we're slow dancing in a burning room

[absurdities]

slow dancing ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ a meme → COMMENT WITH YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME, FANDOM, AND PREFERENCE. → PICK A CHARACTER YOU WANT TO TAG AND GO FOR IT. → PLAY NICE; NO WANK, FLAMES, OR GENERAL HUMBUGGERY. ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ the deal FORMAL OR INFORMAL, WITH MUSIC OR WITHOUT, YOU COULD BE AT A GLAMOUROUS GALA WHILE A SINGER CROONS SOFTLY OR IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR OWN LIVING ROOM. WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU HAVE THE URGE TO DANCE. DID YOU ASK YOUR PARTNER OR DID THEY ASK YOU? HAVE YOU GOT TWO LEFT FEET OR IS THE VIENNESE WALTZ YOUR JAM? IT COULD BE AWKWARD, IT COULD BE ROMANTIC. EITHER WAY IT'S CUTE AS HELL.

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closed as hell 4 compile

[rudys]

( he doesn't know how to dance. not slowly, anyway. slow-dancing-ly. y'know? he can vaguely move his arms and legs a bit when there's a banger on at the club, yeah, but so can anyone, and that's not, well, this. he puts a hand on Q's shoulder and the other on his waist, and frowns a little, and clears his throat, and tries not to look so ridiculously nervous. it's only moving your feet a bit, rudy. relax. )

I really dunno how to dance, y'know.

( still. it's very subtle, but you might be able to notice how he's very definitely still standing there. the tip of his index finger brushes lightly at Q's collar, barely a touch at all. )

Surprising revelation, I know. You're shocked, I can tell.

late, starbucks, etc.

[compile]

[ Q doesn't know how to dance at all. It seemed silly and fun. Talking about how it was A Thing Couples Did So Shouldn't They. But then they stood up there and it felt like a school dance all over again. Q pulls them closer. They might find comfort that way.

He can't quite make eye contact, for a change. ]

Neither can I, so this should be very entertaining.

[rudys]

( it does feel a lot more comfortable with Q closer, and less formal. less like he's being examined. less like it's some kind of test. )

I remember, ( a pause, and he takes a little two-step to the right ) at year eleven prom, right, it was like, only wankers slow dance at prom. And all the girls had short dresses on and obviously we couldn't drink so we just sat around drinking fruit punch and waitin' for some fuckin' hero to bring out a hipflask of vodka. Anyway, ( a belated two-step back again ) I'd asked this girl wi' me, Jenny Something-or-Other. With a lot of class, obviously. ( a knowing look at Q. he gives up on the two step, lets his hands shift down to the small of Q's back, and just starts to sway a little. ) Balled up me maths homework, which, by the way, I hadn't done, and just flung it at her in history, and it just ( a clicking noise with his tongue ) clocked her on the back of the head. And then she unravels it, an' it's got 'will you go to prom with me, tick yes or no' written on the back.

So at prom we had to sit on the same table, and she were chattin' away about how she was all upset cos nobody slow danced at prom any more, and then she got all excited askin' me to slow dance with her and we could start a trend and get everyone up and dancin' like a proper prom. ( he clears his throat, makes a face. he's still swaying, slowly rotating them both on the spot. not half bad at this dancing thing, is he? ) I were weak and feeble back then, so I said alright, an' we got up and started slow dancin' to fuckin' S Club 7 or somethin'. Weren't very slow, but we did start a bit of a trend, an' a few more people started joinin' in. And she got very excited, did Jenny Whatsername, and to cut an incredibly short story that I made longer than necessary ( he's a storyteller. it's his craft. ) short, she stabbed me in the foot wiv the heel of 'er stiletto.

[compile]

[ Rudy was an absolute expert at this. Not at dancing, no. They were both fumbling terribly with attempting any kind of step - two, four. It would have been equally terrible. The panic simmers partially because they give up and settle for swaying in rhythm to the music while hands rest at hips and shoulders. There was something to this after all.

What really showed Rudy's skill was his ability to distract them, to dissolve the awkwardness of a situation. Sure, it ended up making him the butt of a joke, but how fantastic of a joke. Q loved his stories. He attentively listened right from the start. He could listen to Rudy tell his stories for ages. But then his sides wouldn't be able to take that much pain from laughter.

The story ends. The punch line delivered. Q doesn't hold back his laugh. It's always quiet. He's so rarely laughed out loud. This one gets him so very close by the absolute surprise of a twist ending. He laughs enough to double over and rest his forehead on Rudy's shoulder. ]

I see you've always been a romantic.