Fang wasnât sure heâd ever had to do anything this difficult in his entire life.
And he was a man whoâd mastered a nearly-dead bending art and learned to wield a sword from the most demanding of Fire Nation tutors. Somehow, however, the difficulty of those things seemed to pale in comparison to trying to teach his friends how to dance. It wasnât that they were ungraceful, exactlyâthough perhaps Rikaâs way of moving did leave a few things to be desired from the perspective of elegance, but rather that they were so overwhelmed with all the things they had to learn that they werenât really learning any of them well. He was trying to slow things down, and just get them by on the very basics, but even this was proving to be challenging.
It would seem that some of the fiercest benders he knew quailed in the face of social gatherings. Particularly the formal ones. About three days ago, Mr. Tong had come to the team and informed them that their presence was requested at a gala being held for the wealthy elite of Republic City, a charity dinner for victims of Equalist and Triad attacks. They were hardly in a position to refuse, but it was clear that certain social niceties were expected, among these dancing and some sense of comportment. Fang, who had grown up royalty in one of the most traditional nations in the world, had offered to teach them as much, without revealing how he knew it. Haki, as it turned out, already had most of the basics, which was good, because all Kiara was familiar with were Water Tribe dances and customs, which were not very helpful here, and Rika was a commoner born and bred.
There was nothing wrong with that, of course, but it meant they were both starting behind the curve in terms of passing for young women of distinction. Fang thought the value of being able to be have as such was debatable, but regardless, they didnât want to accidentally offend someone and cause trouble for Mr. Tong, so there was no other choice. Even probending practice had been put on hold for this, and heâd in fact cleared the usual gym, instructing everyone to bring shoes like what theyâd wear to the gala and dress reasonably nicelyâall the dancing lessons in the world would be useless if they couldnât do it in a dress and heels or slippers, after all. Presently, he was waiting for the three of them to show upâHaki had been appointed assistant instructor, mostly because he couldnât be two dance partners at once, and they didnât have the time to waste.
He still wasnât sure theyâd manage it in time, but heâd resolved to try as best he could.
Rika had stated once, that she could not dance. It was evident that night when she and Kiara were drunk, and they tried dancing together, but they ended up tripping over each other, and she was sure she landed in someone's lap. Maybe, or something of the sort, she couldn't really remember that night. Learning how to dance from Fang was proving difficult. It wasn't that he was a bad teacher or anything, but Rika had been born a commoner. She wasn't nobility, though the pallor of her skin might have said otherwise. She was just... she couldn't dance. No matter how many times she tried, she just couldn't learn. But she wanted to learn, if only so that she wouldn't offend someone Mr. Tong knew.
Perhaps, it was why, when after the lessons from Fang ended, she would ask Haki to help her out. He knew more than she did, but perhaps less than Fang did. That was okay, because if he could help her out with the basics, she wouldn't disappoint Fang as much, though she couldn't really recall why that exactly mattered. Perhaps because he had agreed to teach them how to dance, and she knew it was no easy task to teach someone (especially her) who had two left feet. She sighed softly, pulling at the Cheongsam she currently wore. It was nothing like the one Kiara had bought her, and in fact was just simple. The color was an emerald green, though perhaps more on the pastel side, and she wore her slippers with it. She wouldn't even attempt a dance in heels.
If she did, Haki would have a field day, Kiara would be mending a sprained ankle, and she was sure Fang would just stand idly by, shake his head ever so subtly (odd how she noticed that), and perhaps sigh. Haki, on the other hand, was having a blast. He had never laughed so much at his teammates before, and he was starting to enjoy this little problem of theirs. He knew how to dance, only very basically, because it was required of him. His father would take him to small gala's of their own, and he was required to dance a few times with some of the guests that had attended. Not that he minded really, it was a valuable skill to have in one's arsenal. He dressed in a simple red tangzhuang, accompanied by a pair of black silk pants. It didn't seem too informal, but perhaps he was dressed a little too formally.
