lakeside mansion; hugh c. & dietre a.
Hugh laughed at Dietre's question, and he looked over at his companion, broad grin on his face, as he stretched one foot out towards Dietre on the other end of the couch, and poked a toe teasingly into his thigh. "Do I rise in your estimation if I answer yes?" He returned in a teasing tone, warm and content.
This had been a spontaneous wisp of an idea. The sudden realization that while he wasn't certain what had triggered his more serious mood, Dirty Dancing was the obvious answer to it, and the idea that had followed equally upon that notion's heel that he didn't want to watch alone and Dietre had been an obvious request - because Hugh had been talking to him, obviously. And Hugh wasn't about to over-think beyond that.
And thankfully, he was full of pizza and enough wine to keep that over-thinking at bay. Well, that and watching a film that he'd seen so many hundreds of times that it was the cinematic equivalent of a child's well-worn blanket. Comfortable and predictable, and even watching it through Dietre's eyes - and Dietre had made a couple of good points - it was still like home. For a second his eyes turned to the scene on the screen and then he turned back to Dietre, letting the movie go for a minute - cognizant of the fact that Dietre hadn't seen it, but the question, although teasing, was one Hugh wanted to answer, he realized.
"None of my lessons were on a log," he offered. "When I was like four or five, I watched Singing in the Rain, and I decided I was going to learn tap and be Gene Kelly when I grew up, and like, obviously, I'm not Gene Kelly, but I was fortunate enough to have a mom who was willing to take me, even when Dad ... didn't love that he had a son that loved dance. But tap, jazz, there was at least a year of ballet in there, although it was just for form and structure mostly? and at some point it took back-seat to the theatre but I love dance. And like -" he turned his attention back to the movie. "Lifts like that? They require a lot of strength and trust in your partner, and I don't know - it's like the ultimate romantic gesture to me. And it always will be."