# Two-Step (Step One)

Author: DarkSoulsSauron
Tags: Couple, Dance, M/M, No-Yiff, Swing, ninetales, synth

 Two-Step Step One


Soren was up in the loft, a spacious,
wood floored room with high windows open to the north and the east,
letting the late autumn sun stream in. If one walked into the loft,
one would say it dripped with creative energy. Eli kept all his works
in progress up there, ink pen and painting projects, all in the works
or waiting to be finished off with a final detail. But the paintings
were not the only art in that room. Soren kept all of his instruments
up in the spacious area, mostly confined to a corner. Soren had
enough instruments to equip an orchestra. A clarinet, two violins
(electric and acoustic), two guitars, a string bass, a cello, a
trumpet, a trombone, a tenor and alto saxophone, a splendid old grand
piano, an electric keyboard, magnificent speakers, and some old
recording equipment.


Soren tapped his muzzle, lost in
thought. This particular pet project was driving him up the wall.
Soren often argued that the dubstep genre held many hidden gems, but
people dismissed it due to how hard and heavy the tech elements were
implemented. His theory was that if one took the music theory of
existing dubstep songs and rearranged them with more traditional
instruments, the genre would be more accessible. Right now he was
working on Chase Me, a
personal favorite by Vexare. It was really interesting from a music
theory standpoint. Any casual listener would have called it schlock
reminiscent of eurotech. However, listen closely and one would find
it was double-syncopated. Triplets were layered on quarter notes, and
half and whole notes were layered on three-fourth notes. It made for
an exceptional multi-layered effect. But still, he couldn't find the
right instruments to get the sound he was after. He wanted it to at
least be reminiscent to its electronic roots. Also, It didn't help
that the sheet music was incredibly illusive. Soren gave up on
tracking it down and ended up having to write it by ear.


Eli walked up the
stairs, hanging his jacket on the railing. He slipped up behind Soren
and lightly grabbed his shoulders. Soren gave only a slight start and
pulled off his headphones.


"Whatcha
working on," asked Eli jovially, "Same thing as before?"


Soren nodded his
head, still lost in concentration over his instrumentation dilemma.
"Can you come here for a minute," the silver fox asked. "I want
you to play a few notes for me." Soren maximized a window on his
laptop. The sheet music he was writing as a reference materialized on
screen. He pointed at the part he had delegated to the violin. "Play
these," he said. "They're just triplets."


"A
lot of triplets," said Eli, a bit apprehensive, as he lined up the
bow. Eli had played some music in high school, mostly clarinet, but
Soren was teaching him violin and guitar. The clarinet was coming
back quickly, too. Like riding a bicycle, you never really forget
music. "At full speed?" he asked.


"...yes,"
said Soren after a little consideration. Soren wished he could use
his grandmother's old piano, but that was already delegated to a
different part of the song. He went with the string bass. Soren
tapped the side of the bass with the bow. "four three two one."
The two were off at a more than brisk tempo, Eli playing the triplets
on the violin. Soren saw Eli subtly mouthing ev-en-ly
ev-en-ly ev-en-ly ev-en-ly with
each triplet as the silver fox played the quarter notes. Soren
changed octaves every measure, trying to find the right sound. After
a minute or two, he held up his hand to stop.

"Still
not right," muttered Soren. He put the bass aside and then
addressed Eli. "Good pacing though, and you didn't miss a note this
time... so what are you working on today? Trying to replicate the pen
and ink project?"


"No,"
said Eli with a shake of his head. "I'm taking a break from that
for a day. No, I wanted to show you what we're doing at the end of
November."


Soren raised an
eyebrow. "Hrm? What do you mean."


Eli passed Soren a
purple pamphlet. Soren read it quickly. Then looking up at Soren
through the square reading glasses placed at the end of his nose, he
said, deadpanned, "You're a dick. You know that, right?"

Eli smiled
deviously. "What makes you say that?"


Soren sighed.
"Swing dance?! You know I can't dance. But no, it had to be a
charity event for cancer research. And you happened to know that I
just started assisting on a project that was dealing with cancer
research. So now you either force me to dance in public or make me
feel like a horrible person." Soren smiled, but still gave Eli a
stern look.


