A Slothful Dance

The evening paints the sky with hues of dark purples, blues, and indigos, while the stars litter the space with a mix of dim and bright yellow. Burgundy velvet ropes, attached to gold poles that are no taller than three feet, line a path towards the entrance of a Gala hall. Many buns are dressed up lavishly in their doll forms, one of which is Polaris. The sleepy bun did her best to sleep during the day just so she’ll be awake long enough to enjoy the gala. Her dress starts off sleek and strapless, with a slit cut into the front right of the dress. Around her hips, additional flowing fabric sits at the back, extending the train of the black, sparkly dress. She made sure to pair the dress with a few accessories before she left the house and entered the gala hall. The lighting is surprisingly bright, forcing Polaris to shut her eyes the second she stepped inside to adjust. Looking around, she sees tables aplenty, a dance floor, and food tables.

~~~

Fig sighed softly, picking up another h'ordeuvre at random and taking a bite. Parties like this weren’t really his scene. He was supposed to be somebody else’s ‘plus one’; apparently they’d sent word somehow that they’d be late, because the bouncer let him in no problem, but now the purple Sloth was left waiting. 

So he spent the time bun-watching. Many of the buns who had attended in their doll forms were dressed so extravagantly that it made him a bit self-conscious, as all he’d had at home was a basic suit. Black jacket, baby pink shirt, black tie. At least Fig had tried to make his hair look a little fancy. It wasn’t in it’s usual ponytail and he’d left his beret at home; he’d even taken a handful of his fanciest beads and tied them in here and there so they would catch the light.

Fig glanced at his phone to see zero notifications. He sighed again. 

~~~

Polaris knows herself well enough to stay off the dance floor, especially if she has no partner to hold her up if she did end up passing out on accident. She doesn't want to intrude on the groups of buns sitting at the extravagantly decorated circular tables, so she chooses the snack table. Sitting to the side of the main floor with a perfect view of everyone around she walks over. Many h'ordeurvres, small deserts, and a few drinks sit on the table. Skipping any of the savory looking items she pick up a small desert, a cake, sitting in the form of a cube. 

Lifting the sweet treat to her mouth she spots another bun, Fig, from the corner of her eye. "Hello," Polaris smiles, a bit too nice for her own good, she greets him. "How are you doing?"

~~~ 

Fig looked up from his phone when he heard a soft greeting. It wasn’t who he was waiting for, but another Sloth doll, her accessories shining like stars against her dark skin. “Hi,” he smiled back, figuring that there would be no harm in chatting with a stranger while he waited. “A little bored so far, but I haven’t been here long. How are you?” 

He gave her a quick up and down, and gestured at her dress. “You look beautiful.” Fig wasn’t trying to flirt per say, but he knew good clothing craftsmanship when he saw it, and the dress suited this doll well. 

~~~

"Thank you," Polaris' tail flicks happily. "And I am doing well and I just arrived as well. I also like your suit, especially your shirt." She's sincere with her words, falling back into silence when she suddenly remembered that she didn't actually introduce herself. Her eyes widen, the glow surrounding her irises brighten and her spirit motes move around quickly, "Oh! And I'm Polaris by the way, I completely forgot to say my name. It's nice to meet you, um..."

~~~ 

Fig smiled, about to thank her for the compliment, but when she continued and reminded him that he hadn’t actually introduced himself either. He laughed a little at his own expense and dipped his head in apology. “I’m Fig. It’s nice to meet you, Polaris.” 

He gestured vaguely towards the dance floor. “Are you not a big fan of dancing either? I think there’s way too many ‘rules’ to remember; each dance has its own footwork and hand positions and what not… It’s so tiring to try and wrap my head around it all.” 

~~~ 

“Well,” Polaris thinks of her response. “I do like dancing, but I’m not the best at staying awake. I fear I’ll possibly fall asleep mid step and cause a whole collapse on the dance floor. So I’m here,” she pops the small cake into her mouth.

~~~

“Huh…” Fig was quiet for a moment, then continued. “Well, how about this: we take our time trying this array of treats that Angora has provided, and if you feel up to dancing later, I’ll be your partner. I’m pretty strong, so if you need someone to pick you up and carry you to safety, I’ll be there.” He turned to the snack table and grabbed a small cake similar to the one Polaris had just eaten, but a different colour. “And in return, you can teach me how to do whatever dance we end up doing. How’s that sound?”

~~~

“That sounds like a deal,” Polaris’ eyes widen excitedly. “Dancing is pretty easy once you learn the basics, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it quickly.” She begins to grab a bunch of snacks stacking them up in a pile together.

~~~

Fig grinned at Polaris’ obvious excitement, and chuckled softly as he watched her gather a collection of treats. “I thought we said we were going to take our time with the snacks?” he teased gently, but then followed her lead, finishing the little cake in his hands and picking up another h'ordeuvre. 

~~~

Polaris shrugs, “I like to have a wide selection in my hand, just so that nobody takes anything that I was eyeing while I’m eating. It’s a pretty effective strategy if you ask me," she remarks with a twinkle in her eye.

~~~

Fig laughed again. “What’s that saying? ‘Work smarter, not harder’?” He had to admit, her snacking strategy was smart. He grabbed a couple of snacks from the table and held them in his hand. “Speaking of… What do you do for work, if you don’t mind me asking?” Fig figured a little bit of small talk wouldn’t hurt, a casual chat while they enjoyed their spoils from the snack table. 

“I make clothes, blankets, things like that. One of a kind.”

