"Cheaper, huh?"

White whispered, the liquid spinning in the glass, which had cracks growing on its surface with every passing second.

"I’m Esmarie, by the way. Beta Esmarie."

She introduced, reaching out her hand.

"Just call me MadWhite."

White replied, taking the handshake.

The second he did, he noticed it.

’Her hand...they’re hot to the touch.’

It was like dipping one’s hand into half-boiling water.

"MadWhite, huh? It’s not every day you hear such a name?"

She remarked with a giggle.

"And by Beta Esmarie, I can take it that you’re a Werewolf?"

He noted in return, and she quietly nodded.

"I have to say, your transformation, even after taking over a human soul, is still quite clean."

"No dark veins over your face or neck, or some black wings."

She took notice as White looked around the room.

Even though almost everyone here looked human, the Otherworlders were still quite easy to identify, mainly due to those dark veins that lurked around their bodies.

Compared to them, White was much more...normal looking.

"Remarkable eyes, too."

Esmarie added.

While it wasn’t obvious that he was an Otherworlder, she was well aware no human should possess such an extreme eye colour.

That revealed his Otherworlder origin.

And for some reason, there was something about those eyes of his.

Something that made them different from the simple darkness of the majority of the Otherworlders.

"I’m surprised you’d like them, especially when they’re mostly crimson."

White responded, and she paused with interest,

"And what makes that surprising?"

"The majority of the red eyes around here mainly belong to them."

He said, tilting his head down a bit, and she turned down to look.

He was referencing the Vampires.

"Maybe I observed wrong, but you don’t seem to fancy them much."

He said, and Esmarie shrugged quietly.

"Werewolves and Vampires don’t see eye to eye."

"You all are Supernaturals, though."

White made mention.

"Doesn’t make us friends,"

Esmerie said, her tone taking on a bit of coldness.

"But...we do know how and when to put our differences aside and appear as one, though."

"Like this occasion...a victory celebration?"

She nodded.

"Yes. Just like this."

The bright lights in the hall began to dim as lines of runic light appeared across the ceiling, bathing the room in purple.

The music changed to a slow piano piece, played by a Supernatural in the far corner.

White observed many of them rising to their feet and moving to the center to dance.]

A slow dance that he had only ever seen once, and that was during his past life when he had been on a protection mission for a high-profile military candidate.

"You know..."

Beta Esmarie said, drawing White’s attention.

She was standing by the railing, both her hands resting on it.

"Much as there’s a war between the humans and us, Supernaturals, there are quite a few beautiful things we share with the humans."

She said, tilting her head slightly to the gathering that had been made below.

"One of them is this dance...waltz."

She spoke.

"Most Supernaturals can do this, and somehow, we’ve seen humans also do it perfectly, too."

"It’s one of the things that captures me...a dance that remains the same, even through two wildly different worlds."

She said to him, and White could see it.

The shine in her golden eyes as her hands quietly gripped hard at the railings.

Beta Esmarie paused, noticing a hand suddenly appear at the corner of her gaze.

It was him, stretching out a hand.

"Care to dance?"

He asked, but she retreated quietly, clasping both her hands.

"I... I haven’t done that in a while."

She said with a nervous giggle, and White chuckled leisurely, taking his hand back.

"It’s okay. I don’t have that good a memory of it from this body, too."

He said with a smile, before turning to look at the dance floor.

It was a mesmerizing change.

The dim light, the purple rays, the peaceful, slow beat of the piano, and the rhythmic left and right dancing movement.

All of it created a peaceful symphony that made White feel his head quietly going blank.

The hate, the chaos, the disgust he ought to feel quietly faded away as his hands slipped from the railings, dropping by his side.

All of a sudden, he felt a hot touch grab at his arm.

He turned, and brilliant rays of golden light shone upon his face, almost making him wince his eyes.

"On a second thought, I wouldn’t mind a dance."

Beta Esmarie said, and White smiled, stepping closer until he stood fully opposite her.

His left hand brushed over her fingers, closing softly around them before lifting them to the side.

At the same time, his right hand settled at the small of her back, just above her waist, firm but respectful.

Esmarie followed naturally.

Her left hand came to rest on his right shoulder, her posture straight as she fell into the frame.

They adjusted by instinct, arms aligned, distance set, and bodies angled just enough for movement.

For a heartbeat, they held still, then they began to move right as a new rhythm started.

A gentle step forward from White, and Esmarie followed without resistance, her foot gliding back.

He guided into a slow turn, their joined hands lifting slightly as she pivoted beneath, unhurriedly.

They settled back into frame, moving in quiet rhythm to the song, step, sway, turn.

His hand at her remained steady, directing without force, while their clasped hands traced soft arcs in the air.

All of it made Esmarie’s lips slowly curve, a soft laugh escaping her.

"You dance quite well for one with not much memory."

She said, giggling softly.

Back during that mission, he had been forced to take a two-week class in waltz dancing so he could move effortlessly and avoid exposing himself during the mission.

Foxtrot, prom-style, Viennese Waltz, he had learned every last one past the beginner phase.

Still, his interest was mainly one thing, and when he noticed the mood was just right, he asked.

"Tell me about..."