Oneshot: Jane tries to teach herself to dance but it turns out she can't teach herself everything.
There was a crash from the horse stables and Gunther frowned. He was not expecting anyone to be out at this time at night.
"Sorry about that Clyde," came a soft murmur from the stable. Curious, Gunther peeked around the door to see what was making the noise. Most of the horses sleeping and the place smelled of hay and manure as usual, but interestingly in the middle of the room stood Jane with a practice dummy. "All right. I can do this." she whispered to herself and took a deep breath.
What was she doing? Gunther wondered.
Jane began to move in a circular pattern, her arms awkwardly on the shoulders of the dummy and humming a tune. But unfortunately she did not see the manure near the dummy and when she tried to spin the dummy, it slipped and brought her down along with it.
Gunther laughed aloud at the sight.
Jane jerked and turned to see who was standing at the door. Of course, she thought. With her luck it had to be Gunther. With an annoyed scowl on her face she got up, brushing hay off her backside.
"Jane what are you doing?" he managed to sputter in between laughs.
Jane rolled her eyes and picked the dummy back up. "None of your business. Now I would appreciate if you would leave me alone." she said angrily and again placed her arms on the arms of the dummy.
Gunther, always eager to watch Jane fail at something, stood against the door with a lazy smile on his face. If he didn't know better, he would say that Jane was trying to teach herself to dance. And failing at it, judging by the way the dummy fell again.
A horse whined at her and Jane sighed. This was harder than she had thought it would be.
"You're going to wake the whole Kingdom with all this noise." Gunther said with a laugh. Jane pointedly ignored him and gathered the dummy in her arms again. Gunther watched her for a few minutes but then decided he was getting bored. "Are you trying to dance Jane?" he asked eventually.
"No Gunther I'm teaching the dummy to dance obviously," She replied smartly.
"Well you're teaching him wrong." Gunther said with a roll of his eyes. "You didn't even curtsy before starting."
Jane glared at him and let go of the dummy. She curtsied in front of it before grabbing it again.
"Ouch Jane, you're hurting your dance partner. How rude. If that was me I would have dropped you on the ballroom floor right then and there." Jane huffed and glared at him again but Gunther merely grinned.
"Well, thankfully you are not my partner so just go back to your quarters would you?"
"No, I'm quite enjoying seeing you fail at a simple task such as dancing."
Jane snorted. "As if you could do any better."
"I can actually," he said. "Did you not see me at the annual ball last year?"
"Not really," Jane quipped. "And if I recall, quite a few ladies were complaining of you stepping on their feet during the ball."
Gunther rolled his eyes. "I have never been any less than a proper gentleman. Even during a ball. I would never step on someone's foot."
"Fine." Jane said, with a smirk on her face. "Prove it."
"I will." He nodded. Jane let go of the dummy and pushed it toward him, but instead of taking that he grabbed Jane's hand instead.
"I didn't mean prove it on me!" she huffed, pulling her hand back.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You want me to teach you by practicing with a dummy? You're not going to learn anything that way. Trust me, this is much easier."
Jane doubted it, but she obliged. "Okay so now what?"
"Well seeing we haven't greeted each other like proper lady and gentleman I suggest we start there." He stepped away from her and bowed low, taking Jane by surprise. She hadn't actually thought he was being serious. "Aren't you going to curtsy?" he asked when Jane didn't move.
Jane fought the urge to bite her tongue. Gunther was not always so helpful, so she had to take advantage of this opportunity. And she needed all the help she could get, for when it came to dancing she was a lost cause. She took a full step back and curtsied low, pretending to hold a dress around herself.
Gunther nodded, seemingly satisfied with Jane's greeting. "Lady Jane," he said, offering his arm to her. "Would you like to dance?" He smiled genuinely at her and Jane hesitated for a moment before accepting Gunther's invitation. They walked to a space in the stable with less hay on the floor and turned to face each other. For some unknown reason, Jane's heart was beating faster than normal. "So in any normal ball it always starts with the basics, and if you have a good partner he will know by your rigid posture that you do not dance regularly."
