Elliot grinned at her, charmed, and put down his bucket of paint. The rope was still tied to his wrist, but he had plenty of room to maneuver. He glanced up at Myra, who gave him a thumbs up. “Let’s see.”
The ball scene was when Radiant suspected Red Rose of turning to the side of evil, but was not sure, and Red Rose tried to seduce her—to get information or because Red Rose wanted to seduce her. Elliot thought it was both. He had made extensive notes and had many opinions about Red Rose by now: the way the world had told him he was useless until he seized on being evil as the only possible purpose, the charm and strangeness of Red Rose, which had once attracted and now repelled Radiant, and how the unfairness of that, of being first loved then hated simply for being himself, enraged Red Rose so completely.
Adara bowed and held out her hand, with Radiant’s wary chivalry: Red Rose sank to the floor, eyes sparkling up at her from the direction of Radiant’s ornate belt buckle.
“It’s been a long time,” said Radiant, and helped Red Rose rise. They began to move across the floor, Radiant leading but Red Rose making moves that he should not have.
“Have you missed me?” Red Rose asked, laughing softly.
There was a set of boxes to represent the table and chair that Radiant and Red Rose danced across: Adara had not proved able to catch Elliot when he leaped from the table, so instead they leaped together: neither of them could stumble or both would fall. The world whirled by and narrowed to the press of their bodies and the clasp of their hands.
“How would you desire to be missed?”
“I would desire to be missed like the remembered and desperately sought fragrance of a strange flower that grew in your garden: missed like a riot of color gone from your eyes, missed like the sweetest of feasts lost from your lips, missed like a carpet of the richest and most gorgeous silks, which you long and long to lay down on the floor once again.”
“You desire too much,” said Radiant. “But you always did.”
“As a flower drinks the sun, as the earth drinks rain, I know that you will come, come taste me again,” whispered Elliot, and he kissed Adara, his fingers in her hair, her arms going around him.
“No,” Luke’s voice said. “Nope. No. No. What’s happening and why is it happening?”
Adara pulled away. “It’s part of the play,” she said with a saucy wink. “I can’t wait for our kiss scene.”
Luke said his new favorite word again. “No. No way. I’m going to see Commander Woodsinger.”
“What? Why?” Adara demanded, but Luke was already gone.
Elliot picked up the bucket of paint because he didn’t have time to untie the rope from his wrist, and followed.
“Elliot, where are you going with the paint?” Myra asked, sounding distraught, and came after him grabbing at the bucket.
Adara went with them, so Luke arrived at the commander’s office and walked in without knocking but with an entourage. Commander Woodsinger looked startled by this entrance.
“I have a complaint,” said Luke, throwing himself down in the chair across from the commander’s desk.
Elliot and Adara hovered by the chair, not wanting to sit and not wanting to miss anything. Myra confiscated the bucket of paint and carried it to the back of the room, out of range.
“If this is about Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle again—”
“No,” said Luke, flinching. “No, I understand that . . . I have to do my duty.” He began to look embarrassed. “It’s nothing serious like that. But I’m in Captain Whiteleaf’s play.”
“My condolences,” said Commander Woodsinger.
“There’s meant to be kissing,” said Luke. The commander dropped her quill with a haunted look. “I don’t want to do it.”
Adara flushed dull red. “Well, you have to!” she snapped. “It’s in the script.”
“I won’t,” said Luke.
Commander Woodsinger looked as if light had broken in on her, shining with the promise of rescue. “This is, I think, a matter to be taken up with Captain Whiteleaf!”
“I can’t; she tells him what to do,” said Luke. “But I won’t. I don’t want to let anybody down, but you have to tell the captain I won’t.”
“I refuse to give the captain any orders about kissing,” Commander Woodsinger said with dignity.
Myra clutched her bucket of paint. “Well, the commander has spoken. We’d better go and sort this out amongst ourselves!”
This was not Luke’s usual unhappiness about the play.
“Hang on a minute,” said Elliot. “Luke doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to. Nobody has to kiss anybody they don’t want to. Plays are supposed to be about fun and enlightening the masses, not forcing people into distasteful acts.”
Adara made an explosive noise of outrage. Elliot raised his eyebrows at her and grinned.
“That’s true,” said Myra reluctantly. “I wouldn’t want to kiss someone only for a play.”
Luke looked with gratitude at Myra. Commander Woodsinger gazed at her with a clear sense of betrayal.
Elliot swept on. “So you’re going to have to talk with Captain Whiteleaf about stage kisses. If they hold their heads at the right angle, it’ll look like they’re kissing when they’re not. You just have to make it clear that’s the way it has to be.”
“If you leave my office immediately,” said the commander, “I will do so.”
Adara looked as if she wanted to weep with mortification. “It’s in the script! Why didn’t you people read the script all the way through?”
“I read the script. And I have no problem with kissing Adara, obviously, she’s gorgeous,” said Elliot, and then realized what he’d said in front of the girl he was trying to court. “I mean, she could look like a severed thumb and I’d still do it. For my art. I’m an artiste.”
Adara tossed her long golden hair over one shoulder. “Well, I don’t want to kiss you.”
“Okay then, you shouldn’t,” Elliot agreed. “Nobody’s kissing anybody. Is everyone happy now?”
Adara did not look happy. Myra looked embarrassed to be there. Commander Woodsinger looked like she wanted to brain him with her paperweight. A certain amount of tension had slid out of Luke’s shoulders, though, so Elliot was calling it a win.
“Please leave,” said the commander. “If the impulse to come into my office and chatter exclusively about kissing ever comes over any of you again, I urge you to crush that impulse. I will expel you for wasting my time.”
Commander Woodsinger was as good as her word, and the play continued smoothly and took up most of their time, and the rest of the time Elliot tried to remember to look out for Luke, not to be mean. He’d promised.
Since he went to Trigon practice, he made Luke go with him one day when the bookstalls were set up outside school. Elliot had a great many credits for academic prowess that could only be redeemed for books. Elliot got a little over-excited, lost Luke and found himself in a literary avalanche before he realized that he was completely hidden from view, and Luke must be wondering where he was. He picked up his booty and emerged.
“Looking for your friend?” he heard the nice bookstall lady ask.