Slow Dance (Ingrid/Savannah/openish)

[Savannah Lyons]

It sort of surprised her to hear that he liked when she had opinions about things. In reality, she had a lot of opinions, but she kept them mostly to herself. She had been taught not to speak her mind; that women weren’t supposed to have opinions. They were supposed to just be quiet and demure and do as they were told. And even though there was a part of her that had always felt that this was somehow wrong, she still continued on as she had been taught, because she didn’t know any other way.

She saw other girls who weren’t afraid to speak their minds. Girls like Callie Sanders or Rayne DiCostas. They never held their opinions inside. And sometimes Savannah wished she could be more like them, but she didn’t have the courage to try it.

“My father told me that boys didn’t like when girls spoke their minds. He said girls weren’t supposed to have opinions. And I know…. I know I shouldn’t listen to him, but it’s so hard not to. He’s dead and I still can’t stop hearing his voice in my head, telling me how I’m supposed to behave. I want… I want to laugh with you, and speak my mind, and… eat chocolate cake…”

[Ingrid Regan]

Nov 10, 2009 14:20:10 GMT -5 Elliot Lyons said:

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.

Ingrid found that she quite liked dancing. At first she had to concentrate on following his steps, but eventually, they fell into a comfortable rhythm and she didn't have to think about what she was doing. She could just focus on how it felt to dance with him. In Elliot's arms, she felt almost like she was floating. There was something very liberating about it, and, for the first time, she understood why all the girls had been so excited about going to the dance. Dancing with a boy felt remarkably intimate, like two people moving as one.

Ingrid knew the song, of course. Again, it was one that Aunt Bonnie liked to play. Classical music was beautiful, very soothing... but she wondered if he knew any modern songs. She had a collection of records that she kept up in her room that used to be her father's. They were the songs that he loved, that made him dance, and he had played them for her often. Maybe another time, Ingrid could play them for him.

Her eyes were bright and the smile on her face seemed to lighten up her face, even as the sunlight shone through her vivid red hair. It made her look like she was glowing.

[Elliot Lyons]

He didn't think anything of their dancing except he did think how free they could both be with it. Elliot found that he was enjoying himself immensely. Ingrid went along with him, although he never had any doubt that she wouldn't, and he couldn't have been more relaxed. The real world problems faded away. He had found a way to relieve his stress.

Seeing Ingrid's smile caused Elliot's to grow wider. He continued to move his feet, leading her around. He spun her once, carefully of course. Just as the song ended, he pulled Ingrid into a dip. He stopped humming and stood her back up. "It's good to see you smile like that," he said as he was slowing his breathing down.

[Cameron Wilder]

"Sav, how many times do we have to tell you that your dad was an arse who didn't know what he was talking about? I'll keep my opinions about your mother to myself."

He sighed and concentrated on the couch next to where she was sitting. Since this was the room of requirement, he figured eh could make anything happen. He smiled triumphantly when a plate with a slice of chocolate cake appeared, and he gave her a grin.

"No one will know. Just me. And who am I going to tell?"

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah looked at the piece of cake for a minute, almost as if she couldn't believe it was there. Then a slow smile spread across her face, and then she laughed. Her laugh, rarely heard, was sweet and musical, like her voice. "Thank you," she said at last, picking up the plate in one hand and the fork in the other.

"I haven't had chocolate cake since I was 6. Girls are supposed to watch their weight," she added, a slight mocking tone to her voice. "Never mind that I was 6 years old, and Elliot got cake. And I was already skinny."

She shrugged. He didn't need to hear about the terrible fight that had broken up the party for Elliot's and her 6th birthday. And she didn't really want to recall it just now... or ever. She just wanted to put all of that behind her... and she felt that by eating this cake right now, she would be taking her first step toward doing just that.

She sank the fork into the cake, loading the fork with a piece of the moist, fluffy cake topped with gooey chocolate frosting. Slowly she lifted it to her mouth and took a bite. It was exactly as she imagined.... delicious and sinful and perfect. She barely even noticed that she had a smudge of frosting on her upper lip.

"It's.... It's wonderful," she said, her smile broadening.

[Ingrid Regan]

When Elliot pulled her into that last dip, she began to laugh. Of course, like everything else she did, her laughter was generally silent, but as the laughter grew, she actually let out a small noise, giving a slight hint at what her long-unused voice might sound like.

Her eyes locked onto his, the smile still on her lips and dancing in her eyes. She nodded and pointed to him. She liked the way he looked when he smiled; he was really very handsome. It kind of took her breath away, and suddenly she wasn't laughing anymore.

