anything right?” She yells as she glares through his skull. “What are you even doing here?” Dysmas stutters - she knows very well what he’s doing here, but not everyone in the class is supposed to know. Before Dysmas can say a single word, Amara scoffs and turns towards Horatius.
“I need a new partner.” As soon as she says that, a barn owl swoops down from the ceiling and lands on her head. Amara screams as she tosses the owl aside, shaking out her hair as she growls. The owl stands up quickly and flies back up to the rafters. “And a break! We’re going on break!” With that, she walks out of the room. A moment of silence hangs over the class like a guillotine, snapped only by Horatius giving everyone an awkward look, then a grin.
“Well, you heard the lady. Let’s take a break then.” The class shuffles about for a moment, then everyone begins leaving. Dysmas tries to go out with the crowd, but Horatius grabs at the back of his shirt with two fingers, keeping him back. Dysmas turns to Horatius as the other students leave the class. He looks down in shame.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I’m just…”
“Hey, don’t apologize to me.” Horatius tells the orc sternly, cocking his head to the side and giving him a smile. “We all have our off days. Is everything alright?” Dysmas looks down silently, trying to gather his thoughts. After a pause, Horatius speaks up again. “It’s the girl, isn’t it?” Dysmas looks up at Horatius, surprised. “Haha, come on, I was your age once. Amara’s a beautiful and intimidating young woman. I hoped to make some sparks fly when I paired you, but didn’t think those sparks would be from her face hitting the ground.” Horatius bursts out in laughter, but Dysmas stares in confusion. Horatius stops laughing, and silence fills the room again, broken this time by Dysmas.
“What’s the point of all this?” He speaks with an edge of venom in his voice. Dysmas sees the musician was still in the room. He seems to be slyly listening in while pretending to go over his sheet music. Dysmas looks back to Horatius, being sure to speak carefully. “I’m supposed to… To be trained, for… For the job.” He feels a frog growing in his throat. “This is dancing, what does this have to do with… The job?” Horatius looks concerned as he watches Dysmas, and he thinks carefully before speaking again.
“Dysmas, it’s all physical. Learning to step subtly, to move with purpose, to react with speed-”
“Yes, yes, I get the idea of it but… Why dance?” Dysmas’ voice is growing in volume, something that makes Horatius shrink back - the wallflower of an orc has never gone as far as raising his voice like this before, it’s almost as scary as just being yelled at. “Why not just… Regular training for… That kind of stuff?” Horatius sighs as he chooses his words carefully.
“Dysmas… Our work… It’s not done out of malice.” Dysmas gives Horatius a confused look. “If you can’t learn why we do it… Maybe you’re not cut out for this.” Horatius puts a hand on Dysmas’ shoulder, and Dysmas falls completely silent. “Just take some time. You just need to find the right rhythm. We’ll get back to it after the break.”
With that, Horatius leaves the room, leaving Dysmas in the empty dance hall. Dysmas feels tears welling up in his eyes, but he does everything he can to not cry. He stands there with his left hand tight to his side, and his right hand held against his body. An unfamiliar voice breaks his stupor after some time.
“I don’t think it’s the rhythm. I think it’s the song.” Dysmas looks up towards the voice - it’s the tiefling musician. Most students paid no attention to the musicians, just there to give them something to dance to, but now that he heard him speak, Dysmas took in the man before him. He's thin, with messy black hair and tall horns. He's relatively small, but with a long tail that is currently holding up a barn owl, which he pulls closer to himself.
“Careful, Siren doesn’t like-” Dysmas reaches forward to stop the tiefling from touching the owl, but Siren does not fight back, accepting the pat from the devil. Dysmas freezes with shock. The tiefling pats the owl with a smile, before looking back at Dysmas again.
“The song is… Not bad, but it’s very simple. Straightforward. The dance you’re doing though, it looks… Complex.” He lets the owl off of his tail and onto the piano bench as he turns to face the piano. “I don’t know much about dance, but light steps with flowing movement and raging spins - there’s a lot going on here that a song like this can’t really encompass. I might know one though…” Dysmas is perplexed. He looks to the door. He should go on break, but this tiefling is drawing him in. So mysterious, seemingly knowledgeable and yet completely unaware of the type of work he is facilitating.
