Chapter Text
"I don't know you," a bright voice came behind Two. She turned, her bag falling to the floor. God, did she hate other ballerinas. New studio meant new catty women. New women who would insult her, new women who would be hateful, new women who would insinuate she wasn't a woman. New. She regretted ever signing up. The voice was bright, chipper, and now that she thought about it, vaguely masculine. She completed her turn and met the owner of said voice. A young man stood before her, blazing smile fixed on his face. His obnoxiously pretty face. "You're new," he held out a hand to shake. "I'm Vessel,"
"Two," she said, cautious. Placing her hand in his.
"Rhea told us that you'd be here today!" He grabbed her hand more firmly and surprised her by spinning her. She responded instantly, body automatically moving to execute a perfect turn. "Oh, you're good. I like you. If you need anything, I'm Vessel. Just let me know," and then he was gone. His smile was burned behind her eyelids, it was so bright. Along with his soft jaw, long lashes and almost delicate voice. O…kay… first introduction over with, I suppose. He was way too bright eyed and bushy tailed for 7:02 AM. Shifting thoughts of any pretty boys aside, she turned back to her bag, sitting down in front of it. Luckily, she had gotten to the studio early enough to avoid most people and claim a good spot. Rhea, the owner of said studio, had recruited her quite aggressively after her Black Swan performance last year. Went so far as to promise her first crack at the audition for Clara this year.
That was what had lured her in. She had never been given a shot like that before.
She began rolling her thighs out and getting a band around her feet to stretch them, too. She always got cramps if she wasn't careful. A few minutes into stretching with the band, Vessel danced back into the room. Well. Sort of. He shoved some guy into the room and flounced in behind him. Some very tall guy. Vessel still had that blazing grin, like he was happier than anyone else to be here. It was starting to unnerve Two, slightly.
"Hi Two!! This is Three! I thought she should meet you before class starts too, since she's principal and finally got here early for once," she? Oops. Two tried to ignore the pang of guilt. She stood up to her full height, and realized that she was looking STRAIGHT up at this Three person.
"You didn't tell me she was pocket sized," Three's voice was deep, throaty, smooth and raspy somehow, older, better, more well trained, more feminine than Two's. She was immediately jealous. She cleared her throat and remembered everything she ever knew about voice training.
"Hi, I'm Two," no squeaks or cracks. Excellent. The most she could hope for. Sometimes she swore she was a teenage boy again.
"Three," she held out a limp hand, as though Two should have kissed it or something. Two, being Two, forced her entire hand into Three's and shook it. Three hummed a discontented sounding 'mmm' noise and simply…walked away. Vessel did not look suprised at her behavior, and as such, Two smothered her own surprise. Vessel cast his gaze around, seeming to look through Two's open bag.
"The electric teal leg warmers are nice," he commented. "She likes you," he added. "It's hard to tell because she's a right cunt, but she likes you," Two blinked. She chose to continue the conversation, despite Vessel outright insulting their principal.
"Anyone else you'd like to parade me in front of before class starts?" she tried for brevity. He brightened even more. She wasn't sure how that was possible.
"You met Four yet?"
"I don't believe I remember anyone introducing themselves as 'Four',"
"You'd remember him, trust me. He's a dreamboat in leggings," Two's laugh startled her. It was one clip of noise, before she cut it out. She hadn't meant to laugh. She had meant to keep as much of herself locked up as possible. Things were easier that way. She knew she was brash, abrasive, the opposite of most ballerinas. But she had loved this world her whole life, had been in it her whole life. She hadn't left when they'd laughed her out of the room of her first studio, the first time she'd dared to put on a tutu instead of leggings. That hadn't crushed her, not even at the tender age of eleven. Nothing could pull her away from this. She finished pulling her hair up into an elegant twist, pinning it and making sure it wouldn't move. The room began to fill. Two pulled all of her warm up layers on. It was cold in the studio, and she was grateful for the extra layers. She very quickly scarfed down the chia pudding snack she had brought as pre-class fuel. Lip gloss slapped back on, she made sure her face was clean. She put the cute little jar away in her bag, right as two people plopped down on either side of her. One was, unmistakably, Three. The other was a guy she hadn't seen yet.
"Is this our new ballerina, Three?" he asked. His voice was gravelly. Deep. Rich. Warm. She liked him immediately. She looked over and up to meet his eyes. Luckily, only slightly up. Fucking Christ, is this where they've kept all the hot ballet boys? The clearest bluest eyes she'd ever seen stared back at her. She tilted her lips into a smile, knowing that she had full lips going for her. As well as fresh gloss. Slightly pink, marshmallow scented gloss. She wouldn't let Three take away her introduction the same way Vessel had.
"I am. I'm Two," she held out a hand for him to shake. He took her hand, pulled it and kissed the back of it. She immediately blushed, heat rising from her chest up to her hairline. That's what Three had wanted her to do.
"Four," he practically purred. "We'll talk more after class," A loud clap from the front of the room tore her attention away. As she was turning toward the noise, she caught sight of Vessel in the mirror. He was glaring daggers into the back of Four's head. What the hell? Rhea, who she knew from an interview, was the one who had clapped. She pushed the weird sight of Vessel from her mind. He was the only person who had actually been nice to her since she had gotten here. No one else had actually even introduced themselves. She was confident Three wouldn't have if Vessel hadn't pushed them together. Rhea straightened and cleared her throat. Mentally, she prepared to be called out. She waited for Rhea to start with some "we have someone new" bullshit, like what happened at every single other studio she had joined in the last several years. Studio hopping was something she kind of hoped was over. Though with the principal apparently already taking a dislike to her, maybe not.
"Alright, ballerinas, let's begin. Everyone warm up," was all Rhea said. No awkward introductions? Two could live with that.