[zapdragon555]

Firedancer had grabbed a fork from the drawer and was busy breaking up the noodles, and he sniffed the air involuntarily, smiling at the smell, and held it out to Tarantell. Tarantell took it with a grateful smile, beginning to twirl a few noodles around the fork and eat it, watching as Firedancer opened the pack of crackers. A comfortable silence settled over the room, and Tarantell glanced at Firedancer from time to time, a small pang of guilt touching his heart to see the boy eating such a meager amount of food. "Ah…" he began the sound before he could consider otherwise, and Firedancer looked up at him with those startling violet eyes, bright with attentiveness.

Tarantell's eyes widened a little as he felt his heartrate increase slightly, and he cleared his throat, glancing at the silverware drawer and quickly back to Firedancer's face. "Do… do you want a bite of mine?"

Firedancer blinked, a little startled by that, and he glanced at the food, then back up at Tarantell's face, his eyes shining. "I-if it's alright… yes, please!" he chuckled, then dug into the drawer for another fork. Tarantell held the plate out to him with a small smile on his lips, watching as Firedancer collected a bit of the noodles on his fork and ate it, a happy sound escaping him.

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[zapdragon555]

((Sorry for changing the original post title so many times. I couldn't resist that joke pffff))

Tarantell felt the smile grow involuntarily on his face as Firedancer went for one more bite, and he chuckled, returning his fork to the plate as well, stepping a little closer to Firedancer so that they could share the plate. "It's much better fresh," Tarantell said sheepishly, taking a bite of the noodles and chewing thoughtfully. "It's from that thai place a couple of blocks away… Tengumi Thai Palace?"

Firedancer blinked owlishly, chewing and swallowing, then tilted his head and shrugged, smiling. "Never heard of it, sorry… w-we just got here, after all. Um, our troupe." He glanced at the pasta, then decided he should stop eating Tarantell's lunch, and he held onto his fork, stepping back just a few inches to give the older man a little more space. "I haven't had much time to sightsee…"

"Oh," Tarantell murmured eloquently, some part of him wanting to offer Firedancer more food, but he decided doing so might come off as a bit too friendly. It occurred to him that he was being awfully friendly with this young man, and the thought struck him as odd as it was embarrassing. "Well… it's there, if you want to go look at it."

"Mmhm," Firedancer murmured, glancing back at his crackers, and he reached for one to nibble on it, occupying his mouth so he wouldn't say anything more.

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[zapdragon555]

It wasn't long before the two finished eating, and after a short time Firedancer's phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, interrupting the lively conversation that Firedancer had somehow managed to get Tarantell interested in. Lively conversation was just about the polar opposite of Tarantell's normal disposition, but his eyes shone as Firedancer told him of some old night club he'd been to, and how he'd me a celebrity and gotten her autograph on his cheek and Ringleader had gotten so mad at him… But speak of the devil, Tarantell glanced at Firedancer's old flip phone, then blinked, glancing at Firedancer. "It's, um… your boss…"

Firedancer's eyes lit up at that, a strange mixture of shock and delight and fear, and he quickly picked up the phone and flipped it open. "H-hello? Ringl--" He cut off, blinking, then let out a breath, deflating slightly. "Oh… Soothsayer, hi. You're using Ringleader's phone? Oh… oh okay, I see. Alright! Yeah, I-I'll be back really soon. Tell him hello for me! …ahaha, yeah, that was a joke. Okay, see you." Firedancer hung up the phone, silent for a beat, then looked at Tarantell, who was watching him with a slightly bemused, if not concerned expression. "Um… duty calls, I-I should get back to my troupe. I have another lesson same time next week, right? We're going to be in town for about a month, I think. The big show is on the 30th…"

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[zapdragon555]

Tarantell nodded automatically, still a bit caught up in the way Firedancer's face seemed to light up when he'd answered the phone. He wished he could've taken a picture, with how fleeting it was, before the boy's expression had faded back to his quiet smile and soft violet eyes and Tarantell suddenly realized he needed to answer Firedancer, for the boy was looking a little bemused at Tarantell's dazed expression. "A-ah--what?" he said, ratcheting back to life as he jumped back to the present, and definitely not the way Firedancer's undoubtedly soft lips curved into a small smile in that delicate way… Wait, what--

"Th-the 30th… I mean, we'll be here for awhile, since it's only the 7th today. Um…" Firedancer bit his lip as he smiled, then went out on a limb and grinned at Tarantell. "I-if you want to come, you should! Y'know, see how your lessons paid off," he chuckled. "I-it's a pretty nice show, I suppose… though, I bet it's nicer if you've never seen it before."

