The Dance Floor (Feast Thread)

Rae

K'lian led his Weyrmate out on the dance floor just as Oakley began a new song. It was a slow one, but he knew it picked up later, which was perhaps best, as the conversations around them died down, and all attention was on the Weyrleaders beginning the dancing. Not that the Silverrider had an issue with being the center of attention. Rather, he relished it, knowing that he and Zira made an absolutely beautiful duo. They were a power couple if there ever was one.

K'lian pressed Zira close to him, one hand reaching to intertwine his fingers with hers, and the other hand squarely on the small of her back. He led them into a slow series of steps that were intricate--left right right left step-hop left right right... The harp complimented their dance beautifully, and the words were tender and sweet. The Purplerider had done it again; she had chosen the perfect song to showcase his and Zira's dancing abilities and also their radiant love for one another. He pressed a kiss into his Weyrmate's forehead as they danced, enjoying this moment, and soaking up the chance to be with her out here on the dance floor.

The ivy creeps up the tree
A lovely fair thing to see

Verdant lush and green is he
While white and slender fair is she

Two come together in the spring
No thorns to pierce or sting

Sweet and beautiful,
Responsible and dutiful

Witty, clever and charming
And occasionally alarming

Together they two do belong
Like harmony and melody in song


Purple Amie brightened when her ever-present entourage joined her, and she soon forgot her sulking. Rather, she saw the beautiful deep liquid spreading, and it appealed to her mischief-making ways greatly. She dove into the liquid, creating a great tidal wave that eclipsed the Blues. She was making them into a Purple, like her, she chittered, transmitting images to explain herself. They looked positively dashing covered from head to toe in wine! The fire-lizard neglected to realize that when K'lian and Zira had realized what mischief they had been getting themselves into, they would be in for it. Right now, she chattered happily, and thumped her tail, sending still more liquid flying, splattering any who were close by. The whole WORLD should be Purple like her. It was by far the most beautiful color, after all!

Rae

K'lian felt eyes boring into him as he deftly escorted his Weyrmate about the dance floor. Since they were alone as of now, he could monopolize the space, making grand, sweeping moves that were designed to take up space. He rested his chin against the top of the Weyrwoman's brassy-colored hair.

"I'm so glad we get to let loose and dance some. We sure have come a long way since six Turns ago, eh?" They were younger then, and the Silverrider had been a lot more wild in those Turns. He had been used to having his fun with no interruptions and no consequences, but as soon as he mated with a Goldrider, people began to look at him differently. Certain things were expected of him, and so he'd had to grow as a person. He couldn't be quite so reckless and carefree.

There were things worth protecting, and things worth being responsible for. Zira was one of those precious things in his life, and so she had caused some necessary changes to take place in K'lian's life. He had never known before that he was capable of bearing the heavy mantle of responsibility, and was quite shocked the first time Quiroth had ever selected Krauth to be her mate.

I knew you had it in you all along, the Silver said sleepily.

Thanks for that vote of confidence, mate, responded his rider fondly.

I know sometimes you miss being able to be a wild boy.

Not at all, responded the Weyrleader, reflecting back, Those Turns were fun, but there is much more adventure in being Zira's mate. Being Weyrleader is something I've had to grow into, and sometimes, yes, the duties can be rather dull. But Zira and Quiroth make it all worth it, you know? And of course, the incredible rush of fighting Thread, of figuring out plans for attack... The puzzles are fun.

I do know, the Silver beast responded.

Amie chittered angrily at the drudge, as if giving her a long-winded lecture. But she, too, didn't dive-bomb the woman, wary of her Silver watchdog that would surely tattle on her to her feeder. Why must everyone always ruin her fun?! But when the meatrolls were placed on the table, she was appeased...for the time-being.

She aggressively dove into the bowl, and perched atop the small hillock of food, and proclaimed herself Queen of the Meatroll Mountain. All hail Amie, Queen of the Hill! None could dethrone her, let anyone be so bold as to try and she'd...well, she didn't know. But she looked at the two Blues challengingly, as if to dare them to try and usurp her throne.

***

Laloraine cuddled her head against the Bluerider as he drank deeply of the water. She felt closer than ever to him now, she noted. It was as if they were already weyrmates. She had never felt this much for anyone else before. Her first Weyrmate had been very nice to her, and she had certainly been fond of him, but he was much older than she. It had been more of a mentoring relationship. She looked up to him and respected him, but she didn't love him.

