RP: Just a Different Way to Do Things
Date: Friday, 10 June 2011
Characters: Nereida Santiago, Sgt. Jeremy Reynolds (NPC), Elise Reynolds (NPC), Sfc. Henry "Hal" Shaw (NPC)
Location: Serenity
Status: Private
Summary: You can only do what you can.
Completion: Complete
Hal had really turned out to be a godsend. One of her more advanced students, he had noticed she still hadn't been able to find a set dancing partner for her classes, and after a session several weeks ago, stayed for a few minutes to offer to "least step in (no pun intended, ma'am) and help with the beginners." She'd hesitated before accepting - she really had been hoping she could find someone for both classes, and not have to resort to a stopgap - but she'd be the first to admit it had worked out far better than she could have anticipated. He was charismatic and focused (which, he joked, made giving orders to his soldiers much easier), helping to relax the more skittish students and make the others laugh.
Nereida certainly couldn't complain.
"Mi reina!" His deep, jovial voice sounded behind her, and Nereida looked up over her shoulder from where she was shuffling through her IPod's salsa playlist for the evening's class. She grinned widely at him as he strolled in, hands shoved into the pockets of his khaki shorts. "Your Spanish gets better and better every week," she teased, turning around to give him a quick hug. "Have you been practicing on another girl, Hal?"
"Never, darlin'," he patted her shoulder as he pulled out his 'phone to turn it to silent. "You know you're the only one for me. Anything special in the works for tonight, or are we picking up from where we left out from last week?" Hal winked cheerfully. "We'll have to remember to put Ms. Morris with someone less prone to bruising this time, if she insists on making up steps."
"Won't we, though?" Nereida rolled her eyes, even as she silently gave thanks for the fact that she only had one student like that this go-round. There had been her first semester teaching in Miami when she'd had four in one small class... But things had come a long way since then, and it didn't do to dwell. She set the playlist to where she wanted it to start, then hugged her arms around her shoulders as she turned around. "So what's new with you, Hal? Anything huge and exciting since last week?"
Hal shrugged. "Not so much. Brought a friend tonight; hasn't been salsa dancing in ages, though I've been wheedling for so long, I can't even remember when I started." He grinned, though it seemed a little less bright compared to before.
"One of your military buddies?" He was a man who seemed to have a friend everywhere; knew everyone's story, remembered each child's name. It wouldn't surprise her in the slightest that he had been trying to convince one of the guys from work to come out, even if only because there tended to be a few more women than men, and the guys had their dance cards rapidly filled.
"...sort of." The slight falter in his voice snagged her attention, though she only raised an eyebrow. "His wife." Before she could anything but blink, he hastily shook his head. "Know her husband through the service. She needs to get out more, and..." Hal passed a hand over his short-cropped hair. "You'll see what I mean."
Nereida opened her mouth to say something, but the arrival of the first of the night's students derailed her train of thought. Storing her questions in the back of her brain for later, since Hal always stayed after to make sure things got sewn up smoothly, she straightened her shoulders and smiled brightly, chatting with various people as she and Hal made sure everything was squared away.
After making a few opening remarks, and a crack about the weather, Nereida started her IPod and adjusted the volume on the sound-system's speakers, before sliding her hands into Hal's and taking the starting position. "So, which of them is your friend?" She kept her voice soft as Hal began to move them.
The just-barely noticeable stiffening of his shoulders made her tilt her head curiously. "In the back corner; the redhead in the yellow shirt." He subtly flicked his eyes through the crowd, and Nereida casually took a survey of the room as he spun her, looking in the direction he'd indicated.
