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Unlike Paris, Colin was fairly comfortable even off the stage, though he too felt most at home, most comfortable, being there as well. It was one of the few areas in his life where he didn't try over-reaching himself because his unshakable confidence in his skills was quite honestly warranted. He and Paris were very similar when it came to the way dancing had been - and still was - a major part of their lives and despite the fact that they had focused on different disciplines they had crossed paths from time to time.

Or at least often enough to recognize each other pretty well on sight.

Colin would have gone out to mingle with those people whose aid they had all performed so eloquently to obtain, but he wanted to at least pull on a pair of proper slacks; charity functions were absolutely worth while and he fully supported functions of all types - especially ones that helped to spread his love of dance. Also, if he performed (or was that more like when?) he got to stay and see some pretty awesome people, fellow dancers or otherwise.

He was taking a pull from one of those Earth-friendly reusable water bottles when Paris came up to talk to him. Colin turned his head towards the questioning voice and then smiled broadly when he recognized the speaker.

"Paris? I thought that was you!" Colin being Colin, the blond immediately closed the still-open water bottle and then moved to give Paris a big hug in greeting, talking over her shoulder while his arms were around her. "Wow, I haven't seen you since...god, graduation. How've you been?"

So the other dancer was in drag, so what. Paris had a finely boned face and had always been even more feminine than Colin was (though he now had a more masculine look, enough make-up could have fooled an audience); that being said, he himself had ended up dancing in female-garb from time to time. That didn't cause him to bat an eye. What did give him reason to pause was that while he was hugging Paris, he could have sworn he felt breasts. Small, but...breasts.

When he pulled away finally, he couldn't help the thoughtful half-frown on his face. Even when he danced a girl's part, he didn't pad his chest. They just created the illusion of cleavage...but hugging Paris, there had definitely been some "extra" padding...kind of like hugging his little sister.

"Um, Paris...maybe I'm crazy, but..." Colin kind of gestured at her top, not quite sure what to say...as far as he could recall, Paris hadn't had boobs.

Her expression while recalling Hillworth was interesting and a bit odd to Colin - sure, Hillworth had sucked, big time, but it hadn't been quite as bad as say, military camp? But if he thought about it further, it was easy to remember just how unhappy he'd been before Björn had entered his life...and how difficult it had been to date someone when it was totally against the rules.

"Well, my boy friend and I did, but now that you mention it..." He hadn't seen Paris at the graduation ceremony (small as it was)...as a matter of fact, Colin couldn't remember when he had last seen Paris at Hillworth. "Oh, uh..I'm sorry to hear that. But you didn't miss much, trust me."

Paris seemed really pleased that he'd noticed and even, perhaps on accident, seemed to give them a little boost, which made his confused expression turn into a slightly-pink cheeked chuckle. After she explained, his smile got even brighter - he was truly happy that she was happy and had a good life. "Wow. Congratulations Paris, on..everything, really. You look amazing, too. Man, I can't believe your married! Okay, actually I can, but it seems so weird, knowing a married person my age." With a shake of his head and a happy chuckle he winked at her, "Your husband's a lucky guy, I hope he knows it.."

Colin's compliments were honest, though they had never been more than acquaintances, he'd always liked what he knew of/about Paris and he definitely respected her skills.

"Oh um, actually I've been out of the country for a little over a year, so you wouldn't have seen me. I pretty much just got back from Battlesea, London. I was attending the Royal Academy of Dance...they'd invited me to attend their graded Vocational classes, get some master instruction, some polish, you know? It was absolutely an amazing experience and I'm so lucky and happy to have attended, even if I missed everyone here." Especially Björn, though he didn't say that aloud.

Even if he'd known that his compliments would only fed Paris' ego, Colin wouldn't have held them back. He just wasn't that sort of fellow - he'd been told he was either too honest or too blunt for most of his life (among other things that he'd been/was "too much" of..like girly).

