[PRP] Duet (Lume x Rio del Cor x Pintala)

[Kaliforneum]

Lume sighed dramatically, rolling over onto his back so he could warm his belly with the afternoon sun. It was a surprisingly crisp day, and Lume found himself wanting to do nothing more than finding a nice tree and sleeping in it for the rest of the day. But noooooooo. No, his mother had insisted on more dance lessons. Always dance lessons. Lume got it, he really did. Family legacy, tradition, blah blah blah. But why his his mother think he needed to learn more? Lume was already great at dancing. Almost as good as his mother, thanks to the dexterous cheetah blood in his veins. Really, he didn't need to be instructed on anything else.
The leotah sighed again, just in case his mother hadn't heard him the first time. Pointless pointless pointless. It was a rare thing for him to say no to his mother, and a near impossible one to say no to his sister, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

The Captain Britain

 

[The Captain Britain]

Kaliforneum

Rio frowned at her son, giving him a warning glare. That boy. Always going off and thinking he was so much better than he actually was. He had the talent to become a great dancer, but his work lacked the passion that brought substance to technique. Lume could to all the fancy flips and spins he wanted to. But if there wasn't any emotion behind them, he might as well be standing still. Besides, this lesson wasn't for Lume. Rather, it was for Pinta. Rio loved her daughter, but the poor girl was having a lot of trouble getting a hang of the art. She tried very hard, but something just wasn't clicking with her. Rio hoped that dancing with her brother would help Pinta improve.
Pinta herself giggled at the glare Rio was giving Lume. "Oooh, you're in trouble." Pinta teased, tail flicking happily. Deep down inside, she was actually feeling quite nervous. She knew that Rio spent much more time trying to teach her to dance than her brother, who had been skilled ever since Pinta was a little child chasing her big brother around. Pinta could always see the slight frowns of disappointment, the flickered ears of frustration in her mother when Pinta tried anything remotely advanced. She couldn't do it. She really couldn't. Pinta's talents were in her voice, her singing. In the mornings she would harmonize with the songbirds, taking delight when they even sung back to her. But dancing? Dancing was a whole other story.  

[Kaliforneum]

Lume flipped back over, not even bothering to give his mother the satisfaction of having his attention. The leotah took a playful swipe at his kid-sister. "Oh yeah? Keep talking and you'll be the one in trouble." He gave a fake snarl, clicking his teeth together. Even though they were both adults, there were many times where they still acted like kids. Lume could remember when Pinta had been first born, no larger than one of his own paws. He'd barely reached adulthood at that point. At first he'd been annoyed, his mother forcing him to stay extra close to hunt and help look after the whiny cubs with their unending energy and needle-sharp teeth. But very quickly he'd grown to love all his younger half-siblings, playing elephant and hide-and-go-seek and tag and always letting them win. He'd almost been as sad as his mother when they left. At least he'd managed to convince Pinta to stay behind.

The Captain Britain

 

[The Captain Britain]

Kaliforneum

Rio wanted to be angry at her children. She really did. But it warmed her heart to see her children teasing and playing with each other. Not that her heart wasn't always warm, of course. She came from a line of very hot-blooded women.
"If you two are finished, I am wanting to begin." Rio commanded gently. She sat in front of her children, tail curling elegantly around her paws as always. "Now. You are both dancers. Bailarines. It is the sacred art of our ancestors, and something you will one day teach your children." Rio pointedly did not look at her son, Lume. He was a hybrid, and the chances of him being able to have children were near impossible. Which was a shame. He had such a talent for dance. "Dancing is not just a solo art. Many times it is done in tandem, with another partner. And that is what we will be practicing today."

Pintala perked up excitedly. She and Lume had done dance-offs before, trading moves and both trying to show off, but they hadn't actually danced together. The young leopardess was excited to give it a try. "Whaddya say, dance partner? Think we'll nail it?" Lume had never cared about Pinta's mediocre dancing abilities, not like their mother did. He was always so encouraging and casual. It put Pinta at ease. Dancing with him would be a thousand times better than trying to take instructions from Rio.  