She definitely wanted to do this again.

[Elliot Lyons]

Hearing the small noise from Ingrid sounded like music in his ears. Even if it was just a very small glimpse of what she sounded like, Elliot felt more honored that she would have even shared that with him. He enjoyed seeing people happy and right now, he found a way to get Ingrid to laugh.

"Thank you," he said as his smile remained on his face. "We'll have to dance more and maybe we could even go up to the seventh floor and use the room of requirement to get an actual record player of course if it isn't being used already." Elliot discovered the room of requirement on of the evening where he just left the common room to think. Ever since, he occasionally went up there to have complete silence.

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid nodded happily. She definitely wanted to do this again. She liked being in his arms and moving along to the sound of his humming. She was sure it would be even better with actual music.

She was having fun, and she wanted to keep that smile on Elliot’s face, so she tried to think of something else they could do that would be fun. After a minute, she came up with an idea, and her eyes lit up. Smiling mischievously, she took his hands and began to lead him out of the little sanctuary.

[Elliot Lyons]

It was going to be his goal to keep Ingrid smiling. Of course, along with the other goal of just telling Savannah that he wanted things to be different and he wanted her to just be free, not caged up. The thought had occurred to Elliot before that a lot of brothers probably wanted their sisters to calm down but their case wasn't like anyone else's. It was a result of their lives and they had a chance to find who they really were. Elliot was going to hold on tight to his idea and he was going to try to get his sister to do the same.

However, right now, his mind was no where near the thoughts of his sister or anything of that sort. Elliot's eyebrows went up as Ingrid took his hands. "I know that look," he said teasingly.

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid widened her eyes innocently and let of of his hand. Beckoning for him to follow, she took off at a run. Her vivid red hair flew out behind her like a flag as her legs carried her over the grassy area and up a gently sloping hill. When she reached the top of the hill, she stood, hunched partly over to catch her breath while she waited for Elliot to catch up. By the time he arrived, she had caught her breath and was waiting with a playful smile on her face.

[Cameron Wilder]

Nov 12, 2009 23:29:22 GMT -5 Savannah Lyons said:

Savannah looked at the piece of cake for a minute, almost as if she couldn't believe it was there. Then a slow smile spread across her face, and then she laughed. Her laugh, rarely heard, was sweet and musical, like her voice. "Thank you," she said at last, picking up the plate in one hand and the fork in the other.

"I haven't had chocolate cake since I was 6. Girls are supposed to watch their weight," she added, a slight mocking tone to her voice. "Never mind that I was 6 years old, and Elliot got cake. And I was already skinny."

She shrugged. He didn't need to hear about the terrible fight that had broken up the party for Elliot's and her 6th birthday. And she didn't really want to recall it just now... or ever. She just wanted to put all of that behind her... and she felt that by eating this cake right now, she would be taking her first step toward doing just that.

She sank the fork into the cake, loading the fork with a piece of the moist, fluffy cake topped with gooey chocolate frosting. Slowly she lifted it to her mouth and took a bite. It was exactly as she imagined.... delicious and sinful and perfect. She barely even noticed that she had a smudge of frosting on her upper lip.

"It's.... It's wonderful," she said, her smile broadening.

"Now I'm hungry," Cameron said with a laugh, and then sobered up. "I'm glad you liked it."

There was no music, no instruments, and they were still getting along. That counted for something. As he watched her savor that cake, he wanted to find out everything else she wanted to do with her life, but was always told she couldn't, and he wanted to help her do it.

"Well, this is one thing we can scratch off your list."

[Elliot Lyons]

Whenever Ingrid let go of his hands, he was going to apologize and just tell her that he was just kidding with her, but he didn't say anything as she started to run. Elliot was slightly confused, but he started to run after her. His legs carried him at a decent pace as he caught up with her.

Once he reached her, all confusion was gone because he saw her playful smile. To tease her again, Elliot smiled. "You're not planning on pushing me down this hill are you," he asked jokingly as he caught his breath.

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid’s smile didn’t fade, and a hint of mischief sparkled in her eyes. But she shook her head in response to his question. Instead she sat down on the top of the slope and looked down. The hill wasn’t steep, but it was a pretty decent height. Better yet, it ended in a long, unbroken patch of grass. It was what would have been considered a perfect sledding hill. Sadly, however, there was no snow in sight. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a little fun.

She waited for him to sit down next to her before she showed him what she was going to do next.

