Red vs Blue fic: Shut Up and Dance
York/Carolina | 1684 words | [PG]A mission without armor and weapons? Instead, there's black ties and gowns. Schmoozing and dancing. Sounds like Carolina's worst nightmare. Specifically, the dancing part. York, though, is loving every bit of it. Especially, the dancing part.
Carolina studied the invitation in her hands. It was clear plastic with holographic ink that shimmered when the light hit it just right.
~*~
Verdidad Museum of Human Culture
100th Grand Gala
~*~
Their next mission. Words spun in her head. Museum. Gala. Black tie. Ball. No armor. Dancing. She didn’t like any of them. Some less than others.
York caught up with her in the hall. “Hey, you were awfully quiet in there. Everything okay?”
“Huh?”
He laughed. “I’ve never seen you zone out in a briefing before.”
She frowned at him. “I wasn’t zoning out. I was thinking.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” When she didn’t respond, he tapped her arm. “Come on-something’s on your mind. You can tell me.”
“This mission doesn’t-” She considered her words before finishing. “I don’t know, rub you the wrong way? Fancy gala. No armor. We’ll be vulnerable.”
[read more...]“Oh, come on, Carolina, it’ll be fun. We get to dress up, and look, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Chamberlain.” He waggled his eyebrows-a goofy smile on his face.
Carolina shook her head, biting back a smile. The man couldn’t take anything seriously. She stared hard at the invitation like the wording might magically change. Get dressed up? Mr. and Mrs.? The bad feeling grew. “I don’t like being vulnerable,” she finally said, not looking at him.
York sighed. “Always got to rain on my parade.”
“I just don’t like it. How are we supposed to get the key card from this Jamison guy?”
“I don’t know? It’s a ball-dance with him.”
Carolina froze, causing York to stumble to a stop a few steps away. “Dance?”
York’s amused look grated on Carolina’s already frayed nerves. How can he be so calm? A mission without armor? Might as well be naked. She quickly pushed away that thought-last thing she needed was to think about York without his clothes. Too late. Her face flamed as bright as the sun.
“You don’t know how to dance, do you?” he said with a snort. Like this whole thing was funny as hell. Maybe it was for him.
She shoved past him, even more embarrassed. “And you do?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Of course you do,” she muttered, taking a turn towards the training room. She needed to work out her anxiety.
York followed her right into the locker room. “There’s a simple solution to all of this. I’ll teach you.”
Carolina took a deep breath-her heart suddenly racing. God, help her. “I don’t-”
“Quit being a baby,” he drawled, opening his locker. “And lose the armor.”
“What?” Did her voice just crack? She groaned when she realized he was serious. She didn’t think her skin could get any redder.
“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day that Carolina was afraid of something.”
She shot him a glare. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Then get on that floor, Agent, and show me what you got.” He was enjoying this entirely too much.
When she finally joined him in the training room, the lights were low and music played from somewhere. Oh, Jesus. York was leaning against a table in his sweats and a t-shirt-hair sticking up everywhere. How can guys look so hot with helmet hair? It wasn’t fair.
Carolina felt exposed without her armor. She stopped several feet from him, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms and looking everywhere that wasn’t York’s face because he had that infuriating smile on it that made her want to punch him. Or kiss him. She couldn’t decide. And that churned up butterflies in her stomach. Stop staring! Sometimes she really hated him.
“This is a bad idea,” she mumbled, turning away.
He caught her arm, spinning her around. “It’ll be fine.”
She struggled free from his grasp, putting much-needed space between them. Then she made the mistake of looking at his face. He looked hurt. Crap. She didn’t want to hurt him. “Okay, fine. Let’s do this.”
York didn’t smile like she thought he would. He just stepped closer and put his arms out. Her disappointment surprised her, but after a deep breath, Carolina settled her right hand in his left, the other on his shoulder. When his hand slid around her waist, she shivered. This was why she hated being out of her armor. Everything was so much more intimate without several inches of hardened titanium surrounding you.
“You’re going to have to get closer than that,” he said softly, breath ruffling her bangs.
Despite her better judgment, she let him gently pull her against him. God, he smells good. Someone shoot her.
“Still with me?”
