((Irene Djezari continued from Dance Or Die))
Is this the real life...? Is this just Fanta sea...?
Yes, Irene knew her second grade funnies.
Irene herself, she actually looked pretty good. Like if she had come to school like this on a regular basis she'd probably have ended up going to this dance with someone other than a person who wasn't even attracted to her. Sure, she'd spared a bit of time in the preceding two days to daydream schoolgirl fantasies to the contrary, but at the end of the day this was all just a friendly dance off. Pants on. Pants off for Irene though, she'd gone for the good old dress. Something expensive and somewhere between several shades of blue and gold, sleeveless and teasing at her ankles. Her hair was straight ironed into a drizzle of golden bangs. Trainers because Irene didn't dance easy, but they were at least clean and fresh. An off-white flower had been pinned to her chest by a disturbingly proud mother. 'Oh sweetie, you're finally becoming a heartbreaker! Just like I knew you would!'. Yeesh.
"So how does someone dance to Bohemian Rhapsody anyways? Like I can only imagine a particularly contrived ballet number but I'm sorry to say I don't quite have pirouettes off the fucking handle." Irene kept a respectful distance from Noah, which by her definition probably meant 'still too close' for most others. She sort of hovered near his shoulder, as close as her head could get to it at any rate. Irene was standing pretty. Dinner had gone well, she'd managed to maintain a low-key conversation and amuse herself with the inevitable back-and-forth of quips. Her's probably hadn't been that good but still, she'd tried. Noah probably had gotten an eyeful of how... bestial Irene's consumptive style was. She didn't eat her food as much as she absorbed it through her skin. At one point she'd been arbitrarily stabbing her meal with a knife in a rather violent manner less like cutting and more like-
Oh hey, they had Fanta at the refreshments table.
Dying To See How This One Ends
'Or It's Gonna Go Down In Flames' - this song does not actually appear
((Noah Whitley continued from Dance or Die))
Noah mouthed along to the song playing. He loved Queen, and hearing them at a high school dance was something he never expected but felt blessed for. Everything about Queen was so cool and endearing, and he found Freddie Mercury to be one of his idols. Granted, it did seem out of the ordinary compared to what else was probably going to be on the playlist, and if it was supposed to be a slow dance song, he didn't know if that was the best choice. He decided to enjoy the song and let it remind him that the music selection wasn't entirely bad.
What was entirely bad was the current moment. He and Irene were off to the side of the dance room and were just standing around. It wasn't what he had in mind, but he felt slightly guided there by Irene. The night had been fine so far. They had a nice dinner before the dance. Irene was pretty quick to eat, which meant Noah had a little more time to carefully eat his Steak Diane. While not much else came out of it, at least no one had any glass smashed over their head.
Noah had taken extra care of his appearance. He was wearing a black dress shirt with a white tie. He was also wearing black pants and white suspenders. It was a strange look, but he kind of found the suspenders attractive in a Night Porter kind of way. Aside from that, his hair was neatly combed, and his face had a light amount of makeup on, light enough to cover his five o' clock shadow but not be notable to Irene. He knew Irene could raise a fit if he dressed too out there for tonight, so he was confident she wouldn't be annoyed with this look.
Irene questioned why Bohemian Rhapsody was being played and how they could dance to it.
"Yeah, Bohemian Rhapsody's more of a lip-sync kind of song. That's why the music video was almost entirely close-ups," Noah said.
"Still, maybe the next song will have something that's more...I dunno...spirited."
Noah mouthed along to the song playing. He loved Queen, and hearing them at a high school dance was something he never expected but felt blessed for. Everything about Queen was so cool and endearing, and he found Freddie Mercury to be one of his idols. Granted, it did seem out of the ordinary compared to what else was probably going to be on the playlist, and if it was supposed to be a slow dance song, he didn't know if that was the best choice. He decided to enjoy the song and let it remind him that the music selection wasn't entirely bad.
What was entirely bad was the current moment. He and Irene were off to the side of the dance room and were just standing around. It wasn't what he had in mind, but he felt slightly guided there by Irene. The night had been fine so far. They had a nice dinner before the dance. Irene was pretty quick to eat, which meant Noah had a little more time to carefully eat his Steak Diane. While not much else came out of it, at least no one had any glass smashed over their head.
Noah had taken extra care of his appearance. He was wearing a black dress shirt with a white tie. He was also wearing black pants and white suspenders. It was a strange look, but he kind of found the suspenders attractive in a Night Porter kind of way. Aside from that, his hair was neatly combed, and his face had a light amount of makeup on, light enough to cover his five o' clock shadow but not be notable to Irene. He knew Irene could raise a fit if he dressed too out there for tonight, so he was confident she wouldn't be annoyed with this look.
Irene questioned why Bohemian Rhapsody was being played and how they could dance to it.
"Yeah, Bohemian Rhapsody's more of a lip-sync kind of song. That's why the music video was almost entirely close-ups," Noah said.
"Still, maybe the next song will have something that's more...I dunno...spirited."
Man. Look at Noah, looking all juicy with his nice 'strapping lad' look. With his mouthing along to lyrics. Irene was totally over the spark that set her Hindenburg crush for Noah alight, only nah not really. She could only really blame herself. Her eyes for seeing him, her brain for thinking against all odds that he had it going on, her ovaries for very very awkwardly reinforcing that fact. But hey. Irene had gotten this far without the kind of spastic collapse into depths of embarrassment usually only inflicted upon reality show contestants. She'd make it further. As the yung Freddie so aptly put it, 'easy come, easy go'. GG EZ. If this had been a gaming session this would have been the part where Irene started trash-talking nothing in particular to hype herself up.
