Asking Andy if he was okay seemed like a needed thing to do to Danae, even if it wasnât necessarily the most. She liked to think that she knew Andy well enough, sure it had been a year but that couldnât have changed too much about the kind of person that he was. Which meant she had a pretty decent idea of how hard this could potentially be for him, whether he would admit to it or not. It was his follow-up answer about it being easier since they knew each other that had the girl sucking through her teeth thoughtfully. âIf itâs too weird, though, justâ let me know.â She offered, leveling him with a subtly serious look. It wasnât the full presentation of stepping out, of completely giving him the option to have her not even try this first, but it was something. Vera was waving them apart before they could really speak too much more on the subject. There were a few moments of example given, Danae attentive on what the choreographer was showing to them. It was easier for her to give examples now that Andy was there and she could showcase the pair dancing that was being done, even though she was showing Andy just as much as she was showing Danae.
She watched as Vera did the slow counts with Andy first. They were running through it a second time, right at the point where Vera dropped backward and Andy caught her with one arm, then did the same with the second arm, when familiarity clicked in Danaeâs brain. It evidently had in Veraâs, too, because she paused in the instruction before she was meant to turn so that her back was to Andyâs chest. âWait, you shouldnât have a problem with that one, right? âCause you did a similar one in Pullinâ My Hair withââ Vera cut off, realization dawning on her once again. Danae kept a straight face, tone dry and flat when she said, âWith Scott. Yeah.â âIâm sorry, that was super insensitive, I didnât even think about it before I said it. I just remembered the video and it hit me. Iâm so sorry.â The young woman apologized hurriedly, shaking her head. Danae shrugged and pushed off the wall she leaned against. âAfter that itâs a half turn to have my back against him? His hands down my sides, my hands down his neck, turn my face, then step off. Thatâs all before we get to the next point, right?â Danae clarified, indicating both that she had been paying attention and that she was dismissing the other brief subject matter. Moving to her starting spot a short distance from Andy, she took a moment to look over his face, though tried not to dwell on any expression lingering there as she nodded a go ahead for the music to play again.
As the music began and Vera started doing the counts for them along with it, Danae stayed focused on the task at hand. This was a job, after all. Regardless of who she was doing it with, she took it seriously, and it was important that she still did her best work, stayed committed to the presented artistry. Which - potentially unfortunately - meant that she was very good at doing what was required of her; the fluidity of her body, the swaying in closer, the drags of her hands. Maybe it was the fact that it was Andy she was doing the dance with that made her so much more hyper-aware of it all. She certainly didnât think she was so attentive when she had worked on other videos in the past. Attentive enough to do a good job, sure, but not attentive enough to know how good she was doing, how present she was with who she was with. They started from the top and also ran through the section a second time, ending right with Danaeâs back to his chest and Andyâs hand tilting her jaw to look back at him just before she stepped away from him. Vera clicked off the music and let them know they could take five before they ran through it a couple more times, straighten out any remaining little kinks. Moving over to where sheâd left her water bottle, Danae picked it up to drink from it as she moved back over to Andy, brows lifted over her drink before it lowered from her mouth. âStill doinâ alright?â
He hoped that he was capable of holding himself together at least for appearances sake, this music video was going to be good for him, maybe even a break he needed into the music world and he didnât wane to have anything take away from the hard work heâd been putting in for the last year. Even though he probably should have taken the out Danae was offering him for more than one reason, he wasnât going to. His head shook the tiniest bit, brow creased downwards. âIâm good.â His lips twitched upwards in a small smile. He was going to do his best to keep this professional, even if they were going to be in each others space in ways they absolutely had been before. Thankfully though, before he could dwell even more on the fact that he was going to be dancing very intimately and ultimately kissing his ex girlfriend, Vera was waving them apart to start rehearsing.Â
He was paying close attention to the counts and what she wanted him to do with his hands and with his body, he was a fast learner, but dancing had never been something heâd put much into because heâd never had to do it. Still, he was trying. Learning the next sequence, he listened as it was explained then practiced it with Vera before Danae was going to step in. His expression changed as the two women spoke though, not missing the name of the song Danae had done a video for with Scott, and not missing the way Danae flatly said his name either. He hadnât done much checking up on Danae after sheâd broken up, he put a lot of his energy into music after, moving to New York and recording an EP then moving to LA himself, and even though he knew she was there heâd never reached out to her, why would he, considering. Still, something bothered him about the way Vera apologized and the way Danae had said Scottâs name, like bad blood was there and he didnât know about it. As she stood in front of him, he looked at her with a vaguely confused and concerned expression before they went back into the rehearsing.Â
It was all happening pretty easily, Andy was getting the movements and Danae was doing them perfectly, as he would have expected from her. Still, like heâd hoped it might, the being close with her, making the intimacy work between them wasnât hard, and he didnât know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, the fact that it felt natural to touch her even if it didnât feel natural to dance yet. Stepping off to the side to check his phone when they were waved off for a brake, Andyâs gaze followed Danae over to her water bottle then stayed on her as she came back over to him. Stuffing his phone in his pocket with a quick text back to Rylee, he nodded his head with a smile. âYeah, Iâm alright.â He cleared his throat, leaning back against the mirror. âIt is easier, it being you not some random stranger Iâve got to dance with, I decided.â Andy lulled his head in her direction, a tiny smile on his face but it faltered a bit, thinking back to the moment when Vera apologized quickly after making a comment. âWhat was Vera talking about, earlier, when she apologized?â His face scrunched up a bit, shaking his head. âSorry, itâs not really any of my business, you donât have to answer that.âÂ