It wasn't required, of course, but they were to dress somewhat formally. At least, that's what Fang had told them to do, and he wasn't going to say no, exactly. He met Rika at the corner where she lived, and the two of them accompanied each other to the gym where they practiced. The walk was relatively quiet, something that caused Rika to leer at him for, only causing him to smile in a malicious way. A silent Haki was never a good Haki, and she was wary of him. He simply brushed off the look she was sending him, and held the door open for her to enter the stadium. She immediately walked as far away from him as possible, and waited for their missing friend to arrive. Why did she have a bad feeling in her gut about this? Haki was up to something, she just knew it.
Kiara had elected to attempt wearing shoes with a heel, though she felt a little ridiculous in them. She wasnât precisely an unskilled dancer, it was just that the ones she knew were not the same as the ones other people knew. In the Water Tribes, dancing was a much more vigorous, lively activity than this sort of formal thing other nations seemed to do, and only seldom required a partner, especially a partner of the opposite sex. Still, she was doing her best to learn this new way of doing it, and if that meant learning to traipse around in these ridiculous shoes, so be it. She had no intention of letting down Mr. Tong, or her teammates, either.
The whole mess with Kohaku was far from resolved, and he was apparently planning on staying in the city for a while, something that part of her was not looking forward to. The other part, though, hoped that doing so would let him see what about it kept her here. Maybe, if he could understand where she was coming from, heâd go back and be able to convince her family to leave her be, maybe even come and visit for pleasure only, and not to convince her to return. Whatever the case, she wasnât going back. Sheâd decided that much.
She arrived, draped in a light purple cheongsam, since earth kingdom clothes were much easier to get around here than anything else, and slid into the stupid shoes, adding another four inches to her height, which put her just a hair under Hakiâs six feet even. By the time she got there, everyone else had already arrived, and only then did she notice that Fang was holding a pair of large books in his hand. When she looked at him curiously, he shrugged nonchalantly and placed them both on his head. She didnât understand why until he moved forward, balancing the both of them upon the crown of his head. He made it look easy, even when he started to spin and the like, mocking the dance steps heâd been teaching them. The books hardly wobbled, and never once did they look like they were going to fall.
After a short demonstration, he placed on Rikaâs head, and the second on Kiaraâs. âI wonât make you dance like this yet, but you do need to learn to walk properly. It should help.â One of the problems with their dancing was their movementâthey treated it too much like bending. Kiara bent and swayed too much and wound up unable to let someone else lead. Rika⊠was a disaster for a few reason, but chief among them was that she was jerky and abrupt when she should be smooth and light. âWalk from one end of the room to the other, and do not use your hands to keep the book in place.â The exercise should make them aware of things about their bodies and their movements that he and presumably Haki could already see, but that were hard to simply tell.
Rika smiled and waved at Kiara when she arrived. She hadn't really noticed Fang until Kiara gave him a questioning glance, and she followed it to the large books he was holding. She pursed her lips together, Haki trying not to laugh at the horrified expression on her face. It wasn't fair, really, for Fang to be able to dance like that, with the books a top his head and without one of them making a movement to fall. Once he was finished with the demonstration, he placed one of the books on her head and the other on Kiara's. Rika could feel her heartbeat rising. She couldn't balance a book on her head. It would fall the moment she tried to walk.
"This is so not fair," she mumbled beneath her breath, causing Haki to chuckle lightly. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to feel the book on her head before she took the first step. She blinked in mild surprise when the book remained in its spot, and she could feel her lips twitch up slightly. She could do this. All she had to do was keep repeating the words in her mind, and she could pull this off, however; the moment she took a second step, the book began to wobble. "Oh no you don't," she grumbled, stopping to keep the book from falling. She crossed her eyes in an attempt to look up to make sure it was still there.
"You can't take baby steps, Lotus," Haki spoke, keeping a chuckle in as she turned with her whole body to glare at him. "It defeats the purpose. You have to walk, not tip-toe," he continued, crossing his arms against his chest as he smirked at her. Easier said than done, why didn't he have to do it? She stuck her tongue out at him childishly before turning back around, slowly. He was right though, she wasn't going to learn anything by tip-toeing. She let out a defeated sigh and straightened her back out once more.