Oh. It began to make sense, she realized with a sinking in the pit of her stomach, as she saw a petite redhead, no older than her late 20s, sitting quietly in the corner, twisting her wedding band with an attempt at a brave smile on her face. On the next spin, she saw for certain that the other woman was next to a man about the same age, presumably her husband, who had a faintly pained, uncomfortable look on his face, broad shoulders slightly hunched. And...Nereida's heart clenched at the forlorn way he skimmed his hand along the arm of his wheelchair, head beginning to hang a little. She turned back to Hal and nodded just enough for him to see, blessing the fact that it was a dance that required them to be a little closer than the others they'd done so far. They went through the steps twice, the class making soft noises of appreciation and concentration as they did, then Hal spun her for a final time, and she ended with a tiny curtsy as the music faded.
"So, not so bad! Not as complicated as it looks." She raised her voice over the start over the next song. "Find yourself a partner, and let's give it a go." Nereida drew back a little as her students began to break into twos, watching each pair begin as Hal leaned his head down to rumble softly into her ear.
"Jeremy rescued a little girl during a firefight while he was deployed in Afghanistan," he murmured, "but he came out of it paralyzed. Used to go dancing with Elise when they were dating, and while he was home on leave. Tried to get her, at least, to come with me; get her out a bit, y'know? But she didn't want to go without Jer, or put him in a weird spot either, so she didn't sign up for the go-round. Told 'em both Elise could come watch, but she wasn't up for it. And of course he wasn't going to come and get reminded of what he used to be, but I dunno, bonita -- I guess this week he'd decided he'd had enough of his own four walls. Feel like crap for the guy, and I almost told 'em to forget it, but I think he's desperate for company. Damned if y'do, damned if y'don't."
Nereida swallowed, nodding a bit. "I met a man here at the gym a while back who was in a chair too; he was waiting for his hija...his daughter," she clarified as he raised an eyebrow, "while she was at kickboxing. They both came dancing with me the other week when class was canceled. You remember the snafu with..." She grimaced as Hal snorted. "Yeeeeeeeah. Anyway, Jake and I ended up dancing, me in his lap, and I can't tell you what it meant to me that he let me do that. I almost want to go over during the free dance at the end, and ask them if he'd let me." She stopped at the almost...poleaxed...look on Hal's face. "...what?"
"You'd do that?" Hal turned his head to look at her better. "Not a lot would."
"I don't see why not," she protested. "It's just a different way to do things." As Hal's face went thoughtful, Nereida turned back to look at the couple sitting together in the corner, then nodded firmly after a short moment. "I think I'll go now." She wove her way around the outer edge of the classroom, stopping in places to correct footwork or move someone's arm, then came to stand in front of Jeremy and Elise, hands clasped loosely in front of her, smile wide and bright. "Hi! I'm Nereida, and Hal tells me you're friends of his."
The tremulous smile Elise gave as she reached to offer Nereida her hand made her ache; after shaking it firmly, she knelt down and gave Jeremy hers as well, trying to figure out a friendly but delicate way to word her request. "I was wondering if maybe I could borrow your pretty wife for a dance?"
Jeremy nodded, flapping his fingers in a "shoo"-ing motion, smile trying to be polite. "You ladies have fun. G'on, Leese; no need to stay trapped with me."
Elise looked at him, then up at Nereida, obviously torn, then stood, just as obviously to humor him. "Be right back, Jer," she murmured as she squeezed his hand, before shrugging at the other woman and slowly starting towards the crowd of dancers. When they got to an open spot, she squared up in front of Nereida with a practiced step, arms automatically going into the woman's hold, before she blushed. "I...I'm sorry. D'you know how..." She stopped and bit her lip, arms falling slightly limp. Nereida smiled reassuringly as she put one hand on Elise's waist and took her other in a gentle grip. "You're fine. My father insisted I learn the man's part of all the dances we taught." Beginning to move them, she cocked a friendly eyebrow, but before she could say something fittingly polite and small-talk-ish, Elise sent a unsure look over her shoulder towards her husband, then turned back with a drop of her eyes and another bite of her lip.
"Hal told me he was wounded while overseas," Nereida said softly, not sure how to put her at ease. She had little experience with members of the military, and less in being a competent shoulder to lean on when it came to things like this. But she could try, couldn't she? Tilting her head as they spun, the steps obviously familiar to Elise as she moved without much thought, Nereida dropped her own eyes for a breath, then looked back up as the other woman sighed.
