Markless Imperfection [Open]

[topaz]

Thora was tentatively trusting of Pettahth as he nodded. Indeed the brownweyrling did not seem like the kind of person who would enjoy dancing, whether it be public or privately, but his dragon had no reason to lie; or could he lie? Thora vaguely remembered someone mentioning to her that dragons could not physically lie, but that source was back at the Hold, of course, and had only seen the large, complicated beasts as much as Thora had. Not very reliable at all. Pri did not seem like the lying type, even if she could. But then, the brown hatchling began dancing himself. Or, at least, the dragon equivalent of dancing, as it was quite awkward and wobbly.

Thora's mouth hung just slightly open in a grin as the brown ended his little show, and she looked amusedly at K'sel. Oh, that wasn't how he did it then? Well, Thora could give him a little more credit than that. She didn't think she knew many people who were so terrible at dancing she could compare it to a dragonling flailing about, so K'sel was safe. Now, considering that Pettahth was even able to attempt dancing, meant that His was indeed a dancer, and he was not lying. That was good to know.

"I like to goof around mostly, but I know a dance or two."

"Oh?" Thora smiled pleasantly. "Would you show me a little of it then? I mean, I don't know any dances in particular, but it would be nice to see a few steps of one from someone who knows it." Her voice was clear and earnest - no jest this time - only a slight hint of anticipation. Dancing seemed like such a fun thing to do and, after she had met Anzalorin by the river, she was eager to learn more. Southern Hold did not play host to Gathers all too often - and dancing was only for drunken seamen otherwise - but Thora had always been somewhat entranced by the gracefulness of those who had mastered the skill. "If you're terrible at it, I promise not to make fun. I probably wouldn't even notice." She added as encouragement, this time with a more playful tone, and a twinkle in her smiling eyes.

Hypriceth sat, her tail casually wrapped around her as it often was, the tip of it gently rapping on her poised forefeet. She had rumbled happily at Pettahth's dance - what a silly, lovely brown he was - and now she eyed K'sel with slow, ocean blue eyes. He would dance like Pettahth? Oh she would certainly like to see.

[Lotty]

"Ok."

He didn't know why he didn't fight the request, he could have come up with a million excuses as to why he couldn't or wouldn't teach her at all, but here he was trying to pick out a dance that he could use. Not that he had much of a selection anyway. He was limited by the space...and the lack of music...and the fact that it was just the two of them. At least one of the dances he knew required people lining up into rings and it was usually a big mess. He wasn't too big of a fan of that one. Another he did like, but he really didn't think that would work out in the somewhat close quarters, not to mention that it was quite tricky. Fun, but tricky; too much in the way of twirling and what not. However, he did know a jaunty little waltz style dance that should be impossible to mess up assuming that they could both count to three. There was only one problem with this, was he had to practically be on top of the poor girl. He had no idea how he was going to manage that.

"Well," he tried to manage a way to show her the steps alone, though he knew it would be hardly as helpful as taking her hand and leading her along, "pretend we have music and the beats go 1,2,3. We would move on each count and all the big steps will be on one," he tried to step around an imaginary box on the floor all the while counting and trying not to look like an idiot. It wasn't working. He should have just shown her one of his fake goofy dances, gotten laughed at, and call it done. But noooo for some reason he needed to be a show off and prove that he was somewhat competent on the dance floor. Sometimes his ego didn't know when to quit.

Feeling frustrated with himself more than anything, he grabbed Thora's hand and pulled her close so that he could finally teach her and not look completely ridiculous. For a second he winced, he remembered that she might not appreciate him being so forward, but then again he had never taken that kind of consideration into anything before, so at very least he wasn't making any exceptions. What are you doing with Hypriceth's?

K'sel looked over his shoulder at Pettahth, "I'm teaching her to dance," he said it very plainly before turning his attention back to the greenweyrling, "Now...do you really want to know? I can just go back to stepping around on my own..."

[topaz]

Thora smiled as K'sel agreed. It was very nice of him to dance for her. As he explained the steps and the counts, her dark blue eyes flashed back and forth between the brownweyrling's face and feet. He certainly seemed to know the dance, at least, and he was rather good at explaining it. He danced in a square-like rotation, going around and around the corners with each step. A big one and two little ones. A big one and two little ones. It wasn't that hard, or it didn't look it. Only three steps shouldn't have been hard for anyone, Thora though, after they learned them. She was curious to know, however, if he knew any more intricate dances since he could obviously do very well with the basics. Instead of asking, she continued to watch him with a pleasant smile.