"Yeah, well I need baby steps, jerk face," she retorted rolling her eyes away from Haki. She could hear him snort in another attempt to keep from laughing, however; she tried to ignore him. Gathering what little courage she had, she began to walk at a leisurely pace, smiling when the book remained on her head, however; when she reached the middle of the room, the book began to shake. Rika found herself moving with the book in an attempt to keep it from falling, but it did not do much good for her. She let out a startled yelp when it fell, jumping back slightly so that it barely missed her foot. "Hopeless," was the only word she could muster out.
Kiara, meanwhile, was walking perhaps a bit too slowly but mostly okay down the room, trying to use the book on her head to learn things about the way her muscles were working, things that had been second nature and never thought about. It was actually very interesting, though her book wobbled quite a bit, she was making some progress. She actually thought she was going to make it, too, until the loud bang of Rikaâs book hitting the ground broke her concentration and she jumped, startled, her own landing on her toe.
âOw!â She exclaimed, instinctively lifting the foot in question to examine the injury. Unfortunately, sheâd rather managed to forget she was wearing heels, and the subsequent movement dislodged her, rolling her ankle sideways and sending her spilling onto the ground. Luckily, she avoided any major injury by tucking and rolling, coming back up on her feet and settling back onto the damn shoes. âUm⊠ta-da?â
She could have sworn she heard Fang sigh.
If indeed he was frustrated by them, however, his face did not betray it, and it was in the same voice as ever that he spoke, stooping to pick up her book and place it back on her head. âNothing worthwhile is achieved without diligence. Try again.â Kiaraâs fundamental problem was not in understanding, but in execution. With enough practice, she would master the things he was endeavoring to teach. Rika, on the other hand⊠he was fairly certain what he was trying to say was not making it through the same way. Perhaps a different approach was called for.
Thus far, heâd simply had them taking turns dancing with Haki, considering that the other man was happy to help. Unsurprisingly. At the moment, however, he felt that without more direct instruction, Rika would accidentally embarrass herself at the party, and he didnât want her to have to suffer through that. Which was why he picked her up by the waist and sat her on his shoulders, with apparent ease. âHold on, and focus on how it feels to move this way.â Were earthbenders not in tune with the way things moved from the ground up? Perhaps, if she could understand the ways in which he connected and disconnected from the earth beneath his feet, she would have a greater understanding of how to replicate it.
At first, he simply walked, in the same manner he had as when the books were on his head. His footsteps, even burdened with the weight of another person, were light, but they felt directed and purposeful, the muscles and ligaments on his frame coordinating in a certain kind of balanced harmony that allowed him to choose how he tread, slave neither to gravity nor one set course. His feet did not seek the ground below, as hers did, but they didnât skitter away from it, either, as they had once done in his own childhood. His upper body was not rigid, either, but relaxed, without being loose, and in this way, his balance was flawless. It needed to be, considering he spent much of his time running over rooftops and bounding through the city.
Smoothly as if he had been born to it, he flowed into the steps of the waltz they were learning, and the similarity was obvious. The difference was only in the tempo and direction he choseâhe was just as much in control of this as he was of the simple act of walking, and yet it felt more like floating than anything else. âDo you understand what I am trying to show you?â he asked. He knew of no more effective way to communicate it than this. "You are not hopeless. Only untutored."
Rika turned towards Kiara when she heard the other girl yelp, and felt her muscles twitch to go help her, however; Kiara seemed to recover quickly and she heard a light chuckle coming from Haki. At least Kiara had more balance than she did, which was odd all things considered. She was an earthbender, she should have that same balance, however; it seemed that she was lacking it. She sighed softly to herself and blinked in mild surprise when Fang was standing in front of her. She blinked up at him confusedly, tilting her head to the side, opening her mouth to say something, however; she found herself lifted and situated on his shoulders.