"I shouldn't have asked him to come." Her shoulders hunched a bit. "I just didn't want him sitting at home another Friday night, and one of the other Army wives I know said it might be nice to go somewhere where we could just watch. That it'd helped her brother when he was injured. It was so stupid; I should have known it was just going to hurt him. Just like when my brothers had a pickup game of basketball at our place when we had Easter dinner. Jeremy was so active when he was..."
"When he wasn't in a wheelchair," Nereida finished for her. "I'm teaching the daughter of a man who's in one too." She smiled as Elise looked at her askance. "I don't know the details, but I think he was in a bad accident. He was active, too; you can tell from how he talks sometimes, and how he looks at the people around him." And how much it hurts for him to think he can't be the same father to Star he used to be, she thought to herself, though she bit her tongue hard before that slipped out. "He and his daughter came dancing with me about a month ago."
Elise's eyebrows dipped in downright skepticism. "You can't dance in a wheelchair."
"Sure you can." Nereida lifted her chin in mild defiance. "It's not the same, and it won't ever be, but it's moving to music, isn't it? I come from a family of dancers and dancing teachers, and I can say with certainty that that's what it is. I sat in Jake's lap - sideways, so we could see each other - and he moved us around. Spins. Some back-and-forth. Some sideways." Her lips quirked faintly at the blink Elise gave her, the other woman's brain almost audibly trying to keep up. "You do what you can with what you have. And it was fun to be able to do that with him." She spun the redhead gently as the song began to finish, then smiled at her kindly. "Having said that...would you mind if I asked your husband to dance?"
Elise stopped, one hand still in hers, then looked over at Jeremy for a moment. "He'll say 'no,'" she finally said with a shrug, though her voice sounded as though she hadn't quite written off the thought as entirely frivolous.
"Well, that's for him to decide," Nereida countered, giving Elise's hand a squeeze. "Can't hurt to ask, anyway." Leading them back to the corner, where Jeremy sat with a bittersweet expression on his face, she let go of Elise to crouch down again. "So, I was wondering." She waited until Jeremy tore his eyes from his wife to look at her. "I was wondering if you'd dance with me."
Jeremy's lips twisted sharply. "All due respect, ma'am -- I don't dance. Chair's kinda in the way."
Lowering herself to kneel next to him, Nereida raised her face to look him in the eye. "This isn't pity, or me trying to pull one over on you, and it's not me just being the nice teacher either. On my honor as a fifth-generation dancer and dance teacher," she raised her hand very slightly, "dancing is just moving to music, however you can, and I can show you how a friend of mine taught me how to dance with him." The look on his face was pure disbelief, but she pressed on. "He's in a chair too; hasn't been for too long. His daughter's one of my students, and they came dancing with me a little while ago. And yes, he and I got out on the dance floor, him in his chair, and me in his lap, and we spun and went back-and-forth, and did a weird little dipsy-doodle that I'm not entirely sure how to describe, but that one was fun too." She tilted her head, eyes wide and soft and sincere. "You don't have to, and I'll totally understand if you tell me to shove off, but I'd like to show you, if you'll let me." At the utterly taken aback expression on his face, Nereida quickly closed her mouth before she said anything more, half-certain that she'd gone and put her foot in it, and that she'd only ended up offending them both. Hal'd probably let her know what happened when he came for the next class, she thought as she lowered her eyes and tried to think of how to gracefully extricate herself and retreat back up to the front of the room.
