Slow Dance (Ingrid/Savannah/openish)

[Elliot Lyons]

Elliot closed his fingers over Ingrid’s hand and led her over to where they could move without hitting anything. He was unsure of how well he could dance, because he hadn’t danced in very long time. A few times before, his mother taught him how. The dances were never anything extremely fancy or fast paced. The only song that popped into his mind was Moonlight Sonata, the song he remembered his mother and Savannah playing. He wasn’t much of a singer nor did he have great musical talent like his sister and mother, but he could hum the song well enough.

Keeping a hold of Ingrid’s hand, he carefully placed his other hand on Ingrid’s waist. He gave her an almost sad smile. “I don’t know if you know this one or not but it is one that my sister and mother used to play.” Elliot never got to hear his sister play anymore, even though he wished that he could. She had always played beautifully and it always made him feel peaceful.

Taking the first step, he started to hum Moonlight Sonata as he moved slowly so that Ingrid could follow his steps.

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron was quiet as she apologized, which was kind of shocking to hear from her. He never thought that he of all people would be on the receiving end of one of her apologies. She always seemed so perfect and never in the wrong.

When she started to play, he had to suppress the urge to make her stop. She was fumbling over some of the notes, but it actually fascinated Cameron, and he found her mistakes beautiful. She was trying to get close to him and he wasn't letting her... he didn't understand why. The thing was, Savannah hated him, so maybe he just didn't trust this. But they were connecting through music, and it was how he communicated best.

It took him a moment, but he started to play, joining her on the piano, playing slowly and just enough to compliment her playing.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah would have been very surprised to hear that he thought she hated him. She didn't always approve of him, but she definitely didn't hate him. Her feelings about him were confused and conflicted. But ever since the day she stumbled on him playing piano in this very room, her feelings had begun to soften towards him a great deal.

When he sat down next to her and began to play, she blushed and looked over at him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm afraid I'm not very good.... I'm playing from memory."

She didn't know what else to say or what she even wanted from him at this point. She just found that she liked being here with him, liked sharing this little secret.

"Are we friends now, Cameron?" she asked softly.

[Cameron Wilder]

"That's a talent, you know. Playing from memory? Very few people can do that. I think you're doing just fine."

The mistakes she made were bold, and the rest of her notes held no apologies for them. He rather liked it, but he didn't say this, unsure of how she would interpret this. Did that make him a phony?

He couldn't get that out of his head. The face that most people saw was real. He didn't try to hide who he was, he just acted different in front of others than he did in front of her. They expected him to goof off, so he did.

"Do you want to be friends?" he asked, somewhat taken aback by her question.

[Savannah Lyons]

She didn't stop playing, even though she didn't believe him that she was any good. She could hear the mistakes she was making almost as soon as she made them.

Giving him a sideways glance, she nodded slowly. Maybe they had been friends all along, and she hadn't really realized it. It was just that she had always felt in the way while Cameron and Elliot were talking and laughing and joking around. She didn't joke around, although it was not for lack of a sense of humor. She did have one, and she often thought of witty responses in her head to the things they were saying. And sometimes, even when the jokes were a little on the crude side, she would quietly laugh to herself. It was just that no one had ever noticed.

"Yes, I would like to be friends," she said at last.

[Ingrid Regan]

Nov 5, 2009 14:59:43 GMT -5 Elliot Lyons said:

Elliot closed his fingers over Ingrid’s hand and led her over to where they could move without hitting anything. He was unsure of how well he could dance, because he hadn’t danced in very long time. A few times before, his mother taught him how. The dances were never anything extremely fancy or fast paced. The only song that popped into his mind was Moonlight Sonata, the song he remembered his mother and Savannah playing. He wasn’t much of a singer nor did he have great musical talent like his sister and mother, but he could hum the song well enough.

Keeping a hold of Ingrid’s hand, he carefully placed his other hand on Ingrid’s waist. He gave her an almost sad smile. “I don’t know if you know this one or not but it is one that my sister and mother used to play.” Elliot never got to hear his sister play anymore, even though he wished that he could. She had always played beautifully and it always made him feel peaceful.

Taking the first step, he started to hum Moonlight Sonata as he moved slowly so that Ingrid could follow his steps.

Ingrid recognized the song. Her aunt had a piano, and when Ingrid was younger, she played it all the time. Ingrid's doctors had thought it would help Aunt Bonnie to communicate with her and to engage her mind. What they never understood was that Ingrid understood perfectly and was completely capable of communicating; she just had no desire to speak.

Aunt Bonnie now suffered from something called arthritis and could no longer do many of the things she had once loved. The piano sat silent and the knitting needles were no longer used. Instead, Aunt Bonnie liked to listen to record on her record player. One of her favorite songs was this one; Aunt Bonnie called it Beethoven.

