Chapter Text
All the small things
True care, truth brings
I’ll take one lift
Your ride, best trip
Always I know
You’ll be at my show
Watching, waiting, commiserating
Say it ain’t so
I will not go
Turn the lights off
Carry me home!
-“All the Small Things” by Blink 182
It’s the small things in life that make it worth living, if you ask me.
I was a worker drone, like many people in my age group—spending my 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday hours in an office doing administrative work, unfortunately trying to “live” for the weekend most of the time. The work never changed. It was the same items delivered to the same people over and over again, always neat and collated and punctual. It paid the bills just fine, but nothing excessive thanks to mountains of bills and debts to be paid, but I had only minor complaints.
One of the very few pleasures that I had during the weekday was unusual, to be sure, but I had long since stopped questioning how I got my tiny moments of joy by now. Every day at one o’clock in the afternoon, I left my desk and took my lunch hour. I rode the elevator down to the ground floor, walked down the steps, along the sidewalk, and two blocks over to a nice little fountain in the city square. Since I cooked, I seldom had to go buy lunch and my favorite bench was always open since everyone else was bustling about getting food or returning from their noon lunches. The fountain was always clean and pretty and the rushing water blocked out most of the noise of the nearby cars and chatting people.
But that wasn’t why I always sat here.
Across the street was a lovely little dance studio. It had grown in popularity recently, so the classes were mostly full and the instructor always began promptly at one-fifteen, which always gave me enough time to walk over to my spot and eat my lunch.
Why was I watching the dance studio every work day?
Well, that would be because of one Loki Laufeyson, the dance studio’s owner.
And the single most gorgeous man I’d ever fucking seen in my life.
Loki was about 6’3’’ with long, long legs and long, long arms and a lithe, sculpted chest, broad shoulders, sparkling blue eyes, a devilish grin, sooty black hair, and the grace of a god, which was probably why his name was Loki. He always wore a sleeveless shirt and fitted track pants. He taught a variety of dance styles, from ballroom dancing to merengue to tap dancing. I’d never seen a man move so smoothly and beautifully in everything he did, as if it were effortless, merely child’s play to him, and he did all of that while being that tall and that handsome.
Now, don’t misunderstand—I was not stalking him. I really did eat my lunch, check my phone, read a book, etcetera. The bench also wasn’t directly in front of the studio, so I wasn’t being obvious and distracting to them. It was a fair distance between them and me and there were cars and buses and such in between us.
But I got just a tiny kick out of getting to peek in at his classes. Naturally, it was majority women, but there were always a few men—straight and gay both—mixed in as well and they always seemed to be having a blast. It really wasn’t just that Loki was fetching. I always felt this…joy exuding from his students. They really had a good time in there with him learning the art of dance, and by proxy, it warmed my heart. I was always happy to see others happy, even after all I’d been through in my life. There was something comforting about it. The world was a nasty place, but this dance studio had warmth and a liveliness to it that I hadn’t seen anywhere else.
It was finally Friday. I’d had a long, murderous week. A few people in my department were out with a cold, so I’d had to pick up the slack, which meant I’d worked thrice as much volume as usual in the same forty-hour work week. I finally made it to my favorite bench and flopped into it with a sigh, shutting my eyes and leaning my head back for a minute to try and decompress. I listened to the roar of the fountain and took some deep breaths to calm my frazzled nerves.
“Long day?”
I opened my eyes.
And there stood the upside-down visage of Loki the dance instructor.
I yelped and sat upright, whirling around in panic. He had an utterly sinful voice with a British accent to top it off. It was the kind of voice you’d expect to hear in your ear in the middle of the night while you were getting fucked into the mattress. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!”
He held up one hand, chuckling. “I’m the one who startled you, darling, no need to apologize.”
“I-I know, I just didn’t mean to seem rude, um…” I glanced nervously at his studio and then back at him. Uh-oh. I had a bad feeling about him being out here. “Can I, um, help you with something?”
“Actually, yes, you can,” he said, tucking his hands into his pockets. He had a long-sleeved white shirt on today instead of the sleeveless one, maybe because he wasn’t inside right now. “I’ve saved a spot for you in my Monday evening lessons.”