"My posture is not rigid!" Jane huffed.
Gunther rolled his eyes at her. "Jane, you are as stiff as the castle walls. Try and relax, it's only me."
"Yes but if I relax too much and end up falling, I know you will never let me hear the end of it."
"I never knew you were so smart, Jane." Gunther said with a laugh, before pulling Jane by the waist. She immediately grew tense and Gunther sighed. "Jane, you realize that dancing requires you touching your partner, right?"
Jane sighed and cursed the Gods for doing this to her. Relaxing her shoulders, she stepped into Gunther's embrace and tried to ignore her erratic heart. She supposed she was giving him just the chance to drop her and laugh, but she was going to have to trust him.
"Good," he said softly in her ear and brought her right hand to rest on his arm. "At some points in the dance you may need to use your left hand to hold your skirts, but since you are not wearing any, I can teach you like this."
Jane nodded, trying to memorize his words of advice. When he was done positioning her and advising her on posture, he placed his left arm on her waist and took the hand from her shoulder into his hand, curling his fingers around her palm. His hands were calloused and large compared to Jane and she found herself intrigued by their differences.
"Eyes on me Jane," he said in a low voice and Jane gulped.
She did not know why she was nervous because this was Gunther for goodness's sake! They had known each other for 4 years now. She knew all his strengths and weaknesses in the battlefield. She knew what he looked like when he was tired and beaten, and she knew what he smelled like at the end of the day. She had practiced along side him many times, but when he was standing right in front of her teaching her to dance, his body against hers, she seemed to freeze.
Reluctantly she met his gaze and he smiled down at her. He must have sensed her sudden nervousness and said, "Never mind, how about you look at your feet instead? That way you can learn which way to move."
Jane nodded and almost sighed in relief. She knew this was all very ridiculous and that she had no reason to be acting so strange but she could not seem to control herself. But damn it, Gunther was not allowed to illicit such a reaction from her. "No thanks," she said meeting his gaze once again. This time she was not planning to look away. "I think I'll learn better like this, because when I dance for real I should not be looking at my feet right?"
Gunther smirked. "Right. Now just follow my lead, Lady Jane."
"What? Just like that?" Jane asked with a skeptical look. She did not know what she was doing. How was she just supposed to follow him and learn?
"Yes, just like that." he replied evenly and took a step back. "Now with your right leg step forward to meet mine." Jane obliged and moved her leg so far that their thighs touched with no space in between their bodies. Heat pooled into Jane's stomach, but she refused to back away. "Good," Gunther said, seemingly unfazed. "Now again with the other leg." He moved back again and Jane followed. "See? This is easy right?" he asked. Jane nodded, wondering if this was really all that dancing required. "Now when I move and put my feet together, you do the same. Ready?" Jane nodded and did as she was told. "All right, now back one step, then two then together again."
"What?" Jane asked, but Gunther was already moving. She tried to step back like he'd told her, but did it with the wrong foot, making Gunther stumble so he would not step on her other foot.
"Come on Jane, you have to be quicker than that." he said, stepping back. "Let's try again."
Jane took a breath and repeated her movements but with the correct foot and before she knew it, they were dancing properly and in circles; like real ballroom dancing. By now Gunther was humming a tone in a soft voice and Jane found she quite liked the sound of it. I can't believe this is actually working, she thought.
She smiled at Gunther and relaxed a bit more in his arms, meeting his steps at the same pace, her heart jumping every time his body shifted against hers.
"So why do you feel the need to suddenly learn to dance?" Gunther asked her as he switched hands and direction. Jane fumbled with the sudden movement, but Gunther kept his hand steady on her waist and his movements slow as she readjusted herself. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the ball next month would it?" he asked.
Jane sighed, she was hoping Gunther would not have asked. "Mother insisted I learn in case someone try to court me. Either that or she would hire Sir Ivon to teach me."
Gunther laughed. "Sir Ivon would have probably broken your foot on the first try."
