May 4

[notfaking_it]

When their roles are posted, Lily smiles knowingly at Nina across the small crowd of mostly disappointed dancers, then crosses over to her and tells her they're going to have a party to celebrate. She tells Nina to invite whoever she wants, says she'll host it, it'll happen this weekend, then she disappears to make plans. She leaves Nina without time to protest on purpose.

On the night of the party, she has drinks and food set out in her kitchen. She's invited most of the people she knows and even a few she doesn't -- dancers, mostly, because she doesn't want to leave them out -- and there's already music playing even before anyone has arrived. The intention is to be casual, relaxed, but there are pills in Lily's pocket, for anyone who knows her well enough to ask, for anyone she thinks might need to relax a little.

Nina's doing better now, but Lily has no problem helping her come out of her shell if it comes to that. And she has no problem helping anyone else either.

Comments

[notfaking_it]

Lily isn't sure if she'd call him nice, but he's interesting, to say the least, and she suspects he might actually be quite kind to Nina. The fact that he'd pointed a gun at Lily during their first meeting isn't the sort of thing she has to share when she knows he was under stress. "You should talk to him," she suggests. "I talked to him earlier, he'll be coming to one of the performances."

[itwas_perfect]

"I don't know..." she hesitated, a frown turning down the corners of her mouth. She immediately drew into herself, shrinking herself even smaller than she already was.

"Maybe. Later, I guess."

[notfaking_it]

Lily knew better now than to push too hard and so she smiled and nodded. "Maybe later," she agreed, because maybe was better than a firm no and if she could put another drink in Nina's hand, maybe get her to take one of the pills, that maybe would almost certainly turn into a yes.

"I don't know if I've said it, but I'm really excited about this performance," she said, changing the subject. "I know the choreography will have to be reworked, but I think it'll be good."

[itwas_perfect]

"Me too," Nina said, her smile warming, "I... wasn't completely convinced it would work, during casting, but it sounds... really interesting."

Really terrifying, but she didn't want to be that girl, anymore. That little girl who was afraid of everything.

[notfaking_it]

"It'll be incredible," Lily said. "Something new for the audience, something new for us, and you already know we have chemistry." She wasn't worried at all about what they could do together if Nina let herself. What she didn't want was another artistic director who would lean too hard instead of coaxing it out of her. "Who better to work with than me?" she asked, grinning.

[itwas_perfect]

Nina couldn't help but return the grin, feeling a rush of giddiness, a kind of hopefulness that she hadn't felt since the day she'd been giving the part as The Swan Queen.

"At least you're not my alternate," she said, the first time she'd ever been able to joke about what had happened back in New York.

[notfaking_it]

Lily laughed, though at first her throat tightened and she had to push past that. What had happened was over. This city was another chance and things could be different here. "Not this time," she agreed. "It'll be better, working together like this. We can help each other." And she really could this time, without it seeming like she wanted to take Nina's role.