Hello there! Just an extremely random and kinda silly YamxSharrkan thing. I'm still a total sucker for them. ;D
I hope you enjoy!

Uncoordinated

Sinbad was on one of his jags again.

Yamuraiha watched with wary unamusement as he clapped his hands together, trying his best to reign everyone in and stop them from talking. All eight Generals were present along with a handful of officials and other staff from inside the palace. They'd been summoned on Sinbad's whim to the event area adjacent to the palace, although it looked a bit barren now aside from all the people. Everyone's faces mirrored hers. No one ever looked forward to his little tangents.

What had happened this time though, was on another level of insanity entirely, even for Sinbad.

He'd been summoned to a small independent island nation a week prior for a goodwill visit. The island was very isolated from the rest of the world due to its small size and inopportune location and its wish to stay out of larger alliances. That being said, it did not wish to go against any larger alliance or country either. In an attempt to create a peaceful neutral friendship and possible sporadic trading partner, they had invited Sinbad for a weekend of conversation and festivities.

Also because the island nation was so isolated, it had been allowed to, over time, develop its own very unique and thriving culture. Apparently one of these aspects of culture that had developed, was a ceremony that was held when welcoming any peaceful foreign newcomer. The festival was not unlike ones that they had in Sindria when outsiders came for a visit, but they had one unique aspect: their country's dance.

Sinbad had said he'd been overwhelmed with the beauty of the island's dance, watching enraptured as pairs of islanders swept across the dance floor in perfect harmony. And thus, one of his weird jags had been born.

He thought that a national dance that his Generals and cabinet of advisors could perform for visitors would elicit the same magical response out of them that he'd had on the island. It was rather silly and insane and she was one thousand percent sure that in a week or two he would've forgotten about it completely. However, with Sinbad it was easier to just humor him than it was to try and reason with him. At least when it came to bizarre fixations such as this one.

She exchanged an exhausted look with Spartos who looked as if he'd really rather be doing literally anything other than this. Although, even Yamuraiha wasn't entirely sure what "this" would entail. Did he expect to teach them a dance in one sitting? Who had choreographed it? If he'd done it himself, it was either going to be horribly embarrassing or horribly inappropriate.

Everyone quieted down and Sinbad looked pleased. She heard the faint tinkle of chimes and harp music, though she didn't see any musicians around. "I hope everyone's warmed up their muscles," Sinbad smiled, practically bursting with excitement. Why was she stuck with a King like this one? Why.

There were grumbles from the crowd which he apparently took as them saying that yes, they were warmed up.

"Perfect. We'll start out simple. Everyone grab themselves a partner and we'll begin with a typical waltz. I'm sure you all are familiar with it."

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around at everyone else, and then all hell broke loose. It seemed everyone had come to the same conclusion: if they were forced to do something like this for an undoubtedly absurd amount of time, they were going to at least do it with someone they could have a good time with.

"Oh jeez," Yamuraiha muttered as she was shoved from behind. The crowd bustled this way and that, shouts and calls to other people drowning out any hope she had of flagging down someone she deemed as a desirable partner. Ja'far seemed like a good choice, or maybe even Spartos since he'd looked just as unenthused as she felt… She was a tad afraid of partnering with Masrur. She could only imagine how many broken bones she'd have if he even accidentally stepped on one of her feet. Of course she guessed she could partner with one of the officials. The Generals called them the "paper pushers" for short as a little jab at those who worked inside all the time, behind the scenes, but she knew for a fact they were nice people. Maybe a little standoffish at first but nice…

However, she swore they'd all immediately partnered up with one another as if they'd been planning it for weeks in advance. She guessed it was probably because they knew one another so well and already had their own little niches of friends and those they liked best… but still.

She was jostled back and forth, barely able to even ask a few knights if they had partners yet. They all went incredibly red-faced and said they were honored she had asked, but yes they had partners. At which time she'd see a female face pop around a shoulder and glare daggers at her before linking arms with the knight and dragging them away.

Great. She was forced to do this insane "dance lesson" –if it could even be called that- and now she didn't have a partner. The hustle and bustle calmed down soon enough as the pairs began spreading back out. She expected to see a few stragglers, but surprisingly didn't. Spartos had ended up with Pisti and now looked quite a bit happier than he had before. Drakon and Hinahoho were frowning but standing next to one another. Apparently they'd been paired together simply because of the immense height difference between them and everyone else.

Ja'far was standing next to Sinbad as if he'd somehow been exempt from the hell that was this idiotic dance class and instead dubbed as a proctor. For all she knew he'd already been taught and he was going to come around and help out those who were struggling. She hoped she was wrong but something told her she was incredibly right. And with little surprise it seemed everyone else, including Sinbad, had realized the danger with teaching someone such as Masrur to dance as he was sitting criss-cross near the front, looking bored. She figured perhaps he'd get a solo lesson at the end with no partner until he was graceful enough not to accidentally hurt someone.

