A/N: this came out when I was in the middle of movie night. It didn't fit there but I liked the idea too much to scrap it. I was thinking of doing this as a short chaptered story.
Ray's Skills: Dancing
The soft twangs of a guitar and teenage chatter filled the air of the cafeteria. It had once again been transformed from lunch room to lunch room with streamers and music. Despite the music being mostly from before the British invasion the whole thing seemed to be going very well. People were even dancing this time.
Pretty much everyone but Suki. She stood against the wall watching her friends.
CJ had managed to get Ian on the dance floor and they were now fumbling around trying to figure out where to put their hands. It was really quiet funny. And Gabe was on the other side of the room talking happily with a couple of girls from the student council by the refreshments. No doubt dazzling them with some pretty much fake story of his heroism, and a little bit of his hypersuading. For all the girls seemed to be enamoured with him. Suki shook her head, they really should have known better and if they got hypersuaded right into Gabe's arms they had no one to blame but themselves.
She sighed and beat out some wrinkles from her dress hoping that doing something would make standing on the sidelines look more like her own idea and less like she had been abandoned.
Wondering who else was suffering her particular affliction she looked around the room and through the swaying bodies of her classmates she could see Ray and Don laughing. They didn't look like they were suffering at all. They looked like they were having a great time. It really wasn't fair what was so funny? She looked at them trying to decipher what exactly they thought was so funny but while she was trying to find out what was so funny Ray looked across the room. Their eyes locked.
Suki panicked, Don't break eye contact first that means that he's in control. She desperately tried to apply the rules of establishing dominance with a pet on Ray. She didn't think it was working because while she could feel her face get hot with the prolonged eye contact he looked completely calm, cool, even a little pleased. She bit her lip trying to remain calm as she watched Ray speak to Don and then without breaking eye contact start across the room towards her.
Holy crap! This is not what is supposed to happen! He's supposed to back down! He's supposed to look away! He's supposed to feel intimidated not invited! She made a mental note to never use this method again.
"You look bored." He was standing in front of her now, all in black like a little cloud of gloom. Except his eyes didn't match the rest of the theme, they sparkled with laughter.
She swallowed hard feeling acutely aware of how close he was standing, "You however look like your having a great time."
"Oh well we were just..." Ray faltered and looked across the dance floor to where Ian was tentatively placing his hands on CJ's shoulders.
"You were laughing at Ian..." her nose scrunched up displeased despite the fact that she also thought it was funny.
Ray shrugged, "Well how do you not know where to put your hands?"
She quirked an eyebrow, "And I suppose you do?"
"Yes." He held out a hand to her, "Shall I prove it?"
She scoffed, "I don't think so." She started to walk away from him when she heard it. He had laughed. He had trapped the majority of it in his throat but it still made that distinctive sound. She whipped around on her heel to face him, "What was that?"
"You can't dance."
"I most certainly can." She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.
"Prove it." he smirked and held out his hand as the song changed to another slow song.
Eyes narrow she grabbed his hand harshly and almost stomped onto the dance floor. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. She had completely fell into his trap, she turned her head and saw that he was smiling brightly. He could have light up the entire campus with that smile. Her heart jumped. She whirled around sharply in his hand when she found an appropriate space for dancing.
The music swelled as he put a hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer to him. Too close her mind screamed. They weren't pressed against each other like so many other students were but they were achingly close. She didn't think she could take it, being this close to him. To anyone. She told herself assuring herself that the heavy weight in her chest would have happened if she was this close to any boy. This feeling that ran through her body like an electric current had nothing to do with Ray. She was surprised at how he was holding her, it was a classic dance position. Something their parents would use. It fit the music wonderfully.
And in perfect time to the music he began to lead her across the dance floor. In a swooping breathtaking display they waltzed.
"This is a waltz." She said easily following his lead.
"Yes it is."
"You can waltz?"
"I thought that would be obvious by now." He smiled down at her as they literally danced circles around a bewildered looking Ian. Many of the students had made way for them, and if Suki hadn't been so utterly blown away by the fact that Ray could not only waltz but waltz well she would have been embarrassed by amount of eyes watching them.
"My mom made me learn when I was little." He shrugged as he slowed down with the outro of the song. He spun her gently away from him as they turned. Suki couldn't help but smile. She hadn't danced like this in years, it reminded her of the parties her fathers company threw. She spun back into him laughing quietly to herself as she slid back into place her hand resting on his upper arm. She looked up at him smiling as they stopped with the music.
"Ray." she smiled as he let go of her stepping away from her, suddenly her chest ached at the loss of him closeness.
He smiled brightly laughing a little he pushed his hair away from his face, "So I guess you can dance."
"I told you so." she bit her lip and looked down at his shoes.
A quickly paced song filled the room and Ray leaned in close to her ear. Her heart pounded heavily against her chest it felt as if someone was knocking. She held her breath waiting to hear his words.
When he spoke she could feel his mouth against her ear and it caused something in her body to twist in anticipation, his voice was calm and dark and filled with a confidence that had until he danced seemed completely unfounded, "Lets do this again sometime."
She opened her mouth to answer him but he had already left her, alone on the dance floor. And she was almost glad of it because she had no idea what her answer would've been. She started to slowly walk off the dance floor to where she had originally been. There standing against the same wall she had been occupying only minutes before were a very worried Ian, and confused looking Gabe and a giddy looking CJ.
"What was that?" Ian asked.
"It's called a Waltz." Suki told him knowing that that wasn't what she had meant but not really caring, "Ceeje, I'm a little tired I'm going to go to bed."
CJ looked desperately around before she said somewhat reluctantly, "I still have some stuff I need to take care of, but I'll be there shortly." CJ gave her a very meaningful 'we will talk later' face before she slipped away into the room dealing with whatever it was she needed to deal with.
"You okay Suke? You look a little out of it." Gabe asked worriedly, "Do you need me to walk you to your dorm?" she just shrugged not really caring and started to walk out of the room.
She was confused but happily so. She smiled softly she could still feel his hand on the small of her back. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. I mean at the very least he was a good dancer.
A/N: please review with what you think Ray's next surprising skill should be!
