Allegro

Elektra Natchios was an okay bitch. Yeah, maybe she still could be a bitch, but it certainly wasn’t as bad. For some reason, giving her role up to Natasha made Elektra a lot more bearable. The threat from Tony probably helped, too. It was beginning to feel like she was living a normal, adult life. Rivalries were a thing for children. Now that Bucky wasn’t always complaining about Steve and Elektra wasn’t tormenting her, Natasha felt like she could live a normal life. At least, she could live a normal life through the Nutcracker season.

The first performances went amazingly well. Natasha felt like she and Alexei were made to be the Snow King and Queen. Something about that dance was absolutely magical. It felt like they weren’t even performing, it was just them. Natasha was ecstatic to find a new pas de deux partner as good as the one she now had. A bond had also grown between her and Alexei. They weren’t just partners, they were friends.

Matt had come to every single one of her performances, as usual. The most important performance for him to attend was the last one on Christmas Eve. After all, it had the big Christmas party afterwards. Normally Natasha would celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, but with the performance and party, they’d decided to celebrate on Christmas day this year. Besides, they didn’t have very many presents to open.

On the morning of a performance day, Natasha always started out with a protein smoothie. It felt energizing yet healthy. She’d then do a quick warmup and an extensive stretch session. Depending on the time she had to be at the studio, she usually had a salad or a wrap for lunch before doing a quick ab workout. Working out was a big part of her job. Then she would go to the studio and do her routine there.

When Natasha arrived at the company, she had a mission: do her hair and makeup. Before the last performance, she’d barely had enough time to get that all done. But when she walked into her dressing room, Bucky was already in there, sitting at her vanity.

“Hi,” Natasha said, setting her bag down on the ground.

“Merry Christmas,” Bucky said, smiling at her.

“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Natasha said. “I see you’re already ready for the performance.”

Bucky smiled. “But I’m even more ready for the party after.”

“Oh, me too,” Natasha stated. “I have the cutest dress ever picked out for this year. And I heard Tony bought good alcohol and a chocolate fountain. But I’m mainly just excited to hang out with Matt. During the preparation for any show I feel like I’m just always busy.”

Bucky nodded. “You see, that’s the nice thing with Steve. Since we work at the same place, we have a lot of opportunities to see each other. We just don’t live together.”

“Yet,” Natasha added.

Bucky stood up from her vanity so she could sit down. She did just that and began doing her hair.

“So, is tonight your night alone with Steve at his place?” Natasha asked, sewing in her headpiece.

Bucky smiled and blushed. “Yeah, it is. I’m super excited. It’s gonna be a good night.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will be.”

Natasha had rushed through her hair and makeup to ensure she had enough time. Even if it was rushed, it didn’t look like it. She’d done some dance competitions back in her day which got her ready for all the quick looks. Natasha changed into her costume as soon as her makeup was done and started to prepare her pointe shoes. Seeing Bucky all ready made her feel like she needed to rush.

Before the show started, there were a few things Natasha wanted to do. She wanted to do a quick barre warm up, then go see both Tony and Alexei. Separately, of course. Natasha had grown to really love Alexei. He was a sweet guy and Natasha could tell that Matt liked him, too. It was always a bonus when Natasha and Matt both liked a person. That’s the way it was with Tony, as well.

“Tonight’s the big night, aye?” Tony asked as Natasha walked into his office.

Natasha smiled and sat in one of his chairs. “Yeah, it is. I’m extremely excited for the party tonight. That’s what gets me through the show. I’ve grown to hate the Nutcracker through my years performing it.”

“Really? I still love it,” Tony stated.

“You aren’t that surrounded by it, thought,” Natasha said. “You don’t have to go to every single rehearsal and everything.”

“That’s true. But I deal with a lot of stuff behind the scenes,” Tony said.

Tony’s job was undoubtedly a hard one. He had the power to make any type of executive decision he desired. Every new hire had to be approved by him. Natasha could never do that job. Especially the really hard parts like replacing Bucky last minute. But he still didn’t get the same Nutcracker experience the actual company members did. Of course he still liked the show, his life didn’t revolve around it in the same way.

“I know. We appreciate you. I’m excited for the party tonight,” Natasha said.

“I bought only the finest things for you to enjoy,” Tony said, smiling at her.

“As always,” Natasha responded.

“You know, I am looking to find a girl soon,” Tony said. “I’m thinking that tonight might be the night.”

Natasha laughed. “Tony, everyone there is someone who you already know. You aren’t going to discover some new girl to fall in love with.”

“Well you didn’t have to go and crush my Hallmark movie dreams,” Tony joked.

“I should go. I need to talk to Alexei before the performance,” Natasha said.

“Break a leg.”

Alexei had a very bland dressing room, similar to how Bucky’s had previously been. The only thing that he had that was in any way personalized was a picture of his little calico cat on the vanity. Natasha should have gotten him a Christmas present that would make his dressing room a little more comfortable for him. Even a different chair for his vanity would be nice. Maybe she’d have to get him some sort of late Christmas gift.

“Hi,” Natasha greeted, walking into Alexei’s dressing room.

Alexei was sitting at his vanity and perfecting his hair. “Oh, hey, Nat. What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to see you before we have to go on stage,” Natasha said.

“For what reason?” Alexei asked.

Natasha smiled and shrugged. “I dunno, just to see you. You’re my friend, it isn’t weird to want to talk to you.”

Alexei blushed. “We’re friends?”

“Of course,” Natasha said. “Or, at least I thought so. If you don’t want to be friends with me, we don’t have to be friends.”