Which left… no one. All the paper pushers had found partners of their own, and she hadn't. Crap. She was all by herself. Great, now she could add humiliation to the list of unpleasant emotions associated with this stupid idea of Sinbad's. Ugh.

And then there was a cough from somewhere in the crowd and an 'oof' and someone stumbled into her.

Oh hell no.

There'd been one General she had forgotten about who also seemed to be partner-less. Sure enough, she was going to be stuck with the bottom of the barrel. Sharrkan looked quite disgusted at having been pushed in her direction as well, and his disgust turned to dread as he put the pieces together himself and realized that Yamuraiha didn't have a partner either. Instead, she decided perhaps she'd ignore him completely. Maybe there was someone she was missing.

She raised her hand, turning her back to him. "D-Does anyone need a partner?" she asked, sounding desperate. "A-Anyone?"

Sharrkan made a noise of deep offense. "And what does that make me? Chopped liver?" he asked.

"No, you're just not my first choice," she sniffed, waiting for someone to answer her.

"Well if you think you're my first choice, then you're greatly mistaken, Ms. Beluga."

She shot him a glare.

"Alright, so does everyone have someone?" Sinbad asked.

"No, we aren't-"

"Good, then let's get started."

Sinbad sent her a little smirk and completely ignored both her and Sharrkan's blatant disapproval. "Okay then, everyone let's get started warming up with that waltz, shall we?" The light music became slightly louder and Yamuraiha watched with disdain as everyone else began attempting to dance. Attempting being the operative word there as they were Generals and Kingdom Officials… not dancers. It was actually kind of a pitiful sight.

She glanced at Sharrkan out of the corner of her eye to see him frowning so deeply his mouth nearly curved down past his chin, but he had his hand outstretched nonetheless. "C'mon, let's get this over with," he hissed.

She turned to him, taking a deep and calming breath. She could do this. She could humor her King and also not murder Sharrkan. She could do it. She could. She kept repeating this over and over again to herself as she reluctantly took Sharrkan's hand, resting her other one on his shoulder. She resisted recoiling as his other hand grabbed onto her hip and again reminded herself not to murder him.

"I obviously don't know how to dance," he admitted. "So you don't need to tell me."

"I'm no expert either," she said. And she wasn't. Yes, she'd been exposed to it and yes she was rather graceful by nature but no, she didn't know how to dance. Though she thought she was doing a pretty good job of it so far, even if they were just rocking back and forth rigidly.

"What even defines a waltz?" he asked. It was clear he was trying to make small talk. Apparently this was his way of trying to avoid both awkwardness and a fight. She doubted they'd avoid either one but she was willing to give it a shot.

"I'm not sure. It's a slow dance, kind of a one, two, three, one, two, three, kind of tempo I think." They both looked around at the couples surrounding them. Spartos and Pisti were doing surprisingly well. She was giggling up a storm and Yamuraiha saw a rare smile on Spartos' face as they twirled up front near Sinbad. Most of the other couples were looking at them, trying to copy what they were seeing. A few of the paper pushers seemed to have good rhythm though and they were catching on quickly enough. Hinahoho and Drakon were just sort of staring each other down in silence as they rocked back and forth like robots, not touching each other at all.

"Eh, that doesn't seem so hard then- ow!" Sharrkan hissed. She'd been watching other couples and not what she was doing and had, ironically, been the first one to make a misstep. Right on his foot, of course.

"Oh, s-sorry," she said, sounding rather insincere.

"And here I was saying I didn't know how to dance," he scoffed.

"Shut up, I wasn't paying attention," she snapped, looking back out into the crowd. Yes, it seemed she was right in saying what the tempo was. And also right in saying that Ja'far was coming around to help the couples who were having a rough go of it. Sinbad was also eyeing everyone with scrutiny, undoubtedly forming mental notes he would give to them in due time.

"Don't forget this is a passionate dance," Sinbad called. "So look at your partner, get in sync with them. Put a little romance in it, if you will."

"Ow!" Whether due to Sinbad's words or not, she didn't know, but Sharrkan had in turn, stepped on her foot. She guessed they were even now.

"Ah, sorry," he said, sounding just as insincere as she had.

She gave him a look but accepted his apology. In looking a little closer at the surrounding partners it appeared they were making a little square with their feet. They'd step forward, two three, to the left, two three, to the back, two three, then to the right, two three. Oh, that didn't seem so bad.

She looked down at their feet. "Hey, step back on the one count, okay?"

"Erm…"

She nudged his foot backward with hers, not taking time to explain it to him. She stepped on the second and third counts. "Now to the side." She nudged his foot again and he followed her direction. "Then back towards me-ow not that far." He'd stepped on her little toe.