She loved V'sos. He was noble, he was genuine, and so compassionate. She was everything she had ever wished for. She felt as if she were in her own little fantasy world when she was with him. She felt safe, as if no one could cause her harm when she was with him. It was a lovely time in her life, and she was being rebuilt upon the rock of V'sos the Bluerider.

When he set her down and invited her to dance, she purred, "Of course you may," before allowing herself to be led out onto the dance floor. She saw that the Weyrleaders were already out there, and she bobbed a nod to them as they joined them, receiving one from K'lian in return. The two appeared very happy together, and seemed like nice people. Laloraine would look forward to getting to know them in the future. They seemed very approachable--as if she could befriend either one of them easily. Not often did the Greenrider feel that way about her Weyrleaders.

Ilydeth was feeling pleasantly drowsy and comfortable with the Blue next to her giving off a pleasant amount of body heat. She hadn't realized that for the past few turns, she hadn't been able to truly relax. She had to be constantly on her guard, so as to let her rider know when K'mari was in a foul mood. She was alerted by Ramroarideth, who she was grateful to. Though the passive Blue hadn't been strong enough to keep the Bluerider from hurting Laloraine several times, he at least signaled when things were likely to get dangerous, so that Ilydeth could in turn warn her mine. Now, no such threat lingered, and so the sage-hued Green was content to rest.

Tig Thunder

Cabriel was fairly certain he had eaten enough food to feed a large group of heardbeasts, but Jaimes had eaten twice that during that time period, so he wasn't too concerned.

He took one final sip of wine from the cup that a Greenrider had brought him earlier. He had dropped it off at Cabriel's table after the Weyrleader's announcement with a hearty pat on the back and exclaimed, "Shards, you've got a pair of stones on ya' kid."

Oakley had finished her current set and no doubt was headed for some more wine of her own. Her announcement had somewhat conspicuously invited Cabriel and Aislyn to the stage. Although, to be fair, Oakley had never been known for her subtlety..." Caleb thought to himself.

"Guess that's our cue" Cabriel said to Aislyn as he started to get up. Cabriel could feel his blood already begin to pump. There truly was something to performing that brought him out of his shell. He felt like he could wrestle a Gold to the ground by himself every time he began to play and sing. The wine just seemed to super charge that feeling.

"As I start to sing, you should be careful," Cabriel said jokingly over his shoulder towards Aislyn. "I can't promise you won't react the same as Oakley."

Cabriel threw in a wink at the end of his jest to see if he could elicit a response out of Jaimes once more before slinging his gitar over his back and walking towards the performance space.

Norbert, Tag: Anyone who wants to have a crazy, spastic and yet fun dance with Jaimes! Vox

Jaimes's jaw again dropped at Cabriel's final comment as he left to take the stage with Aislyn. At first, the guy had come across as a gangly, shy and awkward type. It appeared as if he had underestimated Cabe. He shut his mouth into a grin. After several hours now in the other Candidate's company, he could safely say that he had acquired his very first friend at Xian Weyr in him.

Not one to be outdone, Jaimes arose from the table of Candidates and said, "Ooh, I love this song! I'mma gonna go dance!" The Candidate made a beeline for the dance floor, not caring that at the moment, he was alone in the midst of a dance floor full of couples.

He didn't hesitate before beginning a truly spastic series of arm and leg jerkings that could scarcely be called dancing. Jaimes's face was lit up with happiness, and he appeared to be enjoying himself, despite the fact that nearby couples were gaping at his truly horrendous moves.

***

Oakley grinned at the Bronzerider's eagerness. She hadn't been wrong in assuming that he would be game for a dance--indeed, it had surprised her that she was his first dance of the evening! Surely the other women of the Weyr had noticed the man, and he seemed friendly and extroverted enough to approach one of them. Well, she was definitely not complaining that he had been available!

She allowed herself to be led to the dance floor, the wide, exhilarated grin never leaving her face. The Purplerider could be a bit of a show-off in these situations. She was totally and completely in her element with the activities of the evening. First, she had been allowed to play her instruments and sing, and now she would show her dancing skills with a truly worthy partner. She hoped that he was up for such a vigorous partner!

Oakley had well-developed calf muscles from Turns of dancing at Gathers when she was not singing or playing. She had incredible stamina, and often out-danced her partners. She was glad that the song that was playing was a fast one. It was just the right tune to get her blood pumping.

"Well met, Bronzerider H'skal. I had the pleasure of meeting some of your charges earlier. Seems like a good group you will have there." The dance was a quickstep -- and not something she had to put a lot of effort into, and so she could maintain conversation. She was not one of the serious types to lay her head upon a man's shoulder, or to be easily swooned.

