|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:13 pm
The classroom was quite when Ladon went in, and he felt a bit relieved that Andrea wasn’t here yet. It gave him a moment to sit down and prepare himself. Since setting up the appointment to start dance lessons, he became more and more aware of what he agreed to, and more and more nervous. If wearing frilly clothes and sewing plush animals could get him beat up, what would dancing with a guy do to him? When he thought about it, he wondered if he could have gotten Andrea to agree to someplace else to practice, but the dancer was already agreeing to teach him for free, out of his own time, and had even let him push it back for an entire week while he healed from Negaverse-related injuries. His stitches still pulled, but it was good the were healing and were no longer a threat to move around with.
Not only that, but Andrea was confident and uncaring to what others thought. For Ladon to admit he was a tad bit afraid would make him look like a coward, and he didn’t want that. He wanted to be confident too, and he also wanted to know how to dance. What is someone asked him at prom, if he decided he would go, and he just made a fool of both of them?! He couldn’t have that embarrassment.
So he sat in the empty chair waiting for Andrea, glad that everyone was either in a club or heading home. It was also good that their classroom wasn’t one that was often used, but had plenty of space. Dumping his bag on the ground, he unzipped it a moment to look at a small sewing kit. He didn’t know if Andrea wanted to learn about buttons immediately, so he only brought his small sewing kit and not the big one, picking out some of cutest buttons he had. What could he say? He was a sucker for buttons.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:52 pm
Andrea walked into the classroom with a small zipper case in his hand, frowning with concentration as he worked to unstick the zipper and unzip it the rest of the way. He had his earbuds in and the cord held gently between his lips, with the music player itself dangling from the other end of the white wire by his chin.
He looked up and smiled at Ladon, then took the wire from his mouth and set the music player down on one of the desks.
"Hey, sorry I'm a few minutes late," he said. "Teacher waited till the bell rang to pass back our last tests. I hate it when she does that." The zipper came free when he fiddled with it again, and Andrea opened the small oval-shaped case to reveal a pair of small speakers with a docking station.
Andrea then glanced around the room, trying to judge whether there was enough space for dancing. The classroom was not a big one, which had made it a good candidate for dance lessons since none of the clubs meeting that day would have any need for a room that small. There were not too many desks, either, with a decent amount of space between the blackboard and the first row, but the dancer determined that they would have to shove the first row back a little just to be on the safe side, space-wise.
"Here, help me move this row back against the second row, and we should have plenty of space up front." He smiled a little as he started sliding one desk back. "How was your day, by the way? And how've you been doing? Are you healing up alright?" He had been concerned when Ladon had had to reschedule, and he had not really had the chance to talk to him much in school since their schedules were so different.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:32 pm
It wasn’t long till Andrea came in, and Ladon quickly zipped up his backpack, looking up to see the boy in the middle of trying to get his things together. He seemed to be lacking enough hands to juggle it all, but still managed to set everything set aside and judge the room. Ladon had no idea how much space they would need and was leaving the judging for Andrea’s expert eye. It seemed satisfactory, which was a relief since Ladon didn’t want to go to the theater were people were probably making props and could watch them. He wanted to keep their lessons as private as possible.
Rising, he went to a desk and started to help pushing them back, helping to set up the dance floor. “I’m good. I’m being more careful. I really should have watched where I was going, but it’s healing.” When Ladon asked Andrea to push their appointment to next week, he explained that he went out running and had slipped on a piece of ice which made him fall and hurt his side. If Andrea felt the bandage when they danced then he already had the established story to explain why. More and more he was getting better at lying, and the stories weren’t even that hard to think up anymore.
Pushing a second desk back, he looked back at Andrea. “How..have you been?” He really didn’t know what Andrea did beside go to the same school as he did and dance which meant there was little to talk about. The boy was still somewhat of a stranger to him, but at least he knew he was nice. He just had to learn more about him. “How did you do on the test? Was it hard?” Well, he had to start somewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:06 am
Andrea pulled the earbuds from his ears and left them with the music player and mini-speakers on the first desk, and moved to the other side of Ladon to start pushing the next desk back. "I did okay," he admitted with regards to the test. "Not as well as I would have liked. Spanish isn't all that hard, but I mix up some of the words sometimes. Stupid little mistakes like that." He was taking Spanish because the school did not offer Italian, but he hardly resented the other Romance language - it was interesting to him, at least. There were a fair number of kids in the class who were only there to fulfil their foreign language requirements, but that also meant that they usually did not care much what was going on in class until right before final grades went out. Andrea was not the head of the class, but he did his work, which was more than some of his classmates could say, and consequently did at least alright on pretty much all the tests.
