His Black Swan
michael b. jordan x black!ballerina!reader
Summary: When a comment by another actor during Oscar’s season drop, the internet and Michael rally behind you to show love and appreciation to your craft.
Warning(s): SMUT (18+, MDNI), handjob, public sex, sub!Michael. Y’all I wasn’t even planning for this to have a smut scene, but then I kept writing and it came naturally😭. Also, for the person who asked for sub!MBJ, it’s here unintentionally. I hope y’all enjoy ♥️
Michael has never found a woman more fascinating than you. You move through a room as if you’re floating through it. Sometimes, he wonders if you’re some kind of apparition that he’d made up in his mind.
How was he so blessed to be in the presence of someone with so much grace and talent?
It was easy to see why you’d already been promoted to principal ballerina at such a young age. The first time that Michael saw you dance, his vision went blurry and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.
You moved across the floor in a way that felt inhuman. You commanded the eyes of every single person in the room like it was honor that they were witnessing such greatness. In fact, he felt honored to be there.
His journey into meeting you started with Sinners.
“I don’t know man. I just want the characters to feel like their own distinct personalities. I want them to talk different. Move different,” Michael explained to Ryan.
The other man nodded his head in agreement. He and Michael had been working together long enough for him to know how serious Michael was when it came to his craft.
Ryan thought over Michael’s words and then looked over to Zunzi. “You got any ideas?”
Zingi thought it over before smiling, “Actually I do. Why don’t you go take a few ballet classes?”
Michael and Ryan chuckled lightly as Zinzi rolled her eyes. Ryan looked in Michael’s direction, “That’s actually not a bad idea. I mean, if you think about it. It could teach you how to be light on your feet and working on posture for the characters.”
Truthfully, the idea was brilliant. If anyone knew anything about posture and composure, it was a ballerina.
“I’ll give it a shot, but do you have any suggestions for a teacher?”
Zinzi nodded before she flashed a picture of you to Michael. Michael had heard of you before. Hell, who hadn’t heard of you. You were making quite the impression on the ballet world with your dancing.
You were already a principal ballerina at your company and in high demand for other productions when your company wasn’t in season.
“She does classes on the side that our daughters take. I can text her to set up a meeting. Maybe you can do a few private classes with her to help you with Smoke and Stack,” Zinzi said, while typing down on her phone.
Michael assumed that she was already texting you. After a few moments, Zinzi looks up from her phone, “She said you can come after her class on Thursday to meet her if you have some time that day.”
Michael nod, “Yeah I’m free. Thank you for setting it up.”
Thursday rolls around and Michael finds himself standing in the midst of a ballet studio. He wears a cap over his head to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to himself.
He walks up to the receptionist desk, “Hi, I’m supposed to be meeting Yn Yln here.”
The receptionist smiles at him, “Of course. She told me to be expecting you. She’ll in room 5A. You can go right down that hall.”
Michael gives her a polite ‘thank you’ before moving to walk down the hall. He peers through most of the glass windows and sees all of the different dancers practicing routines.
When he gets to room 5A, he peers through the window and immediately spots you. He knocks on the door gently. A few seconds pass before you open the door, “Right on time. I still have a few more minutes with my class but you’re more than welcome to come sit while we finish.”
Michael doesn’t realize that he’s staring at your face until you clear your throat. Heat crawls up the back of his neck as he nods his head and smiles. He follow behind you to sit in the corner while your students’ curious gazes all seem to be on the newcomer.
As much as he would like to hide it, he knows that they’ve recognized him by this point.
You clap your hands lightly, drawing the little girls attention to you, “Alright, your performance for Alice in Wonderland will be coming up soon, and there’s still a few tweaks that we need to make. Let’s start from the top.”
The little girls all take position as you start the music. You walk around the room and watch their forms closely. One little girl appears to struggle when it comes to one of the turns and Michael can see the tears of frustration stinging at her eyes.
It’s apparent that you see it too.
You step closer to the little girl and lean down to whisper in her ear. Michael watches how soft and patient you are with her. You stand and guide her through making the turn. He watches with fascination as the girl’s confidence grows more and more with each passing turn until you’re no longer guiding her.
