Agent 3 and Agent 8 only had a week to prepare to meet the contact that Marie had spoken of, and so they were going over the important details of the event from the dress code down to how they were going to get by security. Three insisted that Eight find some way to bring a weapon in, but Eight said she couldn't figure out a feasible way to get any into the venue. They were sat together at the kitchen table in their apartment, plans laid out in front of them, even schematics of the building the event was being held in just in case they needed it. Certain things on the schematics were circled like the elevator shaft and the bar, to be used as points of retreat should things get hairy. But there was one issue that Eight hadn't expected, and it was such a specific detail that she hadn't even considered it until Three brought it up.
"What do you MEAN you don't know how to dance?!" Eight snickered, finding Three's frustration mildly cute. Three had been trying to be more open about her emotions but she was still somewhat stoic more often than she should be, so for her to have a moment of pure emotion like this was something Eight had to take advantage of. She was careful not to take her teasing too far however, she knew that Three did still have some self confidence issues, even if she claims she doesn't.
"I never had to before! I usually just nodded my head to the music and everyone around me was happy!" Three grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting, turning away from Eight slightly, she's not mad but she is at least slightly upset. She's also trying to play it off that the fact she doesn't know how to dance isn't something that bothers her when in reality she's always wanted to learn, she just never found the time before.
Eight calmed her laughing and grabbed Three's hand, she found the whole predicament rather funny but she still didn't want to actually upset her partner. She rubbed Three's hand with her thumb and smiled at her, still stifling some giggles, but she does her best to reassure her. Eight smiles the warm familiar smile she has that always seems to help Three calm down somewhat, and slowly Three does relax. Finally after a few moments of calming her mind, she's facing Eight properly once again.
"Well, Marina insisted on teaching me how… rather thoroughly actually… I-I could teach you!" Eight's giggles are replaced by excitement, she really wants to give something to Three to thank her for everything that she's done for her, and teaching her how to dance sounds perfect. Eight is blushing slightly and squeezes Three's hand to hopefully get her to agree to the idea, she desperately wants to do something like this for Three and she sincerely hopes Three will let her.
Three blushes visibly at the prospect, squeezing Eight's hand lightly as she weighs the options in her mind. They need to go on this mission and they need to make sure their cover isn't blown, and she can see no alternative to the proposal Eight has given. At the very least, it does mean she and Eight will get to spend some time doing things together, they could even pretend it's a date or something instead of being agent work. Three really hopes that Eight isn't too hard on her if she struggles though, she doesn't want to make a fool of herself after all. Finally, after a few moments of pondering, Three looks Eight in the eyes and nods.
"Okay, let's do it." Three smiles through her blush, a little worried that her body won't want to move the way it's supposed to or that she'll step on Eight's feet over and over again, but she's also excited to have something to do with her partner. She pushes aside her worries for the moment and decides to focus solely on Eight, and how excited the Octoling seems to be at the prospect of teaching her how to dance.
Eight smiles wide and bounces lightly, she's clearly very excited and is very unable to hide it. She grabs Three's wrists and quickly leads her into the living room. Three blushes harder as Eight leads her, she hadn't expected Eight to want to get started so suddenly, but she supposes that given the tight time constraints, it's a reasonable course of action. That, and the fact that Eight looks like she's about to explode from excitement, allows Three to calm her racing thoughts and simply smile as Eight starts examining the space in the living room.
"Okay, first thing's first, we need space so lets move the couch and coffee table out of the way." Eight pecks Three on the cheek and then goes and moves the coffee table to the other side of the room as Three pushes the couch back as well, giving them plenty of space to work. The couch now sits slightly into the kitchen but at least it's out of the way, which means they'll have plenty of space to work on teaching Three how dancing works. Eight was still impressed by Three's strength, she'd moved the couch like she was just pushing a small chair out of the way.
Once they have enough room, Eight slyly grabs Three's hips and quickly pulls her into a kiss. Eight wants to set a gentle mood for helping her girlfriend learn how to dance properly, or at the very least, well enough that she won't look out of place on their upcoming undercover mission. But Eight doesn't want to focus on the upcoming mission, rather she wants to savor this moment where she and her lover can spend time in each other's arms. Finally she breaks the kiss and smiles, the two of them blushing hard. Eight leans in and pecks Three on the nose causing them to both giggle. Eight takes a half step back, keeping her arms around Three, and begins the instructional process.
"Alright, we'll go over some basic steps first, and then once we have that down we'll add some music and see how well you can keep with the timing of the music alright?" Eight asks, still holding Three's hips and smiling. Eight knows exactly the type of dance she's going to teach Three and she can't wait to get started.
"Alright that sounds good to me." Three replies, happy to do whatever Eight needs her to do. Then Three has a quick thought that makes her blush hard, but she manages to push the blush back slightly when she voices this thought to Eight. "Since you're teaching me… and you seem to have taken charge already… I think maybe you should lead."
Eight giggles and nods, keeping one of her hands on Three's hip and using her other to guide one of Three's hands to her shoulder, their now free hands interlocking with each other. Eight slowly shows Three the steps she needs to take for a basic waltz. Three clearly struggles at first, getting frustrated as her feet won't move the way they're supposed to, but gradually, over time, she does start to get the hang of it. Eight reassuring Three that she's learning and that she's improving does help keep Three from giving up, and even helped to keep her more focused on the fact that she's catching on quickly, rather than focusing on the missteps. Three actually manages to start enjoying herself somewhat, even though she's still slightly frustrated with herself for not having at least looked up a video tutorial about how to dance ever in the past.
