Page 14 of Dream in Darkness
Yasmeena
After over ten years of doing lyra virtually by myself, I’m almost excited about the prospect of doing trapeze and straps with someone. If only I had faith in my new partner.
Performing inanycapacity with someone else requires a level of trust, but performing acrobatics takes it to a whole new level. You’re trusting them with your body, your safety, and sometimes even your life.
So yes, I’m a little riled to have to work with Tempest, who clearly hates my guts, but I’m also feeling motivated. I’m sure once we get to know each other, the hostility between us will pass, and these nervous butterflies fluttering in my stomach will cease.
Trapeze is a bit like both of our apparatuses combined. The fixedness of the trapeze is similar to lyra, but the ropes of the trapeze more closely mimic Tempest’s experience with silks. More movement, more fluidity. It’s more beginner friendly than straps, so it’s what we’ll start with. I believe we’ll both have strengths and weaknesses, bringing in different skills that will hopefully transfer over well and balance each other out.
Luckily, we’re not the only ones trying out new things. Absinthe has been testing new forms of juggling, too. Usingbouncy balls to juggle onto the ground rather than in the air. Draven has teased doing sword swallowing again, but we’ll see if he actually follows through. He seems to be pretty content on his motorcycle.
Tempest enters the room in a sports bra and gray sweatpants that hang low on her hips. One muscular bicep is covered in ink, creating a scene of a moon and stars, the other adorned in dark swirls. The air evacuates my lungs.
“Let’s get this over with.”
It’s the first thing she says to me, and any sexual tension between us dissipates like a fire doused by water. It’s fucking rude, and frankly, I don’t want to deal with it, but I take a deep breath and calm myself before I ruin everything before it’s even begun.
“Have you ever done trapeze before?” I ask, trying to make conversation.
“Nope,” she answers, popping theP.
Grabbing a stick of chalk, I rub it against my hands and wrists before offering some to Tempest. She takes it, but a sour expression crosses her face.
I understand she doesn’t want to be here, I really do. I know I signed up to be saddled to her, but it was out of necessity, not out of desire. Our people are fighting and it is up to us to mend things, or both species will suffer grave consequences.
That alone is more important than the emotions stirring in my stomach, and I hope she can come to the same conclusion, because otherwise this entire arrangement will be like pulling teeth.
With the exception of Leo, who is here to work the lever to move our trapeze up and down, it’s just the two of us rehearsing today. The silence borders on uncomfortable, but I try to squash any feelings I have.
Today is about practicing and getting used to each other’s bodies, not about us as individuals.
Since we’re doing duo dance trapeze, we sort of have two options right now. We could choose skills that require us tomirror one another, or we could opt for skills that rely on each other’s bodies and strengths.
“I think we should start with something easy,” I suggest, and Tempest nods.
“How about an inverted pike?”
“Where we mirror each other?” I clarify.
Her eyebrows scrunch together. “Obviously.”
We both climb onto the trapeze, which moves up once we’re comfortable, and shift into our pose. It’s not as fluid or dance-like as it’ll need to be, but it’s pretty good.
“Can we shift into mermaid?”
“Yep.” Tempest’s and my bodies move in tandem, and I feel confident that everything is going to work out.
Tempest and I are both incredibly muscular, but she’s taller and a bit leaner, where I’m curvier and more stout. Though our bodies are different, it feels like we weigh similarly, and this helps the trapeze feel balanced.
We’re like the moon and the sun, a river and a mountain. We flow nicely together in this rhythmic harmony that has me excited about our performance. We might not like each other—our species might even hate one another—but we’re going to make beautiful partners up in the air of our big top, and that exhilarates me.
Getting off the bar, I walk down and grab some water. “Do you want one?”
“Sure,” Tempest says, and I pass her a bottle. “We should try some spins.”
“I was thinking maybe we’d try some floor work first, get used to working together more.”
Tempest shakes her head. “Floor work is easy, we need to practice in the air.”