She gives you a wide smile when she completes the turn on her own. You smile in return before stepping to continue guiding your other students.
Before Michael knows it, the class is over and the little girls’ parents are filing in to pick them up. A few moms peer his way and their eyes widen in excitement.
‘Girl is that Michael B. Jordan?’
‘Oooo..is Ms.YN dating him?’
‘Lord, he finer in person! If I wasn’t married, I would be all over him.’
‘Girl married or not! I’d happily throw this cat at him.’
Michael hides his grin behind his hand at the gossip permeating through the room. Soon, all of the parents and their kids filter out of the room, and you close the door.
You walk over to sit next to Michael and hold out your hand, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m a huge fan of your work.”
“Thank you. I’m a fan of yours as well. Thank you for agreeing to meet me today,” Michael replies.
You nod, “Of course. Now, what is it exactly that I can do for you, Michael?”
His mouth feels dry at the way that his name sounds falling from your lips. “I have a new movie coming up where I play twin brothers, and I want them to both feel physically different. Zinzi suggested taking ballet classes and mentioned you.”
He pauses for a moment before quickly interjecting, “I’d pay for it. If you’re open to helping me.”
You mull over the proposition for a few moments before nodding, “I’ll help you. Ryan actually mentioned the movie the last time he came to pick the girls up, so I know it’s going to be good. We can start next week if you’re open.”
Without hesitation, Michael nods. You could’ve told him to start now and he would’ve been down for it. He’s willing to take anything that you give him at this point.
You stand from the bench, “Well, it was nice meeting you. On Monday, come in workout clothes, as flexible as possible. I’ll also need different dialogues pieces from the scripts or some description of the twins to get a better feel of them. That way I can better plan around your training.”
Michael nods in response, “Okay, I’ll talk to Coog about getting you some pieces. Thank you again. You’re helping me out more than you know.”
A soft laugh leaves your lips, “Don’t mention it. Just be ready for Monday.”
Michael shakes his head before moving to exit the room. He stops as a thought hits him, “Oh, I just realized I don’t have your number.”
You walk over with your phone in hand. Michael hands his phone to you and you put your phone in before calling yourself to save his number. You hand his phone back with a parting smile and farewell.
Inside his car, Michael can’t help, but think about how excited he is to start his lessons with you. In fact, he’s so excited that when he gets home, he goes to watch videos of your performances on YouTube.
He imagines seeing the performances in person and thinks to himself how magical it must be to witness you dance in person.
With Ryan’s approval, parts of the script are emailed to you. Over the weekend, you analyze the pieces and make notes for the two characters. You’re also intrigued by the notion of seeing Michael transform into Smoke and Stack.
When Monday comes, Michael moves quicker than any other event that he’s ever done in life. He dresses in a simple t-shirt and shorts combo. In the mirror, he realizes that he’s taking extra care with his appearance.
“Get a grip. She’s just teaching you ballet,” He says to himself in the mirror.
On the drive over, he’s already going over the possible exercises that you could be planning for him. He laughs softly thinking about you having him twirling around the room.
He parks his car in the parking lot and enters the building. The receptionist from the previous week smiles at him before ushering him to go back. He finds you in the same room as before, but you’re dressed differently.
You’re wearing a pink leotard with pink tights and pink leg warmers. Your hair is pulled to the top of your head, and Michael can’t help but think how gorgeous you look as the pink compliments the brown of your skin.
“You’re early.”
Michael shrugs, “My father often told me that being on time is still late.”
“Let me guess, army brat?” You question, a teasing smile covering your beautiful face. Michael smiles in response and nods. You usher him forward and he closes the door behind him.
“I reviewed script and wrote down a few notes to help. But first I want you to tell me who Smoke and Stack are in your own words.”
Michael mulls over your order for a moment. He takes a minute to find the words, “I guess I’ll start with Stack. He’s the more irresponsible one. He’s playful. Always thinking of the next scheme to get him further in life. Whereas Smoke, he’s more quiet. Lethal. He’s watching everyone in the room as soon as he steps in.”
Your inquisitive eyes meet his, “Good. Now which twin do you prefer to start with?”
