Sway With Me (Dusty)

[Deleted]

Instead of waiting outside of the classroom for Dusty to get out of detention, he had left her a note instead, taped to her locker, asking her to meet him in the Frost building. The note included a terribly drawn map of the building pointing out which room he was waiting in.

So far, so good. He had managed to ‘gain access’ to the building fairly easily, despite it being closed after hours, and had propped the side door open just a crack with a stick. The instructions also said for her to remove that and let the door shut behind her when she walked in. Besides that, he had taken the rest of his time setting the mood. He didn’t want it to appear like he had tried too hard, or that there was more to this than just dancing, but a little mood lighting couldn’t hurt, right? He had it all prepared, he would just tell her he wanted to keep the light low so nobody saw it through the windows and came to see who was there. She was gullible, she would believe it.

The small dance studio already had a sound system, but for added effect he had brought a small portable radio instead. That choice certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he had no idea how to use the sound system. At all.

Right, so lighting, music, mirrors (oh my!)... now all he needed was the girl...

...and for his stomach to quit that nervous gnawing thing. What was up with that, anyway?

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty’d been awful disappointed when she walked outta detention and Arkady weren’t waitin’ there like ‘e said. So she walked dejectedly down to ‘er locker, where she found a note tape to it. And she were awful glad ta find that it were from Arkady. She happily threw ‘er books and things inta the locker, throwin’ what she’d need inta the leather bag she’d taken ta carryin. Then, map in hand she made ‘er way to the Frost building.

Just like she’d been instructed to, Dusty let the side door shut behind ‘er. Then she used the map ta try and find where Arkady were waitin’. She got lost a couple a times, but she found ‘er way again real quick. She appreciated the effort, but really hoped that Arkady would never go into the map business. Ever’one would get real confused.

She peered into each room as she passed them until she found the one she were lookin’ for. She stepped in, suddenly feelin’ real nervous. “Hi,” she said softly, still standin’ by the door. “Finally found it.” She smiled at Arkady, a mischievous twinkle in ‘er eye. “But please tell me yah ain’t gonna get inta the map makin’ business. I don’t mean ta offend yah or nothin’, but I don’t think people would buy ‘em.”

[Deleted]

Alright, so either detention was late or she was lost, or maybe she hadn’t gotten his note. Arkady had just assumed that she would go back to her locker after she got out, but what if she didn’t? What if she saw that he wasn’t waiting for her and just went straight back to her room to mope? Not that he cared about her moping, of course, but this would set him back quite a bit if she thought he stood her up. He had been so sure that he could predict her moves, and that arrogance was possibly about to become his downfall.

Checking his watch for the millionth time, he crouched down in front of the little stereo and started skipping randomly through the disc that was softly playing. He could just picture that look of disappointment on her face when she walked out into the empty hall, the slump of her shoulders as she dragged herself away to her room. Maybe she would even cry a little.

He really hoped she didn’t cry.

Opening the CD player and switching the disc out for something else, Arkady barely managed to keep from chucking the disc across the room, so annoyed with himself was he. Luckily he resisted that urge, though, as in that moment of silence before he loaded the next song, he suddenly heard a small voice behind him. Jumping slightly, he closed his eyes and breathed a small sigh of relief. A slow smile spreading over his lips, he finished preparing the music and got to his feet, turning to face her.

“Darn, another prospective fortune lost,” he replied, smiling wider at her. “Glad it eventually got the point across, though. I was starting to think that maybe you hadn’t gotten my note.”

He said this with a little bit of apology and a little bit of embarrassment. Not to mention that obvious relief. “I wanted to get everything set up, and I figured I would have an easier time while there was nobody else around. Waiting and going together was a little more risky.”

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty giggled at Arkady when ‘e turned ta face ‘er. He could be real silly sometimes. She liked that ‘bout ‘im. She returned the smile. “It weren’t so bad,” she told ‘im, ‘bout the map. “I got here, didn’t I? And all in one piece too.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I s’pose it’d look real suspicious if’n someone saw both of us comin’ here together.” Not to mention what the assumption would be if’n they were seen together sneakin’ ‘round places they weren’t supposed to be. Oh good lord, that could be real bad. She’d be labeled a whore fer sure. O’ course that weren’t the case, but she couldn’t help what people thought and said. Dusty blushed, just thinkin’ ‘bout it, even briefly.

