So I was rereading the Song of Death and at the very end of it Aiden tells Aru he'll make up a dance to her another time so... this is another time.

Set after TSoD

𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹

Aru was pretty sure she spent more time in the Otherworld than she did in her own home.

But since her home was a museum, she wasn't all that opposed to the fact.

She'd done absolutely nothing all day, so currently she was wandering down the hall of the empty Pandava training facility, poking her head into various rooms she hadn't been in yet, looking at a few painting that hung on the walls, and basically searching for something to entertain herself with. Brynne was in the kitchen, Mini and Boo were in the library, and since Aru didn't particularly feel like getting set on fire or being lectured on either obscure diseases or Indian history that day, she was left to her own devices.

She came across one such new room an hour or so later. The first thing she noticed when she pushed the door open was the sound of an old-timey dance song. The second thing she noticed was Aiden Acharya standing in the middle of the room, alone. He instantly paused the music as she swung the door open.

"Uh, hi," Aru said, not moving from the door. She looked around the room. It was a huge ballroom, at least twice the size of an average basketball court. Velvet drapes hung from the walls, even though there were no windows.

"Hey, Shah," Aiden said.

"What are you doing?" Both asked at the same time.

Aiden smirked, while Aru's cheeks flushed red.

"I was just poking around," Aru said hastily, not wanting to seem like more of a creepy stalker than she probably already did. "I can go-"

"No, it's okay," Aiden said. "In fact, I was just going to come look for you."

Aru raised her eyebrows. "What for?"

All of Aiden's supposed chill disappeared as he blushed and stammered. "Well, um, remember the Halloween dance?"

"Yeah?"

"And I said I'd make that dance up to you?"

"Those weren't your exact words, but yep."

"I mean, if you don't want to anymore it's fine-"

"No, no, we can..." Aru trailed off, trying not to sound too excited.

The two looked at each other awkwardly, until Aiden cleared his throat.

"Um, so are you gonna get out of the doorway?"

Aru blushed again and walked over to him.

"I'm not much of a dancer," she mumbled sheepishly.

"I'll teach you," he promised, gaining back a bit of his normal smooth nonchalance.

He started up the music again before one of his hands took her own.

"Put your other hand on my shoulder," he said as his other hand rested on her waist. Aru complied, and she could feel her skin heating up under his touch.

"Follow my lead," Aiden said. Left foot forward, then right foot to the right."

Aru looked down, trying to keep with the rhythm while not stepping on Aiden's toes. It wasn't too hard, and before long it felt completely natural to her (or maybe it was Urvashi's dance lessons kicking in).

Aiden momentarily removed his hand from her waist. He brought it under her chin, making her look up at him.

"Eye contact," he said, smiling bashfully and placing his hand back on her waist.

If it was possible for Aru to blush even more, she did. She remembered what Urvashi had said one time: If you can't hold eye contact, look at the spot right in between their eyes.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Aiden seemed to lean a little closer to her.

The two kept dancing, and Aru had to admit, it was a whole lot better than doing it at a public dance. At least, no one could see them-

"AHAH!" Someone crowed.

Aru and Aiden jumped apart just as Brynne seemed to spontaneously materialize out of thin air in front of them.

"Bee!" Aiden said, looking more than a little mortified. "What-"

"How-" Aru said at the same time.

Brynne snorted. "There are some advantages to being able to change into a fruit fly, you know."

Aru glowered at her.

Brynne batted her eyelashes innocently. "Besides, I'm not the only one. Mini, you can come out now."

A faint gulp was heard as the air shimmered and Mini appeared, Dee Dee in hand.

"Mini!" Aru said. "Betrayal!"

"I'm sorryyyyyyyyyy!" Mini shouted, running out of the room.

But Aru could've sworn she'd seen her sister grin.

"Oh, c'mon," Brynne complained, running after her. "Mini! You promised to help me tease them! Get back here!"

Aiden rolled his eyes before looking back to Aru. He smirked, a blush still covering his cheeks.

"Can we never finish a dance in peace?" Aru half asked, half complained.

"Apparently not," Aiden said, stepping closer to her. "But we should probably be doing something a bit more important than that."

"Like what?"

"Hiding before they find us again."