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[zapdragon555]

Tarantell blinked, then quickly recovered himself, his posture relaxing a bit. "I think I'd like that. It's been a long time since I've been to the circus," he joked, chuckling, and Firedancer smiled, tilting his head at Tarantell's laugh. Tarantell cut off, realizing his laughter sounded just a bit nervous, and he could've blushed at that bemused look on Firedancer's face. Thankfully, Tarantell was slow to blush, and Firedancer was quick to leave, at that moment.

"Great! See you next week, then, Mr. Tarantell?" Firedancer said with an almost childish excitement, darting to pick up his bag and hoist it onto his shoulder, smiling brightly at Tarantell.

Tarantell smiled and waved at him, nodding his head. "Yes, I'll see you," he said, following Firedancer a ways to the door. "And… also, Vincent. Vincent is fine, I mean," he said, his voice hitching halfway through as a certain shyness suddenly gripped his heart.

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Firedancer blinked and turned around to peer at Tarantell, and his face split into a grin as he nodded his head. "Vincent, then," he chuckled, and Tarantell could have flushed with the soft tone Firedancer spoke his name, and he never wanted anyone else to say his name ever again except for Firedancer. It would taint the memory. But as with his other thoughts, Tarantell hardly noticed these, because Firedancer was waving and going out the door. "I'll see you!"

Tarantell waved until the door shut, and his hand slowly fell back to his side. The tips of his pale fingers were flushed slightly, and he let out a slow breath, scratching at his head. His heart was beating fast... surely... surely that didn't mean...

Oh, of course that's what it meant. Tarantell wasn't about to lie to himself. But there was no way he was going to peruse this. Firedancer was his client, and it would be utterly wrong of Tarantell to take advantage of that in any way. Tarantell was good at ignoring his feelings, or at least he had been until that day.

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[zapdragon555]

The week passed by in a fog. Tarantell had one class besides the private one scheduled for the following tuesday, but it was an adult class, and to the participants, the dark-haired teacher seemed even less enthusiastic than normal. Distracted, even, which was more abnormal than the former; Tarantell always had a kind of focus to him when it came to dancing, even teaching it to adults who he knew would quit a few weeks later after getting some mild ankle injury, and never come back.

Such was the norm.

In all honesty, Tarantell hardly noticed the passage of time. He felt himself get nervous now and then, stop in the mirror to check himself, shave more often--thank god Firedancer had caught him on a day he had decided to shave--shower more often, for pete's sake. For Firedancer's sake, he told himself, wincing at his flushed face in the mirror. He slapped his cheeks gently to try to fight the heat back, and he frowned into the sink, bending his head to splash water on his face. It was six in the morning, an ungodly hour to some, but to Tarantell it was anything but. The slums were quiet in the morning, and still, and covered in a fine mist that Tarantell knew was smog but liked to pretend was some sort of misty mountain air that would free up the smoke that was still stuck in his lungs from all those years ago.

The doorbell rang and Tarantell hit his nose on the faucet on his way up.

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[zapdragon555]

Firedancer wasn't what he'd call nervous, this time. He had been, a bit, on his way out, but his prediction had been right; the slums weren't as scary, so early in the morning. None of that clanging and banging and shouting plagued the streets, just quiet and stagnant air. He listened carefully once the buzzer doorbell had ceased, and he furrowed his brow as he heard a sharp curse from inside, his heart leaping into his throat. Oh, god, did he wake Tarantell up? Firedancer hadn't thought of that. What if he woke him up? Tarantell would be mad, likely... or, really, he probably wouldn't. The other man seemed fairly level headed, from the one day that Firedancer knew him. He offhandedly wondered if Tarantell was always level headed or not...

