The Heavens Shall Fall

The bonfire event had grown into something far beyond what Siu had originally intended, especially after someone had brought out a drum from nowhere. The moment its drumming began echoing out, another disciple had found a flute, and from who knows where, a stringed melody joined in. It didn't take long for them to play off each other, and a minute later, an improvised yet fiery melody was echoing all around them. It felt, and it was raw, pretty much instinctive, as the disciples simply followed each other's beats, managing to predict them and harmonize like it was a weird sparring session.

Maybe it was... Because people began to move at once.

They weren't hesitant at all, and everyone joined them, done with the eating, forming loose circles, clapping, laughing as someone inevitably tripped when dancing. What little structure there had been dissolved completely as the energy of everyone spread like a fire, and no matter who someone was, everyone was letting loose for a moment. Even Tian, whom Siu saw dancing with Kae'Lin.

Smiling to himself, Siu had to acknowledge that he felt proud of what he did here. Plus... for once, he wasn’t being pulled in ten different directions. The constant stream of greetings and questions had stopped, especially now that everyone was lost in partying. Trying to slink away, so he can finally rest with a cup in his hand, he managed to reach their empty table and lean against it, watching the fires and the dancing people.

“Not bad,” he muttered quietly to himself, smiling. His ribs no longer ached when he inhaled, and as he raised the cup, his left arm moved surprisingly smoothly… "Huh? Did I... have a minor breakthrough or what?" He asked himself why he felt so refreshed, since it was... weird.

"Master, what will you do now?" Arya asked suddenly, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" He looked at her, watching the two hop down from his shoulders onto the table.

"Well, you won." Arya started, while Marly nodded her head, watching him, "Everyone agrees with you, so... Aren't we... on top of the food chain?"

"That doesn't mean much," He chuckled, taking a sip, "And we will do what we are supposed to do: cultivate. Everything else is a necessary distraction, but with things the way they are... Hopefully, I will have the peace to just focus on cultivating."

"Boooooooring!" Arya moaned, making Siu roll his eyes.

He was about to answer when steps made her ears twitch, and turning towards the source, Neya stood a few steps away from him. She had been there for a moment already, and it was obvious now that he looked properly. But... she hadn’t approached immediately. She probably realized he was talking to his beasts, but finally made some noise to make him notice her. Watching, her fingers were curled loosely around a cup, though it was nearly empty, and her eyes were on him, barely even blinking.

For a second, neither of them spoke, but then she took a quick breath and stepped forward with a surprising amount of confidence.

“Siu.”

“Yeah?” he answered, turning fully toward her, putting down his cup while Arya and Marly hopped to the end of the table, watching curiously.

Up close, it was easier to see the slight flush on Neya's cheeks and that her way of standing was just a bit too stiff. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, her courage suddenly fading when she noticed Arya and Marly looking at her... but then she took another breath and looked back at Siu.

“Um… Do you… Want to dance?”

In the end, it came out in one go, even if she managed to pause in the middle of her question. It wasn't the question Siu had expected, so he blinked once in surprise, and then repeated the question, a bit flustered.

“Dance?” he gulped, his issue coming mainly from the fact that he had never, ever tried to... dance.

"Um," Neya nodded quickly, as if afraid she’d lose the chance if she didn’t confirm it with him immediately. “Yeah...”

There was another pause, because Siu didn't know what to say, but Neya stood still and was waiting for his answer, her face turning even redder now.

“Alright,” he said in the end, smiling to himself, "I don't see why not!"

Her eyes widened immediately, sparkling, but then, she suddenly didn't know how to proceed. She hadn't thought that far yet... To give her more time, she set her own cup aside, mumbling quickly to herself before stepping closer, trying to decide what to do... and how.

“So,” Siu started, glancing toward the moving crowd, because he was just as unsure, “how do we... Dance?"

“I don’t know,” she admitted immediately, as the two just looked at each other, both of them surprised.

“You don’t?” He asked, looking incredulous.

“No...” She muttered, barely audible, yet she kept looking into his eyes.

“Never danced... before?” He muttered, holding back his smile, not wanting to twitch his mouth.

"No..." She said again, “Have you?”

"Nope." They stared at each other for a second, then, almost at the same time, both of them let out a laugh. “Well,” Siu exhaled, reaching out and getting a hold of her hands, “that’s a good start as any, I guess.”

"It is...!" Neya chortled quietly, the last of her nervousness disappearing when he touched her fingers, "But we’re doing great so far.”

"By standing around?” Siu asked, shifting his stance slightly, “Oh well, we’ll figure it out.” He added as he stepped towards the left, while Neya followed his lead.

“How?”

“We are cultivators,” He grinned at her, letting his body try and follow the rhythm of the music, "It can't be that different than training, no?"

"Training?" She laughed again, yet followed on, holding onto him even more tightly, "Well, there is no other way to describe it, huh?"

As they moved around, their steps didn’t match, their timing was off, and more than once, one of them moved when the other didn’t, resulting in a brief, clumsy correction that only made them knock into each other. When it happened, Neya stepped on his foot once, immediately apologizing before laughing it off, while Siu nearly misjudged a turn and had to catch her, holding her waist.

“This is bad...” she muttered under her breath.