“Let’s go with Stack. Moving in his skin is a lot more comfortable to me,” Michael answers.
For him, the role of Stack had come naturally. Though it may not have came off that way to the general public, but Michael has a playful boyishness to himself that many people don’t get to see.
You guide him into the middle of the room. “We’ll start with some stretching.” You demonstrate the first stretch to Michael and he follows suit. He’s used to stretching before workouts, but he’s never done some of the stretches that you have him doing.
He’s pulling at muscles that he didn’t even know needed to be stretched. From the corner of his eye, he watches the ease at which you stretch. It’s clear that after years of doing this, the exercise is nothing to you.
“Okay, now I want to see how you normally walk,” You announce after you and Michael finish the stretching exercises.
As awkward as it is, he obeys your command and walks towards you. You point to the wall and he walks over in the direction. He can see the way that you tilt your head and squint. He wonders what you’re thinking of him. Do you like his walk?
You stop him, “Your posture is good, kind of hunched over, but I’m assuming that comes from being an army brat. You switch between walking light on your feet and then heavy. I’m assuming the boxing training from Creed did that.”
Michael looks at you in surprise, “You got all of that just from me walking?”
“As a dancer, it’s my job to be mindful of my steps. It’s only natural that I extend the skill to my teaching. Since we’re starting with Stack, I want you to channel some of the character here, even if that means that you have to start talking as the character,” You explain, stepping back from him.
Michael takes a deep breath and mentally goes over the voice exercises in his mind for Stack. You watch with intrigue as he changes his body with smaller movements.
He turns to face you with a cocky smirk, “How you doin’ baby?”
You chuckle at the nickname, “I’m doing just fine and what about you?”
“I’m mighty fine myself. Even betta’ now that you here,” He answers.
“Walk towards me,” you order softly. Michael begins his walk towards you and stops when you hold up a hand, “Go back, you need to be light on your feet with Stack. He’s always slinking and slithering through a room.”
Michael goes back and does the walk again with your notes. Without thinking, he starts circling around you. He smirk, “Pretty girl like you here all alone?”
“I bet you use that on all the girls. You’re quite the player from what I heard,” you said, playing into the character and watching his body language.
Michael shakes his head, “Ain’t too many women round here to look at. ‘Sides they ain’t got nothing on you.”
You hold up a finger. You move to stand behind him and place a hand on his stomach, while angling his shoulders, “Keep your posture straight and wide. Stack likes being the center of attention. He’s gonna want people to look at him. Don’t be afraid to move your arms.”
For the next thirty minutes, you and Michael continue to work on his walk for Stack. You teach him more on being light on his feet and he runs more ideas past you for the character.
You don’t rush him. You’re patient with him in helping him with all of the different quirks of his character. You still give him creative freedom while monitoring what’s best. By the end of the lesson, Michael leaves with more clarity than before.
He drinks from his water bottle as you both sit on the floor. “I forgot, we never did talk about how much I’ll be paying you. How does $10,000 for the week sound?”
Your eyes widen, “Michael, that’s way too much. I usually only charge my clients $22.”
“No, I don’t think it’s too much. You’ve already helped me a lot with the character and I want to make sure that you’re compensated for it. I fly out next week to start filming in Louisiana, so I don’t mind paying you.”
You still appear to be conflicted about taking his money, but then a light bulb pops off in your head, “I’ll take the money if you agree to meet my take one of my beginner classes with my students. They’d love to meet you.”
“Deal.” He holds his hand out to you, which you shake in response.
The following day, you and Michael work on Stack’s walk more with you teaching him more exercises to help him get into character.
“Okay, I think I’m ready to become Smoke,” Michael said, standing from his place on the floor.
Truthfully, from the pieces of the script that you read, Smoke was your favorite twin. You admired his devotion to his brother and his clear love for Annie.
You come to stand beside Michael and move his shoulders to make them slump slightly. You lean closer to whisper in his ear, “Now, with Smoke. He’s a lot heavier. He has all of this unspoken trauma and burdens resting on his shoulders. Your body language should reflect that. Your footsteps need to be heavier. You need to walk like this man has the weight of the world suffocating him.”
