"Come now, Warren," Vanessa chided gently, "You can't be that clumsy." She held out a hand towards her stubborn fiancé, who refused to move from the couch. He shook his head resolutely.
"No way. There are just some things you can't fix. My lack of dancing skills happens to be one of them." Vanessa sighed, moving to settle in next to him.
"You're just delaying the inevitable, you know," she said, shifting her hand over the one in his lap, "Our wedding is in five weeks. At the reception, people are going to expect a dance between us. Now, I know you're embarrassed, but I want to be able to show off my absolutely stunning husband to every other person in attendance. Make sure they're completely consumed with jealousy that I got to you first."
She smiled as his face slowly turned red. "I can't do that if you insist on sitting on the sidelines." Vanessa moved closer, bringing her face within inches of his. "If you don't dance with me, I suppose that leaves any opening for just about anyone."
That did the trick, as Warren's eyes flashed with momentary jealousy. He jumped to his feet, startling Vanessa back onto the other side of the couch.
"Well we certainly can't have that. I know those Knights; they wouldn't waste any time trying to win your affections. Not that they would be able to," he amended when he saw Vanessa's flat expression. "You are a very capable Narcoblix. The most capable! And you wouldn't be with anyone unless you wanted to."
She rolled her eyes. "Right now you're making me question why I want you." She got up and stood in front of him, her hands on her hips.
"Now, are we going to dance or not?" Warren looked up at her, a grin unfolding on his face.
"You drive a hard bargain, miss. I don't think I have any choice but to agree." She raised an eyebrow.
"Were you under the mistaken impression that you had a choice?" Warren outright laughed at that and stood up to grab his fiancée around the waist. Vanessa relaxed her hands and placed them on his forearms, gently leading him backwards to the empty area of the living room, wearing a small smile the whole time.
Warren was still grinning ear to ear when he leaned his forehead against Vanessa's, his lips inching closer to hers. She let loose a small huff of laughter and met him in the middle. It was a soft, chaste kiss with sweet promises of something more. She broke away before Warren became too distracted.
"I compiled a CD of music for different dances, so we could practice a nice variety," Vanessa said as she picked up a CD and inserted it into the stereo system she had set up for this very occasion.
"Always good to be prepared," Warren murmured as the object of his undying affection sashayed her way back into his arms. Just in time for the first song to start, which was a catchy tune designed for swing dancing.
"I figured we'd start with something simple before we moved on to anything more complicated," Vanessa said as she tried to get in the right position for the dance.
"Simple….right," Warren said as he let her put his hands into the starting positions.
After two and a half hours, the entire exercise had been anything but simple. Each dance seemed to be more complicated than the last and they couldn't seem to agree on the correct positions for any of them.
"I'm pretty sure my hands don't go there."
"No, that's exactly where they're supposed to be. You just keep dropping them lower. On purpose."
And figuring out the steps was even worse.
"It's two steps to the left, no your OTHER left, then back, not MY back…."
"I'm pretty sure you're making these up."
"Well if you had read through the instructions with me, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
After faltering through a very rough version of the tango, where Warren had almost dropped Vanessa, they both decided to call it quits for the day. Both of them slumped onto the couch, thoroughly exhausted.
"We've taken on magical creatures twice our size, emerged triumphant from the toughest battles and even saved the world. How is it learning to dance is the most difficult challenge we've faced?" Warren asked.
Vanessa allowed herself a small smile.
"I suppose we're going to have to get used to dealing with normal, everyday issues. Planning this wedding has been more challenging than taking on a Basilisk single-handedly," she said. Warren leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
"You're doing an excellent job. I'm sure with more practice that we'll get the hang of this. Or at least be able to fool people into thinking we can dance."
Vanessa chuckled.
"I'm betting on the second option, taking your skills, or lack thereof, into account." Warren pretended to look admonished, but then quickly switched to a sly grin.
"I may not be great at dancing but I am definitely skilled in other areas," he said leaning forward to whisper the last part in her ear.
Vanessa faced him, quirking an eyebrow.
"Oh really? And what might those other areas be?" Warren stood up, pulling her with him and flicking his gaze towards the staircase where, coincidentally, their bedroom happened to be.
"Why don't you come and find out. I'm going to need a partner to show off the full extent of my skills." Vanessa rolled her eyes as Warren emphasized the last word, but allowed herself to be led up to the stairs and towards their shared room. Thankfully, no one else was meant to stop by until later that evening. When they reached the door to the room, she uttered a mock sigh.
"I suppose I don't have much choice but to assist you. After all, it takes two to tango," she said, as he led her through the room and onto the bed.