[Team 1] Switch it up (A dancing AU Snippet)
~2100 word T-rated Soriku WIP Snippet from my fic "Don't You Dare Look Back (keep your eyes on me)" in which Sora and Riku try a new dance technique and discuss the future.
“Lead the way,” Riku said, waiting for Sora’s next move.
Sora grinned and took the lead, helping Riku’s hands into position with their arms outstretched on one side, and Riku’s hand cupping Sora’s bicep on the other. “Now, remember, it’s being really aware of every movement in your body.”
As the music started up, Sora twisted his hips, feeling the rhythm jolt through every joint. His shoulders popped and his back arched as he led Riku across the dance floor. “Doesn’t this beat just make you want to dance?”
“It makes me want to watch you dance.”
Sora laughed, leading Riku through to the end of the verse, their feet rising and falling to the beat. At the last note of the verse, Sora spun Riku and dipped him low to the ground, barely resisting stealing a kiss. “See? It’s more purposeful and rigid than other dances, but no less-”
“No less beautiful,” Riku finished, then bit his lip. “But… I think you should take the lead on this one in the competition as well. You were amazing.”
Sora felt his face heat up and he lifted Riku to his feet. “I dunno. I mean… if you’ve taken the lead on all our dances so far, it may come across as strange.”
“Can we atleast try?”
Sora pursed his lips, but nodded. “Okay… I can show you the choreography and we can go from there.”
“Why don’t you guys just switch?” Roxas suggested.
Sora looked back at him. “You know the rules don’t-”
“Switch?” Riku asked.
Sighing, Sora explained. “It’s sort of a thing you can do in the middle of the dance: switch leads. But it’s tricky to pull off and make it look natural. And it’s… technically against the rules, but-”
“You can make it up in showmanship if the dance is really good,” Roxas said hefting his camera to the other shoulder.
Furrowing his brow, Riku turned to Roxas. “You seem to know alot about it.”
Roxas shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve seen it pulled off before as well. So has Sora, right? You can always ask her for tips. She left for the day, but I’m sure she’ll take a phone call.”
Sora groaned, “Yeah, but… would Larxene even give me tips?”
Roxas grinned, “You won’t know until you try.”
Hesitating for a moment longer to try and gather some resolve, Sora walked over to his desk and pulled out his phone. He bit his lip, still wondering if this was even a good idea.
“If that’s something we can do,” Riku said, “I’d like to try.”
He came up behind Sora and wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist comfortingly. With that extra bit of strength, Sora pressed on Larxene’s number and held the phone ot his ear.
It barely rang twice before Larxene answered.
“What do you want.”
It didn’t sound like a question.
“Um.” Sora swallowed. “I… Riku and I. We’re working on our Tango… and, well… uh-”
“Spit it out Sora, I don’t have all day.”
“How do you switch leads in the middle of a tango?” Sora spat out, barely speaking clear enough for Larxene to understand him.
There was a beat of silence, and then-
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!” Larxene’s laughter was so loud Sora had to hold the phone a foot away from his ear. “You want me to give you tips?!”
“Larxene…” Sora grumbled. “You’re an amazing dancer. Of course I-”
“Yes, of course you would.” Even though he couldn’t see her, Sora could just picture Larxene’s eye roll. “So… what do I get out of it?”
“I...uh... “ Sora struggled to think of something. Larxene never did anything without getting something in return. “I’ll owe you a favor?”
Larxene hummed in thought. “Anything?”
“Anything that won’t ruin my career or hurt someone else,” Sora clarified. “Other than that, yes.”
“Oh you’re no fun…” Larxene grumbled, “But I guess that’ll do. Now, you listening? Cause I’m only gonna say this once.”
“Yes!” Sora naturally stood at attention, glancing around for paper to write this down. Riku reached over and grabbed Sora’s choreography notepad and a pen, handing it over. Sora took it gratefully and nodded absently. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“Good. The easiest way to make the switch? Do it at a point where you two break apart and come back together. You’ll already have to rearrange your hands so a switch would be easy to pull off. But it might come across as a little odd.”
“Okay…” Sora wrote that down, ideas already flowing.
“You could also do it after a spin. I presume you’ll be switching from Riku leading to you leading?”
“Well… yeah, probably. Would make the switch more surprising later on right?”
