10-06-2016, 06:10 AM
"Step forward to the side, and... no! No! The left side! Follow my feet, Vi!"
"Hey, this isn't easy stick!"
The routine between working during the day, teaching Vi in the evening and sleeping at night had went on for nearly a month now. The next Gala was announced and would take place tomorrow, though there was no beach party happening this time around, so Costa del Sol was noticeably calmer and quieter than it had been a month ago. One day to go, two lessons left including their current one, if they squeezed in a last repetition on the same day.
One day left, and Sabrina was getting desperate. Vi wasn't a slow learner, but she and dancing just didn't compute. She was able to do the MOVEMENTS but she lacked the grace and elegance needed to turn the series of movements into a continuous flowing dance. Not to mention, she kept forgetting details here and there that Sabrina needed to fix, and no matter what the next evening she either made the same error or something else popped up instead. They weren't unmanageable errors but they did upset Sabrina's mild perfectionism, and she did want Vi to be able to dance. If she was going to cross one boundary by doing the man's side of the dance, she would at least have to be good at it.
"Okay, just... let's try it again, from the top. Starting position... okay. Forward, forward, left and pause... now back two steps... forward to the left... VI!"
The Enforcer gave an angry huff and pulled her feet back from the wrong position, then went to leave the dancefloor. "I don't care anymore. This'll never work out!"
Sabrina ran after her. "What are you doing? Are you going to just give up? I thought you were better than that!" She already had a barrier raised when Vi threw a punch at her. It was not the first time they had had a conversation like this... and it may not be the last either. The punch, releasing a burst of anger with it, usually calmed Vi enough that she could be spoken to. "Listen. You can do this, you have come so far. I am confident in that you can do that last step as well."
"Not this time, stick. I'm just running on the spot at this point. These movements, the whole..."
"Choreography?"
"Whatever, that thing is difficult. I'm just not made to dance in ballrooms, unlike some of us."
"That's not true! You're... wait." Sabrina stopped speaking as an idea came to her mind, and she grinned. "You're a fighter, aren't you... don't they say that you dance across a battlefield, hmm?"
Vi was about to make a snappy retaliation but stopped with her mouth half open, then blinked. "What?"
"This may or may not work, but... imagine that this is a battle - no, a contest. That your steps are withdrawing or advancing, that each movement is an attack or defence, that you're interlocked with your opponent in a struggle. They're challenging your skill and you must match theirs if you don't want them to defeat you. If you make a wrong move, you lose because you didn't train. If they make a wrong move, you win because you trained enough."
Vi snickered. "You've got the craziest ideas, but it sounds worth a try. I can enjoy a good contest."
"Good. Because most of the people at the Gala are going to be real tough, so if you want to make it through, you'll need to train all you can these last two sessions." She held her hand out. "So then, let's give it a test run?"
Vi took her hand, guided her to the dancefloor they had set up and began. Though it was by no means perfect, still rather rough around the edges, it was far better than the approach they'd tried up until then. Vi led Sabrina around in elegant twirls and steps, challenged her with each movement and retaliated to Sabrina's "attacks" with her own. Only twice did she step on her toes (both times accompagnied by angry cursing) before she got the movements down, and after over half an hour of continuous dancing they were both exhausted but satisfied.
"Time-out..." called Sabrina finally, panting but smiling brightly. "I think you're just about ready to hit the real dancefloor. But I would insist on doing the last session regardless, so that you are able to perform your best."
Vi went to sit on the bench at the edge of the room and nodded. "I want to go through with it. Might not be the best in the whole room when the Gala goes down but I'm damn well gonna try." She grinned. "In a weird way you're a real good teacher, stick. Making me think of this as a contest rather than a bunch of strange movements strung together... yeah, it did the trick."
"I got to know you well enough over this last month, I suppose. But for today I would rather call it a day - I won't be able to do much more even if we take the time to recover."
Vi slid her gauntlets on and nodded. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then. The Gala starts at eight, so I booked the room for half past six. One hour to repeat and whatnot."
"Half past six? I'll be there. Make sure to come dressed and everything."
The next day came and at 6:30 sharp Sabrina stood in the hall. Vi was a pair of minutes late and, of course, wearing her gauntlets still, but at least she was dressed. Sabrina recognized the tuxedo as the same one she had worn at the previous Gala and chuckled. She herself was only wearing a simple dress that she had been using those past few days to simulate the Gala's dance, but nothing too well fancy - she wasn't going to go this time around, as Hank was busy with some routine work in Impel Down and she didn't have another partner - not to mention, sitting there and staring at Vi would probably just make her nervous. But Vi's attire...
"You're not going to dance with that suit, are you? You don't have long sleeves on that thing."
"Well no, the long sleeves wouldn't fit over my Hextech Gauntlets."
"If you go in there without the gauntlets and in short sleeves you'll be kicked out... the dresscode isn't too strict but short sleeves on a tuxedo is just too far." She tugged on the end of the sleeves just in front of the elbow. "That can be fixed though... you're a Prime after all. You can wear the gauntlets on top of that, right? Not gonna be too comfy, but it can't be helped."
