A Dance with the Gods

So, the season of celebration in the Gods’ Realm was still in full swing, and Caisey had been dragged into yet another challenge by no fault of his own.

He trudged to the full-length mirror in a hall more grandiose than necessary and stood in front of it like a man on his last legs. He checked out his stuffy outfit and strangely fit shoes that clacked a little when he walked. His hair was tamed this time but had lost its fun flare. Now, it was swooped to one side and braided down his shoulder a short ways before stopping at his shoulder blade. It had gotten longer, but it was nothing he cared to deal with considering everything that had happened.

He was exhausted in both mind and body.

But especially body.

Don and Lisa had been dismissed from the Gods’ Realm the morning before, having spent one extra day in the realm after the ‘leaving him to die’ situation. They committed themselves to sucking up to him, but Caisey had been so bothered by the whole “we set you up to fight our battle and now we’re peace-ing out” thing that he’d ignored them for a great chunk of the day.

At first, it had been easy; except, Don knew exactly what to do to make Caisey laugh hysterically, and Lisa knew exactly what to say to make Caisey remember how much those two idiots meant to him. So, when he’d finally given in and the rest of the day had gone by too fast, Caisey felt more miserable than ever, realizing that he’d just used up a life’s worth of time.

“Don’t sweat it.” Don had reassured him, “We know what you did for us. I’m sure it worked, so relax. We’ll see each other again.”

The hand Don had on Caisey’s shoulder squeezed too hard to support the façade of calm he had settled on his face. Caisey, unable to fake any calm, nodded somberly and yanked at his best friend’s hair because he had nothing else to do and was feeling awkward.

“Dang, man! If you wanted a keepsake, just say so!”

That made Caisey laugh… He was thankful. When Lisa came around (with souvenirs he wasn’t sure she was allowed to take), he hugged her tight and felt reluctant to let go. She was his first close friend ever, at the ripe old age of eleven, and had gone through a lot of trouble years later to introduce him to a guy his age—Don—who she happened to have a huge crush on back then.

Killed two birds with one stone, that girl.

Then, they had seemingly blooped out of existence, the way Caisey’s mind had told him they would, and it took a lot out of him emotionally.

That had been three days ago. For two days straight, Rina had put him through hours and hours of exhausting training that ate away at his calf, thigh, and shoulder muscles. He guessed it was to keep his mind off Don, Lisa, his promise with Lady Lachesis, and the bet he’d made with Lady Atropos all those nights ago.

“Heya, good lookin’. Ya new around these parts?”

Caisey was still staring at himself in the mirror and ‘good lookin’’ seemed like quite the stretch. He chuckled and shook his head. “Ew. I regret showing you all those westerns when we first met.”

“I don’t!” Rina said, spinning on her toes, “I count those as our twenty-something first dates.”

“Twenty-something?!” Caisey asked, smiling a ridiculously goofy smile at her. “I wasn’t aware we’d ever even had our real first date.”

Rina poked out her pretty lips and shoved Caisey’s shoulder with her palm. “That’s dumb.” She pouted, “Then, where have you been all this time? Have I been excited all by myself?”

“No! No, no, no. Trust me, no.” Caisey insisted and thought about his next words. He pulled his lips wide in a grimace when Rina leaned back and pierced his face with a steely glare. “What, why??” he asked, alarmed.

“I get it. I’ve been experiencing this relationship all by myself this whole time!” Rina wailed, suddenly shifting from serious to wildly dramatic. There were finely dressed gods and goddesses eyeing them as they walked into the room the two of them should have been inside by now, and Caisey’s eyes darted between them and Rina over and over again, realizing how this scene must look.

“Rina!” he hissed, “Get it together, please? You’re making them stare at us!”

“You should be used that by now,” Rina paused to say, then whined once more, slumping her shoulders forward and sinking herself lower to the floor where Caisey caught her halfway. He supported her full weight with his body.

“Okay, you’re right! I should be! But you’re being more dramatic than usual. I don’t get—” Caisey came to his senses abruptly and cut himself off.

“Did you say earlier that we were in a relationship?”

He’d been hoping so this entire time with every fiber of his being.

Since coming to the realm of the gods, since the night of their first kiss, and especially since Rina explicitly expressed her love for him, Caisey had been boldly thinking of Rina as his girlfriend. Yet, he’d never claimed as much out loud. What if she doesn’t label us that way? What if I’m getting ahead of myself? Or worse, what if gods and humans don’t mix?

He worried that it was embarrassing for a mere human to consider himself the boyfriend of a goddess, no matter how much he recognized what he meant to Rina. The other gods might never accept it.

So, Caisey had kept silent, wanting, and wanting, and waiting.

An almighty slap against his temple rattled his brain as Rina screamed, “Of course, we are, stupid! Where have you been?! You just doubted my love for you, didn’t you?”

“N-No! Of course not!”

“Then, what was that look of doubt I just saw on your face?” Rina demanded.

Caisey laughed, “Relax, it’s the other gods I’m worried about. What if they don’t accept us?”