“Exactly.” Larxene huffed over the phone. “Try to finish a turn or a spin to where Riku ends up in front of you and lead him from there. By the time you come back into a closed position, it’ll be a surprise to see you in the lead, but it’ll look more purposeful.”
That sparked an idea in Sora’s head. The music would work well for that. “Thank you Larxene.”
“I look forward to seeing if you can even pull it off.” Larxene’s voice was a tad softer, and Sora wondered if maybe she was warming up to him. “Probably not, but atleast the result will be hilarious.”
Or maybe not.
With a groan, Sora hung up the phone. “Well… we can do it. It’ll require reworking the choreography a bit, but-”
“It’ll be worth it.” Riku said. “Just the surprise we need to push us over into the finals.”
Sora grinned, “exactly.”
With Larxene's advice in hand, Sora reworked the choreography over the next hour. Roxas left to go film Aqua and Cinderella’s practice, but promised to come back later and see if they mastered their technique.
Which… didn’t go as well as Sora had hoped.
“One, two, three and come together and--ow!”
Riku jerked back, nearly bumping into Sora’s nose as well. “Sorry! I just-”
“I know…” Sora said, ignoring the pain in his foot. “I know…”
It wasn’t coming naturally to either of them. The magic they had felt earlier when Sora took the lead from the beginning was gone and now they were both left fumbling as if it was week one all over again.
“We’ll get it,” Riku promised.
Sora grinned up at him, “How about a snack break for now?”
They headed over to Sora’s desk and pulled out their respective snacks: a granola bar for Sora and an apple for Riku. Settling into a comfortable silence, Sora let his thoughts drift.
And as usual as of late, they drifted over to what Prudence had said earlier in the week. About how some connections were better left on the dance floor.
“You seem distracted.”
Sora jerked his head up at Riku’s voice. “Oh… I- yeah I guess I am.”
Scooting in closer, Riku wrapped an arm around Sora’s shoulders. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Sora giggled. “I think I can afford to give you the whole dollar.”
Riku grinned, and kissed the top of Sora’s head. The small gesture comforted Sora in a way words couldn’t.
“I just,” Sora began, taking a deep breath. “I keep thinking about what Prudence said. About… connecting with someone only on the dance floor… and, I know it’s silly. But I can’t help but think-”
“That off the dance floor we’d make an awful couple?” Riku finished.
“No!” Sora shook his head. “Er… not exactly. I guess, I’m just worried about what will happen when we are off the dance floor. I mean… I...”
Sora trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought.
Riku hummed, squeezing Sora’s to him tightly for a moment before stepping away from the desk and extending his hand. “Then I think we should spend a bit more time off the dance floor.”
Sora tilted his head, but took Riku’s hand. “What do you mean?”
“Wanna go for a walk in the park nearby?” Riku asked. “Just you and me.”
Sora smiled and nodded. Hand in hand, they walked down the stairs to the main floor of the studio, then out into the sunshine.
The park was just a block away, and Sora felt instantly better as soon as he stepped onto the paved pathway. The trees were tall here, the sunlight filtering through broad leaves and creating nature’s disco ball effect as the lights and shadows danced together. It really was a perfect day to go for a walk, the cool breeze signifying autumn’s approach, but the sunshine of summer still holding on. Sora took several deep breaths, feeling better with each step.
They had stopped holding hands when they had walkded down the street but as soon as they wer hidden within the trees, Riku took his hand once more.
“See… off the dance floor and I still feel exactly the same way as I did in there. All I want to do is kiss you and hold you and take you out on dates and dedicate every moment of my life showing youhow much I care about you.” Riku squeezed Sora’s hand. “All I want is to see you smile.”
Tears of happiness sprang to Sora’s eyes. No one had ever said something so romantic to him. Riku was always so honest and sincere, just laying his whole heart out for Sora to witness and love.
“I…” Sora tried to form words, but how could he ever top that? Instead, he offered Riku a watery smile, unable to contain his joy and love at Riku’s words.
Riku smiled back. “There it is. Now the world’s a little brighter.”
Laughing, Sora rubbed under his eye, trying to disperse his tears. “I love you so much.”
It took a moment befor eh erealized what he said. The ‘L’ word… was it too soon to say that? But it was what he felt. And the words flowed out so naturally.