"Yeah, well I guess." She removed the gauntlets then the jacket and held it before herself, starting to focus. Sabrina meanwhile set the stage up. As soon as the suit was adjusted and good to go they took their first stance and began to whirl across the floor, first slowly then increasingly fast as they warmed up. Only for half an hour though - to repeat the steps, and to avoid overexerting themselves before the actual event. Besides, the adjustment of the sleeves had costed them over ten minutes already so time was short. Finally, the little alarm Sabrina had set up near the dancefloor went off and she finished the set before letting go of Vi.
"There we go. You should head out now if you want to get to the Gala in time. The bus should be going any minute now." When Vi nodded and put her gauntlets back on, she started walking towards the exit to go home, only to be stopped by a massive mechanical hand that wrapped around her arm.
"Oi. Where do you think you're going?"
"... home? I thought you knew that I'm not going this month." She wriggled her hand but Vi didn't let go.
"Well, that's too bad because now you are going. With me." She began to drag Sabrina in the opposite direction, to the exit of the hall that led to the parking lot where the bus was waiting.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Again she struggled but she had no chance to wriggle her way out. Vi was much, much stronger than her even without the gauntlets, but with them there was no chance of escaping her grasp.
"You're the one who started all this, stick", replied Vi simply as she opened the door and brought Sabrina out into the parking lot, forcing her to stumble along. "Now you'll see it through to the end, as my partner."
"Your part- you mean dance partner? But... I'm not even dressed!"
"We'll just summon something for you in the bus. You can get changed in the bus bathroom. Now come on, get in." They had stopped before the bus entrance and Vi let go of Sabrina's arm, leaving bright red marks.
"Well... alright, but you could have told me earlier that you were going to do this", Sabrina remarked as she climbed into the bus, closely followed by Vi. She took her training shoes off and walked barefoot towards the back where the only remaining open seats were at.
"What would've been the fun in that? You would've just come up with an excuse", replied Vi with a laugh as she plopped down next to Sabrina. "I'll take care of your shoes, you summon a dress. And hurry it a bit, cause we only got twenty minutes before arriving."
Resigned, Sabrina held back the urge to just say "Yes sir" and closed her eyes to focus. There was no way she would talk Vi out of this, even if it meant dragging her onto the dancefloor. So she might as well try to make the best of it.
"Hey, this isn't easy stick!"
The routine between working during the day, teaching Vi in the evening and sleeping at night had went on for nearly a month now. The next Gala was announced and would take place tomorrow, though there was no beach party happening this time around, so Costa del Sol was noticeably calmer and quieter than it had been a month ago. One day to go, two lessons left including their current one, if they squeezed in a last repetition on the same day.
One day left, and Sabrina was getting desperate. Vi wasn't a slow learner, but she and dancing just didn't compute. She was able to do the MOVEMENTS but she lacked the grace and elegance needed to turn the series of movements into a continuous flowing dance. Not to mention, she kept forgetting details here and there that Sabrina needed to fix, and no matter what the next evening she either made the same error or something else popped up instead. They weren't unmanageable errors but they did upset Sabrina's mild perfectionism, and she did want Vi to be able to dance. If she was going to cross one boundary by doing the man's side of the dance, she would at least have to be good at it.
"Okay, just... let's try it again, from the top. Starting position... okay. Forward, forward, left and pause... now back two steps... forward to the left... VI!"
The Enforcer gave an angry huff and pulled her feet back from the wrong position, then went to leave the dancefloor. "I don't care anymore. This'll never work out!"
Sabrina ran after her. "What are you doing? Are you going to just give up? I thought you were better than that!" She already had a barrier raised when Vi threw a punch at her. It was not the first time they had had a conversation like this... and it may not be the last either. The punch, releasing a burst of anger with it, usually calmed Vi enough that she could be spoken to. "Listen. You can do this, you have come so far. I am confident in that you can do that last step as well."
"Not this time, stick. I'm just running on the spot at this point. These movements, the whole..."
"Choreography?"
"Whatever, that thing is difficult. I'm just not made to dance in ballrooms, unlike some of us."
"That's not true! You're... wait." Sabrina stopped speaking as an idea came to her mind, and she grinned. "You're a fighter, aren't you... don't they say that you dance across a battlefield, hmm?"
Vi was about to make a snappy retaliation but stopped with her mouth half open, then blinked. "What?"
"This may or may not work, but... imagine that this is a battle - no, a contest. That your steps are withdrawing or advancing, that each movement is an attack or defence, that you're interlocked with your opponent in a struggle. They're challenging your skill and you must match theirs if you don't want them to defeat you. If you make a wrong move, you lose because you didn't train. If they make a wrong move, you win because you trained enough."
Vi snickered. "You've got the craziest ideas, but it sounds worth a try. I can enjoy a good contest."
