A little demonstration of the extent of Aden's people issues.
The ceremony was beautiful, and without incident, and perhaps the wedded couple could ask for nothing more. For them the evening was a blissful dream.
Aden’s nightmare started almost immediately with the reception. Ves stepped off to greet some friends, and Aden meant to follow, save for the small hyur child who darted in between them. “You’re not a girl,†she said, quite seriously.
“Um, no?â€
“Are your ears real?†One flicked to the side and her eyes narrowed. “Can I touch them?â€
“No–†He clenched his teeth, swallowed so that a shout of surprise became a soft, strangled sound and reeled on whoever had just pulled his tail–another hyur child, identical. Aden turned to look between the two, and to keep his tail out of easy reach.
“Tasha! Talia! Leave that poor man alone!†A woman in a fine dress pushed her way through the gathering and grabbed the girl in the aisle, reached across to snatch the other’s wrist. “Sorry,†she smiled at him, tugged them off.
Aden carefully curled his tail up inside the jacket, held it there to save it from any further curiosity, and looked around for Ves, but he was lost in the gathering. Aden easily spied Eta, but she was with her daughter and Aden didn’t want to intrude. He knew no one else. After a while of awkwardly standing in place, trying to decide if he should wait or go looking for Ves, he decided to do neither and wandered.
Music started up again, and a few people filtered out of the crowds to dance. Someone shoved a glass of wine at Aden, “Here, haven’t touched it,†on their way out to the floor. He sniffed carefully before deciding to go for it, found the wine deeply sweet and more like berries than grapes.
He slowly drained the glass while watching the dancers, paying more attention to their footwork and wondering how different it really was from footwork for fighting. Very, he decided; in combat it was about throwing your weight around, putting force behind a blow but maintaining stability.
“Hey.†Aden resisted the urge to turn his ears aside at the soft, rich voice, forced them to perk instead (but he kept his tail tucked in his coat) and turned. A young roegadyn woman, the blue of her dress vivid against seafoam skin, short hair done up in little wavelets. She held up another glass. “You looked like you could use a refill.â€
“Thank you,†sounded less certain than Aden would’ve liked, and he took it mostly to be polite. A different wine by the smell, and he decided to at least try it.
She smiled warmly, put one hand to her hip. “So, who’s your date?â€
“Date? I don’t–â€
“Don’t have one?†She finished, and he nodded. “Great! Let’s dance!†She grabbed him by the wrist, and Aden barely managed to get the glass down on a flat surface in time.
At first he stumbled, scowled because he never stumbled, and after a false start he kept up, falling back on the patterns he’d watched the dancers go through. Even kissing-close to a stranger Aden kept his cool, took the first dance as a challenge.
The first dance. By the second it sunk in, how close he was–too close? Too far? And he’d been placing his left foot so on the last beat, was that really correct? Was he making enough eye contact? She winked, made a smooching motion with her lips, and Aden suddenly wanted to be anywhere else. Someone approached them to cut in, and he managed to hold back his sigh of relief–relief that died when they took his hand instead of hers.
He managed, somehow, to get through without embarrassing himself. The second lady handed him off to an elezen man, tall and lithe, who smiled more gently than the dancers before him. “You know,†the stranger said, “I can tell you’re just following along.â€
Aden almost stopped, opened his mouth to reply but made no sound.
“It’s fine,†the stranger said, “let me show you.†The stranger whispered him through the steps of the dance, and by the end he felt less foolish, at least. They danced a second song, and by some miracle of fortitude Aden kept himself from trembling.
The song ended, and the man kissed his hand. “Until next time.â€
Aden blushed, tried to stammer something back while the stranger laughed cheerily and handed him off to a beautiful elezen girl with honey blond hair. She giggled like tinkling bells, reeled him around, and said, “You’ve got the loveliest eyes.â€
They traded him around the dancefloor, his only reprieve when someone brought his dancing partner of the moment wine, because they always remembered him, too. So long as he was drinking they’d wait, and he could steel himself for another dance. He lost track of time, lost track of who he had and hadn’t danced with. Finally someone cut in for his partner, not him, and he managed to dart off the dancefloor before anyone else appeared.
