Dancing Lesson

Posted on Wed Oct 28th, 2009 @ 8:40am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

1,045 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: holosuite
Timeline: current

ON

Samantha and Damon found an empty holosuite. "Computer, play York rehearsal hall."

The computer beeped and the doors opened to reveal a large room with mirrors along one side and a barre along the other. Two sofas and several chairs lined the far wall.

She led him to the center of the room. “Computer, play a slow waltz.â€

When it began to play, she put her left hand on Damon’s shoulder. “Put your right hand on my back and hold my left hand.†She helped him get the right position. “Now, listen to the music. It’s slow, quick quick, slow, quick quick. Take one step forward with your left foot on the show, then a step to the right and together for the quick quick. Then a step back on your right foot and a left together. That’s the basic box step.â€

They practiced that for a few minutes until Damon was comfortable with it. Then she a progressive walk where they just went forward or backward. Finally, she taught him a turn. “Pull me in close and do three pivot turns to your right.â€

Damon did as he was instructed, though he couldn't help but feel like he was butchering the movements in comparison to his graceful partner. His eyes stayed focused on his feet, careful not to step on Samantha's.

Despite being outside of his comfort zone, he found the experience nearly intoxicating. The dancing had little to do with that feeling, however, as being this close to Samantha was nearly driving him crazy. If not for the fear of tripping, he wouldn't have been able to take his eyes off her.

Dancing with Damon was unlike anything she'd experienced before. She found herself losing focus on what she was doing as her thoughts kept drifting back to the man in front of her. He was far too distracting for her peace of mind. Fortunately, he kept his eyes on his feet or she'd really be in trouble.

Sam stopped for a moment and waited for Damon to look at her. "You're doing really well. I promise. There's only one more move I'll teach you, but you need to stop looking at your feet. I won't bite... much," she teased. "Now, if you want me to do an underhand turn, you raise your left hand like so and guide me with your right." She proceeded to demonstrate a couple of times until he was comfortable with it. "Now," she said, making eye contact with him, "Let's see how you do."

"You sure that's such a good idea?" He joked as he tilted his head to the side.

"You won't know until you try," she assured him. "If you need to, look in the mirror. That's what it's there for. Now, you lead and I'll follow." And try to keep her mind on the dance...

Damon nodded to her and waited for the music to start.

The song started playing throughout the studio and Damon could actually feel the music hum in his chest. With a slight tilt in, the two started moving to the tempo.

~1,2,3...1,2,3...1,2,3~ Damon mentally counted in his head to keep the timing and movements the same. He kept his eyes off his feet this time, and chastised himself every time his foot clipped hers or he stepped too far in and lightly kicked her. Still, for all of the embarrassment of a misstep, he had to agree that keeping his eyes locked on Samantha was definitely an improvement.

He realised perhaps a moment too late that he was staring and quickly glanced to the mirror, as if to keep an eye on his movements. ~Don’t do anything stupid!~

They circled the floor several times as Damon led her through the various steps. When the third song ended, Samantha threw her arms around Damon and gave him a hug. "You did great!"

He returned the hug with a large smile across his face. "I had a great teacher. Let me get this straight, that was the EASY dance?" he laughed a bit.

"Yea," she said, returning the grin. "That was the easy dance. And it wasn't the teacher, it was the pupil."

"Well whatever it was, I'm glad I didn't end up trampling over you. Your impression of me probably wouldn't have been too flattering." he said with a slanted smile.

"Everybody steps on feet and stumbles when they're first starting out," Sam assured him. "Just be grateful I didn't end up falling on top of you."

Damon started to open his mouth, but closed it very quickly. ~No!~ He mentally censured himself. With a quick shake of his head he leaned on the much more diplomatic response. "I could imagine worse things happening."

Sam chuckled. "I haven't sent anyone to sickbay yet, so I guess there could be worse things." Although the thought of ending up sprawled on top of Damon had a certain appeal... Sam quickly changed mental tracks. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. Not again, anyway. "So, Mr. Raine, you've had your first dance lesson, what would you like to do now?"

He ran through a number of ideas in his mind, some of which he would blush over if he thought on them long enough. In the end he simply smiled and shrugged a bit.

"Well I think it would be only fair to let you have a say as to what we try next."

She tipped her head to one side and considered him for a moment. "Well, I got to teach you a dance, so it should be your turn to teach me something."

He flashed a wide smile, "Oh? Do you have something specific in mind?"

The first thing that popped into her head made her bite her lip. She shook her head and chuckled. Then she looked up at him for a moment. "No. Do you have any suggestions?"

Damon thought on this for a few seconds before an idea popped into his head. "Hmm, well we might be able to continue this theme on dancing. Have you ever gone ice skating before?"

To be continued...

OFF

2nd Lieutenant Damon Raines
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant Samantha York
Chief Science Officer
USS Orion

 

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