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handle-with--care · 3 years

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Every Turn (Will Be Safe With Me) || Tris&&Talon (Drabble)

Tris stacked the last of the chairs in a tower at the edge of the room with a wave of his wand, clearing out the last of the space in the music room; and then nodded to himself, satisfied, as he lapped the space he’d freed up.

He surprised himself, let alone Talon, when he’d offered to teach him how to dance for the Gala - the basics, of course, because he doubted anyone was intending to break out into a Viennese Waltz in the middle of the floor - but as the decided day had crept closer he’d found the knot of tension in his stomach unwinding.

Talon was his friend. He was teaching his friend the basic steps to a waltz, the same as he would have taught any of his other friends if they’d asked. Tris himself had a couple years of lessons under his belt, courtesy of the alternating summers he’d spent with his Aunt Katerina, and he’d even considered offering for Esma, so they could practice together before attending the Gala as friends.

He was a little embarrassed to admit that he’d changed his mind on that particular offer, after thinking about it more. Esma was a good friend, and usually fun to be around; but he was also five feet and a single inch of barely contained energy, and even clumsier than Tris could be. Better that his feet were spared; he didn’t know how much dancing he and Esma were likely to do, anyway.

Talon, on the other hand, was likely to get offers left and right throughout the course of the evening; and Tris ignored how it made his chest go tight and uncomfortable to think too hard on Talon dancing with other people, and moved over to the piano, checking the spell that would let it play a simple enough rolling melody for them to practice to.

Talon’s just your friend, he reminded himself sternly; and almost jumped out of his skin when a voice greeted him from the doorway.

“I feel like I should say again that I’ve not done anything like this in years. I apologise in advance for any tripping or foot-stepping that may occur.”

Tris shot Talon a brief, teasing scowl for how he’d startled him, before it slipped in favour of a smile and he turned fully to face the other boy.

He looked nervous, silver-grey eyes guarded the way they always got whenever he came close to talking about anything to do with his past; and Tris half wished he’d extricated Artemis from the nest she’d made of his spare school robes and brought her with him.

She’d have been a distraction, of course, but a good one. One that would have put Talon at ease in a way Tris struggled to himself, socially awkward as he was.

“Well I promise not to tell anyone you end up dancing with about how terrible you were before you let me teach you. Can’t let your reputation of being irresistible be tarnished so soon after you’ve decided to make it your defining feature.”

The teasing had Talon huffing at him in protest, but it also had most of the tension melting from his shoulders, and he moved the rest of the way into the room, setting his satchel down on one of the stacks of chairs; and Tris set the piano to playing, a simple, rolling one two three, one two three that would help them to keep time as they practiced.

He closed a little more of the distance between them, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

“You’ve had some lessons,” he prompted, and Talon nodded, eyes flicking between Tris’ face and the newly exposed skin of Tris’ wrists and forearms.

“Uh, yeah. I mean, when I was a kid, I think the lessons stopped when I was like twelve. I don’t remember a lot.” He shrugged a shoulder, and the walls were slower to rise, the tiny glimpse into his past more easily given than previous ones; and Tris committed the fact to his memory, another puzzle piece to add to the picture of Talon he had thus far, and closed the rest of the distance between them before he could fully retreat behind the eyes again.

“Do you remember how you’re supposed to hold another person?” Tris held out his hands, and Talon immediately flushed bright pink, suddenly unable to look Tris in the face; and Tris caught his bottom lip between his teeth in an attempt to suppress the endeared, amused grin threatening to spread across his face at how easily flustered the other boy was.

Tris couldn’t really talk, equally easy to reduce to blushing and hiding his face when flirted with, especially when the culprit was the boy now stood before him; but Tris hadn’t cultivated something of a reputation for being charming and confident, praise rolling off him like water off a duck, a sharp tongued flirtation and offhand self deprecating comment always ready on his tongue.

Talon’s movement was a stutter-stop, his hands lifting, before he took a gentle, uncertain hold of Tris’; and the shorter boy smiled up at him, trying to make sure his expression conveyed as much fondness as amusement, before carefully leading Talon’s left hand to rest against his back, high enough that the join of his thumb and first finger cradled the base of Tris’ shoulder blade.

The brunette looked like he’d stopped breathing, a little, eyes wide; and Tris felt his own breath catch in his throat, before he resolved to shatter the moment threatening to stop them in their tracks, and stuck his tongue out at Talon.

Talon blinked hard, startled; and then offered Tris a mock scowl, before sticking his tongue out at him in return, and then cracking a warm, broad grin that pulled at the corners of his eyes.

For a moment, even as Tris’ nerves faded with the broken tension, he felt a little like he’d made a misstep; like he should have let the moment stretch out, let whatever had started to happen finish by itself. It might have been good; could have been great, if he’d let the tension linger, let Talon’s mind work through it-

Or it could have gone terribly, and Talon could have spooked, or Tris could have spooked, and things would have been awkward and difficult in a way things hadn’t been with Talon so far. In a way so many of Tris’ attempts at social interaction were, and he was still riding the high of how easy it was to talk to Talon, he didn’t want to ruin everything so soon by being...

He swallowed and centred himself, pulling his mind out of the spiral it was threatening to get trapped in, and focussed on the boy in front of him.

“So, for anything very formal, you hold the other person like this, so long as you’re the taller, and the one leading. I don’t imagine there’s going to be a lot of very formal dancing, so,” and he moved Talon’s palm down his back to rest instead at the dip of his spine, in line with his waist, stifling a shiver at the drag of warmth through his shirt, “like this will probably be more appropriate.”

Talon nodded, the gesture a little rushed, while his hold on Tris’ hand tightened.