Jane smiled, imagining Sir Ivon stepping on her foot every few seconds. "Maybe I should have just gone with Sir Ivon," Jane mused. "Then maybe I would not have had to dance at all."
"Oh but then you would have missed this opportunity to learn with me." Gunther teased. "And I know how much you're enjoying this."
Jane rolled her eyes but could not stop a blush from occupying her cheeks. She supposed she was enjoying this. True to his word Gunther had not stepped on her foot, and was quite a good dancer.
"How about a spin, hm?" he asked, taking his hand off of Jane's waist and lifting her right hand. She only had a moment to process his words before her legs were moving in accordance to Gunther twirling her hand. Unfortunately, the hay on the floor managed to snag her feet and she found herself grabbing Gunther to stop from falling.
He smirked down at her and Jane immediately let go of his shoulders, but his arms - which were around her waist - only pulled her closer. Jane watched as Gunther's gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth then back to her eyes. Something tightened in Jane's chest as Gunther licked his lips.
"Well, thank you for this lesson Gunther," Jane said as she managed to put some space between them. Gunther let his hands fall to his side but did not move away, his body was practically humming with energy. "But I think we should get back to our quarters." When he did not move, Jane nodded and left the horse shed, her heart rate finally calming down when she reached her room.
"Why Jane," a voice said behind her and Jane turned to see Pepper behind her with a glass of wine in her hands. "You look lovely." she said.
Jane smiled stiffly. The dress had been her mother's choice and Jane did not like it one bit. "Thanks, but truth be told Pepper, I cannot wait to get out of it and out of this ball."
"Tut, tut Jane. Don't let The Queen hear you say such things Jane, afterall this ball is in her honor you know."
Jane sighed. "Yes you are right Pepper but you know balls full of dancing, rich people, are not something I enjoy."
"Oh I thought you would have enjoyed the dancing part Jane," Gunther said appearing behind Pepper.
"Hello, Gunther." Jane said. Unlike her, Gunther's clothes allowed for him to have a sword in its hilt on a belt on his waist and Jane was insanely jealous.
Gunther looked her up and down, assessing her appearance. Jane felt her stomach jump when his gaze finally met hers; she wished he did not have this effect on her. "I did not think you were actually going to come."
"I was hoping I would not have to, but here I am." she said with a sigh, turning away from him. Jane was hoping to have seen Jester by now, but he was no where to be found. She wanted to talk to Jester to help distract herself from noticing Gunther and the ladies he danced with. But more than that she just wanted to be away from Gunther. He looked a little too good in his outfit and she had felt his eyes on her the whole night. She had a feeling something had changed in their friendship but she did not know what. Gunther on the other hand, seemed like he knew and was much more comfortable with it than Jane was.
"You don't seem like you're enjoying anything." Gunther said, his soft voice breaking her concentration. "How about a dance?"
Jane turned around, surprised to Gunther with his arm extended. She raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled.
"Wouldn't want all those dancing lessons to go to waste would you?" Gunther teased.
"What dancing lessons?" Pepper asked, looking a little alarmed between the two Knights in Training.
Jane glared at Gunther. After that first night of Gunther teaching her to dance, they had snuck out a few more times in the dead of night to continue. But of course she had not told anyone for fear of rumors spreading. "I would love to dance," Jane said before Gunther could answer Pepper.
Gunther led her to the ballroom floor full of many gorgeous ladies, but strangely he had eyes for none but Jane when they danced. "You've gotten much better than that first day," Gunther said as he spun her and then effortlessly gathered her back in his arms.
"I still feel like I might fall any second now," Jane confessed. "Especially with you holding me like this."
"Well do not worry, Jane. I would not let you fall." Gunther smiled down at her and pulled her closer. "I am Your proper gentleman."
A/N: Hello to any readers and my old friends :) I hope you enjoyed this little fluffy oneshot. For those of you waiting for me to update my current stories, don't worry! I plan to before the end of the month. Honestly I was not in the mood for writing, but after this I feel like I am back in the game.
And don't forget to review! I would love to hear what you guys think of this!