Summary: Ennis and Firo decide to try out high school, and explore both their feelings for each other and their capabilities to interact in current day life. (I'm sorry the summary is so horrible it's late)
*Note* - Freaking listen to "Classic" by MTKO. That's the catchy song at the dance, it is my song for Baccano! couples because I do genuinely believe eventually the immortals would just start enrolling in school and they would pretend not to know each other and go through the dating process from scratch and develop their relationship from scratch over and over again for appearances sake AND DANCE AT THE SCHOOL DANCE TO THIS SONG AND IT WOULD JUST BE PERFECT OKAY okay rant over.
Ennis still hadn’t understood what the point of enrolling in a public high school for a semester was, but Firo had insisted and honestly she didn’t know how to say no to him. They were inseparable, born to be with each other—or, in her case, created—and she honestly didn’t want to deny him anything that he wanted. His smile fueled her happiness, and they never really disputed about anything due to their deep understanding of each other. Therefore, when Firo had introduced the possibility of them enrolling in normal high school just to see what it was like, even if it was only for a short time, she didn’t hesitate to agree to his proposal.
It had been such a strange, foreign experience, though. Ennis had never even considered the possibility of attending school, nor did she think that either she or Firo needed the education that was offered. They had both lived through most of the important events that were discussed in the history classes, they knew all the math they needed to from their experiences with the Camorra and the occasional handling of accounts. As for gym class, it was difficult for both she and Firo to fight off the recruiters for the school sports teams encouraging them to join the football team or basketball team or volley ball team. Ennis didn’t have any interest in competitive sports, and though Firo had initially been teased for his “girly exterior”, he soon had the buff jocks of the football team groveling for him to join and give their team an unexpected advantage.
Of course, Firo had declined; he didn’t really think that the sport was cut out for him. He always felt more comfortable with a gun or knife in his hand, and he was worried that if he was ever out on a sports field, encouraged to tackle and push back other opponents, his innate talents might get out of hand. Although he had been lucky that Maiza had managed to forge the documents for he and Ennis to enroll in a local public school, he definitely didn’t want to push his luck in getting noticed by anyone that might be able to connect him to his criminal network. The Camorra came first, and if it came down to it, his little experiment into normalcy would be completely abandoned in an instant for the good of the organization. Even all these years later, Firo had not forgotten the oath that he had made to the family that he felt he owed everything to, and he would never go back on his word.
Regardless of these technicalities, the school experience was one that both Firo and Ennis actually greatly enjoyed. It was more like an experiment than anything, and it enlightened them to not only the trends of the time but the way that people their age had evolved. This “normal” world was so relaxed, so surreal, people walking around and worrying about their hair and their clothes and who was crushing on who…honestly all of these factors were things that Firo and Ennis had never really worried about. Ennis, who had to learn from scratch what it even meant to be human, had never really cared about the concept of fashion and social status and such; she had had Firo from the start, and he knew from the moment he had laid eyes on her that she was the only one he would ever need.
It wasn’t even in a romantic context that he had realized this; at least, not at first. Though he couldn’t deny that he genuinely loved her, deeply and with all his heart at the present time, when he had first laid eyes on her he felt nothing deeper than an ethereal bond. He hadn’t wanted to kiss her or touch her or even tell her that he felt any emotion akin to love for her. He had wondered if something was wrong with him for not wanting any of that, but after spending so much time with her and watching his love evolve, he realized that none of those initial things were necessary. They were decorations to the bond that he and Ennis shared, the bond that was formed the moment he ran into her in that crowd so many years ago. She was someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life talking to, walking beside, content with his hand barely brushing hers while they were walking down the street or sitting together, just to remind each other that they were still there.
This made their time in the school environment more fun than anything. They had both started to grow more adventurous in their relationship by the time that this school idea had popped into Firo’s head, and they both found it entertaining to vicariously learn of all the various forms of other relationships people their age had that they had never even considered experiencing. There were girls Ennis had befriended that had used her as a shoulder to cry on when they’d been cheated on, or when their feelings had been rejected. Firo had listened to conversations where boys discussed their sexual adventures, both with others and alone, and it honestly had opened his eyes to a world he had never considered. The physical side of his relationship with Ennis, as previously stated, had always just been a minor detail to the real emotions they shared for each other; but he had to admit, it couldn’t hurt to take some of the successful advice these boys had to offer. As he and Ennis grew more open with each other, he pondered the fact that perhaps knowing more on such a topic could draw them closer together.
He and Ennis would laugh together at night when they returned to their apartment together, realizing how strange it was for them to have lived together, practically married, all these years. Their relationship was truly a rare one, once in a life time, rivaled only by those shared by others that they had known at the beginning of their immortal incidents, such as Felix and his precious Chane. Firo had often spent time getting advice from Felix on the best way to progress in his relationship. He really looked up to him for things like that, since Felix and Chane were so perfectly happy together, and he aspired to be so in tune with Ennis; it helped that Chane and Ennis seemed to get along pretty well and would spend a lot of time together when he was busy with Felix. But Felix would never give Firo any sort of advice apart from telling Firo to go at his own pace, let things flow the way they were meant to, and never fight fate. Things were meant to happen for a reason in everyone’s own worlds, and if it was mean to be, it would happen.
