One thing you could always guarantee with dancers was their utter lack of fear when it came to returning after an injury. And despite the warnings about how weak her ankles were for ballet, Tali was just as fearless as her compatriots in the business. She'd hired a practice room at the Shanachie, preferring to make a fool of herself in private, despite the other rehearsals going on in the other rooms, and had spent an hour already very carefully warming herself up, going over movements to be absolutely certain of herself before now gently moving into the dance she had been learning before her accident.

Though new to town, Nate had quickly learned where he could go to get in a rehearsal, an audition, and to be with those with the same interests and tastes. Like minded people and all; he was what his friends called a dancing fool. Having obtained space at the Shanachie for practice, he arrived in the old building with a bag on his back and his tap shoes tied together and slung over his shoulder. Expecting the room to be dark when he got to it, Nate was in for a surprise when he pushed the door open and it was brightly lit. Not only brightly lit, but very occupied at the moment by a single ballet dancer. "Oh, I'm sorry luv." He quickly bowed his way backwards, tugging the door behind him.

As the door opened, Tali stumbled, jarring herself into an undignified heap in an attempt to spare her ankles the impact of a sudden stop and instead slamming her knee into the unforgiving polished boards of the floor. Swearing quietly, she looked up, one hand rubbing over that knee as a rueful smile touched her lips. "Oh, no, don't worry," she called to the, yes, handsome man trying to back out. "I've probably over-run my time. Sorry, I can be out in a couple of minutes."

"Oh, hey!" He hurried into the room when she fell to the ground. "Are you alright?" Concern clouded his dark features. His bag was dropped and he kneeled down beside her. "No, I think I was late getting here, or maybe in the wrong room."

She laughed gently, appreciative of his concern as he dropped to his knees beside her. "I'm fine," she assured him. "Serves me right for trying to stop a fall in the first place, doesn't it?" As discreetly as she could, she rolled her ankles, testing their strength as her eyes skimmed over him. "You're not ballet, are you?"

"No, tap." He answered with a smile. Though the movement was slight and discreet, Nate was smart enough to recognize it for what it was. He'd seen enough and had enough injuries to know when a dancer was checking the feelers for damages. "You ok?"

"Oh, I did a few years of tap before my mother decided on ballet." Tali smiled as he picked up easily on her gentle testing, blushing ever so slightly for being caught out. "I think I'm okay," she admitted. "Although I won't be going en pointe today. Or ever again, probably."

Nathan rolled to sitting on his bum. Reaching for his bag, he searched the contents and came out with a couple of water bottles. Not going en pointe for a ballerina was almost the same as not dancing at all. "What happened?" he questioned, holding out a bottle to her.

She rolled her eyes, that rueful smile reappearing as she took the water bottle gratefully. "Weak ankles, would you believe," she chuckled roughly, shaking her head as she took a sip from the bottle. "Thank you ....They didn't pick it up until a few weeks ago, and apparently, if I try to dance professionally again, I'll end up in a wheelchair. So career over at the age of twenty-two, and no bankable skills in the real world. Fun, huh?" The bitterness was well-covered with her laughing delivery, but it would be a long time before Tali would be able to laugh properly over her injury.

"That's a tough break," Nate commiserated with a shake of his head. He was also smart enough to know that once a dancer finds their passion, sliding over to another form of the art was rarely an option. "So you just do it for fun and pray you don't get hurt?" That's what he'd do, if he were in that situation. "I get that, luv."

"Well, this was my first attempt to dance again," she admitted with a shrug. "Doesn't bode well, does it?" Closing the bottle, she passed it back to him. "Thank you for that. I never really tried any other kind of dance, though. Maybe there's another style that won't put me in a wheelchair. You dance tap, you said?"

"Yep, tap. I think I'm pretty good at it." Of course there had been competitions, ribbons and trophies lining his closet back where he came from. But he wasn't one to brag. "You said you had a few classes before ballet burned into your veins?"