“Right,” he said, voice curiously rough; and it was only when Tris set his free hand on Talon’s shoulder, completing the position, that he really noticed how little space there was between them.

They weren’t quite chest to chest, but Tris could still feel Talon’s body heat through the inch of space, and those startling eyes of his were very close now, close enough that Tris could better pick out the silver flecks amongst the grey that made them so bright and remarkable, could better see the long spill of his eyelashes, could even see how the white streak of his hair was consistent all the way to the root, and it made questions flood his mind, how did that happen, was it natural or magical, would he tell me if I asked, would it make him shut down again, could I bring him back out of it if it did-

And he took a breath, and focused again.

“Do you remember the basic steps of a waltz?” He asked, patient and encouraging, smile spread across his face; and after a moment Talon nodded, and they started to move.

It became quickly apparent that Talon did, instinctually at least, know what he was doing. They moved easily around the room, turning in wide circles with Talon’s hand pressed firmly against Tris’ spine as he led him; and for a moment, Talon even took them in a series of sharp little circles that had Tris’ vision swimming, and giggles bursting out of him as he clutched at Talon’s shoulder so he wouldn’t pitch over due to the dizziness.

“Okay, asshole, so you remember some of your lessons,” he laughed, tugging reproachfully on a lock of Talon’s hair with the hand on his shoulder; and Talon’s voice took on that low, rumbling purr that indicated he was going out of his way to flirt.

“Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet, Karenin.”

It was all the warning he got before Talon spun him out by the hand he had a hold of, and Tris laughed, surprised and something close to delighted before Talon reeling him back in; and then they were chest to chest, Tris’ hands resting on Talon’s shoulders while the older boy had an arm wrapped tightly around his waist, holding him close while they still rocked from side to side, a vague mimicry of continued dancing.

Tris stopped breathing, was barely conscious of it as he stared up at Talon and swayed with him, keenly aware of how he could practically feel the thud of Talon’s heartbeat where they were pressed together; and there was something weighted about the way Talon looked back at him, about the hyper focus of his gaze while he held Tris flush against him.

There was something brave in those eyes for a moment, something that looked like he was about to take a leap, and he opened his mouth, fingers fisting in the loose fabric of Tris’ shirt over his hip-

And Tris watched that bravery flicker and die, before Talon offered him a soft, warm smile and loosened his hold on him.

“So what’s the verdict? Should I be walking into the Gala with a warning sign hanging around my neck?”

The frustration that flooded Tris’ chest was immediate, left an acrid taste on the back of his tongue; and he stifled it before it showed on his face, forcing the feeling down.

It wasn’t fair. He couldn’t be annoyed with Talon for not taking a leap of faith, for not trying when he wasn’t certain how it would end, when Tris himself had been doing the same, pulling back before he crossed the line between being friends and...more. He didn’t even know for sure that that was what Talon had been about to do, that he hadn’t completely imagined that look on his face, hadn’t misunderstood what he’d seen in his eyes; and even if he had been right, it still wasn’t fair to expect Talon to make the first move.

He didn’t even know how he’d react if Talon did. He’d never done this shit before.

Tris took half a step back, enough to be out of Talon’s arms, and pretended not to see the way Talon made an aborted move to reach for him when he was gone.

“I think everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. I’ll make sure there are still ice packs on hand just in case, though.” He heard the strain in his own voice, saw the flash of concern in Talon’s eyes; and he moved back over to the piano, stopping the spell and pulling his sleeves back down, seeking the comfort of having his hands half covered with wool.

He took a breath, and then turned back to look at him; and focused on the fondness that welled up in him when he found Talon watching him closely, looking like he was uncertain whether he should be concerned or hurt by Tris’ forced distance.

Tris cocked his head, eyes going soft, and willed himself to stop being so unfair and ridiculous, instead falling back on the ease of teasing the other boy.

“You’ll save one dance for me, right? It’s only fair, after I offered to practice with you and risked having you stomp all over my poor feet.” Please don’t look so worried. It’s stupid. I’m just being stupid.

Talon was quiet for a long moment that seemed to stretch out between them, before he replied softly.

“You can have as many dances as you want,” he promised, that familiar roguish grin pulling at the corner of his mouth even as his eyes remained soft, and careful.

Tris bit his tongue, bit back the what if I want all of them? and instead stepped back over to Talon, bumping their shoulders together when he was close enough.

“And steal you away from your adoring public? I could never.” The smile he shot Talon finally felt right, finally sat right on his face; and he saw the relief in Talon’s face, leaned against him a moment in a silent apology for worrying him. “Maybe I’ll monopolise you for two or three. Stage a rescue if all the attention gets overwhelming.”

Talon scowled down at him, and Tris grinned back at him, before reaching to wrap his fingers around Talon’s and squeeze gently for a moment.

The taller boy tangled their fingers together in response, squeezed back as he looked down at him; and Tris pulled a face at him, before smiling and stepping away, toward the door.

“Try not to get in trouble between now and the next time I see you, Firadel. I know your whole house has a reputation to live up to, and all, but I’m a little invested in you keeping your nose at least relatively clean.”

It earned him a particularly long suffering look, before Talon smiled back at him, and then offered him a dorky little two fingered salute.

You’re wonderful, Tris thought helplessly, heart caught in his throat, studying the broad, charming grin spread across Talon’s face. You’re funny, and clever, and so, so nice to me, and I have no fucking idea what to do about it.

He rolled his eyes at Talon, stuck his tongue out at him, and then disappeared out of the classroom, certain beyond a doubt that he was utterly fucked.

#convo #slapping it in the tag eeeeven though it's a drabble #for ren #what do you mean those are high school musical lyrics as the title I don't know suddenly I can't read #Hap Borth To Breb #tw for Copious Amounts of hand holding #drabble

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