Passion in the Music (Open)

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

When the training rooms weren't in use, Jay had a habit of using them for his own practice. The one he liked to use in particular had one wall that was made entirely of mirrors, so he could watch himself while he danced. Today, late on a Friday evening, he was trying to perfect a somewhat light-hearted and fun choreography he had made for the song "I Can't Stop Missing You" by Trey Songz.

Dressed in a tight white tanktop and a pair of loose, light grey sweatpants, he plugged in his stereo and flipped on a light, unable to keep from grinning at the empty room. He hadn't been able to do this in several days between training and other business, and he was looking forward to being able to let loose and feel the rhythm pumping through his veins again.

He pressed play, and the song began. The door to the room was cracked open, although he didn't really think anyone would be interested in seeing what he was up to. Jay started thought the motions, his mind going blank as his body responded to each beat as though he and the melody were one. This was what he lived for.

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Friday evenings were supposed to be interesting, but ever since Chris had opted to take a break from it all, Elina quite often found herself sitting in her room, all by herself and bored. It was why she had opted to roam through the hallways in the hopes of coming across something interesting enough to keep her occupied for at least half an hour or so. As soon as music reached her ears, Ellie did hope that she had hit the jackpot.

Ears easily led her to the source of the music, but a door was mostly closed and in turn it made it difficult to find out what was going on behind it. If she were correct, it was one of the training rooms, so her hope of stumbling across a secret party had to be put away for now. Given the door was ajar, the girl had to give it a little push. Only then would her ability be able to give her an idea of what was taking place within the four walls.

It didn’t take long for the brunette to orientate herself and to have a clear ‘view’ on Jay. She was, however, unaware of the mirror in the room, and in turn oblivious to the fact that he might have spotted her already while she had the intention to just stand back and to wait until the song had ended before she would interrupt him.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

When Jay got into the rhythm, pretty much nothing could stop him. Well, Zack was an exception, but that was a special case; Jay would drop absolutely anything for him. Besides dancing, his roommate was the most important thing in his life, someone he would gladly give anything for.

But, back to the present. As Jay danced, he vaguely noticed a person sneaking into the room, but it was out of the corner of his eye, so he couldn't tell quite who it was or what they were doing. And he didn't want to stop quite yet, so he continued until he reached a good stopping point, paused the music, and whirled around on the balls of his feet to get a better look at the person.

"Elina!" he greeted, immediately recognizing his student. "I didn't realize I would be having company tonight." He smiled and walked over to the girl, giving her a friendly touch on the shoulder. "How are you, and what brings you to the training rooms? I didn't think we were training until tomorrow." He had a playful tone to his voice, which he tended to have with all of his students; he liked to act chill and suave around them most of the time, but he did have his moments of childish behavior.

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Why was he so excited all of the time? Elina did muster a smile though, seeing it would not be right to get all grumpy while she had been the one ‘spying’ on him. Still though, it would be better if his personality was contagious. ”I didn’t really mean to interrupt,” she began. ”Just was curious about who was in here…” Then again, she should have been able to guess that. With arms folded against her upper body, a couple of steps were taken further into the training room. ”But I’m okay. Kind of bored. And roaming the corridors…” For that reason.

”What you were doing kind of looked and sounded more interesting than training…” A mild playful touch got added to her voice as a brief ‘glance’ was cast over her shoulder. Maybe even a subtle hint, but Ellie doubted her trainer would make tomorrow’s class any more interesting. ”What will we be doing tomorrow?” Attempt two, just in case luck was on her side

Having arms swing back and forth by her sides, the brunette spun around again. ”You must be the best dancer in clubs, huh? Do… you teach others those moves?” They could always came in handy during a night out.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Jay was just in a good mood; dancing nearly always did that to him, even if he was by himself. There was just something about doing what you loved that lifted his spirits like nothing else. "Oh, don't worry about it," he told her with a wave of his hand, belatedly realizing she wouldn't see it. Ah well. "I was just practicing, since I haven't in a couple days." He had taken on around a half-dozen students as a trainer, and he was starting to wonder if it was a bit too much; he didn't have as much time to himself as he would have liked, which meant less time dancing (and less time with Zack). But he did love training. "Aish, that's no good!" he tutted. "Boredom is the worst. Well, hopefully I can entertain you," he added with a wry grin.