Three gets the hang of the dance rather quickly once she finally figures out how to step properly in time with Eight, and soon she's giggling and smiling as her and Eight dance in rhythm with each other. Eight smiles and squeezes Three's hand as they dance. Eight is very proud of Three for both how well she's doing, and for the fact that she's managed to not lose her motivation. Three's doing an astounding job. Eight realizes that Three is now probably ready for something a little more advanced than just the basic "stepping in time" and Eight smirks as the idea crosses her mind.
"Okay, I think you've got the basics, now comes the fun part, I'm going to try twirling you." Eight says as she looks into Three's eyes. Three looks nervous but Eight takes her hand off of Three's hip and strokes her face gently to reassure her. "You'll do fine, just let your body follow as I spin your arm, and you should naturally do the twirl."
Three nervously nods and Eight puts her hand back on Three's hip, gently leading her to the same dance moves as before, and looking to her eye's and giving her a questioning look to ask if she's ready for the twirl. Three again gives a nervous nod. Gently Eight guides Three into the twirl, and unlike with the waltz itself, Three seems to nail it instantly.
"You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Eight beams, excited about how quickly Three is catching on. She can't help herself and she pulls Three closer placing a quick kiss to her lips. The two smile at each other, Three giggles and blushes, proud of herself for how much she's progressed, and grateful to Eight for being so patient and teaching her so well, especially when she'd get frustrated and need to be reassured. She gently nuzzles into Eight and presses a kiss to her neck.
"Thank you so much Eight, I never could've learned this without you." Three smiles warmly, enjoying how much time she's gotten to spend just being intimate and close with her girlfriend despite how this is all technically still agent work. She pushes that thought to the back of her mind however, she wants to remember this as just a moment of her and Eight being together, a moment that maybe she'll recall if and when there comes a time when one of them presents a ring to the other. But for right now, Three just focuses on how happy she is in this moment.
"You're welcome Three. Now, there's one more thing, we need to do it to music. Did you perhaps have any ideas what song our first proper dance together should be to?" Eight asks, pressing a quick kiss to Three's cheek. She smiles reassuringly, as if to say that no matter what song Three chooses, Eight will be happy to dance to. Eight doesn't know what song she would personally choose for this moment, so having Three decide is both useful, and adorable.
Three blushes and ponders for a moment, her mind running through every song she's heard and trying to find the one that has the correct tone and beat for the type of dance that Eight has instructed her on. Then her eyes light up as a song comes right to her mind. It's a song that has a lot of meaning to her personally, and she really hopes Eight finds a connection with it too after they share this dance.
"How about… Maritime Memory?" Three asks through a blush, she'd been secretly hoping to dance with Eight to this song for ages, she just never found the time to take dance lessons to be able to, but the opportunity has now just fallen on her lap and she has to take it. She had considered trying to hold off on using the song until the night of the mission, but there was still an off chance they wouldn't even get to or have to dance on the mission. Three had to seize this opportunity now.
"Maritime Memory, sounds perfect, just like you." Eight winks before going to Three's TV and hooking her phone into it and starting the song. She set up a brief buffer so they'd have a few moments before the actual song itself started to get going, allowing them to get back into their dance position. "You ready?"
Three nods and takes position as the song fades in, following Eight's lead as they step in time to the beat of the music as it fills the apartment. Three's nervousness quickly fades as she finds herself naturally following along, the beat of the music allowing her to keep her steps in time with relative ease. Eight throws some curveballs at her by twirling her occasionally, however Three seems to have no issues returning to following the beat properly every time. Finally as the song nears its conclusion, Eight does something she didn't prepare Three for, as the final notes of the song play, Eight sweeps Three's legs out from under her, catching her and gently dipping her. Three panicked slightly but once she realized what Eight was doing she simply blushed.
"Hey there cutie" Eight smirks and then presses a kiss to Three's lips before helping her stand, keeping their lips pressed together the whole time. Finally once they've been standing for a few moments their lips gently separate as they both look at each other with love in their eyes and a blush on their faces. One of Eight's arms was around Three's neck, the other around her waist, and her nose was just inches away from Three's own as the two look deep into the other's eyes.
"Wow, that was… incredible." Three says, still processing everything that just happened, and possibly wanting to have more of it in the near future as well. Her heart was racing and her face was bright orange.
"I have to agree, you learned so quickly I had to do something to catch you off guard." Eight giggles, pressing another quick peck to Three's lips. Her own blush painted plainly across her face as well.
"You succeeded, but I think I liked it anyways." Three giggles, returning the gesture quickly. Eight had been building her confidence and Three was showing her that it was paying off, Three was more than happy to show Eight just how much the girl meant to her.
"So what now my dear?" Eight asks, still holding Three's hips and standing close. Eight didn't want to let go but she also wanted to perhaps… move somewhere more comfortable for the two of them than standing in the middle of their living room.
"Well, I think we're adequately prepared for the undercover part of the mission now since I now know how to dance properly… and we've got a few more days to go over the rest of the mission's details… why don't we call it a night early?" Three blushes and pecks Eight on the cheek. She smiles and bites her lip, hoping that Eight will accept the invitation.
Eight smirks and kisses Three on the lips deeply before leaning down and grabbing her legs and her shoulders, carrying her towards the bedroom. Kicking the door closed behind them. She sets Three down on the bed and presses a long, loving kiss to her lips as she climbs on top of her.
"Why don't I give you a reward for being so good while I taught you how to dance." Eight giggles and smirks as she presses another kiss to Three's lips, and the two of them melt into each other.