Rather, she kept her wit about her and entertained whoever she was dancing with with a steady stream of talk, commentary and good humor.

As the Candidate she had met before that was friends with Cabe came out on to the dance floor, Oakley gave him a friendly whoop as he began to dance, "Ah, the Funky Wherry! A much under-used dance move!" she called approvingly.

Jaimes gave her a friendly wave as he continued to boogie down without a care for what everyone around him thought.

"Now that is a truly funky wherry," she murmured to H'skal, giggling as she allowed herself to be pulled in close for the remainder of the dance. She had to admire the boy's spunk! And she would never criticize anyone for clearly having as good of a time as the boy was apparently having.

Oakley then used the Bronzerider's arm to flip over, her skirts swinging as she solidly landed on her feet, springing right back into their quickstep, her feet working nimbly beneath her. Jaimes wasn't the only one having fun!

vleap

Jaimes was grooving. He was the center of attention. All eyes were on him. (Of course, he failed to notice that perhaps this was a bad thing!) He nodded and winked at all who sent looks his way, and he continued to boogie down unbashedly. He had entered into some sort of dance which included a lot of knee and elbow bending, and frantic head bobbing. Not to be content with the same repetitive movements over and over again soon he switched to some awkward leg wiggling and wave-like movements of his arms.

"The fish below the sea!" He howled, his voice barely rising above the loud clamor of music and commotion about. Apparently this was the name of the wave/wiggling movements he had just completed. He did a few quick spins, and came out with his feet tapping, almost as if they were trying to match the rhythm of the music that was playing. If that was the case though, it was a woeful attempt indeed.

Jaimes danced rather plainly when he had a lady to lead around. He had been the son of a Lord Holder after all, and so in his attending of so many Hold social gatherings over the Turns, he had to at least know the basic steps. But when he danced by himself, his true personality came out. Wacky, forward-thinking, maybe a touch off-beat, and attention-grabbing. Truth be told, he liked to dance alone, though it was a rare occasion indeed when he got a chance to. Since he was small, he had been all but obligated to dance with every holder's daughter that was closer to his age. Such were the social niceties and traditions if you were fortunate enough to be a Lord Holder's son and heir.

Now that he was in his new Weyr home, however, he was able to break free of these traditions and customs, and he felt rather light and unencumbered. He knew that tomorrow, the true work would begin. H'skal had promised as much when he had made his announcement. Jaimes already knew that being a Candidate could be a lot of hard work. After all, he had been one for a Turn now.

To be honest, he didn't know if it was pride or stubbornness that kept him from returning home. When people asked him, Jaimes usually just answered, 'I know my life mate is out there'. But in fact the truth of the matter was, Xian Weyr was his last attempt. Though he had a healthy amount of pride and ego for a boy of his age, any one would start to feel doubts after Standing for so long and failing to Impress. Jaimes tried not to think about it too much. He wasn't one to focus on 'what if's.

Just as he was about to launch into another one of his truly heinous self-created dances, a familiar girl walked up to him, and he bobbed his head in greeting. Though she talked to him, they were still on the dance floor, and so he kept up a general bouncing to the beat as she asked her question.

"Hey Alea! I was wondering where you had gotten off to! Good to see you again!" It was clear that the boy didn't think twice about his previous encounter with the girl. "Ah, don't mention it! And any man who would send a pretty girl like you away would be barking mad!"

He paused thoughtfully from his beat-bobbing whole body movement, "Hey, you wanna dance? We could go dance by the other Candidates and catcall at 'em until they dance, too! It's a crying shame we're the only ones out on the dance floor, and such a big group of them, too!" His hazel eyes met Alea's hopefully.

He had already been rejected by her twice, but it didn't seem to faze him. Not much offended Jaimes, or knocked him down.

Tig

Alea watched Jaimes dancing for a few moments before deciding to join him. She chuckled softly. Her fellow candidate certainly was unique. She noticed those who were scoffing at his style and scowled at them. Deciding matching his movements might be challenging in her party dressup, she pulled her silken black curls up into a tight bun before she went to join him.

She did not take offense when Jaimes continued bobbing as they spoke. Instead her smile grew wider, “I would love to dance,” she glanced at the formally dancing pairs, “do you really want to dance like that though? It looks very boring. I much prefer your manner of dancing. Perhaps we could dance together and yet separately,” she winked at him, “we could inspire each other. And of course, we should get our fellow candidates on the dance floor. As candidates are all required to represent the weyr!” she whirled in a circle, then held her hand out to Jaimes, “Come on, let’s go get ‘em!”

--Alea