"Ah... Dancing is better than anything, in my opinion," he replied, chuckling. He caught onto the hint, especially as she asked what they would be doing tomorrow. "Well, since you asked... I think we'll try having you use your abilities while also concentrating on something else." He grinned. "And since you seem interested, I think it will involve dancing." That was all he would give her for now - he was procrastinating and admittedly hadn't yet made a plan for their session, but now ideas were whirling around his head. Yeah, he could make this work.

He let out a whistle as she spun, before laughing again. "Well, considering I spent four years studying dance at a professional school, I'd like to say I have better moves than most of the drunk wannabes that you find in clubs," he told her playfully. "I've thought about teaching classes here, actually, but I haven't really had the time." He tilted his head, raising a brow. "Would you like to learn?" Any excuse to dance more, he would gladly take.

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Elina could not help but chuckle. His offer was very much appreciated, but she would have to disappoint his specific suggestion, no matter how subtle it might have been. ”Use my ability while concentrating on something else? Something that involves dancing? I'm close to an expert when it comes to combining those.” Of course Jay might have not referred to that combination, but she couldn’t exactly imaging another one. Then again, he clearly was a good dancer and perhaps there were certain moves and tips that could be provided by him. Her statement wasn’t to shoot him down; she simply didn’t want him to underestimate her due to her visual disadvantage.

While bending down to take off her Converses, Elina listened to him talk. It was just easier to spin around and more comfortable to be just on her socks. ”You’ll probably think that I am a drunk wannabe then.” She chuckled. Ellie did want to believe that her moves were better though. But compared to his, he might label them as pathetic and ridiculous as the ones of those who had consumed too much. Holding hands behind her back, the brunette pretended to ponder on his words… yet technically the answer was there even before he asked her that question. Yes, she would like to learn. Or, rather, improve.

”If you don’t mind teaching.” But based on the hidden excitement in his voice, Jay would be more than eager to solve her boredom problem that way. ”Maybe you can even learn something from me.” A wide grin appeared. It was strange for her to be so pleasant around a staff member. Or anyone in general. Usually there was somewhat of a bitchy touch to her attitude.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Jay tapped his lower lip thoughtfully. "I have a few ideas in mind," he assured his student, already brainstorming gradually more difficult things for Elina to multitask on. Pistol squats, complicated maneuvers, other things that required a lot of concentration or would give her body a workout - he would definitely think of something. "I have no doubt in your abilities," he added with a smile, hoping she would hear it in his voice. "It's getting harder to think of things for you to develop your abilities more, really." He hoped she saw this as a compliment rather than a bad thing, because it wasn't the latter - he was thrilled with her progress.

He stretched his limbs out a bit more as Elina took off her shoes, laughing at her words. "Nah, nonsense. You're not drunk, for one thing, and you're going to have an excellent teacher that will make you look like a professional in no time," he grinned. "I'm sure you're not that bad anyway." He was just more skilled than most people because... He had paid a lot of money to get educated in dance. It would've been sad if he wasn't that great.

"Of course not!" he beamed. "I would love to." Jay gave a little jump and spin, coming to a stop as she spoke again. "I'm sure I can," he replied with a chuckle. It would be interesting, teaching someone who couldn't see what he was doing how to dance; he would have to be thorough with his explanations. "Alright, if you're ready, let's go to the center of the room, and I'll teach you a few basic things to get started and see where you're at skill-wise so far. Sound alright?" He moved to the center of the room as he spoke, expecting her to follow his voice to know where to go. Hmm, where to start...

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Elina nodded some while just aimlessly moving around in the room as arms swung back and forth at her sides. In the meanwhile she did pay attention to what Jay was saying – not something she did very often around others. Hey, he fed her ego. Of course she was intrigued by his words. “I am not bad at all.” Ellie mused with a wide grin, only slightly joking. It was not a secret that she could fill an entire room with just herself and that ego. Still though, the girl had asked if he could teach her a couple of moves, so clearly she was aware of the fact that some improvement was still possible.