"From five to fourteen," she chuckled softly, twisting her hair out of its bun and into a ponytail. "I probably still fit in my taps; I haven't exactly grown much since." Another shrug lifted the cropped hem of her shirt high enough to skim the - thankfully covered - underside of her breasts. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry - I'm Tali Granger." Her hand reached over, offering a greeting a little late in their meeting.

"Should still," he paused as her shirt lifted up to expose some very nice flesh, "get a new pair if you're thinking of going back into tap. Nothing worse than too tight shoes or blisters from worn ones." He took her hand and shook it. "Nathan Kelley, luv. But you can call me Nate if you'd like."

"Well, I don't need shoes to remind myself of the steps, do I?" she chuckled softly, before his name sank in. Tali's brows rose as she looked him over. "You're Nathan Kelley. You are joking, aren't you? I obsessively went to every showing of Stomp and Tap Dogs I could afford back in England."

"No," he laughed softly at the first question. The second had him turning a soft shade of pink as he listened to her profession of being a fan. "Guilty, and you're too kind." The shows had been a blast to do, and he knew they had a large following. Nate simply hadn't expected anybody in Rhy'Din to ever have heard of them.

"Oh, I'm not," Tali scoffed laughingly. "Everyone in London who is anyone knows who you are, you're one of the best in the business! I was with the Royal Ballet," she explained belatedly, scratching her nose. "Never made it out of the chorus."

Nate lowered his head and put his hand to the back of his head. "Well, I don't know, luv..." he murmured in protest at his own celebrity. "Now there's a tough gig, Royal Ballet. And if the prima donna's contract wasn't set in stone, you'd have been a shoe in, I'm sure."

With a snap of his wrist, Nate twirled her, bringing her close to him. His hands dropped to her hips then. Grasping tightly, he bent and pushed her up and over his head.

Her spin into him was sharply perfectly, lacking the softness of ballet as her feet twinkled against the boards, her free hand laying easily to his shoulder as she found herself looking up at him. And yet, when he lifted her, she was ready to jump, easing the transition from ground to air as her body stiffened, holding the delicate lines of the balletic bird in flight for a long moment. "Brace yourself," she warned him laughingly, and dove down his back, curling her torso under his right arm as her body wrapped about his.

He kept his head up, watching her the entire time. When he felt her weight shift and heard her warning, he lowered his head slightly and tilted his hands back just enough to help her slide into the new position. His left hand left her hip as he reached in front of himself to support her by grabbing her under her arm pit. "Whoa, careful now, Slink." He chuckled and when he looked in the mirror, he definitely was impressed with what he saw.

Tali laughed, feeling utterly secure in his grasp - far safer, in fact, than she'd ever felt in the hands of the male ballerinos she had danced with in the past. "I've wanted to give this style a go for years," she admitted through her grin, holding on tightly. "Although I have no idea how to get out of this position with dignity."

"Well, no time like the present," he grinned, and whether he referred to her giving tap a go or getting down with dignity, he'd never tell. With her firmly in his grip with his left hand, he bent and grabbed her waist with his right. Nate quickly straightened his knees, bumping his behind in the air and effectively tossing Tali over his shoulder to land on her feet in front of him. "Like that?"

There was a moment of panic as she realised she was going to have to land entirely by herself, remembering all too clearly the pain of spraining her ankle a little over a month before. But the landing was perfect, far easier in bare feet than toe shoes, and resulted in a delighted laugh that had her flinging her arms around his neck and giggling. "Oh, you have no idea what a relief it is to be able to do that!"

It had been a calculated risk that paid off in spades. His arms went around her and he lifted her in a tight hug. "Thank goodness you didn't get hurt." He laughed as he spun her around and put her back down. "You ready for some water?" Disengaging from the hug that left his body a little more tense than he liked during dance time, he turned to bend and pick up his bag.

Herself a little surprised by her reaction, Tali released Nate with a slightly embarrassed smile, stepping back from him with a nod. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea," she agreed, blatantly enjoying the view he presented as he bent down before hurriedly turning her gaze away in the hopes that he hadn't caught her looking. "I'm so sorry, I'm taking up all your rehearsal time."

