Autobrand Party: Rodimus and Arcee Dance

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus turns down Jazz's offered drink¹ and then leads Arcee out to a relatively open section of the roof. It's a big roof, fortunately - plenty of open. As he walks, his right hand is slightly raised in her direction, as though he wants to lead her by the hand but isn't quite certain if it's okay for him to actually hold it.

Once they're clear of the crowds, Rodimus spins towards Arcee, a faint, almost hesitant smile gracing his features. He glances towards where the music is coming from, and murmurs, "In my reality, Hot Rod and Arcee picked up a bit of the sort of dancing you'd do with this music while on Earth. You know... something to do in their downtime." His expression turns hopeful. "I don't suppose you...?"

---

¹ From the main Autobrand party thread. Should have been acknowledged there, but Rodimus's player is a goof.

[Arcee]

Arcee is more than happy to let Rodimus hold her hand. He's not Hot Rod, not exactly, and he's not Springer, but he's close enough to the former to be comforting. And he's seems to be hurting so much, carrying so much weight on his shoulders, that it sets off her maternal instincts.

How exactly she manages to have maternal instincts is another issue entirely, but Carly's certainly claimed that Arcee has them.

She smiles and nods. "I learned from watching Spike and Carly."

[Rodimus Prime]

"All right, then," Rodimus answers. He tilts his head and listens, then begins to bob his head, then finally attempts the first actual dance-steps. He obviously intends to start dancing in the open position, meaning neither he and Arcee would be touching, and seems, for the moment, to just be trying to establish the tempo and fifigure out his and Arcee's timing. While Rodimus Prime has a certain amount of natural grace, the fact that he's never actually danced like this (that was Hot Rod) shows to a close watcher. Still, he seems to be compensating quickly.

---

OOC: The player finds this website of Lindy Hop terms to be pretty spiffy, and suspects it may come in handy for this scene.

[Arcee]

Arcee's fairly graceful by simple dint of her body-type, but also through long practiced drills in guerrilla warfare.

Dancing, however, was not the easiest skill to come by, even if you had that to back it up. It had taken her many long hours of practice and patient instruction from their human friends before she began to get good at it. And even then, she'd had to deal with Springer stepping on her feet.

So she too is listening, catching the beat, actually willing to let Rodimus lead.

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus smiles as he dances, and watches Arcee dance. She's built a bit strangely, true, a little top-heavy compared with the Arcee that he knows, but she's every bit as graceful as she is, and it's pleasant to watch that grace in motion.

Once Rodimus has the temp and rhythm down, he reaches, almost tentatively, towards Arcee with his right hand. If she accepts, he'll pull her closer for a swingout, spinning the both of them around before releasing her again. He grins a bit, waiting to see how well she adapts.

---

OOC: Found a video explaining a reverse swing, but it also demonstrates a regular swing, if you want to see what I'm talking about.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKmXncYAB8

[Arcee]

Arcee might balk at being called top-heavy, but she's certainly more suggestive of the female form than her other universe counterpart.

Arcee grasps the hand with her own, letting Rodimus pull her closer. The spin threatens to make her just a bit busy, but her road-sturdiness comes in handy here, keeping her on her feet.

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus grins, perhaps a bit mischieviously, and does not relinquish Arcee's hand once the turn is over. Instead, he tugs it lightly, trying to pull her into the Charleston position. If Arcee catches on, he will then attempt a Charleston Turn, although their version is a bit modified over the traditional. For one, Rodimus is a lot taller than Arcee, making ducking under her arm rather difficult, but worse, his spoilers guarentee that they'll have to release hold at some point.

If she catches on and keeps up, Rodimus laughs lightly. "Not bad," he allows, "but know anything fancier?"

---

OOC: Video aid! www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQetG0TySEo

[Arcee]

Arcee does indeed catch on, following through with the motion as best as their built-types allow.

"Maybe a little, Roddy," she replies.

[Rodimus Prime]

The two should still be in the Charleston position at this point, meaning that Rodimus Prime is actually behind Arcee. He leans forward and says, "Then I'm sure you know a few air steps." The grin is evident in his voice.

At the proper moment, Rodimus reaches forward, touches Arcee's waist lightly, and pulls her told him. If she gets the hint, he grasps forward and lifts her up, then, when she's ready, shifts his hold so she can swing forward and slap the floor with her hands before finishing the move.

This, of course, assumes she catches on in time.

---

OOC: I'm trying to describe the second move illustrated here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsTQ7LudCZc

From here, we can probably either move onto more generic descriptions or start wrapping the dance up.

[Arcee]

Arcee is a quick study, following through at with the move easily. On her way back up, she gives Rodimus a smile. "You're way more graceful than Springer, you know that? Only time I tried this with him, my servos ached for a week."

[Rodimus Prime]

At the comparison with Springer, Rodimus Prime's smile falters. Hot Rod would have been, on the one hand, pleased to hear he compares favorably with Springer, while on the other hand he'd be demanding to know when Arcee had been dancing with him. For Rodimus Prime, however, it serves as a reminder: he can't have Arcee. He is the Prime, the Chosen One, and he has responsibilities that make it dangerous to get too deeply involved in any one Autobot.

As he sets Arcee back down, movement out of the corner of his visual field catches his attention. He turns just in time to spot Nightbeat... decking... Emirate Xaaron? "Excuse me," he tells Arcee. He releases her waist and takes a step in that direction, but before he can get much farther the situation appears on its way to resolving itself.

Still, he straightens, expression sterner, optics narrowed as he waits to see if the problem really has passed. The playful dancer of only moments before is vanished.

[Arcee]

It was certainly not Arcee intention to upset Rodimus. She's just not used to him this way, so like and yet so far removed from being Hot Rod at the same time. Even if he wasn't the Hot Rod of her universe to begin with, he's close enough...

She makes a face as she watches Pee-Dee deck Nightbeat. "Okay, now he definitely deserved that."

[Rodimus Prime]

"He deserved more than that," Rodimus Prime mutters. And he's generally all right with the guy! "He deserves a night in the brig - but it looks like Emirate Xaaron's got it handled, anyway."

Then Rodimus frowns as he thinks of something. "Is the brig finished yet?" he asks, more of himself than Arcee. Well, if it isn't, Nightbeat could be restricted to his quarters. Considering he rooms with Grimlock, that may be punishment enough.

[Arcee]

Arcee just shakes her head. "How exactly did he get that way? Your universe doesn't even have female Autobots. ...Except for me, apparently."

[Rodimus Prime]

Rodimus turns towards Arcee and shrugs, genuinely confused. "I really don't know. He seems to have been affected by some sort of external influence, it looks like."

It's called Narrative Causality. Not that Rodimus would be aware of this.