Dancing With Visions - Barbatos Approved - Dahlia - Folk Dance (Schuhplattler)
Author Notes: Just like with a lot of the other fics in this series, this has been my first time writing Dahlia. Which ended up being surprisingly difficult. Possibly, in part, due to the folk dance I ended up selecting for his fic. The Schuhplattler is, as I understand it from my research, a traditional folk dance that heavily involves performers stomping, clapping, and striking the soles of their shoes, thighs, and knees with their hands held flat. I based the performance in this fic off of a video of an Oktoberfest performance of the Schuhplattler on Youtube. Just like the rest of this series, reader is female. I hope you enjoy.
If you would like to read more of this series, the fics can be found here: Dancing with Visions Masterlist
Type: Female reader/ fluff/ sfw/ flirtation
Word count: 1415
Festivals were eternally a part of the Mondstadt culture, and a big part of pretty much any and every festival was always the traditional dance performances. And this time, I was going to be one of the performers.
It had been decided, by vote, that the Knights of Favonius would work with members of the Church of Favonius to do a performance of the Schuhplattler dance that Venti would play for. And, similarly, our partners had been decided by a draw of straws that had definitely been tweaked so that Jean could end up dancing happily with Huffman. Though no one was complaining on that front.
I glanced over at Dahlia, who stood next to me in his traditional costume, my hand in his where he had it held aloft. As if to show our conjoined hands to the entire world.
Normally, Barbara or one of the other deacons would dance with Dahlia. But this time they were dancing with other people. Barbara was, notably, with Kaeya. And, instead of any of the knights, I was partnered with Dahlia.
Dahlia glanced my way, his slit-pupilled eyes narrowing playfully as we made eye contact before he tilted his head in an almost teasing fashion, “Nervous?”
His voice was a soft whisper, and I snorted slightly, shaking my head amusedly, “Hardly, it isn’t like this a hard dance.”
Or it wasn’t for me, at least. Dahlia, for his part, had a few sections where he had to hop in place, slap his legs, clap, and stomp in time to the music while I twirled around in a lazy circle with all of the other ladies.
He simply gave me a faux frown, though, shaking his head in mock concern, “There’s no shame in pre-performance jitters. A lot of people get nervous before going out in front of people.”
I hummed my response, not disagreeing with him, but feeling myself smile as my gaze flitted around the audience before sliding back his way as we marched on stage as the music started, “The only thing I’m worried about is you causing some drama.”
He let out a soft laugh, nodding slightly as if to agree even as he spoke, “No worries there, I’ll be too busy keeping up with the beat of Venti’s music. And even if I do cause some drama, I’ll resolve it like always.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as my hand left his so that I could twirl lazily while muttering an idle, “You’d better,” to myself.
In all seriousness, though, I wasn’t actually that concerned about Dahlia causing trouble during the performance.
While he could be a pest at times, he was also fairly reliable when it came to doing his job. The trouble he caused seldom had anything to do with the church and more to do with something else.
But the key to interacting with Dahlia was to maintain a somewhat mocking stance. That way his mischievous antics wouldn’t get too great. Because he was as playful as he was reliable in his church duties. And he definitely wasn’t above flirting.
It seemed like hardly any time had passed before we’d circuited back around the stage, and Dahlia was turning with a grin and catching my extended hand in his while simultaneously reaching around and finding the hand I had pressed to my back.
We spun that way, with him humming along to the jaunty tune before twirling me so we spin the other direction. “Have you noticed the gentle breeze blowing?”
I tilted my head, nodding slightly after a brief moment, “Yeah, it keeps trying to blow my apron around. Why?”
We pivoted so that we faced the outside of the stage and were now holding hands with the people on each side. I smiled slightly at Albedo before glancing back over at Dahlia questioningly, only for him to shake his head with an amused smile.
He leaned toward me ever so slightly before whispering with yet another wink, “Tell you in a second.”