A soft, disbelieving snort of almost-laughter made her look up at him again. He was regarding her with a strange glint to his eyes, but his voice was calm when he spoke. "Y'know what? The image is just funny enough that I'll give you a shot, ma'am. Good for a laugh, right?" She was pretty certain he didn't believe her, but she stood up slowly, not willing to let the moment go, and moved to the side of his chair in unconscious imitation of Star. "A chance is all I ask," she said, sounding more sure than she felt, following him to the outside fringe of dancers before he stopped and swiveled his chair around. "May I have this dance?" He smiled, though sharp around the edges, and held out his hand. Nereida turned herself and sat down slowly, putting her arm along the back of his chair and smiling down at him. "You'll have to put one arm around my waist, but I promise I won't accuse you of getting too friendly," she teased gently. As he did so, a bit cautiously, she nodded. "Like so. Now, d'you want me to work the other wheel, since your arm's busy?"
Her smile broadened as Jeremy looked at her, a bit disgruntled. "I think I can handle it," he drawled, lifting his head a little as they waited for the current song to finish out, and the next to start. "Even if you weren't such a little thing. So, what, just a bunch of spins until we're sick?"
Nereida chuckled. "Just asking. And we'll make it up as we go."
The couples around them parted a bit to let them have a little more room, and Jeremy tightened his arm around her a bit before setting them going. "You should be out there making sure people's steps are right," he muttered, though he sounded more self-conscious than annoyed. "And showing off all sorts of weird twists and turns." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What happened to your friend?"
She shrugged a little bit, dipping her head from side to side to the music. "He hasn't told me much about it. Just that it hasn't been long, and that he used to move around a lot before. I think it was at work -- I know it was a bad accident, at least. He's got a preteen daughter who takes lessons from me."
"Hard lot." It was all Jeremy said, but his arm softened just a touch around her waist.
She nodded. "Yeah." What else could she say? He might take her sympathy as pity or condescension, and anything she could offer him would be trite, anyway. As he cut his eyes to hers through his lashes, Nereida smiled softly. "He showed me how to do things differently." At his nod, she decided to leave it be, and hummed the melody under her breath, eyes falling half-closed.
"Thank you."
Nereida opened her eyes at the murmur, and tilted her head to look at him. "For what?" She smiled reassuringly. "All we're doing is dancing. 's what you come to a dance class to do, innit?"
Barking a soft laugh, Jeremy looked at her with a real grin on his face. "You're somethin', know that?" At her delicate shrug, he shook his head, eyes still dancing a bit. "No wonder Hal likes you."
"Hal likes everybody," she replied with her own chuckle.
He didn't say anything to that, instead twirling them with a flourish as the final notes played. Jeremy cocked an eyebrow at her as Hal called for a five-minute break, and the other dancers began breaking into their normal groups. "Shall I wheel you back up front, m'lady? Return you to your usual spot?"
"Only if you promise you'll dance with me again tonight," she parried, then watched in delight as he tipped his head back and laughed a bit.
"I think I've had enough for one night," Jeremy responded after a moment of quieter chuckling, passing a hand over his face. He grinned up at Elise as she came over, a tentative smile on her face. "Look, Leese, she even managed to come out of it in one piece."
"So she did." Elise smiled shakily at Nereida before looking back at her husband. "How're you feeling, Jer?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "She's a little thing like you are, so that's no sweat, but all these people are kind of pressing in a bit. Wouldn't say 'no' to heading out, maybe." Quirking an eyebrow at his wife as Nereida got carefully out of his lap, he reached for Elise's hand. "Grab your purse?"
"Gimme half-a-sec," she squeezed it gently and hurried over to pick up her bag and come back. "D'you want to get going before break's over?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, let's." His hand flashed out to circle around Elise's wrist and tug her into his lap. Laughing a bit as she squeaked in surprise, he winked up at Nereida. "Now, I'm not promisin' anything, but what say we make sure we're not just one-hit wonders at some point, eh?"
Nereida grinned, though her eyes stung. "Yeah. Yeah, we'd better. Quality-control, right?" She reached down to pat Elise on the shoulder. "Come see me any time." Stepping aside, she watched Jeremy wheel them away, Elise's arm going around his shoulders and her head snuggling into the crook of his neck. She pressed a knuckle to her lips, eyes closing tightly after they'd rolled out of sight.