Then suddenly he stopped and grabbed the greenweyrling's hand. Hypriceth's eyes had a momentary flash of yellow, and Thora's heartbeat nearly skipped, but after another moment, the weyrling had realized that he'd only wanted a partner with his dance. The blonde relaxed, but she was slightly put off. Didn't men ask if a woman wanted to dance, not just pull them onto the dance floor? Thora quickly reminded herself, with a harsh self reprimand, of K'sel's previous demeanor. Until now he had been nothing but brash with her, but these last few minutes of conversation together in his room made Thora drop her guard. She wouldn't do that again. Not with him grabbing her.

In the girl's brief panic, she made sure to keep her facial features neutral, so as not to offend the other weyrling. She was sure he meant no harm, and really she had just been startled, so she smiled to him as she gingerly placed her hands in the appropriate places. Oh, wait a minute now. He was teaching her to dance? But, she had only asked to see him do it . . so that she could make sure he wasn't just lying again! Hm.

Not wanting to be rude, and not really having any objections to learning another dance, Thora nodded. "Oh. Well no, you don't have to do it on your own. I'm sure it makes much more sense with a partner. I'm always up to learn a new dance." She said cheerfully. It seemed she really was up for it, especially in the past couple of days. Not to long ago she had been dancing with Anz by the river, and now K'sel! She'd know every dance on Pern by the time she graduated if she kept this pace up! She giggled quietly at her thoughts and looked up to K'sel.

"Okay, so . . you lead right? Which foot do I use first?"

[Lotty]

Oh Shards. For maybe a second, K'sel felt like crap. He probably shouldn't just grab girls, and this fact was echoed by the flicker of yellow in her green's eyes and the way she was so careful in placing her hands. For a moment he was about to soak in despair...she doesn't want to be close much less touch you, you silly sad schmuck...ready to cut out his own broken heart and pin it to his sleeve, he suddenly had a change of demeanor when Thora covered up her agitation with rather convincing politeness. He sequestered his sophomoric whining to the very back of his brain, it would make great fodder for a teenage diary. Not that he kept one or anything.

"Yes, I lead..." he half mumbled as he re-gathered he confidence. He looked out past the girl's face as if looking into her eyes would be further contact with her - almost of an offensive sort - and to tell the truth he was scared that dancing was going to be enough to chase her off for good. He didn't want his one new friend thinking he was a total scum of the earth, creepy sort of person. He sucked it up and continued staring off to a spot in the hallway while explaining once again, "I'm going to start with my left foot...unfortunately I was born with two left feet..." ha! Attempts at cheesy jokes again! Anything to lighten the mood, "Ha, well anyway I start with my left foot, so you'll step back on your right," he slowly pushed forward with the lesson. All the while Pettahth watched intently. His was sooo good at teaching! So patient, despite being a big grouch.

You should be a teacher K'selmine. I bet if you listen closely at our lessons, you could teach them back someday.

The weyrling rolled his dark eyes. Excuse the valley-girl moment, but: As if! K'sel had no desire to do any such thing, but he was going to indulge the brown's fantasies and replied with an "uh huh..." before turning his attention back to the dancing, "so we're going to go around in the box like I showed you, but now the box isn't going to stay in one place..." he felt like he was either being condescending or vague and he didn't know which, this utter confusion just lent more evidence to how wrong his dragon could be at times. He for one did not exactly feel like he was qualified to teach anyone anything.

[topaz]

Thora nodded at K'sel's mumble and followed him out into the hall. Dancing in the hall? Everyone would be able to see her make a fool of her self now. Thora couldn't help but smile at the thought. Just great. Hypriceth, certainly not wanting to miss a moment of K'sel dancing, hopped up and followed the pair to the door, sticking her head just out of the frame to watch.

As the brownweyrling explained the steps, Thora chuckled. More terrible jokes, huh? K'sel seemed to be full of them, and Thora was sure that would not be the last one even while they were dancing. "Okay, that makes sense . ." she murmured almost playfully, staring at their feet as K'sel moved his left forwards. She obediently moved her right foot back, although the movement was slightly jerky and unsure. Now . . what was the next step? Oh, yes there it went. Thora followed K'sel's steps as he made them, recalling his demonstration in the room. She had very little of the fluidity of a real dancer, but she could mirror his feet well enough if she watched them, only a second or so behind.

Hypriceth rumbled amusedly at Pettahth's compliment to His. She did not doubt his abilities to teach if he tried, but she found the image of him and the brown standing in front of a bunch of candidates, trying to teach them things, rather funny. Apparently so did Thora, and she smirked at the shared thought. K'sel's voice brought her away from the image though, and she looked slightly confused at his words. "Okay . . so, how do we do that exactly?" She asked, a small, expectant smile on her face.

