Disclaimer: Dontcha wish your fanfics were hot like mine, dontcha wish your fanfics were fun like me…dontcha! They're not mine.
A/N: In light of recent disclaimers being complete phooey, I'm opening "the disclaimer suggestion box" for people to submit a fun/unusual/weird disclaimer for me to use since I have little patience for them lol. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews! You guys totally rock, which you know of course! So as a treat, here's another chappie!
Dancing With the Law
Chapter Three: In Which a Song is Decided Upon
"Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously." Henry Miller
"All right, take care guys!" Sara called after Nick and Warrick before turning back to her car. "Dammit!"
"What?" Greg looked around from where he was crouched near the front tire.
"You! You startled me."
"Sorry," he apologised sheepishly. "I just wanted to get the address of the gym to meet you there."
"It's three blocks from my apartment complex."
"Oh. Okay. Um, what should I wear?"
"Clothes preferably Greg," she laughed.
"I meant anything in particular?"
"Just something comfortable and lightweight. I don't care."
"Gotcha. And what type of music should I bring?"
"Well, since we'll be working on the waltz, it would probably be best to bring classical and melodic music. We're going to have to look for a 3 beats a measure piece," Sara looked at him still crouching and tilted her head to the side. "Greg…Why are you crouching on the ground near my car?"
"Well you said we couldn't let anyone know what we're doing," Greg answered.
"Yeah, but you're allowed to talk to me. In fact, it'd probably look weird if you didn't talk to me, seeing as I'm your teacher half the time," she said exasperatedly.
"Oh yeah. Sorry. Kay kay, I'll see you at four then?"
"I'll meet you outside the gym," she nodded, then shaking her head as she laughed silently, she climbed into her car and drove home. After he had moved away from her car of course.
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"Ready to go?" Sara asked, walking up to him in sweats and a pullover jacket, a small boombox in one hand and a gym bag in the other..
"Yup," he nodded, standing up and brushing his track pants off, also grabbing a small bag off the bench.
"Good let's go," Sara walked into Liza's Gym. "Hey Liza!"
"Well hey Harvard, what's cooking sweets?" A short, plump, redhead came out from behind the information/sign-in desk to give her a hug.
"Not a lot. Hey, is it all right if my partner and I practice in whichever class room is empty?"
"Partner hey?" Liza looked Greg up and down. "He's a cutie."
"Dance partner, and we've got a competition coming up in three months," Sara explained.
"Of course sweets," Liza waved them off. "And of course, no charge for either of you."
"Thanks!" Sara gave her another hug, then turned to Greg. "Come on then. Let's get to work."
Greg followed Sara, looking around as they went. The facility was large and clean, unless you took into account the sweaty, exercising people on the various machines. Walking past that they came to a hallway with locker rooms on one side, and two class rooms on the other. Looking in the first one, Sara saw it was empty, and pulling open the door, let Greg enter before her.
"All right, do you have any song ideas?" Sara asked, sitting down on the floor, as she started to do some stretches.
"Uh, I've got a couple, and one of my friends I was talking to on-line recommended a couple too," Greg nodded, sitting down next to her.
"All right, well, I burned a CD of all the songs I listened to earlier that seemed to have potential," Sara paused her stretching to plug the boombox in, and pull out the CD. "Go through them, and see if there's one that seems to stand out to you. Honestly, there were a couple I liked, but none that seemed to be the song if you know what I mean."
"Okay, well then, I've got a couple of classical CD's, as well as the burned CDs my friend sent me a while back that, according to him, have a couple of awesome songs on it in the beat we need," Greg said, pulling out a couple of CD cases.
"Well, since your friend seems to think there're some awesome songs, then why don't we go ahead and start with those?" Sara suggested, standing up, and Greg quickly found and put on the CD. "And while we listen, we can practice our holds again."
"Do I have to?" Greg whined, but took Sara's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
"Hold on a sec, and let me get comfortable," Sara quickly pulled off her sweats revealing spandex shorts, and from her gym bag pulled out and pulled on a black flowing, knee-length skirt. Tugging off her pullover left her in a gray tank-top. "All right, now let's get started."
"Closed position," Greg said aloud, more for his benefit than anything else.
"That's right," Sara nodded. "Actually, let's focus on the steps for the moment, and doing them in time to the music. That way we'll know if the song's going to work for us."
"Sure," Greg agreed, and they began doing the waltz box step.
"Okay, this song definitely doesn't work," Sara shook her head, clicking 'next' on the little remote she had clipped to her waistband.
"Neither does this," Greg muttered as they began dancing to the next song.
The next hour was spent listening to the songs on the three CDs Greg's friend had sent him. None of which fit their idea of 'awesome' in regards to a waltz. After getting a little tired of dancing to songs that didn't even work for a waltz, they sat back down to listen to the rest.
"All right, last one," Sara gave a little sigh. "Then we'll try some of mine, fair?"
