Daughters of Necros: The Awakening

Chapter 11: Ballroom banter

The man considers me for a moment, still gently resting his hands on my shoulders. Now at close range, he inspects me with great interest, spending an unhealthy amount of time taking me in. His gaze sweeps over my body, lingering on my curves, before he finally pulls himself away with some reluctance. He seems about to speak, but then he hesitates for a few seconds. "..Are you alright, Miss?" He asks finally. "I didn't damage your gown, did I?"

"Ooh, sexy." Arissa chortles teasingly, and I shoot a murderous glare at her, then look down at my dress to check it over.

"No, you're lucky that you didn't damage it. It's fine, thank you for asking." I reply, thoroughly miffed at, well, everyone.

Another man approaches Arissa and holds his arm out to her, and she shrugs, accepting it without complaint for the time being. "I'll leave you two to it, then, shall I?" Arissa sniggers quietly and slips away with the next man to dance with her.

"Arissa!" I hiss. "Don't leave me here, you little-!"

But she's already gone.

The man looks at me, then looks away again. I stare at him expectantly. We stand there together like that for a bit, with me waiting, and him fidgeting, until I've just about given up on him.

Yes, that would've been too much to hope for, wouldn't it? I think that I'll just escape while I can, and try to save face.

"Well, it was nice-" I begin, but he hurriedly cuts me off.

"-Would you give me the pleasure of a dance, Miss?" His words come out in a bit of a rush, but he somehow still seems to be miraculously composed.

I try my best not to gape at him. "I-" With me? You have the choice of anyone here, and you pick me? Nox, this dress must have a really powerful effect on people. I'll have to have a word with mother about this. "Alright, I accept." I reply slowly.

Mother will be happy. Mother will be happy...

He takes hold of my hand and gently leads me onto the dance floor. My eyes drift down to his hands. He has long, pale, snowy white fingers, with well-cut nails. Maybe he's a famous musician or something? He kind of strikes me as someone who may have some amount of money, especially since I can't really see much dirt underneath his nails. But maybe he's just scrubbed them really well? Then again, he could hardly afford to be here and have that tailored suit if he didn't have some sort of means to speak of-

Wait, what am I thinking about at a time like this?!! Panic, Evelyn, panic!

My eyes must betray a certain amount of fear, because he pulls back just a bit. "I'm not going to hurt you, Miss."

"I don't know that for sure though, do I?" I blurt out.

He considers me for a moment, then quietly asks me a question. "Is this your first dance, Miss?"

"I-" I switch gears quickly. "So what if it is?!! You don't look very comfortable around here, either." Oh, good going, Ev. Be aggressive, because that always works out well.

He gives me a sad look from beneath those beautiful long dark lashes. "I've... Been keeping myself at a distance from society for a while now, I admit. I wonder if anyone here even truly remembers me." He sighs and brushes a stray lock of black hair back behind his ear. "May I introduce myself? My name is Lupe. Lupe Shendo."

Nope, that doesn't ring any bells. Best not to tell him that, mind you.

"And my name is Evelyn, Evelyn Mortis. I don't expect you to know of us, though."