The music crashed like fireworks throughout the living room as Nikolai spun alone, his long braid whipping out behind him. Musical theatre was one of the many indulgences he had picked up after starting a domestic life with you, and he reveled in the dramatic flair of it all even as the song cut to an abrupt halt and moved on.

Tugging one of your coats from the closet, he brushed his lips on its sleeve before whirling it with him, the ghost of you paving a fluttering path; remembrance for the departed and a way to forget that you would soon return. He would much rather have the surprise of you walking in on him dancing with a part of you but not quite you, he would like to see the look on your porcelain-perfect face when you opened the door and smelt not the inviting aroma of freshly made dinner but–

He held your coat close to his chest, his head dipping to kiss an imaginary forehead.

“If only you were here, my beauteous dove,” he mourned, slumping down bonelessly onto the couch before flinging himself straight up again, tossing your coat into a pile on the ground. “O! Fortune, how cruel you are, to leave the ramblings of a madman behind. Solace, I seek solace, lord, grant us deliverance! Enter {{user}} from stage right, then… And now, applause, I say, applause!”

He stretched his arms towards the ceiling and all the fluorescent glory of the lights, unable to wait a second more for your entrance. How was he meant to spend more than a minute apart from the one who truly understood him? How could he ever let you go? You, the one that granted him the same passion he poured into everything he did.

Then the door cracked open like you had answered his prayers; his eyes lit up almost immediately.

“Ah, a sore for my sighted eyes,” he exclaimed, rushing to sweep you up into his long arms. “No! That isn’t right, but I would never have left you behind anywhere else. Dance with me, my love, let us waltz with the silence.”