By the time Ves went looking for Aden someone had him out on the dancefloor, and Ves left it at that, satisfied Aden was occupied and having a good time. He spent the evening chatting with old friends, retired quivermen, Eta’s family. Eventually they all got enough wine in them that Eta went up to the band and whispered in someone’s ear, while her husband went out onto the dancefloor and cleared out the couples, making room for a proper reel.
Roundabout midnight he went looking for Aden, and when he couldn’t find the young man entertained the thought that perhaps he’d wandered off to be alone with someone. It seemed unlikely, with Aden’s apparent obliviousness to the attention of others.
He found Aden outside, sitting on the balustrade looking out over the water. A bottle of wine sat on top of the pillar to one side, and an empty glass next to him on the other. As he neared Aden tensed, ears flattening straight back, and he turned.
Aden made a sound like all the air left him at once, and his entire posture changed, his ears relaxed. He wobbled a little, too, but caught himself on the pillar.
“A whole bottle?†Ves pointed at the wine.
Reaching up, Aden grabbed the bottle and offered it to him. “The lady serving said I looked like I could use it.â€
Ves took it, though he didn’t drink, noted the lightness. “You alright?â€
Aden made another strange sound, like laughing but too weak. “No.†He shifted around fully, feet on the stone but still sitting. “Can we leave?â€
“Yes.†Ves offered him a hand up, an Aden took it, staggered but recovered quickly. “What happened?†He set the wine aside and left it.
“People.†Aden slouched as he walked, took the steps in particular with great care.
“I thought you said it wasn’t crowds.â€
“It isn’t.†Aden shook his head, paused to put one hand against the balustrade and rubbed his face with the other. “I’m not good with new people.â€
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.â€
Aden said nothing, but he didn’t need to. His posture and halting movements and the blankness of his face spoke volumes. They traveled in silence for a time, Ves trying to decide what, if anything, he could do.
Ceremony and Circumstance
The ceremony was beautiful, and without incident, and perhaps the wedded couple could ask for nothing more. For them the evening was a blissful dream.
Aden’s nightmare started almost immediately with the reception. Ves stepped off to greet some friends, and Aden meant to follow, save for the small hyur child who darted in between them. “You’re not a girl,†she said, quite seriously.
“Um, no?â€
“Are your ears real?†One flicked to the side and her eyes narrowed. “Can I touch them?â€
“No–†He clenched his teeth, swallowed so that a shout of surprise became a soft, strangled sound and reeled on whoever had just pulled his tail–another hyur child, identical. Aden turned to look between the two, and to keep his tail out of easy reach.
“Tasha! Talia! Leave that poor man alone!†A woman in a fine dress pushed her way through the gathering and grabbed the girl in the aisle, reached across to snatch the other’s wrist. “Sorry,†she smiled at him, tugged them off.
Aden carefully curled his tail up inside the jacket, held it there to save it from any further curiosity, and looked around for Ves, but he was lost in the gathering. Aden easily spied Eta, but she was with her daughter and Aden didn’t want to intrude. He knew no one else. After a while of awkwardly standing in place, trying to decide if he should wait or go looking for Ves, he decided to do neither and wandered.
Music started up again, and a few people filtered out of the crowds to dance. Someone shoved a glass of wine at Aden, “Here, haven’t touched it,†on their way out to the floor. He sniffed carefully before deciding to go for it, found the wine deeply sweet and more like berries than grapes.
He slowly drained the glass while watching the dancers, paying more attention to their footwork and wondering how different it really was from footwork for fighting. Very, he decided; in combat it was about throwing your weight around, putting force behind a blow but maintaining stability.
“Hey.†Aden resisted the urge to turn his ears aside at the soft, rich voice, forced them to perk instead (but he kept his tail tucked in his coat) and turned. A young roegadyn woman, the blue of her dress vivid against seafoam skin, short hair done up in little wavelets. She held up another glass. “You looked like you could use a refill.â€
“Thank you,†sounded less certain than Aden would’ve liked, and he took it mostly to be polite. A different wine by the smell, and he decided to at least try it.