"S-Sorry." He sounded more genuine this time.

"Then to the side again. There. I think that's the gist of it, really." She nodded to herself in approval and looked back up to Sharrkan. He seemed rather unsure of it all. "Think you can just repeat that?"

"Uh…" He looked back down to their feet. "Yes?"

"Good, then let's go on… one-" And she stepped forward, narrowly missing his foot as he scrambled to mirror her action. It was clear he had no idea what he was doing still and apparently didn't remember the steps she'd just taught him… even if there were only a few steps to even learn. She stepped to the side and he hurried to catch up. They weren't moving in sync at all but somehow managed a couple boxes without either tripping or making complete fools of themselves. Which honestly, she'd consider a win at this point. A smile twitched at her lips. "Man, you have no sense of rhythm do you?"

"Hey," he snapped, stumbling backward on the first count again, trying his best to keep up. "Why the hell would I be good at this, hm?"

"Doesn't the almighty swordplay that you love so much have a lot of footwork?"

"Swordplay… It's swordsmanship not swordplay that makes it sound juvenile. And yes, it does, but not crap like this," he spat. "It's about keeping balance and never leaving yourself open."

"I'm just saying, this doesn't take a genius to memorize and yet here you are, somehow not keeping up." She bit her lip to keep from snorting. They'd had to have done about eight boxes now and he was still not getting the hang of the one, two, three movement.

"Oh and you and your flat feet are doing so great of a job?" he retorted. "Don't you have some spell that would make this easier?"

"No, spells don't work like that," she huffed. "Besides I never thought to learn one- ow, pay attention to what you're doing- I never thought to learn one for this, because I didn't think I'd ever be dancing."

"You got that right," he said. "How long you think before he gives it up?" Sharrkan nodded toward Sinbad who was still observing everyone with hawk-like precision.

"Eh, I give it three days."

"Three days? You mean three whole lessons of this crap?"

"No. I say this lesson, he'll schedule one for next week, and he'll have either forgotten about it or given it up in two more days."

"Eh, I could live with that I guess."

She flinched as he again stepped on her toe, this time with more of his weight. "Good God is it really that hard?"

"It is when someone's talking to me," he muttered, beginning to watch their feet.

Good lord he could be so light on his feet when fighting but with the thuds and scuffles he was making now she would've guessed he weighed half a ton. "Still, this isn't hard stuff…"

"It is with you as a partner." He glared at her and then looked back downward, trying his best to mimic her movements. By now she was doing them without even thinking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "I'm a perfect partner, thank you very much."

"Hardly," he said with an eyeroll that he thought he hid but she most certainly saw. She pursed her lips.

With a great deal of self-control, she managed to keep her retort to herself and instead busied herself with looking around at how everyone else was doing. It seemed they were all also slowly getting the hang of it. Hinahoho and Drakon had relaxed some, Spartos and Pisti were still twirling effortlessly up front, and most of the other couples looked halfway decent. Ja'far was making his rounds and as much as she hated to admit it, whatever he was telling people appeared to be working. She made eye contact with him and he gave her a look that said 'pay attention to your partner, not me'.

Ugh. She turned back to Sharrkan just in time for him to yet again step on her foot, nearly pulling off her sandal. "Hey, watch it," she hissed.

"Sorry." He was back to sounding insincere and she swore she heard a hint of amusement in his tone. He was still looking downward so she couldn't tell if he had a smile on his face or not. Was he getting a kick out of this? Was he enjoying hurting her? She'd been expecting to come out of this with a few sore toes but if he kept it up she might be bruised by the morning. Not that it was any big deal but it really pissed her off to think that he thought it was funny.

"Are you smiling?" she snapped.

He seemed surprised by the accusation and looked up to her. "What? No," he answered, not sounding completely truthful. And as if to compliment his answer he tripped a bit and stepped on her foot yet again. "S-Sorry," he replied, and this time she was certain that was a waver of humor in his voice.

"You idiot, are you doing that on purpose?" she said a little louder. A few heads turned in their direction but neither of them noticed.

"What? No, of course I'm not doing it on purpose. I already told you I just can't dance," he answered and this time he seemed more believable. "… Your face is kinda funny though." He let a snort escape his nose.

She couldn't believe her ears. "My face is funny?" she repeated. "You've got to be kidding me!" She angrily retaliated by swinging her leg hard at his shin. He stepped to the side and avoided her kick with ease, his cheeks puffing out slightly as he poorly concealed his laughter. "Oh, now you're all graceful," she snapped, winding up and launching another kick.

He again easily avoided it. "Hey, hey, hey, dancing and avoiding an attack are two different things," he responded. "It's second nature."