Ingrid smiled softly as she followed Elliot's steps. As it turned out, Ingrid had excellent rhythm and was easily able to follow Elliot's movements. Her only problem was that she felt like she wanted to lean her head against Elliot's shoulder, and she wasn't sure that would be allowed. No one had ever told her of the rules of dancing.

[Elliot Lyons]

The dance felt really formal and Elliot wanted to break himself of that. Feeling the need to just let go, Elliot took the hand Ingrid's hand that he was holding and put it around his neck and put his hand on her waist. He gave her a smile that said everything was just fine.

While he was still humming, he pictured his mother and Savannah playing. Of course, he would always just peek his head in because he never wanted to disturb them. He was supposed to be studying but he always liked to hear them play. When his father wasn't around, he would slip downstairs to where his mother and Savannah would be and he would just listen. The last time he had heard the song being played was at his parents' funeral.

Little did Elliot realize, he ended up pulling Ingrid closer to him as his thoughts drifted. She made him feel more at home because he had found someone that he could tell his secrets to. He could let it out, and she would understand. Even though he was best friends with Cameron, he didn't feel that he could tell every single thing to him. Sure, he could tell him the overview of everything but not all the specifics.


At the moment, Elliot felt as if he were in a safe haven. Nothing could bother him. As the song finally ended, he slowly came to a stop but he didn't let go of Ingrid. "You dance beautifully," he finally commented.

[Cameron Wilder]

"Then we're friends," Cameron replied, as if friendships were as simple as that. And why shouldn't they be?

His eyes weren't on hers, though, and were slightly narrowed like he was concentrating really hard on something. His fingers kept time with hers, though his heart wasn't really in it.

While she felt in the way when he and Elliot were together, Cameron felt beneath her. Maybe it wasn't even anything she did. He just looked at her, and whether or not she knew it, she was beautiful and perfect and graceful. Cameron didn't know how to compare to that. He didn't know how to be at the same level she was.

"Hey," he said after a moment, and he stopped playing instantly. "Can we talk without the music? I mean, is it possible for us to relate without the soundtrack?"

[Ingrid Regan]

When he pulled her closer, Ingrid felt another shiver run down her spine. She had never felt safer than she did right now, in his arms. How was that possible? She had known him for only a day.

Almost instinctively, she leaned her head against his chest as they danced. She still wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do, but it felt right. She closed her eyes and let her feet follow his movements.

When the song ended and he stopped humming, there was a moment of quiet. It felt somehow precious, like there was literally magic in the air, surrounding them. At his comment, she blushed and pulled away, opening her brown eyes and locking onto his. She smiled, and the hand that was around his neck slipped down to his shoulder and then his arm. It was just as well that she didn’t speak, because she couldn’t have thought of a single thing to say in that moment.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah stopped playing as soon as he did, her fingers still poised just above the keys. It took her another moment to react, however, and she slowly turned to him, her wide brown eyes focused on him. They were sitting rather close, and she should have moved away, but she didn’t.

“OK,” she said. “We can do that, I guess. We were talking earlier, right? When we were outside.”

But she wasn’t quite sure what he wanted her to say. She wasn’t quite sure how to relate to him without the music, because they had nothing else in common, and he didn’t seem to like when she tried to figure him out. They really had nothing in common, except music, and Elliot.

“What did you want to talk about?”

[Elliot Lyons]

Ingrid's blush couldn't go unnoticed on her pale skin. Elliot liked the pink tint on her cheeks because it seemed to lighten up her face more. Of course, he wasn't going to openly admit that. How awkward would that have been?

He was sure that Ingrid was unaware, but her touch left goosebumps. Elliot tried not to think about that. Although, he had to admit that there was something nice about dancing with her, or maybe it was just dancing all together. He attempted to put his over analyzing mind at rest.

Dancing would be on his list of things to do if he was alone with Ingrid. Of course, it wouldn't be every time. It would just be from time to time, mainly because it was nice and it also felt like some kind of escape.

For a few moments, Elliot didn't say anything. He couldn't think of anything to say. A smile grew on his face. "We should do that again sometime, don't you think?"

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid never would have imagined that she would have danced with someone here in her little sanctuary. Or at all, really. For the most part, boys acted as if she was invisible; or worse, they teased her. But it was like Elliot saw through the wall of silence and actually saw her. He understood her and liked her, and didn't want anything from her except her friendship. That was a pretty powerful feeling for someone who had never really reached out to anyone else before.

She could feel something changing inside of her, but she couldn't understand it just yet. But for a girl who had doen everrything she could to shut out as much of the world as possible, it was a very big step that she wanted to let him in.

At his smile, all lingering tension in her body seemed to loosen. She returned his smile readily and nodded.

[Cameron Wilder]

"No," Cameron said, shaking his head. "Not right now. Not about anything specific. I mean in general, is it possible for us to get along? 'Cuz I'll be honest, I don't know what to say to you that won't make you turn up your nose at me. If we're friends, we've got to have something outside of this room that we can both relate to. Don't get me wrong... I think everything should run by rules written in musical notes, but..."