[Kaliforneum]

Lume grinned toothily, sneering a little. "If you think you can keep up with me, slow poke." The male twitched his head, throwing his bangs out of his eyes. He winced internally. That come out wrong. In truth, Pinta couldn't keep up with him. It wasn't that she didn't try. She really did. But dancing was...not her forte. And Rio, their mother, tried hard to his her disappointment, but Lume could see it. So Lume always tried to keep things light and fun as much as possible. Sometimes to his mother's chagrin. Besides, he had never really been as passionate about dancing as Rio was. To his mother, it was their "sacred duty." To him, it was maybe a hobby. If that. And it wasn't as if he didn't notice Rio's little quip about children. The leotah barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Whatever. It's not like he wanted cubs anyways. He didn't have time for them. Sure, playing with other's cubs was fun, and perhaps one day if Pinta had cubs he'd help raise them. Fatherhood just wasn't his own personal game. Plus it meant he'd have to be more careful about his time with the ladies. And that? That was so not happening anytime soon.

The Captain Britain

 

[The Captain Britain]

Kaliforneum

Rio pursed her lips, though fondly. When came time for work to be done, Rio was all about getting it done without much delay. Still, her family had always been her soft spot. "If you two are quite finished, we will begin. Come now, come now." Rio gestured for her children to stand and make their way over the to flat, dirt-covered ground. The earth was fairly loose, not the best for dancing. The perfect conditions were dirt that just slightly damp. Not wet enough to remove the ground of its traction, but just enough to prevent huge clouds or clods from flying up all over the place. Unfortunately, today's dance lesson could get a little dusty. "Now, I want you both to start a pace apart, facing each other. When you are ready, begin circling each other." The female instructed.
Pinta hopped up and did as her mother instructed, a tiny pit of anxiety growing in her stomach. What if she wasn't going to be good at it? What if she messed up and her mother got mad at her again? Pinta frowned and swallowed thickly as she took her place, looking at the ground in front of her instead of Lume before her.  

[Kaliforneum]

The male tried to give his sister an encouraging smile, but she was resolutely not looking in his direction. Lume sighed. He understood where their mother's heart was at, but he wished she would stop trying to push Pinta. Perhaps he would trip up a little at some point during their exercise to make Pinta feel better. Or she would see it for what it really was and then Lume would have made her feel more embarrassed. It really was a no-win situation. Might as well get it over with though.
Lume began to move, signaling for his sister to start as well. He widened their circle as he stepped. If they did spins, then Pinta would need more room to move. Lume was simply more flexible than her, his mother included. His cheetah heritage had given him the advantage of speed and dexterity in his dances. He could curve and bend his spin in ways that Rio and Pinta couldn't. It made up for his complete disregard for the intricacies of technique that his mother was so fond of. If he actually bothered to pay any attention to learning those, to put effort into improving his dancing styles, then he would be quite skilled indeed. Instead, Lume preferred his energy to go towards more entertaining pursuits. Like alligator jumping. Now that required skill. In fact, it had been a while since he'd done it...Lume shook his head, refocusing on the dance and waiting for Rio's next command.

The Captain Britain

 

[The Captain Britain]

Kaliforneum

Rio watched as her children began to move, her eyes sharp and calculating.
"Look directly at each other. Do not look at your feet," Rio ignored the slight flinch Pinta made, "Your feet will know where to go. You are partners. Use each other as your marker, a your target.". Rio shifted onto a rock just about as high as her shoulder so that she could see what Lume and Pinta were doing. It was a goodthing that Lume was leading. Rio herself had no qualms about whether or not males should always be in the lead, as Rio had often lead in dances, but in this case, Lume was the most skilled. Pinta would do well to try and mirror her brother. But it would be good to push Pinta a little bit first. "You will be using each other as a reflection. What one does, the other will copy. Pinta. Add a motion to the circling."

Pinta huffed a little. Maybe Rio's feet knew where to go, but hers certainly didn't! She was having a tough time trying to maintain a circular path in general. And now her mother wanted her to start doing extra stuff? Yeesh! "Okay, um, how about..." A loud shushing noise from her mother quickly cut her off. Pinta scowled. Okay. Fine. No talking. The leopardess supposed she could do this without words. Pinta rolled her body in a dip, beginning with her head and ending with a lashing tail. She took a few more steps, four to be exact, and then repeated the same motion.  