But calling Noah a no-skill scrub probably wasn't the most constructive action on her menu of options. So what she did have...
A ) Casually converse until opening to cutely ask for dance comes up.
B ) Out with it, girl!
C ) Somehow slip in a shitty innuendo (the 18+ 'doujin' option though it was, for this particular romance option, a false flag)
"Yeah, I mean. I honestly never watched the music video. It's one of those songs that I like when it pops up on the radio but I don't go out of my way to listen." Like, say, every other song in existence. And then, without even a microsecond of lull in the back-and-forth Irene felt a sudden burst of impatience, it played puppeteer for her vocal chords before she could help herself. "Ugh, fuck it, you're right. We're not sitting in this side-room all day, Whitley. Next song we show them what spirited means, okay? Show me what's up, just give it to me. Right out there, where everyone can see. We finna tear it up, you hear?"
She'd kind of opted for a mix of the three options, in her own way. Let it never be said that Irene played by the rules. Irene crossed her arms and grunted, staring her dance-partner-to-be (hopefully, after that performance) straight in the eye. For like a second, then the eyes started to idly wander.
But calling Noah a no-skill scrub probably wasn't the most constructive action on her menu of options. So what she did have...
A ) Casually converse until opening to cutely ask for dance comes up.
B ) Out with it, girl!
C ) Somehow slip in a shitty innuendo (the 18+ 'doujin' option though it was, for this particular romance option, a false flag)
"Yeah, I mean. I honestly never watched the music video. It's one of those songs that I like when it pops up on the radio but I don't go out of my way to listen." Like, say, every other song in existence. And then, without even a microsecond of lull in the back-and-forth Irene felt a sudden burst of impatience, it played puppeteer for her vocal chords before she could help herself. "Ugh, fuck it, you're right. We're not sitting in this side-room all day, Whitley. Next song we show them what spirited means, okay? Show me what's up, just give it to me. Right out there, where everyone can see. We finna tear it up, you hear?"
She'd kind of opted for a mix of the three options, in her own way. Let it never be said that Irene played by the rules. Irene crossed her arms and grunted, staring her dance-partner-to-be (hopefully, after that performance) straight in the eye. For like a second, then the eyes started to idly wander.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
Noah continued to mouth along to the song as if he was sitting in a car with Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey. He was surprised that Irene had never seen the Bohemian Rhapsody music video before. He figured that it was well known enough that she would have at least seen the famous image of the four members shrouded in shadows in a diamond shape. He then decided it didn't matter. What did matter was changing the pace of this evening.
Irene suddenly got real active and began to declare how they'd tear up the dance floor once a more appropriate dance song came on. Noah almost started laughing at how damn seriously she was taking this, but knew to keep decorum. Irene may be square at times, but the promise of actually dancing along and having a good time here was more important.
"Damn right we will," Noah replied, a large smile appearing on his face. "I haven't been taking dance classes since I was 12 to not be able to show up my peers when the time calls for it."
Noah cracked his knuckles. Bohemian Rhapsody was finally coming to an end, and was now replaced by Break Free by Ariana Grande. Noah wasn't the biggest Ariana fan, but Break Free offered more opportunities to dance, and more importantly, more opportunities to move away from their current spot.
"Oh, I think we found our song," Noah said.
He held a hand out to Irene. "Shall we?"
Irene suddenly got real active and began to declare how they'd tear up the dance floor once a more appropriate dance song came on. Noah almost started laughing at how damn seriously she was taking this, but knew to keep decorum. Irene may be square at times, but the promise of actually dancing along and having a good time here was more important.
"Damn right we will," Noah replied, a large smile appearing on his face. "I haven't been taking dance classes since I was 12 to not be able to show up my peers when the time calls for it."
Noah cracked his knuckles. Bohemian Rhapsody was finally coming to an end, and was now replaced by Break Free by Ariana Grande. Noah wasn't the biggest Ariana fan, but Break Free offered more opportunities to dance, and more importantly, more opportunities to move away from their current spot.
"Oh, I think we found our song," Noah said.
He held a hand out to Irene. "Shall we?"
Eyes wandered liberally. That was what had really broken free. Irene tried to minimize the awkward roaming glances Noah's way.
Oh wait. There was a kinda stubby dude over by the drinks table she randomly recognized out of yonder star-studded blue. Damn that tablecloth sucked, hence Irene unironically loved it in all it's 'well at least you tried here's a literal gold star' glory. It was possibly the design of the person she was singling out, a Mr. Rigano. He looked pretty sharp. Couldn't hold a candle to Noah, but not bad. Irene waved, rather insistently, in time to Freddie's increasingly diminuendo croons. 'No-thing rea-lly ma-tters, a-ny-one can see'. Was that in any way legitimate syncopation, no way. But Irene marched to beat of her own drum, even when there was an actual beat to work with.
She grew bored with that distraction within the moment and then it was back to the vaguely creepy wondering about certain aspects of Noah's- oh hey the song was changing. If Irene's ears had any form of self-control they might have excitedly twitched at the stronger beat, actually they probably did anyways in defiance of all common sense. Not really.
