cutting_edgex23 | (no subject)

(no subject)

X slips through the door to her apartment, holding it open so Elle can follow her through.

Then she makes an immediate beeline to her kitchen, pulling fish food out of the freezer and heading over to the fish tank.

Once that is taken care of she will not have any more real responsibilities for at least a few hours.

Unless something horrible happens elsewhere. But it won't.

Probably.

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X remains in the appropriate dancing stance for a second longer -- just a second.

Then, carefully extricating her fingers from Elle's grip, she heads out into the other room and returns with a small CD player. It has decent speakers.

And when she hits play -- something bluesy starts up. Maybe it is Etta James. Or Billi Holliday. X probably remembers. Mr. Simmons is a fan.

"It will work?"

Her father preferred classical, even still often using an old record player to listen to scratched-up symphony and smaller collective performances; the music he would choose when Elle learned to dance was in the right time for a waltz.

But for now, Elle understands what she has to - that this is slow, as opposed to what blared in the club they had visited in New York.

"Yeah," she answers. "That'll work."

"Okay."

X slips back over to Elle, taking Elle's hand back into her own and resuming the appropriate position.

She really does have a very good physical memory.

Training does that.

And then she waits. Elle is leading. X remembers that, too.

Elle moves her hand back to X's waist, and takes a moment before beginning steps into what forms a small circle. It's a little less slow and careful than before, now that she has something to align her movement.

To most typical observers, that the follower is taller than the leader, or that neither of them are really dressed for it, would make the whole scene look awkward. But Elle doesn't really notice these.

She does even manage to take her gaze off their feet long enough to ask, "Are you going to take a picture?"

X is concentrating on following Elle, on figuring out how the dance fits together, on --

She frowns slightly, looking up and then down at Elle.

"Of the dance?"

Beat.

"I do not have a camera."

This pause is longer.

"Maybe Susannah will. I do not know. It is relevant?"

"People do it."

Elle is reasonably sure of this. Maybe.

She might shrug, were she not otherwise occupied, before adding, "I want to see you in it."

The dress is just... pretty. And as of yet, not torn up.

There's a flicker of startlement in X's expression.

But then --

"Okay."

Beat.

"I do not -- you will be in Milliways? Before I go."

Edited 2009-05-28 22:53 (UTC)

"Probably."

She definitely didn't feel like leaving yet.

The music twists up to a few high notes, and Elle takes that moment to stop the succession of dance steps, and take her hand off X's waist. She lifts her other so that their joined hands reach high enough to reach over X's head.

And she does eventually remember to explain, "You - turn under it."

"Oh."

X frowns very slightly, considering the optimal method of following this instruction.

She does manage a twirl, though it takes her a moment or two to figure out how to shift the position of her fingers as she does so.

"It is better to turn slowly?"

"I think it - doesn't last very long."

Which probably means quickly? Elle pulls X back into the stance.

"Maybe you'll see what other people do."

She figures that's a way X usually picks up on things, in any case.

"Maybe."

Beat.

"I do not know how good Rose's classmates are at dancing."

She shrugs, a little awkwardly.

"I did not ask."

"Is Rose good at it?" she asks.

She takes a few more steps, and then experiments with moving her hand on X's waist slightly over, more behind her, and leaning forward so that X can lean back.

X takes the cue, but looks very confused.

"I do not know."

Beat.

"She did not seem nervous."

Well, not about that, anyway.

Elle moves back into the regular steps quickly enough.

"You probably just have to ... be like her."

It's vaguely meant as reassuring, but Elle doesn't really know what that wil mean.

"I -- "

X leans a little more into Elle for a second, then restabilizes.

"I can pretend."

Beat.

"It is not always difficult."

And she's already approaching prom like a mission.

Likely for the first time since she's known X, Elle realizes she's wishing that X didn't have to pretend. She can get the feeling that, for this, it shouldn't be something that you have to pretend for.

But she definitely won't be saying that.

She raises their hands so that X can try twirling again, and agrees, "Yeah. It's not."

This time the twirl goes a little more smoothly. One more repetition and X will have it cold.

"Sometimes I do not mind," X says.

"It can be useful."

And sometimes -- more lately than before -- X does not have to pretend.

But 'normal', such as it is, is still a long way out of reach.

"I know." She pulls X back into the stance. Another song has long since ended and a different one come on over the speakers.

"It's just - nice if you -"

... okay, Elle has no idea how to say this, and isn't likely to formulate it soon. Especially when still distracted by maintaining this movement.

So she only finishes with, "It's okay."

Edited 2009-05-29 05:52 (UTC)

"Okay."

And after a longer silence, wherein she seems mostly to be occupied with dancing and looking down at Elle --

"I will try."

It's not quite a promise, but. Maybe it's close.

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