Had Haki been paying attention, he would have never let her live down the shade of red her face took on, but it quickly subsided when Fang spoke. She calmed the rapid beating of her heart and did as she was told, focusing on everything else besides the fact that she was currently sitting on Fang's shoulders. She could feel the way he moved, fluid and graceful, almost harmonic in a way. She pursed her lips together taking a slow breath and releasing it just as slowly. He spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts as she peered down at him.
"Y-yes, a little," she answered truthfully. She could understand what he was trying to teach her, but it was a little more difficult to execute it. He made it seem so easy, so effortless, and Rika only frowned deeper. "Same difference," she muttered, though not entirely true. He was right, she was untutored and she doubted she'd be able to learn in time just the basics of a dance. He was a good teacher, he really was, but it just seemed a little impossible for Rika to learn the steps properly. But she could do this, she had to.
Haki, however, stood next to Kiara and raised an amused brow. "Having fun there, Turtle-Duck?" he stated, his tone amused and slightly playful. He chuckled at her as he peered at the book a top her head, and sighed softly, the smile never really leaving his lips. Instead, he placed a hand on her back, and the other around her abdomen. Pressing against her back, he shifted her posture a little so that she stood up straight, and removed his hand from her abdomen and placed it underneath her chin. He tilted her head back slightly, and straightened it out.
"Your posture is a little rigid. Focus your attention here," he spoke, pointing to the middle of her collar bone, "and here," he continued, placing both his hands around her mid center, one on her back and the other on her stomach. "Also, you're straining your shoulders, relax them a bit and keep your chin tucked in," he stated, placing both hands on her shoulders and forcing them down, before placing his hand back on her chin and readjusting her head. "There, now try. I'll be behind you, acting as your chauffeur."
âU-uh, right,â Kiara replied, trying to fight down her own blush. It was weirdâit wasnât like anything he was doing should cause that. His hands didnât linger anywhere they shouldnât and he was only trying to help, really, so⊠she almost shook her head at herself, but then remembered the book still balanced on her head and sighed instead. Really, she was of a mind to tell him to try balancing in these shoes, but that was silly. She could do this, and there was no need to be grumpy with someone who was helping. Even if she did feel all weird about it now.
The book still wobbled a little, but she managed to cross down and back the gym floor without it dropping, and she could sort of understand what they were talking about, when they said things about muscle tension and stiffness. Fortunately, she was used to being anything but stiff, and that helped with this bit. When she reached the end of the gym, she took the book off her head and grinned brightly, spinning to face Haki. âHa! I did it!â
Fang, on the other hand, placed his hands over Rikaâs knees, an unconscious gesture, his fingers tracing idle circles over her skin as he spoke. âI think,â he said, âthat perhaps what you lack is not the skill, but the belief that you have the skill.â He turned his head slightly to the side, so that he could look up at her from the corner of his eye. âI will come by your home this evening. Perhaps practice without an audience will help.â
Haki smiled, clapping softly at Kiara's success. "Well done, Turtle-Duck. It seems you have a better grasp at this than Lotus does," he spoke, shooting Rika a side glance and raising a questioning brow. He said nothing and returned his attention back to Kiara. He took one of her hands in his own, and bowed slightly, brushing his lips against her knuckles. "A little more practice, and I think you might be good on your own, Turtle-Duck," he stated, grinning up at her in the process. He'd help her, of course, but it seemed that she would catch on a lot quicker than her other counter part.
Rika, on the other hand, had to fight a deep blush on her face, and was failing miserably, when Fang spoke to her. Really, she should have known better about the implication of it all, however; with Haki as a friend, she couldn't really help it. She stammered and looked away from him, focusing on Kiara and Haki in the corner, the latter who seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much, and she pursed her lips together. It wasn't so much as an audience that unnerved her, and she really doubted Kiara and Haki could be considered an audience, really. They were her friends, and besides, they'd seen her drunk dancing before.
"Ah, sure, yeah, okay," were the only words she managed to speak, trying to ignore the circular motion on her knees. Why did it feel like her heart rate increased all of a sudden?