"Of course you'd say that, he's your husband." Another laugh from the green-eyed dancer; Paris' tone might have been a little bit off for the humble picture painted by her words, but Colin had always been fairly simplistic with things like that. He didn't always catch the finer nuances of tone and pitch when it came to talking with people - they were just so much harder to read than music!

"It was really amazing and I've got a bunch of notes and video footage and stuff, techniques...critiques from the instructors and things like that." He ran one hand through his short hair, mussing the curls so some of them stood up where they shouldn't. "If you wanted sometime, I'd be happy to show you?"

"And you could go...the Summer Vocational is supposed to be really good for the cost. I couldn't tell you, but they've got a website...you could check it out. If your husband'll let you go, that is." Not meaning let her go, but rather would he want to send Paris so far away that he wouldn't be able to see, touch and hold her. "And they've supposedly got accredited schools all over the place, so there may be one closer. But Battlesea was so amazing, you should go to London if you can."

What was he thinking of doing? Lord, wasn't that the question? "Well, my old studio's offered me a teaching position, but I'd rather dance than teach dance. I've got a couple companies interested in having me come on...some from Destiny City, some outside it." Colin pulled a headband out of his back pocket when adjusting his curls a few more times didn't work; the headband might have looked silly sometimes, but at least the damned thing kept his hair out of his eyes!

"The ballet has offered to let me audition too, so if I join up, I'll expect you to show me the ropes." His tone was light, teasing; she was classical ballet (mostly) and he was more of a...contemporary guy. But that didn't mean that if he joined the DC Ballet Company that they wouldn't end up performing together.

"Extremely. Plus, now I"m back living at home, which is really weird...my sister's grown boobs and talking about prom and making out and...everything I don't want to hear about from my baby sis." Colin made a face of extreme distaste; he loved Miriam, but he didn't want to hear about her first period, cramps, how she needed a new bra, what boy she was kissing....any of it. Ick.

He listened with interest but at the back of his mind was the thought that if her husband were scouted for the Major Leagues, she could just as easily take that time to head off to one of the RAD accredited places at the same time. Sure, the main campus was in Battlesea...but there were several other centers that could give one a similar education! Currently there wasn't one available in Destiny City (or he probably would have stayed locally and attended it instead of leaving his friends, family and lover behind) but who knew if there would - or wouldn't - be one in the future?

"Well, maybe they'll get a satellite location here sometime? There are quite a few good schools here...it'd be nice too. Then people like us wouldn't have to travel so far!" He chuckled a little and then picked idly at his sleeve, "Baseball, huh? I played in Little League for like..a week. I quit 'cause it interfered with dance rehearsals." Paris was so clearly in love it should have rotted his teeth...but it was sweet and he could almost see the sparkles and bubbles around the young woman when she spoke. "I understand. It's really hard to leave someone you love behind for that long..." When you came back, they were apt to be a whole new person - rediscovery was fun, but there were times when he almost wished he hadn't gone. Almost.

"Oh, absolutely. You know, you're good enough now you'll probably be able to critique 'em as well as my instructors. And the harder stuff..." He shrugged a little bit, smiling still, "I'd be happy to practice with you sometime, show you what I learned?" That is, supposing that Colin had learned anything that Paris didn't already know...or have a grasp on. "I'll take your word on it and give it some more consideration...it'd be awesome if I got to work in with a good company and knew some of the people first, instead of being thrown in with the wolves."

The world of Dance could be amazingly dog-eat-dog...even among friends. "Oh, I'll keep up, alright. You just be ready for me!" He took a moment while she was talking, her voice tinged with wistful sadness, to snag another water bottle. Water was so much better for you than the stuff the people on the other side of the stage were drinking!

"It's wonderful being back..though I have to admit, if I were as happily married as you seem to be, I don't know that I could've gone. It was hard enough leaving my boyfriend behind as it was. Actually, we broke up before I left, 'cause I didn't want to hold him back."