Eli sat down on the
piano bench. "C'mon, it will be fun," said Eli. "I can teach
you just like you're teaching me music."


"Yes,"
said Soren, "Except for I am teaching you in the comfort of our own
home, and I am not throwing you under the bus by making you play in
public. You know I get really self conscious about that stuff."
Soren looked down at the pamphlet again. "And what is this about an
endurance dance? Eight hours of swing?"


Eli pointed at the
last page of the pamphlet. "The rules are simple. Stay in step or
you lose. You get sponsored, and the longer you go, the more money
you make for the cause. There are also prizes for the top three. I've
done this for the last three years. last year I almost won. Check
the play-list, you'd like it."


Soren
looked at the back of the last page. It was a healthy mix of modern
and old jazz and swing. He read the list aloud. "Duke Ellington,
Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie
Holiday, Caravan Palace, Parov Stellar, Tape Five, Chinese Man, Lyre
Le Temps, Bart & Baker, 6u5...
what, did they ask to borrow your iPod for the music selection?"
Then he got to the bottom. "hrm... Shadows and Electric Daisy
Violin by Lindsey Stirling? She's not swing. She's not really
standard dance. Her stuff is too melodic." He tossed the pamphlet
back to Eli.


Eli pointed to a
block of text at the bottom. "you need a routine for that. If there
are too many people at the end of the eight hours, they make them do
a routine on the spot and judge them. Last year they did some songs
by The Killers: Spaceman and Human. That's what tripped me up last
time. Quite literally."


"Hrm..."
said Soren, "I think I remember Sasha telling me about this."
Sasha was the reason that the two foxes met in the first place. She
had gone to Soren's high school but went for an arts degree while
Soren went for pharmaceuticals, biology, and computer science at a
different, but nearby, college. "Still, you think you can teach me
well enough that I will be able to dance with you for eight hours
straight? In less than four weeks? That's a lofty goal."


"Challenge
accepted," smiled Eli. "Besides, I need you to find us a sponsor.
Would someone at your lab do it?"


Soren tapped a
finger on his knee. "You know... I think the lab has been given
grants by the American Cancer Society... I think I can pull that
off." Then, Soren was hit by a devious idea. "Do they allow props
for the routines?"


Eli thought for a
moment, tilting his head up and staring into space. "Yes... a
couple did that last year with swords. They dressed as samurai,
mostly for kicks and giggles. Why?"


Soren picked up his
purple electric violin. He grinned deviously. "Because we're gonna
perform along for the routine."


Eli's tails
simultaneously straightened out and bristled. "WHAT?!"


Soren opened his
hands and shrugged. "All's fair in love and war. If you're gonna
make me dance I'm gonna make you play."

Eli leered at Soren
for a minute. "Fine. Then we should get started. Today. Now. At the
park."


Soren shifted.
"Now? It's cold out now..."

"Bull,"
said Eli. "You were outside without a jacket all day yesterday. We
both know cold means nothing to you. Get your speakers and the
violins. We're gonna dance at the park. You need to get used to being
watched."

Soren groaned.
"Fine. You win." He dug his nicer set of potable speakers out of
the pile of musical equipment on the table in front of him. He then
grabbed his computer as well as his grandmother's old spruce violin
and his own electric violin, putting them gingerly in their cases. He
placed the rest of his instruments meticulously back in their proper
place. Eli took his iPod off the dock and grabbed his jacket again.


There was a nice
park near the apartment. Large, spacious, lots of trees, and overall
very pretty. The last of the autumn leaves clung vainly to the trees
as October transitioned to November. Eli set up the music and
speakers on an unoccupied bench. With a piece of chalk he drew out a
6ft by 10ft rectangle.

"There,"
he said. "that's approximately how much space we get in the
contest. Once people start dropping we can spread out, but otherwise
we shouldn't leave that space. We get a whole lot more for the
routine, but that's later." Eli flicked through his music. He had
constructed a play-list that exactly replicated the one on the
pamphlet. He stuck it on shuffle after picking the Beatophone
Club Remix by Caravan Palace.