“So… You think this other song will help me dance?” Dysmas speaks softly and skeptically. The tiefling looked back at the orc.
“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Worth a shot I think.” He smiles at Dysmas, and Dysmas feels his heart race. That smile is drawing him in, he doesn't want to look away from it. “It’s not supposed to be a solo piece, but your dance isn’t supposed to be a solo dance, so… We’ll just have to cover each other’s weaknesses.” The tiefling winks at Dysmas, and he feels his heart skip a beat.
The tiefling flexes his fingers, then stretches them out in front of him. Dysmas panics and quickly gets to the centre of the studio and enters first position. Dysmas awaits the count-in that normally happens, but instead of that, the tiefling begins singing.
I used to hear a simple song
Dysmas opens his eyes and glances over towards the tiefling. He can't tell a rhythm from the musician's singing. Dysmas isn't even sure if the musician is keeping track of his tempo at all. And yet, his voice is… Gentle.
That was until you came along
Now in its place is something new
I hear it when I look at you
The tiefling begins playing the piano after finishing the line. Dysmas realizes he missed the cue, so distracted by the tiefling’s dulcimer voice. He begins the first phrase.
Step light as the stars. Dysmas begins to step forward. He focuses on the tiefling’s voice and the tone of the piano - he finds himself lost in the sounds, moving almost as a second nature. He performs his steps and his chassés around the dance studio, until he becomes so lost in the song, he can no longer see the studio - he is instead on a dirt road in a field, the night sky blazing above him. All alone, save for the soft twinkling of piano notes accompanied by the smooth flowing of singing.
With simple songs I wanted more
Perfection is so quick to bore
You are my beautiful by far
Our flaws are who we really are
Dysmas can no longer feel himself moving, only the beating of his heart. His mind has no thoughts, focused only on the phrasing of the dance and on the sound of the music. Flow gentle like an evening cloud. Dysmas reaches out his arms, unfolding them out patiently in both directions as he begins to swirl between the imaginary spaces of his dance partner. In place of Amara though, he sees the tiefling musician, swirling in time with Dysmas.
The music begins to change phrases, picking up speed. Dysmas is so lost in the song, he doesn't even think about it, he has no anxieties - he reaches himself up into fouetté position as he kicks his leg out, ready to spin like the raging hurricane.
I used to hear a simple song
That was until you came along
You took my broken melody
And now I hear a symphony
The tiefling belts his voice out alongside the piano, and Dysmas continues spinning - he doesn't keep count, and he uses his tiefling partner as his spot, focusing entirely on the devil. The spinning continues as the tiefling cries out in song, practically bashing the piano in strange rhythms. Dysmas spins, and he spins, and he spins, and he spins. He feels his heart racing, rising out of his chest - he barely even feels like he's in his body. As he feels the excitement rising through his body, everything around him grows brighter and brighter and brighter, and just as he feels he was about to burst-
The road he dances on goes dark. Everything goes silent.
It was only a moment, but the darkness and silence lasted an eternity.
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Dysmas falls over face first. He was back in the dance studio. A woman screamed. Dysmas collects himself quickly and looks up - Siren had flown into Amara’s face. After seeing that, Dysmas realized the rest of the class, including Horatius, was watching from the door. Amara complains about the bird, asking how anyone could let a wild animal into the school. Dysmas doesn't care what she was saying - Horatius was smiling at him, proudly. Dysmas puts his hand to his chest and feels the rushing of his heart.
Dysmas wipes away tears that grow in his eyes, as he feels a flame burning in his chest. He looks once more towards the tiefling. Does this same flame burn in him as well? Perhaps, like a candle lighting another, the tiefling lent him some fire. The tiefling plays a few more notes on the piano to conclude the song.
And now I hear
A symphony
“Stage fright isn’t anything to be shy about.” Horatius speaks to Dysmas as the two sit across from each other at a table in the bar. “Perhaps it would be better for you to practice away from prying eyes.” Horatius sips his coffee, while Dysmas holds his mug of ale in his hands. Not drinking, just holding.
It’s not just stage fright, he wants to say. It’s not just rhythm. That song, that pianist… That was what I needed. Dysmas stares at his reflection in the sickly coloured liquid. He realizes he is tapping his finger to the rhythm of the song.
