Chapter Text
Bright lights lit up the street as courtiers and commoners bustled about. Two men traveled along, clad in black coats and top hats. Just down the block, one of them spotted red blades spinning with a shining marquee below them. Without a thought, his pace began to speed up.
“Really, Shiro, slow down!” Keith chided, snatching his older brother’s arm.
“Oh come on, Keith,” Shiro relented. “Like you aren’t excited to finally see what the fuss is about.”
“I’m really not.”
Shiro huffed. “Well there’s no need to ruin my fun. Besides, you can use this time to find some new models for your paintings.”
“Yeah, right,” Keith said with a roll of his eyes as the pair closed in on the Moulin Rouge.
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Dancers put finishing touches on their makeup, rushing here and there for various beauty products. They giggled and flirted, psyching themselves into their stage personas. Not that it took much; this theatre was made for the naturally risky and risque.
Lance McClain was no exception to that. However, tonight would be his first couples dance, center stage, so he couldn't help but be a bundle of nerves in the midst of the merriment.
"Relax, Lance," Allura placed gentle but sturdy hands on his shoulders. "We've rehearsed this dance plenty of times. And I heard the men and women could barely keep their hands off of you just walking in here earlier today," she winked.
With a sigh, the brunette leaned back into her. "I know… but what if I mess up? My father will be furious when I return home after tonight, and I don't want to have it all be for not."
"Don't worry about him, then. Not only will you give yourself wrinkles, but you'll psych yourself out. Just focus on encompassing the bubbly and charming star inside of you, not the impoverished and suppressed peasant you are being forced to be."
Two pairs of blue eyes met in Lance's mirror, tears catching in his. With a soft smile, the man stood, determined. He turned and hugged Allura, his best friend and mentor, tightly, before clasping her hand and readying for their cue.
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Keith and Shiro sat down in their seats, managing to get front row seats with Shiro's high status. Next to him, Keith could feel Shiro bristling with excitement.
"You know, I really wouldn't have pegged you as someone who would be interested in a show as… promiscuous... as this one," Keith raised an eyebrow, sipping some wine offered by one of the strolling waiters.
A blush ran across the older man's cheeks as Shiro coughed, "Yes… well… let's just say there's a certain s-someone in particular I'm eager to see."
At that, Keith's brow shot up, "Is that so? And here I thought you had taken a liking to that secretary of yours!"
"Yes… that is true…"
"You sly dog! Two men at once?"
Shiro's eyes seemed to flicker in annoyance, and he opened his mouth to explain-
Suddenly, the lights throughout the theatre began to go off one by one until the entire audience was silenced by the darkness.
Only to be engulfed in glowing light and a tremendous singing of instruments.
A line of men and women, all dressed in hot pink, poofy dresses, danced across the stage. They tip toed sideways, kicking their heels up to the beat of the music.
More dancers, dressed similarly, ran up through the audience, can can-ing their way up to the stage to join in.
At the sight of undergarments being revealed by the performers, Keith averted his eyes in shame. Shiro seemed hesitant to look as well, but willing to see past the scandalousness in search of his admired.
These dances continued on for awhile. Shiro was yet to find the man he was searching for in the mass of bodies on stage, causing him to become grouchier and grouchier with each minute. Keith's own restlessness and discomfort continued to grow as well. At one point, the younger lifted a hand to suggest that the two take their leave.
But Keith's hand froze when the lights shut off again, sending the audience into black.
After a few moments of bated breaths, a single, shining light illuminated the stage.
Most of the audience saw it coming from one of the lamps above the stage, but Keith saw it in the glowing blue eyes posed on the stage itself.
The eyes were framed by chocolate brown hair that lay utop caramel skin adorned in a deep scarlet dress. While the figure was obviously a man, based on his lack of breasts, his body curved in a way that captured the flexibility and voluptuousness that was usually exclusive to a woman.
And while Keith was attracted to men, he found himself being allured by this feminine-like form before him.
Who, unfortunately, was being clasped by a… woman? Fairing a black suit? Just what kind of show was this? Keith had never seen anything so bizarre.
That's not to say it didn't intrigue him, though.
“That’s La Goulue, that man there,” Shiro whispered next to him, aware of his brother’s awe.
“La Goulue? Why would they call him a glutton?” Keith whispered back, curious.
“Well, he used to dance among the chorus line, and he would run up through the crowd like the others did earlier,” Shiro wore an amused face as he told the story. “They say he would snatch wine glasses straight from patrons’ hands, guzzling them down before handing them back with a wink. And you wanna know what else they say?”