"Oh no, no, no, no!" He grabbed the bottles and as he turned, tossed one in her direction. "I've not had this much fun rehearsing in a long, long time." A towel was brought out, then another and he tossed her one of those, as well. First a deep pull from the bottle of water, then a swipe over his face with the towel to remove the sweat. "I actually prefer having a partner to bounce ideas off while I bounce them off of my hip." He grinned playfully.

"But you dance alone so much," she pointed out with a smile, gratefully wiping the sweat from her face and neck before slipping back into her cropped sweater. Had to keep the muscles warm, which was why she had yet to stand still, flicking her feet out and bouncing on her toes as they talked. "Is that out of choice, or haven't you found anyone who can keep up yet?"

Nate kept moving about, shaking out his legs by flicking small kicks and pointing his toes. "Nobody to put up with me," he chuckled and spun around. "I can be pretty demanding when I get a partner. Most prima donnas can't stand to be told what to do." He stopped, folding his arms over his chest and looking at her. "And I'm a perfectionist."

"You're a dancer, we're all perfectionists," she chuckled. "So I assume you're absolutely horrified by my technique, then." Her grin widened, knowing that it was the truth, but curious to see if he would actually admit to it to her face.

"Actually, no." He observed her with a skilled eye. "You've got a lot of talent and potential. I can work with you, mold you, create the perfect tap dancer." He grinned then and shook his head. "Sounds narcissistic but really, if we work together, both of us can become stronger dancers."

Her brow rose as she eyed him, not entirely sure she wanted to be moulded into something she wasn't. "Why do I have to be a perfect tap dancer?" she asked mildly. "Why not create a style that suits both of us, one you can show off in as much as you like?"

"I was kidding, luv. Pulling your chain?" He shook his head and laughed. "Not so serious, hmm?" He could feel his muscles cooling down and decided it was for the better, he'd had enough of dance for the moment. "Besides, isn't that what I just said" If we work together, we can become stronger."

Feeling her muscles beginning to cramp gently, Tali lowered herself down onto the studio floor, carefully warming herself down in a series of light stretches. "We can rebuild you, we have the technology," she chuckled softly, settling easily into wide splits that barely even tugged at her.

"That's the spirit!" Nate sat down on the floor, facing her, as he began doing his own stretching regime. "So why here" Why the Shanachie" Isn't the ballet troupe across town?" He canted his head and looked at her curiously.

Tali's eyes lowered as she leaned forward, turning her stretch outward with an arch of her back. "I'd rather not have humiliated myself in front of professional ballet dancers if it turned out I couldn't pointe anymore," she confessed awkwardly. "They're the b*tchiest group in the business."

"Makes sense," he agreed and placed his legs straight out in front of himself. Reaching forward, he grabbed his ankles and folded himself over his legs. "Like I said, prima donnas don't like to be told what to do and they feast upon themselves if they see any signs of weakness. Why anybody would want to be a prima ballerina is beyond me." He hadn't meant to be cruel, it as a personal observation. "You didn't make prima because you're not a b*tch."

"I can't understand how I managed it, with my mother," she laughed, drawing herself into a curled ball, wrapping her arms around her knees as her toes wriggled, comfortable now her muscles had relaxed. A thought occurred to her. "So we will be doing this regularly, then" Or are you just teasing me?"

"I eat!" Tali protested, giggling despite the slightly alarming way his elbow impacted with her ribs quite solidly. "Just not as much as other people, that's all." Grinning, she nudged him back. "Just because I'm not built like a brick sh*thouse doesn't mean I can't dance!" With a flicker of a wink, she skipped in through the nearest door, which happened to be a greasy spoon.

"I'm built like a brick sh*thouse?" He looked down at himself briefly as he caught the door and walked into the greasy spoon behind her. He pondered what a man-shaped brick sh*thouse might look like. It seemed rather....gross. "Anyway, it smells fantastic in here!" He slid into a booth and pat the table in front of himself. "C'mon, Skinny Minnie. We're going to get some meat on those bones."