He was babbling. No, getting distracted was more what he was doing, and he stopped himself, pulling his thoughts together again, rather hoping she would just shut him up before he sounded really stupid.

[Elliot Lyons]

He wanted to see the laughter shine in her eyes again. There had to be a way he could see it again. Elliot was changing already. He was changing into a boy that wasn't acting extremely shy or all about his studies. He was acting like a person he felt was himself. Elliot wasn't sure how to describe himself because after all, he didn't really know himself that well. However, he was just going to embrace his change. He had to thank both Ingrid and Cameron for that.

"If I hummed a faster song and led you, would you care for another dance?"

[Savannah Lyons]

“I wouldn’t turn my nose up at you,” Savannah said, stung. Was that what he thought of her? That she set herself above him?

But if she thought about it, maybe she had. She hadn’t meant to, not really. She had been taught humility by her father, who never failed to find a way to put her down. As a result, she didn’t have very high self-esteem, so it never occurred to her that her general disapproval of Cameron’s behavior was a way of looking down on him. The realization horrified her.

“You think I’m a snob, don’t you?” she said softly, lowering her eyes to stare at her hands, which were clasped together in her lap.

[Ingrid Regan]

Surprisingly, Ingrid felt no hesitation. She already felt like she could trust Elliot with anything. With him, she could loosen up a little more and not feel the need to hide herself so much. Maybe she could even have fun.

And although the idea of speaking was still not something she even thought about, it was entirely possible that, with his friendship and support, she would slowly start to heal from the heartache of losing her father all those years ago. She had already taken a very big step in showing him her scrapbook.

Smiling, she nodded and held out her hand.

[Elliot Lyons]

Elliot was excited that Ingrid didn't shy away. They were in a world all their own for the time being. Going to Ingrid's small sanctuary made him realize why the place was ideal. Sure, she had a few animals she was taking care of there, but it seemed like it was far away from everyone, like an escape. Here, it felt like they were some place different, rather than just at school. Of course Elliot's mind was going into over drive again.

Forcing his brain to stop going so fast, he focused on a faster paced song. Of course, it was a classical piece. That was really all he ever heard in his house. He never really listened to anything else. Maybe, just maybe, he could expand his tastes in music.

Elliot took her hand and put a hand on her waist once again. Giving Ingrid a boyish grin, he started to hum Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Of course, his humming was nothing compared to the actual sound but it worked for the time being. He wasn't even sure what kind of dance he was doing, he just started to move his feet.

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron didn't hide the roll of his eyes as she said she wouldn't turn her nose up at him. She would, whether she realized it or not.

Her question though, and the hurt tone in her voice, told him that she didn't know she acted like she was better than him. She never meant to, as it turned out.

So he couldn't very well say 'yes,' to her question. He wanted to and had to bite his tongue to keep from saying it. It would only push her further into that shell of hers when she thought she wasn't being polite and sweet.

"Yes," he said at length, letting that carefree smile grace his lips again. "Yes, I do. But I like it."

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah stared at him for a moment. She was not sure how to take this. He thought she was a snob, but he liked it? It wasn’t a good thing. Without ever intending to, she had alienated him. Was that why he was always going out of his way to be obnoxious around her? She had been pushing him in a way, and he pushed back.

He was smiling, but she didn’t smile back. In fact, she was feeling very awkward, so she got up from the piano bench and walked across the room, where there was a sofa.

She sat down, once again allowing the prim and proper mask to cover her. Her legs were discreetly crossed at the ankles and she was sitting very straight with her hands in her lap. “All this time, you were friends with Elliot and not me. I felt… Well, when you were around, I felt cut off from Elliot, like he became a different person. You both always laughed so loud and joked around and had so much fun, and I wasn’t part of that. Sometimes… I wanted to join in, but I didn’t know how. I wasn’t raised that way. So all I ever knew how to do was be polite. And I guess I criticized you sometimes… or a lot of the time. I just… I didn’t know any other way to relate to you then. And I think I always thought that there was more to you than just joking around all the time. Maybe I hoped I could be a good influence on you. I just wish… I wish I wasn’t so afraid to say or do the things that are in my head…”

[Cameron Wilder]

For one brief moment, Cameron's smile faded and he thought she was going to walk out of the room. Whatever he said, he thought it was enough to drive her away.

He couldn't explain the relief he felt when she just moved across the room instead of out of it entirely, and he listened to her, finding that he was kind of enthralled by her voice. It was... musical. He didn't let it distract him from what she was saying, however.

"I like when you're a snob because it shows that you actually have opinions about something. And I tried to get you involved with us... you just turned your nose up at me and I didn't know how to talk to you."

He didn't realize that he'd been pushing back, but if she pointed it out to him, it would make sense. He was combative, even when he didn't mean to be, and even when he was easy going. When he didn't understand something, like her or how to talk to her... he acted out in his own ways.