"I'd hardly call a shin kick an attack, oh Mr. Warrior, but if you'd put half as much effort into learning the dance steps as you do pissing me off, we'd be ten times closer to finishing this stupid lesson, anyway," she barked.

"I don't try to piss you off," he countered, dodging yet another one of her kicks. She stumbled forward a bit and he stepped back a pace.

"Oh so you're just naturally this annoying?"

"It's said that only people who possess a certain negative quality are able to elicit that same quality from someone else." He looked all high and mighty as if he'd just stated a profound fact and she aimed another kick which he dodged to the side. She turned for a better shot but he dodged again, spinning around in a little half circle, their hands still together and on one another's shoulder and hip. "So I'd say you must bring out the annoying quality in me with your own unbearable nature."

"First off-" She put all she had into another kick but somehow he dodged it yet again, "I'm genuinely surprised you had the mental capacity to both remember and interpret a quote like that, so kudos. Second, you're annoying even when I'm nowhere around."

"And how would you know that?"

"I can practically smell the arrogant jackassery in the air when you're coming."

"I really don't know how that has to do with anything, but at least it shows that you have no proof that I'm still annoying when I'm not around you. Which, for the record, I'm not, and even when I am around you, I'm a downright pleasure."

"Ooohhh," she nearly shivered with distaste for him. He was quite literally the most loathsome and horrible human being she'd ever laid eyes on. And with every kick she missed her mounting dislike for him doubled.

Without really realizing it they'd begun their own little dance of kicking and dodging and had begun to move around the crowd. Couples shimmied out of their way and made room for them as they twirled around, a mass of insults and kicks and spewed curses. Many of the couples had simply stopped to watch, though neither Yamuraiha or Sharrkan noticed, only finally paying attention to their surroundings when they'd somehow made their way near the front of the group.

"So you don't have a comeback for that one?" he asked after a moment of her silence.

"Yes, I do," she huffed. She'd gotten herself so worked up she was running out of breath. "I… You…"

He smirked and his eyes twinkled with the joy that only her failure could bring. She hated that sparkle. Whenever they'd get into an argument that she was actually losing –which was hardly ever, let the record show- he'd have that look in his eyes and she absolutely hated it. Normal people had that look when they were happy about something normal or with someone who they loved. He looked that way when he made her so mad she could barely see straight. He was sick, twisted. There was something seriously wrong with him.

She threw her nose into the air. "I refuse to sink to your level. You are quite simply put, the worst partner I could've asked for."

Sharrkan raised an eyebrow and she just knew he was wondering how on Earth she could believe she hadn't "sunk" to his level when just a moment ago they'd both been insulting one another without any holding back. "You're no ray of sunshine either," he retorted.

And only then as a few snorts of hushed laughter and a very loud and exasperated sigh from Sinbad, was heard, did they finally stop and look around. They were smack dab at the front now and almost everyone was exclusively paying attention to them and their little whirl of kicks at one another and war of words. Ja'far looked beyond disapproving but apparently was waiting for Sinbad to reprimand them… which it seemed he didn't have the strength to do. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Honestly," he murmured to himself. "Can you two not get along for even an hour?"

She looked at Sharrkan and he looked at her and that same distaste bubbled in her stomach. She turned her head away. "I was trying to say that I needed a different partner. You were the one who didn't listen."

Sinbad stared at her for a moment in which she saw in his eyes the admittance that yes, he probably could've avoided this… and slowly she could also see the gears turning in his head as he glanced around at all the other couples. He was slowly putting it together that somehow teaching everyone some dance that probably would turn out looking far more awkward and ugly than he'd ever imagined was going to be one hell of an undertaking and honestly… it probably wasn't worth it. She also knew by the look on his face, once the pieces began to slip together, that this dance lesson wouldn't be lasting much longer. Thank the heavens. If all he needed for this realization was one of her and Sharrkan's arguments, then so be it; maybe she was even glad to have him as a partner if this was the direct result.

"Hey, just so you know I wasn't the problem here," Sharrkan said, shrugging. "She was the one who started trying to mutilate my shins."

She couldn't believe him. "Why you-"

"Oh good grief you two, just go get a room," Pisti sighed from beside them, shaking her head.

And while Yamuraiha had quite literally just been through one of the worst hours of her life, she had to admit that the blatant agreement from nearly everyone else in the crowd easily topped her charts for the most loathsome thing that'd happened during the day.

The Sinnoh League Challenge - route 202 - write about a warm-up - the warm-up leads to an argument

I love how much the Eight Generals tend to ship Yam and Sharrkan together. Their little nudges are the best. ;D
Anyway, see? Super random and kinda silly? Pretty much. I haven't written about these dorks in a while. I miss them. I also hope I didn't butcher them too badly, haha! ;DAnyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear what you thought!

~Foxtail-chan