And Dusk

Chapter 8: Tell Me, Muse

Warnings: mentions of violence

Word Count: 2780

After an awkward-turned-heartfelt conversation between the reunited Allison and Luther about how good they were and the former's marriage, the two slowly leaned away from each other on their own sides of the table. Allison decided to break the short silence between them. "Have you, um, heard from any of the others? Vanya?"

"Uh, on a farm," Luther answered with raised brows. "And happy."

Allison nodded, brows furrowed. "Right... Weird... Uh, Diego?"

"Nuthouse. Klaus?"

"Cult leader."

"Eh," He shrugged, Allison laughing aloud. "And, uh, Five turned up a few days ago. What about (Y/N)? You know anything about her?"

Allison froze, her mouth opening and closing. "I... I was hoping you'd know... Five doesn't?"

"No, he hasn't found her yet." Luther's expression saddened as Allison stared down at the table with a solemn look. "Hey... we'll find her. She's tough as nails. I'm sure she's doing just fine."

Allison glanced up at him, trying a smile. "Yeah... Yeah, I hope so..."

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"I don't see Dad anywhere." Diego said as he, Lila and Five stood in the midst of the gala. Five turned to him, glass in his hand.

"Just keep an eye out for the Majestic Twelve. I got the upstairs," When his brother turned away, Five caught his attention again. "Diego, try not to do anything too stupid." He nodded before taking off, eliciting a soft chuckle from Lila.

Just as the boy ascended the stairs, (Y/N) and Preston had just passed the bottom to slip past Diego and Lila. Preston, after setting the girl's drink down wherever, held her by the hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor. The two got into position before moving to the beat of the music. Preston tried more than once to steal a kiss, but she would lean away or turn her head in a different direction as if something caught her eye. To say he was getting frustrated was an understatement. She could tell by the quiet huffs through his nose.

"They're playing our song." Lila whispered before grabbing Diego by his tie, dragging him onto the dance floor. The only thing separating Diego and (Y/N) was an elderly couple dancing between them. But Diego was too immersed in his dance with Lila to notice his sister. He spun his 'crazy lady' around a couple times, causing her to grin. "You've got moves."

"My father insisted on ballroom lessons," Diego informed before horribly imitating Reginald. "'One never knows when the paso doble will be the difference between life and death'," He quoted before slowly dipping Lila. "'Children'."

"My mum used to say something along those lines." Lila whispered, gently pushing his hair back.

"Yeah?" He smiled, eyes moving up when a blur of orange got his attention. He nearly dropped Lila onto the floor when they landed on the person who adorned that color.

"Preston, I don't think you've even applied any of our lessons to our dance." (Y/N) muttered to her date, who smirked and rolled his eyes. "And why does it seem like you don't care? I kinda need for you to actually do something right so my dad won't be on my ass after this."

"Your dad is nowhere near." Preston whispered, moving even closer. The girl scoffed and flicked his nose with her fingers. He gasped and hissed as he scrunched up his nose, but before he could scold her about her poor manners, she was pulled out of his hold. Milliseconds later, Lila was spun into Preston's arms, the boy instinctively holding onto her so she wouldn't fall. The two stared at each other in confusion and slight disgust as she slowly nodded.