“Do you agree, Dysmas?” Horatius broke the silence, taking another sip of his coffee afterwards. Dysmas looks up at him, blinking a bit to return himself to reality. Dysmas can't even remember what Horatius said.
“I… I think I get it now. Why we… do our work.” Dysmas says in a low, somewhat shy voice, not making eye contact with his mentor. Horatius puts his mug down, giving the young orc a quizzical look. Dysmas looks Horatius in the eye, summoning a courage he never had before. “They say that every beginning must eventually become an end. But that’s backwards.” Dysmas feels tears welling up in his eyes.
“Every end is a new beginning.”
Silence hangs heavily between the two like a guillotine. Horatius smiles at the orc, and takes a sip of his coffee.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Dysmas.” Horatius speaks in a soft, genuine tone. Horatius spends the rest of his night in silence. Dysmas, on the other hand, spends the rest of his night lost in the devil’s melody, practicing again and again to see that field, just one more time. Just one more time.
Just one more time.
Estimated time: 12 minutes
This story is about Dysmas' first meeting with his future boyfriend Izku.
For the record, during this time period, Dysmas is in training to become an assassin.
Izku is made and owned by https://northernweird.tumblr.com/
Featuring lyrics from I Hear A Symphony by Cody Fry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xUgg4MnXFA
“Keep your steps light as the stars.” Horatius’ voice rings out across the dance studio, which has 10 students dancing, and a tiefling playing the piano. Each student wears simple, tight black clothing that shows their form without restricting movement. Among the students is a lithe woman with a long brown ponytail, who moves with the precision of a scalpel. She dances with her partner, a chubby orc who is tripping over his heels every time he switches position.
“Lighter, Dysmas.” Horatius says as his eyes scan across the class, landing on the orc. “Put your weight in your calves, not your feet, I don’t want you hurting yourself, or Amara.” The orc gulps after he’s addressed and does his best to reorient himself, only to wind up tripping up on his partner. She scoffs at him as she regains her own composure quickly, leaving the orc blushing. Horatius returns to the front of the studio as the song shifts into a new phrase.
“Flow gentle, like an evening cloud.” Dysmas and Amara shift into the new phrase of the dance, going front to back as they move in opposing directions. Amara gently unfolds her arm outward, reaching with weight and purpose, like every muscle in her arm moves only by her strict will. Dysmas, on the other side, flexes out his elbow slowly, followed by his wrist, then his hand, practically a puppet on strings. Dysmas sees a disapproving glance from Horatius, and quickly looks down in shame. The motions repeated in opposite directions as the two partners continue their dance. Dysmas falls behind the rhythm, earning him more annoyed glances from Amara. The music begins changing phrases again.
“And the finale - spin, spin like the raging hurricane!” Dysmas gulps and pauses, falling behind the beat of the others. He sees Amara and the other students getting into fouetté position and beginning immediately, performing their spins back to back without issue. Dysmas gulps as he looks down at his big feet, raising one of his legs up so his foot is against his knee, and before he can even kick his foot out for his first fouetté, he falls over, just barely catching himself with his foot. The spin sequence comes to an end - Amara finishes her spinning and reaches towards Dysmas, who is not paying enough attention - Amara falls to the ground in front of the orc. The music comes to a full stop, the whole class including the musician looks towards the pair. Dysmas leans down to try to help her up.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have-” Amara pushes his hand away as she starts to stand up.
“Can you not do anything right?” She yells as she glares through his skull. “What are you even doing here?” Dysmas stutters - she knows very well what he’s doing here, but not everyone in the class is supposed to know. Before Dysmas can say a single word, Amara scoffs and turns towards Horatius.
“I need a new partner.” As soon as she says that, a barn owl swoops down from the ceiling and lands on her head. Amara screams as she tosses the owl aside, shaking out her hair as she growls. The owl stands up quickly and flies back up to the rafters. “And a break! We’re going on break!” With that, she walks out of the room. A moment of silence hangs over the class like a guillotine, snapped only by Horatius giving everyone an awkward look, then a grin.
“Well, you heard the lady. Let’s take a break then.” The class shuffles about for a moment, then everyone begins leaving. Dysmas tries to go out with the crowd, but Horatius grabs at the back of his shirt with two fingers, keeping him back. Dysmas turns to Horatius as the other students leave the class. He looks down in shame.