She ducked ‘er head so Arkady wouldn’t see and ask what was on ‘er mind, ‘cause she hated lyin’ but by gum, she weren’t gonna tell ‘im what she were thinkin’ ‘bout. She’d lie ‘til the cows came home if’n that’s what it took. Girls her age back home didn’t know ‘bout that kinda thing ‘til they married and Dusty worried ‘bout what ‘e’d think of ‘er.

“Um, what’s this song?” she asked, hopin’ that Arkady hadn’t noticed nothin’. “It’s nice. I like it.” She set her things by the door, then risked a glance back up. She were pretty sure she’d gotten the blush under control again, but she couldn’t be sure. And ‘er heart were startin’ ta beat faster in anticipation. That nervous feelin’ were back, stronger’n ever. Oh gosh, what had she gotten ‘erself into?

[Deleted]

Arkady was genuinely amused at the throwback to their previous conversation, about her being ‘all in one piece’. Smiling at Dusty, he took a few steps closer to her, barely catching her blush in the dim lighting before she ducked her head. Following where he suspected her train of thought to have gone after her words, he silently chalked up another victory. The more she thought about them, together, in any way, the easier this just kept getting. He was in her head now, and she was obviously enjoying his attentions. His goal was prom, and at this rate she would be in as deep as she could get before then.

“Well, I was thinking more that it’s easier for one person to sneak in undetected than two together, but... yeah, that too,” he replied, sounding a little awkward himself. He could easily lay it on thick, be the smooth, charming type, but he got the feeling that wouldn’t be her type. She seemed like one of the few girls who was actually attracted to nice guys... or maybe it didn’t matter how he acted as long as he acted interested. He wasn’t about to test that theory. The ‘nice guy’ was working, so the ‘nice guy’ he would be, with that little added dangerous, mischievous edge that allowed him to break in here for an evening interlude alone.

“In the Still of the Night,” Arkady answered about the song, brushing his hands on the front of his slacks as if he was nervous and developing sweaty palms. Unfortunately, to his chagrin, he wasn’t too far off. “Cole Porter was very popular in my time.”

With a slight bow, he held his hand out for her to take.

[Dusty Fae]

Arkady were sure right ‘bout one thing. He were in her head and she couldn’t help thinkin’ ‘bout ‘im. And she were enjoyin’ the attention, though she still couldn’t believe that outta all the girls in the whole school, Arkady had chosen her. Little Dusty Fae. A little nobody and she were just tickled and thrilled to ‘er to bits. Maybe that were why she kept thinkin’ ‘bout ‘im. ‘Cause it all seemed like a dream and she had ta keep pinchin’ ‘erself ta make sure it weren’t. That in fact, alla this was real life.

She heard the awkwardness and it were the good kinda awkward, not the bad kind. It was the awkward that might actually be nervousness, but it came out as awkwardness. Dusty were nervous. Real nervous. And she were kinda awkward too, so that meant they were both awkwardly nervous. If that even made any sense, which it probably didn’t ta anyone other than Dusty. Boy, she needed to breathe. Just breathe.

Well the song were awful pretty anyhow and she took the hand that were held out to ‘er with a small smile. “I ain’t ever heard o’ Cole Porter. If’n he’s real popular in your time, he must be after mine. Well, that’s what I would think anyway. ‘Cause if ‘e were after my time I’d prob’ly heard of ‘im. But I ain’t sure. We don’t usually hear ‘bout stuff happ’nin’ back East ‘til it’s over. Or it gets real popular in the East and never really makes out West too far. And Los Avalos is pretty far. We ain’t even in a state yet, just a territory.” And now she were ramblin’. “Sorry. I talk too much.”

[Deleted]

Arkady was pretty sure she was right. He wasn’t all that learned when it came to things that didn’t affect his life or country, but he didn’t think there were many towns left where there were gunfights in the streets and everyone still rode horses or drove buggies. Then again, people talked about “different dimensions” here at Tintagel, but it all sounded a little too far fetched to him.

While Dusty continued to babble, he just smiled and focused on his task. Taking her hand, he pulled her toward him then adjusted their hands to the proper position. With his other, he took hers and laid it upon his shoulder before lightly resting his own on her waist.

“Maybe other people just don’t talk enough,” Arkady countered when she finally took a moment to breathe. “Alright, I’m going to start by taking a step toward you with my left foot, so you will take a step back with your right. Just follow my lead.”

He took the first step.

[Dusty Fae]

If’n Dusty knew what Arkady were thinkin’ she woulda argued. Shootouts were illegal in the streets, though on occasion they happened anyways. And nobody rode buggies. There were horses, horse drawn wagons and horse drawn carts. There weren’t anyone rich enough to own a buggy in Los Avalos. And if’n yah didn’t own a horse, yah walked. Or yah bribed yer neighbors ta let them take yah for a ride in the back o’ the wagon.