The pace was brisk,
a clear 4/4 beat that would be easy to keep time with. Eli began
stepping much more slowly than the song. "We'll approach it just
like music," he said. "Can you follow me at half speed?"


Soren slowly and
awkwardly began to mirror Eli. On the first two beats he lifted a
paw, followed by a step-flex on the last two. They repeated the steps
again with the other paw, getting into a groove. It took a good two
minutes for them to really synch up, but Soren was getting the
movements. It really was like playing music, just with a lot more
awkward body movements. As the third minute of the song began, Eli
grabbed Soren's hands and began to swing both of their arms side to
side. "Move your arms," said Eli with a smile, "You're not a
lamp post. Let the music move you."


They repeated the
same song three times. The first repeat was at half speed again, but
Soren found the timing much faster. On the third time, Eli moved them
up to full speed. Now that he had the lift-step-flex down, it was
easier to go full speed, letting the music drive them automatically.
Eli grabbed Soren's hands again, jovially moving them back and forth
between them. Soren smiled a bit. He had to admit to himself he was
starting to have fun.


Eli
let shuffle take them to the next song. The randomizer picked Caravan
Palace again, this time Maniac. The
tune was slower, moving at a similar pace to the half time
Beatophone. Soren got the step within a couple of measures. "You
catch on quick," said Eli. "You still keep forgetting to move
your arms. Improvise. Do what your body wants to do." Soren tried
to move his arms back and forth in time with his legs, but he
couldn't do it. Letting down his inhibitions in public was always a
barrier. "Keep at it," said Eli encouragingly, "Just get used
to doing it and it becomes natural."


Maniac
ended, neither of the foxes losing pace. The shuffle programing
seemed to be in the mood for Caravan Palace today, and started to
play Rock It For Me.
Eli snapped his fingers to the starting beat. "Sit down," he
said, "and let me show you some more advanced stuff."


He began with a
Charleston step, starting with his right paw, and kept up to the
snazzy beat of the song, swinging his arms and tails together, side
to side. On the refrain he shuffled to the side, snapping his legs to
the beat as he moved. He then stepped to the side, moving his hands
to spin an imaginary partner. He kept up a similar pace and pattern
for the whole song, ending by tapping his paw to the beat as the song
wound down in its final seconds. He got up and put the song on
replay.


"That
style is Lindy Hop. Now you're gonna do it with me." Eli pulled
Soren off the bench before he could protest. The Charleston was
rather easy to get a hold of, as Soren had actually attempted to
dance it before, and it was fairly simple, especially with Eli as his
reference point. The shuffle was incredibly difficult by contrast.
Soren had to stop to watch Eli. With one paw he shifted to the side,
and mid shuffle he would snap the other leg. It had an effect that
made him look like he was propelling himself by clicking his heels.
Once Soren got that motion down, they returned to the Charleston. Eli
then grabbed the hands of the silver fox and started to spin Soren.
"Get back in step," he said, "you can't lose synch just because
we added a new element." it took two more tries to get the Lindy
Hop right for Rock It For Me.


Soren was out of breath as he finished
Rock It For Me for the last time. "Can we stop for a sec," he
panted.


"Already," teased Eli. "You have
more endurance than that." He gave Soren a meaningful look pointed
down and then kissed the silver fox on the cheek.

Soren chuckled at the joke as he got
out his computer and pulled up the sheet music for Electric Daisy
Violin. Taking the violins out of their cases he passed the electric
one to Eli. "You're so crude some days. Have you ever been
accompanied by a recording before?" Eli shook his head as he rolled
his left shoulder and hand, loosening up his bow arm. Soren
continued, "if that is the case, know this: the recording's pace is
law, and she is a harsh mistress. If you fall out of step with the
recording, everyone with ears
will know. If you fall out of step, it is your job to get back
in step as fast as you can.
Faster than as fast as
you can. This becomes especially apparent when you are playing the
melody, like we are about to. Got it?"