"Just a different way to have fun," she murmured to herself.
Characters: Nereida Santiago, Sgt. Jeremy Reynolds (NPC), Elise Reynolds (NPC), Sfc. Henry "Hal" Shaw (NPC)
Location: Serenity
Status: Private
Summary: You can only do what you can.
Completion: Complete
Hal had really turned out to be a godsend. One of her more advanced students, he had noticed she still hadn't been able to find a set dancing partner for her classes, and after a session several weeks ago, stayed for a few minutes to offer to "least step in (no pun intended, ma'am) and help with the beginners." She'd hesitated before accepting - she really had been hoping she could find someone for both classes, and not have to resort to a stopgap - but she'd be the first to admit it had worked out far better than she could have anticipated. He was charismatic and focused (which, he joked, made giving orders to his soldiers much easier), helping to relax the more skittish students and make the others laugh.
Nereida certainly couldn't complain.
"Mi reina!" His deep, jovial voice sounded behind her, and Nereida looked up over her shoulder from where she was shuffling through her IPod's salsa playlist for the evening's class. She grinned widely at him as he strolled in, hands shoved into the pockets of his khaki shorts. "Your Spanish gets better and better every week," she teased, turning around to give him a quick hug. "Have you been practicing on another girl, Hal?"
"Never, darlin'," he patted her shoulder as he pulled out his 'phone to turn it to silent. "You know you're the only one for me. Anything special in the works for tonight, or are we picking up from where we left out from last week?" Hal winked cheerfully. "We'll have to remember to put Ms. Morris with someone less prone to bruising this time, if she insists on making up steps."
"Won't we, though?" Nereida rolled her eyes, even as she silently gave thanks for the fact that she only had one student like that this go-round. There had been her first semester teaching in Miami when she'd had four in one small class... But things had come a long way since then, and it didn't do to dwell. She set the playlist to where she wanted it to start, then hugged her arms around her shoulders as she turned around. "So what's new with you, Hal? Anything huge and exciting since last week?"
Hal shrugged. "Not so much. Brought a friend tonight; hasn't been salsa dancing in ages, though I've been wheedling for so long, I can't even remember when I started." He grinned, though it seemed a little less bright compared to before.
"One of your military buddies?" He was a man who seemed to have a friend everywhere; knew everyone's story, remembered each child's name. It wouldn't surprise her in the slightest that he had been trying to convince one of the guys from work to come out, even if only because there tended to be a few more women than men, and the guys had their dance cards rapidly filled.
"...sort of." The slight falter in his voice snagged her attention, though she only raised an eyebrow. "His wife." Before she could anything but blink, he hastily shook his head. "Know her husband through the service. She needs to get out more, and..." Hal passed a hand over his short-cropped hair. "You'll see what I mean."
Nereida opened her mouth to say something, but the arrival of the first of the night's students derailed her train of thought. Storing her questions in the back of her brain for later, since Hal always stayed after to make sure things got sewn up smoothly, she straightened her shoulders and smiled brightly, chatting with various people as she and Hal made sure everything was squared away.
After making a few opening remarks, and a crack about the weather, Nereida started her IPod and adjusted the volume on the sound-system's speakers, before sliding her hands into Hal's and taking the starting position. "So, which of them is your friend?" She kept her voice soft as Hal began to move them.
The just-barely noticeable stiffening of his shoulders made her tilt her head curiously. "In the back corner; the redhead in the yellow shirt." He subtly flicked his eyes through the crowd, and Nereida casually took a survey of the room as he spun her, looking in the direction he'd indicated.
Oh. It began to make sense, she realized with a sinking in the pit of her stomach, as she saw a petite redhead, no older than her late 20s, sitting quietly in the corner, twisting her wedding band with an attempt at a brave smile on her face. On the next spin, she saw for certain that the other woman was next to a man about the same age, presumably her husband, who had a faintly pained, uncomfortable look on his face, broad shoulders slightly hunched. And...Nereida's heart clenched at the forlorn way he skimmed his hand along the arm of his wheelchair, head beginning to hang a little. She turned back to Hal and nodded just enough for him to see, blessing the fact that it was a dance that required them to be a little closer than the others they'd done so far. They went through the steps twice, the class making soft noises of appreciation and concentration as they did, then Hal spun her for a final time, and she ended with a tiny curtsy as the music faded.