"Have they been letting you out of running for PE?" he inquired a moment later, starting to take a step back towards his music before instead changing course to head to the back of the room to ease the door shut. "Or does the moving around help with the healing for you?" Andrea did not want to be overly nosy, but he figured it was a safe question to ask about the injury.
Once the door was shut, the taller boy moved back to his music player and fiddled with it for a moment to plug it into the speakers, glancing up at Ladon every couple moments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:21 pm
Ladon hadn’t even started his language requirement, and he really didn’t want to think which one he was going to take. French sounded romantic, but people said Spanish was easier. He doubted he would be at any, but he had heard there was some great races in Europe, so he was leaning towards French more and more. Not that he saw himself going there anytime soon. It was a dream, like many ones he had to entertain him when he was finding it hard to pay attention in class. As of recently, he was finding it harder and harder to pay attention in class. There were bigger things on his mind now than Algebra or Biology.
“It’s fine. I can move, but I can go running all over the place like I use to. As long as you don’t expect me to do any crazy things like flipping around, I’ll be good.” He didn’t think Andrea would expect him to do anything too demanding, would he? Even at his best, he couldn’t lift anyone and he didn’t think they’d go straight to something too complicated. By the time their beginning lessons were over, he was sure he’d be pretty much healed.
They worked together to push back all the desks, and Ladon looked at the space that would now be their dance floor. “So, I was thinking about something. If the person you’re dancing with is taller than you, do they take the lead or do I still take the lead when dancing?” It was something he was curious about, and he wondered, since he was shorter than someone he knew, if they would be the one to take the male role in leading or would he still be the one. He had no idea if that would complicate things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:46 pm
The taller boy considered Ladon's question for a moment, thinking back to when they had gotten a crash-course in swing dancing one day at ballet practice.
"Traditionally, the man always leads, which some girls think is romantic and chivalrious, but other girls think it's sort of sexist?" He shrugged a little. "Sooo I guess it would depend on the girl your dancing with, whether you lead or not." Andrea set the portable speakers down on the table and laughed once. "I figure, if I know a girl well enough to be dancing with her, I'll know whether or not she wants me to lead. And I guess you could always trade off dances or whatever."
He considered the music player for a moment, then decided to show Ladon the steps first, and get him used to those before they tried with any music. With the desks out of the way, Andrea stepped to the middle of the dance floor and spread his arms.
"Alright, you ready? We'll start simple, obviously, and you'll never have to worry about lifting me. Just like, kick me or something if I bother your stitches." He grinned at Ladon and hoped he was not also blushing. With so few boys in his dance classes, he was not sure he had ever had to dance with another boy before. Not that it bothered him; he just hoped it did not bother Ladon, that was all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:23 pm
It troubled him greatly that he didn’t know what type of girl Tate was. She had liked Howl to lead the last time he had seen her dance, and he guessed that she didn’t mind, but that was Howl, not that he ever saw himself dancing with Tate. These were lessons for the future, or at least that was what he was telling himself. He just didn’t like the idea that he wasn’t really sure, and that not being sure meant he wasn’t a true friend. How much did he really know about his friend in the long run? Apparently she had friends he didn’t know about, had a life outside of the small realm he occupied with her, and due to recent happenings, he noticed that he was Ladon, a friend. A friend, and nothing was going to change that. Not anytime soon.