“I love you too,” Riku said, raising their hands to kiss Sora’s knuckles softly.
Sora gasped, glancing around. It was just them in their own little world, and the adoration in riku’s eyes gave him courage. Standing on his tiptoes, Sora pulled Riku in for a deep kiss. He felt Riku’s groan of appreciation, and he quietly moaned in response. Riku’s arms wrapped around his back, his hand warm where it was pressed between Sora’s shoulder blades, and his other hand buried it self deep into Sora’s hair, changing the angle of the kiss just enough to make it perfect.
Sora placed his hands on Riku’s shoulders, feeling the strong muscle beneath his fingertips. Riku was so amazing and kind and wonderful.
Sora felt that, together, they could do anything.
With a slight twinge of regret, Sora pulled away. Riku groaned, pulling him in for two more quick kisses, small pecks of lips against his own before he loosened his hold.
Sora grinned, sure he looked silly with kiss swollen lips. “I feel like I just… ran a thousand miles or something.”
“Yeah,” Riku gasped, face flushed.” But I also feel… energized.”
Sora hummed. “I guess… love does taht.”
“Yeah,” Riku agreed, pressing their foreheads together. “You… You wanna try that move again? I think we can do it now?”
“You feel it too?” Sora questioned, but nodded. “Okay. I’ll count off.”
They started in a closed position, taking 3 steps down the pathway before Sora started a turn around Riku, stopping just behind him. Taking Riku’s right hand with his own and placing his left on Riku’s hip, they stepped another three steps before Sora twriled Riku under his arm and they returned to a closed position, this time with Sora in the lead. Another three steps and they were ready to begin the final part of the choreography.
They had done it! No accidental missteps of off timing. They had done it smoothly and naturally. Sora had to laugh in excitement, jumping for joy. “We did it!”
“I told you we’d get it,” Riku said, picking Sora up and twirling around. “We’re gonna win now. I just know it.
“You think so?” Sora asked, wrapping his arms around Riku’s neck. Riku nodded and Sora couldn’t hold back another excited grin. “I think so too!”
Laughing, they twirled once more under the trees, the lights and shadows dancing with them.
Next up is knittenkitten. You're words are "Laughing, they twirled once more under the trees, the lights and shadows dancing with them."
“Lead the way,” Riku said, waiting for Sora’s next move.
Sora grinned and took the lead, helping Riku’s hands into position with their arms outstretched on one side, and Riku’s hand cupping Sora’s bicep on the other. “Now, remember, it’s being really aware of every movement in your body.”
As the music started up, Sora twisted his hips, feeling the rhythm jolt through every joint. His shoulders popped and his back arched as he led Riku across the dance floor. “Doesn’t this beat just make you want to dance?”
“It makes me want to watch you dance.”
Sora laughed, leading Riku through to the end of the verse, their feet rising and falling to the beat. At the last note of the verse, Sora spun Riku and dipped him low to the ground, barely resisting stealing a kiss. “See? It’s more purposeful and rigid than other dances, but no less-”
“No less beautiful,” Riku finished, then bit his lip. “But… I think you should take the lead on this one in the competition as well. You were amazing.”
Sora felt his face heat up and he lifted Riku to his feet. “I dunno. I mean… if you’ve taken the lead on all our dances so far, it may come across as strange.”
“Can we atleast try?”
Sora pursed his lips, but nodded. “Okay… I can show you the choreography and we can go from there.”
“Why don’t you guys just switch?” Roxas suggested.
Sora looked back at him. “You know the rules don’t-”
“Switch?” Riku asked.
Sighing, Sora explained. “It’s sort of a thing you can do in the middle of the dance: switch leads. But it’s tricky to pull off and make it look natural. And it’s… technically against the rules, but-”
“You can make it up in showmanship if the dance is really good,” Roxas said hefting his camera to the other shoulder.
Furrowing his brow, Riku turned to Roxas. “You seem to know alot about it.”
Roxas shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve seen it pulled off before as well. So has Sora, right? You can always ask her for tips. She left for the day, but I’m sure she’ll take a phone call.”
Sora groaned, “Yeah, but… would Larxene even give me tips?”
Roxas grinned, “You won’t know until you try.”