"I haven't been taking dance classes since I was 12 to not be able to show up my peers when the time calls for it." Belated registration, but Irene was able to summon a response:
"Well let's see how well those classes served you, bae." A line that could have been delivered in a sultry way if Irene had any practical sense of what the word 'sultry' meant. Something about liberally-applied mascara and hookahs, right? 'If you want it, take it.' Nice advice, Miss Grande! Irene didn't mind if she did. She felt a bit tense about just casually grabbing the hand; it showed with a few joints being overly stiff as she let her petite hand fall into his. Hand-in-hand, mission accomplished. She giggled nervously despite- to spite- herself, but quickly she reasserted control. Rather forcefully, as suddenly she was seized by the desire to drag the both of them to the dance floor. So she did, turning heel, trying to yank his arm from the rest of his body. Noah the victim of drag, in the other meaning of the word. As opposed to how he usually liked to apply drag as a concept to himself.
"Come on, we shall!"
Oh wait. There was a kinda stubby dude over by the drinks table she randomly recognized out of yonder star-studded blue. Damn that tablecloth sucked, hence Irene unironically loved it in all it's 'well at least you tried here's a literal gold star' glory. It was possibly the design of the person she was singling out, a Mr. Rigano. He looked pretty sharp. Couldn't hold a candle to Noah, but not bad. Irene waved, rather insistently, in time to Freddie's increasingly diminuendo croons. 'No-thing rea-lly ma-tters, a-ny-one can see'. Was that in any way legitimate syncopation, no way. But Irene marched to beat of her own drum, even when there was an actual beat to work with.
She grew bored with that distraction within the moment and then it was back to the vaguely creepy wondering about certain aspects of Noah's- oh hey the song was changing. If Irene's ears had any form of self-control they might have excitedly twitched at the stronger beat, actually they probably did anyways in defiance of all common sense. Not really.
"I haven't been taking dance classes since I was 12 to not be able to show up my peers when the time calls for it." Belated registration, but Irene was able to summon a response:
"Well let's see how well those classes served you, bae." A line that could have been delivered in a sultry way if Irene had any practical sense of what the word 'sultry' meant. Something about liberally-applied mascara and hookahs, right? 'If you want it, take it.' Nice advice, Miss Grande! Irene didn't mind if she did. She felt a bit tense about just casually grabbing the hand; it showed with a few joints being overly stiff as she let her petite hand fall into his. Hand-in-hand, mission accomplished. She giggled nervously despite- to spite- herself, but quickly she reasserted control. Rather forcefully, as suddenly she was seized by the desire to drag the both of them to the dance floor. So she did, turning heel, trying to yank his arm from the rest of his body. Noah the victim of drag, in the other meaning of the word. As opposed to how he usually liked to apply drag as a concept to himself.
"Come on, we shall!"
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
"Yes please!" Noah shouted as Irene pulled him to the dance floor. He began to chuckle to himself as they made their way to a clear spot on the floor. He released his grip from Irene's hand and began to move along with the song. The first verse had just begun, and Noah was ready to show his moves off. Ariana Grande wasn't a singer he normally would have performed to. That was usually reserved more for musicians like Marina and the Diamonds or Ellie Goulding. Still, Break Free was a good enough song that he could have some fun with it.
Try to hide it, fake it. I can't pretend anymore.
Noah began to sway a bit, posing with his arms in the air at the bursting sound.
I only want to die alive, never by the hands of a broken heart.
Noah began to mouth along to the song, looking directly at Irene as he tried to sync with the words.
I don't wanna hear you lie tonight. Now that I've become who I really am.
Now he was gesturing at Irene. He was hoping the idea that she was the subject of the song would be amusing.
This is
Noah struck a pose, quickly throwing his arms by his side like he was making his body look like a football goal post.
the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.
He quickly moved his arms down so he was now pointing at Irene. This was soon followed by hip-swaying and finger wagging.
This is the part when I break free.
Now he was reaching out, his face getting more pained as he assumed was the appropriate expression for this part of the song.
'Cause I can't resist it no more.
His expression quickly changed. He closed his eyes, scrunched his brow a bit, and held his arms close to his chest, keeping his hands in fists.
This is
Noah started dancing a lot quicker at this part.
the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.
His years of hip-hop dancing made Noah fairly agile on his feet. For this part of the song, he began to step and spin in place, never tripping over his feet. He still tried to keep his focus on Irene as he continued to lip sync to the song.
This is the part when I break free.
He moved his arms in a way like he was doing a breaststroke in swim class. This was his way of making it look like he was breaking free.
'Cause I can't resist it no more.
When he got to this lyric, Noah brought his posture back to a normal standing position, continuing to mouth along to the song. The last word of this lyric had a bit of an echo, so he mimed like he was saying each oh-oh-oh-oh. That's when he pulled out "the move." He pulled on his suspenders, did a quick spin in place, then performed the move.
He pushed his right leg forward, bent his left one back, and held his arms out to the side. It was quick, but now he was on the floor. He found the right moment to do a death drop in the song, and he hoped enough people were around him and saw it. He hadn't done a death drop for a crowd since that amateur night back in Vegas, and he hoped he pulled it off flawlessly. There was still another verse, two more choruses, and a bridge to the song, so he'd need to get back up and keep the party going.
Try to hide it, fake it. I can't pretend anymore.
Noah began to sway a bit, posing with his arms in the air at the bursting sound.
I only want to die alive, never by the hands of a broken heart.
Noah began to mouth along to the song, looking directly at Irene as he tried to sync with the words.