"So, not so bad! Not as complicated as it looks." She raised her voice over the start over the next song. "Find yourself a partner, and let's give it a go." Nereida drew back a little as her students began to break into twos, watching each pair begin as Hal leaned his head down to rumble softly into her ear.
"Jeremy rescued a little girl during a firefight while he was deployed in Afghanistan," he murmured, "but he came out of it paralyzed. Used to go dancing with Elise when they were dating, and while he was home on leave. Tried to get her, at least, to come with me; get her out a bit, y'know? But she didn't want to go without Jer, or put him in a weird spot either, so she didn't sign up for the go-round. Told 'em both Elise could come watch, but she wasn't up for it. And of course he wasn't going to come and get reminded of what he used to be, but I dunno, bonita -- I guess this week he'd decided he'd had enough of his own four walls. Feel like crap for the guy, and I almost told 'em to forget it, but I think he's desperate for company. Damned if y'do, damned if y'don't."
Nereida swallowed, nodding a bit. "I met a man here at the gym a while back who was in a chair too; he was waiting for his hija...his daughter," she clarified as he raised an eyebrow, "while she was at kickboxing. They both came dancing with me the other week when class was canceled. You remember the snafu with..." She grimaced as Hal snorted. "Yeeeeeeeah. Anyway, Jake and I ended up dancing, me in his lap, and I can't tell you what it meant to me that he let me do that. I almost want to go over during the free dance at the end, and ask them if he'd let me." She stopped at the almost...poleaxed...look on Hal's face. "...what?"
"You'd do that?" Hal turned his head to look at her better. "Not a lot would."
"I don't see why not," she protested. "It's just a different way to do things." As Hal's face went thoughtful, Nereida turned back to look at the couple sitting together in the corner, then nodded firmly after a short moment. "I think I'll go now." She wove her way around the outer edge of the classroom, stopping in places to correct footwork or move someone's arm, then came to stand in front of Jeremy and Elise, hands clasped loosely in front of her, smile wide and bright. "Hi! I'm Nereida, and Hal tells me you're friends of his."
The tremulous smile Elise gave as she reached to offer Nereida her hand made her ache; after shaking it firmly, she knelt down and gave Jeremy hers as well, trying to figure out a friendly but delicate way to word her request. "I was wondering if maybe I could borrow your pretty wife for a dance?"
Jeremy nodded, flapping his fingers in a "shoo"-ing motion, smile trying to be polite. "You ladies have fun. G'on, Leese; no need to stay trapped with me."
Elise looked at him, then up at Nereida, obviously torn, then stood, just as obviously to humor him. "Be right back, Jer," she murmured as she squeezed his hand, before shrugging at the other woman and slowly starting towards the crowd of dancers. When they got to an open spot, she squared up in front of Nereida with a practiced step, arms automatically going into the woman's hold, before she blushed. "I...I'm sorry. D'you know how..." She stopped and bit her lip, arms falling slightly limp. Nereida smiled reassuringly as she put one hand on Elise's waist and took her other in a gentle grip. "You're fine. My father insisted I learn the man's part of all the dances we taught." Beginning to move them, she cocked a friendly eyebrow, but before she could say something fittingly polite and small-talk-ish, Elise sent a unsure look over her shoulder towards her husband, then turned back with a drop of her eyes and another bite of her lip.
"Hal told me he was wounded while overseas," Nereida said softly, not sure how to put her at ease. She had little experience with members of the military, and less in being a competent shoulder to lean on when it came to things like this. But she could try, couldn't she? Tilting her head as they spun, the steps obviously familiar to Elise as she moved without much thought, Nereida dropped her own eyes for a breath, then looked back up as the other woman sighed.