And he was a man whoâd mastered a nearly-dead bending art and learned to wield a sword from the most demanding of Fire Nation tutors. Somehow, however, the difficulty of those things seemed to pale in comparison to trying to teach his friends how to dance. It wasnât that they were ungraceful, exactlyâthough perhaps Rikaâs way of moving did leave a few things to be desired from the perspective of elegance, but rather that they were so overwhelmed with all the things they had to learn that they werenât really learning any of them well. He was trying to slow things down, and just get them by on the very basics, but even this was proving to be challenging.
It would seem that some of the fiercest benders he knew quailed in the face of social gatherings. Particularly the formal ones. About three days ago, Mr. Tong had come to the team and informed them that their presence was requested at a gala being held for the wealthy elite of Republic City, a charity dinner for victims of Equalist and Triad attacks. They were hardly in a position to refuse, but it was clear that certain social niceties were expected, among these dancing and some sense of comportment. Fang, who had grown up royalty in one of the most traditional nations in the world, had offered to teach them as much, without revealing how he knew it. Haki, as it turned out, already had most of the basics, which was good, because all Kiara was familiar with were Water Tribe dances and customs, which were not very helpful here, and Rika was a commoner born and bred.
There was nothing wrong with that, of course, but it meant they were both starting behind the curve in terms of passing for young women of distinction. Fang thought the value of being able to be have as such was debatable, but regardless, they didnât want to accidentally offend someone and cause trouble for Mr. Tong, so there was no other choice. Even probending practice had been put on hold for this, and heâd in fact cleared the usual gym, instructing everyone to bring shoes like what theyâd wear to the gala and dress reasonably nicelyâall the dancing lessons in the world would be useless if they couldnât do it in a dress and heels or slippers, after all. Presently, he was waiting for the three of them to show upâHaki had been appointed assistant instructor, mostly because he couldnât be two dance partners at once, and they didnât have the time to waste.
He still wasnât sure theyâd manage it in time, but heâd resolved to try as best he could.
Rika had stated once, that she could not dance. It was evident that night when she and Kiara were drunk, and they tried dancing together, but they ended up tripping over each other, and she was sure she landed in someone's lap. Maybe, or something of the sort, she couldn't really remember that night. Learning how to dance from Fang was proving difficult. It wasn't that he was a bad teacher or anything, but Rika had been born a commoner. She wasn't nobility, though the pallor of her skin might have said otherwise. She was just... she couldn't dance. No matter how many times she tried, she just couldn't learn. But she wanted to learn, if only so that she wouldn't offend someone Mr. Tong knew.
Perhaps, it was why, when after the lessons from Fang ended, she would ask Haki to help her out. He knew more than she did, but perhaps less than Fang did. That was okay, because if he could help her out with the basics, she wouldn't disappoint Fang as much, though she couldn't really recall why that exactly mattered. Perhaps because he had agreed to teach them how to dance, and she knew it was no easy task to teach someone (especially her) who had two left feet. She sighed softly, pulling at the Cheongsam she currently wore. It was nothing like the one Kiara had bought her, and in fact was just simple. The color was an emerald green, though perhaps more on the pastel side, and she wore her slippers with it. She wouldn't even attempt a dance in heels.
If she did, Haki would have a field day, Kiara would be mending a sprained ankle, and she was sure Fang would just stand idly by, shake his head ever so subtly (odd how she noticed that), and perhaps sigh. Haki, on the other hand, was having a blast. He had never laughed so much at his teammates before, and he was starting to enjoy this little problem of theirs. He knew how to dance, only very basically, because it was required of him. His father would take him to small gala's of their own, and he was required to dance a few times with some of the guests that had attended. Not that he minded really, it was a valuable skill to have in one's arsenal. He dressed in a simple red tangzhuang, accompanied by a pair of black silk pants. It didn't seem too informal, but perhaps he was dressed a little too formally.