I don't wanna hear you lie tonight. Now that I've become who I really am.
Now he was gesturing at Irene. He was hoping the idea that she was the subject of the song would be amusing.
This is
Noah struck a pose, quickly throwing his arms by his side like he was making his body look like a football goal post.
the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.
He quickly moved his arms down so he was now pointing at Irene. This was soon followed by hip-swaying and finger wagging.
This is the part when I break free.
Now he was reaching out, his face getting more pained as he assumed was the appropriate expression for this part of the song.
'Cause I can't resist it no more.
His expression quickly changed. He closed his eyes, scrunched his brow a bit, and held his arms close to his chest, keeping his hands in fists.
This is
Noah started dancing a lot quicker at this part.
the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.
His years of hip-hop dancing made Noah fairly agile on his feet. For this part of the song, he began to step and spin in place, never tripping over his feet. He still tried to keep his focus on Irene as he continued to lip sync to the song.
This is the part when I break free.
He moved his arms in a way like he was doing a breaststroke in swim class. This was his way of making it look like he was breaking free.
'Cause I can't resist it no more.
When he got to this lyric, Noah brought his posture back to a normal standing position, continuing to mouth along to the song. The last word of this lyric had a bit of an echo, so he mimed like he was saying each oh-oh-oh-oh. That's when he pulled out "the move." He pulled on his suspenders, did a quick spin in place, then performed the move.
He pushed his right leg forward, bent his left one back, and held his arms out to the side. It was quick, but now he was on the floor. He found the right moment to do a death drop in the song, and he hoped enough people were around him and saw it. He hadn't done a death drop for a crowd since that amateur night back in Vegas, and he hoped he pulled it off flawlessly. There was still another verse, two more choruses, and a bridge to the song, so he'd need to get back up and keep the party going.
Irene's hand was spared further impetus to sweat and limp and otherwise melt into mush. Irene was feeling about as good as Noah looked, in that moment. Awkwardness, lameness aside. Falling away. All those feels, those were neatly shooed aside as they approached the spot where the music was loud, proud. About as loud and proud as cheap speakers could possibly manage, the upper frequencies of Ariana's normally fair voice pretty much just whistling to the dogs. There were flashes of faces Irene recognized, a hundred names to wave and smile at. Or maybe suffer a blood vessel implosion over- No. No, this wasn't the time for any of that. For once Irene's brain could not meander as it was wont, it-
Okay seriously the decor and the theme were awful. Irene wondered if she could sport it for her next birthday. Just a few more weeks and-
Yeah okay, dance time.
The loud lights and the bright sounds and the tasty bass rumbles, they were everywhere, flooding all of Irene's senses. Noah was putting on a show. Line for line, almost slow motion as Irene's body flooded with beautiful adrenaline. Breathe, darling. Just do your thing.
Like she was gonna do anything else.
Noah sung at her, she sung back. Be it as it may, that the vocal quality didn't quite match with the picture of the tall handsome boy exaggeratedly belting each syllable. Maybe Irene made for a better Ariana, who knew. He gestured, she gestured back, the finest of theatrical moments exchanged as they reached for one another like comrades at arms. Pose for pose.
'This is (blah blah lyrics go here)-'
Okay what was with that pose? Irene snapped at him, giggling in genuine amusement as he gestured at her, smoothly matching every move. In tempo, in ridiculousness, they might as well have been one body. Wink wink. No innuendo though, she just didn't have the time! This was how it was supposed to be, Irene in her natural habitat. No words needed. Just some cheesy lyrics.
Okay Noah was really pouring it on though. Irene lost the ability to match, she was at that point happily laughing too hard to maintain the theatrics arms race. It didn't matter anyways, when the synth revved up, when the kick drums threw themselves into the fray.
Irene knew this. Irene's weight smoothly rattled her kneecaps as she began to rocket back and forth, neatly bouncing from heel to heel with grand but controlled sweeps of her legs. The shuffle. All basic physics, basic body work. No poorly thought out words, no inappropriate or errant thoughts, no failure of social decorum. Just two dorks and a beat. She couldn't mess this up, for once. Spins and twirls and... swimming gestures, apparently. Okay, Irene would take the bait. Fish outta water and all that. A smooth sorta-moonwalk followed as Irene backstroked to Noah's breaststroke, as she neatly topped him in audacity and glance-grabbing nature of move. She disengaged from the move with strong chest and core, and then-
Oh no, Noah had died!
Oh my god, that move. It hadn't been a wipeout, rather, Noah was just awesome. Holy shit! Irene didn't even know what kind of move that was, but whatever it was it deserved all those awards he ranted on about in his videos. Irene's dance froze, she stumbled to Noah's fallen form.
"Noah, oh my god! That was so cool!" Irene's eyes glimmered, she was pretty much totally taken by the moment. Her momentarily graceful form was spontaneously an obtrusion, she nearly tripped a nearby couple in her haste to lay praise upon her friend-slash-not-boyfriend.
Okay seriously the decor and the theme were awful. Irene wondered if she could sport it for her next birthday. Just a few more weeks and-
Yeah okay, dance time.
The loud lights and the bright sounds and the tasty bass rumbles, they were everywhere, flooding all of Irene's senses. Noah was putting on a show. Line for line, almost slow motion as Irene's body flooded with beautiful adrenaline. Breathe, darling. Just do your thing.
Like she was gonna do anything else.
