Dancing Lesson

Aeolia dragged John and Vivian down the hall and into a large room dominated by a long wooden table flanked by a few chairs. Aeolia released her hold of them and marched to the table, placing a hand on its surface to reduce it in size. She picked up the shrunken table and moved it to rest along the wall.

“Give me a hand with the chairs, John,” she ordered, grabbing one of the wheeled chairs and pushing it towards the far wall.

John obliged her but asked, “What exactly are we doing here?”

Aeolia let out a brief laugh. “Where’d that high Intelligence stat go? We’re letting Vivian get some dance practice in.”

“You don’t have to go to all this trouble,” Vivian chimed in, her voice small. “Dancing isn’t really something we need to keep in top shape. It’s not like it’ll help with dealing with our problems.”

“It isn’t about what’ll help us fight,” Aeolia said, her voice becoming very serious as she pushed another chair to the wall. “It’s about relaxing. If we just keep going at full steam, we’re bound to burn out. Hell, I rushed after whoever sent those vine hounds in a crap state and I might have died if I hadn’t run into them attacking John.”

She paused before turning to regard Vivian. “As much as I want to get these guys, destroying ourselves in the process doesn’t sound like a good trade off. We’re alive and we’re going to live.”

John noticed Aeolia placed extra emphasis on the word ‘live’ and it seemed the weight she added to the word struck something in the redhead. Vivian’s expression shifted from slight confusion to pensive reflection.

“I suppose a little recreation couldn’t hurt,” she admitted, a small smile working its way to her lips. “So, how are we doing this?”

“That’s simple,” Aeolia replied with a sly smile. “You and John can take a spin around.”

John blinked at being offered up as Vivian’s partner. “Why am I being volunteered? Not that I don’t want to dance with you, Vivian. Wait, that came out a bit wrong. Uh, I think I’ll just shut up.”

John clamped his mouth shut, cursing his continued inability to talk to people, especially pretty girls. He glanced at Vivian, who looked more bashful than offended over his butchered words. Aeolia, on the other hand, laughed a bit at John’s expense.

“Well, isn’t it customary for the hero to be the one to sweep the maidens off their feet on the dancefloor?”

That question caused both John and Vivian to flush, and Aeolia laughed again.

“I’m joking,” she said. “But I don’t think I’d make a good dancing partner. I doubt Vivian’s had a partner shorter than her, right?”

Regaining her composure Vivian nodded. “Yes. It would be a bit difficult to switch to the lead.”

“To say nothing about these,” Aeolia added, lifting a taloned foot. “Don’t think you’d like to get poked. So I’ll sit this round out and watch the expert work. Maybe I can pick up enough to not stab some feet.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m anything special,” Vivian muttered humbly before turning to John, a demure smile on her lips. “How do you feel about the waltz?”

Her shy look caused John to swallow nervously. “I’ve, um, never really danced before, but it doesn’t look too hard from what I’ve seen in movies.”

Vivian nodded. “It really isn't hard. Just a series of short steps in beats of three. Step forward, left foot first, then right and keep about a foot of space between them. Then you slide your left foot to meet your right, then step back with your right followed by your left. Then you bring your right foot in towards your left and you repeat the sequence.”

“Left, right, slide, right, left, slide,” John repeated, feeling a bit more confident. “Doesn’t sound any more difficult than trying to maneuver a dungeon puzzle. Okay, how do we start?”

“We’ll need some music,” Vivian said and withdrew her phone from her choker.

“I’ve still got to get my phone upgraded,” John lamented, recalling his current lack of interconnectivity.

Vivian paused her search for appropriate accompaniment. “We can buy that now. The Auction app will auto sync to your account and they’ll deliver it right here.”

John thought for a moment, then shook his head. “We’re doing this to relax, right? No need to wait for me to find the thing. Still got around two hours before anyone who would try to call me would.”

“Okay,” Vivian said, tapping her phone’s screen. The sound of strings, brass and woodwind instruments quickly filled the room and Vivian placed her phone on the still shrunken table.