She smiled warmly, put one hand to her hip. “So, who’s your date?â€
“Date? I don’t–â€
“Don’t have one?†She finished, and he nodded. “Great! Let’s dance!†She grabbed him by the wrist, and Aden barely managed to get the glass down on a flat surface in time.
At first he stumbled, scowled because he never stumbled, and after a false start he kept up, falling back on the patterns he’d watched the dancers go through. Even kissing-close to a stranger Aden kept his cool, took the first dance as a challenge.
The first dance. By the second it sunk in, how close he was–too close? Too far? And he’d been placing his left foot so on the last beat, was that really correct? Was he making enough eye contact? She winked, made a smooching motion with her lips, and Aden suddenly wanted to be anywhere else. Someone approached them to cut in, and he managed to hold back his sigh of relief–relief that died when they took his hand instead of hers.
He managed, somehow, to get through without embarrassing himself. The second lady handed him off to an elezen man, tall and lithe, who smiled more gently than the dancers before him. “You know,†the stranger said, “I can tell you’re just following along.â€
Aden almost stopped, opened his mouth to reply but made no sound.
“It’s fine,†the stranger said, “let me show you.†The stranger whispered him through the steps of the dance, and by the end he felt less foolish, at least. They danced a second song, and by some miracle of fortitude Aden kept himself from trembling.
The song ended, and the man kissed his hand. “Until next time.â€
Aden blushed, tried to stammer something back while the stranger laughed cheerily and handed him off to a beautiful elezen girl with honey blond hair. She giggled like tinkling bells, reeled him around, and said, “You’ve got the loveliest eyes.â€
They traded him around the dancefloor, his only reprieve when someone brought his dancing partner of the moment wine, because they always remembered him, too. So long as he was drinking they’d wait, and he could steel himself for another dance. He lost track of time, lost track of who he had and hadn’t danced with. Finally someone cut in for his partner, not him, and he managed to dart off the dancefloor before anyone else appeared.
By the time Ves went looking for Aden someone had him out on the dancefloor, and Ves left it at that, satisfied Aden was occupied and having a good time. He spent the evening chatting with old friends, retired quivermen, Eta’s family. Eventually they all got enough wine in them that Eta went up to the band and whispered in someone’s ear, while her husband went out onto the dancefloor and cleared out the couples, making room for a proper reel.
Roundabout midnight he went looking for Aden, and when he couldn’t find the young man entertained the thought that perhaps he’d wandered off to be alone with someone. It seemed unlikely, with Aden’s apparent obliviousness to the attention of others.
He found Aden outside, sitting on the balustrade looking out over the water. A bottle of wine sat on top of the pillar to one side, and an empty glass next to him on the other. As he neared Aden tensed, ears flattening straight back, and he turned.
Aden made a sound like all the air left him at once, and his entire posture changed, his ears relaxed. He wobbled a little, too, but caught himself on the pillar.
“A whole bottle?†Ves pointed at the wine.
Reaching up, Aden grabbed the bottle and offered it to him. “The lady serving said I looked like I could use it.â€
Ves took it, though he didn’t drink, noted the lightness. “You alright?â€
Aden made another strange sound, like laughing but too weak. “No.†He shifted around fully, feet on the stone but still sitting. “Can we leave?â€
“Yes.†Ves offered him a hand up, an Aden took it, staggered but recovered quickly. “What happened?†He set the wine aside and left it.
“People.†Aden slouched as he walked, took the steps in particular with great care.
“I thought you said it wasn’t crowds.â€
“It isn’t.†Aden shook his head, paused to put one hand against the balustrade and rubbed his face with the other. “I’m not good with new people.â€
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.â€
Aden said nothing, but he didn’t need to. His posture and halting movements and the blankness of his face spoke volumes. They traveled in silence for a time, Ves trying to decide what, if anything, he could do.