InsaneJournal

manuel de la rocha (captivations) wrote in mutanthaven, @ 2010-03-27 19:47:00

MANUEL: Manuel had promised to take Marie-Ange dancing, and so dancing he would take her. It was one of Manuel's well-kept secrets that he enjoyed dancing, and was actually good at it. Socializing with the majority of the hotel residents was not something he tended to bother to do, and why else would it come up? Jenny had seen a little bit when they'd been out clubbing, but it wasn't on those dancefloors that he was at his best.

The place Manuel had brought Marie-Ange was a deliberately provocative on his account. It was a very seedy salsa club, almost exclusively patronised by the local hispanic population. Tourists almost never found this place, and any strangers that did wander in where not made to feel welcome. Manuel had bulldozed his way in weeks ago, and now they accepted him as one of their own. It was one of the places that was an escape for him - no one hated him, no one even cared much about him past the fact that he was good looking, a good dancer and a good tipper. It's not somewhere he would usually bring a date, if he hadn't wanted to shock Marie-Ange, he wouldn't have brought her here. .

It was dark and dingy, the color scheme being red and black and in dire need of a touch-up. The handful of regulars already there greeted Manuel with a nod and a smile, the bartender quickly serving them drinks upon ordering. The band had already started to play for the evening, but the dance floor hadn't filled up quite yet. Manuel offered his hand to Marie-Ange, a challenging look in his eyes.

"Shall we dance?"

MARIE-ANGE: Perhaps Marie-Ange Colbert should be more cautious about the Spaniard, but she was more inclined to believe that beneath all the creepiness and past allegations, he had a good side. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, who was she say no to a night of dancing?

She was positively elated when he offered and this was only heightened by the music from the band echoing in her veins. She had spent time in the afternoon pouring over her clothes to find the perfect outfit and shoes that she could bare for the evening, toying with her hair before she decided to pull it off her neck into a high pony tail. And now that she was there with him, her eyes were alive with excitement as she looked over the crowd.

When Manuel offered his hand, she met him with a firm resolve and gave him her hand in return. Since she had woken up from the coma and finally shed the wheelchair, crutches, and lastly the cane, she was determined to live her life with abandon. So maybe dancing salsa with the hotel sociopath in a seedy club was not the definition of living life to its fullest, but there was a danger to it that was almost irresistible. She wanted to give Manuel a chance to prove all those rumors she heard wrong. She wanted to see a different side of him, already in effect when they crossed the threshold into the club.

She was sort of familiar with the steps, having done a little research into it after he asked. Still, she was a novice. "You will have to lead, monsieur, if you think you handle it," she teased good-naturedly as she let him lead her to the floor.

MANUEL: Manuel was generally aware of Marie-Ange's hope when it came to him - he couldn't help but feel it when he was near her, and it made him smirk a little. He didn't think her hopes were justified, and he certainly wasn't about to go about fulfilling them. He had his own agenda when it came to paying attention to her like this, and it certainly wasn't about changing himself.

"Oh, I certainly can handle it," he said with a wicked smile, drawing her in close to start the dance. His moves were smooth and practiced, and he lead her effortlessly through them. "The question is, señorita, is if you can keep up."

MARIE-ANGE: Marie-Ange opened her mouth to tell him to go gentle with her, that she was still fresh from ditching her cane (which she hated to admit, but she still needed on her bad days). But it was easier just to follow his lead, letting him move her across the floor as she didn't rival his foot work. Twists and twirls and Marie-Ange tried to mimic what she caught other ladies doing from the corner of her eye as she spun on the dance floor. She was nervous at first, her movements a little rigid until she relaxed and laughed off her mistakes. She was not a skilled dancer in any sense, but she was good at following examples and soon the dance floor filled up with other pairs. She was no longer concerned with making the right steps as she was having fun.

The back of her shirt stuck to her skin from sweat that also accumulated on the nape of her neck. She let Manuel lead them from the dance floor to the bar when they took a break, pushing through the crowd and underneath the pulsating lights until they reached a opening at the counter. She leaned close to his shoulder to tell him, over the music and the crowd, that she wanted some water.

MANUEL: Manuel nodded at the request, moving through into the last space at the bar. He was doing his best to hide his frustration - once, he could have parted these people with little more than a nudge, attracting the bartender's attention without a problem. Now he had to wait like everyone else, his brooding expression keeping anyone from talking to him while he waited. In a somewhat uncharacteristic move, he just got water for the both of them, twisting off the lid off one bottle before handing it to Marie-Ange.

"You are not bad," he said once they were away from the bar, taking a sip from his bottle. "You need practice, of course. But you followed my lead well, and you have a good instinct for the movement." Somewhere, possibly, in there was the implication that he'd be willing to provide the opportunity for that practice, but he wasn't about to outright offer it if Marie-Ange wasn't going to ask.

MARIE-ANGE: She smiled and graciously accepted the bottle of water, taking a long drink from it. She looked at him with wide eyes, lowering the water bottle as he complimented her. She experienced first hand his own dancing skills, so for him to offer her praise in that manner was deeply flattering. After a moment, she looked away, twisting the cap off and on the bottle to give her something to fiddle with. "That's... very kind of you to say, merci. You are a good lead, it was easy to follow."

She wanted to deflect any attention on herself since Manuel's attention could be a little unnerving. However, her adrenaline and blood had been pumping, the music filled her head and she was with an attractive man -- it was hard to deny that that was what Manuel was, even if he had caused much grief at the hotel. How could she not be having a great time? Cautiously, in a way that could almost be mistaken as coy, she added, "We could do it again sometime, no?"

MANUEL: "It is only practice," he replied, outwardly brushing off her compliment on his own dancing. It was something he enjoyed, dancing with others, and he was pleased she'd enjoyed herself. Not that he was about to admit that, instead just taking a sip from his own water bottle and glancing over the crowd before his gaze turned to her.

"I would be honored, señorita," he said with the hint of a smile playing at his lips. Recapping the bottle of water, he offered her his hand. "There is a table free we can grab if we hurry, we will have a good view of the dancing from our seats there." If Manuel had been by himself, he would have rejoined the dancing at this point, but he was tangentially aware of the fact that she was still recovering from something, and sitting down for awhile would probably be a good idea. Not that he was being thoughtful, of course not. He'd just like her to be capable of more dancing later on.