Dance Class

by Starsinger

Starfleet Academy offers dancing lessons. Jim doesn't bite. Bones wants to. Don't own them.

"Come on, Jim. I'd like to go," Bones told him. It almost sounded like whining.

"Bones, why? You know how to dance," Jim told him. Bones' face went blank. "Oh, come on! You grew up in Georgia! How can you not know how to dance?!"

"I…uhm…the only classes I went to were square dancing classes. So, unless you want to doe see doe, I don't have a clue," Bones admitted.

"Well, that actually sounds like it would be fun," Jim admitted. "But, I don't need dancing classes."

Bones was supremely put out. He signed up for dancing classes. He looked forward to learning the Foxtrot, Tango, and the Waltz among others. He arrived at the class in the Starfleet Gymnasium, and found almost as many men as there were women. Jim was even there, looking very put out. A man stepped out in dancing clothes and looked around. "Okay, everyone! I'm Jean-Claude your dance instructor. All of you are here as required by your Academy. Aren't I lucky? Hmmm? You, men, look dejected with a couple of exceptions. If any of you can dance the Tango, and I mean well, I will excuse you from the rest of the class."

Nervous shuffling went around the room. Finally, Hendorff stood and walked to the front of the room. "I'll go first," he announced. He strode to the center of the room where a dainty woman stepped out into the middle of the dance floor and struck a pose. Hendorff joined her as the music started. He was a clod. He trampled the poor woman's feet. They didn't even make it half-way through the dance before she turned and limped away. She proceeded to complain, loudly, that the man had two left feet, and needed to learn how to walk first.

The next four men weren't any better. Jim stood at the back of the class with his arms crossed across his chest scowling at the would be dancers. "Two left feet my ass," Bones heard Jim mutter before he pushed his way through the crowd and tapped the latest man on the shoulder, "Excuse me. May I cut in?"

The cadet looked startled at Jim and bowed out. Jim smiled as he took the man's place in the dance. The two took off and Jim looked like a master on the gym floor, much to his partner's relief. That relief was written all over the woman's face. Bones watched in absolute fascination as their audience's face went from smirks in the belief Jim would be as bad as the rest, to disbelief. He ended the dance with a dip. He stepped out of the dance and bowed to his partner. She walked over to Jean-Claude and spoke to him.

"Well, I am a man of my word. What is your name?" he asked.

"James Tiberius Kirk," Jim responded.

"You are excused from the rest of class, and you will receive top marks. However, if you wish to continue, I am positive I can get you hired as an assistant instructor," Jean-Claude told him. It was almost a plea.

"I'll consider it," Jim told him as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door as he heard the instructor tell them to pay attention.

Later, back in the dorm, Bones found Jim studying. "Where did you learn to dance like that?" he demanded.

"Prison," Jim told him.

"Prison?" Bones asked. It wasn't the first time Jim had spoken of his time in prison. He just hadn't expected to hear that answer.

"Yeah, there's not a lot to do in prison. They offered dance lessons. I took them," Jim told him with a shrug not looking up from his PADD.

Bones stared in dismay. "Can you help me learn?" he finally asked.

Jim gave him a smirk, "Sure, Bones, I can do that." Bones suddenly felt more confident that this class wouldn't be as hard as he first thought.