When the door opened, Firedancer put on a smile that was immediately wiped off his face at the sight of Tarantell holding a bloodied rag to his face. "Jesus--" Firedancer exclaimed, shrinking back a little. "Did... are you...?"

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[zapdragon555]

Tarantell hadn't meant to have such a sour look on his face when he opened the door, and unlike Firedancer's expression, his switched from a scowl to a smile. "Oh, Firedancer, you're here early," he observed, his voice a little bit nasally from the rag pinching it.

Firedancer stared at him, dumbfounded, and he stood on his toes, his body tense. "W-what happened?! Are you okay? N-no, of course you're not okay, jesus, you're bleeding, um..." he breathed, and Tarantell blinked, realizing he must look somewhat gruesome to the younger man.

"Oh... it's just a little cut. The edge of the faucet got me," he said, stepping out of the way. It looked like Firedancer was going to explode if he had to stay standing on the porch for another second. Firedancer bustled inside, never taking his eyes off of Tarantell. "It'll stop bleeding soon."

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Firedancer stared at him as he closed the door, his eyes flickering as he made a few quick connections, and his face filled with horror. "Oh, god, i-is that my fault?" he gasped. "When I rang the doorbell... y-you... oh, I'm so sorry," he fretted, stepping closer to Tarantell and reaching up. Tarantell stiffened, surprised as Firedancer moved his hands to shift the rag away from Tarantell's nose, and Tarantell could only focus on the gentle warmth of Firedancer's hands on his, despite the look of cold horror on the young man's face.

"Jesus..." Firedancer repeated himself a third time, the soft curse whispered under his breath, and he swallowed, shaking his head. "No, you have to clean that. That rag looks nasty--I mean, um, I-I'm sure it's clean, b-but... no, um, augh I'm just really sorry that happened..."

Tarantell blinked as Firedancer let go of his hands, and he returned the rag to his nose, nodding his head. "I-I should go clean myself up a bit... ah... it's really okay. I mean, yes it was the doorbell that startled me, but it was really just my own carelessness..." Under other circumstances Tarantell was sure he'd be stark raving mad at the person who'd rang the doorbell, but maybe the blood loss was making his head a little fuzzy.

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"In the meantime..." Tarantell continued after a short, tense silence, wincing slightly under Firedancer's worried violet gaze. "If you'd like to go ahead and get dressed, I'll go clean myself up and see if I can get a bandage on it. I-it's really a lot smaller than it seems!" he tried to soothe Firedancer's fears, but the boy just puffed himself up slightly, almost indignant.

"You have to clean it really well..." he mumbled, then quickly hurried past Tarantell, realizing he was dwelling too much on what must be a minor problem.

Tarantell made his way upstairs to the more personal part of the building; the top floor was Tarantell's house, though the kitchen was down below. He turned into the bathroom and went a bit pale at how bloody the rag had gotten, and he cleared his throat, quickly removing the cloth and rinsing it in the sink. In what could be considered an unnecessarily long amount of time, Tarantell had cleaned and bandaged the wound, but the only bandages he'd had were the ones he kept in case any of the kids got hurt, so he'd criss crossed two of them over his nose. Tarantell looked in the mirror and grimaced. He looked silly.

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When Tarantell came back down the stairs, he blinked to find Firedancer already dressed and stretching one leg on the bar on the wall, his fingertips hooked over his toes as he bent forward. Tarantell paused on the stairs, watching the younger man for a moment, a small smile forming on his face. The boy truly was graceful, and delicate, yet somehow far from doll like. There was still something strong about him, if the lean, slight muscle in his arms and legs had anything to say about it, and he moved with a sureness that Tarantell might have envied if he hadn't found it so calming.

Blinking out of his errant thoughts, Tarantell cleared his throat in soft warning and made his way down the stairs. Firedancer blinked, glancing up at Tarantell, his eyes following him as he walked up to Firedancer with a smile. "You're already dressed," Tarantell observed, blushing as he stated the obvious.