~~~ 

Polaris nods along to everything he says, and she is mid-chew when the question comes up. “Oh~” She swallows whatever snack she had put in her mouth moments before. “I don’t have a job… Well, a stable one to be exact. I do small tasks here and there. I’ve kinda branded myself as a living night light. I get a request, and I either read, talk, or just sleep in the same area as someone for the night. It’s pretty fun, so I don’t really ask for any tangible payment—mostly food or allowing me to sleep over.”

~~~ 

“A living… Oh.” Fig looked Polaris over again, eyes falling on her gentle Glow as he nodded in understanding. “That sounds like a pretty fun job, actually, getting paid just to hang out. Though I might just be saying that as a fellow Sloth bun.” 

He finished another one of the treats in his hand and looked back out towards the dance floor. The energy seemed to be changing slightly; fast-paced dances switching to gentler ones… A waltz, maybe? And while ‘romantic’ wasn’t necessarily the vibe Fig was looking for, he figured one of these slower dances might be safer for Polaris if she had one of her sudden sleep spells. 

“What do you say we head out there soon?” Fig gestured towards the dance floor with his tail as he took another bite.

~~~

Polaris’ gaze turns towards the dancing crowd, and her tail wags, “Mmhmm.” She watches each step individuals in the crowd take. She too determined that a waltz has commenced on the dance floor, and it’s a simple one at that. 

Many pairings are doing the basic steps to the dance while a few, mostly in the middle of the dance floor, have added a few spins and pizazz to their routines. “That’s an easy dance to learn, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. The learning curve for it is pretty low if you have decent coordination.”

~~~

“I think… I’m decent.” Fig chuckled at his own expense. He didn’t actually have any idea how bad he could be, but he’d never hurt himself working out, and that was similar… Wasn’t it? 

Was he nervous? 

Putting the last of his treats in his mouth, Fig hunted down some napkins for himself and held some out to Polaris as well. He cleaned his hands off carefully before reaching out to take her hand. “Well then, Polaris, may I have this dance?” 

~~~ 

Grateful for the napkin, Polaris takes it, wiping her face and hands. Tossing it away she takes Fig’s hand, with an eager smile “Yes you may.” Ohhhh this is going to be so much fun, her tail wags up until they start moving towards the dance floor.

She lets Fig lead her ahead, and she takes precautions to avoid stepping on anyone’s dress or flowing clothes. She also tries her best to avoid bumping into anyone, the way that many buns are crowed along the perimeter of the dance floor. There weren’t this many buns here when I was at the snack table. Is it me, did I miss calculate? 

“Do you want to dance in the center or out here on the outskirts?” She looks up at Fig and points with her free hand, “Cause I found a good spot near the middle we can take.”

~~~ 

“Uhhh…” Fig took a look around, trying to survey the dance floor more strategically than he had been. “There’s quite a few people out around the edges, so if you see a clear spot in the middle, that works?” He hummed thoughtfully. “It’ll be further for me to carry you if you faint, but reduce the chance of you getting hurt right away… Right?” 

Okay, he was definitely nervous. Not worried that he would fail to keep Polaris safe if she needed him… More worried about embarrassing her, he thought.

~~~

“Right,” she says, pointing to a spot and pulling him along with her. “We’ve made it to the dance floor, so the hard part is done. Now for the dancing.” She takes his hands in hers, guiding his right hand to her waist and taking his left hand in her right one. Her left hand rests on his shoulder. “This is where your hands should go for some dances. You can readjust to whatever is comfortable, but this stance is one of the easiest. For the steps, you will guide me. You’ll take two steps forward and two steps back. Then, on the third count, you’ll turn us. So, it’s one, two, three, over and over again. Ready to give it a go?” Polaris speaks quickly, trying to contain her excitement to dance.

~~~

Fig's heart stilled thrummed with nerves, but Polaris' excitement was infectious, putting a smile back on his face as she showed him where to put his hands and talked him through the steps. "Okay, one, two, turn, one, two, like this?"

~~~

“Mmhmm,” Polaris hums, thrilled to have a dance partner, even if he’s not exactly the best. “And with these fundamentals we can make it fancy. A twirl here, a spin there, a hop and a skip everywhere, just like those guys over there.” She points her tail towards the duos who are really showing out tonight, capturing a lot of attention with their tricks and techniques.

“Actually…. Let’s not be like them, I feel like that’s just a crash waiting to happen if no one is careful,” she watches many dancers nearly collide into one another, That’s going to be a no from me. “We’re fine like this,” Polaris pulls her attention back to Fig, her spirit motes spinning around them. It’s like they are dancing themselves, or playing a game of tag, it’s hard to tell the difference. But Polaris gets through the dance surprisingly well herself and it’s not until the current song ends and the next begins that she finally begins to drop.

She wears a sleepy smile on her lips, slowly blinking frequently, “I want to thank you again Fig for dancing with me tonight. It was fun,” she yawns. “But now I think it’s time for to fa~~” She doesn’t finish what she was saying. Her eyes close and her head as well as their body falls against Fig, she’s fallen asleep.

~~~ 

"Ah-" Fig was glad they'd talked this through earlier; even with the warning, he was surprised at how quickly Polaris fell asleep when her fatigue took over. He pulled her unconscious form close, protectively maneuvering her off the dance floor and into a seat tucked against one the back walls. He pulled a chair over for himself as well, nestling beside her to wait out her nap attack. 

Fig tugged his phone from his pocket and saw a message from the one he'd originally been waiting for; they were finally on their way. He nodded to himself and looked back over at Polaris, making the silent vow to wait with her as long as he could.