The young brunette could hear him move around quickly and full with excitement – something she could also hear in his voice. So she did move to the center of the room and giving a small nod. “Mhm.” Then the girl paused. “Doing this now does not eliminate the option of also doing that during training, right?” Because then she would be more than willing to wait a couple of days, just in order to avoid the boredom that would strike during the training. Ellie stretched, loosening some muscles before turning her head towards Jay. “Why aren’t you out and showing off your skills in a club instead of staying in here?” Did not make sense in her opinion.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Yes, Jay's student definitely had an ego, but he didn't mind too much - he hadn't exactly been a very humble student, though he wasn't particularly arrogant, either. It had been more of an act than anything else; he didn't like most people to see how much of a goofy klutz he was. "I like your confidence," was all he said, putting his grin in his voice.

He watched as she followed him to the center of the room, idly rolling out some more of his joints, though he was pretty loose already. At her question, he laughed lightly. "Of course not! I'd be happy to continue this along with your training, if you're interested." He always wanted to make sure his students were okay with the lessons he came up with, otherwise they didn't put as much effort into it as they could and thus didn't make as much progress. "Ah...." he breathed, tilting his head up as he pondered her question. "Well, Hay-lin is the dance club adviser, and I drop in occasionally, but sometimes I just like to practice on my own." He shrugged; he wouldn't mind leading the drama club, but he had quite a bit on his hands with all of the students he had taken on, as well as advising the culinary club, so he didn't have a lot of time for anything else. "I advise the cooking club if you're interested in that, though!" he told her with a small laugh, rolling up on the balls of his feet.

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Elina knew she was confident. Sometimes too much even, but that was something she would not acknowledge. Instead the compliment gratefully got accepted and a proud smile curled her lips. Oh yes, what was not to like? As for his answer about the dance club, a small nod was given. When it came to the culinary club, a smirk followed. She didn’t agree that easily. “Cooking club? That kind of sounds dangerous to me… and not too interesting.” Her head turned to him. “No offence though.” She chuckled weakly, seeing he was the advisor of that club. Handling knives and learning how to make food would not be good for her physical health in her opinion. Despite her power being quite well-developed since she had been dealing with it for a while now, she did fear cutting her fingers off or to get burnt. She could not see any heat. And of course to gain weight. “I rather dance. It makes me feel free in my movements. No one can take that away from me.” While blind, she did not feel restricted while on the dance floor. Surely, despite not suffering from the same disability, Jay would be able to grasp that.

“So, what dance move did you have in mind?” If he performed it slowly at first, standing in front of her, she would be able to register it. Once adjusted to that, she should be able to follow him once the pace sped up again. Or Jay could just use words, but that would simply take longer before she would be able to settle with.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Jay chuckled at her response to the culinary club, not offended in the least. "None taken. It's not for everyone; but, given my ability, I guess it's just an obvious group to lead." Yes, he liked to wow his students with his skills in the kitchen; yes, if got many a sexist comment, but he didn't care. He felt almost as at home with a stove top that he did with a dance floor. But yes... Jay supposed it had been a bit dumb to ask Elina in particular if she was interested. At least she didn't seem offended. "Well, I'm sure Hay-lin would love to have you in the dance club, if you're interested," he offered. After all, his dancing friend was also blind; he wasn't sure if Elina knew about that. Hay-lin would probably be even better suited to mentor her in dancing than he. But he definitely understood and respected what she meant.

"Hmmm," he pondered aloud, tapping his lower lip. "What would be the best way for me to teach it to you?" he asked, just to make sure. He wasn't entirely certain if there was a way she would prefer. His eyes lit up, though, as an idea hit him. "How would you like to learn the Thriller dance?" he asked. "With Halloween coming up, and all?" Oh yes, that could be fun! It was simple enough, but also very well-known and recognizable.