"Want to stop?" Siu asked, still holding her, but she just shook her head.

"I didn't say that I dislike it..." she whispered, smiling, and they just continued, slowly working out the missteps and finding their own little tempo.

Siu adjusted first most of the time, using his breathing and matching it to hers, his stance lowering just enough so Neya's body could copy him better. Naturally, Neya followed the lead without thinking about it, matching his steps instinctively, and it wasn't a dance that would have been taught anywhere at all... but it was fun.

“You have a strong arm,” Neya said suddenly, without thinking about it, feeling his hand still on her waist while she was grabbing onto his. "It keeps me from falling..."

"Master, she had already fallen."

“Don’t jinx it,” Siu said, ignoring Arya's quip.

“I’m serious!” Neya said with a giggle, watching his face from up close.

“So she says,” Arya added again, watching the two move around.

“They look good!” Marly chirped in, bouncing slightly where she sat, putting a big slice of cheese into her mouth sacks, somehow, some way, finding more room for it, “Big Sis, want some?”

"I want to dance too!" Arya answered with a nod, making Marly tilt her head, before Arya's tail smacked her. "Come on, Marly! We will go and twist our butts and flick it around!"

"Eh?! Do what?!"

But it was too late, because Arya had dragged her along by her tail, flinging Marly close to Siu and Neya, and soon the two of them were rushing around them. As for dancing... theirs was more like Arya chasing Marly, who wanted to quit, because all that running was making her food slip out of her mouth here and there.

“Ignore them,” Siu said, because even if the two were super chaotic, their link and frequent training made it so that there was no real worry of him stepping on either of the two. "Just follow my lead."

“I am.” Neya whispered, no longer blushing, but her ears were as pink as possible, "I would... always..."

“Well, well…!” A new voice giggled just as she whispered the last words.

“Look who finally got her spunk in place!” An identical one added, as the twins appeared out of nowhere.

Watching the two, Milli and Nilli moved in without hesitation, their presence slipping into the dance as if they had always been part of it.

“Mind if we cut in?” Milli asked, though she didn’t wait for an answer, “Too late,” Nilli added, as the two were already holding onto both Siu and Neya.

"Usually," Siu rolled his eyes, "You wait for an answer when you ask a question."

"We are drunk~!" They answered, winking at them, but... it didn't look like it; more like they were simply using it as an excuse.

Milli and Nilli brought ample chaos to their dance, their movements playful, usually spinning the two of them in and out, pulling Siu into their own hugs, and snuggling up to him. Before Neya could complain, she also landed between their embrace, muffling her yelps.

“Not bad,” Milli mused, as she was hugging Neya, and she could swear... Milli had squeezed her bottom, "Soft and ample. Go for it!"

"Eh?!" She inhaled sharply, turning back to looking like a ripe tomato, while ending up in Nilli's hold the next moment, who also... touched somewhere where she shouldn't.

"Nice and ready, mhm. If you ain't doing it tonight," she added in her own whisper, even biting her earlobe, as if warning Neya, "Don't blame us for taking advantage of him next time. We won't be so generous forever!"

“Eeek?!” Neya sounded like someone who had her tail stepped on, but she was flung away one more time, ending up in Siu's arms all of a sudden, not even knowing what had happened just now. Her heart was beating like crazy, her breathing rapid like she had run around the clearing, being chased by ghosts.

“Alright,” Milli said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and stepping back suddenly, “We are leaving,” Nilli added, doing the same, licking her lips.

“Huh?” Neya and Siu asked, stopping where they stood.

“We’re not stealing him." The twins giggled, speaking to Neya, "Yet.”

“Yet?” Siu raised a brow, feeling left out of an important discourse, "Maybe you both indeed are drunk..."

“Don’t worry about it.” They laughed, and before anything else could be said, the twins turned, already moving away, shouting.

“Rinmei!”

“There you are!”

“…Wait, what—?” Rinmei asked, but it was cut short as she was promptly dragged into the chaos, her initial surprise changing into a very... very happy laughter far too quickly for it to be fake.

"Should we...?" Neya asked, a bit worried about Rinmei.

"No." Siu shook his head, "Definitely not."

"Um..." She tried to say something, still looking at him, "Should we..." She asked again, not knowing how to finish it this time either, but she didn't need to, because Siu had leaned forward and suddenly... kissed her.

There was nothing else to say, and Neya simply melted away in his arms, immediately returning the kiss, not even worrying about how clumsily she might do it, or... where does the tongue even go? Should she use it? She heard about it and... Oh... Their teeth just knocked together. Wait... his hand is moving... Ah... Her thoughts then melted away completely, and she just followed Siu's lead, who was just as inexperienced.

"Go on, Master!" He heard a loud whoop, followed by a second.

"Woohooo!"

"Now, squeeze her butt! That's it! Yeah! This is a proper butt-swinging party now!"

In the end, Siu locked the two out of his mind because he was momentarily horrified that he had done exactly what Arya was telling him... yet Neya didn't pull away; instead, she almost sat down in his hands.

"Um..." Siu tried to speak when their lips separated, but Neya was already moving in for seconds, whispering to him.

"Don't stop... Not now... Or I will get scared to continue..."

So, he didn't stop... and nobody asked questions when the two disappeared from view.