“No no, I do want to be friends with you. I just didn’t realize that that was something that you wanted,” Alexei said.

Natasha beamed at him. “Well of course I do, you’re great.”

“Are you excited for the show tonight?” Alexei asked.

“Thrilled,” Natasha said, sarcastically.

“I’m actually kinda excited,” Alexei said. “I mean, it’s the last show, which I always find the most fun. And it’ll be followed by the party.”

“Are you going home in between the end of the show and the start of the party?” Natasha asked, leaning against the wall.

“Oh, of course. I get really sweaty and stuff during the shows, so I have to shower and get fresh beforehand. And I don’t want to bring my nice clothes here and leave them unaccompanied in my dressing room while I perform,” Alexei answered.

Natasha smiled. “I wouldn’t trust all these crazy dance moms, either.”

Alexei sighed and sprayed his hair with hair spray. “I am so ready for them to be gone. I would be so much more okay with performing this show if it didn’t include annoying ass kids and their batshit crazy moms.”

“I feel the exact same way,” Natasha said.

The Snow Queen and Snow King costumes were absolutely stunning. They were all white and looked just magical. Natasha was very confident in the outfit because she felt as though it really showcased her amazing technique. And the same could be said for Alexei. Out of all the company members, they were the two with the best technique. Of course, they also had attended the Vaganova ballet school. Despite its weird weight rules, it was pretty much the best place to learn to dance. Some days Natasha regretted not staying in Russia and vying for a Bolshoi company spot.

“I don’t feel like dancing tonight, I just want to have a party and celebrate Christmas,” Natasha said.

“I feel like I’ve never been able to really enjoy a Christmas,” Alexei stated.

“Oh? Why?” Natasha inquired.

“I just feel like it’s always centered around dancing,” Alexei explained. “I’m either dealing with the Nutcracker or with keeping up my training. This job literally doesn’t stop. When we aren’t at work, we’re stretching or working out or doing barre exercises to perfect our technique. And when we aren’t doing that, we’re going over our dances in our head and just thinking about work. I feel like I haven’t had time off dance since I was ten.”

“I feel the same way,” Natasha sympathized.

Though Natasha did love her job, it did sometimes get exhausting. Alexei had really summed it up perfectly. Even when she wasn’t actively at work, she was in some way working. It was a literal full-time job. It would be nice to just have even a week where she didn’t have to do anything for work or think about anything related to work. But that was nearly impossible.

“You know, maybe we should do some sort of a get-away sometime,” Natasha suggested.

“Yeah? And how do you suggest we do that?” Alexei asked.

“We could get a little house somewhere,” Natasha began. “Some sort of rental situation. Then we get some of our friends together and just go. We can discover a city, eat out, and just not care about what we’re eating or making sure we’re working out and stretching. Steve, Bucky, Matt and I did a little road trip after Swan Lake, but it was with the intent of going to see a ballet. While I love ballet with all of my heart, I do agree that we need a break.”

“I would absolutely love to go on some sort of a vacation like that,” Alexei said.

“Then let’s do it.”

The performance went just about as expected. Natasha and Alexei hit all of their moves, including the lifts they struggled so much with in the beginning. Or, rather, Natasha struggled so much with in the beginning. Even though they had no real romantic chemistry, they did on stage. Based on that performance, Natasha was expecting Tony and Maria to give them the leads in the next ballet. Maybe even choose the next ballet especially for them. After the curtain call was done and all the little kids and dance moms had left, Natasha and Matt went home to get ready for the after party.

If there was one thing Natasha loved to do, it was play up her sex appeal. She had picked out an emerald green bodycon mini dress to wear to the company party. Even though it was her job, she knew all the girls would be dressed in similar outfits. She was also going to slap on some fake lashes and a dark red lipstick and call it a look. Matt was literally just wearing dress pants with an emerald green button down tucked into it. Natasha had picked it out so it would match, but it was still relatively bland.

When they walked into the party, they were definitely the best dressed couple. Though Tony was definitely dressed extremely well. Natasha felt like she was walking on air. She could already tell it was going to be a great night. At least, that’s what she thought until Elektra walked over to her.

Elektra was wearing a black mini dress that rivaled her own. She looked extremely sexy in it, Natasha had to admit. She had a red lipstick on that looked almost the same as the color Natasha had on. Matt had said that they were similar people, and Natasha was, begrudgingly, beginning to think that he was correct.

“Hi,” Elektra greeted, walking up to Natasha. “Your performance was really good tonight.”

“Good enough that I wouldn’t have been the one to get fired?” Natasha asked.

“Oh, Tony already told me that you would’ve been the one to be fired,” Elektra said as nonchalantly as she could.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure.”

There was almost no chance Tony would have told Elektra that. He would’ve known how dangerous it would be to stroke her ego like that. On the other hand, it could be some sort of weird mind games he was experimenting with. Tony would never fire Natasha, even if his life depended on it. He had said to her many times that she was his favorite dancer that he had ever worked with.

“Even if you choose not to believe me, he did say it,” Elektra said. “Regardless, I am glad that we decided to make up and not risk either of us getting fired.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Are you actually?”

“Yes, I feel like we have potential to actually be friends,” Elektra stated.

The party was absolutely perfect between the giant chocolate fountain and the expensive alcohol Tony had provided. It was perhaps the best after-show party that Tony had ever thrown. And now, here she was, making friendly conversation with her previous rival.

“We have that potential, it’s just up to us whether or not we want to use it.”