Care For A Dance? (Kittle Chronicles)

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“Damn it, Asher! C’mon, this party ain’t gonna be fun for us if ya don’t join!”

“Hmhm...I...c-can’t Bernard…”

"All over such a small thing? Fine, have it your way, but the rest of us aren’t waiting up for you! Been waiting too long for this!”

 A mildly-irritated Bernard opened the door to his room within the inn they were staying at, leaving Asher alone in the room. He let out a sigh of unrest, torn as to what he should be doing.

 While Asher took a seat on the bed to think it over, the door to the inn opened and immediately caught his attention. Selwyn made his way inside, seemingly exhausted from the day-work he had done. Regardless, he greeted Asher with his usual, bright smile.

 “Hey, Asher…” He said quietly, stretching a little and brushing a bit of dust off his clothes. “I’d come give you a hug but...I really shouldn’t without taking a shower. Another long day at the market carrying fish around. But hey, I made some decent money!” Selwyn came a bit closer and tossed a few bones--as they were currently in Kanitore--over to him.

“Hmm...thank you…” Asher mumbled, putting the currency away.

Following this, Selwyn made his way back to the room he slept in and also went to wash off in the room’s shower. Eventually he came out with a towel wrapped around his waist and drops of water dripping down from his dense fur coat on his back. Peeking over towards the bed, he noticed Asher had come inside and laid down, deep in thought.

*Something is off,* Selwyn thought as he looked over at his boyfriend, rubbing behind his own head in confusion. *It’s one thing for Asher to be quiet but...not quiet and emotionless, especially towards me…*

 “Love, are you alright…?” Selwyn took a moment to question, coming over and rubbing Asher’s back a bit. “You look distressed…”

“Mm...I d-don’t...know...what to do…” Asher responded, turning towards Selwyn with his usual gaze. “There is...a party and..hmhm...we want to go but...t-there is...a problem…”

“A party and a problem? Sounds about right!” Selwyn laughed, lightening the mood. “But what is so bad that it’s gonna stop you from going to the party? I hope you didn’t tear your suit again...it took us forever to fix that thing last you did..”

Asher shook his head and let out a bit of an embarrassed groan, rubbing his own cheek a bit. Almost unwilling to reveal such a secret, he looked into Selwyn’s eyes as if looking for an answer. The Typhlosion let out a giggle and rubbed Asher’s cheek, gently putting a hand over the canine’s paw.

“Just tell me, Asher. There isn’t anything you can’t” He reassured.

Asher remained silent for a moment before looking away a bit. Finally, his soft voice spoke up even more quietly than usual.

“Hmhm...I..d-don’t...know how...to...d-dance…” He admitted quietly, rubbing his own arm just out of apprehension.

“...that’s it? Asher!” Selwyn laughed cheerily, giving him a nudge before moving back to get himself dried off and dressed. “I thought it was something serious, like a criminal gang leader would be there or something! Oh Asher, that’s something that can be remedied.”

Once Selwyn was properly dressed and had his fur combed out, he came out and sat next to Asher.

“Hey...it’s not that big a deal if you can’t dance...it’s a party, yeah, but I’m sure plenty of those going won’t be on the floor dancing. They’ll probably be drinking and chatting! Though, if you really want to learn the basics, I’m sure you won’t have too hard a time doing so.” Selwyn explained to him, to which Asher laid back against his pillow with a bit of a huff. The Typhlosion rubbed Asher’s chest a bit in comfort, smiling down at him.

“I think...Bernard has mentioned before that he knows how to dance, right? Have him show you the basics!” He suggested to Asher. “Hell, I’ll learn it with you!”

“Hmm...M-maybe...I told Bernard...no already…”
 “Oh, please Asher…?” Selwyn pleaded with a smile. He came closer and gently snuggled into Asher, who instinctively held around him in a loving manner. “Don’t you think...that it would be nice? If they play a slow song, a nice and easy one, maybe...you and I can...share a slow, romantic dance.” He added in a whisper, slightly flustered at the thought. After hearing about an opportunity to have a romantic moment with Selwyn, it was difficult for him to not reconsider. Asher’s expression slowly turned into a smile before he leaned and gave Selwyn a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Y-yes...I will...learn…” He finally gave in, to which Selwyn let out a happy giggle and reached for his paw. Once he had a firm grasp on Asher’s paw, he gave it a squeeze.

“I love you Asher...thank youuuuu~” He hummed, elated now as he got up to go find Bernard before Asher could even say anything else.

“...Hm...I l-love..you too..Selwyn..~” Asher chuckled to himself.

Roughly an hour later, Bernard was helping Miguel straighten his abhorrently-crooked tie while waiting for Asher to come out of his room.

“The party doesn’t start for another hour! Why are we getting ready now? Isn’t it a five-minute walk there anyway?” Miguel bombarded Bernard with questions, to which the other brother let out an annoyed grunt.

“It’s a miracle that Selwyn convinced Asher to come with us, but he needs to learn how to dance before he makes a mockery of all us.” Bernard explained, shaking his head. “Doing this an hour in advance and in our formal clothes is just a safety precaution at this point…”

After a few minutes of waiting around, the door to Asher’s room finally crept open. Selwyn walked out first, in the most formal clothes that he had--which was no more than a Polo shirt, dress shoes and non-ripped jeans, as that was the most he had been able to afford for a while. The Typhlosion smiled as he came out, looking back into the open door from his room.

“Come on, Asher...the sooner you get this over with the better.” He called back into the room. Following that, Asher hesitantly came out in one of his suits with a small grunt, rubbing behind his head.

 “Finally!” Bernard groaned, rolling his eyes as he reached over and unexpectedly dragged Asher to the middle of the room. “Let’s go, we don’t have all the time in the world. We don’t really...have any instruments around to work with but I’ll just knock on this nightstand to at least get a decent beat for ya to work with.” Bernard began to position Asher and Selwyn together without much warning. He had Selwyn reaching up to hold around Asher’s neck, and Asher holding around Selwyn’s waist.

“Alright, first is the slow dance. This is the easy one, even Miguel couldn’t mess this up.” Bernard scoffed--to which Asher gave him a glare, and Bernard dropped the attitude in record time. “A-anyway, ahem...all ya gotta do is move side to side, one step at a time and turn a little as you do. Listen out for the beat and move your feet with them. Hold each other close and do what feels natural, that’s really all I can say on that.”

Not wasting much time on the arguably easiest aspect of the basics, Bernard yet again repositioned them. This time, Asher and Selwyn were a bit more distant but were holding hands now.

“Alright, now this is where the fun really happens. So yet again, move your feet to the beat of the music.” He explained to them. “As long as you do that, most things will look relatively natural. However there is a bit of freedom and style to it.”
 Bernard then began to run both of them through a few basic moves, verbally explaining it as he physically forced them through the move slowly.

 “This one is better if Selwyn does it since he is shorter. Now when you two are holding hands and dancing, with the beat of the music, Asher you start to spin Selwyn around once. So here--let me show you--put your arm up higher and bend it down a little, and Selwyn you follow through with what he’s doing. Now Asher, loosen your grip on Selwyn’s hand a little as soon as his arm seems to be as straight up as it can be without it being awkward for him. Once he loosens up his grip, Selwyn you start to turn a little. While turning, Asher will guide you a little using his hand in grip, and the twirl should end with a step to the beat of the song, right back into dancing with Asher.”

“Alright, Selwyn, you are going to move in closer to Asher while moving to the beat, almost as if it's a slow dance. Now what Asher is going to do is extend one of his arms out and let go of your other hand. Selwyn, you turn halfway and move backwards, putting your free arm out. Your other hand should still be holding Asher’s paw and both your arms should be fully extended--Asher, only the one with Selwyn should be extended. And then, once Selwyn is out in this position, Asher, you begin to pull him back a bit into your arms. Selwyn, as you’re being pulled back, do a few spins and end up back in his arms so that you can go back into whatever you decide to do next.”

 Although more unique movements followed, these two seemed to be Bernard’s priority for them to practice. After all, if they could do these two movements to the beat of the song, they would probably have a solid idea for how to do other movements.

 Selwyn panted a little and got a drink of water, catching his breath.

 “Damn, that was...d-definitely more taxing..t-than I e-expected, but..we did it…” He laughed breathlessly.

 “W-we did...hmm…~” Asher responded, taking a bit of a deep breath himself.

 “Guysssssss…” Miguel whined impatiently, shaking his head a bit. “The party starts in ten minutes! Can we go now, pleaseee? I want to see what food they have there, I’m hungry!” Having not realized the time that passed by until Miguel decided to mention it, they checked their attire one last time before heading over.

 The party didn’t seem to be one that was off-the-rails, but much more formal. Although there weren’t any waiters or much staff at some point--aside from the venue owner and the musicians providing music--there was a self-serve buffet.

“Food!” Miguel yelled out, immediately dragging Bernard over to the ever growing line to the buffet against his will.

“Gah! Damn it, Miguel…! Calm down, we just got here…!” He grunted, although he knew Miguel’s iron grip wasn’t releasing anytime soon,

 Selwyn couldn’t help but stifle a laugh watching those two run off, leaning into Asher as he did. They found a clean, unoccupied table that they could eventually use to eat but at the moment could just relax at. The music playing at the moment was quite fast-paced, and the dance floor was full of attendees who were moving along to the rhythm.

 “It’s...a bit too fast for comfort still, huh..?” Selwyn asked with a sheepish smile, rubbing Asher’s arm a bit. “I...guess we could wait and see what song they play next and hope it’s more beginner friendly.”

 “Hmm...okay…” Asher said with a nod, looking around at the venue and keeping an eye out for his brothers. Majority of the music that was being requested for the next half hour ended up being really fast-paced, so they just opted to eat something for now until there was an opportunity for them to finally put their practice to the test--well, if there was an opportunity.

“At least the food is good~” Selwyn laughed happily, seemingly enjoying himself. Aside from waiting for the music and eating, they got around to talking with some other attendees, those who were of age could grab a glass of champagne or wine, and they could learn more about Kanitorian culture than they knew about before--at least, Selwyn mostly learned a lot more about the culture than the brothers.

While talking amongst each other and some others who ended up sitting at the large round table with them, suddenly a slower song’s introductory instrumental began. A lot of those on the floor who had been on their own dancing went back to their tables to rest while many of the couples, regardless of age, approached the dance floor.

“Selwyn…” Asher mumbled softly, looking at him with a nervous, yet determined smile.

“It’s...only a slow song. Even we shouldn’t be able to mess this up!” Selwyn giggled, grabbing his paw and heading out to the center floor.

 As the song went on, it felt quite romantic. The lyrics of the song were a blend of Common and Kanitorian language. The majority of the song was soft piano music and a soft drum line, harmonizing with the lovely vocals of a few musicians within the entourage, making it quite the enjoyable ballad.

 Asher and Selwyn held each other close and began to move slowly to the beat, which proved to be as easy as Bernard has mentioned. Selwyn reached up and held around the Lycanroc’s neck with a happy smile, leaning forward to push their noses together gently. Asher smiled and pushed his nose back, gently wrapping his arms around Selwyn’s waist and pulling him a little closer. As the movements became more natural, they focused on each other, looking into each other's eyes and giving small, quick kisses every so often.

 “Oh, Asher…~” Selwyn whispered, closing his eyes as they danced to the beautiful song. “You make me so happy…~”

 “Hmhmm…~” Asher whispered back, pushing their foreheads together and closing his eyes as well. “You...a-are...my happiness…~”

Like all things, the beautiful song eventually came to an end. The more rapid songs began to be requested again, but Selwyn and Asher felt content with what they had done, even if it wasn’t the most intense dancing in the world. After all, they would have other opportunities to try it again down the line.

Once the party started to die down a bit as the night got late, the group decided it was a good time to head home--Miguel was already asleep and in a slight food coma, slumped against the table, and Selwyn was barely able to keep his eyes open due to prior fatigue from his work earlier that day. Asher gently threw Miguel over his shoulder with a slight chuckle and began to walk them all back to the inn.

Bernard helped Asher drop Miguel into his bed and then proceed to crash for the night himself. Finally, Asher and Selwyn finally made their way back to their room, pretty exhausted after everything. They quickly changed out of their now-uncomfortable formal attire and into their night clothes, jumping into bed. Selwyn let out a content sigh as he held into Asher, closing his eyes and leaning his head into his boyfriend’s chest. He smiled at the comforting feeling of hearing Asher’s gentle heartbeat so close to him.

“Asher…” Selwyn mumbled after turning out the lights, nearly asleep.

“Hmm…?” Asher responded groggily

“Thank you..for dancing with me...let’s do it again..one day…~”

“S-sure..~”

 Asher gave a content sigh and rubbed behind Selwyn’s head, leaning down and giving his head a kiss before finally trying to rest.
 “Hmm...I-I love you..Selwyn…~”

 “I love...you too Asher...there will...never be a moment...that I don’t…~”