Aileen noticed his pleased reaction, but spared him from focusing much on it. He fell quiet after the thank you, which worked perfectly for her, because she doubted she would have known what to say. Aileen nodded instead.

She glanced at his suit, lifting her eyebrows at his suggestion. He seemed willing to return to the ballroom and mingle only after being run out of it (or more accurately, following her out). Tapendra was an odd one. But a slow smile spread across her face, and she took his arm for the second time that night.

"Was that 'mm' an offer to dance, or do my ears deceive me?"

They stepped into the hall, back into the music, the noise, the clusters of people. Aileen pushed back a flicker of dread, wondering if Liadan had made the rounds yet, and spotting her with Oz. Then she focused on Tapendra, reminded that he-who-had-not-wanted-to-dance was out here with her. Somehow, the other couples faded to the back of her mind.

Luckily for him (and her feet), a waltz began. Aileen was getting used to his height, and found it easy to touch his shoulder and slip her other hand into his. She reverted to the polite chatter appropriate to two professors. Her steps felt lighter, and her mood had certainly lifted. Little things, not so easily discernible, but they mattered.