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[everyone_takes]

"Holy crap," Kate muttered to herself, flipping another page of the book she was holding on her lap in the middle of the rec room. Around her were several other books, open to various drawings of pointe shoes and information on what it took a dancer to finally be able to dance en pointe, which was all a little terrifying for Kate, even with the

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[noonelaughed]

"...since when have we got a ballet?" Chris asks, changing directions and walking into the rec room, though he'd only meant to walk past it on his way to the kitchen.

It's the tutu that intrigues him, really. He's only ever seen someone wear one because they were pissed or high or both.

[everyone_takes]

"We don't," Kate answered, looking up. She recognized the guy from that party that Effy had invited her to, but she didn't think she'd ever talked to him before. Or, if she had, she sure didn't remember it. Then again, she didn't remember a lot about that party.

"I mean, we have a dance studio, but we don't have like, an official island ballet company," she said, smiling. "Just a girl in a tutu in the rec room."

[noonelaughed]

"Nothin' wrong with that," Chris says with a shrug, and means it. It's a mental rule, it only being okay to wear a tutu while you're dancing in it. Not that he's about to put one on himself, but he doesn't think he should be judged if he decides to.

"You should start a proper one. You've got all the books for it." He's noticed all the ones on the floor, and for a second can't help but feel a bit jealous that she's managed to get it to give her anything but psychology school books.

[everyone_takes]

"Yeah, but I can't actually do any of the dancing yet," she answered with a small smile and a bit of a shrug. "I think that's some kind of rule. In order to start a dance company, you have to actually be able to dance." And she could. She was good at it, too. It was just adding pointe shoes to the equation that made her a little shaky.

"I'm Kate," she offered after a moment. "I think I saw you at that party Effy invited me to."

[noonelaughed]

"Chris," he says, "That was my party." He tries to remember for a moment whether or not he recognizes her from then. There'd been a lot of people there he didn't know and nearly as many that he barely remembered at all.

"And-- and that's a fuckin' mental rule if you ask me. If someone wants to dance, they should just be able to like... do it, you know? Whether it's on their own or with other people."

[everyone_takes]

"The shoes kind of change things," Kate said with a bit of a grin, lifting one leg to show him the pointe shoes she was wearing. "I woke up this morning and they were sitting at the end of my bed with my name on them, but they're like... you can hurt yourself if you don't do it properly."

And as much as she agreed that most rules were stupid, she still didn't want to end up breaking her toes on her first day.