Noah sung at her, she sung back. Be it as it may, that the vocal quality didn't quite match with the picture of the tall handsome boy exaggeratedly belting each syllable. Maybe Irene made for a better Ariana, who knew. He gestured, she gestured back, the finest of theatrical moments exchanged as they reached for one another like comrades at arms. Pose for pose.
'This is (blah blah lyrics go here)-'
Okay what was with that pose? Irene snapped at him, giggling in genuine amusement as he gestured at her, smoothly matching every move. In tempo, in ridiculousness, they might as well have been one body. Wink wink. No innuendo though, she just didn't have the time! This was how it was supposed to be, Irene in her natural habitat. No words needed. Just some cheesy lyrics.
Okay Noah was really pouring it on though. Irene lost the ability to match, she was at that point happily laughing too hard to maintain the theatrics arms race. It didn't matter anyways, when the synth revved up, when the kick drums threw themselves into the fray.
Irene knew this. Irene's weight smoothly rattled her kneecaps as she began to rocket back and forth, neatly bouncing from heel to heel with grand but controlled sweeps of her legs. The shuffle. All basic physics, basic body work. No poorly thought out words, no inappropriate or errant thoughts, no failure of social decorum. Just two dorks and a beat. She couldn't mess this up, for once. Spins and twirls and... swimming gestures, apparently. Okay, Irene would take the bait. Fish outta water and all that. A smooth sorta-moonwalk followed as Irene backstroked to Noah's breaststroke, as she neatly topped him in audacity and glance-grabbing nature of move. She disengaged from the move with strong chest and core, and then-
Oh no, Noah had died!
Oh my god, that move. It hadn't been a wipeout, rather, Noah was just awesome. Holy shit! Irene didn't even know what kind of move that was, but whatever it was it deserved all those awards he ranted on about in his videos. Irene's dance froze, she stumbled to Noah's fallen form.
"Noah, oh my god! That was so cool!" Irene's eyes glimmered, she was pretty much totally taken by the moment. Her momentarily graceful form was spontaneously an obtrusion, she nearly tripped a nearby couple in her haste to lay praise upon her friend-slash-not-boyfriend.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
Noah remained on the ground for a moment, fanning himself with his hands as he lay their in post-death drop ecstasy. He heard Irene shout about how cool that move was, giving him the validation he needed for pulling that off at a school dance.
"You think that's impressive?" he said, moving his legs around so he could have them side by side. "You should see me do that in six inch heels."
Noah twisted his body, spinning himself on the ground. He planted the side of his left thigh on the ground in order to give support so he could stand back up. Now that he was standing again, he was back to dancing the same way he was before. It was a lot of lip syncing, a lot of posing, and a whole lot of sass. The whole time, he had a large smile on his face.
"Okay, Irene," he shouted to Irene as they came to the second chorus of the song. "Now it's your turn. Show me your best dance move."
He wasn't expecting Irene to do a death drop or a split or anything crazy. Noah just wanted to see her break out more and for him to not be the only one trying to dance like crazy to the song.
"You think that's impressive?" he said, moving his legs around so he could have them side by side. "You should see me do that in six inch heels."
Noah twisted his body, spinning himself on the ground. He planted the side of his left thigh on the ground in order to give support so he could stand back up. Now that he was standing again, he was back to dancing the same way he was before. It was a lot of lip syncing, a lot of posing, and a whole lot of sass. The whole time, he had a large smile on his face.
"Okay, Irene," he shouted to Irene as they came to the second chorus of the song. "Now it's your turn. Show me your best dance move."
He wasn't expecting Irene to do a death drop or a split or anything crazy. Noah just wanted to see her break out more and for him to not be the only one trying to dance like crazy to the song.
Had anyone even seen that?! With the arms bending and the leg pushing and the falling and the not-dying?! Alesso (correctly spelled, Alessio, as much as Irene loved the progressive house producer that dude did not go to a dance this lame), Alvaro, Brendan, Kizi, any of the other familiar faces on or around or somehow in the presence of the dance floor?! Noah fanning himself was apropos, because damn was that move hot. Hot as he was. Irene knew she was wearing a blush, fuck it she didn't care. No way was it visible with all the awkwardly dim mood lighting.
"... You should see me do that in six inch heels."
"Fuck off, Pina." That had come out of nowhere. Even Irene had been surprised by how fast her lips had split, parted nice and Moses-like, to issue that curt retort. Somewhere in Irene's brain there was still the ever-ticking time bomb. Not an especially deep spot. But. Irene was too far gone having a good time to be too far gone in any other way. For once, it occurred to her in a timely fashion that she was being rude. "Sorry. Did not mean that." Well technically she did, it was just inappropriate given the context.
'I was under your spell...' (more accurately, with Ariana's weird-ass enunciation, spayyy-el)
Damn right Irene was under a spayyy-el. Noah was back to dancing, she was back to dancing. Don't question, don't otherwise do stupid shit. Just do stupid dance. It was really that simple.
... Best dance move, huh? In the animes this was (is) the part when (I)rene pulled out the old DDR skills (break free). But this was too three-dimensional and physics-constrained for that. Okay, plan B. Irene did have other skills, to be sure. She hadn't spent her entire life doing stuff to not be able to do stuff when the time came for any of her many pseudo-skills to actually be useful. Not video games, not memorizing the entire Math book front-to-back, this was some old school Djezari talent. Gymnastics. It had only been a few years. How hard could it possibly have been to make the old muscles bend and snap that way again?