I hummed, patiently waiting until we made our circuit again before breaking off into our assigned couples once more to walk yet another circle before we separated again.
“I do believe it means Barbatos approves of our pairing,” Dahlia flashed a cheeky grin at me as we walked along, and I almost snorted aloud before I shook my head slightly. Reminding myself we were in front of the majority of Mondstadt before responding.
“Well, you, the Herald of Barbatos, are the one who was drawing the straws to pick out the pairings for dancers, so who knows. Maybe you’re right.” He outright grinned at my words as we separated again. This time with the ladies going to the middle of the stage while the guys made a ring around us where they could repeat their hopping, slapping, clapping, and stomping steps while the ladies linked arms to spin together.
I glanced over as Jean’s arm wrapped over my shoulder and smiled at the glance she gave me, answering her question before she could even speak, “Don’t worry. No drama from Dahlia.”
She nodded, a relieved smile crossing her face as her ponytail bounced with our steps, but I couldn’t blame her for worrying. The mere fact that Dahlia and Venti were both in the same location together was concerning. But, luckily, we were all spared by the fact that Dahlia couldn’t drink and perform this dance at the same time.
Of course, when the dance was over, there was no telling what might happen. But at least for now, we were all safe.
We continued a few more cycles of dancing and walking in circles. And this time Dahlia was oddly silent. Apparently satisfied that he’d picked on me enough. And then came the part we’d all had to practice the most.
We were linked together again in a careful circle of boy, then girl, then boy, and then girl, with all of us holding hands until we all moved forward as one. The guys letting go of the ladies' hands as their arms swung down so they could join hands behind our backs while all of the women reached up to rest their hands on the guys’ shoulders.
It was a flawlessly smooth set of motions that completely concealed exactly how many times we’d had to practice this.
And, as if they too were remembering the number of botched attempts we’d all experienced in regard to this portion of the dance, Dahlia glanced my way, winking with a gleam in his eyes as he grinned, “Hope you trust me.”
I nodded but still almost frowned at him as my voice took on a warning tone, “No surprises, Dahlia. If you end up causing me to fall….”
I trailed off as an amused Albedo murmured a soft ‘Pardon me’ from my other side as all of the men knelt as one. Letting their locked arms slide down to the ladies’ legs before simultaneously straightening and lifting the women so that we were all sitting daintily as they continued to circle around the stage and the audience applauded.
Across from me, Barbara giggled, obviously having to keep herself from kicking her feet slightly from where she sat between Kaeya and Skeiron. She lifted one hand, waving at me slightly, and I felt myself smile softly. Waving back at her fondly before we got sat down, and we went circling across the floor again.
And we made it one full circuit before we split off into couples again to spin across the floor. And that was when Dahlia let out a giggle, “Well, I do believe I timed that quite well.”
I frowned in confusion, almost tilting my head at him, “What do you mean?”
He bobbed his head toward where Jean and Huffman were exiting the stage, hand in hand, both with smiles on their faces as they looked towards one another, “We’re going to be the last ones exiting the stage.”
I blinked at him, wanting to assert that there was no way he could’ve planned this but knowing all better than to say such a thing. Because Dahlia was all too capable of doing just that.
So instead I just shook my head in a slight bit of wonder mixed with genuine curiosity, “How?”
Dahlia only lifted his shoulders, a glimmer to his purple eyes as he inclined his head ever so slightly with a mischievous smile, “I let the wind lead.”
The absolutely happiest of birthdays to this man - the king of the hill, the three-time world champion, the Schuhplattler pro, the one and only Markus Eisenbichler.
Thanks for being such a great athlete, and an amazing person - hope you have an awesome birthday 🎉❤️
GAUfest trip day three...this morning they are holding the Einzelpreisplatteln (schuplattler competition). #gaufest2017 #gaufest #tracht #schuhplattler #dancing (at Adams Mark Hotel & Events Center)
