"Hey, Dad. I have a favor to ask you." Maru stood just outside the lab, fidgeting with her hair. "Or maybe it's more like a teaching opportunity, I dunno…"

"What's up, sweetie?" Demetrius jotted down a few numbers in his notepad, not looking up.

"Well, Mom's at the farm, upgrading the coop, and tonight's Friday...are you going to the Saloon?"

Demetrius snapped his head up. "Why?"

Maru took a step back. "Well," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I was hoping you could teach me to two-step. Please?"

"Is that all?" Demetrius laughed. "I was thinking you were gonna ask me to borrow my astrophotography camera!"

Maru laughed right back. "And I was thinking you were thinking I was gonna ask you to buy me beer!"

"OH! Right! That would have been disappointing!" Demetrius cringed. "Wow, how did I miss that one? Maybe because you're such a nerd."

"Takes one to know one, Dad!"

"Why do you wanna learn how to two-step, anyway?"

Maru was silent.

"Wait, do you have a sunburn?"

Maru laughed nervously.

"Your face is all red."

"I'm just blushing, Dad!"

"Oh." Demetrius was silent for a second. "OH! You wanna dance with someone, huh?" He stepped back from his lab table, hands in his pockets, and walked toward Maru. "You know you're my special little girl, right? You have such a bright future ahead of you. I wouldn't want anything to get in the way of that." He clapped a hand down on her shoulder. "I trust your judgment, though. Now who is he, who do you want to dance with?"

"Penny." Maru's voice was so small, Demetrius barely heard her.

"Did you say Penny?"

"Yeah, Dad. She knows how to two-step, and she complains that nobody else around here does, so I want to learn, and then dance with her at the Luau."

"Okay, that's adorable!" Demetrius let out a sigh of relief and a hearty laugh, both at once. "I remember when I used to take you to the library when you were a little toddler, and you'd spend the whole time following Penny around, pointing at her textbooks like, 'What's that? What's that?' And she'd always tell you. She's a good egg, she was so patient with you when you were kids."

Maru giggled. "You know, I kinda remember that! I've always been interested in whatever she's reading, even when it was way over my head."

"So you're probably gonna want to learn to lead, right? So she can follow?" Demetrius wrinkled his brow. "This might get clumsy, but I bet we can figure it out. I'm not great at following." He picked up his notebook. "Let me just get these seeds in the sodium hydroxide solution. These are the salmonberry seeds I was telling you about, I'll be testing them for embryonic diseases. The sodium hydroxide will eat away at the seed until only the embryo remains, and then we can check the embryos out under the microscope. Anyway, once I get the seeds in the solution, I can change, and then we can head down to the saloon."

"Oh, good, that'll give me a chance to clean up. Thanks, Dad!"

Before long, Demetrius and Maru had made their way down the mountain, through the town square. They were so busy discussing the genetic mutations of maize that they almost didn't see Penny walking home.

Demetrius was the first to see her. "Penny!"

Maru nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Good evening, sir," Penny turned around and waved, then rushed over when she saw Maru. "Hey! Maru, what are you doing out tonight?"

Demetrius didn't let her answer. "We're going to the saloon so Maru here can learn to two-step! She wants to dance with you, wanna tag along?"

Maru slumped down in an anguished cringe. Her cheeks were burning. Her palms started to sweat.

"I'm not a big fan of the saloon," Penny said coldly. "And I'd hate to run into my mother after she's been drinking. You two go on ahead."

"Wait!"

"No, Dad, it's fine, she really doesn't like being around alcohol…" Maru whispered frantically.

"Maru, do you have your fold-out acoustic enhancer with you?"

"Um...yes? I keep it with me in my wallet so I can listen to music at the clinic when I'm organizing patient records."

"Wait, your what?" Penny giggled. "You have a gadget for everything, don't you?"

"Not yet," Maru said shyly. "That's the goal, though."

"Alright. Maru, get that thing out. I got some country music on my phone, a couple of Wayne Rivers albums from early in his career."

"I love Wayne Rivers!" Penny squealed. "I just wish his comeback would have sounded more like his old stuff."

Maru unfolded her gadget. It was the size of a business card, yet folded out to perfectly support a smartphone, amplify the audio, and direct it forward. "Wait, Dad, what are we doing?"

"Learning to two-step without going to the saloon!"

Maru's jaw dropped.

"Penny, may I have your help? Or would you rather me explain the dance frame and the steps by using Maru?"

"I'll help!" She ran over to Maru, held on to Maru's waist, gently took Maru's other hand, and lifted it to shoulder height. Maru put her hand on Penny's hip, and they were ready to dance.

Demetrius laughed. "Oh, we're not there yet! May I cut in, Penny? Maru hasn't even seen the two-step being done before. She knows some ballroom stuff, she knows some breakdance stuff, she knows some ballet, but two-step is completely foreign to her."

Maru and Penny both giggled.

"Yes, sir." Penny stepped back from Maru and turned to face Demetrius. She gingerly placed a hand on his waist, then took his hand.

"Now, Maru, Penny and I are gonna take a spin around the town square. You'll notice that the size and shape of the dance frame stays fairly consistent, at least for now. To start, you'll step forward with your right foot, as Penny steps back with her left."

Demetrius led Penny around the dance floor in that basic, technically perfect, emotionless and exaggerated way a person teaching a dance does. Penny followed his lead, in terms of steps, and in terms of emotion.

The three of them danced for nearly two hours, practicing steps and spins and holds, listening to the same song on repeat play since it had the perfect tempo for an easy two-step. Demetrius bumbled his way through following, so he could better teach Maru to lead. The two of them were spinning around the dance floor when Robin walked by. She looked exhausted, but her face lit up as she heard the music and saw her husband and her daughter dancing together.

"Hi Robin!" Penny waved. "He's teaching Maru to two-step. Let's cut in!"

Robin giggled. Her and Penny approached Demetrius and Maru, and Robin tapped Maru's shoulder. Maru stepped back, and Penny wrapped an arm around her.

"May I have this dance?"

"Of course!" Maru laughed. She held onto Penny's hip, took her hand, and stepped forward in a messy, imperfect dance punctuated by laughter.