[Kaliforneum]

The Captain Britain

Do you want to move future RPs with the family to AIM? I can log them all if you want. I know you mentioned it might be easier for you.

Lume smirked a little at his mother. Typical Rio. "Dance was about wordless communcation this", and "Words ruin rhythm that." But Lume had danced to Pinta's singing before, and he thought it added a lot to the dance. Rio loved showing stories through the art of movement, but Pinta could actually sing them! It was pity his mother hadn't come to appreciate this.
Lume followed his sister's motions, matching them perfectly. It was a basic step, but even the most basic moves could add a lot to a routine if done right, or even if combined. It was his turn to add a move. The male suddenly jumped, performing the body roll in the air. It made it more difficult, but at least it wasn't a spin. Lume knew how terrible Pinta was a spinning, whereas Lume considered them his favourite move. With his cheetah characteristics, he could spin faster, tighter, and longer than his mother. Lume could perform an entire dance of just spinning if he wanted to. Not to mention that in battle, well timed spins with extended claws were a hard-to-dodge move that Lume made use of quite often. Plus a simple spin dodge was almost too easy to use against those big, blundering lions.
Wow, what Lume would give to be sparring right now instead of dancing. If only Pinta would let him teach her some basic self defense moves.  

[The Captain Britain]

Kaliforneum

Yes! We need to chat about the family plot. I was waiting to see you back on AIM. Glad you got your computer stuff fixed.

This is the last one from me.

Pinta wanted to growl at Lume for adding the move that he did. Jumping and doing a body roll? Why couldn't he have kept things super simple? But Pinta knew Rio would be livid if Pinta broke face in the middle of a dance, so she kept her mouth shut, trying to sync up with her brother's movements. It wasn't going too well. Lume was much faster than she was, more dexterous. Her jumps were taking longer than his, and Pinta found herself losing her rhythm. Frustrated, she tried picking up her own pace. It wasn't that Lume was necessarily going faster than her. She guessed this was actually an easy pace for him. But Pinta, already a bad dancer, didn't like going fast at all. And when she tried to speed up, she usually ended up making mistakes.
Distracted by trying to keep up with Lume and busy thinking about what move to add in next, Pinta lost track of where her paws were. At the end of her next jump, the dancer landed on the side of her paw, twisting it and falling into a lump on the ground. "Ow!!! Ow ow ow!"

"Pinta! You lose concentration! You must focus when you dance." Rio snapped. Why couldn't Pinta understand the art of her people? Lume had taken it up with ease, and Rio at Pinta's age had been leagues beyond her daughter in grace and technique. But no matter how much she tried to teach Pinta, the girl never seemed to learn. "You forget your basics. You must feel the dance, not think about it!" The leopard stamped her paw. Pinta was her daughter. She just wanted the best for her.

Pinta's head snapped up, glaring hard at her mother. "I've told you, I can't dance! I'll never be able to!" The young female rose to her feet, injured paw raised slightly in the air. It wasn't sprained, but it hurt to put weight on it. "You don't even care that I got hurt. You just care that I can't dance." Voice shaking, the female turned and hobbled away as fast as she could, ignoring her mother calling out behind her.  

[Kaliforneum]

Lume scowled at his mother. "Really? That's how you handle this sort of situation?" The male glanced in the direction his sister had gone. Great. Now, not only was his day completely ruined, but he had to play therapist for the family. Jeez. "Give her a break, would ya? She's obviously never gonna be as good as you. Stop trying to force her." He snapped.
Looks like he would be going after Pinta to play damage control. Lovely. He loved his sister, but touchy-feely crap wasn't exactly his piece of gazelle. Still, it would be better if he went and talked to her instead of their mother. No doubt Rio was the last person Pinta wanted to see. Plus he needed to make sure Pinta's paw wasn't sprained or broken. She'd been limping on it when she had run.
"You stay here. I'm gonna go talk to her." He called over his shoulder as he trotted off after his sister, paws moving easily over the savanna dirt.

The Captain Britain

Roooger dodger!