“Darling, if I was singing to you, I assure you, uncomfortable is not a feeling you would be capable of.” If only because hypnosis and compulsion left very little room in the mind for discomfort or awkwardness when the attention was made so entirely absorbed elsewhere. “But as you wish. There will be no songs tonight except what our lovely DJ here is playing. I prefer your mind be entirely your own anyhow.” As for being the center of attention, “A shame. But I suppose I shall have to fill the spotlight myself. I do hate to share, but for you, I might have made an exception.”
Anna met and held Florencia’s gaze as she considered the question. “A heart can only be broken if first it is offered,” she said. “Is it?” Of course, Florencia had been right before: the fae could not lie, but they could side step and circle, avoid and double-speak. Anna had absolutely no desire to break Florencia’s heart. But that was her greatest talent, wasn’t it? What siren could hold a heart in her hands without breaking it? Anna thought of love, and she thought of waves, of the last smile of her father before his head dipped beneath the water and the girl who had promised turning her back at the shore.
“It is a waste of time to be anything but bold. If you do not believe you’re going in the right direction, whatever would be the purpose of continuing to go that way? Uncertainty serves no one, my dear.” She hummed thoughtfully. The dancing had become simple then, a flow from step to step that required no thought or second guessing. “I assume you’re a woman who wants more than she’ll let herself have. Someone who need only reach out and take what she deserves. I assume you’ve been running for a very long time and don’t know how to stop, even once you’ve come back home. I assume there is power in you, magic in you, that is bursting to come out, but letting it out would mean risking everything that comes with it, both dangerous and wonderful.” If the words were starting to hit too close to home, if Florencia was perhaps no longer the only one she was describing, Anna tried her best not to dwell on it. “I believe that you would be capable of anything you tried, but first, you must jump.”
The music stopped, the song finished, and the couples all broke away, laughing awkwardly and apologizing for stepped on toes. “In order to receive sad flowers,” said Anna, “You will have to tell me where you live. Is that a jump you are willing to make?”
“Why do I get the feeling that the no singing tonight will come back to bite me later? I imagine whenever I find myself drawn to the karaoke club, you’ll be there to remedy my refusal tonight?” Florencia raised her eyebrows, almost daringly. Maybe being seduced by a siren wasn’t so bad after all. There were worse people to be intoxicated by, of course. At least she didn’t wish to drink her dry. “I’ll allow you to keep the spotlight. Perhaps you can settle for a very encouraging cheer from the sidelines? I was hardly a cheerleader in high school, but I’m sure I can figure something out. Rah, rah, go Ann-ah?” She offered, withholding the giggle that threatened itself at the poor attempt she made to cheer.
“Maybe not quite yet.” The witch cleared her throat, averting her eyes from the gaze of the other. Did she even have a heart left to break? It felt as though the beating muscle - usually guiding her more than her head - was cast adrift upon her return to her home town. Perhaps that was for the best, lead to less complications when if she ever decided to leave again. It was easier to abandon someone if you kept them far away, if you didn’t care for them. Didn’t love them. Losing the one you loved was a task no woman could handle alone, and yet it seemed that she had become an unwilling expert on the subject.
All the assumptions were threatening to make her head spin and her feet stop; was she truly so easy to read? Every syllable that rang from Anna’s lips rang true, the thought of being so dastardly opaque made her stomach quiver. “Uncertainty is the only certain thing in life, Anna.” The moment had become too heavy, and the adolescent urge to abandon ship bubbled inside of her. Avoidance was the only solution that Florencia ever seemed comfortable in, though she felt the need to defend herself, even if the other was not attacking. “Well, I have my reasons. And maybe you’re wrong about the magic.” Doubt was a cruel mistress, yet it frolicked amongst her all too regularly.
“Well, I don’t suppose you feel like doing an uncanny impression of Glenn Close anytime soon, do you?” Stepping away and losing the warmth between the two felt wrong. Despite her lack of skill on the dancefloor, there was something about the proximity that felt natural and right. Though maybe that was all in her head, despite silent prayer it was anything but. “How about we escape, and you buy a drink, and then I’ll give you my address. It is where I live, after all, and I have no plans to relocate any time soon. If you force me out, it would figure that I will at least be owed a drink for my trouble.”