Hesitating for a moment longer to try and gather some resolve, Sora walked over to his desk and pulled out his phone. He bit his lip, still wondering if this was even a good idea.
“If that’s something we can do,” Riku said, “I’d like to try.”
He came up behind Sora and wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist comfortingly. With that extra bit of strength, Sora pressed on Larxene’s number and held the phone ot his ear.
It barely rang twice before Larxene answered.
“What do you want.”
It didn’t sound like a question.
“Um.” Sora swallowed. “I… Riku and I. We’re working on our Tango… and, well… uh-”
“Spit it out Sora, I don’t have all day.”
“How do you switch leads in the middle of a tango?” Sora spat out, barely speaking clear enough for Larxene to understand him.
There was a beat of silence, and then-
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!” Larxene’s laughter was so loud Sora had to hold the phone a foot away from his ear. “You want me to give you tips?!”
“Larxene…” Sora grumbled. “You’re an amazing dancer. Of course I-”
“Yes, of course you would.” Even though he couldn’t see her, Sora could just picture Larxene’s eye roll. “So… what do I get out of it?”
“I...uh... “ Sora struggled to think of something. Larxene never did anything without getting something in return. “I’ll owe you a favor?”
Larxene hummed in thought. “Anything?”
“Anything that won’t ruin my career or hurt someone else,” Sora clarified. “Other than that, yes.”
“Oh you’re no fun…” Larxene grumbled, “But I guess that’ll do. Now, you listening? Cause I’m only gonna say this once.”
“Yes!” Sora naturally stood at attention, glancing around for paper to write this down. Riku reached over and grabbed Sora’s choreography notepad and a pen, handing it over. Sora took it gratefully and nodded absently. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“Good. The easiest way to make the switch? Do it at a point where you two break apart and come back together. You’ll already have to rearrange your hands so a switch would be easy to pull off. But it might come across as a little odd.”
“Okay…” Sora wrote that down, ideas already flowing.
“You could also do it after a spin. I presume you’ll be switching from Riku leading to you leading?”
“Well… yeah, probably. Would make the switch more surprising later on right?”
“Exactly.” Larxene huffed over the phone. “Try to finish a turn or a spin to where Riku ends up in front of you and lead him from there. By the time you come back into a closed position, it’ll be a surprise to see you in the lead, but it’ll look more purposeful.”
That sparked an idea in Sora’s head. The music would work well for that. “Thank you Larxene.”
“I look forward to seeing if you can even pull it off.” Larxene’s voice was a tad softer, and Sora wondered if maybe she was warming up to him. “Probably not, but atleast the result will be hilarious.”
Or maybe not.
With a groan, Sora hung up the phone. “Well… we can do it. It’ll require reworking the choreography a bit, but-”
“It’ll be worth it.” Riku said. “Just the surprise we need to push us over into the finals.”
Sora grinned, “exactly.”
With Larxene's advice in hand, Sora reworked the choreography over the next hour. Roxas left to go film Aqua and Cinderella’s practice, but promised to come back later and see if they mastered their technique.
Which… didn’t go as well as Sora had hoped.
“One, two, three and come together and--ow!”
Riku jerked back, nearly bumping into Sora’s nose as well. “Sorry! I just-”
“I know…” Sora said, ignoring the pain in his foot. “I know…”
It wasn’t coming naturally to either of them. The magic they had felt earlier when Sora took the lead from the beginning was gone and now they were both left fumbling as if it was week one all over again.
“We’ll get it,” Riku promised.
Sora grinned up at him, “How about a snack break for now?”
They headed over to Sora’s desk and pulled out their respective snacks: a granola bar for Sora and an apple for Riku. Settling into a comfortable silence, Sora let his thoughts drift.
And as usual as of late, they drifted over to what Prudence had said earlier in the week. About how some connections were better left on the dance floor.
“You seem distracted.”
Sora jerked his head up at Riku’s voice. “Oh… I- yeah I guess I am.”
Scooting in closer, Riku wrapped an arm around Sora’s shoulders. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Sora giggled. “I think I can afford to give you the whole dollar.”
Riku grinned, and kissed the top of Sora’s head. The small gesture comforted Sora in a way words couldn’t.
“I just,” Sora began, taking a deep breath. “I keep thinking about what Prudence said. About… connecting with someone only on the dance floor… and, I know it’s silly. But I can’t help but think-”
“That off the dance floor we’d make an awful couple?” Riku finished.