"Good. Because most of the people at the Gala are going to be real tough, so if you want to make it through, you'll need to train all you can these last two sessions." She held her hand out. "So then, let's give it a test run?"
Vi took her hand, guided her to the dancefloor they had set up and began. Though it was by no means perfect, still rather rough around the edges, it was far better than the approach they'd tried up until then. Vi led Sabrina around in elegant twirls and steps, challenged her with each movement and retaliated to Sabrina's "attacks" with her own. Only twice did she step on her toes (both times accompagnied by angry cursing) before she got the movements down, and after over half an hour of continuous dancing they were both exhausted but satisfied.
"Time-out..." called Sabrina finally, panting but smiling brightly. "I think you're just about ready to hit the real dancefloor. But I would insist on doing the last session regardless, so that you are able to perform your best."
Vi went to sit on the bench at the edge of the room and nodded. "I want to go through with it. Might not be the best in the whole room when the Gala goes down but I'm damn well gonna try." She grinned. "In a weird way you're a real good teacher, stick. Making me think of this as a contest rather than a bunch of strange movements strung together... yeah, it did the trick."
"I got to know you well enough over this last month, I suppose. But for today I would rather call it a day - I won't be able to do much more even if we take the time to recover."
Vi slid her gauntlets on and nodded. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then. The Gala starts at eight, so I booked the room for half past six. One hour to repeat and whatnot."
"Half past six? I'll be there. Make sure to come dressed and everything."
The next day came and at 6:30 sharp Sabrina stood in the hall. Vi was a pair of minutes late and, of course, wearing her gauntlets still, but at least she was dressed. Sabrina recognized the tuxedo as the same one she had worn at the previous Gala and chuckled. She herself was only wearing a simple dress that she had been using those past few days to simulate the Gala's dance, but nothing too well fancy - she wasn't going to go this time around, as Hank was busy with some routine work in Impel Down and she didn't have another partner - not to mention, sitting there and staring at Vi would probably just make her nervous. But Vi's attire...
"You're not going to dance with that suit, are you? You don't have long sleeves on that thing."
"Well no, the long sleeves wouldn't fit over my Hextech Gauntlets."
"If you go in there without the gauntlets and in short sleeves you'll be kicked out... the dresscode isn't too strict but short sleeves on a tuxedo is just too far." She tugged on the end of the sleeves just in front of the elbow. "That can be fixed though... you're a Prime after all. You can wear the gauntlets on top of that, right? Not gonna be too comfy, but it can't be helped."
"Yeah, well I guess." She removed the gauntlets then the jacket and held it before herself, starting to focus. Sabrina meanwhile set the stage up. As soon as the suit was adjusted and good to go they took their first stance and began to whirl across the floor, first slowly then increasingly fast as they warmed up. Only for half an hour though - to repeat the steps, and to avoid overexerting themselves before the actual event. Besides, the adjustment of the sleeves had costed them over ten minutes already so time was short. Finally, the little alarm Sabrina had set up near the dancefloor went off and she finished the set before letting go of Vi.
"There we go. You should head out now if you want to get to the Gala in time. The bus should be going any minute now." When Vi nodded and put her gauntlets back on, she started walking towards the exit to go home, only to be stopped by a massive mechanical hand that wrapped around her arm.
"Oi. Where do you think you're going?"
"... home? I thought you knew that I'm not going this month." She wriggled her hand but Vi didn't let go.
"Well, that's too bad because now you are going. With me." She began to drag Sabrina in the opposite direction, to the exit of the hall that led to the parking lot where the bus was waiting.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Again she struggled but she had no chance to wriggle her way out. Vi was much, much stronger than her even without the gauntlets, but with them there was no chance of escaping her grasp.
"You're the one who started all this, stick", replied Vi simply as she opened the door and brought Sabrina out into the parking lot, forcing her to stumble along. "Now you'll see it through to the end, as my partner."
"Your part- you mean dance partner? But... I'm not even dressed!"
"We'll just summon something for you in the bus. You can get changed in the bus bathroom. Now come on, get in." They had stopped before the bus entrance and Vi let go of Sabrina's arm, leaving bright red marks.
"Well... alright, but you could have told me earlier that you were going to do this", Sabrina remarked as she climbed into the bus, closely followed by Vi. She took her training shoes off and walked barefoot towards the back where the only remaining open seats were at.
"What would've been the fun in that? You would've just come up with an excuse", replied Vi with a laugh as she plopped down next to Sabrina. "I'll take care of your shoes, you summon a dress. And hurry it a bit, cause we only got twenty minutes before arriving."
Resigned, Sabrina held back the urge to just say "Yes sir" and closed her eyes to focus. There was no way she would talk Vi out of this, even if it meant dragging her onto the dancefloor. So she might as well try to make the best of it.
Quote:1657 / 8377 words
(This post / Total)
Stipulations:
✓ Go to Costa del Sol
✓ Meet up with Vi & discover her lack of dance skills
✓ Teach Vi how to dance
~ Be her partner at the Gala
"(Note to self: insert quote & picture once I find stuff)"
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