<span style="font-size: 15px"><span style="font-family:Open Sans">Altair was woken by pressure against his skull, Cygnus stepping on him and telling him he was awake, and so he should be as well. He was looming over him with a sward drawn, and Altair wondered what he might have been expecting as he sheathed it at last. He picked the book off the floor and then took the chair he had been sitting in. Altair felt achy and tight. A little warm, possibly feverish and it was no wonder given the state of his back. He couldn't remember the last he'd eaten, or when he'd been able to drink. His vision swam as he sat up, dizzy. Cygnus was talking to him of dance, and usually the prospect would have been something he enjoyed. He was expertly trained, but even this task seemed daunting.<br/>
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“Dance is not reserved to the bedroom in Dusan, though there are certain dances that may lead there,” Altair told him. He certainly didn't sleep with all those that he'd danced for. Most were content to just watch his performances, and usually Altair made a huge spectacle of himself.<br/>
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“Of course you would,” Altair spoke matter of factly when Cygnus ordered him to dance nude. He would have preferred to get there in his own time, but the man lacked patience, and Altair was not about to argue the subtlety of tease. It was not likely something the pirate captain would understand. Altair used the desk to stand, waiting until the blood stopped rushing from his head to step off, but he did undo the sash with one hand, though he kept a hold of it. It would become and accessory to him. He tried to stretch, but the skin on his back pulled uncomfortably. He knew he wouldn't be at his best. He possible never would again, but he resolved himself to do this, and to do it as well as he could. He did not want to disappoint his heritage by dancing like a commons street beggar, asking for a spec to eat.<br/>
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Altair rolled his shoulders back, and drew the sash in and arc over his head. It didn't matter to him that he was nude. He had danced, usually more intimately, for someone in the nude, but he'd become numb to Cygnus' eye. His movements were long and flowing, pulling tension into his frame and following through with each movement to the very tips of his toes and fingers. His body rolled, and contorted, showing flexibility and form, though he did stumble a few times as the ship rocked, or his back stretched painfully. There was no music, but Altair thought of the beats of Dusanian drums, and string instruments. He'd tired himself out in a rather short amount of time, perhaps the span of one song, and his muscles were trembling with fatigue. He looked to Cygnus, considering.<br/>
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“I can show you some of partnered dances, if you'd like,” Altair suggested, thinking that if he could just lean against someone, this all might be more bearable. Cygnus was hardly his first choice, and likely not the most graceful thing, but he was strong. Capable of giving him support, so that he might finish the task he'd be given. Hopefully it would please the man, and he'd give him some form of sustenance.</span></span>