?La Bayad?re? Ain?t that the one that has the weird hallucination in it?? Andy and Katarina were the last to look at the list of parts, due to the frenzy of dancers that insisted on looking first. Instead, they finished their stretches fully before walking to the pillar with the posted paper.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, ?Yer knowledge o? ballets is astoundin?.? Laughing, her hands moved expertly to mold her long braid into a bun that was appropriate for the first rehearsal. ?Yeah, I?s tha? one. Kinda nea? bein? all Indian an? stuff. Costumes?ll be real interestin? compared ta th? opera. An? look,? she pointed to the posting of characters, hers being Nikiya and his being The High Brahmin, ?I git ta rejec? ya!? This struck her as very humorous, for her laughter continued.

Andy?s face contorted as he tried to remember the plot of the story. ?Oh yeah, don?t I love you??

?Ya an? everybody else.? Katarina quipped, more than comfortable enough to tease Andy and to elevate herself to some ridiculous standard. There were very few that she felt comfortable doing so, and her mind randomly settled on one in particular that said she had a big head. Teasing, of course.

He laughed, and gave her shoulder a push for good measure, ?That?s fine, I can deal with that. And don?t I by-?

?Yeah, ya do, bu? I win ?n th? end.? She rolled her shoulders back to stretch the still muscles. ?I?s a good ballet ta git star?ed on. ?Course, ?m sure it?ll ruffle a few featha?s.?

?Do you ever not ruffle feathers, Katarina?? His grin was evident that he was proud of himself for finding something to retort back to her.

As Madame and other instructor?s entered, Katarina batted her lashes wildly to Andy, ?Somebody?s gotta. Do I look like a prima ballerina?? She rose to the tips of her toes and spun in one slow, graceful circle.

?Yeah, the prima ballerina from a farm that has class and a large mouth that has opinions to go with it." He ticked the attributes off with a motion of his finger, "You?ll charm everybody over.? He laughed lightly as they began to assemble, thinking he has won the battle.

?I already hav?.? Katarina smiled wide, and Andy groaned; and the preparations had only begun.

"I's too quie' 'n here."

Katarina inhaled deeply and released a long, winded sigh as she laid on the floor of her new apartment. Even with what little she had, Jolyon had made the finding and moving process easier than she thought it would be. In the midst of the ballet and the wedding, there had been no time for herself. And now that she was alone, she truly felt alone.

After all the complaining and teasing about living with her family, her freedom came with a price. She caught herself on several occasions turning and expecting to share a word with someone, or to tell a joke. Instead she was met with sparse rooms and silent walls.

Humming off-key, she stood from her resting position, and gathered her bag. Walking out, she checked and double-checked her door before walking towards the marketplace. She had several hours before another late night rehearsal, and the apartment did not hold any excitement.

Katie enjoyed watching people walk around and chat with those around them. Some walked in a leisurely pace, and others were on a mission to complete their shopping to return to their homes as quickly as possible. Her study did not last for long before she felt something small and furry rub against her leg.

"Hey!" Surprised, she squeaked the word and jumped away, looking down to see what had touched her. Her gaze met huge blue eyes, a pink nose and patches of white, black and red. The kitten was purring loudly and moved to rub against Katarina's exposed ankles again. "Aren' ya a cute one." She stuck out a hand to let the kitten sniff it, before petting the tiny creature.

Her parents had owned several cats on the farm to help catch the mice in the barn. They were always mean and never wanted any of the children to play with them. "Ar' ya los'?" She checked for some sort of identification, and the kitten meowed in happiness at the attention. Finding nothing, she carefully picked up the feline, and studied it. "Well, I could use a roommate, an' I dun thin' you'll cause too much trouble, yeah?" When the kitten purred and rubbed against her hand, she laughed, "I didn' thin' so. Let's see if we kin' find ya some stuff here." Smiling with her new companion, Katarina smiled more at rehearsal than she had in weeks.

"Tell me how I go' convinced ta go dancin', hmm?" Green eyes narrowed on the unsuspecting kitten, as if it was his fault. When the cat did not even open his eyes, Katarina threw her arms in the air and huffed. "I git one nigh' ta mahself, and 'stead 'm goin' ta be hoppin' places like 'm twen'y. An' 'm definitely nah tha' young no more."

The habit of speaking to Patches no longer unnerved the dancer. There was something comforting about letting her thoughts simply go, knowing that no judgement or comments would come from her company. Still, there were several times where she imagined reactions from the curl of fur, and figured insanity was coming for her. It had been so long since she had a chance to see her friends and family, with the ballet near completion.

For now, Patches simply yawned and barely moved from the curled position on Katarina's pillow. ?Dun shed on mah pillow.? The words were tossed carelessly as she went through her closest again for the third time. ?I hav? nothin? ta wear. Mahbe I shouln? go.? Katarina?s definition of nothing to wear was the slim chance of finding something new. Instead she had racks of dresses, varying in style but organized by color. Considering the nightlife, she reached for a dress that was black as the night she would be in. Bunch to one shoulder and cinched at the bodice, it reflected both grace and a casual evening. It would have to do.