“I-I’m sorry, I-I’m just…”
“Hey, don’t apologize to me.” Horatius tells the orc sternly, cocking his head to the side and giving him a smile. “We all have our off days. Is everything alright?” Dysmas looks down silently, trying to gather his thoughts. After a pause, Horatius speaks up again. “It’s the girl, isn’t it?” Dysmas looks up at Horatius, surprised. “Haha, come on, I was your age once. Amara’s a beautiful and intimidating young woman. I hoped to make some sparks fly when I paired you, but didn’t think those sparks would be from her face hitting the ground.” Horatius bursts out in laughter, but Dysmas stares in confusion. Horatius stops laughing, and silence fills the room again, broken this time by Dysmas.
“What’s the point of all this?” He speaks with an edge of venom in his voice. Dysmas sees the musician was still in the room. He seems to be slyly listening in while pretending to go over his sheet music. Dysmas looks back to Horatius, being sure to speak carefully. “I’m supposed to… To be trained, for… For the job.” He feels a frog growing in his throat. “This is dancing, what does this have to do with… The job?” Horatius looks concerned as he watches Dysmas, and he thinks carefully before speaking again.
“Dysmas, it’s all physical. Learning to step subtly, to move with purpose, to react with speed-”
“Yes, yes, I get the idea of it but… Why dance?” Dysmas’ voice is growing in volume, something that makes Horatius shrink back - the wallflower of an orc has never gone as far as raising his voice like this before, it’s almost as scary as just being yelled at. “Why not just… Regular training for… That kind of stuff?” Horatius sighs as he chooses his words carefully.
“Dysmas… Our work… It’s not done out of malice.” Dysmas gives Horatius a confused look. “If you can’t learn why we do it… Maybe you’re not cut out for this.” Horatius puts a hand on Dysmas’ shoulder, and Dysmas falls completely silent. “Just take some time. You just need to find the right rhythm. We’ll get back to it after the break.”
With that, Horatius leaves the room, leaving Dysmas in the empty dance hall. Dysmas feels tears welling up in his eyes, but he does everything he can to not cry. He stands there with his left hand tight to his side, and his right hand held against his body. An unfamiliar voice breaks his stupor after some time.
“I don’t think it’s the rhythm. I think it’s the song.” Dysmas looks up towards the voice - it’s the tiefling musician. Most students paid no attention to the musicians, just there to give them something to dance to, but now that he heard him speak, Dysmas took in the man before him. He's thin, with messy black hair and tall horns. He's relatively small, but with a long tail that is currently holding up a barn owl, which he pulls closer to himself.
“Careful, Siren doesn’t like-” Dysmas reaches forward to stop the tiefling from touching the owl, but Siren does not fight back, accepting the pat from the devil. Dysmas freezes with shock. The tiefling pats the owl with a smile, before looking back at Dysmas again.
“The song is… Not bad, but it’s very simple. Straightforward. The dance you’re doing though, it looks… Complex.” He lets the owl off of his tail and onto the piano bench as he turns to face the piano. “I don’t know much about dance, but light steps with flowing movement and raging spins - there’s a lot going on here that a song like this can’t really encompass. I might know one though…” Dysmas is perplexed. He looks to the door. He should go on break, but this tiefling is drawing him in. So mysterious, seemingly knowledgeable and yet completely unaware of the type of work he is facilitating.
“So… You think this other song will help me dance?” Dysmas speaks softly and skeptically. The tiefling looked back at the orc.
“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Worth a shot I think.” He smiles at Dysmas, and Dysmas feels his heart race. That smile is drawing him in, he doesn't want to look away from it. “It’s not supposed to be a solo piece, but your dance isn’t supposed to be a solo dance, so… We’ll just have to cover each other’s weaknesses.” The tiefling winks at Dysmas, and he feels his heart skip a beat.
The tiefling flexes his fingers, then stretches them out in front of him. Dysmas panics and quickly gets to the centre of the studio and enters first position. Dysmas awaits the count-in that normally happens, but instead of that, the tiefling begins singing.
I used to hear a simple song
Dysmas opens his eyes and glances over towards the tiefling. He can't tell a rhythm from the musician's singing. Dysmas isn't even sure if the musician is keeping track of his tempo at all. And yet, his voice is… Gentle.