Michael turns his head and for a moment, you both stare into each other’s eyes. He takes the opportunity to commit all of your features to his memory. He thinks back to the fact that by the end of this week, he won’t see you for a few months.
He wants to remember every thing about you before that time comes.
“You ready?” You question, continuing to hold eye contact with him. He nods. You step back to create distance between yourselves.
He mentally gets himself into the headspace for Smoke. He places your words in his head as he begins to feel a sudden weight holding his shoulders down.
He looks at you quietly and you know that the change has taken place.
“Which do you prefer? Smoke or Elijah?”
He shrugs, “Either is fine.”
“I didn’t ask for fine, I asked which you preferred,” You point out.
“Elijah.”
“Come over to me, Elijah,” You say, beckoning a finger forward. Michael feels and hears the heaviness of his footsteps entering his ears. It physically feels like he’s wearing a weighted vest, but he keeps in mind that the character requires him to be this way.
When he steps in front of you, you’re both toe to toe as you gaze up at him. Slowly, you move around him and press your fingers to his shoulders. “You’re holding tension here. That’s good. Loosen up a bit. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
You think back to the sex scene from the script that he has with Annie. You move closer to Michael and press your body against his. You slide a manicured hand across his torso, feeling his muscle constrict beneath your fingers.
“For this character, you need to identify what areas that he’s holding his trauma. Shoulders yes, but where else? In the scene with Annie, he melts into her touch, so it’s obvious that he’s holding something here. Residual love? Guilt? You need to get to the root of it.” You explain, pressing your fingers lightly into his abdomen.
Michael can’t help the way that his eyes roll back at the feel of your hands on him. He doesn’t think as he pulls your other hand across his torso so that you’re hugging him.
He closes his eyes and his body feels like liquid. He feels like he could melt beneath your fingers and you’d be there to clean him up. He intertwines his fingers between yours and he doesn’t know why, but he starts trailing your hands up and down his body.
He moves your fingers up his chest as a deep breath exits his mouth. You watch Michael the entire time. You knew what it was like to get lost in a character and all of the emotions that came with it.
“What is it that you need, Elijah?” You whisper into his ear.
Michael bites his lip softly, “I need you to touch me.”
“Touch you where, baby?”
“Everywhere,” he pleads. His voice is low, almost like a whine. Michael doesn’t even realize that he’s trembling in your hold.
You trail your fingers across the expanse of his chest before enclosing your fingers around his neck. A whimper leaves Michael’s mouth as you tighten your hand, “You need to be vulnerable, especially when it comes to Annie. This is a character that doesn’t allow himself to be exposed to anyone besides her and his brother. Tap into that.”
You release his throat as both your hands trail down before stopping at the waistband of his shorts. You lift the hem of his shirt and take your nails across the patch of hair there. “Look at me, Elijah.”
Michael’s wide and pleading eyes find yours. You can see the tears brimming at his pretty brown eyes. “Please,” He begs.
You nod before sliding your fingers inside his briefs. Michael jumps at the feeling of your fingers running through the course hair surrounding his length. You grasp him in your hand before sliding upwards to collect his pre-cum and use it to begin sliding your hand up and down.
Michael’s head falls back as he settles more of his weight into your hold. He moans as the pleasure courses through his veins at the feeling of you jerking him off. He moans louder when you focus on his sensitive tip.
“You’re doing so good, Elijah. You needed this, didn’t you?”
Michael whimpers and nods as the tears begin cascading down his face. In response, your hand increases in speed as Michael bucks into your hand.
The first spurt of his cum hits your fingers as he shakes and moans into your hold. You talk him through the orgasm by whispering in his ear. There’s a shattering of colors that erupts beneath Michael’s eyelids. The pleasure feels like someone disconnecting his soul from his body and brought him back.
He comes down from his high when you remove your wet hand from his boxers. You both look down at his white release coating your fingers.
Wordlessly, you move to cross the room and wipe your hand off on a nearby towel. Michael stands, dumbstruck in the middle of the studio with his shorts wet from his cum.
Frankly, he doesn’t know what to say and he’s still not 100% sure that he’s actually in his body.