It turned out that he was right overall. Firo had gone with the flow, trusted his instincts, never fought his feelings, and he and Ennis had clicked like clockwork ever since. All it took was her standing next to him for him to feel like he was existing on cloud nine, and he hoped that he provided the same kind of elation for her. Of course, in her heart Ennis guarded the same brand of deep affection for the man that had saved her life, and pledged his own to hers forever; eternity had seemed like a burden at first, especially under Szilard’s control…but Firo made it a blessing.
“Mr. Dian, Ms. Harvent, are you two even paying attention?”
Firo and Ennis startled out of their parallel reminiscences on their romantic developments as the teacher called out their aliases; Ennis couldn’t help but smile fondly at the names that she and Firo had chosen to enroll with. She knew that Miria and Isaac would never have their real names in circulation, not so long as they were acting as criminals and considered themselves such, and she and Firo had both agreed that it would be both a perfect homage and inside joke to borrow their friends’ names for a bit. Perhaps one day Ennis would be able to tell them the story and watch their faces light up in both embarrassment and flattery at the thought that they were considered so highly by she and Firo.
They returned their attention to their notes and to class, being stopped afterwards by their newly yet temporarily acquired group of school friends. They had both been lucky to avoid having their friends ask who their parents were or where they lived simply by their deft skills of conversation distraction and deflection. Firo leaned against the wall of lockers and pulled Ennis into his side; they both moved as though they gravitated around each other, but by this point the people who knew them were more than used to it.
“So, we’ll see you guys at the dance tonight, right?” one of the girls asked, waggling her eyebrows at Firo in a fashion that made him chuckle. “C’mon, we took Ennis to get a dress last week, she said that you two were going but that you never actually asked her. What’s up with that?”
“Maybe I just didn’t want to be public about it.” Firo retorted, his hand absently and affectionately toying with some of the shorter strands of Ennis’ hair at the nape of her neck. “But don’t worry, we’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. You only get to go to one senior prom, right?”
“Of course!” one of the boys piped up, patting Firo encouragingly on the shoulder. “Besides, I wanna prove to you that my moves are better than yours.”
“In your dreams,” Firo joked playfully, continuing with this simple banter for a while longer before managing to slip away with Ennis under his arm as they both made their way back to their humble abode.
Arriving at home, Firo greeted Maiza and Luck with a general progress report for the day and made sure to include the detail that neither he nor Ennis would be on the board for any work tonight. They had a school dance to attend, and being that it was such a key ritual in the experience of current day teenagers, they weren’t going to miss it for the world. It didn’t take long for the afternoon to slip into the evening, and Ennis and Firo focused on getting ready for the occasion more than they had anticipated they would. In all honestly, though it was something they might not admit to each other at first, they were both equally excited about the occasion. Being able to spend time together just enjoying their togetherness, and showing off their relationship no less, was something they both took a kind of secret pride in.
Both of them were stunned at how exquisite the other turned out. For the first time in a long time, Ennis felt a genuine blush rise to her cheeks as her eyes appraised her spiffed up beau…and Firo was left speechless and a little dry mouthed at the elegance, beauty, and grace with which Ennis faced him. Little did they know Maiza had over prepared for the occasion and ordered them a limo for their arrival; if they were only going to do the school thing once, they were going to do it right—with a bang.
They were the stars arriving at the dance, not only due to their ostentatious ride but because their unbridled affection for each other was unleashed unrestrained for the evening; and it was blinding. Ennis’ and Firo’s faces shown brighter, their demeanors were happier, and one could almost say that they made each other glow. Before long they made it into the main hall where there event was being held, and where many of the students had already gathered on the dance floor. Firo and Ennis’ group of friends noticed them as they entered and hurried over to pull them onto the dance floor. Firo could sense that the minute they were being pulled against their will, Ennis started to tense up, and as the music changed to quite a catchy song about love and time he decided to take control.
“Don’t worry, just hang onto me,” he encouraged his anxious date, sliding his arms around her in a comforting fashion as he slid into dance steps he remembered from years ago that matched the beat of the music.
His feet seemed to move without him even having to think about it as the lyrics to the music inspired both his heart and soul to soar in compliance with the emotions that were coursing unbridled through his veins.
“Ooh girl you’re shining, like a fifth avenue diamond, and they don’t make you like they used to, you’re never going out of style. Ooh pretty baby, this world mighta gone crazy, the way you saved me who can blame me when I just wanna make you smile…”
They continued this way until the end of the song, and honestly their bliss had never been more pronounced. As the song slowly transitioned into a simple slow song, Firo’s hands moved lower to settle on Ennis’ waist as her hands adjusted to rest around his shoulders. She caught her breath after the work out of the last song, and just rested her head against his chest, listening to his erratic yet soothing heart beat and realizing that there was no place in this world that she felt more right. Firo was her world. As long as he existed, and she with him, everything was right, and they had an eternity to experience it.