That was until you came along
Now in its place is something new
I hear it when I look at you
The tiefling begins playing the piano after finishing the line. Dysmas realizes he missed the cue, so distracted by the tiefling’s dulcimer voice. He begins the first phrase.
Step light as the stars. Dysmas begins to step forward. He focuses on the tiefling’s voice and the tone of the piano - he finds himself lost in the sounds, moving almost as a second nature. He performs his steps and his chassés around the dance studio, until he becomes so lost in the song, he can no longer see the studio - he is instead on a dirt road in a field, the night sky blazing above him. All alone, save for the soft twinkling of piano notes accompanied by the smooth flowing of singing.
With simple songs I wanted more
Perfection is so quick to bore
You are my beautiful by far
Our flaws are who we really are
Dysmas can no longer feel himself moving, only the beating of his heart. His mind has no thoughts, focused only on the phrasing of the dance and on the sound of the music. Flow gentle like an evening cloud. Dysmas reaches out his arms, unfolding them out patiently in both directions as he begins to swirl between the imaginary spaces of his dance partner. In place of Amara though, he sees the tiefling musician, swirling in time with Dysmas.
The music begins to change phrases, picking up speed. Dysmas is so lost in the song, he doesn't even think about it, he has no anxieties - he reaches himself up into fouetté position as he kicks his leg out, ready to spin like the raging hurricane.
I used to hear a simple song
That was until you came along
You took my broken melody
And now I hear a symphony
The tiefling belts his voice out alongside the piano, and Dysmas continues spinning - he doesn't keep count, and he uses his tiefling partner as his spot, focusing entirely on the devil. The spinning continues as the tiefling cries out in song, practically bashing the piano in strange rhythms. Dysmas spins, and he spins, and he spins, and he spins. He feels his heart racing, rising out of his chest - he barely even feels like he's in his body. As he feels the excitement rising through his body, everything around him grows brighter and brighter and brighter, and just as he feels he was about to burst-
The road he dances on goes dark. Everything goes silent.
It was only a moment, but the darkness and silence lasted an eternity.
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Dysmas falls over face first. He was back in the dance studio. A woman screamed. Dysmas collects himself quickly and looks up - Siren had flown into Amara’s face. After seeing that, Dysmas realized the rest of the class, including Horatius, was watching from the door. Amara complains about the bird, asking how anyone could let a wild animal into the school. Dysmas doesn't care what she was saying - Horatius was smiling at him, proudly. Dysmas puts his hand to his chest and feels the rushing of his heart.
Dysmas wipes away tears that grow in his eyes, as he feels a flame burning in his chest. He looks once more towards the tiefling. Does this same flame burn in him as well? Perhaps, like a candle lighting another, the tiefling lent him some fire. The tiefling plays a few more notes on the piano to conclude the song.
And now I hear
A symphony
“Stage fright isn’t anything to be shy about.” Horatius speaks to Dysmas as the two sit across from each other at a table in the bar. “Perhaps it would be better for you to practice away from prying eyes.” Horatius sips his coffee, while Dysmas holds his mug of ale in his hands. Not drinking, just holding.
It’s not just stage fright, he wants to say. It’s not just rhythm. That song, that pianist… That was what I needed. Dysmas stares at his reflection in the sickly coloured liquid. He realizes he is tapping his finger to the rhythm of the song.
“Do you agree, Dysmas?” Horatius broke the silence, taking another sip of his coffee afterwards. Dysmas looks up at him, blinking a bit to return himself to reality. Dysmas can't even remember what Horatius said.
“I… I think I get it now. Why we… do our work.” Dysmas says in a low, somewhat shy voice, not making eye contact with his mentor. Horatius puts his mug down, giving the young orc a quizzical look. Dysmas looks Horatius in the eye, summoning a courage he never had before. “They say that every beginning must eventually become an end. But that’s backwards.” Dysmas feels tears welling up in his eyes.
“Every end is a new beginning.”
Silence hangs heavily between the two like a guillotine. Horatius smiles at the orc, and takes a sip of his coffee.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Dysmas.” Horatius speaks in a soft, genuine tone. Horatius spends the rest of his night in silence. Dysmas, on the other hand, spends the rest of his night lost in the devil’s melody, practicing again and again to see that field, just one more time. Just one more time.
Just one more time.
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Multiple characters
Size 50 x 50px
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