The Soulmate Curse

CINNAMON (for luck)

Finn twirled on the dancefloor and caught Zhen watching her from a corner of the room. Zhen was looking dapper in a tuxedo, her inch-thick rainbow hair strand and a rainbow coloured pocket square adding pops of colour to the stark black and white look. Zhen smiled and kept watching her, looking as cool, calm, and collected as she always did. Finn wondered if there was anything that could rattle Zhen. She just seemed to own the world, walking through it without any barriers to stop her from dominating. Maybe the Fates had it wrong. How was she supposed to keep up with this force of nature? How was she supposed to add anything to the perfection that was Zhen?

Finn wished for that confidence sometimes. The closest she came to it was when she danced. It was only then that her uncertainties would melt away, replaced by instinctual muscle memory of movement that couldn't possibly belong to her. And the way Zhen was watching her made her feel even more invincible in the moment. Whatever games the Fates were playing, Finn was all in. She would dance for Zhen forever. The song ended and she walked off the dancefloor before the she got lost in the next one. She grabbed two glasses of water from a roving robot and walked over to Zhen, offering her one of the glasses.

"You're late," said Finn.

Zhen took a sip from her glass. "Only fashionably."

"Of course," Finn replied, laughing. How absolutely cool could one person be?

"When did you get these?" Zhen asked, her fingertips barely touching Finn's skin as she ran them across her tattoos. Finn resisted the urge to shiver from the faint, yet electric touches.

"When I was thirteen," said Finn, the memory laced with a pleasant, soul filling sense of belonging and home. "For my first initiation into the Darrow Coven."

"They're beautiful," said Zhen. She looked up, catching Finn's eyes. Finn was caught off guard at the intensity of the look. She had to remind herself to breath a few heart beats later. Zhen spoke up again. "Did it hurt?"

"Not really," Finn whispered, unwilling to break the moment.

Then she heard the start of a new song that broke through the trance. She quickly took a sip of water, then poured what was left in her cup all around her skirt. The 4D printed dress absorbed the liquid and began reshaping itself, its ankle long skirt pulling up to just below her knees and into a wide circular shape. Finn then then deposited both their water glasses on the empty tray of a rover passing by. She hooked her arm around Zhen's, noting how the fabric of her blazer was soft against her skin. She knew no one else who exclusively wore classic natural fabrics without any embedded wearables. She found it intriguing.

"Let's dance," said Finn, pulling Zhen to the dance floor.

"I don't know how."

"Just follow my lead."

The song that had started was a remix to Lou Bega's classic, Mambo No. 5. Everyone around them was already happily hopping to it. Finn took Zhen's hand and led her through a simple, fun mambo step. Zhen followed, smoothly twirling, and dipping in Finn's hands. Before long, they were the centre of attention, Finn loving the looks from Zhen as she laughed and followed her steps. Everyone else joined, trying to follow the simple steps Finn was inadvertently choreographing, and the dancefloor turned into a giant flash mob. The song ended with deafening applause.

A slow song followed, and Finn wrapped her arms around Zhen's neck, taking the time to catch her breath and grateful that everyone's attention was now off them.

"That was impressive," said Zhen.

"My sister is building her academic curriculum around dance and music," said Finn. Her unruly, curly hair was pulling away from the braid she'd tried to tame it into. She brushed a few stray strands behind her ear. "She usually makes me her partner for the Motion Capture assessments."