[Savannah Lyons]

Although she tried to eat the cake slowly, it was gone before she had even realized it. "Aren’t you always hungry?" she said teasingly, then looked down at her empty plate, realizing that she had selfishly kept it all to herself. "I’m sorry… I should have offered you some. It was rude—"

She stopped abruptly. Old habits were so hard to break, and she was still a long way from being able to give up her old ways. Even if she was tired of being prim and proper, it was what she was used to. It was safe. And it would take a little more than chocolate cake to get her to completely throw off the chains that were binding her. But at least they were loosening.

"Thanks again. Not just for the cake… I mean, for coming after me today. You really helped."

[Elliot Lyons]

The mischief in Ingrid's eyes seemed to draw Elliot in and he took a seat next to her on the top of the slope. He could hear his parents' voices telling him that he shouldn't be sitting at the top of a slope, he could fall and get hurt. At that thought, Elliot rolled his eyes. He was going to go for adventure. It was what he needed after all.

Thanks to Ingrid, Elliot opened up more than he had already. He wasn't going to close up. "What is going on in that mischievous mind of yours," he asked teasingly.

[Ingrid Regan]

She held up one finger, telling him to wait. Then she shifted position so that she was sitting sideways, facing him. Taking his hands, she helped him do the same. Then she laid down in the grass, crossing her arms over her chest. She hesitated for only a moment, pausing to take a deep breath before she rolled down the hill.

It was a little risky, yes. But that was what made it fun. She had done it before, many times, and the hill was miraculously free of rocks or stones. It was almost as if someone knew that the hill was perfect for kids to play on and had put it there just for that purpose.

When she reached the bottom and came to a stop, she was laughing. She laid flat on her back and turned her head (which still felt like it was spinning) to see if Elliot had followed.

[Elliot Lyons]

Seeing Ingrid turn sideways, made it clear what she was about to do. Of course, this would be something that he would be told not to do. Now, the idea of just rolling down the hill was a lot more exciting and made Elliot wanted to do it even more. This was a time to let go and he would be perfectly fine. He was unbuckling his seat beat.
Elliot started to laugh as Ingrid went rolling. Knowing that she was going to expect him to roll down with her, and not wanting to let her down, he laid down and just let go. He went rolling down the hill.

The trip down was exciting, that was for sure. Elliot wasn't exactly how to describe it. Landing not that far from Ingrid, he started to laugh as he spread his arms out beside him, just laying in the grass. He opened his eyes and it still felt that he was rolling. Elliot moved his head to see Ingrid. "That was fun," he said still laughing. "Do you do that often?"

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid shifted position, so that she was leaning on her side with her elbow propping her up. This way she could get a better view of his face. She nodded in response. Although it had actually been a little while since she had last rolled down the hill, she had done it quite a few times before. It was actually a good way to relieve tension. When you were rolling down that hill, nothing else seemed to matter. And afterwards, she always felt so light and free.

Then she pointed down at the grass, where a ladybug was crawling slowly across a blade of grass. Little things like that, things that often went unnoticed by other people, always fascinated Ingrid. Such a tiny, inconsequential creature, just going on about its business without a thought or care for the world around it. It was beautiful.

[Elliot Lyons]

Ingrid's nodding caused Elliot to laugh. He could imagine Ingrid rolling down a hill whenever she was in a world all her own. In just the short period of time that he had known her, Elliot had learned a lot. She was a quiet, thoughtful, and fun loving person.

He just laid in the grass on his back. He remembered a time or two, his parents told him that he shouldn't really lay in the grass or anything like that because he could dirty up his clothes. Right now, Elliot did not care. He was a boy, of course he was supposed to get dirty from time to time. He didn't move until she pointed at the grass. Elliot rolled over on his stomach and looked at the lady bug. It was moving on, unconcerned with what was going on around it.

"I wish we could all be like that," he said softly as the lady bug continued to crawl across the grass.

[Ingrid Regan]

Ingrid nodded. There was something so very simple and innocent about the little ladybug just crawling along, living its life without any interference from anyone. What she didn’t realize was that, in some ways, she wasn’t all that different from the ladybug. She lived her life her own way, not allowing anyone to influence her behavior. She was herself, without pretenses or games.

As they watched, the ladybug opened its tiny wings and flew away, landing on another blade of grass a foot away from them. Ingrid turned her attention back to Elliot, reaching out to touch his face. There was a pleasing blush to his cheeks, which she assumed was from the exercise. It suited him.