Dancing to Our Own Beat (Cern/Keela)

[kyla]

Keela flushed, looking as though she might be sick. "Ewww Cern!" She pulled a face, "I do not want to think about my little brother being anything even vaguely resembling naughty!" She shivered, "ever!" Knowing her dad had been a lady's man was one thing, she was proud of her father, and had insisted to her mum that she's was going to 'marry daddy' when she got old enough. Cernenus still teased her about that from time to time when it came up in reminiscent conversations. She could tell the mention of the tub picture had surprised him, and she laughed. "I don't know", she told him, a mischievious glint in her hazel eyes. "What do you think?" She grinned at him, enjoying the upper-hand immensely. "It's only fair, since you saw fit to show that picture of me with green hair to everyone." Now granted, that had been during first year, and the picture had been taken because it was one of Cern's first cases of accidental magic when they were little, but that didn't bear stating.

Keela's eyes widened, she'd been unaware of their dad's presence when she'd been dancing to the music from the wizarding wireless, her baby-face awash with glee, as she poked her butt repeatedly. So much for the upper hand. She sighed, but maintained her smile. "Touche", she told him. "You know I'm going to figure out how to burn those pictures one day, and when I do, you should watch out." She gave him a mock threatening look, "I am so not above charming you to sing like a canary in your sleep!" In fact, the idea sounded exceptionally appealing at the moment. Keela shook her head, "I have my ways" she said mysteriously. Granted, her ways consisted of sneaking into their parents' bedroom while the two were out shopping and raiding the albums for blackmail material. But, she had them none the less. She had only barely escaped being caught when they'd come home early, mumbling something about a lost camera before darting from the room.

Thankfully, her mum and dad had chalked it up to teenage oddity, and left it at that. She laughed, she and Cern agreed their parents didn't act quite as grown up as those of their peers. Keela wondered if it had to do with their personalities, or was simply a result of their having gotten married so young. She smiled, he'd definitely thought this through more than she'd given him credit for. She made a note to owl her aunt some time this afternoon during one of her free periods. She wondered how their aunts would feel about their spying on their former dorm. It sounded like such a fun idea, Keela hoped the reaction wasn't too negative. The idea of being so close to some very dangerous creatures made her nervous, despite Cern's reassurances. "Okay", she finally gave in, "I'm trusting you." When he asked if she'd like another drink, she giggled at his accent before replying: "I have a better idea, let's dance!"

[shava44444]

His grin at her fearing his naughtiness was slightly overshadowing the fact he had been thinking about another kind of naughtiness. The idea that she had been thinking of him- - well, his eyebrows went up as he realized what she had meant. His mouth dropped open in mid smile as he looked at her astonished. "KEELA! YOU ACTUALLY WERE THINKING OF ME..." He couldn't finish the thought, weirded out about his sister thinking of him that way to begin with. Which meant she- - no, he couldn't finish the thought even in his own mind. Doing a heebee-jeebie dance, he then was astonished when she one-two punched him with the tub picture.

This led through several back and forth comments, sibling rivalry at it's finest mixed with sheer teasing of two who loved each other anyway. It ended with him knowing he needed something for insurance to prevent other stuff being shown. Determining to get back to doing something about this later on, he dropped it for now. He had turned back to the drink subject when she went off into left field. "Oui, Mademoiselle," and he slipped one hand under hers, giving her support to stand as was only proper of a gentleman.

Years back, Kee had wanted dance lessons and her mother had arranged for a teacher, but then she needed a partner and her brother was, at that time, her height. Always willing to help out his sister, he had agreed to be her partner for practice and had ended up learning as much about dancing as she had in classes. Ballroom, foxtrot, all the big names they had practiced, though both thought the tango was too freaking much fun to do. They always got in trouble for making exaggerated movements, adding in silly twists on the fly, and above all making it comically intense.

As soon as she stood, he did a courtly bow, raised her hand up high and went into a ballroom waltz, hand at the small of her back, body stiff and yet elegant, as they wove their way around the room. Cern had a hard-won grace and elegance to his movements from long Tai Chi practice, making his dancing even better and rather seductive to strangers who watched. As they came to the natural end of the first pattern, he said "Switch lead, your turn," and dropped into the woman's role, shifting his hands and letting her guide him instead as she dipped him. A long practice, playing opposite rolls and a good work out for both partners.

Their parents thought it cute, but one thing was very clear; Cern would do anything for his sister who he adored.

[kyla]

"I know, I know!" Keela flushed crimson, looking mildly disgusted. However, watching her brother do his heebie-jeebie dance lightened her mood considerably, and she giggled. "I put that somewhere in the same category as walking in on someone in the shower, it happens, but I do try to avoid it whenever possible." Keela grinned, like her parents, she preferred to think of her brother as a perpetually celibate monk. Though she knew this was illogical, it helped her sleep at night. The last thing Keela wanted to think about was how much action her brother got. It was the shower comment that had made her think of the tub picture. She'd told her mum she was making a scrapbook of them as babies, and her mother had sent the picture along with adulations about how adorable Cern looked. Keela had been telling the truth, but upon the arrival of this particular picture, it had gone into hiding in her dorm, not into the scrapbook.