It wasn't required, of course, but they were to dress somewhat formally. At least, that's what Fang had told them to do, and he wasn't going to say no, exactly. He met Rika at the corner where she lived, and the two of them accompanied each other to the gym where they practiced. The walk was relatively quiet, something that caused Rika to leer at him for, only causing him to smile in a malicious way. A silent Haki was never a good Haki, and she was wary of him. He simply brushed off the look she was sending him, and held the door open for her to enter the stadium. She immediately walked as far away from him as possible, and waited for their missing friend to arrive. Why did she have a bad feeling in her gut about this? Haki was up to something, she just knew it.
Kiara had elected to attempt wearing shoes with a heel, though she felt a little ridiculous in them. She wasnât precisely an unskilled dancer, it was just that the ones she knew were not the same as the ones other people knew. In the Water Tribes, dancing was a much more vigorous, lively activity than this sort of formal thing other nations seemed to do, and only seldom required a partner, especially a partner of the opposite sex. Still, she was doing her best to learn this new way of doing it, and if that meant learning to traipse around in these ridiculous shoes, so be it. She had no intention of letting down Mr. Tong, or her teammates, either.
The whole mess with Kohaku was far from resolved, and he was apparently planning on staying in the city for a while, something that part of her was not looking forward to. The other part, though, hoped that doing so would let him see what about it kept her here. Maybe, if he could understand where she was coming from, heâd go back and be able to convince her family to leave her be, maybe even come and visit for pleasure only, and not to convince her to return. Whatever the case, she wasnât going back. Sheâd decided that much.
She arrived, draped in a light purple cheongsam, since earth kingdom clothes were much easier to get around here than anything else, and slid into the stupid shoes, adding another four inches to her height, which put her just a hair under Hakiâs six feet even. By the time she got there, everyone else had already arrived, and only then did she notice that Fang was holding a pair of large books in his hand. When she looked at him curiously, he shrugged nonchalantly and placed them both on his head. She didnât understand why until he moved forward, balancing the both of them upon the crown of his head. He made it look easy, even when he started to spin and the like, mocking the dance steps heâd been teaching them. The books hardly wobbled, and never once did they look like they were going to fall.
After a short demonstration, he placed on Rikaâs head, and the second on Kiaraâs. âI wonât make you dance like this yet, but you do need to learn to walk properly. It should help.â One of the problems with their dancing was their movementâthey treated it too much like bending. Kiara bent and swayed too much and wound up unable to let someone else lead. Rika⊠was a disaster for a few reason, but chief among them was that she was jerky and abrupt when she should be smooth and light. âWalk from one end of the room to the other, and do not use your hands to keep the book in place.â The exercise should make them aware of things about their bodies and their movements that he and presumably Haki could already see, but that were hard to simply tell.
Rika smiled and waved at Kiara when she arrived. She hadn't really noticed Fang until Kiara gave him a questioning glance, and she followed it to the large books he was holding. She pursed her lips together, Haki trying not to laugh at the horrified expression on her face. It wasn't fair, really, for Fang to be able to dance like that, with the books a top his head and without one of them making a movement to fall. Once he was finished with the demonstration, he placed one of the books on her head and the other on Kiara's. Rika could feel her heartbeat rising. She couldn't balance a book on her head. It would fall the moment she tried to walk.
"This is so not fair," she mumbled beneath her breath, causing Haki to chuckle lightly. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to feel the book on her head before she took the first step. She blinked in mild surprise when the book remained in its spot, and she could feel her lips twitch up slightly. She could do this. All she had to do was keep repeating the words in her mind, and she could pull this off, however; the moment she took a second step, the book began to wobble. "Oh no you don't," she grumbled, stopping to keep the book from falling. She crossed her eyes in an attempt to look up to make sure it was still there.
"You can't take baby steps, Lotus," Haki spoke, keeping a chuckle in as she turned with her whole body to glare at him. "It defeats the purpose. You have to walk, not tip-toe," he continued, crossing his arms against his chest as he smirked at her. Easier said than done, why didn't he have to do it? She stuck her tongue out at him childishly before turning back around, slowly. He was right though, she wasn't going to learn anything by tip-toeing. She let out a defeated sigh and straightened her back out once more.
