Two Eyes Cenote [ap] A wallflower, mind the thorns

No worries! I am so happy to have been able to have this thread with you. Thank you so much for the thread, Tazi! <3

He makes no comment at her conclusion. Allowing his silence to communicate his agreement while he focused on locating the closest hallway. It was easy to put his foot in his mouth, and it would be just as easy to leave with the other three. Afterwards, he would hide away some place to stew in silence without dragging others down with him.

In seconds she would tell him to get lost and he would be halfway out the door. Not a question asked. She would continue on with her evening with a more worthy guest that could spare her more than a wry laugh and several worry lines.

Exit route secured, he wills himself off the wall (which was hard to do at this point). He steals one last look in her direction, assessing how her expression to determine how poor of a conversationalist he made.

There is no hiding the bewilderment on his face when she continued to speak idly instead of spurring him towards the door. That was a prerequisite to shamefully whisking himself away, wasn't it?

Processing this development was slow work. I don't— She leaned against the wall beside him. Why would I dance? Wait now, was she mimicking him? He blinks and finds her in front of him. Hand extended to him: to take.

He found himself staring at it, lump forming in his throat.

Wasn't he a nuisance? An eyesore sitting in the corner to dampen anyone's mood like a lingering rain cloud? Hadn't he just upset her? Insulted her? He still didn't fully grasp the cause for offense but he did cause it, rotten thing that he was.

Why ask him to stay?

His expression fell. Eyes turning to her, searching for the answer. He could ask. Turn the thoughts into words and verbalize them for any sense of clarity.

He couldn't. Instead, his ears splayed slightly. I don't...I've never danced before.

His eyes fell to her outstretched paw again. His own lifted, not quite meeting hers.

I— He swallowed the lump in his throat. Allowing the palace chatter to fill his ears. There was the laughter again. The songs. In the periphery there were the smiling faces. People that were enjoying themselves when he wasn't... Well. He could pretend, couldnt he?

When he met Eset's gaze once again he had fashioned a loose, if not somewhat uncertain, smile. I guess, I'm willing to learn. He gently closed his hand upon hers. If you're willing to teach me.

It was not often that he was extended a hand in any capacity. This one, well, this one he would take.