Dance

The Dance

“Well come on!” Ari said, holding her hand out expectantly. Her bright red hair was tied back and she was wearing a matching bright red dress with a sort of oriental flair. Ken couldn’t say he knew the exact terms for such things. Thankfully the dress code to their own New Year’s party was whatever would be the most fun. Which for Ken was his usual disheveled shirt and denim.

“No thanks, I’m a terrible dancer,” Ken replied.

Ari crossed her arms and stared him down. “BS, I’ve seen you dance. You’re a great dancer!” she protested. “I don’t know why you have to be so… such a stick in the mud about this.”

Ken shrugged. He knew further arguing would get him nowhere.

Ari sighed and stormed off. She knew she couldn’t just leave it at that, but how to get him on his feet?

She walked up to the DJ, a boy with steel gray hair underneath a backwards facing cap. “Hey there, got a song request?” he greeted.

“Actually, I need some help,” Ari threw her thumb over her shoulder and gestured to Ken. “Think you can get Sir Sleepsalot to get up and have some fun?”

The DJ cracked a smile. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said while throwing a thumbs up. As the final notes of the current song ended, he grabbed the microphone and announced over the dancefloor.

“For our next song, I’d like to dedicate this one to the lord and savior of my very home town as of recent. This man busted some meteor ass that was hurtling down to Earth, give my man Rayquaza some applause!”

Ken shook off the dumbfounded look on his face and awkwardly stood up. He gave a short bow and attempted to sit back down when the DJ called him out again.

“No no, come up and show us those legendary dance moves I’ve heard about.”

Ken shot an icy glare over at Ari, still standing close by and covering her face to hide her giggles. He sighed, and pushed himself off his chair. Ken approached the center of the dance floor, keenly aware that everyone was watching him now, and waited for the DJ to play his song. He waited a few beats, getting the rhythm, and started moving.

The dance was surprisingly mystical, featuring several twirls and jumps, even a few flips. It was a bit different than the style of the music, but after a few dance moves, Ken was able to throw in some hip hop or breakdancing for an interesting mixture. A few minutes later the music ended and Ken bowed, breathing heavily.

“See? Now you’re all fired up!” Ari said, throwing some mock punches into his arm.

“Yes yes you’re welcome. I think I’ll go cool off now…”

“No way! Not after getting warmed up like that. You always figure out how to have fun after a quick warm up.”

“Is… that so…” Ken tried to crack a smile, and looked around the room. Maybe it was just his imagination, but everyone seemed expecting of him. Oh dear.

“Alright, alright, I won’t go to bed early tonight,” Ken gave in. Ari squealed in delight.

The rest of the night penned out exactly as Ari predicted. The more Ken danced with the others, the more invigorated he felt. Which in turn led to more small talk, more drinking, and more dancing. The party itself lasted well into the morning, and finally decided to wrap up several hours past midnight.

Just as the sun started to rise again, Terra got out of bed and went to make a quick breakfast, only to find Ken sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating a carton of mostly melted ice cream.

“…didn’t you stay up all night at the party?” she asked. Ken nodded.

“Did you get any sleep last night? It’s almost morning you know. You must be tired.”

Ken looked over at her. The bags under his eyes were even larger and darker than usual. “I’m aware,” he said, a slight twitch in his eye.

“Then…?”

Ken played around with the melt in his carton. “I’m… not a good dancer…”

“I’ve heard otherwise.”

“…I only know how to Dragon Dance.”

It took several seconds for Terra to understand the implications of that sentence.

“You mean you spent all night Dragon Dancing?”

Ken nodded again. “At some point I couldn’t feel my heart racing anymore I might be dead.” He tucked in his knees to his chest and rocked back and forth slightly. “I’m gonna punch those Registeel iron balls into the stratosphere if he ever DJ’s again…” he mumbled.