So before she could stop herself, the chorus with the kick drums and stuff was back and she was moving.
'This is-'
Irene didn't quite have the training Noah had to look as good, oh-so-good as he did, but she had a natural sense of rhythm. Her words only sometimes made sense, but her actions...
'-the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.'
... Okay, well those also only sometimes made sense. But, well, as Grande so shrilly put it:
'This is the part when I break free.'
On that Irene took her shot at the gold. Very knee and elbow heavy twists carried her forward a scant two steps, into a space that was fortunately pointed away from Noah and the bulk of the crowd, a clearing in the mass of people. She thrust her arms up and jumped. Arms soared with the soaring melody, Irene came one step closer to her childhood dreams of becoming a bald eagle on behalf of America. Balls of her heels rose, sunk, she neatly landed from her up-and-down jump. Just needed the momentum. She jumped again, this time hurling her chest forward, her dresses' (not) red glare. Legs tucked in, bursting through the air. Gave proof through the night. That Irene fucking stuck her landing. A full frontal roll from like two meager steps warm up. Virtually standing. She hadn't collided into anyone or the floor or anything, holy crap!
"Oh my god, Noah, I did it! I didn't fuck u-! Oh shit!" Well, spoke too soon. In her excitement Irene tried to run to her partner's side but forgot he was still pretty much just right there. So she essentially just hurtled straight into him, an entire Irene's worth of projectile.
"... You should see me do that in six inch heels."
"Fuck off, Pina." That had come out of nowhere. Even Irene had been surprised by how fast her lips had split, parted nice and Moses-like, to issue that curt retort. Somewhere in Irene's brain there was still the ever-ticking time bomb. Not an especially deep spot. But. Irene was too far gone having a good time to be too far gone in any other way. For once, it occurred to her in a timely fashion that she was being rude. "Sorry. Did not mean that." Well technically she did, it was just inappropriate given the context.
'I was under your spell...' (more accurately, with Ariana's weird-ass enunciation, spayyy-el)
Damn right Irene was under a spayyy-el. Noah was back to dancing, she was back to dancing. Don't question, don't otherwise do stupid shit. Just do stupid dance. It was really that simple.
... Best dance move, huh? In the animes this was (is) the part when (I)rene pulled out the old DDR skills (break free). But this was too three-dimensional and physics-constrained for that. Okay, plan B. Irene did have other skills, to be sure. She hadn't spent her entire life doing stuff to not be able to do stuff when the time came for any of her many pseudo-skills to actually be useful. Not video games, not memorizing the entire Math book front-to-back, this was some old school Djezari talent. Gymnastics. It had only been a few years. How hard could it possibly have been to make the old muscles bend and snap that way again?
So before she could stop herself, the chorus with the kick drums and stuff was back and she was moving.
'This is-'
Irene didn't quite have the training Noah had to look as good, oh-so-good as he did, but she had a natural sense of rhythm. Her words only sometimes made sense, but her actions...
'-the part when I say I don't want it. I'm stronger than I've been before.'
... Okay, well those also only sometimes made sense. But, well, as Grande so shrilly put it:
'This is the part when I break free.'
On that Irene took her shot at the gold. Very knee and elbow heavy twists carried her forward a scant two steps, into a space that was fortunately pointed away from Noah and the bulk of the crowd, a clearing in the mass of people. She thrust her arms up and jumped. Arms soared with the soaring melody, Irene came one step closer to her childhood dreams of becoming a bald eagle on behalf of America. Balls of her heels rose, sunk, she neatly landed from her up-and-down jump. Just needed the momentum. She jumped again, this time hurling her chest forward, her dresses' (not) red glare. Legs tucked in, bursting through the air. Gave proof through the night. That Irene fucking stuck her landing. A full frontal roll from like two meager steps warm up. Virtually standing. She hadn't collided into anyone or the floor or anything, holy crap!
"Oh my god, Noah, I did it! I didn't fuck u-! Oh shit!" Well, spoke too soon. In her excitement Irene tried to run to her partner's side but forgot he was still pretty much just right there. So she essentially just hurtled straight into him, an entire Irene's worth of projectile.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
Noah continued to dance around, not the least bothered by Irene's criticism of Pina. He merely laughed at the notion that her immediate response would be one of scorn towards a character. He didn't really care at this point, and was more interested in how annoyed she could get. But there wasn't time for that; Irene was going to show off her best move.
She moved forward and jumped, arms flailing. Noah raised an eyebrow. Was that it? Just jumping like at the end of a John Hughes movie? Then she did it again, but this time rolled her body forward. She did a flip. Noah cheered at that. That was an impressive move, especially with heels. Noah clapped his hands.
"Good job, girl!" he shouted.
Irene stumbled back to him proud, but then tripped and fell towards him. Noah instinctively held his arms out and caught her. Noah tried to hold her carefully, letting her adjust herself.
"Okay, I think we got our crazy moves out of the way," he said. "Let's just get through this song without killing ourselves."
She moved forward and jumped, arms flailing. Noah raised an eyebrow. Was that it? Just jumping like at the end of a John Hughes movie? Then she did it again, but this time rolled her body forward. She did a flip. Noah cheered at that. That was an impressive move, especially with heels. Noah clapped his hands.
"Good job, girl!" he shouted.
Irene stumbled back to him proud, but then tripped and fell towards him. Noah instinctively held his arms out and caught her. Noah tried to hold her carefully, letting her adjust herself.