[Lotty]

Ok, things were going smoothly. Well, maybe not smoothly, but she wasn't any worse than anticipated, just as awkward as anyone new to something could be, and hey K'sel wasn't exactly Pern's version of Fred Astaire either. He knew this dance though, and was able to lead her along well enough, though he was a little unsure on how to explain the all important next step - the bridge between stepping around in a square and moving about freely along the floor with that certain skip in your movements that only music could provide. He had to think back to his own lessons on gather dancing, and his first one in the creche with his mom making him stand on her feet until his legs remembered the way.

"Well," he began as he sped up a bit, "now that we can move around in our little box, we can can turn, so with every step we take we'll be turning a little bit," he made a few more basic steps all the while goofily making his own music for them to keep the time to with "de de dums" and "fah-lah-lahs". On each count he moved ever so slightly so that they could spiral about the hall in a more elaborate means than their former parts. At one point he even attempted to add some fun by swinging his hips and considered for a moment, trying to twirl her around. But if he learned anything from earlier it was that it wasn't nice to try and surprise girls.

"Next time" he said, cutting off his music, "we can do something you like to do. Even better if it is something I'm bad at or don't know, I think it will be good revenge for twirling you around in the hallway..."

And that was his version of a warning before he took one of her hands in his own and lifted their arms up, hoping she knew to turn around on her heels. Pettahth looked on, but was rather more shocked by seeing his rider happy than the fact that he was looking so silly playing with that girl. K'selmine is having such a good time, but he won't admit it... he told Hypriceth, adding, I hope that mine is playing nice... when the boy attempted to show off.

[topaz]

As her instructor sped up, Thora followed as best she could. The steps were getting easier and easier the more she did them, and her body was finally relaxing. Hips swinging to and fro as they danced, it felt a little more like the way she was used to dancing, by the beat of the music, only with a couple more anticipated steps. "Mmhm . ." She added, eyes flicking quickly to his feet as K'sel began the turning motion. It wasn't too hard at all, and Thora caught on pretty quickly. It only made some of the steps a little longer and some a little shorter, so that the turn came seamlessly.

She giggled softly at his makeshift tune, but continued to dance. They didn't need real music, after all. As he cut his little song off and began speaking, Thora smiled and shook her head. "No need for revenge, don't worry. This is fun." She said earnestly as she looked at him. Wait . . they were twirling? It was more like just turning aro- Oh! As he lifted her arm up with his, she recognized what he was trying to get her to do. She remembered watching the dancers at the Gathers they held every couple of turns back at the Hold. When the men would spin the women, they would always raise one arm and the woman would go under it, which Thora had always thought looked like going under a bridge. So she followed that lead, pulling her arm up and over her head as she turned, and came out the other side facing K'sel again. She smiled and chuckled softly. Twirling was the best part! Of course, it wasn't an elaborate move, or anything that took much skill at all, but it was just . . fun! Maybe her partner would like to try it as well? Thora smirked to herself as she waited a few more steps before raising her arm just like K'sel had. She smiled, her eyes sparkling amusedly, and raised an eyebrow.

Hypriceth rumbled at Pettahth's comment and looked back to him. Oh yes, Mine is enjoying herself too. She likes this dancing thing. I have to admit though, it looks very funny. He said, eyes swirling with bright blues and greens. Yours is very nice, do not worry. If he was not, Mine would not be smiling. She added affirmatively. Yes, she she was quite happy, prettyHers was. Pettahth's was nice as far as Pri was concerned.

[Lotty]

Hey, now. Time to tally another success on the scoreboard. K'sel's assumption that she would know to turn under his arm were correct, the only surprise was that she had so much fun doing it. He never expected to see her pearly whites flash back at him when she came to face him again - and apparently, when other people smiled he had the unconscious need to do the same. He was completely unaware of his affliction! He too was very much basking in the joie de vivre; this was a role usually taken up by his vagabond brother who was still lounging around in the carefree youth and fun of candidacy, but this was the undeniable proof that all wasn't doom and gloom in the world of the brownweyrling.

Before he could exchange the courtesy and do his own twirling (twirling? Is it still twirling if done by a man? Hmmm really makes you think...) he broke his own promise to not make eye contact and stopped staring out past her ear. His sable eyes met hers mid-grin - a few wavy bangs falling out of place and hanging down just past his eyebrow. He would have flipped the bit away had Thora not raised her arm and he obliged, spinning around in the most masculine manner that he could muster. He might have managed it too had he not tried to add his own flair - one hand held out with wriggling fingers....oh the jazz hands.

