I stared down in shock at Aggi's impatiently wiggling fingers. Elorhyn would have wanted to discuss all the possibilities and dangers first, and perhaps write out a cautious plan for how to proceed. Then he would have set up protective wards.
"You're not concerned this might hurt you?" I asked.
"Dude, I survived the Void. You think you can do worse?"
"I don't -"
" - want to be held responsible if I'm hurt? I know how that feels."
"What if I destroy it completely? What -"
"You can't break what isn't there. C'mon, we can argue for days you may not have, or we can find out right now and knock it off the list. If either of us has a problem, we stop."
“Here?”
“No one’s looking at us, except maybe Joe Bartender over there. He can always hose us down if we catch fire.”
Unable to come up with any more arguments, I took hold of her hands, and began the elfsong I knew best, the one for focus. It had gotten me through a lot of training classes, and usually cleared away the distractions. The brain fogginess was worse than usual today, and I needed every bit of help.
"Can't decide?" Aggi asked. "Pick anything. How about one for courage?"
"I have been singing."
Her face fell. "Oh. OK." She stared down at our joined hands, her brow furrowing in concentration. I tried harder, mentally willing the harmony in her direction.
Finally, she shook her head at me. "I've got nothing. But I did feel it the other day!"
"Then what has changed?"
“We were in the water. I had nearly -” she stopped, her expression growing dark again.
“I have no desire to repeat those particular circumstances,” I said quickly.
“It was after, though. While you were singing that lullaby to me.” She waved at her face. “Maybe it's that song, with the motions? Try it again.” She leaned forward expectantly.
I reached over, cupping her face in my hands, but with her watching me this time, I suddenly felt foolish. I rushed through a few lines anyway, brushing my thumb across her nose, lips, and eyelids, before pressing my forehead to hers again.
“Nope,” she said, after a few seconds of consideration. “Of course it’s not that easy.”
“Perhaps it was the heartbeat?” I suggested. “Mine was pounding.”
“Yeah, I thought mine was going to burst right out of my chest.” She glanced over at the crowd of dancers. “Wanna dance?” She slid off the stool and held her hand out. “That should get the blood pumping.”
I glanced over at the crowd of people bouncing up and down. The music was so loud I could feel the vibrations through the floor, and the motion and the flashing lights were overwhelming. It wouldn’t take long at all to raise my heart rate in that mess.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the crowd. “Smile and stick to the beat, and no one will look at your feet!” She called over the noise. “Do you know the spring rabbit dance?” I nodded. “That should work well with this! Just add a lot of attitude!”
The spring rabbit dance was meant to wake the ground up after lying dormant for a season, so there was plenty of stomping and hopping and shuffling, much like the dancers were doing. Usually it started out slow, and sped up until only the most nimble of dancers finished out the song, but Aggi started out at a good pace.
Is she challenging me? Does she think I can’t keep up? I was tired, and the flashing lights were making me dizzy, but I was determined to prove myself. This was something I knew how to do, and it required no special talent. All I had to do was fall into a rhythm, imitating her and the other dancers.
The vertigo lessened once I started moving, and I was able to tune out the lights as I focused harder on everyone's hands and feet. Aggi’s grin grew bigger as I began to improvise. She wiggled her hands in encouragement and began playing up her own actions even more. I followed along, bemused but encouraged by the fact no one was trying to correct me. One young woman even started imitating my movements.
“Hey, tall and red, disco night is on Saturday!” Perl called over the mic.
“Oh, c’mon, just one!” Aggi yelled back.
“You want a special request, you gotta pet my kitty,” she replied, pointing at a ceramic cat statue sitting in front of her table. Aggi darted forward and tossed a handful of lindens in between its ears.
Perl leaned forward and peered into the statue. “That’s what I’m talking about! OK, peeps, we’re taking a short side trek back in time for the old folk! Let’s get groovy with the BeeGees!”
Aggi changed her moves entirely as a man began to sing, something about staying alive. She rolled her arms around each other and clapped to the sides as she bent forward and back, her hops and steps carrying her backward until she bumped into me. I put my hands on her hips to keep her from falling, but she didn’t pause in her dancing. Instead, she pressed up against me and continued to dance.
There were plenty of other couples dancing in each other’s space, so I bent and hopped along with her, hands on her hips, feeling both silly and a little aroused. I finally twisted her hips and spun her out like I’d seen another couple do, then grabbed her hand to pull her back, earning a gleeful shriek and laugh. She misstepped on her way back, and ended up slamming into me.
“Sorry!” she cried, still laughing as we stumbled. Our foreheads connected, and she gasped and pulled back. “Whoa, I felt that!” Then she bonked her head against mine again. “Oh, gods! You’re singing? Keep singing!”
I’d still been singing the song for focus, and it had worked so well that I hadn’t realized I was still doing it. Of course, the music chose that moment to transition into something slower, and Perl turned it down as she began calling out random questions for the crowd to answer.
“Damn it! Come on!” Aggi growled in frustration, smacked my shoulder, and then vanished.
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