Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: New Normal

(snip)

Rand’s French alternated between formal and more every day speech. It all depended on the context of what she was saying, she’d had to learn both inflections. In this case, dancing was very formal therefore so was her inflection. It had taken her a long time to learn how to drop her Scottish accent in order to make her French sound more authentic. Rand had noticed that Roman always tended to smile when her accent came out, and today her Scottish lilt lended a softer hint to her French. It wasn’t done on purpose, but more she wasn’t trying so hard to hide herself. The longer the danced to more complex the steps became, going from a simple box step and adding turns and twirls. “Roman,” there was a wealth of depth to her gaze, “je t’aime (I love you).”

Rand

Their dancing was getting more complex and Roman was enjoying it. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled. “Et moi, vous (And I, you).” He could hear a hint of her Scottish accent in her French. He loved when he starts hear her accent. It meant she was relaxed, not trying to hide it, and it just sounded nice.

~ Roman

Rand’s smiled brightened, and in the next count of steps she was much closer than she had been. She kept waiting for some maid acting as chaperone to chastise her. That’s always how it worked in the period pieces she’d starred in. With any bit of luck Randy was not going to pop in and play the part.

The more complex Roman made the steps, the more Rand seemed to glide and float through them. As if the simpler steps were actually more difficult. In actuality, as the leading lady, Rand had spent more time practicing the more complex and advanced dances and steps than she had the basics. She was familiar with them. She found she had to concentrate to get the basic steps correct because she never used them, everything was always advanced and complex. She adored it.

Rand

She felt closer than before, and she seemed to like the more advanced steps so Roman kept it up, leading her into complex and advanced moves. He’d never enjoyed dances, when he’d been made to go by his family. But this was different. The Valentine’s dance would be different, too. For Roman, all of it was second nature. He’d spent no small amount of time learning formal dance. And not by choice. All those dance lessons were worth it to dance with Rand.

~Roman

Dancing with Roman was a totally new experience. Rand took lessons, practiced, and had danced with multiple dance partners over the years. But always there were lines to recite, scripted mis-steps to execute, sudden fits of the ‘vapors’ or temper, instructors and directors correcting and altering the choreography. Rand had never actually danced simply because it was what she wanted to do. Rand had been partnered with excellent, technical dancers before, but Roman was different. He moved like he breathed the steps. He was technical and obviously well taught, but just like everything else he did there was an underlying current of his personality, of…Rand’s eyes danced, rebellion was the best term for it. Rand never minded the lessons, it was part of her ‘job’, but here in his quarters, it was so much more.

Rand