Winterfair

[veryvorkosigan]

Vorkosigan House is astir this evening: the children are getting their own carefully supervised Winterfair party in the nursery wing, and the adults making ready to head to the Imperial Residence for the Emperor's party.

In the Dowager Countess's suite, there's one extra guest making ready.

Comments

[veryvorkosigan]

She laughs. "Promise. Dancing is supposed to be collaborative, not competitive."

[maxwellsdemon02]

"You haven't been dancing with River Tam," Duo says with a little smile. Admittedly for River it's teamwork, a competition, a private joke, and almost a whole other language. But still.

"But okay. You lead first?"

[veryvorkosigan]

"Happy to." A smile, as she steps out to arm's length, releases his hand, and spreads out her arms; she holds the pose a moment before taking a long sliding step to the right, on the beat.

[maxwellsdemon02]

A beat behind, he follows her.

Easy enough so far...!

He watches the people on either side of them as well, trying to remember their moves for future reference.

[veryvorkosigan]

The older couples around them are moving very formally, their steps and slides grave and elegant, but some of the younger ones are taking the opportunity to be a little more creative. To their right, a young lady pirouettes, her plum-colored gown flaring; her partner goes into a pirouette of his own to mirror her, very nearly as graceful.

Cordelia's keeping her own movements relatively slow and even, in fairness to Duo. At least until he gets the hang of it.

[maxwellsdemon02]

After enough spying, he figures out how this works, and figures he's got the basic moves down.

Duo nods to Cordelia, in a clear signal: Okay, I'm ready to kick this up a notch if you are.

[veryvorkosigan]

She nods back at him; mirroring his gesture, but it's also an acknowledgement.

On the next beat she starts moving faster: two steps at double speed, then one slide back on the full beat: step-step, sliiide, step-step.

[maxwellsdemon02]

He copies her neatly. Once he catches the pattern, he times his moves with hers, until they are in sync.

Until she throws something new in.

[veryvorkosigan]

She isn't going for anything too fast or confusing; the object is to keep in sync with your partner, not throw them off.

A little heel-toe tap in between steps isn't too hard, right?

[maxwellsdemon02]

No it isn't! He's got this.

Just when he starts wondering what the signal is to switch leaders, he spots a couple near them do exactly that.

Apparently, you can do it whenever you like. He grins at Cordelia.

[veryvorkosigan]

Oh, that's a grin that looks like it's got mischief on its mind.

She grins back, and makes a sweeping after you gesture for him to mirror.

[maxwellsdemon02]

Back on L2, there's a bit of a folk revival going on. He visited a jam session with River a while back. They like to play a game in which they sing very fast, and make the crowd try to keep the dance tempo up too.

He starts with a simple reel, slowing the steps down so Cordelia can watch and see them separately. Once she has the rhythm, he speeds up.

[veryvorkosigan]

While the steps are still slow, it's easy enough to follow him; she hesitates a few times, until she has it down.

And she speeds up with him, gamely enough. He's not going to get much faster than this, is he?

[maxwellsdemon02]

Of course n...yes. Yes he is.

It's at a careful rate, though. Sneaky-like. Every now and then, he adds a little flourish, and then speeds up.

He flashes another grin at her, and extends an arm in her direction, ready to start a spin.

[veryvorkosigan]

She ... extends an arm back in his direction, mirroring his gesture.

They can't exactly clasp hands or link arms without destroying the mirroring, can they?

[maxwellsdemon02]

Hm, he didn't think of that. All right, then. He moves his hand closer, waiting for her, until just their palms touch, then raises his eyebrows at her. Happy now?

Their feet still tap out the steps of the reel.

[veryvorkosigan]

Her smile back is perfectly serene. Of course.

[maxwellsdemon02]

They start to spin, now fast enough that their feet are tapping out a counterpoint to the music. They're attracting some amused (and probably puzzled) attention from around them.

[veryvorkosigan]

Cordelia can't quite suppress a half-breathless laugh, while staying firmly on the beat.

This is ... yeah, this is faster than she's had to move in a while, and she is definitely not going to be able to keep this up for very long, but it's good to know she can still do it at all.

[maxwellsdemon02]

That's all right! They only have to keep it up until the music stops!

...and until then, Duo is going to come to an abrupt halt, and start spinning the other way.

[veryvorkosigan]

-- WELL ALL RIGHT THEN, Cordelia is going to catch herself and do the same!

A good few of the younger Vor around them are watching with unconcealed delight.

[maxwellsdemon02]

The music ends with a final dramatic flourish, and Duo bends over to catch him breath, laughing with delight. "That was terrific!" he says. "Good job keeping up, I thought you might outlast me."

[veryvorkosigan]

"If we'd kept going, who knows?" She's laughing too, and (just noticeably) short of breath.

The major-domo is announcing something over the noise; it seems it's time to be seated for the banquet.

[maxwellsdemon02]

Still chuckling, he falls in with the crowd, smiling broadly at the lady who was next to them. "I've never participated in a mirror dance before," he tells her, his careful formal accent back in action. "Not bad for a little exercise!"

She gives a light little laugh of her own. "You and the Dowager Countess were a little more...energetic than some people manage." She pats his arm lightly. "It wasn't a Barrayaran dance, was it? I hadn't seen it before."

[veryvorkosigan]

Cordelia, meanwhile, has started a cheerful conversation with the couple to their other side -- although she's keeping an ear out in case Duo needs rescuing.