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"You ready for the dance this weekend, Juudai?"
“Meh… I’ll probably just spend the night sitting by the snack table.”
“Oh yeah? Rei'll be disappointed.”
“Pssh." Juudai shrugged, untying the sweatshirt from his waist. "I don’t really know how to dance, anyway.”
Johan raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” he asked, an honest chuckle escaping his lips as his friend nodded. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He pushed himself off of the bed and took a step toward him. “I can teach you!”
His head popping through the top of the sweatshirt, Juudai blinked and asked, “You know how?”
Johan just grinned. “Of course I do! I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I learned when I was younger and I sure haven’t forgotten it! You just need a little practice, is all.”
“Sounds good!” Juudai agreed, then flashed a wily grin. “But I hope you’re a good teacher, ‘cause we both know I’m a sucky student.” Johan shot him a conceding look and they both broke into laughter.
“Okay,” Johan announced, straightening up, “come and stand in front of me.” Juudai did as he was told, trying to mimic the other boy's posture. Johan took Juudai’s left hand and placed it atop his shoulder. He then let his own hand sit firmly on Juudai’s waist and grasped the Osiris duelist's free hand, holding it out to the side. “This is the basic position,” he explained.
“… Why is your hand on my waist?”
“Because,” Johan laughed, “you’re playing the girl.”
“What?!”
“It’s because I have to lead.”
Juudai scoffed. Then, with a smirk, he pushed out his hip and batted his eyelashes. “Then please treat me kindly, Mr. Andersen,” he cooed in a sing-song voice. Johan snorted, dropping both his hands.
“Hey, I can’t teach you if I’m laughing the whole time,” he managed. Juudai laughed, too, reaching out to grab Johan’s hands; this time, he was the one to position them correctly.
“Very good,” the teacher praised, the slightest hint of mockery lacing his tone. Juudai just grinned as he continued. “Alright, so next we've gotta move. A waltz is in ¾ time. The basic steps just go forward, backward, and to the side in a box shape, moving with the beat.” He gave a small demonstration. “One, two, three, one, two, three… See?”
“Seems easy enough!”
“We’ll see! Let’s try it. You start with your right foot, stepping backward. Just mirror me.”
Juudai nodded, and Johan counted off before they started. It was slow, but, to Johan’s surprise, Juudai followed his steps perfectly. He whistled in approval. “Wow, you’re doing great!”
“Why do you sound so surprised?” Juudai asked distractedly. He had a look of sheer concentration on his face as he stared down at his feet, and when Johan noticed it, he couldn’t help but laugh. “What?” the shorter boy asked.
Johan just smiled as he replied, “Nothing!” After a few more steps, once Juudai seemed to have a good grasp on the movement, Johan stopped him.
"You need to feel a little more. Like… Sway, don't just move."
“Sway?” Juudai questioned, eyebrow quirked.
“Well, people don’t just stand straight up when they dance! That would be a little bit awkward.” Juudai chuckled in agreement as his friend continued. “Just let your body sway with the movement, like when we go to the side. You start to get the feeling of actually dancing once you're really moving with the steps.”
Juudai nodded. Gently fastening his hold on the other’s waist, Johan eased their bodies back into a rhythm. One, two, three, one, two, three. He stopped saying it out loud, but judging from how Juudai was still staring intently down at his feet, he was sure that the other boy was counting in his head. A smile played across Johan’s face as he watched. As the evening went on, he showed Juudai turning and pivoting and all of the other steps that he knew. Finally, he brought them to a definitive stop.
“And, there you go!” he proclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “You’ve learned how to waltz!”
Judai blinked a few times before responding. “You mean,” he said disbelievingly, “that’s it?”
“Yep! That's all I have to teach you."
“No way! That was way less painful than I thought it’d be!”
Johan chuckled, applauding his pupil. “Well, I think it also depends on who you do it with. Lucky your first time was with a friend instead of your date at the dance, huh?”
"Yeah, well, who knows how I'll hold up at the real thing. It's probably different when you're out on a dance floor, with music and everything…"
Johan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It would be nice if we had some music to practice with… Hmm. Hold on." He strode over to his computer, fiddling around for a while before the soft sounds of an orchestra began to permeate the room. He turned with a grin and returned to Juudai, bowing to him with a dramatic flourish of his arms. The other boy snickered at his friend's dorkiness.
The two assumed their positions, but Johan pulled Juudai in by the waist so that the space between them shrunk. “In real ballroom dancing, you’ve gotta get closer together,” he pointed out, “or else it’s hard to move right.” Juudai made a teasing sort of face at him, but remained where he was. Johan counted off and they started into their dance. The sun had now started to sink, bathing the spacious dorm in an orange warmth. In stark contrast to the outside air, dotted with shimmering flecks of snow, Juudai was getting a little hot under his sweatshirt. Between the constant moving and Johan's hands warming his own, he could almost forget that it was winter. After getting used to the steady pace of their steps, he lifted his gaze to rest on Johan’s face, smiling when he found familiar emerald eyes looking right back at him. Unconsciously, he let himself lean forward into Johan’s hold, much to the latter’s amusement.
“Getting comfortable?” he asked teasingly. Juudai simply nodded, lightly resting his head on Johan’s shoulder. It was so warm and soothing. The music wafted through the air like a pleasant scent, and their dance wove through it with ease. Even as they fell back into their original position, Juudai’s head remained cradled in the crook of his partner’s neck; their fingers remained laced together at their sides. Johan tilted his head down so that his lips were barely brushing the top of his friend's feathery hair. “Don’t fall asleep on me!” he chided, grinning as Juudai took their interlocked hands and punched him in the leg. He started to lift his head, only to meet Johan’s face just centimeters away from his own. His voice caught in his throat with the next inhale, one that Johan could nearly feel on his own lips. The moment that ensued should have been awkward, but instead, it was just… A pause. A question, maybe. Juudai blinked.
After another second’s hesitation, Johan leaned in and pressed their lips together, and both boys closed their eyes. Their lips touched tentatively, innocently. Neither of them knew what to do, but they didn't mind; every subtle movement was experimental, and when Juudai let his lips part slightly and Johan was suddenly licking at them with increasing vigor, they both let out matching gasps. Juudai made a humming sound from the back of his throat, straightening up as Johan instinctively pulled him closer.
When they clumsily broke apart, the music had stopped. They stood there panting in the silence, looking, stunned, into each other’s wide eyes.
“… Well!” Johan blurted out, hastily removing his hands from Juudai’s waist. Even his best attempt to keep his composure was foiled by the color blooming in his cheeks. Juudai, his own face clashing with his somewhat-tousled hair, kept moving his mouth as if to say something, but no proper words came out. His brain finally settled on allowing his friend’s name.
“… Johan. Johan-- what did we just do?” he spluttered, his animated voice returning to him.
“Err,” Johan replied sheepishly, “I do believe we just kissed, but I could be mistaken.”
The two met one another’s gaze and burst out laughing. “Um,” Juudai said, still chuckling a little behind his flushed cheeks, “what now?”
Johan grinned as he answered honestly, “I don’t know! But, maybe we should rethink our dates for the dance…”