[ roy's been chatting with child soldiers since he was, well, a child soldier. feeling out and dancing around trauma buttons you don't want to push that hard on is something he's become accustom to, and after you're best buds with two bat-kids, you get real used to avoiding the ones that'll make a dude implode. especially with jason, though they tend to have their own shorthand and comfort levels when it comes to the morbid side of what they do and how they ended up where they are.
look, you can't just tell roy you're a dance instructor and expect him not to take you up on it at some point, this is the kind of nonsense he loves, so when gene offers a hand, roy bounces up to his feet, a loud clap sounding as he slaps his hand into gene's enthusiastically. ]
Put it on Jay's tab, I'll tell him it was a necessary educational cost.
( ah, fuck, he forgot to mention the empathy bond. gene don't mind it much, but he doesn't like to spring it on new folks without warning so don't mind him as he twitches his hand back some and holds it up in a flat-palmed 'hold on' gesture. )
Wait a tic. Forgot somethin'. Jay told you about the empathy bond at all?
[ Roy holds up a finger - one minute - and scampers back towards wherever he left those thick welding gloves he slapped Jason's ass with.
He comes back with them tugged onto each hand, looking a little ridiculous with them coming up most of his forearms, but hey, it saves them getting uncomfortably emotionally cozy. Because yeah, chill as Roy may outwardly seem, the empathy bond still makes him nervous as hell. ]
Ever dance with a welder? I can put the apron and mask on too.
By trade? Sure. By gear an' dress? Not so much. First time for everything, though.
( he does take up roy's hands proper now, directin' him as to where to put them with an easy confidence that speaks to just how much he damn well loves dancin'. )
Let's get you learnin' the Lindy. It's one'a my favs. Now, the important part is makin' sure the steps are right, an' —
( don't mind him as he launches into a beginner-friendly crash-course in swing dance that the writer is absolutely not going to babble about at length. )
[ funny thing about martial arts: you think it prepares you for dance because of the physicality and body control. spoilers, it doesn't. it doesn't save roy from fumbling his steps a few times or bumping awkwardly into gene when he goes the wrong way once, but roy's a good sport, ready to laugh at himself when he screws up, and having a good time besides. gene's a good teacher, and while roy might not be the best dancer, he listens and he has a wealth of patience for picking up new skills.
once he starts to understand more of the dance, roy gets more confident, moves a little faster, tries to stop looking at his feet so much. ]
So when's the part where one of us gets to throw the other in the air?
[ roy pipes up once he's starting to get the basic steps down. he's pretty sure that's a swing thing. is it a lindy thing? are they the same? no idea, he just wants to defy some gravity. ]
( doin' tosses are always one of his favourite things in the dance scene, but it's one of those things he's leery of teachin' to someone who ain't got the foundational skills to back it up.
though, roy's at least in as good'a shape as jason, an' jason would'a bulldozed him right over even straight off basic when he was a hundred an' fifty some-odd pounds of muscle an' not an ounce of fat to be seen. so gene steps back some, cocks his head an' gives roy a once-over. little taller, a bit more broad. he's got a good sense of his feet, which is rare enough to start an' a boon to dancin' smooth.
ah, hell. why not. )
I ain't got the first clue why you'd want a skirt made outta poodles, but all right, I'll show you a throw-out. Just don't practice it with anyone else green as you, else you might be in for an injury.
( he's been showin' him both sides of the dance, lead an' follow steps, mostly on account'a there havin' been no one to really regulate it back when he an' love company were all dancin' together in the halls. more men than women mostly, so the boys danced too, an' it weren't ever no big thing. now, he re-arranges roy so he's back to followin'. there's a quick explanation that follows — the move itself is simple enough, but — )
You gotta nail the landin' or you'll blow an ankle. I won't toss you up to start, just get the pattern down an' we'll do that a few times before we try gettin' you any air. Then you can try it on me after that. Just remember to let the lead direct your momentum. Takes a bit'a trust.
[ while they swing about loki's kitchen, roy starts to develop some muscle memory for the rhythm and flow of the steps, enough he can get himself distracted thinking of obscure and irrelevant details. ]
Shit, poodle skirts were the '50s, weren't they? Nevermind, forget the skirts.
