crypt | meme #004 | slow-dancing ( think outside the boxstep )

meme #004 | slow-dancing ( think outside the boxstep )

slow dancing

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FORMAL OR INFORMAL, WITH MUSIC OR WITHOUT, YOU COULD BE AT A GLAMOUROUS GALA WHILE A SINGER CROONS SOFTLY OR IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR OWN LIVING ROOM. WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU HAVE THE URGE TO DANCE. DID YOU ASK YOUR PARTNER OR DID THEY ASK YOU? HAVE YOU GOT TWO LEFT FEET OR IS THE VIENNESE WALTZ YOUR JAM? IT COULD BE AWKWARD, IT COULD BE ROMANTIC. EITHER WAY IT'S CUTE AS HELL.

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"Spin you," he answered after he'd already done it. "And then a dip."

He held onto Gaheris and lowered him in a deep dip.

He was starting to think he might end up with bruises on his shoulders from how hard Gaheris was holding on to him. "Relax, I'm not going to drop you."

Gaheris was nose to nose with Dylan, nigh on about to gouge holes where he was holding. He suddenly grinned tightly, a little more flustered by this than he wanted to be. This was a silly interpretation of a cultural ritual, correct? Nothing that should coax this sort of reaction out of him.

"How many more times do we have to do this?" He tries to slip his arms into a more comfortable position around his neck. "Am I allowed to do that?"

"Let me check." Dylan let go of Gaheris to glance again at the flexi.

"Six times." He hesitated, then added, "And...uh...the roles alternate each time." Now he regretted teasing Gaheris about dipping him.

"Do we now," There was something disconcertingly predatory to the way that Gaheris responded, and that was purposeful. He dropped his hands, gripping at Dylan's hips roughly.

There was nothing but "pest" in that man's expression at that moment. "So which foot do I start off with again?"

Now it was Dylan's turn to clench Gaheris' shoulders hard as his rough grip on his hips took him by surprise.

"Left foot." Dylan shifted his weight to get ready to move his right foot and added, "And if you drop me, I swear I'll put you on janitorial duty."

"Oh, but Dylan. I'd never drop you." So reassuring. But truly, he wouldn't. He'd have to outdo him. So he glanced down to make sure they were in position. "One two three-"

And then they were moving. And then they were moving, stepping together, and he hefted Dylan up in a spin, before dunking him.

He still looked cheeky, even as he announced, "You're holding onto me very tightly."

"That's because for some reason I don't trust you. Maybe it's the smirk." Although trust was the whole point of this dance, wasn't it. And if Dylan put aside the instinctual monkey nervousness at being picked up, swung around, and fake-dropped, he did trust Gaheris. Gaheris might be an ass sometimes, and an occasional cheat, but he wouldn't let Dylan fall, Dylan was sure of it. He reminded himself of that and relaxed his grip.

"Of course I won't drop you. Not unless you drop me." Sadly, true. But not a matter of trust, but because he had to win. If he was being a big enough pest, then he probably would have.

But when Dylan began to relax, something warmed in him again, and he pulled his friend back to standing. Finally he put one hand on his shoulder, the other one his waist, and gave him a more genuine smile. "I think this is how we're supposed to do it. So that we don't have to keep shifting whenever we alternate."

"I'm not going to drop you. I'm a nice guy, remember?" Most of the time.

Dylan also changed the position of his hands. "That does seem like it would go a bit smoother."

And now it was his turn to pick Gaheris up and spin him. He decided he'd try to pick him up higher this time. Higher than he'd lifted Gaheris the first time and higher than Gaheris had lifted him.

This time Rhade had to help, hefting himself up with the hand on Dylan's shoulder so that Dylan could briefly catch hold of his waist. Long enough to maintain the spin. At least it was easy enough to resume his hand positions moments before being dunked.

...Sort of. He ended up with his hand to the back of Dylan's head. And he blinked up at him awkwardly.

With the two of them working together, Gaheris' air time was pretty astonishing. Dylan was starting to enjoy himself despite himself.

During the dunk, there faces got a bit closer than last time, too. Noses nearly brushing. Dylan held Gaheris there for a moment, thinking that he looked strangely vulnerable in the moment, and feeling a surge of protectiveness in response. And then he swung Gaheris back upright.

Rhade was also starting to enjoy himself, for more than the bland intention of being annoying. He was moving with Dylan- the competition involved both of them, now. And no longer felt as though they were competing against each other, but their last move.

It was his turn to lift up Dylan, turn him, and this time sweep him back with the dunk just to surprise him a little.

