Yes, I am a hopeless romantic for those of you who hadn't noticed. And for those of you who are REALLY out of it I have not yet updated "Crossroads and Crash Landings" in over two months (I think). I can't seem to get myself to finish it. Don't worry, I will eventually, but right now I need to write something that is more recent in terms of my mind and that happens to be this. It's not a OneShot, and I'll explain more about the Terra Atmosia Dance On in the next chapter or two. They'll probably get longer after this, so be patient. For the anti-pairings people among us; THIS IS A STORK AND PIPER FIC. You have been warned.
Enjoy.
I groaned slightly, standing in the middle of the floor of the Condor's bridge. "Why did I agree to this?" Of course I knew exactly why; the only free slot on the Terra Atmosia Dance On list had been for a girl, and being the only female member of the Storm Hawks, I had automatically landed in the position. I kept telling myself it was for the good of the Atmos that I was doing it, but that didn't change the fact that Aerrow had known I would get stuck with it when he agreed to the mission or the fact that I seemed incapable of getting my feet to move the way I intended. I could not do these dances. And to make matters worse, if that were even possible, I was not going to meet my official dance partner until the night of the contest. "Okay," I said as the music looped back around to the start of the song, assuming the starting position of the first dance and holding my arms in the air as if there were someone there to lead me. "let's try this again." Step, two, three, four, five, step, two, step, four, five, step two, step, four, step, step- "Gah!" -trip, stumble, fall, endure private humiliation…
A low chuckle from the doorway let on to the fact that my humiliation was no longer so private. Stork stepped into the light and helped me up off the floor. "You were doing fine until the third measure. I think it's the double step that throws you off." I wrinkled her nose, walking over to the record player and taking the needle off. The pilot nervously cleared his throat, looking at the floor. "I could help you if you want."
I shot him a disbelieving glance from across the room. "You dance?" Stork nodded. "O rly?"
He rolled his eyes. "Well I can't possibly mess up the four steps you got right on your own."
"Again, o rly?"
"Just put the music on." He said, exasperatedly. I obliged, curious. Stork closed his eyes as the music came up, one hand supporting an invisible girl's and the other resting gently at her imaginary waist. I giggled, he looked so serious, and then quieted when he began to dance. Step, two, three, four, five, step, two, step, four, five, step two, step, four, step, step, two, tree, four, step, one, two, step, four, step… and onward, the music gradually picking up speed and Stork keeping in perfect time with it. At the end of the written instructions for this dance that I had gotten with the confirmation letter there was one dance move that I could pronounce but had no idea what it was supposed to look like until Stork did it, with flourish, at the end of his demonstration. It was less impressive than with a partner, I was sure, but the words translated out to 'sauté the cat' in New World Atmosian if that helps at all.
When the music ended there were a few seconds of silence, which Stork used as an opportunity to bow to his invisible dance partner and show her out the main bridge door. "Stork!" I said, shocked, "Where did you learn to dance like that?" I ran over to where he was standing and held onto his arm, dizzy with excitement.
He shrugged, the attention making him nervous. "Flight school. They taught us a few traditional dances for rhythm and basic control so we could handle piloting larger ships. I thought it was fun so I learned more than was necessary to pass the course. All the dances on the Dance On list are ones I know."
"Would you teach me? Please?? I stink!"
"You don't stink, you just don't know what you're doing!"
I frowned at him. "Gee, thanks."
"Not like that! I just meant, well… here, let me show you." He pulled me back out into the middle of the bridge so we were standing on top of what would have been the table if it hadn't been retracted into the floor. One of his hands went to my side and the other gently took one of mine in its grasp. I took the hint and placed my hand on his shoulder. He nodded. "First of all, you need to start off without the music and then work your way up to that point. That way you can start as slow as you need to until you get the steps down. Now don't move, just count. On," He took a deep breath, as though preparing himself for something, "on this beat." The pointer finger on the hand resting at her hip began tapping out a steady beat on my side, not too slow, not too fast, and it sent shivers up my spine that I strove valiantly to ignore. "Go ahead." He prompted, misreading my hesitation.
"One, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five…"
"Keep going," He said, still keeping the rhythm at my side, "just let your feet follow mine. I lead, you follow. Ready? Step." Two, three, four, five, "Step." Two, "Step." Four, five, "Step." Two, "Step." Four, "Step, step" Two, tree, four, "Step." One, two, "Step." Four, "Step." I stopped suddenly, realizing how far we'd gotten and jerking us both to a halt. Stork smiled. "See? You just didn't know what you were doing."
"That was amazing!" I said, beaming.
He chuckled softly. "Let's try this again, only this time don't stop when you notice you've got it down, okay?"
"Okay. One, two, three, four…" We got through the entire dance that way, with me only messing up once at the very end with the 'sauté the cat' move, which Stork seemed very embarrassed about and refused to teach me until I had the rest of the dance down.
There was something about dancing with him though… he was so strong and surefooted when he danced, holding me gently in his arms and counting out each movement so I wouldn't get lost. He made me feel safe, definitely not something I associated with the paranoid Merb I knew and… loved? That wasn't it, it couldn't be. I shook my head, watching his back as he walked off to his room after our second dance lesson. We had tried the first dance with the music and, although there were still a few rough edges that needed to be smoothed out according to my instructor-at-large, I was getting better.
But with every evening I spent with him, going over steps and rhythms and working through the difficult and intricate motions of the other five dances I had to learn, the feeling that had only barely surfaced the first night grew stronger and harder to overlook, and the shivery sensation I got wherever he touched me never quite went away…
ss
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