"Oh wow. I admit, I know very little about baseball, but even I know that 95 is damned good." Colin could admit when he didn't know something, just like he could appreciate when someone else was - and Paris' man definitely sounded like he was quite the ball player. Maybe he would have been more interested in sports if he'd been slightly less interested in dancing (or keeping his head on his shoulders, since bullies loved skinny boys that looked too pretty to be boys and danced).

"I'd love to meet the guy that snagged you up." Colin chuckled a little at the way she spoke of Chris, of how their schedules slipped in and out of sync. "Uh huh, suuure you would. I don't believe it for a second my friend. You've still got that..honey-moon glow going."

"Don't worry about it, I'm the same way with Björn...and we're just." He fluttered one hand expansively; they weren't married - they weren't even engaged - maybe their relationship would never get to that level, but it didn't matter because as of that moment he was head-over-heels about the guy.

After taking a sip of water he continued on, answering some of her questions. "Yeah. He was my roommate at Hillworth...I dunno if you ever saw him. Big guy, built like a tank, long blond braid, accent...terrible at math?" Colin's expression was bright and open - maybe some of those sparkles and bubbles that surrounded Paris switched to join him as he talked about Björn.

"Kept dating for a bit after graduation...but like I said, I didn't want to hold him back with a long-distance relationship. He's really an amazing guy, but he's pretty physical...he's a strong-man. Or training to be one."

"It was really hard leaving him behind, I don't think I'll ever do that again. We've gotten together a time or two so far, but mostly it's been us talking on the phone." Of course, that was something he was going to change, as soon as he could manage it - especially since his mother had been gently hinting that she wanted to turn his old room into an office and Björn had mentioned his apartment having plenty of room.

They might not have been friends during their time at Hillworth, but Colin thought they could easily become so now, but even if they didn't he was genuinely happy to see another person like that. Happy. Fulfilled. In love.

"I don't know why I didn't think of it, I've got a ton of pictures of him on my phone. One sec..." Colin shoved his securely capped water bottle under one arm and fished his smart-phone out so he could show Paris his bear of a boy-friend. There were a few that had both Colin and Björn in them, but mostly the snaps were of the tall blond working out or looking at the camera with a big, open smile. Except for the ones that were clearly from a Christmas celebration which were decidedly festive and included Colin's mom and little sister.

"Yeah." He chuckled and shook his head a little - being roommates at Hillworth had made things both easier and more complicated since it was totally against the rules to 'fraternize'. "I don't know about convenient, it wasn't always easy to keep from getting caught." Colin grinned and winked back, he was pretty shameless when it came to Björn and had been pretty early on. "It's a little different I think, but we'd be okay. I mean, he's really easy going...just have to make sure the furniture's sturdy enough to hold him."

Which is why they'd gotten rid of Björn's Hillworth provided bed frame right off and shoved the mattress and box spring on the floor. Colin's bed had ended up being more of a couch, a place where he did his homework or lay out clothing than somewhere anyone slept.

"That's-- That'd be awesome. I wanna meet your guy and you've definitely got to meet Björn!" It was a great idea! Not the double-date thing so much, since they had to be really careful when planning stuff like that 'cause Björn was so damned big most places just weren't comfortable for him to be. "Double-dates are fun, but he's huge and doesn't fit most places. He was six-five in school and he's bigger now." Six-foot-seven, to be precise.

But dinner? That totally could work, so long as Chris and Paris had sturdy furniture, so he perked happily at the thought. "Haha, oh god, we would be pretending, wouldn't we?" Not in a bad way, they were just young yet. "If you think your furniture can take it, I'd love to do dinner sometime. Oh, but I'm a vegetarian, no meat. I do eggs, milk and cheese as long as the animals are treated humanely. He'll eat just about anything."

"I've even gotten him eating tofu." At Paris saying she had become something of a shut in Colin put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her seriously. "Okay, nope. Not okay. You're too pretty to be a shut-in, so when I get the whole..living arrangement thing settled? We're gonna go out and do something. I mean it. What's your number?" It would go in his phone, yep, along with a quick snap of Paris' face for the little icon.