"Okay, I think we got our crazy moves out of the way," he said. "Let's just get through this song without killing ourselves."
Oh man, the laugh. What a prick. No, but now was not the time to be vindictive. Save the return to barely-justified irritation for when the gold-stars and snack crumbs were chilling in the school's dumpsters. On some mostly out of reach level Irene understood that Noah was letting her off easy. Irene was the belligerent, what with the whole 'fuck' and all. If Irene were Noah she would have killed herself for trying to be so fuckgirl. Well okay, Irene wouldn't kill herself because she wasn't about that sort of life. She'd be Noah killing herself. Or, uh, something.
All was forgiven though. Noah liked it! Clapped for her. Whooped it up. Made the dance floor feel even more alive than it already was. Made her feel like she was damn good. Which she totally was.
Even when she was suddenly dangling like a wooden-joint marionette in his arms. His pretty well defined arms. Oof. This is the part where Irene once more felt the compulsion to be killed by not-herself. It was embarrassing. See, she could have stabilized herself in an instant really. All senses were a-okay, her post-flip recovery was top notch. There was no room spinning, no nausea, no urge to blurt out something potentially stupid- okay there was always that urge but it was no stronger than normal at least. There was just her. In his kinda romance novel-ey tender grasp. Whether he intended it or not he had the younger Djezari half ready to swoon. Pulses of blood heavily sloshed through her limbs, now virtual dead weight. Something something knees weak, etc.
"Let's just get through this song without killing ourselves."
Irene could get behind that. The song was entering it's final electro breakdown, so after a few moments of awkward limpness in his grasp Irene brought herself to life. Hastily tore herself away before someone from yearbook had that shit on polaroid.
"Second to catch my breath?" Wait. Had she actually said that aloud? Irene did not just up and surrender, actual injury maybe aside. "Wait no, fuck that. Dance like fuck, Whitley!" Irene rode the kicks out with some level of grace as they looped and looped... hey, the DJ knew how to transition this year!
All was forgiven though. Noah liked it! Clapped for her. Whooped it up. Made the dance floor feel even more alive than it already was. Made her feel like she was damn good. Which she totally was.
Even when she was suddenly dangling like a wooden-joint marionette in his arms. His pretty well defined arms. Oof. This is the part where Irene once more felt the compulsion to be killed by not-herself. It was embarrassing. See, she could have stabilized herself in an instant really. All senses were a-okay, her post-flip recovery was top notch. There was no room spinning, no nausea, no urge to blurt out something potentially stupid- okay there was always that urge but it was no stronger than normal at least. There was just her. In his kinda romance novel-ey tender grasp. Whether he intended it or not he had the younger Djezari half ready to swoon. Pulses of blood heavily sloshed through her limbs, now virtual dead weight. Something something knees weak, etc.
"Let's just get through this song without killing ourselves."
Irene could get behind that. The song was entering it's final electro breakdown, so after a few moments of awkward limpness in his grasp Irene brought herself to life. Hastily tore herself away before someone from yearbook had that shit on polaroid.
"Second to catch my breath?" Wait. Had she actually said that aloud? Irene did not just up and surrender, actual injury maybe aside. "Wait no, fuck that. Dance like fuck, Whitley!" Irene rode the kicks out with some level of grace as they looped and looped... hey, the DJ knew how to transition this year!
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
Noah continued to dance through the rest of the song. Irene was freed from his grasp and they could resume their dancing. The final electro breakdown was perfect to get some voguing and pop and locking mixed into mix. He did try to keep in mind his declaration to Irene, so he kept his feet planted in place, mostly leaving the dancing to his upper body and arms. It wasn't until Irene declared "Dance like fuck, Whitley!" that he started going further with his movements.
"Okay!" he replied to Irene. "I don't know how you 'dance like fuck,' but if it's like my fucks, it's clumsy and quick! So yeah, I can definitely do that!"
Noah chuckled at the bit of self deprecating humor there and paused for the next song to play.
"Ooh, 'Latch!' I like this song!" Noah declared.
As the first few beats of the Disclosure song played, Noah continued to move his body in an almost robotic fashion. It was his go-to movements for EDM songs, but it would be a nice, slower pace from that quick Ariana Grande song he just slayed. Plus, it was less likely it would end up killing him and Irene, so he was glad for that.
"Okay!" he replied to Irene. "I don't know how you 'dance like fuck,' but if it's like my fucks, it's clumsy and quick! So yeah, I can definitely do that!"
Noah chuckled at the bit of self deprecating humor there and paused for the next song to play.
"Ooh, 'Latch!' I like this song!" Noah declared.
As the first few beats of the Disclosure song played, Noah continued to move his body in an almost robotic fashion. It was his go-to movements for EDM songs, but it would be a nice, slower pace from that quick Ariana Grande song he just slayed. Plus, it was less likely it would end up killing him and Irene, so he was glad for that.
Smooth one, Whitley. Clumsy, quick fuck. Innuendo, or whatever. Hah hah, very funny. Irene did afford it a giggle but she also wistfully wished for any joke that didn't come off as totally awkward somehow. Irene's fucks were probably clumsy and awkward too. Not like she'd know from experience. Like, when was that ever going to happen in her lifetime?
Ne-ver...