Firedancer blinked, then offered a tiny smile, looking a bit embarrassed. "Is... that fine?" he asked, shrugging one shoulder, and Tarantell nodded, quickly.

"Oh, yes, of course it is. I just meant..." Tarantell trailed off, smiling almost shyly. Somehow it was a very pleasing thought that Firedancer had just gotten ready on his own accord. It felt as though Firedancer wanted to be here... regardless of whether or not he truly needed to be. "Anyway, let's get started, shall we?"

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The hour drew on gently, easily as Tarantell observed and instructed Firedancer in whatever stretches he thought necessary, in whatever practices he thought would be helpful, but in the end he once again found himself astounded that anyone would think this boy needed a teacher.

But of course, Tarantell said nothing about it.

"Alright," Tarantell murmured, smiling sympathetically at Firedancer's winded state, and he fought down the urge to pat the boy on the shoulder as he chuckled. "I think it's time for a break. We're halfway done."

"Yaaaay," Firedancer sighed, his voice sounding more exhausted than enthusiastic, and he wiped his wrist on his forehead to try to dry the sweat collecting there. Tarantell blinked, watching him for a moment, before clearing his throat and murmuring something about putting on some tea as he turned to go towards the kitchen. "Oh, do you have chai tea?" Firedancer chirped, then flushed, quickly adding in a much softer voice, "B-but anything is fine... and I don't actually need any..."

"Nonsense," Tarantell called over his shoulder with a tiny, delighted smile, waving away Firedancer's words and in the same breath motioning for the boy to follow him. "I'm afraid I don't have any chai tea, though, sorry. Is green with honey in it alright?"

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Firedancer blinked owlishly at Tarantell, then quickly followed after him, his shoes making soft tapping noises on the ballet floor as he picked up the pace. "Green tea is fine, um... i-it's good," Firedancer said with a small nod, smiling at Tarantell as he entered the tiny kitchenette.

"Sounds good to me," Tarantell said, his voice light as he reached up to retrieve a few teabags and the jar of honey, squinting as he saw the bandaids over his noise in his peripheral vision. "Mm..." he made a soft musing sound as he set the ingredients down, then glanced at Firedancer, taking in his posture. A small smile split Tarantell's face, making his expression almost goofy. "Extra honey in yours?"

Firedancer's eyes went wide, and a flush painted his face as a laugh bubbled out of him. "Y-yeah... sorry, I thought about asking for that, but it seemed rude," he mumbled, going to sit down at the small, barely-four-person table, the chair creaking slightly under his meager weight.

Tarantell glanced over his shoulder at the younger man with an uncharacteristic flash of mirth in his eyes, and he grinned, shaking his head and putting the kettle on the stove. "Rude is allowed here. Gives me an excuse to be a little rude," he chuckled, then paused with a tiny clearing of his throat. "Well, I mean. In theory."

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Firedancer's eyes brightened at that, and a small chuckle came out his chest, residual of his laughter from before. "Well, then, you need to clean up in here. How's that for rude?" Firedancer chirped, his voice obviously joking.

Tarantell blinked at that, frowning for a moment as he glanced around at the couch covered in boxes that he still hadn't unpacked after months and months, at the scuffy looking table, at the blank walls, and finally looked back at Firedancer with a sheepish smile, taking in the quickly growing guilty look on the boy's face. "You're right," he said softly, chuckling as well.

Firedancer blinked, the guilty look melting into bemusement, and before he could say anything more the kettle started to whine. Before it could turn into a full on scream, Tarantell quickly took it off the heat and poured some water into two mugs and plopped two tea bags in each, bringing both mugs to set on the table. He then set the honey down with a slightly heavier plunk, and sat down across from Firedancer, pushing the honey towards him. "Take as much as you like," he said with a nod, as if affirming the fact that he wanted Firedancer to make his tea as sweet as it suited him. Something about the way Firedancer's round face lit up at the offer was pleasing to his pulse.

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