Chapter Text
Although the threat made by the head of Tan Dance Industries still lingers in the air, you, like many people, developed a penchant for the art of dance. The only difference at the moment, though, was that the majority of the people in the city dance in groups known as 'crews.' The other only thing is, what crew did you belong to? It's a tough decision- your crewmates were people who you would end up treating like family if things went well. And if they didn't, well. Let's not get into that.
As the idea of crews was still something new, something that possibly, the general public could not fathom, it was only right that say, four or five were well known. Depending on where you went, different things were said, different people were about.
The day you went to the subway, a golden, gleaming boombox resting on the ground as a young boy of asian decent and an older man, maybe early twenties, moved along to the music with robotic movements. You recognized the song as something by Daft Punk. That wasn't the end of it, though. You boarded the train. They danced on the train? People were loving it as these two people danced on a moving train?!
Maybe... Maybe crews were more interesting than you initially thought.
--
You listened to the songs and began to slowly learn the routines. At the moment, your favourite song is Enrique Iglesias' 'I Like It'-- the concert jump move? Especially fun to do. More research showed that yes indeed- different crews, different songs, different people.
So your favourite song was a... A Riptide song?
Hm.
--
The next day, you tried to practice in a larger space as bouncing up and down in your bedroom was not exactly the best practice space. It was a holiday and the afternoon, so the beach would be somewhat empty, you figured. When you arrived, you made your way to a previously scouted and known to be secluded area of said beach and began setting up. Your phone plugged into a set of portable speakers with a video of the routine playing at a sort of medium volume. Loud enough for you and maybe whatever fish were in the water at the time to hear. You lick your lips in anticipation as the music begins and begin to attempt the routine.
The beginning goes off without a hitch, until you hit one particular move in which you bow at the wrong moment. It's okay, you can do better. With newfound determination, everything goes on alright until the Megaphone move... You can hear footsteps. It's just out of your line of sight and you don't want to turn your head and suddenly embarrass yourself because WOW that would be terrible. So you keep going.
End of the song, finishing move. You're pretty sure that was flawless, right there. Five stars, definitely. You finally turn your head to the direction of the foosteps previously and now you hear a bit of laughter and applause? Wait, what?
Oh.
Oh.
He knocks his fists together. "You are tearin' it up." He laughs. "You're a machine!"
How are you supposed to respond to this.
"Oh, hey." He grins. "Later on, me and my bro E are going to perform at this huge-" He emphasizes how huge it is by waving his arms around. "-bonfire on the other side of the beach. You should come!"
Before you can reply, he waves and walks away, adjusting his shirt slightly. Your nose wrinkles as your mouth opens helplessly as it tries to come up with a reply, even though it was much too late.
--
In the middle of a crowd are two people; a brunette girl and the man from earlier who you only just realized is blonde. He never said his name but... You can assume that the girl is 'E.' You're not sure if you're happy or upset that 'E' is female... Let's just stick with happy. She seems nice enough.
"Sorry," she chides. "But auditions for our crew were last week." Okay, emphasis on the enough part of nice enough.
Maybe it was your expression, because out of nowhere, like a knight in shining armor, like a lifeguard while you were drowning or whatever other weird analogy you would've used--
"Hold up, Emilia-" So that's her name. "Might wanna make an exception." His smile is dazzling, you're slightly taken aback.
She grins, putting her hands on her hips." Alright, step up. Let's see what you've got."
Your legs could've given up then and there but you're thankful they didn't. After all, you had something to prove.
--
And it was over, just like that. You're panting more from the adrenaline rush than the actual movement. There is applause and you can't quite remember what was said, but you were more or less thinking of the aftermath. Grinning and feeling a little dizzy from the events, you sit down on a nearby rock by the fence now that everything's calmed down a little. Emilia's talking to some spectators, hands moving everywhere in excitement and you're... sitting on a rock.
All of the sudden, you hear footsteps again.
"Bodie." He says, sitting beside you. "My name, I mean. You can call me B, that's fine too." He points to the rock next to you. "Mind if I...?"
You nod, hopefully it wasn't too eager. He grins and sits.
"Sorry about that, I completely forgot that auditions were last week. I thought they were extended but... Whoops!" He laughs and it's infectious, you find yourself laughing along. Eventually, you tell him your name.
"Really? Well, that's a pretty name." He looks at you. "It suits you."
You blink, feeling the blush slowly spread. Apparently, he notices this. His eyes widen and his hands move in panic.
"H-Hey, are you okay? I could get you a drink or something because your... Your face suddenly got really red..."
Bodie leans in close, looking you up and down.
"...And you're breathing... Breathing really hard." His voice drops to a murmur.
Seriously, if your heart didn't beat so hard it exploded out of your chest at that very moment, it would have been a miracle in itself.