[LiN] Deeva Danse

[Skadi Lufthejt]

Masahir couldn't keep the overjoyed grin off her face. The lights on stage were blindingly bright, tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead- hands only able to wipe them away when she turned her back on the audience in a vibrant twirl that sent her ruffled red dress into the air around her legs. Her thick arched eyebrows furrowed in delighted effort as she hit those birdsong-esque notes in her upper range. Her chest puffed out with pride at every perfect sound she made, every perfected and practiced dance move.

Shimmery blue eyeshadow framed her dark eyes and accented sharply against her desert-tanned skin, it caught in the lights and dazzled in competition with the sequins of her gown. Her wide hips swayed in time to the beat- the feeling of the music seemed to ripple through the entirety of her body.

“Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona, no dejaré de quererte. Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona, no dejaré de quererte- no dejaré de quererte- no dejaré de quererte--! ¡Ay, ay, ay!”

She dipped her head and curtsied as the upbeat orchestral music pulled to a close, lights dimming around her gave a small respite from the heat of the stage. The avalanche of claps started as attendees rose from their seat to shower her with roses, red and white. She brushed a few loose strands of black hair out of her face before blowing kisses at the crowd, “¡Gracias! ¡Gracias mi amors!”

She managed to catch a few roses with nimble fingers before the curtains closed in front of her. She let out a small sigh of contentedness as several assistants rushed up to her from backstage, fussing over her hair and her makeup, asking her if she wanted wine or water. Masahir couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle at her ‘maintenance team’.

“I will be fine my busy little hummingbirds~ ... But some raspberry wine would be perfect!” She assured them lightheartedly before she glanced over to a rather athletically built security guard. “You, el escolta! Come here.”

“Yes, La Bella?” He’d closed the gap between them quickly and formally.

“¿Cómo te llamas?” She batted her thick lashes up at him and daintily adjusted her necklace.

“Maurício Foley, La Bella. How can I help you tonight?”

“Well, mister Mauricio, I am ready to be shown my gifts, take me to them.” Her tone was no less polite than it was a moment ago when addressing her advisors of course. She twined her arm around his and made a small motion. “Actually, escort me to my dressing room and have the presents brought to me in fifteen minutes, I have a new gown to change into.”

The muscular man dipped his head in a nod and pulled her along with a tempered patience. Every few steps a new person came up to her and greeted her, striking up a conversation.

“You performed wonderfully tonight, La Bella!” A new stage technician greeted. “Oh gracias mi amor!”

“I’ve brought you exotic flowers, La Bella!” A VIP club member called as they presented her with a large bunch of fragrant orange flowers. “Aww, mi amor, you shouldn’t have! Gracias~”

“Can you sign my poster miss La Bella?” Came the voice of a small girl, accompanied by someone who looked to be an older brother. “Of course mi amorcito precioso!”

Eventually, with enough slight nudging and persistence, Maurício finally managed to get the socialite singer to her dressing room. He took up his station outside her door while she reluctantly slipped away to change.

She stretched her arms up and let out a long exhale that sounded like something between a sigh and a yawn before she absent mindedly unzipped the back of her dress and worked it down her body.

“You know, you should probably check your room before you start stripping.” The speaker’s breath fanned against the back of her neck and she tensed, goosebumps raised in sharp relief against her normally smooth skin. Her heart felt like it was going to punch a hole in her chest with how hard it was thumping away. She was about to let out a scream when the uninvited guest revealed themselves; the small frame seemed to materialize from some tucked away shadow.

“Ji’aaj-Dar.” Her lips pulled down at the corners in a frown. Her stance relaxed a bit, but she still kept her arms wrapped around her chest in some attempt at modesty. “What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t interested anymore.”

The sand colored Khajiit rolled his eyes and gave a sharp flick of the tail. “What’s the point in being modest mi amor? You have no modesty as of late. I’ve seen the magazine’s photoshoot. Everyone has. Your skin isn’t special, certainly not enough to cover up now.”

She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. “Except I consented to that, pendejo,” she spat.

“Awwe, poor wittle la behwa still sore over our pwitures? What, and now you suddenly do want to share with the entire dataverse? All of Nippur? The Omniverse? I guess I’ve just made you into an addict, haven’t I, you whore. You could never stop begging for attention. It’s pathetic and disgusting.”

He stepped towards her, clawed hand outstretched to touch her face- brush a lock of ebony hair out of the way. The sound of her stinging slap reached his ears before he fully understood what had happened. Her small frame huffed in anger and she looked dead at him with a glare that could set him on fire, “Don’t you DARE touch me puta!”