Anyway, Dusty didn’t know and there were just fine ‘cause there were lots o’ other thing on ‘er mind. Like maybe how close she were standin’ ta Arkady. Or maybe how her hand was on ‘is shoulder. Or maybe the fact that he was holdin’ onta her waist. And goodness gracious she felt naked in ‘er modern clothes, ‘cause she wouldn’ta felt his hand at ‘er waist in ‘er old clothes. His hand woulda been on ‘er corset (‘cause ‘er momma said it weren’t proper fer a lady not ta wear a corset). But not this time. She weren’t wearin’ ‘er corset today. Hadn’t worn it since she came to Tintagel. And she could feel his hand at her waist. His hand was actually touchin’ her waist. It was all she could do ta tell ‘erself ta breath.

Dusty were pretty sure that she just talked too much compared ta other people. She hardly had time ta think ‘bout it though ‘cause they were movin’ on ta dancin’ which made ‘er even more nervous. Dusty only nodded ‘cause she weren’t sure she could trust ‘erself ta talk and be able ta dance. Then he stepped and she stepped. Surprisingly she stepped on the right foot too. This was good. This was a real good start.

[Deleted]

Amazingly, by taking charge and starting the lesson, Arkady somehow managed to silence the babbling Dusty. It was also possible that she just didn’t have the capacity to talk and dance at the same time, which he wouldn’t count as a fault at this point. Also among the amazing was that she actually followed the first step fairly well, if a little slowly.

“Very good,” he praised, smiling at her. Before he could take the next step, though, the song ended and something a little more upbeat started. That just wouldn’t do at all. “Hang on just one minute, now don’t move an inch, okay?” he hurriedly spoke, pointedly catching her eyes for assent before stepping away from her and jogging over to the stereo. Instead of changing the song, though, he simply hit stop. Silence enveloped them.

“To start out it might be best to leave the music off,” Arkady explained, slowly walking back over to Dusty, his shoes echoing on the wooden floor. “That way we can start out slow, keep our own pace at first.”

Resuming his position in her arms, there breathing the only sound for a moment, he looked up to meet her eyes. “We’ll do that first step again, that’ll be one. On two the other foot. Again, follow my lead.” Again he stepped forward, counting the steps aloud.

[Dusty Fae]

She were doin’ good. She were doin’ good! Arkady even said so! Actually he had said ‘very good’. Dusty smiled back. She were momentarily distracted when the music changed, but snapped right back to attention when Arkady stated talkin’ to ‘er. Givin’ ‘er instructions was more like it. She nodded and froze right there. Her feet were right where she’d put ‘em and ‘er arms stayed in the air, just as if she were still dancin’ with Arkady. Actually she looked like a person outta a picture of someone dancin’, ‘ceptin’ that one o’ the dancers were gone, missin’ from the picture.

Dusty were real surprised when Arkady turned off the music. She’d thought ‘e were gonna put that nice Cole Porter song back on or somethin’. But nope. Guess not. There was just silence fer a sec, ‘til Arkady started speakin’ again. No music for now. That would probably be good, ‘cause it just might make ‘er even more nervous than she already were. So she nodded again, ‘cause she were pretty sure if’n she opened ‘er mouth ta speak, somethin’ other’n words would spill out. So it were better not to say anythin’ atall.

Then he returned and took back up his position, holdin’ ‘er. That sounded so nice. She liked the idea of Arkady holdin’ ‘er. And not just holdin’ ‘er while they were dancin’, but really holdin’ ‘er. Like huggin’ or somethin’. She looked up at Arkady and she was again struck by ‘is blue eyes. They were just so blue. She were sure she’d never seen anythin’ that color blue. She nodded slowly at ‘is words, though she weren’t sure they registered. And then he were movin’ and countin’ and Dusty panicked. She stepped forward, steppin’ on ‘is foot. “By gum! I’m awful sorry!” Then she made ‘er feet go ta the right places real fast. Now she felt real foolish. But at least she’s warned ‘im that she weren’t good.

[Deleted]

Wincing when Dusty stepped on his foot, Arkady managed to bite back the curse that threatened to escape. It would do no good for her to discover his short fuse so early on, he had the feeling that letting his temper out would hurt his chances pretty bad. Grin and bear it, that’s all he had to do. Keep his eyes on the prize.