[ you don't have a poodle skirt anyway, roy, calm down and pay attention to what you're doing. especially now that gene's getting in Serious Teacher Mode and talking about Safety, and roy wishes at least any single one of the Batkids were in the room, so he'd have someone to turn a knowing eye and guilty smirk to. instead, there's a small, contained half-smile twitching at the corner of his lips that roy fails to school. roy harper has not been known for his appreciation for safety.
but, it is... kind of refreshing to have someone so concerned about him twisting an ankle. roy remembers getting thrown through brick walls at 17, getting into fist fights with grown men and criminals, jumping out of helicopters and speeding cars. the injuries he's sustained through his life simply from being a non-meta in the superhero business have been no joke, and the search for remedies was his start down a road that ended with in rehab and AA/NA meetings. yeah, sad times, but the point is, many years of parkour experience later, he's learned how to protect his fragile little non-super body from harsh impacts. mostly. ]
Dude. Buddy. Amigo. [ roy starts flatly, as he lindy hops his way over to gene and takes up his following spot against him, hands finding the correct places, not afraid to get cozy here. ] I've been throwing myself off buildings since I was a teenager, trust me, I won't screw the landing.
[ roy's no dick grayson, but he knows how to stick a landing, ok? ]
( that little show of confidence gets a genuine laugh, an' gene shakes his head, extricatin' his hands just so's he can hold 'em up in surrender. )
All right, all right. I'm gonna ask more about that pastime later.
( he used to throw himself off buildings too, albeit less dramatically. weren't a standin' structure in conecuh he didn't climb, an' lord o'mighty did he catch hell for it. )
So, you gotta lean into it, yeah? Hand in mine, let me take some of the weight. An' then you hop, an' I toss, an' you land.
[ anytime roy wins that kind of genuine and honest laugh from someone, it warms his frail little burnout heart, and he's beaming back at gene cheekily, close to a snicker. ]
That'll be a fun talk.
[ because roy doesn't intend to lie about it. no one else seems all that protective of the vigilante thing, and jason clearly trusts this guy. besides, if he can't tell his semi-dark secret to the man dancing him around his pal's kitchen, who can he tell it to? ]
Got it, got it. [ roy's nodding as he gets into place, making a show of shaking his feet out and bending his knees in preparation for his great leap. ] Lean into it, let you toss me with your strong manly arms, do a hop and land like I know what I'm doing, right?
[ assuming nothing goes horribly wrong, he'll be doing just that once gene feels confident in tossing him. ]
( #whentwogremlinheartscollide. when he's feelin' like roy's got the hang of what he's sayin', he nods an' then starts the move — takin' the man's weight in one hand, enablin' the hop with the other an' lo an' behold stick the landin' he does.
he laughs, hands on his hips shakin' his head. )
Well, all right. Guess you know what you're on about.
[ roy lands with a little flourish, like a gymnast presenting to a crowd, bowing one direction and then the other. Thank you, invisible audience, for your cheers (in roy's head).
Beaming, roy’s flashing gene a toothy grin and pacing is way back over to take up dance-stance again, shuffling into gene’s space and finding his hands again with those clunky welding gloves he still has on. ]
Only about the jumping part. [ he smirks, tugging at gene’s hands to try to pull him into one of the routines he’s just been taught. ] Promise I’m still stupid about everything else involved.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 03:21 pm (UTC)look, you can't just tell roy you're a dance instructor and expect him not to take you up on it at some point, this is the kind of nonsense he loves, so when gene offers a hand, roy bounces up to his feet, a loud clap sounding as he slaps his hand into gene's enthusiastically. ]
Put it on Jay's tab, I'll tell him it was a necessary educational cost.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 04:26 pm (UTC)Wait a tic. Forgot somethin'. Jay told you about the empathy bond at all?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 04:48 pm (UTC)[ Roy holds up a finger - one minute - and scampers back towards wherever he left those thick welding gloves he slapped Jason's ass with.
He comes back with them tugged onto each hand, looking a little ridiculous with them coming up most of his forearms, but hey, it saves them getting uncomfortably emotionally cozy. Because yeah, chill as Roy may outwardly seem, the empathy bond still makes him nervous as hell. ]
Ever dance with a welder? I can put the apron and mask on too.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 05:00 pm (UTC)By trade? Sure. By gear an' dress? Not so much. First time for everything, though.
( he does take up roy's hands proper now, directin' him as to where to put them with an easy confidence that speaks to just how much he damn well loves dancin'. )
Let's get you learnin' the Lindy. It's one'a my favs. Now, the important part is makin' sure the steps are right, an' —
( don't mind him as he launches into a beginner-friendly crash-course in swing dance that the writer is absolutely not going to babble about at length. )
no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 04:12 pm (UTC)once he starts to understand more of the dance, roy gets more confident, moves a little faster, tries to stop looking at his feet so much. ]
So when's the part where one of us gets to throw the other in the air?
