A bell rang somewhere outside the ballroom. Asim and Cutlery exchanged an excited glance. They would have to talk soon.
"I ran into a few thirds. They said if I hear a bell, it's time for something that isn't biscuits and gravy. Whatever that means." Asim said. "You already ate right?" She asked Cutlery. Cutlery nodded as she walked to the door.
"Do you know what this room is for?" Asim asked. Cutlery turned back to Asim and shook her head no. Asim was still standing in the center of the space.
"Damn big room. Is it for fancy battles or something?" Cutlery asked. Asim chuckled.
"It is for parties. Particularly, dancing parties." Asim said. With an odd motion, Asim glid towards Cutlery.
"What are you doing?" Cutlery asked. Asim didn't say anything. She moved closer with flowing movements. It reminded Cutlery of the sounds from the lower levels of the Pink House—the consistent and happy sounds of those wood and metal tools.
"It's called a ballroom, 'cause they have events called balls here. They are nothing like what men have in their pants." Asim said with another giggle. Cutlery liked that.
Asim came in close now and stopped by Cutlery. Her dark-skinned hand was raised in front of Cutlrey's mayonnaise-pale skin.
"Grab my hands, and I will show you how to dance," Asim said. Cutlery grabbed her hands gently. Asim guided her fingers till they were softly interlocking. Cutlery liked the skin-to-skin contact. When was the last time she touched someone without trying to kill them?
Asim pulled her. Cutlery jerked forward. She was being dragged along. Turning tripped her. The steps were ahead of her feet. Asim didn't say anything for a minute. Cutlery felt it out. After a minute she relaxed. It was a repeating pattern. A simple movement. Like a familiar route through the twisting alleyways. Great pleasure suffused Asims face as their movement liquid.
"Good, do it at the same time as me, anticipate it. I'll hum a tune. Follow its beat. Move with it." Asim said quietly. Cutlery didn't know what a beat was. She ignored the humming, though it sounded nice.
She didn't quite rest into it. Asim slowed them down.
"Back home, we have dancing. Most women do it. We dance in little clothes for the men. Many who dance, dance for money, and usually into a bed by the end of the night. When I learned to dance here, it was polite and social. I learned one can dance to allure, and another simply to converse. In both contexts, the dance involves contact, trust, physical communication, and intimacy. You can dance alone yes, but it still feels like those watching are learning something secret." Asim said and then trailed off.
They moved a little longer.
"I will teach you more. We can use these lessons to plan." Asim said. Their hands pulled apart. Cutlery hovered for a second then unwound. She had strained her focus to learn those moves. They weren't natural, but felt like they could be.
Asim grabbed her again and pulled her towards the door. Cutlery thought she liked not murdering people that touched her, or she touched.
-
Despite each table having six people at it, they all seemed alone. Most were reading. One elf exercised with a floating sit. Their legs shook as they ate without the use of a chair. No one looked up.
Cutlery and Asim collected a plate of salmon, rice, and vegetables. They sat together at one of the tables. Across from them, the elf held their floating sit. Their pointed ears twitched from a smile.
"I'm Aeruthar. I am a third, I specialize in fury slivers. Who are you two? You're new right? I'm at most meals and haven't seen you two." Aeruthar spewed. They raised a hand to them.
They shook Aeruthar's hand. The elf's voice triggered memories of Rega for Cutlery.
"We're both thirds. I am Asim of the Hazfen. I do not know about silver types. We are new!" Asim said. Cutlery nodded and started eating. Aeruthar waited for her to respond politely. They still hadn't broken their floating sit.
"Is everyone studying right now?" Cutlery asked. Aeruthar nodded.