My jaw dropped. “You…what?”
Loki arched a dark eyebrow. “I have an open slot for ballroom dancing. I think you’ll fit in quite nicely there, so I thought I’d get your name so I can pencil you in.”
I sputtered for a few seconds. “Sir, I—please, I’m sorry if I’m disrupting you and your class—I really didn’t mean any harm, I’ll go now, I promise—”
I hurriedly grabbed my lunch box and stood up, moving towards the sidewalk, but he intercepted me. “No, no, love, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not upset. You’re not disrupting my class at all.”
I blushed furiously. “I’m sorry, really, I swear, I’m not stalking you or anything, I just—”
“Would you please relax and stop apologizing?” he asked firmly. I shut up then and nodded too many times.
“Breathe,” he said. “In. Out. In. Out. That’s it, go on.”
I obeyed, gradually calming a little from my flustered state. “There. Now then, let me explain. I’ve seen you out here and you look like you might want to join in, but you also look like an introvert, so I figured that must be why you hadn’t stopped in to check my rates or openings. What I’m offering is private lessons, just a half hour each, on Monday nights after you get off of work. Given the consistency of your schedule and your attire, I figured you must work in one of the office buildings nearby, so you could simply bring an outfit to change into afterward and then go home before it gets dark. My usual client at that time has canceled for good, so there is an opening. It probably won’t come around again for a while, so I thought it prudent to have you fill that slot instead.”
“B-But you don’t understand,” I said, swallowing hard. “It’s, um, it’s not just that I’m shy. I have no rhythm. At all. Zero coordination.”
I pointed to my flats. “I don’t wear heels. I have narrow feet and I can tip over at any given second because my balance is so bad. That’s, um, that’s why I sort of live vicariously through your students.”
“My darling, I am a very talented instructor,” he said, batting his eye lashes, his grin widening. “I am more than certain I can turn you from an awkward little gosling into a beautiful swan on the dance floor.”
I blushed even harder, fidgeting madly with the strap to the lunch box. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t think I’d be a good fit. I mean, you’re so talented and I can’t even slow dance without falling flat on my face. Ballroom dancing is for graceful people, not klutzes like me.”
Loki studied me for a moment. “Alright, love, I’ll make you a deal. You give me five sessions with you. Just five. If you get through an entire song with me flawlessly, then you’ll join my main class. If not, I won’t charge you a single thin dime for six months and we’ll continue our one-on-one sessions.”
I blinked at him. “But…sir, that’s ridiculous. You don’t know me. I could just intentionally screw it up to get the free classes for six months.”
Loki’s smile softened around the edges. “Ah, but you see, my love, I have an impeccable eye. Just as you’ve been observing me, I have observed you. I think not only do you have the talent, but also the integrity and the desire to succeed. You may be shy and awkward and have two left feet, but the way that you smile when you watch my dancers tells me more about you than anything you’ve said to me so far.”
I didn’t know what to say to that at all.
Loki offered his hand. “Do we have a deal, love?”
I stared up at him, the sunshine beaming down and illuminating that handsome face. That would be insane. I couldn’t possibly make a fool of myself in front of him—hell, in front of a whole class potentially. No, no, I would just have to politely decline the offer and find somewhere else to eat lunch.
Although…
He wasn’t wrong.
I’d had little daydreams about being swept off my feet by those powerful arms. Spinning on my toes, my hair fluttering around me, just as skilled and talented as any one of his pupils. Wouldn’t that be nice? To shut out the boring doldrum parts of my life and try something new.
I bit my lower lip, brushing my hair out of my face. “Um…are you sure? I mean, I don’t want you to make an exception.”
His eyes gleamed. Now that I’d finally seen him up close, I could see a beautiful ring of green at the center of those blue eyes. “I only make exceptions for exceptional women.”
Oh God, that was so eloquent. I’d never survive him.
But I’d also never forgive myself if I passed up this opportunity.
Slowly, I took his hand and shook it once, my voice cracking but my tone firm as I told him my name. “Deal.”
Loki brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it, winking at me. “Six o’clock Monday night, my darling. Not a minute after the hour or I shall punish you.”
With that, he simply spun on his heel and headed back towards his studio, the sun at his back.