[ roy pipes up once he's starting to get the basic steps down. he's pretty sure that's a swing thing. is it a lindy thing? are they the same? no idea, he just wants to defy some gravity. ]
And should I be in a poodle skirt for this?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 07:25 pm (UTC)though, roy's at least in as good'a shape as jason, an' jason would'a bulldozed him right over even straight off basic when he was a hundred an' fifty some-odd pounds of muscle an' not an ounce of fat to be seen. so gene steps back some, cocks his head an' gives roy a once-over. little taller, a bit more broad. he's got a good sense of his feet, which is rare enough to start an' a boon to dancin' smooth.
ah, hell. why not. )
I ain't got the first clue why you'd want a skirt made outta poodles, but all right, I'll show you a throw-out. Just don't practice it with anyone else green as you, else you might be in for an injury.
( he's been showin' him both sides of the dance, lead an' follow steps, mostly on account'a there havin' been no one to really regulate it back when he an' love company were all dancin' together in the halls. more men than women mostly, so the boys danced too, an' it weren't ever no big thing. now, he re-arranges roy so he's back to followin'. there's a quick explanation that follows — the move itself is simple enough, but — )
You gotta nail the landin' or you'll blow an ankle. I won't toss you up to start, just get the pattern down an' we'll do that a few times before we try gettin' you any air. Then you can try it on me after that. Just remember to let the lead direct your momentum. Takes a bit'a trust.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 08:51 pm (UTC)Shit, poodle skirts were the '50s, weren't they? Nevermind, forget the skirts.
[ you don't have a poodle skirt anyway, roy, calm down and pay attention to what you're doing. especially now that gene's getting in Serious Teacher Mode and talking about Safety, and roy wishes at least any single one of the Batkids were in the room, so he'd have someone to turn a knowing eye and guilty smirk to. instead, there's a small, contained half-smile twitching at the corner of his lips that roy fails to school. roy harper has not been known for his appreciation for safety.
but, it is... kind of refreshing to have someone so concerned about him twisting an ankle. roy remembers getting thrown through brick walls at 17, getting into fist fights with grown men and criminals, jumping out of helicopters and speeding cars. the injuries he's sustained through his life simply from being a non-meta in the superhero business have been no joke, and the search for remedies was his start down a road that ended with in rehab and AA/NA meetings. yeah, sad times, but the point is, many years of parkour experience later, he's learned how to protect his fragile little non-super body from harsh impacts. mostly. ]
Dude. Buddy. Amigo. [ roy starts flatly, as he lindy hops his way over to gene and takes up his following spot against him, hands finding the correct places, not afraid to get cozy here. ] I've been throwing myself off buildings since I was a teenager, trust me, I won't screw the landing.
[ roy's no dick grayson, but he knows how to stick a landing, ok? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 09:46 pm (UTC)All right, all right. I'm gonna ask more about that pastime later.
( he used to throw himself off buildings too, albeit less dramatically. weren't a standin' structure in conecuh he didn't climb, an' lord o'mighty did he catch hell for it. )
So, you gotta lean into it, yeah? Hand in mine, let me take some of the weight. An' then you hop, an' I toss, an' you land.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-12 02:25 pm (UTC)That'll be a fun talk.
[ because roy doesn't intend to lie about it. no one else seems all that protective of the vigilante thing, and jason clearly trusts this guy. besides, if he can't tell his semi-dark secret to the man dancing him around his pal's kitchen, who can he tell it to? ]
Got it, got it. [ roy's nodding as he gets into place, making a show of shaking his feet out and bending his knees in preparation for his great leap. ] Lean into it, let you toss me with your strong manly arms, do a hop and land like I know what I'm doing, right?
[ assuming nothing goes horribly wrong, he'll be doing just that once gene feels confident in tossing him. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-15 06:19 pm (UTC)( #whentwogremlinheartscollide. when he's feelin' like roy's got the hang of what he's sayin', he nods an' then starts the move — takin' the man's weight in one hand, enablin' the hop with the other an' lo an' behold stick the landin' he does.
he laughs, hands on his hips shakin' his head. )
Well, all right. Guess you know what you're on about.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-17 04:32 pm (UTC)Beaming, roy’s flashing gene a toothy grin and pacing is way back over to take up dance-stance again, shuffling into gene’s space and finding his hands again with those clunky welding gloves he still has on. ]
Only about the jumping part. [ he smirks, tugging at gene’s hands to try to pull him into one of the routines he’s just been taught. ] Promise I’m still stupid about everything else involved.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 07:26 pm (UTC)( that's an army joke. )
Get you whipped into shape in no time flat, fella, huh?