"Fair enough," Greg answered from where he was lying down, an arm flung over his eyes.
"Greg, do you hear this?" Sara's voice was light and excited, making Greg sit up and cock his head to the side as Sara went back to the beginning of the song.
"This is perfect!" He exclaimed, hopping to his feet, doing the steps by himself. "It's great for the steps."
"Now what's this called?" Sara grabbed the paper insert that had been with the case. "Futatabi, from the movie Spirited Away."
"Looks like we've found our song," Greg grinned, and pulled Sara to her feet, bowing theatrically. "May I have this dance milady?"
"I'd be delighted," Sara laughed, giving a mock curtsy, playing along with him.
Moving into closed position, Sara went to the beginning of the song and hit play, and they lost themselves in the song as they performed the simple box step. Sometimes speeding up when the tempo increased slightly, and counting the steps out loud at other times when the beat couldn't be heard.
"Those quiet parts are going to be tough," Greg commented as the song came to an end.
"I know, but just think, it'll show that we've really worked hard," Sara pointed out. "I mean, if we can stay on beat and all during those parts, that'll prove we put a lot of work into this. And just think of what it'll look like- going from the demure sounding part into that huge burst of melody. I think that'll be an attention grabber."
"I can see it now," Greg spread his hands in front of him. "We wow them with our beat-keeping abilities, and then with the burst of music, we bring out some kick-ass movesand stuff. We'll have it in the bag!"
"Maybe so," Sara laughed. "But for now, let's continue to work on our hold. Neither of us was that great."
"My muscles are protesting, just so you know," he grumbled.
"And so are mine, but you know, we have to work through it. It'll help in the long run. If it gets too bad, just take some ibuprofen."
"Definitely. Whoever said drugs were bad was on drugs themselves."
"Funny Greg, now let's get back to working," Sara said, glancing at her watch. "Another half hour, then we can stop."
"Thank you!" Greg exclaimed, and in a burst of energy, pressed an enthusiastic kiss to her cheek. "You're a goddess!"
"You won't be saying that by the time we're done," she gave him an evil grin before turning the music back on.
"Please tell me we're finished?" Greg asked, sprawling out face down on the floor.
"Yes, we're finished," Sara laughed. "Good job Greggo, I'll see you at work."
"All righty then, take care," he lifted a hand from where he was still lying on the floor.
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"Have you decided on a piece of music for your waltz?" Was the first thing Madame Parajanov asked them as they walked into the studio the next night.
"Yes," Sara pulled out the CD she had burned with their song on it, and handed it over. "It's called Futatabi from the Spirited Away movie soundtrack."
She put on the CD and allowed it to play through once, twice, three times. The fourth time it began to play, she began moving slightly in place, muttering to herself. Greg began to fidget, full of restless energy, as she played it through a fifth time. Now he didn't mind the song, he actually really liked it, but it was a long song- just under five minutes.
"Beautiful!" She exclaimed, whirling about suddenly to face them. "I couldn't have picked a more perfect piece for you two than this. And the range of notes and rises and falls in the music is absolutely inspiring me already in regards to choreography. But for now, we go shopping."
"Huh?" Greg stared at her, confused by the sudden change in topic.
"We have the song, now you need the clothes and shoes," she explained airily. "You need to begin dancing in full costume as soon as possible. So we're going shopping nowto get your shoes and waltz costumes. Understood?"
"Yes Madame Parajanov," Sara nodded, elbowing Greg in the side, causing him to nod quickly.
"Good, now there's a store two blocks down and one block over, we're walking," she directed, and walked out of the room motioning for Greg and Sara to follow her.
"Why do we have to walk?" Greg whined to Sara as they followed their teacher at a short distance.
"It's only three blocks Greg," she rolled her eyes. "And just think, we could be working on our hold right now."
That comment caused Greg to nod, and he stayed quiet for the rest of the short walk, except for the occasional humming. Soon they stopped in front of Ilya's Dancewear, and entered the store to find themselves surrounded by bright colors. A tall, thin, and regal looking man came out from behind the desk, greeting Esfir in a blur of Russian.
"Greetings," he nodded to them, then reached out and took Sara's hand in his, brushing a kiss over her knuckles. "Oh you are lovely! My fingertips are already tingling in excitement to dress you."
"Thank you," Sara blushed slightly, flattered by the attention.
"Now, we need a waltz costume for you, do we not? Excellent, excellent," he smiled, motioning for her to spin around. "Matvei! Come see to the boy please!"
"Of course," a younger man appeared from behind a rack of costumes, and gestured to Greg to follow him.
"Now, you have a beautiful figure my dear," Ilya commented, looking her up and down. "We want to emphasize that. Some long sleeves I think, or perhaps long gloves. A light color gown, loose and flowing, and long I believe. Yes, I have some perfect ideas in mind. Come, come!"
Turning to her, he quickly asked her size, and in somewhat of a daze, she managed to tell him. And with that, he began a hap-hazard walk across the store, stopping here and there to grab a dress or another type of outfit. After he had grabbed what looked to be about five or six different ones, he led her to the shoe section, and quickly fitted her with a pair of white, strappy ballroom dancing, two inch heels. Ushering her into a changing room, he hung the outfits up on the hook on the wall, and left her with the order to come out and show them as she tried each one.
"Heaven's no!" His voice showed his distaste for the first outfit- a pink lacy concoction. "And don't even think of trying on the other pink one. Color's not good on you with your complexion."
"No, white won't do," Esfir critiqued the next one. "Makes her look too pale for some reason. And I don't like the cut."
"Hmm, passable," he murmured, looking her up and down in the dark yellow gown she was wearing. "How many left?"
"Just one," Sara replied after looking back into the room.
"Well what are you doing still standing here, go try it on! If it doesn't work, I want to look for some more," he said as Sara disappeared back behind the curtain. "The yellow one's all right, but I think we can do better."
"I like this one," Sara commented as she pushed the curtain back.
"Words fail me," Ilya walked around her slowly, smoothing a line here, tugging a hem there, until he was back in front. "This is your dress. It was as if I made it with you in mind."
The lycra gown was a light, light, mint green color. The skirt was flowing and fell in elegant folds to brush the tops of her feet. On the skirt, as well as the bodice, were diagonal lines of embroidered pearls, adding brilliant detail. The bodice had one thick shoulder strap, but the other was simply a thin ribbon strap, giving the appearance that the gown was one-shouldered. To complete the look there were long gloves that went above the elbow, and came to a point over the back of her hand. On the underside of the gloves there was a square piece of fabric hanging from her wrist to add flair to the overall costume.
"Whoa Sara," Greg's voice made her spin around to face him. "You look…stunning."
"I should be saying the same to you," she whistled slightly, and fought back a laugh as his cheeks colored. "You look like one of those fashion magazine ads."
Greg was wearing black pants with a silk strip down the side that fell to the tops of his one inch black dancing shoes. On top, he wore a white button up dress shirt with black buttons, complimented by the white bow tie and black cummerbund. His jacket was black, had coat tails that fell to the back of his knees, and a single button in front.
"Do you think so?" He smiled cheekily, cocking his hip towards her. "I don't know. I thought it made my butt look big."
"No, the only thing big around here is your ego."
"Not nice."
"All right you two, together please," Esfir directed. "Closed position. I want to see how you look."
"That's wonderful. Just like any other professional dance couple," Ilya smiled as he looked them over. Turning to Matvei, he said something in Russian quickly, and he walked off.
"And the colors," Esfir nodded in agreement. "You wear black and white very well Mr. Sanders. And that green complements your complexion quite nicely Miss Sidle."
"Thank you," the replied simultaneously.
"Now, smile for the camera," Ilya directed, taking the camera that Matvei had returned with, and quickly snapped a picture. "Beautiful. Someday when you win a national competition, I can say I had the privilege of dressing you both. And of course, I will see you again in a few weeks for Latin costumes."
"Yes, probably in a month or so. Once they have a decent grasp of the waltz," Esfir nodded. "Now, if that's everything, we need to be on our way. No, no. Don't change."
"Why not?" Sara asked.
"Matvei, please bring two bags to put their clothes in," she directed before turning back to Sara and Greg. "And because I said so. We need to go have your portraits taken."
"Why?" Sara asked again.
"For the competition," she explained. "Your photo and brief biography will be in the programme. You will also have your picture displayed as you walk onto the dance floor."
"Oh, I see," Greg nodded. "Makes sense."
"Yes, now come, the salon is just across the street, and then the photo studio is only a block away."
"Salon!" Sara exclaimed, not liking the sound of that.
"Well what did you expect? That you could simply get your portrait taken as you are?" Esfir raised an eyebrow. "That simply would not do. We need to have your hair done, your make-up, and a manicure wouldn't hurt. Of course, you will go through all this again before your Latin portraits, and the competition group portraits, but beauty knows no pain. Now come!"
"Oh Lord, save us now," Greg muttered, sharing a frightened glance with Sara as they followed Madame Parajanov out of the store.
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A/N: Well, we're moving along quite nicely I think, how about you all? I hope it doesn't seem too slow- it's gonna speed up once they get further into the dance.Don't worry though, I won't write a chaptercovering every lesson, and Iwon't go into detail about what they're doing step-by-step. Just names of basic moves and stuff. And we'll start getting into Sara and Greg's "relationship" outside of work a bit more- hanging out and stuff as friends, and maybe evolve into something more. Sound like a plan? Good. Also, for those who are curious about Sara's outfit, there'll be a link in my profile to go see it. Anyways, review (if you like) and let me know what you think.