Ballroom Tango - A Unique Intensity - Strictly NRC Dancing
Author Notes: Wow, three posts in one day. I'm on a roll. I'm being kind of mean here, I know. But I thought it would be fun to have who the dancing partner is be a surprise. At least until you click keep reading or read the tags. This dance was inspired by Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani’s Tango to “When the Doves Cry” on Strictly Come Dancing: 2015. Keeping with the rest of the AU, reader is female. I hope you all enjoy this more than I enjoyed researching the dances.
If you would like to read more of this AU the fics can be found here: Strictly NRC Dancing AU Masterlist.
Type: Kinda romantic if you squint/probably can be taken as platonic though/female reader
Word count: 1240
I inhaled deeply as I once again questioned why on earth the teachers decided that having the ballroom tango as the subject for the first dance class held would be a good idea. Or maybe it was Crowley’s idea; he seemed to be in rare form as of late.
Either way, I’d learned astonishingly quickly from Crewel’s strict teaching that the various views I’d long held about the tango were largely wrong. Apparently there were many, many different types of tangos, and all of them, thankfully, did not necessarily include being constantly plastered to your partner.
Take the ballroom form of the tango that I was going to be performing today, for instance. It maintained a certain distance between the partners and was, in many ways, less intimate. That said, it made up for the distance by including sharp motions, angled bodies, and stalking yet stealthy steps, as well as an undoubtedly passionate nature.
Crewel and Sam had both spoken up for me, citing my inexperience as a reason for why I should only have to perform twice for this class. Once for my own grading and once for the lucky winner of the game of straws. Which was a blessing.
But standing there, staring Leona down from across the ballroom floor as we waited for the music to start, I couldn’t deny that I was nervous. At odds with this, Leona was completely relaxed. In fact, he looked almost bored.
I couldn’t say I was surprised, though. During our choreography practice, Leona had revealed in a rather smug manner that he already knew how to tango. He technically wasn’t cheating, though.
Apparently, Leona had already learned the Argentine tango quite some time ago for unknown reasons. He’d chosen this class because, since he already knew how to tango, it would be easy for him. In fact, he’d described the ballroom version as a stuffier version of the dance he already knew.
All too soon the music began, immediately laying out what would soon become a rather heavy beat that had the two of us walking towards each other. I rolled my shoulders as I met the beastman in the center of the room and the lights dimmed.
It had already been decided that we were going to be dancing a more aggressive tango, but it wasn’t until we had entered hold for the first time during choreography practice that I realized exactly how aggressive it was going to be.
Even now it was sort of alarming as he marched me backwards. Our feet hitting the floor in perfect timing to the relentless beat of the song.
If nothing else, Leona was a perfect match for the stalking aspect of the dance. I didn’t typically think of him as predatory, but… Well, I could say that he certainly lived up to being a lion-beastman.
I was considerably thankful that I didn’t have to hold eye contact with him for the entire dance. In the brief flashes where we would meet each other's gaze in a rather defiant fashion, there was a unique intensity to those too-bright green eyes.
I was almost impressed with my ability to meet his stare without quailing, but there was something challenging and snarky about the look he gave me. Almost like he was taunting me.
It was probably that sense of amused challenge stemming from the usually nonchalant 3rd year that made me refuse to back down even though this was my first performance and our little tango had already swelled far beyond what I’d been prepared for.
And a tiny part of me felt like he’d planned that. Especially since there was something incredibly smug about his expression as the song fell into another lull, not ending but lessening in fervor while maintaining that same pounding beat.
It was like he was pushing me, just like he had when I’d been staying in Savannaclaw for that short three-day period. Like he wanted to see just how far he could push and how well I could meet him on the playing field.
I leaned towards him, wholly relying on him to support me as he took a one long step backwards. My hand cupped his cheek, and I held his gaze even as our noses practically brushed one another.
Impulsively, I pushed away. All but glaring at him as I forcefully slipped us back into a more distant hold. After all, if I were to entirely slip away from him, he’d lose points for having broken the constant closed hold found within the ballroom tango.
It was a challenge to remember that this was a performance. We were putting on a show for our viewers. An aggressive one.
I heard him chuckle lowly as I flung my head to the side, staunchly looking away from him as we began to whirl across the floor once more. I was already determined that there was no way I was going to lose out and mess up this dance just because I had a distracting partner.
Even if a small part of me was irritated by how easy teasing was for him. But then it couldn’t be helped when he knew exactly how attractive he was.
The ending of the dance came far sooner than I expected as he yanked me to the side into a partial dip, all but forcing me to look up at him for a brief, but incredibly intense moment. The hold didn’t last long though before I was back on my feet once more. I held his gaze for the briefest of seconds before he rapidly twirled me and stepped to the side. Following alongside my whirling form as if he were pursuing me as I spun quickly across the stage.
Just as my speedy twirling came to an abrupt stop, he lowered his forearm, and I flung myself backwards. Bracing myself to fall even as I reached up to catch hold of his shoulder.
But I didn’t fall. Instead, I felt his arm wrap around my back and his hand securely grasp the shoulder furthest away from him.
In that perilous leaned-backward position, I rested against his arm. Wholly relying on him to support me yet again as I looked up at him.
I stared up at him, breathing heavily as applause filled the room, briefly deafening me but at last signaling the end of the performance. Not my first dance by a narrow margin, but definitely the most dramatic one.
Leona exhaled slightly before leaning down and wrapping his other arm around me to pull me back up as I gripped his shoulders tightly. I found my footing quickly and was relieved to discover that my legs were not, in fact, wobbly, even though I felt adrenaline leaving my system at alarming speeds as I stepped backwards.