“Are you okay?” You ask, though you clearly know he’s not.
Michael nods, dazed. You grab his hand and lead him to a nearby bench. You take the top from his water bottle and angle it towards his lips. He takes a few sips while staring at you.
You cup his hands in your hands, “Look at me for a second. You’re okay. We’re okay. Just keep focusing on my voice and come back to me, okay.”
Absentmindedly, he nods. A few more minutes and his brain finally doesn’t feel like mush anymore. “I’m sorry. That was weird,” Michael said.
You shake your head, “Nothing weird about it. We all get lost in it sometimes. You good now?”
He shakes his head before standing.
“I’m sorry if that was crossing any lines for you. I don’t know what came over me and it was out of line. I just don’t want it to come across that I came here just for that,” Michael admits sheepishly.
“It’s okay, Michael. I know that you didn’t come here for that. But I do want to be sure that we aren’t crossing too many boundaries since you’re technically employing me.”
“I get that…But I like you a lot, and I haven’t felt anything like that before. Not even just the physical, but you’ve unlocked parts of me that I didn’t know were there. Let me take you out to dinner, and if you decide you don’t like me there, I’ll drop it.”
His bright eyes meet yours. You can read the desperation there and you have to admit that you had started to develop a crush on Michael as well.
“Fine. One date.” You reply, a smile overtaking your lips.
Michael smiles back, “This Saturday. I’ll pick you up.”
You haven’t left Michael’s mind since that day at the studio. His mind, body, and soul crave you. It’s like rewired something inside of him, and now he’s insatiable, even if it only means that he gets to look at you.
He picks you up at seven for your date. At the restaurant, you both sit across from each other as you sip from your wine glass.
Michael leans forward, “Tell me your story. How’d you get to where you are now?”
“I was really quiet as a kid. Not really interacting with others. My parents wanted me to come out of my shell a bit more and make friends, so they signed me up for ballet lessons. It was fun, and it worked on bringing me out of my shell. I didn’t really consider a professional career in it at first until my teacher pulled my parents and me to the side to say how much faster I was progressing than my classmates. She said that she could see me going far, and she really honed in on shaping my abilities,” you explain, fingers lightly tapping on the table.
“Is it true that you studied in Ukraine?” Michael asks. He’d taken the time out to do his research about you, but he still preferred to hear it firsthand.
“Yeah, my teacher thought I’d do well in a more challenging environment, so we filled out an application for a ballet school in Ukraine. I had to go audition there, and then I got a scholarship to go full-time. I stayed there and traveled around Europe for a couple of years.”
“What made you come back?”
“Truthfully, I missed home. It was nice being able to travel across the country, but nothing beats home. I applied for my current company, and now I’m here,” You said.
“It’s inspiring what you do. I’ve only seen some of your performances online, but I can bet money that it’s different seeing you in person,” Michael said, eyes glancing over your face.
“You should come sometime. I have a performance for Swan Lake coming up in about two months. If you’re free from filming, I’ll set you a ticket to the side.”
Michael lights up at the idea of seeing you dance in person. “I’ll be there.”
By the end of the date, Michael doesn’t want to let you go, but he knows that he has a flight to Louisiana early in the morning. He stands toe-to-toe with you in front of your apartment door. He leans down to ghost his lips across yours. He breathes in the scent of your perfume and engrains it into his memory until he can see you again. You brush your lips across his, smearing your lip gloss across his lips. You pull back lightly, and he immediately starts chasing your affection. Michael brings his hand into your hair and crushes his lips to yours.
You both breathe each other in, passing moans between each other like a conversation.
You pull back, rubbing your nose with his, “I’ll see you, Michael.”
He nods, “You will.”
He bestows one last lingering kiss on your lips before walking back to his car. Inside the car, he doesn’t stop touching his lips, even as he drives. In fact, he licks the remnants of your gloss from his lips and moans at the taste of you.
It’ll have to be enough for now.
A month into filming, and everyone can already see the way that Michael fully embodies the role of Smoke and Stack. It’s as if he did some kind of voodoo, and the spirits of the characters are physically ingrained into him.
Michael and Zinzi clock the difference in his movements as he walks.
They know that it’s all because of you.
