Dance with Me?

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 5th July 2017

Characters: Alina, J'ackt
Description: Alina is determined to dance with J'ackt, whether he wants to or not.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 21 of Turn 8

Alina

J'ackt

The celebratory feast was over and the dancing had begun. Alina had
jumped in for several of the group dances and had been asked to dance
twice, which she was rather pleased with. Her last partner departed
after a quick kiss on the cheek and the greenrider found herself at
loose ends; she couldn't see most of her friends, and those she could
see were dancing. **I could use the break,** she thought, then headed
over to the edge of the room for a glass of wine. It tasted sweet and
was cold against her lips as she turned to watch the dancers.

Except it wasn't the dancers who caught her eye. It was a very
familiar head of blond hair, and-- her grip tightened on her glass.
Alina glared through the crowd at J'ackt, who was sitting on a bench
in the corner and snogging some strange greenrider with short cropped
brown hair. Nobody else but a greenrider would be wearing a dress that
exposed that much _thigh_. It was grotesque.

The other woman's mouth spoke of experience and so much potential for
the evening and Faranth, did he need it. J'ackt returned the other
woman's kisses with eager ones of his own, but deep in the back of his
mind ( thoughts that he was desperately trying to ignore), he knew
that he was turning to the Riverbluff greenrider out of boredom. As
his slid his hand along the warmth of her bare thigh, he knew that it
would mean nothing to him the next morning, but perhaps that was what
he needed. Shards, this woman wasn't expecting anything more of him
and she was very, very willing.

He felt her drag her mouth away, catching his lower lip in hers. What
was her name again? Did it matter? No, he decided, as she moved
closer. It didn't. She was warm and willing and...

"I'm thirsty." Her voice was husky and seductive enough to shoot right
to his groin. "I'm going to go get a wine skin, and we can finish it
up in your weyr. Sound good?" She ran her hand down his chest.

"Yeah. Sounds good." He watched as she rose, his eyes following her
backside in her brief dress as she slipped through the crowd.

"Having a good time?" Alina slipped onto the bench opposite, even
though she'd told herself not to. Even though whatever J'ackt did
wasn't any of her business, and that it would have been smarter just
to walk away and do something else, like drink a lot. She smiled
sweetly. "I didn't think you were much for Hatchings, but I suppose
that there is always _something_ at a party like this that will appeal
to someone."

His brows rose the moment she approached and his gaze did flick over
her slowly, taking in the dress. For a moment, there was a hint of
attraction and even desire there, but it was quickly covered up with a
narrow gaze. "I was having a good time." He glanced over her shoulder
and then back at her. "I plan on having an even better one later." He
picked up his own glass and took a sip of his water. He sat back
slightly, his lips thinned with a frown. The sweetness in his voice
didn't fool him for one instant. "What do you want, Alina? "

"Oh, nothing." She sipped her wine and watched the bronzerider over
the rim of the glass. "So who is your new friend? You two looked
pretty _close_."

One brow rose and he gave a shrug. "She's a greenrider from
Riverbluff." That was all he really knew about her. He leaned across
the table, crossing his arms against the surface. "Why do you care?"

Alina arched her eyebrows. "You don't know her name? Or it doesn't matter?"

The expression on his face grew more irritated."Right now, no, it
doesn't matter one fecking bit." His voice was sharp. "Especially
since it's not any of your business." Blue eyes narrowed at her and he
couldn't stop the next bitter words that shot out of his mouth. "I
bloody well wanted it to be, but you nixed that as quickly as you
could, didn't you? You sure as shaffing blazes didn't want anything to
do with me so why should you care if I finally decide that I'm ready
to bed someone?" He downed his water like it was alcohol and slammed
the cup down harder than necessary.

"I don't." She did. Alina shrugged. "You can do whatever you want,
bronzerider. You just looked a little lonely sitting by yourself, so I
thought I'd come by to keep you company. That's what Hatchings are
for-- spending time with your friends."

"I wasn't sitting by myself." He pointed out, his frown deepening. He
wanted to make her just as angry and hurt as he was. Hurt? He paused
mentally. Yes, he was hurt by her rejection of him. "I think you do
fecking care other wise you wouldn't have..." He stopped when the
older greenrider returned, holding a large wine skin and two glasses.

She paused at the sight of Alina and blinked, one fine dark brow
rising as she spoke in a falsely sweet tone. "Oh,honey, did you lose
your way?" She looked down her delicate nose at Alina, her expression
stating clearly that she didn't consider Alina any competition. "I
think the drudges are sitting at another table."

J'ackt stiffened at the insult and slowly turned his head to glower at
the woman."This is Greenrider, Alina. And we are busy. Get lost." He
put emphasis on her title, his face scornful as the woman blinked in
surprise at his defense of her, then frowned.

"Her? Really?" She raked her gaze over Alina, then sniffed as though
she couldn't comprehend J'ackt's taste.

Rising, J'ackt's face became thunderous and dark. He leaned over the
table, one hand cupping over Alina's, though otherwise it would appear
as if he'd forgotten she was there. "Her over you any day." He
snapped, furious at the continuing insult.

The other greenrider's jaw dropped and quickly covering her shock, she
huffed. "You don't know what you're missing. Your loss." She brought
her nose up and stomped off with the wine skin.

Alina did her best to hide a satisfied smile as the other woman
disappeared into the crowd. Any insult out of that harlot's mouth had
been quickly overshadowed by the bronzerider's reply. And J'ack's hand
was still over hers. She laced her fingers through his and gave it a
gentle tug. "You should come dance with me."