"Yeah, well I need baby steps, jerk face," she retorted rolling her eyes away from Haki. She could hear him snort in another attempt to keep from laughing, however; she tried to ignore him. Gathering what little courage she had, she began to walk at a leisurely pace, smiling when the book remained on her head, however; when she reached the middle of the room, the book began to shake. Rika found herself moving with the book in an attempt to keep it from falling, but it did not do much good for her. She let out a startled yelp when it fell, jumping back slightly so that it barely missed her foot. "Hopeless," was the only word she could muster out.
Kiara, meanwhile, was walking perhaps a bit too slowly but mostly okay down the room, trying to use the book on her head to learn things about the way her muscles were working, things that had been second nature and never thought about. It was actually very interesting, though her book wobbled quite a bit, she was making some progress. She actually thought she was going to make it, too, until the loud bang of Rikaâs book hitting the ground broke her concentration and she jumped, startled, her own landing on her toe.
âOw!â She exclaimed, instinctively lifting the foot in question to examine the injury. Unfortunately, sheâd rather managed to forget she was wearing heels, and the subsequent movement dislodged her, rolling her ankle sideways and sending her spilling onto the ground. Luckily, she avoided any major injury by tucking and rolling, coming back up on her feet and settling back onto the damn shoes. âUm⊠ta-da?â
She could have sworn she heard Fang sigh.
If indeed he was frustrated by them, however, his face did not betray it, and it was in the same voice as ever that he spoke, stooping to pick up her book and place it back on her head. âNothing worthwhile is achieved without diligence. Try again.â Kiaraâs fundamental problem was not in understanding, but in execution. With enough practice, she would master the things he was endeavoring to teach. Rika, on the other hand⊠he was fairly certain what he was trying to say was not making it through the same way. Perhaps a different approach was called for.
Thus far, heâd simply had them taking turns dancing with Haki, considering that the other man was happy to help. Unsurprisingly. At the moment, however, he felt that without more direct instruction, Rika would accidentally embarrass herself at the party, and he didnât want her to have to suffer through that. Which was why he picked her up by the waist and sat her on his shoulders, with apparent ease. âHold on, and focus on how it feels to move this way.â Were earthbenders not in tune with the way things moved from the ground up? Perhaps, if she could understand the ways in which he connected and disconnected from the earth beneath his feet, she would have a greater understanding of how to replicate it.
At first, he simply walked, in the same manner he had as when the books were on his head. His footsteps, even burdened with the weight of another person, were light, but they felt directed and purposeful, the muscles and ligaments on his frame coordinating in a certain kind of balanced harmony that allowed him to choose how he tread, slave neither to gravity nor one set course. His feet did not seek the ground below, as hers did, but they didnât skitter away from it, either, as they had once done in his own childhood. His upper body was not rigid, either, but relaxed, without being loose, and in this way, his balance was flawless. It needed to be, considering he spent much of his time running over rooftops and bounding through the city.
Smoothly as if he had been born to it, he flowed into the steps of the waltz they were learning, and the similarity was obvious. The difference was only in the tempo and direction he choseâhe was just as much in control of this as he was of the simple act of walking, and yet it felt more like floating than anything else. âDo you understand what I am trying to show you?â he asked. He knew of no more effective way to communicate it than this. "You are not hopeless. Only untutored."
Rika turned towards Kiara when she heard the other girl yelp, and felt her muscles twitch to go help her, however; Kiara seemed to recover quickly and she heard a light chuckle coming from Haki. At least Kiara had more balance than she did, which was odd all things considered. She was an earthbender, she should have that same balance, however; it seemed that she was lacking it. She sighed softly to herself and blinked in mild surprise when Fang was standing in front of her. She blinked up at him confusedly, tilting her head to the side, opening her mouth to say something, however; she found herself lifted and situated on his shoulders.