By now he had gotten a kick out of making the girl laugh. Too often he slipped into crowds and lingered about in the back. Very rarely did K'sel do anything to stick out except maybe some sarcastic remarks here and there. But now that he had a girl and two dragon's watching him, he just had to bask in the attention just a little bit. Replacing his hands into their proper spot, he knocked off his shenanigans, "Well as long as you are having fun..." he said it as if she was alone in this; covering up his chuckling.

With all the fun their riders were having, the brown couldn't help but be a little bit upset that he couldn't dance himself. Oh he had tried earlier, but it was so clumsy and hard, Thora and K'sel made it look so easy. It really wasn't any fair. What about me K'sel? What about my fun? He wasn't a needy dragon by any means, but he hardly wanted to feel forgotten! Picking away at his bonded's brain for the reassurance that he was still number one he inconveniently blurted, You are thinking an awful lot about Hypriceth's.

[topaz]

Thora grinned and giggled softly as K'sel followed her lead. The twirl itself was dignified, but the brownweyrling just had to add in the ever important hand gesture. Thora noted his wiggling fingers as distinctly feminine, and snorted gently at the sight of them, shaking her head as he came back around. "Well you obviously are." She replied happily, a mischievous gleam in her deep sea blue eyes. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a guy with so much . . flare." Her tone was more playful than truly mocking, but she chuckled after her words to soften them.

As Pettahth's voice echoed in her mind, Thora turned her head to smile at the beast. She knew it was nice to watch people dance, because it looked like fun. But after a while she could see how it would become annoying. Before she could respond though, the brown piped up again. Thora's expression was that of surprise - her eyebrows raised and a ghost of a smile on her lips - but she reigned them back in quickly, and simply smiled. She could feel her cheeks flushing slightly, so she looked to the brown dragon instead of K'sel. "Well, I am right in front of him. I don't think he could help it if he wanted to." Right? Thora highly doubted the weyrling would be thinking of her in any other way, so as the rosy color faded from her cheeks, she looked back to her dance partner and grinned.

Meanwhile, Hypriceth was happily watching the pair as they stepped around the corridor. Hers was very good at dancing, she thought. The best! And she was so pretty, how could she not be good at it? Pettahth's was good too, but he was not as pretty, certainly not. As her brown clutchmate spoke up, Pri rumbled cheerfully but decided to let Hers reply to the latter comment. If you would like something to do, you could come swimming with me, clutchbrother. Mine promised she would oil me today, maybe Yours will do the same? Oh yes, she liked oiling, and she was certain that Pettahth did too.

(so sorry for the lateness. ;3; )

[Lotty]

"Flare?"

Well, he supposed that was fair enough. Actually he took a little bit of pride in it. He was comfortable enough to know that the comment was more of a tease than an accusation and really who would ever complain about a little bit of eccentricity once in a while? He tried to quell the smile and play it off cool, "Well I like to surprise people," he explained as he swayed along to the imaginary music still playing in his head, "so don't go telling anybody about this, I have an image to keep up," but if he was really so worried about his image then he should have been imploring the girl to tell the whole weyr; goofballs tended to be more popular than jerks.

The weyrling was getting so caught up that he could be accused of neglect. Although he was aware of the dragon and even heard the comments, he didn't take the time to dissect them or give them anymore than the barest acknowledgment. It was all whining he assumed, he could put off the brown's demands for a moment and teach him a lesson in patience while at it. He had found himself looking at her, studying her face in glimpses to avoid staring, and on one brief pass he caught the shock and the flush of red to her face. Was she blushing? What had been said? His dancing came to a lumbering halt, and he whipped his head around to set his sights on Pettahth. In pieces it came together.

"Uhh," jaw slightly slack he quivered out a confirmation, "Don't be ridiculous Pettahth," his voice began to pick up as he went, "You can't not think about a person you're dancing with...."

The brown didn't want to be fed lines, But, but, but!

Ugh, how could his dragon do that to him? He furrowed his brow, hardly reassured by the girl's constant grin. He wasn't sure exactly why he was so perturbed by Pettahth's comment, but maybe it was the odd sensation that his privacy had somehow been violated, and it didn't help that the brown was completely shameless. He had even moved on from the subject all together, and turned his attentions to Hypriceth. Oh? Swimming? Yes, we should do that! He was very excited about the prospect, nevermind the fact that His had woken up early to oil him before, he was a growing dragon, he could go for a good layer again.

(no worries!)