"I shouldn't have asked him to come." Her shoulders hunched a bit. "I just didn't want him sitting at home another Friday night, and one of the other Army wives I know said it might be nice to go somewhere where we could just watch. That it'd helped her brother when he was injured. It was so stupid; I should have known it was just going to hurt him. Just like when my brothers had a pickup game of basketball at our place when we had Easter dinner. Jeremy was so active when he was..."
"When he wasn't in a wheelchair," Nereida finished for her. "I'm teaching the daughter of a man who's in one too." She smiled as Elise looked at her askance. "I don't know the details, but I think he was in a bad accident. He was active, too; you can tell from how he talks sometimes, and how he looks at the people around him." And how much it hurts for him to think he can't be the same father to Star he used to be, she thought to herself, though she bit her tongue hard before that slipped out. "He and his daughter came dancing with me about a month ago."
Elise's eyebrows dipped in downright skepticism. "You can't dance in a wheelchair."
"Sure you can." Nereida lifted her chin in mild defiance. "It's not the same, and it won't ever be, but it's moving to music, isn't it? I come from a family of dancers and dancing teachers, and I can say with certainty that that's what it is. I sat in Jake's lap - sideways, so we could see each other - and he moved us around. Spins. Some back-and-forth. Some sideways." Her lips quirked faintly at the blink Elise gave her, the other woman's brain almost audibly trying to keep up. "You do what you can with what you have. And it was fun to be able to do that with him." She spun the redhead gently as the song began to finish, then smiled at her kindly. "Having said that...would you mind if I asked your husband to dance?"
Elise stopped, one hand still in hers, then looked over at Jeremy for a moment. "He'll say 'no,'" she finally said with a shrug, though her voice sounded as though she hadn't quite written off the thought as entirely frivolous.
"Well, that's for him to decide," Nereida countered, giving Elise's hand a squeeze. "Can't hurt to ask, anyway." Leading them back to the corner, where Jeremy sat with a bittersweet expression on his face, she let go of Elise to crouch down again. "So, I was wondering." She waited until Jeremy tore his eyes from his wife to look at her. "I was wondering if you'd dance with me."
Jeremy's lips twisted sharply. "All due respect, ma'am -- I don't dance. Chair's kinda in the way."
Lowering herself to kneel next to him, Nereida raised her face to look him in the eye. "This isn't pity, or me trying to pull one over on you, and it's not me just being the nice teacher either. On my honor as a fifth-generation dancer and dance teacher," she raised her hand very slightly, "dancing is just moving to music, however you can, and I can show you how a friend of mine taught me how to dance with him." The look on his face was pure disbelief, but she pressed on. "He's in a chair too; hasn't been for too long. His daughter's one of my students, and they came dancing with me a little while ago. And yes, he and I got out on the dance floor, him in his chair, and me in his lap, and we spun and went back-and-forth, and did a weird little dipsy-doodle that I'm not entirely sure how to describe, but that one was fun too." She tilted her head, eyes wide and soft and sincere. "You don't have to, and I'll totally understand if you tell me to shove off, but I'd like to show you, if you'll let me." At the utterly taken aback expression on his face, Nereida quickly closed her mouth before she said anything more, half-certain that she'd gone and put her foot in it, and that she'd only ended up offending them both. Hal'd probably let her know what happened when he came for the next class, she thought as she lowered her eyes and tried to think of how to gracefully extricate herself and retreat back up to the front of the room.
