“I’d love to dance,” Lars said. He rested his elbows on the table, chin in his palms, as he leaned forward to study the man asking. “My date would like me to stay here at the table though. It’s safer here.” 

“There’s nothing dangerous on the dance floor.” He held out his hand, a triumphant smile on his face. “I’m Jason.”

“Hi Jason. I’m Lars.” He took the other man’s hand to shake, finding his grip tight and firm.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Lars. Let’s just dance here, close to the table? Couldn’t be safer, right?”

“Right,” Lars agreed. He still hadn’t gotten his hand back and now he was being pulled up out of his seat and around to the front of the table. 

The music went from 2000-ish pop music to big band swing. Jason spun Lars around and just expected him to know and be able to do a Lindy Hop. After a few minutes, the music picked up and the dance became a Jitter Bug. The dance took them farther and farther from the safety of the table, but also cleared other dancers off the floor. 

Jason spun him in close, arm tight around his back, as they almost waltzed. “Do you miss the sky,” Jackson asked. 

“Why would I miss the sky,” Lars asked. 

“For one thing, you’ve probably never touched the real sky,” Jason cooed, breath soft and warm against Lars’ ear. “How sad is that?”

Lars pulled back, a hand on Jason’s chest as he pushed them apart. “It is rude to make an assumption that you do know anything about me, little boy.”  No one noticed, was paying attention, but if they had been, someone might have noticed that Lars only had three fingers where his hand rested on Jason’s chest. “Is that how you opened it with the other people you killed?”

Jason’s mouth dropped open for a full moment, then snapped shut. “I didn’t kill anyone. You misunderstand! I am rescuing people from a nightmare.”

Lars voice went deeper, lost all trace of accent, all trace of emotion, “You were born in London, but you don’t deserve the role you were given. Sleep.”

The last word seemed more like a curse than a normal word ought to. The hum of a huge swarm of nanobots caught both their attention. Their heads snapped around just in time to see the swarm headed straight for them. The dance floor cleared before either of them could move in response. 

Angel screamed in outrage as the swarm brought the power of the government down on her club like the plague down on a Medieval village. Anyone with any nonstandard modifications or upgrades, who couldn’t get out of the path of the swarm fast enough lost those upgrades. 

Bernard raced, cutting in front of the swarm to throw himself over Lars, knocking him to the ground, but covering him with his own body as much as possible. 

Jason must have found it within himself to flee, but whatever direction he’d gone in, that was the direction the swarm swarmed. As the hum faded, people came back to the floor, staring at the two men on the floor curiously. 

Lars found Bernard straddling his hips, clutching his wrist to check his pulse. He had a normal four fingers on each hand now and no idea why Bernard was acting like he’d almost died. “Why did you leave the table? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Get off of me!” 

Bernard gruffed, but got up. He held out his hand, which Lars took hold of and let himself be pulled to his feet. “Thank you.”

By then the music had started again and dancers were swaying like nothing had ever happened. Lars smiled, soaking in the normalcy. “Dance with me,” he said. He’d kept hold of Bernard’s hand when the bigger man had pulled him to his feet, now he was going to pull them together. “I don’t think you have to worry about your killer anymore.” 

“What did you do, Lars? What are you?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Lars said, spinning himself under Bernard’s arm, even though the music was back to pop flavored music, with the swing music as forgotten as the government’s nano swarm. “I’m just your pretty neighbor, who deserves a dance after you ran off and left me alone.” 

“What did he say to you,” Bernard pressed, while still trying to keep up with some semblance of dancing. 

“He asked me if I missed the sky,” Lars said. He moved close, giving up the semblance of a formal dance, wrapping his arms around Bernard’s waist, letting his fingers slip into the taller man’s back pockets. “It was silly really. How can I miss the sky? I fly any time I want to. London has clear skies.”

“Yeah,” Bernard said, his own arms settling on Lars’ shoulders. “After all, there’s only one sky, right?”

Lars looked up at him, an adoring smile on his face. “Of course. If there were more than one sky, looking up would make us very dizzy.” 

“I guess it would. Have you ever been to Paris?”

“Sure,” Lars said, then continuing in French, “I learned a great many interesting things in Paris. They do things in the bedroom that London does not seem to have even heard of.”

“I doubt that,” Bernard said, “I’m glad you’re okay. I can’t believe he moved on your so quickly! I was only gone for a moment!” 

“Don’t worry about it, Bernard. I told you. I can take care of myself,” Lars leaned back into a dip, which Bernard was happy to accommodate. “I don’t even have any illegal upgrades or mods. I have nothing to fear from the governments swarms.”

“Our food is at the table. Let’s eat. You can tell me more about what you know about London.” Bernard said. “From what I understood, all shifters were illegal mods, genetic manips.”

“I don’t think so,” Lars said. He moved back towards the table, still keeping hold of Bernard’s hand. It was nice, the warmth, the strength of the more physical man’s hand. “I was born this way.”

“You were born half raven?”

“Indeed! And I love shiny things!” Lars sat down, a hand brushing over the silver buttons on the front of Bernard’s jeans.