Eli nodded his head
as he sat on the cement. His tails wrapped around his legs as he
looked at the sheet music on the computer in front of him, perched on
the bench. The two foxes began tuning the instruments. "Can we
start with Shadows? That's my favorite."


Soren minimized
Electric Daisy Violin. "Shadows is easier to start with anyway.
There is only one violin part. Electric Daisy has plucking to go with
the strings. We'll start at half speed, then full speed, then with
the recording. Tell me when you are ready."


The song itself had
plenty of motion. At half speed Eli was getting all of the notes, and
both were moving their upper bodies to the rhythms as they played the
melody. They both were seeing how they could dance to this. In fact
they were rather excited to do these particular routines, as both of
the foxes fangirled rather hard over Lindsey, especially Eli. If
someone saw how hard he crushed on her, they would swear he was
straight.


Moving at full
speed now, Soren could tell Eli was having a harder time keeping up.
He had to concentrate fully on the song, so he wasn't moving his body
any more. He was missing notes now too, and they had to backtrack a
few times. Soren couldn't blame him, as it was a rather complex song,
with many build ups and dramatic drops in pitch. After a few full
pace play-throughs, Eli was doing better, but Soren could tell he was
frustrated. At the end of their fourth play-through, he put his
grandmother's violin back in the case. Getting up, he offered a hand
to Eli. "That was a good start. Once you get the notes down we can
try with the recording later. Let's dance again."


Eli
returned the acoustic violin carefully to its case and took Soren's
silver hand. He was cheered slightly that Soren was willing to start
swinging again. Eli turned his iPod on again, shuffling the
contest play-list. Caravan Palace returned again as Dramaphone
began to play next. "This one
is easy," said Eli. "It's just a Charleston. But you need to keep
up." Eli began to step up the pace, much faster than Rock It For
Me. Soren managed to keep up, swinging his arms, alternating left leg
and right arm with right leg and left arm. It was easy to keep up
once he found a rhythm. Eli caught him by surprise on the first
refrain, spinning him once as with the lyrics "come and
taste us sweet as can be." Soren
managed to get back in the groove right away this time. Eli didn't
even have to replay the song.

The Randomizer
finally decided it was done with Caravan Palace. It switched to a
fast song that Soren didn't recognize. It was hard and heavy on the
electro part of electroswing. Soren decided to try to keep up with it
on a Charleston. "What song is this," asked the silver fox as he
danced.


"Douai Charleston by
6u5," said Eli, matching Soren's pace. "Pay attention here. The
song has alternate elements on the 2nd
and 3rd
beats of the measures. If you don't act on them, you get eliminated.
They used this last year to cull the weak from the strong."

Soren needed to
repeat this song three times. He kept losing count when he had to
change step in the middle of the measure. Even as he struggled, he
admired the music theory of the song. On the third repeat he didn't
miss a beat. Soren thought maybe he was getting the hang of this. But
still, there was hardly anyone here on this brisk November day, and
he would be surrounded by people at the contest.


"One more, I think," said Eli. "We
made a good start.


Soren nodded. Eli switched the music to
Cheek to Cheek, a song from
the old film Top Hat. Soren really did appreciate Fred Astaire's
voice. "Isn't this a tad slow for swing," asked Soren.


"They
always throw in some easier tunes as breaks, but they also throw in
hard stuff if they think there are too many people left. The music
selection gets vicious in the last hour." Keeping in step was easy,
even as it picked up. Eli held their hands the whole time, moving
their bodies together. Whenever Fred Astaire sang the words "cheek
to cheek" Eli kissed Soren playfully.


"Fags,"
shouted an uncouth individual as he walked by. Eli and Soren smiled
at this remark. As if on cue, they grabbed each other, leaning
towards the rude Croconaw and kissing passionately. Their middle
fingers were raised in unison at the gator, but as they did this,
they still didn't miss a step. The foxes broke apart smiling as the
water type grunted and stalked off. The song ended soon after that,
and the two foxes packed up. They headed back to the apartment,
holding hands.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/565610