Dylan laughed with the dunk, his eyes crinkling with the fun of it all. Usually dancing was something to be dreaded, but this felt almost like a team sport. He no longer worried about trodding on Gaheris' toes and instead focused on making each move better than the last one.

"Only two more left, now." Then they'll have done the required six repetitions.

This time for the lift he didn't just pick Gaheris up, in the middle of the lift he threw him up in the air and caught him.

He was having fun with it, as well. He let himself be tossed a little (because if he fought, he would fall and make disaster for them both), and did his best to make the spin go smoothly.

This time when he was dunked he kicked up a leg, just to be funny. And laughed very unintentionally near Dylan's mouth, huffing warm air with the pleased chuckle.

Dylan grinned at Gaheris' laugh and unconsciously gazed just a little longer than necessary at Gaheris' mouth. Then, not one to be outdone in hamminess, he pulled Gaheris close against him in a dramatic sweep as his pulled him up from the dunk.

And his leg was still up, and ended up a little wrapped around Dylan's as he brought it down. He was pressed up against him, holding onto him, making contact with another male (who he frequently competed with).

And it was quite comfortable, actually.

He didn't want to read too much into it. It was as if his mouth, though, began running before he could stop the words from coming out. "Not quite magic yet?"

"Magic?" It took him a moment to understand the reference. Then the memory of that conversation over a Go board hit him. He looked away, flustered. The magic was supposed to be just for Sarah.

"We've got one more repetition left." That was a safe thing to say, right?

"If I lose your attention you're going to make me drop you," he warned, before stepping back. The steps were still easy to go through. He didn't try something so bold as a toss when he lifted Dylan up- he did hold him there for a moment though, before spinning and dunking him low.

And it was his turn to look thoughtfully at Dylan.

"Right. No, I'm focused. It's good." Focused on the dancing. Which they were doing for diplomatic relations. Not...other relations.

"How do your wives not get jealous?" That sounds even worse than he expected. Clearly he did not think this through, but now he has to explain. "Of each other, I mean. Even if you loved them all exactly the same amount...how would they know it?"

He gave him a long look, thoughtful, before pulling Dylan up. He didn't remove his arms from position though.

"Because it's up to me to keep them interested in me. They don't compete, because they don't have to. They already invest more of their bodies in giving birth, in rearing, in educating a child. If they wasted time competing, our children would suffer for it, and as it's my job to keep my wives pleased, if one of them were to lose interest thanks to another pushing her away, the one doing the pushing would stand to lose more because I would start putting more energy into the one that was unhappy."

His brows flick up thoughtfully. "Together, they can share their talents and my own and we can raise well rounded children." He slipped the hand on Dylan's shoulder to the back of his head, even if he wasn't quite sure why.

"Men are usually the ones expected to compete."

"That's...uh...interesting. Very different from how normal, ordinary humans do things. Don't your wives ever want to feel...special? You can't be entirely devoted with all your heart to multiple people simultaneously."

He should step away now that they'd finished the full set. But he didn't. Not yet.

"I think it would be a disservice to them to love each one precisely the same way, and not regard them as someone that pleases me in their own unique way. A wise woman once said, 'There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time.'" And he was beginning to understand why he was feeling so hot.

But no. No, this is a man, first and foremost. Competition.

Only not really competition. He's always been safe from him. He's a competitive standard, not something actively striving to beat him.

Why is it that he even asked. But then a small edge of smile hinted at Rhade's lips. Dylan did feel magic. "If you would like, I could rationalize any of the enjoyment you had just now." He rubbed the back of his neck, hand firm and massaging tension from him.

"What?" Rationalize the enjoyment? He hadn't felt the sort of enjoyment that had to be rationalized away, had he?

Had he?

He had. He definitely had.

"That won't be necessary." If Gaheris offered a way to rationalize it away that would be admitting that there was a thing that needed rationalizing. But then, this whole conversation had already pretty much done that.

"I had fun dancing. There's nothing wrong with that."

"...I'm enjoying myself as well." That seemed safe enough to say, if anything. But his statement very much indicated even not dancing, standing that closely to each other, he was still enjoying himself.

Again he shifted, letting both his hands rest on Dylan's chest. "Funny, how there's nothing wrong with that, but you can pick out what's wrong with everything else."

Dylan did step away then. Stared at the ground for a moment to remind himself why he had to step away.

"I'm engaged. And Sarah isn't a Nietzschean."

And that was as close as he'd ever come to admitting out loud that he wanted them both. He could hardly believe he'd said as much as he did.

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truth_is_cold - 2012-05-09 06:46 (UTC) - Expand

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