I briefly met Leona’s gaze, quietly thanking him for helping me back to a standing position before we turned to face the judge panel. Crewel, Trein, and Sam all looked politely impressed while Vargas and Crowley had a hold of each other and were already rapidly speaking about our performance.
I could only catch snatches of their frantic whispers, “Did you see when he-?”
“OH! But when she-?”
I snuck another glance at my partner, meeting his eyes and confirming my thoughts immediately as I registered the smug smirk on his face. He'd already realized the exact same thing that I had. He’d passed.
If you would like to read more:
Previous post
Next post
154 notes
·
View notes
i have been unmedicated for the entirety of spring break and thus have had little interest in writing this down, but i have been thinking about this for the entire week (as well as a dpdc clone danny au that resulted in it becoming its entirely separate batman au that includes a teenage vigilante bruce wayne, an ocarina, and me entirely incapable of making a batman au without making bruce dirt poor but we're not talking about that) and so i've finally went 'fuck it' and forcibly grabbed my laptop. I will get this done in one sitting even if it kills me.
BUT. This is about neither clone^2 danny nor about who i am calling Ocarina Batman. This is about my Danyal Al Ghul Au and more SPECIFICALLY it's me thinking about his relationship with Sam and Tucker specifically.
Tucker and Sam? Adore this asshole (affectionate) with every fiber of their being. And it is very much a reciprocated feeling, but Danny's thoughts will not be delved into much other than he would kill for them.
Tucker? The only person currently capable of getting a deep, loud, belly laugh out of Danny. Sam can get him to smile and to laugh, but it's the kind that's a chuckle-under-the-breath. The quiet, looks-down-while-huffing laughter. Snorts once with laughter and then grins stupidly.
But Tucker? Tucker can crack a slew of stupid jokes and Danny will be incapacitated for the next five minutes because he's laughing so hard that he can't breath. He lands one well-timed pun or quip and Danny will be close to tears. His laughter is their favorite sound in the whole world.
Sam is lowkey jealous of this ability, and she's gotten a belly laugh out of Danny a few times. But alas, it is Tucker who wields this power and has gotten it the most times out of the two of them.
-
They're also both physically affectionate with Danny as much as possible. It started roughly around when they were 12-ish, a year since they befriended Danny, and they noticed that he sought after touch but never seemed to initiate (and was in some ways repulsed by it). They started slowly being more touchy with him. Hooking a finger around his to lead him somewhere, tapping his wrist, looping arms. Little touches, grabs, etc, to get him used to it, and once he started doing it back they started increasing it.
It's gotten to a point where he will now just. Lay on them. Like a lizard sunbathing on a rock. Leaning on their backs when they're sitting in class before the bell rings, his chin on their heads. He'll talk about anything with his arms looped around their shoulders.
If they're sitting on a couch at either of their houses, he'll lay his legs on theirs. Him and Tucker will press their feet against the other's and try and push against them (newsflash: Danny always wins, Tucker claims its the ghost strength but Danny's been winning since before his accident)
-
Naturally, both Sam and Tucker know where Danny keeps his weapons on his person, and are allowed to grab them off of him if they need it. His only requirement is that they don't lose his weapons if they take it and forget to return it immediately.
They both understand how big of a thing this is from Danny, and so they do their best to treat his weapons with a lot of respect and care because they know its his way of saying he trusts them.
-
Sam and Tucker are so fond of Danny it's insane. Like fr. That's their goddamn best friend, and they are so protective of him. Emotionally, physically, you name it. They will tear the head off a grown man if they need to, Danny's had scars since he arrived in Amity Park and Sam and Tucker both are going to find the person who put them there and make them pay for it.
One time, Tucker overheard a bunch of upperclass girls speaking nastily about Danny and about the rumors surrounding him, calling him names like 'freak', 'monster', etc. Danny was with him and heard it, and seemingly appeared unbothered by it, even telling Tucker that he was used to such rumors.
Tucker was so furious that hacked into the school system later that night and tanked those girls grades. They were kicked out of their clubs and had to go to mandatory tutoring for the rest of the year. He made sure to leave some way of letting them know it was him who did it.
And Sam doesn't like using her money for things, doesn't like abusing that wealth. So instead, whenever her parents talk bad about Danny, she causes a media incident that has her parents scrambling to deal with. She does something wild, outrageous by her parents' standards.
She heard some boys on the basketball team making fun of Danny once, similar to those girls had. She kicks up a fuss about something eco-unfriendly at school and forcibly holds a protest on the same day of the big home basketball game, forcing them to cancel the event and reschedule to a visiting school.
She anonymously donates money so that there's new uniforms for the team but oops! Looks like she "forgot" to donate enough money for them to get uniforms for all the team members, and strangely enough those boys in particular didn't get them! Looks like they'll have to wait until more money gets donated for the basketball team to get their new, nice uniforms. The old ones look so ratty in comparison, right?
And since the football team gets most of the sport money, that might just take awhile. And if (and when) they kick up a fuss? oops! Off the basketball team you go, :) such unsportsman-like behavior is unfit for the team.
(The only good thing about how corrupt the school system is is that she can use it to her advantage too.)
The both of them know that Danny suspects them for the sudden misfortune falling on these people, but he doesn't call them out on it. He's kinder than he used to be, but not kind enough to vouch for people who speak badly of him. Sometimes, he might just congratulate them on not getting caught.
Because Danny is their wonderful, hurt friend with a "slightly" Blue and Orange Moral code, and enough scars that people have been calling him a criminal (and worse) since he arrived in Amity Park when he was ten. And they'll be damned if he gets hurt anymore.
492 notes
·
View notes