A pause in Shiro’s narrative made Keith drag his eyes away from the stage, turning to look at Shiro he continued, a smirk on his face. “They say that those he shares a glass with will be his lover for the night.”
Keith’s face burst in red as a mix of emotions filled him: attraction, jealousy, temptation, shame… jealousy…
Shiro chuckled under his breath, “They are only rumors, though, I doubt they are true.”
An indignant noise came from Keith as he turned his attention back to the stage and the stunning man it presented.
Meanwhile, Allura and Lance stood on the stage, still posed and ready for the music to begin.
Lance’s eyes stayed locked to Allura, which wasn’t hard given they were the same height. His hands clenched and unclenched a few times as sweat dampened his back. Anxiety started flowing through him, and he felt himself slowly clam up.
“Loosen up,” Allura murmured softly, so that no one in the audience could hear. “You are a star, Lance. You’ve danced through this theatre on numerous occasions, and this time is no different. Don’t let your fear burn you out.”
Her soothing voice touched his core, and Lance felt himself follow his mentor’s guide. He made himself breathe evenly, and set his muscles so that they would be ready once the first beat rang.
And just like that, violins began to sound throughout the room, cuing Lance and Allura to begin their choreography.
The couple danced gracefully, bending this way and that. Their bodies seemed molded together, as if they were one person, moving to compliment and accommodate the other. However, this new male dancer still captivated more of the audience with his enchanting enticement. His hips popped and swayed, and his shoulders shimmied and shook with the orchestra’s tempo. Keith found his attention caught like a fish to a hook, the man’s arms, legs, and eyes a line thrown out to him.
At one point, the two dancers separated. The suited woman sashayed down to the left side of the audience, and the heeled man strutted down to the right side.
Near where Keith and Shiro sat.
Lance moved his body provocatively, draping himself on the men and women who watched him with devious eyes. He rolled his hips, winking and giggling as they reached out for him, jumping away teasingly each time.
He pranced from table to table, where people sat in circles sipping wine. In a daring move, Lance stepped up on one of the tables, dancing atop it as he lifted his skirt and twirled. However, he paused slightly when he glimpsed the gray, almost indigo, eyes of a patron.
Keith stared up at the blue-eyed adonis who had topped his table. Their eyes met, and the dancer seemed to hesitate. While his cheeks were already lightly tinged with red from the wine, Keith could feel more heat rise to his face. He had caught this man’s attention! Keith, a simple commoner, had managed to hook the fisher!
After the moment has ended, Lance grinned down at the ravenette with alluring eyes and thick locks cascading his shoulders. It was time to pull out his signature move.
With a final spin, Lance began kicking along with the music. He turned to the striking, indigo-eyed patron and lift his leg to kick the man’s hat of his head. The table cheered, and Lance leaped off the table to retrieve the lost accessory. Once he’d found it, he flipped it onto his own head and made his way back over to the table laden with his bootprints.
Before placing the hat atop the man’s head, Lance walked up behind him, leaning over him to grab his wine glass.
The scene seemed to go on in slow motion for Keith. The dancer’s form pressed up against his back, so naturally Keith turned to face him. A caramel hand then reached past Keith’s face, towards the table. With a flirtatious wink, the hand clasped Keith’s wine glass and lifted it to his pink lips, gulping down the thick liquid. When the glass was pulled away, and set back down on the table, a light red stain was left behind, one that Keith was tempted to lick away. However, before he could even expand on that thought, Keith’s hat was dropped on his head, causing him to flinch from the sudden weight. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, the tanned man was already making his way back up to the stage.
His eyes followed the dancer before Keith felt something fall from his hat, and looked down to see a small scrap of paper laying in his hands. He unfolded carefully, drinking in the words.
"Meet me after the show tonight. Just show my director this and he’ll let you backstage.
La Goulue"
Eyes widened as Keith reread the note once, twice, thrice. His heart began to beat faster as he drew his eyes back up to the stage.
Lance met the eyes of this captivating stranger one last time before his curtain call. Eventually, he broke the stare, meeting Allura at center stage, joining in a small, final dance, before the pair ended the performance with a series of kicks. The crowd leaped up in a standing ovation, replacing the orchestra's melody with roaring applause.
Lance could feel Allura squeezing his hand slightly. He squeezed back as the two bowed, the curtains closing on the performers.