Irene knew that sample. That white noise slide, that deep house rhythm. Latch. Deep House's brief 'oorah in the pop charts. One of her many 'summer of 2014' songs. She'd invented a dance for it, but that one had involved a lot of faux-marching that she just didn't have the space for. It had had a rather... steamy music video, which Irene remembered brief snippets of and thus nearly died on the spot. Stupid Sam Smith and his sultry vocals. 'If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down'. In Irene's dreams. Ugh, why had she thought this was a good idea again? Stupid brain, leading her into situations.
Even as she slowly beat her mental self to death, executed it for high treason, she swayed not-so-gently to the song. Her rhythmic sashays were assured, methodical, confident. They betrayed a maturity she didn't actually have. Her arm extended Noah's way in instinctive search for someone's love to lock in. She didn't expect him to actually take it, wasn't even thinking such a move was on the table.
Ne-ver...
Irene knew that sample. That white noise slide, that deep house rhythm. Latch. Deep House's brief 'oorah in the pop charts. One of her many 'summer of 2014' songs. She'd invented a dance for it, but that one had involved a lot of faux-marching that she just didn't have the space for. It had had a rather... steamy music video, which Irene remembered brief snippets of and thus nearly died on the spot. Stupid Sam Smith and his sultry vocals. 'If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down'. In Irene's dreams. Ugh, why had she thought this was a good idea again? Stupid brain, leading her into situations.
Even as she slowly beat her mental self to death, executed it for high treason, she swayed not-so-gently to the song. Her rhythmic sashays were assured, methodical, confident. They betrayed a maturity she didn't actually have. Her arm extended Noah's way in instinctive search for someone's love to lock in. She didn't expect him to actually take it, wasn't even thinking such a move was on the table.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
Noah continued to vogue to the song playing. The song was pretty cool for slower and more precise dancing. He could plan more of a buildup to the chorus, maybe find a place to work in a split. Until that time, he kept voguing to Sam Smith's vocals.
As he did, he looked over at Irene and noticed she had reached an arm out towards him. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to grab it and dance along. But then the thought came to him: dance with her. It'd probably be really corny and shit, but hey, he came with a girl to dance with her. Why not dance around with her?
"Alright, my dear," he said to Irene as he took her arm. "Let's dance."
Noah pulled Irene closer to him, pulling her so he could keep his grip on her arm and place his other hand around her waist. This wasn't the kind of song to waltz to (nor was Noah confident he could and was waltzing at the moment), but he began to lead Irene into a dance. He tried to make sure he wouldn't step on her feet, and began to motion her to start spinning in place with him.
"Now we're latching!" he declared.
As he did, he looked over at Irene and noticed she had reached an arm out towards him. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to grab it and dance along. But then the thought came to him: dance with her. It'd probably be really corny and shit, but hey, he came with a girl to dance with her. Why not dance around with her?
"Alright, my dear," he said to Irene as he took her arm. "Let's dance."
Noah pulled Irene closer to him, pulling her so he could keep his grip on her arm and place his other hand around her waist. This wasn't the kind of song to waltz to (nor was Noah confident he could and was waltzing at the moment), but he began to lead Irene into a dance. He tried to make sure he wouldn't step on her feet, and began to motion her to start spinning in place with him.
"Now we're latching!" he declared.
Noah really did have good moves though. Irene let her eye casually bounce with every jerk of his body to the rhythm. It was all slow, controlled, easy to follow. So much so that even she was somehow managing it. Was this what her coaches meant when they said 'stop trying too hard and control your pace'? Maybe. Irene wouldn't remember such an epiphany in the long run anyways, but here and now it looked pretty good on her. Only major mistake she'd made in the last few seconds was extending the arm, because like hell that was going to happ-
Oh.
Oh.
Well. It wasn't the rarest thing for hands to be on Irene like this. Arms, those were a thing she was used to. From mom, dad, sis, friends. Less so friends nowadays, since Irene's social circles had skewed towards neeeeerds with varying degrees of social incompetence. 'Just put the arm on my shoulder damn it, it looks weird hovering off it like that!' And so on. Irene didn't often dance with this much contact though. She'd never expected there to be this much... contact. She, uh, liked it. A lot. The pressure valve in her head that held the spastic at bay was twitching, spewing steam. Uh. Worth.
She fell in a bit, as close as she dared. Man the dude towered over her. He seemed to be going for a display of the Coriolis Effect. There would be rotation. All was cool. Irene had this. Just spin. Maybe 'wheee' a little bit.
"Hah! Uh, yeah!" All she could respond with as they began to pick up. Inertia worked it's magic, her boy Newton betrayed her. It was all in motion now, however it ultimately stopped. Don't trip. Don't trip.
Oh.
Oh.
Well. It wasn't the rarest thing for hands to be on Irene like this. Arms, those were a thing she was used to. From mom, dad, sis, friends. Less so friends nowadays, since Irene's social circles had skewed towards neeeeerds with varying degrees of social incompetence. 'Just put the arm on my shoulder damn it, it looks weird hovering off it like that!' And so on. Irene didn't often dance with this much contact though. She'd never expected there to be this much... contact. She, uh, liked it. A lot. The pressure valve in her head that held the spastic at bay was twitching, spewing steam. Uh. Worth.
She fell in a bit, as close as she dared. Man the dude towered over her. He seemed to be going for a display of the Coriolis Effect. There would be rotation. All was cool. Irene had this. Just spin. Maybe 'wheee' a little bit.
"Hah! Uh, yeah!" All she could respond with as they began to pick up. Inertia worked it's magic, her boy Newton betrayed her. It was all in motion now, however it ultimately stopped. Don't trip. Don't trip.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes: