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Clap clap clap, clap clap clap.
Harry droned on, "One, two, right foot, Eggsy, three, one, two-"
"Ah!"
"Sorry! Sorry, Rox!"
"Keep going!"
And so the conversation went round and round and round again: Harry clapping, correcting Eggsy from afar, Roxy pulling her foot back just in time for Eggsy to apologize and try to find his timing again. This time on the correct foot, preferably.
Clap clap clap, clap clap clap.
And then all at once in the middle of the practice ballroom, Eggsy stopped and released Roxy's hand from where it was clasped in his own.
"Can't do it, bruv. I'm going mental. We're doing the same steps over and over and it's getting worse."
He pleaded through his frustration, eyebrows pulled high in the center of his forehead while he looked balefully between his dance partner and their metronome of an instructor.
"We have been at this for a while..." Roxy hedged with a light note of sympathy. She was shifting in her tall heels more than usual and Eggsy couldn't tell if her feet were tired or hurt from when he stepped on her at the beginning. He would have called the entire lesson off right then if both she and Harry hadn't insisted they keep going. Either way it broke his confidence for the session and made his footwork sloppy.
As it were, Harry made a show of checking his watch. "True." He reached out and paused the music playing from a tablet. "And you will probably benefit from letting it sit in the back of your minds until tomorrow; noon sharp?"
Roxy nodded vigorously enough to whip her ponytail around while she checked her own watch. "Oh! I might still be able to catch Percival at the range." With a solid pat on Eggsy's shoulder she took off, heels clicking in sharp staccato. "See you two tomorrow!"
Still glued to his spot, Eggsy watched her go. "I ain't a good dance partner to learn with, Harry. You should be teachin' her."
"Nonsense. And how would you learn to lead properly?" He was much nearer now and it caused Eggsy to turn.
The young man sized up his mentor and how he stood with his hands behind his back, still in his analytical teaching mode. It reminded him to stand up straighter.
"Dunno." He shrugged. Then in a flash of brilliance he put his hands behind his back to mimick Harry, throwing on a challenging grin for good measure. "You could show me?"
Harry quirked his head and frowned ever so slightly. "I did, but I could show you again-"
"No, no. I mean. You could show me." He felt his neck flush hot. "Like, y'know, I dunno how hard to press for her an' signal turns right an' stuff..." Yes, good job pulling that one off.
He had a little death the moment it registered on Harry's face, lips parting and eyebrows raising.
"...oh."
Every excuse imaginable to back out while saving face was about to spill out of Eggsy's mouth when Harry unclasped his hands from behind his back and stepped forward into a hold. Eggsy, praying for someone high above to smite him where he stood, took a fumbling moment to figure out how Roxy had been positioned with him. Hand on shoulder, other hand clasped, no, turned more, okay that fit better, wow Harry's arm really had him caged in place. Okay then.
"Feel the way my hand tilts, Eggsy."
Thankfully they were both staring at their hands so Eggsy didn't have to die from being held so closely. It was too intimate with no music. There was the rustling of suit fabrics and the feeling of muscles under hand and a hand on him and no movement please Harry just move already.
"Yeah, yeah, got it. So when we dance...?"
He got his answer with Harry's solid hold pushing him as his mentor stepped forward, causing Eggsy to naturally step back.
"Do the opposite of your normal footwork. We'll go slowly."
Eggsy swallowed shallowly from the way Harry murmured it between them. He really wanted to look anywhere but into his partner's eyes and settled for a spot over his shoulder.
It should have been the trick to keeping his neck feeling any hotter.
It wasn't.
Not five minutes in and Eggsy needed some distraction from the frustrating monotony of hesitant steps that wasn't the way Harry's hands felt on him.
"Can't we do something with, I dunno, more movement? This is pretty boring if you ask me." He must have sounded duly frustrated and not mortified for the way Harry paused to look into the distance and think.
Slowly he released Eggsy's hand and then softened his hold on his waist. "I supposed you are more familiar with modern dance? Moving to a rhythm."
Eggsy kept himself from rushing to step out of their shared personal space by tugging his sleeves back into place and nodding with a hum. Harry's hand on his waist must have meant he intended to keep them dancing, right? Otherwise he was going to call Harry out on being a shite gentleman for that lingering touch. Right after we was done committing it to memory which he was not when Harry pulled away. Come on, bruv, let a man work with what he's got.
Instead he straightened his suit jacket further. "So what's that mean? Y'teachin' me tango or somethin'?"
"Oh heavens no. Merlin is a much better instructor for those dances." Harry grinned at some personal amusement while flicking through the tablet for another song. "I'll rope him into this when the time is right."
"Get out." Eggsy grinned. "Merlin? Tango?"
"Mm, he's fairly proficient. I believe Lancelot and yourself will enjoy the ability to show off with it next time you must infiltrate on a mission as a couple. It's a very convincing dance."
"But that's not what you're teaching me?" Eggsy crossed his arms, trying to see what Harry was thinking by staring at the back of his head.
Harry's small laugh did not make Eggsy feel any better. "No, it is not." A sigh from the younger man prompted him to continue. "While I am not the most skilled at this dance, it is one I greatly enjoy when the opportunity arises. Here we go!"
Eggsy cut his retort short when Harry practically dashed back to Eggsy to take him into a hold, eyes glittering with mirth. The song was just starting to make its first few slow notes and Eggsy knew it wasn't the classical shit they had been dancing to earlier but he couldn't place it yet.
"Here, keep the clasped hand lower. Follow this pattern: one, two, rock step."
Eggsy followed quickly and Harry was nearly breathless, speaking fast to explain before the music started. Wait, was this jazz?
"Good, good, rock step. Now, keep that beat and follow."
And Harry immediately used his hands to tilt Eggsy side to side barely letting him get comfortable in the basic step before pushing and turning, putting them together from hip to shoulder on one side while stepping forward and back. The music was fast and Eggsy mostly kept his head down, watching Harry's feet and scrambling to stay in step, suddenly realizing Harry was putting a solid force on his ribs and twisting his hand and getting him to spin.
When he finished the turn, if the unadulterated joy in Harry's eyes didn't take his breath away, nothing would.
Then they were back to a simple step- no- twisting while they stepped, Eggsy moving wherever Harry's hands lead him and both of them laughing when Eggsy hopped to correct his footing.
The spins came more frequently as jaunty, brassy notes reverbed around them. His face hurt from smiling so hard. Harry passed him along his back and then the other way, their hands sliding along the others torso to keep in contact before being pulled together again. All he could do was count his steps and feel.
Harry grabbed his bicep tight to keep him from turning the wrong direction and laughed when he used the grip to push off and send Eggsy spinning without hold, surprising his young dance partner by meeting him on the other side of it and keeping him wrapped up while they fell into a basic rock step again.
"Eggsy," Harry chuckled in his ear. "Trust me on this."
Eggsy didn't need to confirm his trust of whatever was coming next. He'd been doing nothing but trust Harry to guide him through the steps. He turned arm over head to face Harry then the room shifted as he leaned Eggsy's back into his hand and dipped him, other hand circling behind Eggsy's head to hold and keep him safe. It felt so tender that Eggsy couldn't help but hold his breath.
And then the world was vertical again and he was being pressed into another step and he realized the joyous laughter he was hearing was his own.
They were just starting another set of hip-to-hip walks when the music rapidly tapered off, leaving them both breathing hard and smiling, arm in arm.
"You bloody git. Could have warned me you'd be throwing me around the dance floor like that." Eggsy couldn't put any bite behind the insult and squeezed Harry's arm, looking up at him to huff.
Harry looked back in return, positively beaming. "Where would be the fun in that? Your surprise was all the more enjoyable for it."
There wasn't anything Eggsy could say to that. The bubbling happiness in his chest pushed him up on his toes and pressed their lips together for a solid moment.
He was still smiling when he was back down on his heels but it quickly dropped when he realized what he had just done and saw the shock frozen on Harry's face.
"Oh, shit. Shit. I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't-"
"Eggsy."
Eggsy stopped his abrupt retreat when Harry refused to let him out of his grasp. He swallowed, his throat oddly parched and full at the same time.
"Eggsy, look at me?"
It was gentle enough that Eggsy dared look up, heart squeezing to see the gentleness eased Harry's features as well. It made him relax in Harry's arms a touch.
"I'm glad you feel the same way."
And Eggsy choked on air, unsure he heard correctly. "You rea-"
"Ah-ah-" Harry gently cut him off, unclasping their hands to cup Eggsy's cheek and kiss him on the forehead. "May we discuss this later, maybe over dinner tonight? I'd like to keep dancing."
Eggsy closed his eyes and sighed a smiling defeat. "Yeah... Yeah. Same dance?"
"If you don't mind. Ballroom dances are useful but with a willing partner, swing is simply fun."
Another song was already playing in the background and Harry made small steps to prepare Eggsy for jumping into it.
"Kinda looking forward to learning tango if it's as... 'convincing' as you say it is."
"Mm, I think I'll release Merlin of that teaching duty."
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