Rap-ta-tap! “La Bella, are you okay?” Foley asked from outside. “La Bella?... La Bella open the door!”

Bottles of expensive perfume and fancy makeup sets toppled over and shattered on the ground as Ji’aaj-Dar grabbed her by the neck and forced her backwards onto her vanity table. His biceps bulged as he squeezed her dainty little throat. Her mouth popped open and she gaped like a fish out of water, eyes wide as she stared up into his feral black ones. Her hands pulled and clawed at him, desperate to pry her attacker away. He smashed his mouth into hers, fangs catching and cutting her lips.

He pulled his head back, ears flattened against his skull. His words came out in hisses and in that moment, as black and white speckles flickered across her vision, she thought of a beautiful desert cobra. “I will touch you however I want jer gajithka jetwijijri zaj zrishiit.” His speech faded into the dull dense pulse of her heartbeat.

Her eyes rolled back in their sockets, the cobra in her mind lunging forward.

What was life to the living? What was death to the dead? She remembered Ra’tima telling her a story about the great white smiling one that summoned special people into existence. Were they really just people, or... could someone consider them gods? These untouchable immortals with the power to create and destroy at will, gifted with the mystical ability to return from the dead, mistakes seemingly erased.

Maybe she would wake up revived somewhere in a distant land, like those beings the Smiling One summoned. Her king had returned from what everyone called banishment, a fate worse than death! The flashy blonde and dark haired teen that served the king had also returned from the afterlife, multiple times even!

She could hope, but in her heart she knew that she wasn’t special.


She wasn’t going to come back.

~ * * * ~

The piercing bleeps of the heart monitor filled the room. It came in a steady rhythm and beat against Ra’tima’s spirit like rough ocean waves on the shore. She’d been in this hospital before, she knew it’s rooms and had walked its floors while doing her damndest to prop up the ravaged city in Gilgamesh’s absence. The pure white walls had always made her feel so trapped and helpless.

She squeezed her upper arms with her fingers, as if it could possibly bring her any comfort. Nothing about this palace of death could ever even begin to soothe her.

The ceiling light flickered.

The hospital had always been the most well maintained of all the buildings in Nippur during the post-war time, and yet it still needed work.

She leaned her head down, small fuzzy hands moving up to massage her aching temples. Why did it seem like nothing was going to improve in her life? She used to be the queen of the world, controlling what went where and how much it cost. She used to be powerful, feared, respected. She was Lady Nocturnal’s incarnate, the chosen champion of all thieves!

And now she was powerless, holding onto the hope that the bruised body of her daughter would just... stir, react, do anything that showed she wasn’t going to be a brain dead vegetable.

Her sharp blue gaze lingered agonizingly on the blank face of Masahir- covered in flowery discoloration and a mouth full of the feeding and oxygen tubing- and for a moment she was looking at the dirty face of that skinny urchin girl she saved all those years ago.

She reached out to grasp her daughter’s hand, careful to not disturb the IV needle. “Please, tal, do not stop your rakna. You must... You must stay with your strength.” She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled a shaky breath. A prayer was mumbled through clenched teeth.

A rapping knock came at the heavy yellow door. A delicate looking elf seemed to float into the room with such soft steps. “Ma’am?”

The khajiit woman didn't respond.

“Ma’am, visiting hours are going to be over, here shortly.”

“This one does not care,” came the low, hissing answer. The doctor pursed her lips and sighed. Loved ones were always so stubborn when it came to obeying the visitation times. The khajiit woman was the rule, not the exception in this case. Always had been.

The dark skinned she-elf moved across the room and crouched down next to the grieving mother.

“Ra’tima, listen to me, please. We've given Masahir the best care that we possible can. I've pulled all strings and ropes in the background that I could. You know that we care about you here, but standing guard over her won't protect her or help her right now.” The merchant's ears flattened against her skull at the comment. “What would really help her is if you made sure to handle the legal side of this tragedy. Be her voice in this time of uncertainty and make sure the scum who did this is held responsible to the highest degree.”

The doctor's gaze softened a bit. “You have access to the ears of our King. You are a saint in the eyes of our people. You can make that change we need into a reality.”

The doctor stood and left, leaving the feline to digest her statements. The concept came to the mom slowly and visibly. Her eyes widened and her posture seemed to perk up as each realization dawned on her foggy mind.




She was gonna kill him, one way or another.