There was a long moment that J'ackt didn't reply; he was watching the
other woman walk away while his jaw pulsed with tension. The tug on
his hand brought him back from his thoughts and his gaze turned back
to her. His eyes flicked down to their hands and then back up to her
face. His jaw tensed further and he looked down at their hands before
tugging his hand away. "No." He abruptly rose, finished off his water
with a single swallow and set down his glass. Without another word, he
turned and began walking away, back tense.

"Why not?" The greenrider spun in her seat to face his retreating
back. "Worried you might enjoy yourself?"

J'ackt stopped and his fists clenched at his sides before relaxing
again. "I'm past trying to enjoy myself tonight." He didn't face her
and began walking again, out of the light of the glows that lit the
dance area.

Chasing after J'ackt was high on the list of bad ideas. Alina fidgeted in her
seat as she watched his retreating back, then scampered after him
anyway. "Dance with me anyway. One song, and I'll stop bugging you."

He stopped and took a long breath, still refusing to look at her. With
his hands resting on his hips, he shook his head. "Why?"

"Because I want to dance with you!" Alina ducked around his arms to
stand in front of the bronzerider. "I like dancing and we've never
danced together and I bet you're good at it. It'll be fun. Is that so
hard to believe?"

"Yes, it is." He finally looked down at her, struggling to remain
calm, but the girl got under his skin just as well as she ever had.
Plus,he didn't know how to dance, but that was not the only reason he
was being so resistant. "You made your feelings clear, so why in the
fecking blazes are you toying with me?"

"I'm not toying with you." She held out her hand. "Dance with me."

His scowl deepened. A large part of him wanted to take her hand, but
he was still angry at her. "I don't dance, Alina." He paused and then
leaned back a little, suddenly suspecting something. "How much have
you had to drink tonight?"

Alina laughed. "Come on. Do you seriously think I'm drunk?" She
touched her fingertip to her nose and spun in a circle. "Satisfied?"

"Yes, I think you are." His arms moved to cross over his chest, even
as he watched her. He didn't answer her laugh with even a hint of a
smile as began to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Alina, what do you
want? You've never wanted to dance with me, and you've never openly
_wanted_ to be seen in public with me, so what are you up to?"

Alina's smile slipped a bit. "It's not that complicated. All I did was
ask you for a dance."

"And I don't dance." Perhaps he was being stubborn, but shaffit... He
watched the smile slip from her face and shook his head. He hated
seeing that; Faranth knew that she hadn't smiled that often since she
got here. "I never learned." He admitted the last gruffly then
shrugged. "So...sorry. "

"Well... I could teach you. Right now." The greenrider cocked her head
to one side; the music was loud enough that she could hear it even
down the hall from the Dining Cavern. "Right here, even. It's easy."

He couldn't help but still be suspicious as to what her motives were
and it showed on his face. "Fine. Just for a minute, but then I'm
headed back to my weyr." Where he could get a decent nights rest and
maybe have a go at his burlap sack.

Alina flashed him a triumphant grin. "Good! Everyone should know how
to dance-- and I still say you might like it. All right..." She hiked
up her skirts to mid-calf so J'ackt could see her feet and walked him
through the most basic of dance steps. "Just copy what I do."

He really didn't trust this smiley Alina. He was far more used to the
snappy, grumbly, sarcastic Alina. He wondered if she perhaps hadn't
had enough spirits to get her drunk, but had had enough to make her
loosen up. That was a possibility, but he didn't quite know what to
make of the unexpected attitude shift,especially around him.

Still, he followed her steps and found them to be quite easy. They
weren't that different from the sword play forms he had learned. He
felt foolish, but was able to follow her after only a few moments.
"That it?"

"Almost." She stepped forward and put a hand on the bronzerider's
shoulder and took his other hand. And suddenly J'ackt was very, very
close. She flashed a nervous smile as her heart thumped against her
chest. "Uh, and then it's just the same thing, but to the music. Need
me to count you in?"

Now he was certain she'd been drinking. Or had lost her mind. Had a
firestone bag hit her head during the last Threadfall? One brow rose
as his hand fell to her waist and he gripped the other in his hand.
"No. I think I got it." He found the rhythm after a
short misstep, and it was slow, but the steps were simple once he got
the hang of it. His fingertips flexed against her side, sliding more
towards her back than her waist.

Her breath caught in her throat. Alina looked away, suddenly shy. They
were dancing horribly out of time and barely in step with each other.
The music was building to the final bars and she hated the Harpers for
it. "L'pin taught me to play this song. On the gitar," she blurted.
**Oh, smooth!**

His lips quirked for a moment. "I'm sure he's a good teacher." He
personally liked L'pin but had no hope of ever learning music himself.
He had no ear for it. His feet kept moving as he looked down at her
face and with a mind of its own, his thumb stroked her side. It was
only after he caught himself about to draw her closer that he realized
the music had stopped and there was applause. He looked towards the
Dining Hall and then stepped back and away from Alina, letting her go.
He cleared his throat. "Guess you can find a better partner now. I'm
headed off."

She shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. "I dunno. That was pretty
decent for a first dance."

"Sure." He didn't really know what to say after that, at least not to
her. "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yes! Probably." Wouldn't do to seem too eager, especially since
they'd gone _weeks_ without seeing much of each other around. Alina
pulled the end of her braid over her shoulder and brushed the end over
her fingertips. "Or you could just come back to the Hatching party
with me."

J'ackt frowned and shook his head. "No, I don't think that's a good
idea." He just looked at her for a moment, seemed like he was about to
speak, then shrugged. "Go have fun." He backed away and turned,
walking towards his weyr.

"Goodnight! Thanks for the dance..." Alina called after him, but this
time she let him go. She'd gotten what she wanted. Humming, she turned
back to the Hatching celebration, and her feet picked up the steps of
the dance she'd shared with J'ackt to carry her back to the Hatching
Caverns where the rest of the Weyr was celebrating.

Last updated on the July 6th 2017

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