who: Eliot & Fray Waugh when: Holy Backdated Batman! June 1st at the Ball where: Maresh Palace What: Eliot and Fray have a dance at the Ball. warnings: Nope, just the continued saga of trying to figure out how to be a family status: Complete.
Fray hadn’t been particularly aware of the feeling of waiting until she started actively looking around to see where Eliot was. She’d expected him to show up after some time passed and he hadn’t. Frowning, Fray excused herself - more like walked off without any explanation - and went to look for Eliot. She was sure he was bound to show up soon anyway. It was just a matter of time. She could look for him now, however, and speed things up.
She found him eventually not terribly far off and waited for him to finish his dance. “You didn’t come.” was all she said once he did. At least immediately. “I thought you would.”
Eliot had been aware of Fray's location for nearly the entire night. He wasn't staring or watching the entire time but he was aware of where she generally was, by an occasional scan of the room or glance in her last known direction. But he had also been keeping distance. What teenager wanted their guardian hovering at a dance? None that he could think of. And he didn't intend to be that kind of guardian, even though he had surprised himself by the general level of awareness he had that evening.
He finished up his dance and turned, hearing Fray's voice. There was a large smile that he was displaying, as it was known that dances and parties were his type of event, but it tampered down with her words, though it didn't disappear. "I figured you'd want time with your friends," he informed her, shifting to give her his full attention.
Fray did consider that she had wanted time with her friends and she hadn’t exactly meant to bother herself with Eliot, but the fact that he hadn’t shown up seemed strange to her since he seemed the sort to find reasons to be near her at times. She’d been pulled into many hugs without what she found to be proper warning. She’d gotten used to him swooping in at random. And then he didn’t and something felt off. She considered that it might be that he was still upset with Ronan and Fray had been talking to him.
She shrugged slightly. “I have been with them and I’ve wandered around in the castle. You just usually show up, but then you didn’t.” She shrugged again as if that would explain anything better. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” She looked off to the side, out at the people dancing. It felt less uncomfortable than looking at Eliot after realizing she’d misunderstood something and ended up being the one that swooped in. “I am not very good at this. I’ve never danced before. It feels awkward.”
He considered this for a moment. While he had a tendency to check in, he didn't aim to crowd her, but he was far more affectionate toward her than the other way around. Which was fine. He looked off in the direction that she had glanced. "Everything is fine," he reassured her, smile still present, even if she couldn't see.
He tilted his head. "It probably will continue to feel awkward until you do it some more," he offered up as a truth. "You looked like you were doing alright. A little stiff," he added before taking in a breath. "Do you want to dance with me?"
Fray accepted his words as the truth. Nothing seemed amiss. She just hadn’t understood the reason he didn’t come over until she came over. Only now she wasn’t sure if that meant she should stay or she should go and let Eliot spend time with his friends. It was possibly the right action, but she didn’t move all the same. It felt like she was waiting for something.
She’d gotten to the point (mentally, anyway) where she had mostly convinced herself to leave when Eliot spoke again and she looked at him. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like it will get better or like it will even be enjoyable.” Her nose scrunched up slightly at that. She wasn’t sure how people weren’t stiff. The question was somehow surprising to her even if she’d expected it. “Okay,” she said after a moment.
"It might not," he agreed. He knew that not everyone had enjoyed dancing quite the way that he did. And if she found she didn't like it, there was no harm in that. But he figured it would take a few more attempts until she would feel comfortable enough to give a honest opinion on whether she liked it or not. Even if she didn't chose to keep trying, that would be alright, too.
He glanced toward her now and then gave the small smile once again, before holding his hand out in offering so he could lead her out onto the floor.
Fray eyed Eliot’s hand for a moment before taking it. She let herself be led out to the floor, feeling slightly self conscious. It had nothing to do with the other people in the room and everything to do with Eliot. As often as she seemed to be frustrated with him, she also wanted to gain his approval, to be someone that he was proud of even if that didn’t mean she was necessarily likely to follow all of his rules one hundred percent of the time. She would follow them as much as she needed to despite the frustration and annoyance it brought her, but she knew she’d likely deviate a little bit.
But none of that was exactly important in this moment. In this moment she was nervous because she didn’t know what she was doing. It didn’t matter with Peter because he hadn’t gotten in enough that she cared too much if he was impressed by her or not. She cared about Ronan’s approval, but she also knew the best way to get it was to be herself, say what she felt, and not take any shit. It was easy enough, which she was thankful for. Plus, cursing got her extra points. Eliot felt more difficult a person to impress and it made her uncertain of how to act, so she was definitely stiff.
It was easy for Eliot to lead Fray out onto the floor. He was comfortable in this environment. He thrived when he was surrounded by people and he'd made it clear that he enjoyed dancing. He didn't say anything as they went through the initial steps, as he led them around, holding her hand so that they had the proper form for this dance. But, after a few steps, he gave her a small smile. "You'll stay stiff if you don't relax," he suggested. It didn't come across as judgmental or sarcastic but instead as thoughtful.
The concept of being able to relax when the general idea of dancing seemed very different depending on where you looked was...well...not very relaxing. She was aware that perhaps she was thinking about it too much and that she was possibly a little too aware of the people around her. The annoying thing about it was that the majority of the people in the room didn’t matter. She could logically say that she didn’t know the majority and the ones she knew were really the only ones that mattered. Then again, some of the ones she knew didn’t matter to her either. It all depended on who the person in question was. She was also keenly aware of whose opinion mattered more to her out of the collection of people she’d found herself in.
Sighing, she tried to think of something that might make her feel less tense, eyes closing as she did. She tried to think of the way she felt when she was at the Barns, the lightness that seemed to take over and how easy it was to talk to Opal when she wasn’t talking in a strange tree language or Latin...which she still hadn’t tried to learn. She thought about home, about the animal bar and the days she spent laughing at something ridiculous that Humbledrum had said. It felt simpler there. She let it work its way through her body to help her relax a little like she was supposed to. When she opened her eyes again, there was a hint of sadness as the realization hit again that she was quite alone and there was no likelihood that she would ever see Humbledrum again. Instead of letting it become a topic of conversation, she just leaned against Eliot, letting him move them.