Into the slums

Cha'Rolette was ten kinds of nervous when they left the academy. She kept looking over her shoulder and down each alley as if she expected her keepers to appear at any moment. Cadbury clucked happily behind them as they passed by shop boutiques and small cafes, occasionally bumping into a light post or parked skiv.

Gerald tried to interest Cha'Rolette in doing a little window shopping, but her heart just wasn't in it. But as time went on, she relaxed more and more, even relishing a little bit in the naughtiness of playing hooky. She asked him a lot of questions about his childhood and growing up on Earth, and he shared as many stories as he could recall. He was surprised at how genuinely interested she seemed, as if she were trying to find clues to unlock some giant puzzle.

When he would ask her about her own childhood, she always changed the subject. At one point he caught her staring at a pastry vendor, and before she could protest he bought one and shoved it in her hand. Despite its rather bland appearance, it surprised her how flavorful it was, and she enjoyed the experience immensely. Gerald was careful to avoid mentioning what it was made of.

Then she did something that surprised him. She playfully broke off a piece and shoved it in his mouth before he could protest. As he coughed and wiped the sauce off of his cheek, she gave a silvery laugh, and he couldn't help but laugh along with her. It seemed to him like she had been wearing armor before, and that it was slowly coming down, revealing a completely different person.

When they rounded a corner into a busy intersection, they were met by a half dozen of the most filthy aliens they had ever seen. They stood about, breathing in smoke from an exotic piped device that reminded Gerald of a hamster maze. Cha'Rolette froze in place, but Gerald approached them warmly.

"Gerald, boy!" They greeted. The tallest among them raised up a sucker-covered hand and Gerald gave him a high-five. Their hands stuck together, and it took Gerald a moment to pull his free.

"Dyson, do you... know these people?"

"Of course, they come into the soup kitchen all the time."

The short one shoved an oily strand of hair out of his face. "This boy makes the worst stew in all of Central." He laughed, and the others joined in. Cha'Rolette smiled nervously.

"This is my classmate, Cha,"

"Just Cha?"

"Just Cha. Cha, this is Horge, Fluve, Lustaxi, Rolsali, and the big guy there is Bolsorg."

"Oh, you're one of them girls from the fancy school," Bolsorg said, bowing drunkenly.

"Charmed," she lied.

"Oh, girl, you are fine looking," Rolsali appraised. "I gotta get me one of these rich girls, too."

A pedestrian tossed a credit chip into a hat that had been laid out, and all the men went to work. Fluve played base on an upturned waste bin, while Rolsali banged bent metal rods against the wall and pavement. Bolsorg and Horge percussed with their voices, a sound that was somewhere in between a yodel and an electric guitar. Suddenly the street was transformed. Colors and patterns danced around in the air. Birds made of smoke flew into the sky, and little dust-devils made of light spun about like ground flowers.

Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, shocked out of their dreary routine by the infectious performance. The music was alive, with a pounding beat and an energetic rhythm. The others made room for Lustaxi, who spun and danced about in a traditional J'Seppe folk dance. As the people watched him kick out his legs and clap his hands, as they felt the wisps of colors dance around them.

As they heard the music and song, their troubles boiled away and they clapped their hands. There were no bills to pay, no regrets to be mulled over, no expectations to be met. There was only the simple joy of being alive. Cadbury couldn't resist the energy, bobbing and jerking her head this way and that. Even Cha'Rolette began tapping her foot to keep time.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, the music ended, and the street darkened. The pedestrians went about their business as the performers congratulated themselves.

"That was... amazing." Cha'Rolette praised sincerely. "I have seen many J'Seppe dances through the hypernet, but nothing like this."

"Nothing beats a live performance," Gerald added.

"Ah, see that's your problem, Cha," Bolsorg chided. "The only things they upload to Central are the stuffy stuff from the libraries."

"Reading, PAH!" Fluve complained as he blew a smoke ring into the air.

"...If you want to learn real J'Seppe, there ain't no better teacher than Lustaxi right here."

"Come, I show you," Lustaxi bade, holding out his greasy hand.

"Oh, I really couldn't.'

"She can't do it; it's too hard for her," Horge said, breathing in deeply from his pipe.

"Who says I can't?" she said with playful indignance. "I'm a Ssy..."

Gerald shook his head.

"...student at Central Exeter. I can do anything."

"Well, if you can dance, THEN DANCE!" Lustaxi grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

The other performers began their music again. They started slowly as Lustaxi went through each step. Cha'Rolette was a little reserved at first, but quickly warmed up as they went on. Within a few minutes, she was jumping and clapping, spinning around with them like she had been doing it for years. Seeing the young beautiful woman dance drew a crowd that quickly choked up traffic.

She had a poise and a balance to the way she moved that was mesmerizing to watch. She quickly began to improvise, using her ta'atu to levitate herself into the air, turning double spins into triple and quadruple spins, and even inverting herself, to perform parts of the dance upside down above Lustaxi. Within minutes the hat was filled to overflowing.

Cadbury fed off the energy of the music, running and zig-zagging about, letting off a poof of feathers whenever she ran into someone's leg.

When the music finally stopped, the crowd applauded. Cha'Rolette rested her hands on her knees and beamed while she caught her breath.

"Gerald, you bring her by as often as you want," Bolsorg said, picking up the bulging hat.

"You did great," Lustaxi praised. "Now, you teach me one of yours, eh?"

Cha'Rolette raised an eyebrow mischievously. "I dunno, Issaguardian dances are pretty hard, are you sure you can handle it?"

The men all laughed at her brazenness.

"Hey, look at the tahns on this one, eh?" Bolsorg praised. "She's gonna come into our neighborhood and take us to school?"

Cha'Rolette gave the men a nice measured melody to play, and she energetically went through the basics.

While she taught them a kind of waltz from her world, Gerald leaned back against a wall and watched her warmly. This was not the snooty duchess he had known. This person was curious, playful, and even a little shy. Despite her upbringing, she seemed to ease into being with these people on the street with surprisingly little effort. He never would have expected that in a million years. She seemed comfortable with them. In many ways, more comfortable than she seemed at the academy. Gerald knew priests that worked on the streets every day of their lives without ever fitting in as much as she already did.

As Gerald watched her joke around with them as she went through the steps, he wondered what made her so different. She seemed to have a feel for the rhythm of the street, the way of speaking, and the culture. It didn't really make sense to him, but watching her radiant smile as she danced about, Gerald couldn't find the heart to care too much about it.

Then she grabbed his hands and pulled her out with him.

"Hey, what are you..."

"Nu-uh, if I am going to dance in public, so are you," she laughed.