Dancing in the Moonlight

A little drabble by SantaTheGrey, you can find him here! The music that goes with this drabble is here. Enjoy!

~

It had been a long day, and Njotr huffed out an exhausted breath as he dropped onto his bedroll. He’d gotten used to sleeping just about anywhere, so his trusty bedroll and furs were comparatively comfortable, even with just forest floor underneath.

At least it was cooling off a little. The heat of the day had been a big part of the exhaustion, but now, a couple minutes after the sun had set, a nice breeze carried the stuffy air from the forest. It also carried a tune.
Njotr furrowed his brow for a moment, his eyes still closed, trying to discern where the music was coming from.

Right. There was some sort of festival going on in the nearby village. He hadn’t asked as they’d passed through it, and he didn’t particularly care either. He just wanted a quiet night of sleep. He briefly considered packing up camp and moving further away, but he really didn’t feel like doing much of anything at this point. So he just slung his arm over his face blocking out some of the sound and most of the dusk light. The distant music was joined by nearby humming.

Njotr took a slow breath, swallowing a sigh. As endearing as Fiadh’s incessant humming tended to be, he really did want to get some sleep.
He turned his head and cracked open one eye, watching as Fiadh hung up some clothes to dry, humming along to the distant music.

Her steps on the forest floor were light and airy, making him think of her deer-form the way she pranced around the washing line, hanging up the last items in her basket. Did that mean she was about done then?

But now that she was free of the laundry, her steps resembled more of a traditional dance as she dove between the drying clothes, her hands catching on the wet fabric, almost like she was dancing with ghosts.

Njotr couldn’t help but smile as he watched her dance, still humming along to the music. He would have preferred to just sleep, but the way she moved the way a content smile adorned her pretty face…it made it rather difficult to be annoyed with her. She seemed so carefree then, her dress twirling as she spun, like a leaf drifting on the wind.

His smile fell a little, when he realized just how rarely he got to see her like this. They had plenty of worries to begin with, and Fiadh tended to err on the side of caution. How often had he found her worrying about other people’s thoughts on her, or how they would view her, or them. How often did she look over her shoulder, wondering if they were being followed?
Maybe there was still a part of that caged wolf in her, only recently freed from her cage, still a little flighty. 

So seeing her like this, carefree, as if nothing could ever tie her down, warmed his heart. 

She seemingly picked that moment to remember him, and her eyes lit up as she looked at him.
Oh no.

“You hear that?” she asked brightly as she pranced over, coming to a halt close to his bedroll.
“No.” he said, closing his eyes again and hiding his face in the crook of his elbow.

“Yes you do!” she laughed, nudging him in the side with her foot. “C’mon, we could dance to it! How often do we get music at camp?” 

“You’re always humming something, that’s plenty of music.” he muttered, glancing past his elbow when she only huffed, completely ignoring his jibe.

She stood over him, bouncing on the balls of her feet, one hand offered to him. “Please?” she said, blinking her best doe eyes at him—and they were good, even in human form—and pouting, knowing perfectly well that he couldn’t say no to that.

“Am I not allowed a moment of rest…” he said, dropping his arm and fully opening his eyes as he gave her a tired look.
“Nope. Not when there’s music. You can rest later.”

Njotr contemplated his life choices for a moment, blankly staring up at the admittedly beautiful reds and oranges of the clouds, catching the last rays of sunlight.
“Fine..” he sighed, pushing himself to sit up. He could rest later, and Fiadh looked too excited about it to deny her this. 

He got to his feet and stretched with a slight groan.

“Don’t be so dramatic, It’ll be fun!” Fiadh said, grasping his hand and  pulling him to a more open area of the clearing.

“I’m not much of a dancer.” he grumbled, but went along, stifling a yawn. 

Fiadh stopped and turned to him, enveloping him in a close hug. The warm and content smile on her face as she looked up to him made the lack of sleep an afterthought, and Njotr returned it, embracing her as well.

The music was louder here, though still distant, carrying a slower tune through the forest, mixing with the gently swaying branches and the burbling of the nearby stream. They started moving lightly, really just swaying back and forth a little, stepping from one foot to another as they slowly spun, still closely entangled.

“I like seeing you like this.” he said quietly, pulling her a little closer yet.
“Like what?” she asked, smiling, blinking up at him through blonde strands of hair. 

“Happy.” he said with a slight wink. 

She blushed slightly, her smile adorable as ever, before she pulled back a little, giving herself more room to move.

He started listening to the music then, adjusting his steps to the slow rhythm, following Fiadh’s lead. 

Njotr knew a couple of traditional dances, he’d learned them as part of his training and experience, mostly to blend into social gatherings.
What Fiadh was doing seemed more natural, less based on any ruleset.
She flowed with the music, bare feet brushing through the grass as she spun them around, grasping both his hands and pulling out, then back in again.
He felt like a lumbering oaf compared to her, but he managed to stay off her feet, at least. 

“It’s your fault anyway.” she said, still with that content smile, her eyes closed as she spun on his outstretched arm, before taking both his hands again.
“Hm?”
“That I’m happy.”
“I doubt that.” he said with a smile, moving with the music, feeling just a little lighter than he had before. There was something about Fiadh that just made that happen. 

She pulled in closer again, and he placed one hand on her lower back, the other holding her hand, in a more traditional dancing pose.  
“Well it’s true. Being here with you…” she said, taking a deep breath of the forest air, as if it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever experienced, “it’s just…perfect.” 

She opened her eyes then, looking up at him with such an open, genuine expression that he couldn’t possibly dispute her words.

They continued moving, their rhythm changing with the music, from light and quick steps to a slow and close dance as the festival seemed to die down the later the evening got. 

The sun was way past the horizon now, and moonlight glinted through the canopy of leaves and into their clearing, bathing them in familiar light. Most would describe moonlight as cold, but to Njotr, it always seemed warm and inviting, reminding him of Fiadh. 

He held her closer then, resting his cheek against the side of her head. 

“Thank you.” he said quietly, still moving slowly with the fading music.
“For what?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him as well.
“For being you.”