?Wha?ya think? Too much, mahbe?? Bringing down the hanger and hugging it to her front, she faced the cat luxuriously sprawled on her pillow. Patches didn?t open his eyes, but she thought she saw his furry lips curl at the corners. ?Tha?s wha? I though?. Men, an? it dun matter wha? species.? She grumbled all the more, now running late as she hurried to get ready. She wasn?t sure the reasoning behind her grumbling, but a sarcastic mood was brewing as the hour drew later.

She barely finished putting on pale tone on her lips before a knock came to the door. The cat that appeared to be asleep was suddenly awake, bounding to the door and scratching at it and meowing. ?Yeah, I know, I know.? Slipping into heels that would make Madame cry, the even taller ballerina went to open the door.

?Wow, you look snazzy!? Andy automatically picked up Patches, who was purring wildly at the brief company.

?Snazzy?? She repeated, all but snorting, ?Who says tha?? Really? C?mon Patches, back in ya go.? Andy set down the cat who reluctantly went through the cracked door, no doubt back to her fluffy pillow. Taking the offered hand, they began walking towards the night club that was the new rave within the theatre. There was no romantic feeling within the touch, but a sense of comfort that almost made her homesick in the odd moment.

?The posters go up tomorrow, are you ready for the publicity?? It was a simple tease, and Andy squeezed her hand lightly.

She did snort this time. An unlady-like gesture that a stranger would never expect, ?I dun think tha? it?ll be any differen? than las? time, an? ?m ready fer tha?.?
With easy laughter, he continued with light talk until they reached the Jazz Caf?, opening the door for Katarina. The smell was a mixture of sweet and spice, with a tenor voice that?s huskiness pulled everything together.

?Oh, the shark has pretty teeth dear, and he shows ?em, pearly white. Just a jack knife has Macheath dear, and he keeps it way out of sight..?

?C?mon, everyone is over there waiting for us.? Katarina allowed herself to be dragged towards the fellow troupe, and was not surprised to find them heading to the middle of the dance floor. While her mood wanted to threaten to falling to the color of her dress, performance had her plastering a smile, and glancing towards the clock for the time of freedom.

"Dun fall off, dun fall off..." Katarina kept mumbling the words under her breath as her body went through the motions of her theatrical death. With everyone in full costume, all the focus was on the functioning of each article of clothing to make sure that nothing tore or ripped. The current problem for Katarina was her headpiece. Ornate and high on her head, the golden headband held nearly sheer red material that was attached to help conceal her blond hair. With each shake of her head or turn, the band was slowly making its way down and eventually, off.

"Rini, relax your neck." Madame scowled as Katarina had the worst posture in the history of her known rehearsals. But the warning was already too late, the hairband had fallen off, leaving the sheer material bundled under bun and the hard material of the actual band flying around with her next pirouette.

When the spin stopped, the headband continued and whiplashed Katarina square on the cheek. "Gah!" Was the first sound that she made, followed by a hiss of a sharp inhale. The maestro stopped at Madame's command, and the rest of the dancers that did not see the malfunction stopped as well.

While someone from wardrobe came to help fully remove the headpiece, the other dancers gathered into small group to whisper, mostly words of excitement of the upcoming opening night tomorrow. With her blond hair exposed, Katarina gingerly touched her assaulted cheek. "Let's take a small break." Madame's release had the whispers growing louder into more comfortable talking volumes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Andy was the first to approach her, his eyes moving to her cheek. His outfit concealed the most, sleeveless and robed, an ornate hat to signal his high position of the temple setting.

"Yeah, 'm fine. Jist caugh' me by surprise." The cheek revealed a brilliant red, but no sign of bruising. Her arms naturally came to cross her bare midriff. Every other dancer had some form of abdomen showing, though the contrast of red against Katarina's paler skin, and her leading role made her the most self conscious.

Christine however. nearly strutted with her self confidence across the stage in her off white and golden ensemble. Katarina twisted her face as she could count every distinct and exposed rib. "Walkin' an' jumpin' skeleton 's all she is." Her words were mumbled so that only Andy could hear.

He however, looked around at everyone else on stage, before returning the whisper, "She's not the only one, Katarina. It's half the troupe." He paused, knowing that he would be considered part of that group and added, "This is what dancer are told to look like."

"Yeah?" Her lips pulled to form a thin line. By no means did Katarina's ribs protrude like several other women, but her lines of physique were toned with hard work, "An' ya wonder why Madame put them las' durin' the shades. Tha' kinda lifestyle make's ya weaker. Nah work avoidin' th' hard work ta nah eat." It was the only disapproval Katarina felt towards Andy, and before she could try and make things better, people were returning with another version of her headband.

Taking a deep breath, Katarina replayed her steps in her mind while waiting for her headband to go back in place. While the dancers began to slowly return to their beginning position, another wave of high excitement rolled between everyone.

Katarina used that energy to make her movements more precise than ever.