Dancing

[Racetrack]

Race followed Sapphy into Irving Hall, dressed as nicely as he could for the occasion, in a black jacket Raven had gotten him after expressing disapproval of the horrible brown one he'd worn during the rally. He still couldn't quite believe Sapphy had invited him to go dancing, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, Copper was still around somewhere, which was enough to keep Race's mood from soaring too high.

[Sapphy]

((Oh you can bet in a thread or two, Copper's gonna give Race a talking to tell him what's what.))

Sapphy was back in her one girl outfit -- the black skirt she wore to the poker game. Now that Copper was back with literally only the shirt on his back, they were sharing his old clothes that Sapphy took with her to the lodging house.

Sapphy took Race by the hand, their fingers entwining as she pulled him onto the dancefloor with a broad smile over her shoulder.

[Racetrack]

((Oh, trust me, he's gonna talk back. Race might get along with almost everyone, but when he dislikes someone, he lets them know. ^^))

As soon as she touched him, Race fleetingly wondered whether this was actually a joyous occasion or maybe just torture. But it was definitely good to see her smile like that, so he smiled back, gave her a twirl as the current song finished up, and refrained from asking some of the questions that were on his mind--like what in the world her brother had done with their family's money.

[Sapphy]

With Copper there, it was like Sapphy's guards were down. Whether the siblings liked it or not, they were each other's protector and it was instilled in them to the point that they didn't even notice the affect it had on their moods.

"Oh Anthony," Sapphy teased. "You look so debonair tonight!"

[Racetrack]

He laughed. "You look lovely yourself, Miss Shaye." The next song started, one of those fast Irish tunes that keeps you on your toes, literally. He raised his usual one eyebrow as the more talented couples on the floor became dancing blurs, and everyone else stood back. "Can you do this? It's been a while for me."

[Sapphy]

Sapphy literally kicked off her shoes, grinning at Racetrack. She took once glance around her to see if she had room and took two fistfuls of her skirt to raise the hem to her knees.

"I'm full-blooded Irish, ya nance!" she grinned, feet already kicking and body twirling and keeping time. It only took less than 24 hours of Copper being back for Sapphy's true Irish accent to come out in full-force.

[Racetrack]

He shook his head and gave her a bit of a bemused smile. Not that he didn't like happy Sapphy--or Irish Sapphy, he could definitely get used to that--more that he knew all these changes had to do with Copper, and that Copper, for some reason he couldn't grasp, seemed to hate him with the fire of a thousand suns.

No way, Racetrack Higgins, you are not gonna go dancing with Sapphire Nolan and spend the whole night thinking about her brother.

So he grabbed her hand and joined in the dance, and yes, he could still keep up--half of Brooklyn had danced like this on a regular basis, and he hadn't forgotten much.

[Sapphy]

((Make that two thousands suns -- that's one of my favorite sayings. ;D ))

Sapphy laughed happily, twirling with Racetrack on the floor. She felt like she was flying.

"Ye know yer stuff, 'iggins!" she giggled, arms going about his neck.

[Racetrack]

"Only half as much as you," he teased. "The rest is just spaghetti and opera." And then her arms were around his neck and he succeeded valiantly in not making any funny noises, even when his hands drifted in response to the only place that made sense, which was her hips.

((To bed with me! Yes, I'm a wimp when it comes to sleep. See you tomorrow?))

[Sapphy]

Sapphy positively beamed, flashing her teeth at Race as she tried to distract from the blush coming on.

"Sorry Copper's such a twat."

((Yes, ma'am! Pleasant dreams!!))

[Racetrack]

He chuckled somewhat darkly. "Not your fault." The music had mercifully slowed down, giving them a chance to just sway and talk. "Just...do you know why he hates me, by any chance? I get the whole overprotective-brother thing, but that was a little extreme."

Besides which, Race didn't care for overprotective brothers. Raven used to have an "overprotective" brother. He realized Copper was nowhere near Hunter levels of evil, but the whole "my sister is MINE" vibe still got him angry like few other things.

[Sapphy]

"Well first it was because he saw you and me walking together, holding hands, and I was crying but neither of us were talking. He just thought it looked bad..." Sapphy sighed. "And then the rest of the time was Copper being Copper with boys who're interested in me. I don't know why, don't ask me, he's never explained it to me why it's one of his things to go from zero to ten."

She swayed with Race, standing a little closer to him.

"I mean, one time when Matthew and I were still together -- and this was before things went south, mind you -- Copper threw him out of a second-story window."

[Racetrack]

Race stared at her. "Sapphy? I never thought I'd say this, but I think you're right about this just-friends thing. I'm suddenly becoming very comfortable with it."

[Sapphy]

Sapphy laughed hard, covering her face with her hand. She rest her body against Race's, shaking with giggles.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

[Racetrack]

He rested his hand on her back and had to smile. He'd never seen her laugh this hard. "Thanks, but I can protect myself. And I'd rather not even need protection from your brother." He sighed. "'Sides, we live in the same damn house. We're gonna have to talk eventually." He didn't know exactly what form that talk was going to take, but he wasn't looking forward to it.