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The dancing red tongues, twisted and played in her vision, hypnotizing her with their merriment. She stared straight into them, her gaze unwavering. She breathed steadily in and out, straining to hear the rhythm they moved to.
“River come back from the fire,” Simon asked, his hand cool on her shoulder compared to the heat the little dancers emitted.
“Can’t leave, it’s not over yet. Leaving would be rude. Inconsiderate.”
“Please, meimei, I’d feel better if you weren’t quite so close.” His mind filled with pictures he quickly suppressed, but River couldn’t suppress them, and she saw clearly his vision of her long hair catching flame, her dress, her falling in and disrupting the dance. But it wouldn’t happen, she couldn’t suppress the fear the image instilled and yet after the momentary widening of her eyes she saw her self getting up to calmly head back to the ship to sleep. But that was later. So she stayed for the show. She couldn’t leave in the middle, it would be wrong. Might hurt their feelings.
Simon seemed to accept the fact that she would not move, and sat beside her, crossing his legs at the ankles and pulling his knees into his chest. “It is kinda pretty isn’t it?”
River nodded.