"Yes, you will notice the degree of intensity on this floor. A lot of private training chambers. Once you two are settled in they will start to pack your schedule. As thirds, we sometimes watch the firsts and guard the tower. Make appearances to the regular city guards, even help with special threats throughout the city that need sliver-level help, and more! So trying to grow is something you gotta pack into the small moments. If you ever want to become a fourth sliver, you gotta work hard. I'd say in my seven months up here I've seen two people taken to become fourths. Which, there's not much of us, but if they only take the best, that makes it quite slow." Aeruthar explained. He paused for a bite of his food and chewed thoughtfully. Before swallowing he continued,
"So by muscle, magic, or luck! We train! You can stand out in your tasks as well but you're only promoted if you can pass the tests on top of that. The tests are tough as well." By the time they were done talking Cutlery had almost finished half her plate. Aeruthars lay untouched. Yet they continued.
"I've met almost everyone up here, though a few almost keep to privacy. There's me, Clyde the wolf, Penelope the root, Levi the jabber, the trio of arcana, their names are, Uthelp, Jeorge, and Isabelle, Chloe the fist, Oozer Idrian, Jim the Hatrick, and the rest are mysterious. However, that is nine of them. Ten including me. Over half!" Aeruthar said.
"Too many names," Cutlery commented between bites. Aeruthat frowned at her.
"There's even more! If you want to do well on missions, effective communication helps the most! I heard a rumor you slingshotted up here from the first floor! If you keep that momentum people might try and grab on! The seconds don't get it yet, but a good partner can get you far!" Aeruthar said.
"SO TRUE!" Fish said from the doorway. A few people jumped in their seats at his arrival. He sauntered over and started dishing up. "A good partner goes a long way. A real partner goes in a long way as well." Fish said and waggled his butt. Aeruthar looked appalled, then broke into laughter.
That reminded Cutlery of Tall's outbursts of enormous laughter. She sighed and kept eating as Gill the hunk came in. He was pulling up his pants and tightening his belt. She hadn't thought of it till now. He was clearly taken.
-
Aeruthar was kind enough to follow them out and their official tour. No one even had to ask. Each room was to help people grow in familiarity with their slivers abilities. A much more intimate study of their unique abilities was offered throughout the floor.
From experiments to prayer, any kind of room was within a dozen feet of their bedrooms. Aeruthar also showed them that many of the rooms were larger on the inside than would be usually possible. The gym, for example, had its entrance crammed between two nearby doorways. Yet inside it seemed to expand far past the neighboring rooms'.
Aeruthar followed Asim out of the gym. Yet again Cutlery found the space surprisingly well-equipped. A monkey-like humanoid used a row of bars to clamber around. The brown-haired humanoids looked at her and spoke,
"I'm Clyde!" Clyde had big wing flaps from his heels to his wrists. He also had a strong tail. His balance and movement were even better than Cutlrey's. Already Clyde had shown how his hands could manipulate tools while his tail did the minute balancing.
He slid to her from the far upper corner of the gym. Off came a set of gloves and puffs of chalk followed. A padded cat-like hand extended to shake hers.
"Need some chalk? Nice to meetcha." Clyde said. A grin spread across his lower face. It looked like a creepy clown. He was hard to read as Cutlery had never been around his species.
She shook his hand and a whiff of chalk blew out.
"I think we have similar slivers. What do they call yours?" Cutlery asked.
"Something like an acrobatic backstabber. I don't study the written test portions, I focus on physical aspects." Clyde said. Cutlery nodded. Clyde turned and flipped onto his hands before saying,
"All I know is that our slivers blessings are the best. Short fights, ranged ability, great movement. A lot less pain. Plus no forces beyond our understanding to work with. How well you can aim your muscles." Cutlery had a similar opinion.
"You might meet Jim sometimes here. He usually focuses on his arcane and written stuff. He enjoys history books more than he should. He's got a little magic in addition to his acrobatic sliver I can drag him out of the pages sometimes." Clyde said. Cutlery thought the name sounded familiar.
"Jim like the tall skinny human dude? Hangs out with Oozer and doesn't care about stuff?" Cutlery asked. A memory was unfogged.
"Yea exactly! You met him?" Clyde said.
"Met him! His pal Oozer almost molested me when I was a first a month ago!" Cutlery said cheerily. Clyde's jaw dropped and a guffaw echoed from behind Cutlery.