Had Haki been paying attention, he would have never let her live down the shade of red her face took on, but it quickly subsided when Fang spoke. She calmed the rapid beating of her heart and did as she was told, focusing on everything else besides the fact that she was currently sitting on Fang's shoulders. She could feel the way he moved, fluid and graceful, almost harmonic in a way. She pursed her lips together taking a slow breath and releasing it just as slowly. He spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts as she peered down at him.
"Y-yes, a little," she answered truthfully. She could understand what he was trying to teach her, but it was a little more difficult to execute it. He made it seem so easy, so effortless, and Rika only frowned deeper. "Same difference," she muttered, though not entirely true. He was right, she was untutored and she doubted she'd be able to learn in time just the basics of a dance. He was a good teacher, he really was, but it just seemed a little impossible for Rika to learn the steps properly. But she could do this, she had to.
Haki, however, stood next to Kiara and raised an amused brow. "Having fun there, Turtle-Duck?" he stated, his tone amused and slightly playful. He chuckled at her as he peered at the book a top her head, and sighed softly, the smile never really leaving his lips. Instead, he placed a hand on her back, and the other around her abdomen. Pressing against her back, he shifted her posture a little so that she stood up straight, and removed his hand from her abdomen and placed it underneath her chin. He tilted her head back slightly, and straightened it out.
"Your posture is a little rigid. Focus your attention here," he spoke, pointing to the middle of her collar bone, "and here," he continued, placing both his hands around her mid center, one on her back and the other on her stomach. "Also, you're straining your shoulders, relax them a bit and keep your chin tucked in," he stated, placing both hands on her shoulders and forcing them down, before placing his hand back on her chin and readjusting her head. "There, now try. I'll be behind you, acting as your chauffeur."
âU-uh, right,â Kiara replied, trying to fight down her own blush. It was weirdâit wasnât like anything he was doing should cause that. His hands didnât linger anywhere they shouldnât and he was only trying to help, really, so⊠she almost shook her head at herself, but then remembered the book still balanced on her head and sighed instead. Really, she was of a mind to tell him to try balancing in these shoes, but that was silly. She could do this, and there was no need to be grumpy with someone who was helping. Even if she did feel all weird about it now.
The book still wobbled a little, but she managed to cross down and back the gym floor without it dropping, and she could sort of understand what they were talking about, when they said things about muscle tension and stiffness. Fortunately, she was used to being anything but stiff, and that helped with this bit. When she reached the end of the gym, she took the book off her head and grinned brightly, spinning to face Haki. âHa! I did it!â
Fang, on the other hand, placed his hands over Rikaâs knees, an unconscious gesture, his fingers tracing idle circles over her skin as he spoke. âI think,â he said, âthat perhaps what you lack is not the skill, but the belief that you have the skill.â He turned his head slightly to the side, so that he could look up at her from the corner of his eye. âI will come by your home this evening. Perhaps practice without an audience will help.â
Haki smiled, clapping softly at Kiara's success. "Well done, Turtle-Duck. It seems you have a better grasp at this than Lotus does," he spoke, shooting Rika a side glance and raising a questioning brow. He said nothing and returned his attention back to Kiara. He took one of her hands in his own, and bowed slightly, brushing his lips against her knuckles. "A little more practice, and I think you might be good on your own, Turtle-Duck," he stated, grinning up at her in the process. He'd help her, of course, but it seemed that she would catch on a lot quicker than her other counter part.
Rika, on the other hand, had to fight a deep blush on her face, and was failing miserably, when Fang spoke to her. Really, she should have known better about the implication of it all, however; with Haki as a friend, she couldn't really help it. She stammered and looked away from him, focusing on Kiara and Haki in the corner, the latter who seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much, and she pursed her lips together. It wasn't so much as an audience that unnerved her, and she really doubted Kiara and Haki could be considered an audience, really. They were her friends, and besides, they'd seen her drunk dancing before.
"Ah, sure, yeah, okay," were the only words she managed to speak, trying to ignore the circular motion on her knees. Why did it feel like her heart rate increased all of a sudden?