Michael’s relationship with you had only continued to grow. He’d call or text you throughout the day to hear about the aspects of your day. You’d send him different pictures of you during practice or in your costume for Swan Lake.
He’d flown back out for your performance tonight. You’d sent him the ticket and had him seated closely to the stage. He introduced himself to your parents, who’d already heard a lot about Michael through you.
Your mom looked down at the huge bouquet of flowers in Michael’s hands. The bouquet consisted of all flowers with varying shades of pink. “I see you’ve picked up on the fact that pink’s her favorite color.”
Michael smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, she wears a lot of it, so I figured it’d be best to get flowers to reflect that.”
“Good. I like you already,” Your mom said with a soft smile.
Soon, the lights dimmed, and the performance began. Michael’s intrigued by the story, but most of all, he’s eager to see you. He doesn’t have to wait long when you appear on the stage with all the elegance and grace of a swan. He becomes enraptured with the softness of the makeup on your face and the subtle grace of your movements. Despite all the other dancers being there, Michael only keeps his eyes on you.
When it’s time for you to transition as The Black Swan, Michael feels the breath leaving his chest. It seems impossible for you to become an entirely separate person, but Michael watches as you fully embody the role. As you turn, the muscles in your back contract as if wings are moving and dying to sprout from the skin.
In this moment, Michael truly believes that this may be the closest that he’ll ever get to seeing God.
He’ll repent for that later.
After the show concludes, your parents usher him backstage alongside them so that he can see you. Your parents knock on your dressing room door, you open it wearing a pink gown.
Your dad steps up first to hug you, “You did amazing out there, sweet pea.”
“My baby is the Swan Queen. We’re so proud of you,” your mom adds, hugging you next.
A sly smile appears on her face as she steps to the side, “There’s someone that I think is dying to see you.”
Michael appears in the doorway with a bouquet in front of him. You both take a minute to look at each other.
You step forward and wrap your arms around him. In return, Michael clutches your body closely to his. He breathes in your perfume, and he realizes that he missed your smell more than he realized.
“You were amazing out there. It was like being transported to another world,” He whispers into your ear.
“Thank you for coming. I know you’re busy with filming,” you said, pulling back from the hug. He places the large bouquet in your hands, “I’m never too busy for you.”
Your parents watch the interaction with large smiles on their face. Michael looks at you and your family, “Can I take y’all out to dinner?”
Your mom shakes her head, “Thank you for the offer, but why don’t we let you kids have some time to yourselves?”
They both give you parting kisses and wave at Michael. “You ready or I can give you more time?”
“No, I’m ready.” You reply, grabbing your purse before grasping Michael’s hand in yours.
Outside the theater, people gawk at seeing you and Michael together so openly. He doesn’t try to hide the fact either. He pulls you closer as the cameras flash brighter and more of the paparazzi yell out your respective names.
You both have no doubt that you’ll be front page news for The Shade Room and TMZ in only a couple of minutes. Michael ushers you into the car before jogging back to his side.
Soon, you’re both sitting across from each other in a Japanese restaurant that Michael rented out.
“So, how’s filming? Is it easier for you to step between Smoke and Stack now?” You ask, playing with Michael’s fingers across the table.
“It is. I feel like I have a better sense of the characters because of you.” He answers.
You smirk, “As much as I love the praise. It’s not just me. That’s all you too. You understand the characters more than you think you do.”
A wave of silence falls over you both as you continue intertwining your fingers together.
Michael runs his fingertips across the tattoo on your wrist. He finally looks up and finds you staring at him, “I’ve been thinking. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I really like you. I wanna ask if you want to be my girl?”
“I’d really like that.”
From that point on, you’re his woman, and he’s completely and utterly devoted to you.
When Sinners releases, it’s just as big as you knew it’d be. You’re by Michael’s side the entire time as more and more people flock to him for his performance. On the red carpet, he holds your body close to his as the camera flashes.
He’d dropped the L-word early in your relationship, and he had no regrets about it.
Award season rolls around, and Michael’s name is on everyone’s lips for the Oscars.