“No!” Sora shook his head. “Er… not exactly. I guess, I’m just worried about what will happen when we are off the dance floor. I mean… I...”
Sora trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought.
Riku hummed, squeezing Sora’s to him tightly for a moment before stepping away from the desk and extending his hand. “Then I think we should spend a bit more time off the dance floor.”
Sora tilted his head, but took Riku’s hand. “What do you mean?”
“Wanna go for a walk in the park nearby?” Riku asked. “Just you and me.”
Sora smiled and nodded. Hand in hand, they walked down the stairs to the main floor of the studio, then out into the sunshine.
The park was just a block away, and Sora felt instantly better as soon as he stepped onto the paved pathway. The trees were tall here, the sunlight filtering through broad leaves and creating nature’s disco ball effect as the lights and shadows danced together. It really was a perfect day to go for a walk, the cool breeze signifying autumn’s approach, but the sunshine of summer still holding on. Sora took several deep breaths, feeling better with each step.
They had stopped holding hands when they had walkded down the street but as soon as they wer hidden within the trees, Riku took his hand once more.
“See… off the dance floor and I still feel exactly the same way as I did in there. All I want to do is kiss you and hold you and take you out on dates and dedicate every moment of my life showing youhow much I care about you.” Riku squeezed Sora’s hand. “All I want is to see you smile.”
Tears of happiness sprang to Sora’s eyes. No one had ever said something so romantic to him. Riku was always so honest and sincere, just laying his whole heart out for Sora to witness and love.
“I…” Sora tried to form words, but how could he ever top that? Instead, he offered Riku a watery smile, unable to contain his joy and love at Riku’s words.
Riku smiled back. “There it is. Now the world’s a little brighter.”
Laughing, Sora rubbed under his eye, trying to disperse his tears. “I love you so much.”
It took a moment befor eh erealized what he said. The ‘L’ word… was it too soon to say that? But it was what he felt. And the words flowed out so naturally.
“I love you too,” Riku said, raising their hands to kiss Sora’s knuckles softly.
Sora gasped, glancing around. It was just them in their own little world, and the adoration in riku’s eyes gave him courage. Standing on his tiptoes, Sora pulled Riku in for a deep kiss. He felt Riku’s groan of appreciation, and he quietly moaned in response. Riku’s arms wrapped around his back, his hand warm where it was pressed between Sora’s shoulder blades, and his other hand buried it self deep into Sora’s hair, changing the angle of the kiss just enough to make it perfect.
Sora placed his hands on Riku’s shoulders, feeling the strong muscle beneath his fingertips. Riku was so amazing and kind and wonderful.
Sora felt that, together, they could do anything.
With a slight twinge of regret, Sora pulled away. Riku groaned, pulling him in for two more quick kisses, small pecks of lips against his own before he loosened his hold.
Sora grinned, sure he looked silly with kiss swollen lips. “I feel like I just… ran a thousand miles or something.”
“Yeah,” Riku gasped, face flushed.” But I also feel… energized.”
Sora hummed. “I guess… love does taht.”
“Yeah,” Riku agreed, pressing their foreheads together. “You… You wanna try that move again? I think we can do it now?”
“You feel it too?” Sora questioned, but nodded. “Okay. I’ll count off.”
They started in a closed position, taking 3 steps down the pathway before Sora started a turn around Riku, stopping just behind him. Taking Riku’s right hand with his own and placing his left on Riku’s hip, they stepped another three steps before Sora twriled Riku under his arm and they returned to a closed position, this time with Sora in the lead. Another three steps and they were ready to begin the final part of the choreography.
They had done it! No accidental missteps of off timing. They had done it smoothly and naturally. Sora had to laugh in excitement, jumping for joy. “We did it!”
“I told you we’d get it,” Riku said, picking Sora up and twirling around. “We’re gonna win now. I just know it.
“You think so?” Sora asked, wrapping his arms around Riku’s neck. Riku nodded and Sora couldn’t hold back another excited grin. “I think so too!”
Laughing, they twirled once more under the trees, the lights and shadows dancing with them.
Next up is knittenkitten. You're words are "Laughing, they twirled once more under the trees, the lights and shadows dancing with them."