Troubled, he stepped back when Andrea approached and gave a flowing gesture of his hands before holding them up, waiting Ladon to take his own dancing pose. The thing was, he didn’t have one. While Andrea might have been concerned about two boys dancing, Ladon was too nervous about figuring out how to start. Was he suppose to be holding a hip, or did he hold both hands, or was it one hand on the shoulder and one on the arm? Either way, he was in trouble. Andrea was taller than he was, and his arms only went so far. While most people held their hands up, Andrea might have to hold his down just a bit for him unless he wanted to go on tippy-toes, which wasn’t going to help with learning to dance and stitches. Hesitantly, he reached up and took Andrea’s hands, having to step close just to reach up and take them. It was even more evident that he wasn’t that tall, and he looked up at him that said he felt embarrassed about his own stature, as if it was his fault. “Um…is this how it goes, or do my hands go somewhere else?” He also looked up at Andrea, wondering how this was going to work. The boy really hadn’t answered his question before. “Are you going to lead?” They were both boys here, and he was new to dancing. Was it easier to learn how to lead or to learn from a leader?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:59 pm
Andrea took Ladon's hands and stood facing him, positioning his feet with a bit of space between them.
"Okay, feet are I guess about shoulder width, but you'll be moving them, so as long as you can do that without falling over, your feet are good. And for the moment, follow me, although it won't matter much with this really basic step since we won't be going anywhere." He looked down at their feet and shifted his weight a little before continuing, "Obviously, you'll want to look at your partner while you're dancing, but for the moment, look at my feet.... You'll start with your left foot, just step in place and pick up your right foot a little, then step to the other side, same way, then step back with your left foot and sort of rock back onto it before you step forward again." Andrea did the steps slowly to demonstrate, with the opposite feet since he was dancing the other part.
He glanced quickly up at Ladon and grinned to encourage him to try, and counted off to help with the rhythm, "One, two, three-and, one, two, three-and, one, two, three-and...." The count was slow enough to give the novice dancer a chance to get the hang of it, and after a few rounds of steps, Andrea looked to Ladon's face again to try to gauge his expression, whether or not he seemed to think it difficult.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:20 pm
Already in the first, most basic step, and he was already a wreak. He first looked up when Andrea said he was suppose to, then shot his head down to look at his feet when he was told that he would be doing that for the first time around. As he watched, it had looked simple enough, but when he tried himself, he had to switch it around since Andrea was doing it from the other side. The count was slow, but when he started to work through the motions, he made mistakes and then suddenly felt it was too fast. Easily flustered with his failures, he started to feel that he wasn’t getting the hang of it at all, that he was wasting Andrea’s time, and that he should have bothered learning to dance since no one in the world would want to be his partner. Fresh worries from days before came up to attack and he felt his hand get clammy, which only made him more self conscious that he was probably making Andrea disgusted.
“Wait..can you slow it down a second?” he bit his lip, trying not to betray what he was feeling, and took sanctuary in being able to look down and not up at the boy, letting his eyes focus on his sneakers as he slowly worked through the motions. Good. Good. Mistake. Good. Good. Good. Good. Mistake. Mistake. Good.
For all that he trained in track and felt confident on his own two feet before, they failed him in this new arena and he felt all confidence rush away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:20 pm
Ladon's worries met with Andrea's patience and easy smile. He stopped as he caught his partner falling behind, then leaned their clasped hands in the direction to start first.
"We'll sort of lean back and forth on the first two counts. This way first, alright? One."
Then he leaned his hands the other way.
"Two." He smiled at Ladon again. "Then we sort of take half a step apart. Three-and."
He repeated the procedure, showing Ladon which way to go using their hands; he continued to count aloud as well, slowly and steadily, so he could keep up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:38 am
Ladon studied Andrea's movements, watching intensely, dissecting each step as simply as he could in hopes of understanding it better and finding the key to grace. While he didn't have two left feet, seeing and doing were something he always needed practice with. It made him envious of those people who could watch someone once and instantly be a master, while he instead worked over and over to practice, nearing perfection with hard work. Dancing was going to require this amount of practice, and he was glad that he at least could get most of it through Andrea.
A nervous smile fluttered on his face. "Sorry." Apologizing for his slow learning. "I must not be the best student you've ever had." Probably the worst if he was allowed a guess.
At least he wasn't stepping on the boy's sneakers, though he was wearing sneakers too and it probably wouldn't hurt. Being light and short paid off sometimes.