“So, Michael, I’ve heard you mention that you worked with a voice coach, twin consultants, and chakra healers for your role as Smoke and Stack. Is there any other work that you did to prepare for the role?” The interviewer questions.
“Actually, I did. My girlfriend is a ballet dancer, which is how we met. I wanted Smoke and Stack to walk differently, so Zinzi suggested taking ballet classes. My girlfriend was an essential part of me crafting the characters. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.”
Not surprisingly, the clip goes viral.
Little did you and Michael know, another clip is about to go viral. One that’s been insulting to you and your craft.
The next day, when you wake up, you don’t know whose phone is blowing up more: yours or Michael’s. Turns out, it’s yours.
You open up Instagram and click on the post that everyone is tagging you in.
Matthew McConaughey and Timothee Chalamet sit across from each other. The younger male smiles jokingly, “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like keep these things alive, even though it’s like no one cares about it anymore.”
Ouch.
To further add salt to the wound, the younger man continues laughing about the joke before adding, “I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
You frown and lock your phone again.
Quite frankly, you’d grown used to people talking down on your profession. Especially elitist little white boys whose parents had kept a silver spoon in their mouths. Michael rolls over and notices you frowning, “What’s wrong?”
You unlock your phone and play the video back for him. Michael’s body tenses, and you can see the way that his nose flares up. He stands up from the bed and grabs his phone. You grab his arm, “What are you planning on doing?”
“Handling it. Releasing a statement. You don’t need some scrawny lil’ white boy talking down on you and your career,” Michael said.
“Well, I mean technically, he didn’t mention my name,” You correct.
Michael shoots you a strict look, “It doesn’t matter if he didn’t say your name or if he said it in ASL. He still disrespected you and what you do. That doesn’t slide with me.”
He holds his phone up to his face before you snatch it out of his hands. The two of you wrestle over the phone until you move across the room to create distance between yourselves. You hold your hand up, “Listen first. I find it absolutely sexy that you want to defend my honor, but the last thing I want to cloud your award season is some scandal. You’re bigger than this, and I’m not able to let anything mess up your moment. Just let me handle it, okay?”
Begrudingly, Michael huffs and nods his head. You cross the bed to throw your arms around his neck. You press your lips into his, and you can feel the tension leaving his body as his hands move down to your waist. “I love you, Kari.”
“I love you too, baby.”
Like all things on the internet, they blow up and people react. After Timothee’s little rant about the ballet and opera communities, people were enraged—and rightfully so.
It wasn’t just the fact that he’d mentioned that ballet and operas were dying arts. It was the callous and careless nature of his tone during the interview.
To add onto it, people were more incensed on your behalf. With Michael being nominated and you being a ballerina, the comments felt like they were shady towards you and Michael.
However, you weren’t about to let the comments get to you. You’d hold your high and show everyone what greatness looked like.
As you’re exiting the studio for the day, one of the social media interns, Alanis, comes up to you, “Hey, we’re doing interviews with all of the dancers before the performance. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
You and Alanis walk to the middle of studio floor as you take a seat. She sets the camera up in your direction.
“We are here with our lovely principal dancer, yn. How are you today?”
“A little sore, I can’t lie,” you reply with a chuckle.
Alanis nods, “Of course, you’ve been working hard. For the upcoming show, we’re doing The Rites of Spring, a ballet performance that caused a lot of controversy when it was first released. With you in the lead role, what does it mean to you?”
“I think just as the main character, it means sacrifice and giving yourself over to something that’s much higher than yourself. The dance is jarring and raw, but it’s freeing. I like that we’re giving ourselves the space to be unhinged.”
Alanis continues the interview with you, and you can see a look of unease pass on her face as she stops the video. “My next question was going to be the whole Timothee Chalamet comment thing, but if you’re not comfortable with answering that, then I understand.”
You shake your head, “No, let’s do it.”
A wide smile covers the girl’s face as she turns the camera back on. “So as everyone in the ballet world knows, there’s been some comments made by Timothee Chalamet in relation to our profession. Any comments?”
“Of course, as someone who’s worked their way up in this industry without any handouts, I think the comments were insensitive and frankly very childish. There are so many women and men who have come before me that have shed blood, tears, and put their soul into creating this art and bringing it to life. For Timothee, whose own mother and sister are ballerinas, to say something like that, it was very telling of his maturity level,” you pause.