“I picked a slower one,” she said over the music as it swelled. “Um, now we have to get in position.”

John was certain his heart was beating harder, but the beat of the music helped to drown it out as he and Vivian drew closer. The redhead bit her lower lip cutely as she reached for John’s left hand.

“Okay, so you hold my right hand like this,” she instructed, her voice barely heard over the music, “and you put your right hand on my shoulder blade, going under my arm.”

John followed her orders and slipped his left arm under hers as she placed her left hand on his upper arm. The unfamiliar close contact caused a pleasant shiver to run down John’s spine, but he managed to prevent his positive reaction to Vivian’s closeness from being apparent.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yeah,” John replied.

“We’ll take it step by step at first. On my count,” Vivian said. “Three, two, one.”

John stepped forward as instructed, his foot narrowly missing Vivian’s retreating appendage.

“Sorry,” John apologised quickly.

“You didn’t step on me,” Vivian said with a soothing smile. “Don’t worry about a few trip ups. Everyone screws up a bit their first time. Just dial back how far you extended your leg. Think small steps, not long ones.”

“Got it,” John intoned, bringing his right foot in line with his left before bringing his feet together as instructed, Vivian mirroring his action. John then began the reverse course, taking Vivian’s advice to heart and reigned in his steps. Vivian’s steps followed smoothly and she smiled at him.

“Good,” she said. “Keep that gait. Want to go a few more slow rounds or do you want to try and move in time to the music?”

John’s sense of competitiveness flared up but failed to fully overcome his nervousness. “I think we should do a few more practice rounds. You know, just make sure I’ve got the rhythm down.”

“Alright,” Vivian replied. “On your count then.”

John nodded and counted down like Vivian had. His steps were more sure, and after he led Vivian through a few more practice cycles, he nodded to her. “Think I’m ready to try this for real.”

“Alright,” Vivian said, right as the current song ended and the next began. “Oh, perfect. Right, listen closely to the beat. One, two, three. One, two, three. Hear it?”

John nodded, mentally continuing her count, matching it to the flow of the music, in particular to a noticeable note from a horn. He took a breath and locked eyes with Vivian.

“Three,” he started with a smile.

“Two,” she added, precisely in time.

“One,” they said in tandem and John brought his foot forward into the space vacated by Vivian’s. Their steps crossed the floor, forward, side, back and John stopped his active count, instead relying on the beat to maintain his flow.

“You’re doing well,” Vivian noted. “You got the rhythm down pretty quickly.”

John smiled. “Guess years of platforming have finally paid off. Just needed to get used to using my feet instead of my fingers.”

“I suppose that video gaming would be your go to hobby?” Vivian asked. “We didn’t get around to talking about yours before.”

“I mean, I guess it would,” John answered. “But since that’s kind of what my powers are based on, I guess that falls into Aeolia’s ‘no work related pastimes’ category. So I’d have to say I like watching old movies. Mostly the action or comedy ones.”

Movement caught John’s eye and he looked away from his redheaded partner and saw Aeolia mimicking his moves. A smile quirked its way to his face, prompting Vivian to inquire about it.

“Our recreation leader isn’t sitting this dance out,” John said in a voice just loud enough for Vivian to hear, a flash of inspiration and courage striking him. “You think I’ve gotten a good enough handle on the basics to try doing a half turn?”

Vivian bit her lip in thought, the cute idiosyncrasy causing John’s heart to speed up slightly. “I think you’ve got a good foundation to try. When you do the back step, pivot to your left.”

John nodded, and when he reached that part of the dance, he did as instructed. The turn didn’t have the fluidity he had developed with the basic steps but it worked well enough, bringing Aeolia into Vivian’s line of sight.

“She’s got pretty good form,” Vivian mentioned as she and John resumed their dance at the basic level. “I wonder if having a high Agility stat makes learning something like this easier?”