A strange idea flickered in his brain, and he paused a moment before catching back to the steps he was learning. "Andrea....I know this is going to sound weird and not a normal way to learn or anything, but...is there any way I can, and you can tell me no and I won't mind, just - sorta stand on your sneakers while you do one of the steps." He was already turning a little pink from the suggestion. "I remember learning once from an uncle at my aunt's wedding a while ago when I was a kid, and actually feeling the steps made me remember them faster." Okay, insane idea, but if he felt his own legs do it, it just made sense that he would know instead of looking. Sure, he had been 7 at the time, but he still remembered it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:41 pm
"I haven't really done a whole lot of teaching," Andrea replied with a small shrug. Then, a moment later, he laughed a little. "I've helped with a few of the little-kid ballet classes, though, and I can say that you would be hard-pressed to beat a gaggle six five-year-old girls at being difficult."
He went back to counting aloud then, looking down at Ladon's feet to see how he was faring. Then he looked up again, stopping his own movements at Ladon's question.
"Uhhh." He was not quite sure what the other boy meant. "Like, stand on my toes facing me right now? It'd be a little tough since you'd have to take one step back, off of my foot, though, for the third step. And...." He trailed off, waiting for the other boy to clarify, since he was not quite keen on the thought of someone standing on his feet. Andrea's sneakers were good and sturdy for running in gym and all, and Ladon hardly looked heavy, but still.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:00 pm
He should have known that wasn’t going to work. What had he been thinking? It wasn’t the best or most normal suggestion, but maybe his own nervousness was trying to throw ideas at him. Quickly shaking his head, he dismissed Andrea’s question to further explain. “Nah. It was just a silly idea. Forget it.” Right now, he wanted to just keep pressing on, and even though Andrea’ didn’t teach often, he still knew what he was doing. If this was the best way, he’d just figure it out. At least he wasn’t a 5-year old girl, but that didn’t mean he felt like it just a bit.
Taking the boy’s hands, he continued, and there was a slow sense of progress as he mastered the first steps. An accomplishment, but not a big one considering this was suppose to be the first step, the most basic of the basic, and he hadn’t even learned it that quickly. Never had he hated his legs more than he did right now, or the fact he wasn’t instantly a dancing genius. “I think I have this part.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:25 pm
A good while into their practice session, Andrea and Ladon could hear a set of footsteps clicking down the slightly scuffed hallway their classroom was in: Nora's drama club meeting had ended a little early this afternoon, was free to start heading home, and it just so happened that her locker was among the rows of them right across from where the dance lesson was taking place.
Through the tiny rectangle-window of the classroom door, they might have been able to just make out her gentle spill of wine-red hair as she rummaged through her things, putting away some books and pulling out others, before quietly and gently closing it and turning back around to go on her way -- and then her eyes caught on the little pane of steel-meshed class, and she did a double-take before pausing in her tracks entirely.
Surely Andrea wouldn't mind just a tiny interruption, she thought with a bemused little smile. Striding over to the other side of the hallway, she curled her hand around the handle of the door and quietly pushed it open.
"Andy," she started, a playful pout drawn across her features, "you never told me you gave dance lessons! How could you keep this from me, with prom coming up and everything?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:41 pm
Andrea blinked at Ladon as he changed his mind about ... whatever exactly it had been that he was suggesting, but quickly shrugged it off. He saw that his student was starting to catch on, though, as they started again. When Ladon voiced his confidence in the first steps, Andrea did not stop right away, but asked as they continued dancing, "You want to try it with some music?"
Before he could get a reply, though, he though he heard the creak of the door opening, and as he turned, Andrea caught sight of his friend Nora. Chuckling a little to ease the faint scare of just not expecting anyone to come into the room, he stopped his swing stepping and released Ladon's hands for the moment.
"Ah, sorry, Nora, I didn't know you were interested," he replied, giving an apologetic smile. "Do you know swing dancing yet?" he then inquired, an idea starting to form in his mind. "That's what I'm teaching Ladon right now; was just going to put some music on.
"Oh, right, Nora, this is Ladon, I met him..." he trailed off, raising an eyebrow as he glanced to the other boy, and then decided it might be best to avoid mention of their first decidedly prickly meeting at the bleachers. "I met him at the mall, weekend before last. Ladon, this is my good friend Nora."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