“It’s alright, it’s only the first step,” he replied, offering a reassuring smile. “Let’s try again. On one I’m going to step toward you with my left foot, so step back with your right. Then on two, with your other foot step to your left. On three, bring your right foot back over beside your left. Think you got it?”

Arkady held her gaze as he waited for the answer. Eye contact was important; he could tell Dusty was getting rattled, he was getting under her skin.

With the dance to focus on, he could easily ignore the fact that both statements could also apply to him regarding her.

“You can do this. Ready? And one...”

[Dusty Fae]

Oh gosh, he winced and it made ‘er feel worse ‘bout steppin’ on ‘is toes. “I weren’t exactly jokin’ ‘bout steel toed boots,” she told ‘im feelin’ more’n a little embarrassed. She’d been gettin’ lost in those blue blue eyes o’ his and hadn’t been payin’ attention. She’d just have ta not get lost in ‘is eyes again. That were dangerous. But he had such nice eyes. Much prettier’n ‘er own brown ones. And ‘sides, Arkady’s eyes were just real easy ta get lost in.

She were a little surprised that ‘e weren’t mad at ‘er, though. Most people got mad at yah when yah step on their even if’n it were an accident and yah didn’t mean to. Most people got mad anyway. But Arkady didn’t. And that were kinda a relief.

She looked up carefully and tried to smile back at ‘im. She weren’t gonna get lost in ‘is eyes this time. She listened to the words and then nodded. She took a deep breath, meetin’ ‘is eyes. “Yes.” Then she looked away and down at ‘er feet. Then maybe she would get it right.

Dusty weren’t as confident in ‘erself as Arkady seemed to be. But if he had faith in ‘er then she had ta have a little faith in ‘erself. Still watchin’ ‘er feet and with the tiniest bit o’ faith, she stepped with Arkady. Maybe it weren’t so hard after all.

[Deleted]

When Dusty quickly broke the eye contact and dropped her gaze to her feet, Arkady let his smirk show. Not the he needed confirmation of the affect he was having on her, but it was a little ego boost that he certainly didn’t mind. Now whether is was the fact that she could see the steps now or that she could focus more when not looking at him, she actually pulled off the steps fairly decent. She was still severely lacking in grace, but it wasn’t bad for the first few steps.

“Excellent,” Arkady encouraged her with a beaming smile if she dared to look up again. “Now we’re going to do the same steps in reverse. This time I’m going to step back with my right foot, so you step toward me with your left. Then step back to your right and feet together on three.”

Shifting his hand just slightly on her waist, he nodded his head to the silent beat in his head before taking the lead once more. “And one...”

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty weren’t too surprised that she weren’t graceful. She’d been graceful and had no hope of ever bein’ graceful. At this point she were quite sure that it were just supposed to be that way. She’d never be graceful like ‘er momma and the sooner she accepted that the better things were. But she were awful proud of herself fer doin’ the right steps and not steppin’ on Arkady’s feet again.

She looked back up at Arkady when he praised her, matching his smile with one of her own that brightened all of her features. She couldn’t help but feel a little proud of ‘erself. She were kinda dancin’! And she were doin’ kinda well! Tryin’ ta tone down the excitement a bit she nodded again, tryin’ ta put on a serious face, but succeeding only to bit her lip in an embarrassed sort of half smile. She nodded at Arkady’s instructions then focused back on her feet.

Honest, Dusty could concentrate much better when she weren’t lookin’ at Arkady. He fogged up ‘er brain a little bit so it were better to just watch her feet. And then she stepped with him again, if not the most gracefully.

[Deleted]

Dusty’s sudden smile seemed to not only light up her face, but the entire room. For a moment Arkady was struck dumb, unable to do much else but look at her. Sure, she was pretty, albeit plain; more cute than pretty, really, but in that annoyingly wholesome way, but in that moment... she was beautiful.

Luckily the moment passed fairly quickly and Arkady was able to recover from the dangerous major minor setback. It was just the atmosphere he had created, with the dim lighting and the close proximity, getting to him. He was getting too much into the moment, making it too real. She seemed to be falling for it all pretty easily, he didn’t have to come on so strong, maybe it would be best to dial it back a bit.

This sounded like a good idea, especially when he almost fumbled his own steps, but it was a delicate procedure. She was already pretty taken, but he couldn’t do anything to jeopardize it now. If he backed off, she might notice, and then where would he be? He just had to be more aware, that was all. More focused.

“Alright, that was very good,” he praised again once they had stopped. “Now, do you think you can do it all together? We’ll go slow, but let’s try all six steps, and keep going. That’s basically all it is, just keep repeating them.”