She forced down the lump in her throat and finally faced him. He was watching her intently, lip caught between his teeth. Is he nervous? She didn’t think that was possible. York wasn’t supposed to get nervous. He was supposed to crack jokes and be cocky. Everything about this felt wrong. And right. And she was so damn confused all of a sudden.
“Breathe, Carolina,” he whispered in her ear.
She let out the breath she’d unconsciously been holding as York started moving, taking a step forward which forced her back. Then they turned on the next step, the pressure of his hand on her back guiding her. Her heart was hammering so loud in her chest, she was sure he could hear it. Did he have any idea what this was doing to her? Probably. She refused to look at his face because she’d die of embarrassment if he had that smug smile.
After a few minutes of turns, he gave her waist a little push and twisted her wrist, compelling her into a spin. He smiled at her then spun her back into his embrace. She stumbled, falling against him. Oh, God. It took her a moment to realize they’d slowed.
“Hey,” he said, voice husky. “You okay?”
His face was right next to hers, making it suddenly impossible to breathe. They weren’t moving at all anymore. The look on his face sent all sorts of mixed emotions through her system. Sometimes she really, really hated him for making her feel this unsure of herself.
She finally found her voice. “We’ve stopped,” she whispered.
York didn’t move for what felt like forever then he blinked. Once. Twice. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. She desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. Maybe that would help make sense of her own racing thoughts. He guided her back a step, and they continued dancing-bodies close. Carolina was pretty sure she was going to spontaneously combust if they didn’t put some distance between them. Soon.
York suddenly stopped, taking a big step away. He shoved his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. Making him look even sexier. How does he do that? “Um,” he said, uncharacteristically flustered, “I think you’ve got it. Told you it wasn’t hard.” He wasn’t looking at her. Was that good or bad?
God, say something. She wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or York because the tension was becoming painful. Finally, he let out a long breath. “So, you hungry? I hear they’re serving Salisbury steak in the mess today.”
Carolina’s shoulders relaxed. She tried not to feel disappointed because there was absolutely no reason to. At least that’s what she told herself. Before she could answer, the music suddenly stopped and the lights came up. They both looked around in confusion until they heard clapping.
North and Wash stood in the door, looking smug as hell. “Pay up,” North said. “Told you he wouldn’t try anything. The man has absolutely no game when it comes to Carolina.”
Wash mumbled under his breath then handed something to North.
“What the hell?” York said. “Were you betting on us?”
“Only you. Whether you’d finally make a move or not. The odds weren’t in his favor.”
York flushed bright red to the tips of his ears. He looked like he might kill North. Carolina shook her head, not sure if she should be embarrassed or amused.
“You suck,” York grumbled.
North laughed. “I told you to quit whining about it and do something already.”
York grabbed something off the table and chucked it at his friends. North and Wash dove out of the way, laughing all the way out of the training room. York’s head dropped. “God, I hate them sometimes.”
Carolina didn’t know what to say. Or do. She knew this was a bad idea from the start. Her and York, alone? Touching? That was never going to end well.
York rubbed the back of his neck, concentrating really hard on his shoes. It was adorable. He was adorable. She was in so much trouble.
“So, Salisbury?” she managed to say despite the lump in her throat.
“Right, Salisbury.”
York didn’t say anything while they changed back into their armor, and it started to worry Carolina. He wouldn’t even look at her.
She watched him stare into his locker, brow furrowed, for a very long time before slamming it shut. “You ready to go?” he asked, still not meeting her eyes.
“Yeah.” She hated seeing him so upset. It was wrong on so many levels. York didn’t get upset. Ever. She didn’t like it at all and needed to fix it.
As he got to the door, Carolina grabbed his arm. He finally looked at her, confused. Before she could over-think it, she lifted up on tip-toes and planted a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Thank you, York. I really appreciate what you did.”
He blinked at her, swallowing hard. “Yeah, no problem.” His voice cracked, and it made her smile when he ducked his head to hide the accompanying blush.
She slid her hand down his arm until her fingers wrapped around his then she tugged him out the door. “Come on, let’s eat. Then we’ll figure out how to make those idiots pay.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” She could hear the smile in his voice again.
And he didn’t let go of her hand.