Rina sighed, but her ire was gone. Instead, she walked close to Caisey and looked up at him from under his chin. Caisey loved how perfectly she could snuggle right up to him, fitting like a puzzle piece. “Let me give it to you straight,” she said. “You. Me. Together forever. And it’s been like that since day one, you fine human, you.”

Caisey nodded his head, understanding that he had nothing to worry about. This girl was his, and there was nothing anyone could do or say to change that.

Since day one, his mind echoed in Rina’s voice.

Then Rina’s real voice hit him with, “Now we have a battle to win or else Don’s gonna have to say goodbye to Lisa. Let’s go,” and that moment they’d just shared sobered up real quick.

Inside the grand ballroom of the Celestial Banquet Hall, an extravagant structure rivaling every palace in the realm, Caisey and Rina swayed to slow instrumental music with their arms encircling one another. They, along with countless other pairs of individuals, were part of the big ball that traditionally occurred in the days following the Festival of the Gods. Thus, around them were dancers of every type, some rhythmically sound and others, not so much.

Caisey was in the “not so much” category.

Rina reminded him repeatedly that his lead feet needed to lead her this way and guide her into doing that. He forgot how to hold her at times and was pretty much a failure at either maintaining his own or helping Rina maintain hers. Luckily, she could do that herself with no problem.

It was just that, Caisey’s mind was boggled despite the amount of practice they’d had. He was feeling the heat and understood that Lisa and Don’s happiness was on the line. As usual, he was beginning to sweat like his pores were raining and his stomach was starting to ache.

“Relax,” Rina calmed him, probably when she noticed her arms getting slick on his sweaty neck, “there’s nothing to be worried about. Just look who your dance partner is! I’m literally born to do this.”

She’s right, Caisey thought, and breathed in a calming breath. Only, the calm hadn’t even had the chance to settle in, as Lord Baldr came twirling over, dragging a goddess whose beauty rivaled Rina’s in tow.

“Chosen One!” He said, as though they were the greatest of friends, “Good luck to you. May the best man be the last one standing.” He left that hanging in the air, and off the pair went to find a place to begin.

“In your places!” A voice from somewhere among the huge crowd of people announced and pairs scrambled to get in position. Rina and Caisey stopped swaying to the preliminary music that had been playing and held hands, waiting for the competition to begin.

“You ready?” Rina asked, trying to calm Caisey with a reassuring smile.

Caisey nodded but said, “Not really,” and blew out nervous air.

“Let the Nth Dance ‘Til Ya Drop Ballroom competition commence!”

Fast-paced music started right away and Caisey couldn’t help but let the nerves fill up his stomach. He was in a place where feats of extreme grandeur happened daily, and he guessed that dancing was no different.

Meanwhile, he needed to rely on Rina to make even keeping up with the other gods possible, which worried him even further.

The ballroom was splendid and the scene itself was something right out of a movie. Caisey and Rina were at the center of the floor with gods all around them on their left and right. They glided along the ballroom floor, picking up speed and intensity as the songs went on.

Caisey quickly realized that it was wildly fun.

There were 4 styles of dance and Caisey found himself trying out samba, foxtrot, the classic waltz, and even the tango. And he sucked.

He was ridiculously bad. But his body kept moving anyway, his feet kept tapping and, beside himself with joy, he couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. Rina was truly in her element. Caisey was supposed to be leading her, but she was clearly the star of their show, and he was loving it.

He could dance with her forever.

As the final round commenced, Caisey and Rina were among the final pairs left standing. Of course, to Caisey’s chagrin, Lord Baldr was still in the game while three-fourths of the other competitors had already tapped out.

As the gods weren’t the same sort of trained professional dancers Caisey had watched on TV growing up, there was no judging criteria. Simply ‘dance ‘til ya drop’ was the expectation and Caisey hadn’t expected himself to be one of the ones who didn’t straight up drop.

Eventually, the final round’s song ended, leaving the ballroom in a moment of silence. Caisey, having soared, floated, jumped, and glided all over the floor, was exhausted by the time the final beat came. Desperate to be last, he whipped his head around to see who else had been dancing besides him and Rina.

Suddenly, a roar of applause went up from the spectators who had moved off the dance floor and had continued watching until the end. A cheery voice from somewhere within the ballroom announced, "The winners of the Nth Dance ‘Til Ya Drop Ballroom competition are Lady Terpsichore and the Chosen One, Casey Legna!”

“We did it!” Casey cried and scooped Rina up into a tight hug, flinging her body around in circles like a favorite doll.

Rina, meanwhile, looked back at him a little cockily and said, “Well, yes. I told you we would win. I had never planned on losing. This is my thing!” She giggled when he laughed at her, “What? Why are you so surprised?”

Caisey didn’t know why. Of course, he should have expected Rina to pull them out on top. But his mind wasn’t thinking straight. All he had was giddiness in his bones.

He couldn't put It into words, but Caisey decided he loved dancing with the gods.