John pondered over Vivian’s theory. “I suppose that makes sense. If Strength reflects, well, physical power and Endurance stamina, it follows that Agility would govern something that requires balance and precision. She does have more than either of us, if I recall correctly.”

The pair fell into a comfortable silence as they danced. John found the repetitive action and submersion in music actually relaxing, a notion he would have found absurd two days prior given the physical nature of the activity.

‘It’s weird how much has changed,’ he mused as he continued to sway with Vivian. The moment was fairly romantic, even though the setting was far from it. John’s eyes took in Vivian’s content visage, his vision drifting towards her smiling lips before continuing further south. He mentally shook himself before the redhead caught his wandering eyes.

‘Get your head together, John,’ he berated himself, hoping his inner turmoil wasn’t playing on his face. ‘You’ve already got the Aeolia question to deal with. Don’t get yourself wrapped up in falling for another girl, especially our only ally in this blood stealing bad guy business. It’s not like gaining powers suddenly makes me a chick magnet capable of just gathering a harem.’

The music began to fade and the familiar tapping of Aeolia’s talons drew John out of his thoughts. He brought his and Vivian’s dance to a pause and twisted his head to regard her and the sly smile on her face.

“Mind if I cut in?” she asked. “Think I can manage without stabbing some feet.”

John shared a glance with Vivian, who nodded, though John thought he caught the slight sight of a sad smile flicker across her face.

“Sure,” John said, releasing his hold of Vivian’s hand, the loss of contact causing his heart to pang slightly. Before John could turn to properly embrace his new partner, she brushed past him and quickly took hold of Vivian’s vacant hand and resumed the dance right as the music picked up.

John blinked owlishly, an expression mirrored by Vivian as she adapted to her new partner. Aeolia cocked her head back, her sly smile still on her face as she peeked around her wing.

“What?” she asked teasingly. “Dancing is Vivian’s hobby. I’m not going to make her sit out the second round.”

Her words killed any argument John may have made, not that he was going to raise anything more than a question of motive. So he watched as Aeolia took the lead. He imagined his dance with Vivian looked less elegant than Aeolia’s was; even with her shorter stature, there seemed to be no issue for Vivian to follow her lead, even as she pulled a half turn, returning Vivian to her original position, her back towards him.

Peeking over from the redhead’s shoulder, Aeolia’s eyes met John’s, the mischievous gleam in those yellow orbs causing a spike of worry to knot his gut.

‘Now what does she have planned?’

Vivian hadn’t expected Aeolia to take John’s place as her partner, though she couldn’t say the AvenFae wasn’t closer to her level.

“Have you danced before?” she asked.

“Nope,” Aeolia replied. “Just copying your steps.”

“Yes, John and I noticed,” Vivian said, her brow furrowing. “We think high Agility helped you there.”

Aeolia shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I’ve always been pretty quick to pick up things involving my body. Fighting stances, aerial maneuvers, dance steps, never had to watch them more than once or twice before I started to do them.”

Vivian bit her lip. “Maybe it’s wrong to say Agility gave you that talent, and it’s more your natural aptitude for quick adoption of physical activity that helps give you a high stat. Or maybe we’re thinking too hard about it. We only see our stats through John’s perspective, so maybe his powers just put people’s abilities in numbers he can compare to.”

“Anyone ever tell you that thing you do with your lip is cute,” Aeolia said, her voice becoming more of a whisper as she closed the short distance between them, throwing off Vivian’s academic line of thought.

“W-what?” Vivian stuttered out, her steps faltering slightly.

“I’ll be straight with you,” Aeolia pivoted, snorting a bit at her own choice of words. “I find you attractive and…”

“Aren’t you and John together?” Vivian interjected, her voice strained.

“More or less,” Aeolia whispered into her ear. “But I’m sure it’d be easy to persuade him to…”

Red in the face, Vivian pushed Aeolia away, far more harshly than she intended to.

“I,” she began, her voice unsteady. “I think I need some space.”