Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side sim - The Holo Library
Posted by… suppressed (16) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Achilleas sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. “Computer, change program to a dancing hall and create two dancing partners. One female at about 5 foot tall and the other…?” He looked at Solal questioningly. If he was going to have a holographic dummy to try dancing with then so was Solal. In for a penny in for a pound anyway.

CSO Petrakos

Solal gave Achilleas another eyebrow raise. “Female, six-foot. Preferably of Vulcan descent.” He said. Thankfully, Vulcans didn’t really blush too much, but if Achilleas were to look close, Solal’s face might look greener than usual. The program changed, becoming an elaborate dance hall. Currently, no music played, but a few holographic couples practised dancing around them. Near Achilleas a five-foot-tall woman appeared, standing still as she waited for him to begin dancing. In front of Solal, a six-foot tall Vulcan woman.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas sized up the holographic dance partner in front of him. The height was right but the body proportions were a little bit off when compared to his desired dance partner. Not that it should really matter for the purpose of practice though. He stepped closer to her and took her right hand in his left while he placed their left hand on his right shoulder and placed his right hand under her left arm and supported at her shoulder blade. He then looked over at Solal. “Is this right?”

CSO Petrakos

Solal circled them, checking his posture. “Yes, this looks correct. The next part gets harder.” He said. “What kind of dance do you want to learn? A waltz?” He asked Achilleas. That was the dance he was most familiar with, the easiest to teach. But he did know the basics of some other dances as well.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“I mean, is that the most common type of ballroom dance with a very layered and heavy dress?” Achilleas asked despite his meager reading on the subject. Solal would like notice that sweat was starting to bead along Achilleas’ brow. This experience was making him nervous already.

CSO Petrakos

Solal nodded. “The waltz is frequently danced while wearing a fancy dress, or a ballgown.” He turned, placing his hands on his dance dummy. “Let’s move on to the dance itself. The first step is like this.” He stepped forward with his left foot. As he did, his dummy stepped back with her right. “And then, this..” Solal said, stepping to the side with his right foot. The dummy mirrored the movement with her left foot.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas watched the two steps Solal did intensely. He closed his eyes to replay it in his head a few time before he opened them and took the two steps himself. “Hey, that wasn’t so bad!” He exclaimed in delight. Sure it was only two steps but he didn’t fall over or step on the dance partner’s feet.

CSO Petrakos

“Makes sure the steps are purposeful but delicate,” Solal said as he watched, but he did not make Achilleas redo the steps. Instead, he moved on. “Move your left foot toward your right foot. Smoothly, like this.” He moved his left foot towards his right, and as he did, the dance dummy moved right towards her left, mirroring him again.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Mhm… left foot to the right, got it.” Achilleas matched his actions to his words. “Oh, not bad! I’m almost a dancer.”

CSO Petrakos

“And now we reverse what we’ve done.” He said, and he moved his right foot back, then his left foot to the side, and then moved his right foot to his left foot. The dummy completed her steps mechanically, following Solal’s moves. Then, he did one full round to show Achilleas how the dance was supposed to look put together. “Finally, you are supposed to put some rhythm in it. But I can’t recall what it was…”

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

After nodding his head Achilleas tried the full set of steps… and failed pretty epicly by crossing his feet and bring both him and the dance partner to the ground. “Ow… okay, that is a little harder than it looks.” He said after getting up and straightening his clothes. “Can you show that to me again?”

CSO Petrakos

Solal nodded, suddenly thinking that if anyone saw him doing this, he’d have to transfer or something. Vulcans do not dance. He repeated the dance, but distracted, also bungled the slide, nearly making the same mistake as Achilleas. After the utterance of a curse word, he repeated the dance in much better form. “Once you master this, we’ll start travelling.” He said.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

The second attempt went much better for Achilleas, though he threw uttered word into the mix. Was that Vulcan or a dialect from Earth? He wondered. With a mental shrug he performed the series of steps a few more times. “Okay, I think I got it. What do you mean by travelling though? Aren’t we staying in the dance hall?”

CSO Petrakos

Merely an obscenity uttered in Solal’s native language of French, which would have sounded something like ‘maird’. A word of frustration or anger which he very rarely uttered and disliked when he let slip. He watched as Achilleas completed the steps, coaching as he saw fit. When Achilleas said he had it, he said, “Travelling just means that we move as we dance. The waltz is not a stationary dance. The primary change will be the reversal of which feet we use for the dance.” he said, and then he demonstrated the dance: Left foot forward, right foot to the side. Left foot moved to the right foot. Then forward with the right foot, left foot to the side. Then pull the right foot to the left. With all said and done, Solal and his dance partner moved in a pointed circle.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

“So four basic steps, but you can mix up the order to determine which direction or orientation to move towards? Simple in theory but complicated in execution.” Achilleas mused before he started another round of steps. This time his slowly mixed in some variation that had them turning in a slow circle. “So how do you lead someone not used to dancing? Or actually, I’m not sure if she is or not. This is kind of a surprise so I never thought to ask.”

CSO Petrakos

“Tell her to follow what you do. It does help if she at least knows the basics,” Solal said. “If you get plenty of practice in, you will have muscle memory on your side.” He wasn’t very familiar with the ‘impress a girl’ sentiment, but at least he could be helpful. Achilleas seemed to appreciate it. “Your dance is already looking much better.” By the time Achilleas went to impress the girl, Solal figured he’d probably be better than Solal himself was.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas stopped after a few more rounds of circling. He released the dance hologram partner and sighed. “Well I’m getting decent practice with a perfect partner to match my steps, but this won’t prepare me for an imperfect partner at all.” He looked towards Solal and a gleam shone in his eye. “How could I overlook the perfect dance practice buddy? You’re not all that adept at it, you keep saying, so let me take you for a couple spins.” He said as he slowly moved towards Solal, as if he didn’t want to spook him.

CSO Petrakos

“We could alw-” Solal started, but before he finished the thought, Achilleas had suggested that he take Solal for “a couple of spins”. He froze momentarily, and then he blinked forcefully and composed himself. It’s just a dance, and you’re supposed to be logical. You shouldn’t care, he thought. “I was told I have ‘no rhythm’. As I was booted from the class.” He told Achilleas. “But I suppose I would be the most realistic option, which would logically prepare you faster for an imperfect partner.” As he spoke, he assumed dance starting position. “I assume you would like to lead, so you are more practiced for your partner?” He asked. Though he seemed to be back to his usual uncaring self, he was quite glad that Vulcans didn’t really blush - Otherwise, he’d be a lovely green color.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

“That was precisely my thought.” Achilleas responded as he came up to Solal, took one hand in his, put the other onto his own shoulder, then braced his shoulder blade. “You see, I have no idea if she has any sense of… actually no, she does seem to have good rhythm. I don’t know if that would translate to good dancing rhythm though, so you are the best option in this case. Pardon my feet if I end up stepping on yours.” With a tight core and a firm grip, he started doing the steps without any variations or turns just yet.

CSO Petrakos

Solal took his hand, placing his other hand under Achilleas’ arm. “I am not as familiar with the follower’s steps, so it will be us stepping on each other’s feet. You are the first dance partner that’s nearly my height.” he said. As Achilleas began to do the steps, Solal began to follow, but he was out of rhythm, and there was indeed, much foot stepping to be had. “Your form is good,” He told Achilleas, observing the form as they attempted to dance.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor