"Like, take me dancing!"
Jack looked up from his work on his ancient Ford Ute with a baffled look. Feliks, Jack's neighbour, had his elbows propped up on the workbench Jack used as a sort of makeshift desk, an earnest, giddy look on his face.
"What?" Jack still wore that befuddled look as he crouched by one of the car's tires.
When the end of the war had rolled around Jack had been withdrawn. He had lost one of his uncles, a devastating blow to both himself and his father, and had himself suffered shell shock after his own service in the Pacific. He had returned home feeling empty and tired and life had moved on without him. Australia had flourished with the influx of European immigrants and with them had come Feliks.
Feliks was… unique. He and his family had come from Poland and had bought the property next to Jack's own. In no time flat Feliks had become a familiar sight around Jack's home, often inviting himself over for this reason or that. Soon enough, the two were close friends and after that, something more. Of course, Jack had always known he wasn't justattracted to women. Some men had caught his eye over the years, but the fear of someone finding out, about someone knowing, had kept him from indulging in the notion. Feliks changed all that.
And now he was apparently asking him to go out dancing.
"Feliks," he began, "you know we can't do that."
"Well, why not? I know that there's a dance happening tomorrow night down at the hall. We should go."
"Feliks, we're gay." Jack said as he stood and wiped his hands free of grease. He continued, "And that's a crime. You wanna go dancing? How about we just go and report ourselves to the cops now, huh?"
He hadn't meant for his words to be as harsh as they were and he felt remorse as soon as he saw the other man's shoulder slump. Before he could apologise, though, the blond had perked up and once more wore that excited grin.
"Why should that stop us from dancing?"
"Well, y'see, it's because-"
Feliks shushed him and came around the workbench and headed straight for the cluttered benches lining the walls of the shed. A moment later and he returned with a beat up wireless radio in his hands and that same grin on his face. He set it down on the Ute's hood with a flourish.
"Ta-da!"
Jack laughed. "And what's this?"
"This is going to be our music for the night. We can't go out dancing, but there's no rules against dancing in here."
"Actually…" Jack began jokingly before being shushed again.
He fiddled around with the dial on the radio for a bit, one ear pressed to it in concentration. Eventually he coaxed a few staticy bursts out of the radio and a minute or so more of fiddling was rewarded with the sound of actual music.
Don't look now but your broken heart is showing You're to blame and if I have a way of knowing
That smile upon your face cannot fool me
That within your heart there's only misery
Feliks grinned, "Take me dancing?"
"Yeah…"
Jack came around the front of the car and took one of Feliks' hands, bringing him close to his chest and smiling gently at him. The two swayed from side to side in time with the music. It wasn't really dancing, but it was sweet and it was real and it was theirs.
Feliks pressed his cheek to Jack's chest and sighed contentedly. He gave his hand a light squeeze in response.
Cause you're the one that left me deep in sorrow So don't look now but your broken heart is showing
Without a soul to tell my troubles to
And to me it sure looks good on you