A soft, disbelieving snort of almost-laughter made her look up at him again. He was regarding her with a strange glint to his eyes, but his voice was calm when he spoke. "Y'know what? The image is just funny enough that I'll give you a shot, ma'am. Good for a laugh, right?" She was pretty certain he didn't believe her, but she stood up slowly, not willing to let the moment go, and moved to the side of his chair in unconscious imitation of Star. "A chance is all I ask," she said, sounding more sure than she felt, following him to the outside fringe of dancers before he stopped and swiveled his chair around. "May I have this dance?" He smiled, though sharp around the edges, and held out his hand. Nereida turned herself and sat down slowly, putting her arm along the back of his chair and smiling down at him. "You'll have to put one arm around my waist, but I promise I won't accuse you of getting too friendly," she teased gently. As he did so, a bit cautiously, she nodded. "Like so. Now, d'you want me to work the other wheel, since your arm's busy?"
Her smile broadened as Jeremy looked at her, a bit disgruntled. "I think I can handle it," he drawled, lifting his head a little as they waited for the current song to finish out, and the next to start. "Even if you weren't such a little thing. So, what, just a bunch of spins until we're sick?"
Nereida chuckled. "Just asking. And we'll make it up as we go."
The couples around them parted a bit to let them have a little more room, and Jeremy tightened his arm around her a bit before setting them going. "You should be out there making sure people's steps are right," he muttered, though he sounded more self-conscious than annoyed. "And showing off all sorts of weird twists and turns." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What happened to your friend?"
She shrugged a little bit, dipping her head from side to side to the music. "He hasn't told me much about it. Just that it hasn't been long, and that he used to move around a lot before. I think it was at work -- I know it was a bad accident, at least. He's got a preteen daughter who takes lessons from me."
"Hard lot." It was all Jeremy said, but his arm softened just a touch around her waist.
She nodded. "Yeah." What else could she say? He might take her sympathy as pity or condescension, and anything she could offer him would be trite, anyway. As he cut his eyes to hers through his lashes, Nereida smiled softly. "He showed me how to do things differently." At his nod, she decided to leave it be, and hummed the melody under her breath, eyes falling half-closed.
"Thank you."
Nereida opened her eyes at the murmur, and tilted her head to look at him. "For what?" She smiled reassuringly. "All we're doing is dancing. 's what you come to a dance class to do, innit?"
Barking a soft laugh, Jeremy looked at her with a real grin on his face. "You're somethin', know that?" At her delicate shrug, he shook his head, eyes still dancing a bit. "No wonder Hal likes you."
"Hal likes everybody," she replied with her own chuckle.
He didn't say anything to that, instead twirling them with a flourish as the final notes played. Jeremy cocked an eyebrow at her as Hal called for a five-minute break, and the other dancers began breaking into their normal groups. "Shall I wheel you back up front, m'lady? Return you to your usual spot?"
"Only if you promise you'll dance with me again tonight," she parried, then watched in delight as he tipped his head back and laughed a bit.
"I think I've had enough for one night," Jeremy responded after a moment of quieter chuckling, passing a hand over his face. He grinned up at Elise as she came over, a tentative smile on her face. "Look, Leese, she even managed to come out of it in one piece."
"So she did." Elise smiled shakily at Nereida before looking back at her husband. "How're you feeling, Jer?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "She's a little thing like you are, so that's no sweat, but all these people are kind of pressing in a bit. Wouldn't say 'no' to heading out, maybe." Quirking an eyebrow at his wife as Nereida got carefully out of his lap, he reached for Elise's hand. "Grab your purse?"
"Gimme half-a-sec," she squeezed it gently and hurried over to pick up her bag and come back. "D'you want to get going before break's over?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, let's." His hand flashed out to circle around Elise's wrist and tug her into his lap. Laughing a bit as she squeaked in surprise, he winked up at Nereida. "Now, I'm not promisin' anything, but what say we make sure we're not just one-hit wonders at some point, eh?"
Nereida grinned, though her eyes stung. "Yeah. Yeah, we'd better. Quality-control, right?" She reached down to pat Elise on the shoulder. "Come see me any time." Stepping aside, she watched Jeremy wheel them away, Elise's arm going around his shoulders and her head snuggling into the crook of his neck. She pressed a knuckle to her lips, eyes closing tightly after they'd rolled out of sight.
"Just a different way to have fun," she murmured to herself.