When he took her hand, Keela smiled softly, a spark of playful mischief in her eyes. "Merci bocoup, monsieur", she answered. The two knew a smattering of several European languages, one of many things Gran had insisted they learn as children. Ocassionally, when they needed to discuss something they didn't necessarily want overheard, they'd been known to switch through several in one conversation.Standing, she went over to a table nearby and turned the dial on the wizarding wireless until she found a classical station, it was a basic waltz, easy to the point of unconscious, ,and perfect for the moment. She returned to where Cern was still standing, and went into his arms with the ease of long-practice. She remembered easily the days from long agao when she'd wanted nothing more than to learn to dance. Gran had been filling her head with images of gallant gentlemen and beautiful ladies swirling around glorious ballrooms. It had no doubt been intentional on her part, but Keela had been determined to learn the complex steps.

Her teacher, a statuesque woman with sharp features and an aristocratic air, had done her best to partner with Keela, but the height difference had made things exceedingly difficult. It had finally been decided that she needed a partner closer to her own age. She had expected Cern to refuse her request almost as soon as the words escaped that day, or to demand something in return at the very least, but he'd surprised her with his willingness to help. As it turned out, he was even more gifted than she was, light on his feet, and adept at picking up new techniques quickly. As years passed, they'd added flourishes and small exaggerations until the two of them could make a simple box step look like a Viennese waltz if they tried. As they spun around the relatively large empty space in the center of the room, Keela grinned up at her brother. "How long do you think we've been doing this, Cern?" she asked him curiously. Despite her protests to letting him lead in the beginning, Keela preferred it now, proof that they'd come a long way indeed.

However, she didn't object when he declared they should switch lead. Keela still enjoyed leading when given the opprotunity, it just wasn't her preference anymore. She adjusted her stance, and they began again, knowing that at any moment, someone could walk in and discover them waltzing to the wizarding wireless first thing in the morning. It didn't much bother Keela though, many of their housemates already thought they were crazy. Getting along well with one's sibling was apparently not as common at this age as they liked to think. She stood on tiptoe to lead him into a spin, and laughed at the awkward way he had to turn to accomodate her lack of height. "It doesn't work quite as well as it did when we were young does it?" she managed through her laughter. "Someone had to go and outgrow me." Her eyes shown with enjoyment, despite her teasing words. When their Gran had been alive, they'd done this at each and every ball she ever hosted. She was their pride and joy, and Gran had wanted everyone to know it. It saddened her to think that with her passing, they'd lost much of their heritage. While their parents did not shun their pureblood lineage, neither did they flaunt it. Their attendance to pureblood functions had diminished greatly in recent years.

A moment later, the music ended, and the dance flowed to a close as well. She curtsied, but it more closely resembled a bow in her fitted blue-jeans. She registered the noise of people rousing upstairs. Perfect timing, she thought, as often happened on occasions like this. She picked up his mug, and her own, went to the mixer. After she'd finished she carefully dropped a piece of peppermint candy in each. She often carried candy around, sometimes there was no better pick me up. She turned, handed him his mug, and returned to her seat on the sofa. "Do you think anyone would notice if I just skipped potions this morning?"

[shava44444]

He winced, hearing her say it. Yeah, the idea of his sister walking in and catching him getting out of the shower had been a bother for the last couple of years at home. Cernenus had been extra careful about locks on doors and making sure he wrapped a towel around himself IN the shower stall itself to avoid the issue. Seeing him in swim trunks or even underwear was one thing; they were siblings after all and home was relaxed rules. But naked? And he knew somewhere in his mind that there were guys somewhere in the school who had contemplated seeing her naked and liked the idea, but there was no way he was interested in the same. Yes, he was interested in female anatomy, but he knew far too much about young Keela's to be interested in seeing older Keela's.

Siblings were just not attractive that way. Ew. How could you be attracted to someone who knew all of your most embarrassing moments?

As she turned on the music he limbered up a bit, hearing the music and smiling at the familiar sounds. Dancing had been a challenge and they had gotten good at it, something their grandmother had been very fawning over them about, always wanting to show them off. And while Cern had learned his manners, there wasn't a lot he and his Gran had gotten connected with more then dancing. She had been a stiff old bird in some ways, though it was clear she delighted in his being around. Many a badly colored or half written card from him had been gravely honored so he had always tried to take something for her every time, but she really had lit up when he danced with his sister.

Funny how long after someone was gone they still stuck with you in some ways; he doubted he would ever forget the sound of her voice or the stiffness of her table settings. He could even hear her now saying sternly "No, Cernenus Summerby, frogs do not go to the left of your fork or anywhere else on the table." He smiled at the memory as they turned. "Dancing? Years. Well, even before you asked me actually. I don't know if I ever told you, but Gran got me to try dancing a few times for her with Izzy." Izzy was one of their house elves from the old house. "She liked seeing me keep trying, even if Izzy was all ears." Her tease about his outgrowing her made him chuckle under his breath before he answered.

"Yeah well, I think they lace the food here with stuff to make you grow faster. Do you really think I'm getting taller?" He puffed up a touch actually, excited about the idea of seeing if he could match his father who was very tall indeed. And with height came muscles and if he got even a third of his dad's it would make doing stuff on the farm ten times easier indeed. Maybe if he started wearing short sleeves he could draw an interested look or two... As she went for the mugs at the end of the dance, he turned off the wireless and took a seat on the couch again, glancing at the clock. "Wow, feeling very Gryffie this morning I take it? If there was any professor I would hesitate to anger it would be her. Good luck skipping, I wouldn't risk it personally."