“I’ve heard him say countless times that he’s striving for greatness, yet I think he doesn’t realize that he’s not even at the starting point for it. For someone who is striving to be great, they know that one aspect of that is humility and also not tearing others down. When he learns those core components, then he can have a seat with the big kids. And lastly, he said that he was going to lose 14 cents in viewership. I can guarantee that it’ll be more. There’ll be more people dying for a repeat performance of Swan Lake in 100 years rather than a movie about ping pong.” You end the speech with a gentle smile.
Behind the camera, Alanis is gobsmacked and she ends the video before she starts snapping her fingers, “Respectfully, you ate him up with that one.”
She posts the videos to the company’s social media page, and as expected, it immediately gains traction.
@ynsbiggestfan: not our girl clocking Timothee’s tea in the most polite tone 🤣
@ynsslipper: it was giving “beautiful gowns” frfr. I’m so weak, but good for her👏🏽😮💨
@ynandmichaelfanpage: Chile..Timothee might wanna stay at home for the Oscars💀
The hype from your comments doesn’t die down. In fact, everyone is almost anticipating seeing you by Michael’s side on Oscar’s night.
Michael is proud of you for the way that you handled the situation, but it still doesn’t decrease his feelings of wanting to protect you.
You stand in front of him and pick a piece of lint off his suit. Your dress is a deep burgundy with v-cut. You have a matching diamond pendant around your neck—courtesy of Michael.
“You look so handsome, baby. My Oscar winner.”
Michael smiles shyly, “Possible Oscar winner.”
You can see the nerves swirling in his eyes and you clock the way that he’s already preparing himself to be disappointed. Your manicured hands come up to cup his face, “They’d be idiotic not to give you this award. Baby out of everyone in that category, you deserve it. You poured yourself into those characters. You’re always my winner.”
Michael’s eyes glisten as he sniffles softly. You lean in and press your lips against his. When you pull back, you both lay your foreheads against each other. Michael speaks first, “I love you baby. I owe this to you too.”
“I love you too, Kari. Now let’s go before we have you late.”
At the ceremony, you, Michael, and his family all pose together. You move to give them an opportunity to only pose together before Donna pulls you back into the picture.
“You’re family, darling. You deserve to be here just as much as we do,” She whispers to you before kissing your cheek. The cameras flash more at seeing the display of affection.
Inside the venue, you’re all ushered to your seats.
“I’m sorry, but there’s only one other seat beside Michael,” the girl announces.
“I’ll be up there with your dad and your siblings,” you tell Michael, capturing his lips in another kiss.
He squeezes your hands in his before you’re off to your seat. The ceremony goes on with many jokes being made about Timothee’s comments. You know that if you were sitting at the front, the camera would no doubt pan in your direction.
Finally, the moment arrives.
The announcement for Best Actor. You can hear your heart thudding inside your chest as you hold Jamila’s hands. Adrien Brody steps up to the microphone, “And the Oscar goes to…..Michael B. Jordan.”
The entire venue erupts into screams as the camera focuses on Michael. You can see the utter disbelief on his face as he hugs his mother.
Tears of joy stream down your face as you record the moment.
Michael begins his speech by thanking all of the cast and crew for Sinners, along with shouting out his family.
“Lastly, I’d like to dedicate this award to my beautiful partner. This award is hers just as much as it’s mine. She helped me to shape the characters and I’ll forever be grateful for her. But most of all, I’d like to commend her for her grace, dedication, and talent. Baby, you’re a shining star in this world and what you do, as a dancer and as an artist, matters. I hope you never lose that light. I love you so much, and I can’t wait to share this with you.” Michael ends the speech with a smile before exiting the stage.
You sniffle loudly at the speech.
After the ceremony, you rush forward to greet Michael with a passionate kiss. Camera capture the moment and they zoom in as you and Michael exchange, “I love you’s.” The moment is further cemented as he presses you into his side as he gets his name engraved into the Oscar.
It’s a night that’ll forever be talked about for years to come.
End.
