After the events of the hiking trip, Eli decided that now was the best time to immerse himself in the world of dance again. Yes, he danced in group numbers, but he never made the time to just dance for fun. Not since his injury.

Beams of light rained down on Eli's face, highlighting his near perfect skin. Strands of hair rested above his left eyebrow, somehow making him look youthful. He extended his right arm, allowing his left leg to do the same in a continuous movement.
He did 5 effortless pirouettes before doing a quadruple layout with a twist.

Leonie watched from the seats, in complete awe of Eli's talents. Everyone knew he was talented, but this? This felt like magic. Leonie felt as if she were intruding, but she couldn't bring herself to look away. His dancing was just so captivating.

Eli spotted Leonie and did several pirouettes towards her, his own smile  brightening when he saw Leonie's grin. "Sorry, did you want to dance?"

Leonie shook her head. "No, I just saw you in here and thought I'd ask if you wanted a drink from the café?"

Eli shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm meeting Camryn and Isaac for some drinks later. Thank you though."

Leonie nodded, her eyes twinkling. She was still grinning. "Eli, that was amazing."

Eli blushed, looking down at the ground and chuckling. "Thank you. It felt wonderful. I haven't danced just for the sake of dancing since... my injury."

Leonie nodded, a sympathetic expression on her face. "I get it. Well, you're better now. Dance as much as you want! Take breaks though, of course. Learned that the hard way."

Eli nodded. "Will do." When Leonie still stood there awkwardly, Eli spoke again. "Would you like to dance together?"

Leonie's eyes widened and her face lit up. "Really? I'm not as good as you though."

"Nonsense", replied Eli. "You're a great dancer and it'd be an honour to dance with you."

Leonie smiled sweetly at him, tucking strands of hair behind her right ear. "It'd be an honour to dance with you too."

Eli held his hand out and Leonie took it, allowing him to gently guide her to the centre of the stage. He spun her around, before letting go of her hand. The pair did an arabesque each before doing as many pirouettes as they could. Eli did 20, and the usually clumsy Leonie managed to match this.

Eli, clearly favouring ballet today, did a cabriolé, a jump that both startled and impressed Leonie. Feeling out of her depth, Leonie started to incorporate some hip hop moves, as well as general freestyling.

Grinning, Eli joined in and the pair performed an impromptu ballet and hip hop fusion routine. The energy was electric. Dancers like Stanley thrived with an audience, mainly because they feed off the crowd's energy. Whilst the same could be said for Eli and Leonie, they were also the kind of dancers that loved to connect with their partners.

Unsure of how to end the dance, Leonie started to run towards Eli. Eli opened his arms up, but changed his mind at the last minute and made a circle with his arms, intending for Leonie to jump through it. Unable to change to fit Eli's modification, Leonie collided with him, sending the pair crashing to the ground.

Expecting for Leonie to be embarrassed, Eli was surprised when the girl started laughing gleefully. Her dimples poked through and her face turned a tomato red. Eli liked this Leonie. This was the Leonie he saw when he first joined the club. A lot had happened to them both, but Eli was glad to see she was slowly returning back to her former self. "I'm sorry Eli, I didn't hurt you did I?"

Eli shook his head. "Don't worry, my talent broke my fall", he joked, channelling his inner Darius.

Leonie giggled. "Aw, someone's cocky! No but honestly, you're so talented. I had a lot of fun dancing with you."

Eli smiled. "I had a lot of fun dancing with you too. I can't believe it's taken us this long."

"I know! Full disclosure, I've been wanting to dance with you ever since you joined the club", admitted Leonie.

Eli's eyes widened in surprise. "You did?", he questioned, before grinning.

"What is it?"

"So did I."

Leonie smiled brightly.

"I don't have to meet Camryn and Isaac for another hour. Would you like to grab a quick drink with me?", asked Eli.

"I'd love to", said Leonie. "But won't you be full?"

"One beverage can't hurt. As long as it's warm. I have an after dance tradition of having a warm beverage before any other drink", said Eli.

Leonie smiled. "Well then let me show you the best hot chocolate place in all of Moorside."

__________

I always wanted to explore the dance and friendship dynamic of Eli and Leonie.

I'll tag everyone in every chapter. This chapter is only about two people but it's the first chapter so I want to alert everyone to this book. If you only want to be tagged in chapters that involve your character(s), please let me know!

DoodleYeet

-cherrysvalanxe

CaptainHermioneSwan

yeonskosmos

gillioddities

The_Slytherclaw

starryeyedturtle