"I do have meat!" Tali realised she was spending quite a lot of this conversation defending herself with indignant protestations that just repeated what he was saying about her. "Are you saying I'm shaped like a boy now?" She slid in opposite him, taking the opportunity to kick his shin very gently with her soft-sneakered foot.

"A boy with boobs," Nate laughed and then scowled at her kick. It was more of a mixed expression, actually. The scowl failed miserably when he laughed again, humor always seemed to win out. "So what?s good here" I think a thick, juicy cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard sounds boss. And then a double order of fries, covered with gravy and melted cheese....mmm...."

"Bloody hell, I hope you're joking," she laughed again, shocked by the sheer amount of food he was talking about. "I was thinking about mushrooms, an egg, a tomato, and a slice of fried bread, myself." Small portion, yes, but pretty high in fat for a ballerina.

"I am," he grinned and leaned forward on his elbows, folding his hands in front of himself. "The fries and a chef's salad will make a good lunch, I think." Sometimes, just sometimes Nathan could be sensible! "Ah, here comes the waitress now."

It was an easy enough thing to place their orders, and within a couple of minutes of those orders placed, their drinks were brought over. Predictably enough, there was no coffee or tea for Tali; instead, she was drinking hot water with a slice of lemon, a habit learned years ago to suppress her appetite. She watched Nathan covertly as he ordered. There was no denying that he was very handsome, certainly, but he had an easy charm about him, too, an enthusiasm that made him very easy to talk to. If she'd met him anywhere else, she would never have taken him for a dancer, having spent her life among the uptight and uncomfortable world of the corps de ballet.

"So this routine you want to pitch to the owner of the theater," she said quietly, leaning forward with her hands wrapped around her mug. "What were you thinking of for the music?"

"Well," he lifted his glass of water and took a sip before putting it down. "I was thinking that we'd start with some of the more traditional, old fashioned jazzy-jivvy kind of stuff, then take a tour around Earth, as I know it. Some Latin, some African....it can all be groovy." He grinned at her from across the table, seeing not just a dancer but an instant friend. She seemed to understand him completely and was the very first ballerina that he'd met that didn't look down her nose at him. It was quite refreshing.

"So you want to travel through the different styles with the music," she mused thoughtfully, setting her chin in one hand as she looked across the table at him. "Ending up where" Obviously we can't go into fully technical ballet."

"Well, no." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "But we can give a small taste of it. I mean, the lifts and postures, you know" It's not impossible. And if we have a small troupe with us, it could be easier. Lots of costume changes....hey! That's it!"

She jumped, startled by the sudden spike in his enthusiasm enough to put her mug down in a hurry. "What's it, what did I miss?" she asked hurriedly, blinking in surprise even as she smiled.

His eyes grew wide as he got very excited with his new idea. "I saw a comedy act once. Guy had a floppy felt kind of hat and he made all sorts of kinds of hats with it. We can do that. We can do a trip around the world, in a hat!" He sat back, nodding as the images were coming to him fast and furious. "What do you think?"

"In a hat ..." Tali was having difficulty visualising this, and it showed in the smiling bemusement on her face. "Do you mean changing the hats as we change styles, or are you talking about something rather more burlesque than I have the figure for here?"

He gave her an odd, confused look for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Oh yes, me in burlesque. With my chicken legs." Another shake of his head and laugh before he continued. "No, changing the hats and costumes on the fly though. And it's not really changing the hats, just the shape of them."

"It would be an easier routine, or show, to stage with a troupe rather than just the two of us," she pointed out with a smile. "I don't really want to knacker myself out on the first night so badly I can't get up the next day."

"That was my thought, too." he sat back and his eyes darted from door to window to table to door as he thought. "Maybe the hat's not the answer, but we'll come up with something, I'm sure."

"That's why I thought we should start with the music," she chuckled warmly, leaning back as their food was brought over to them. "Once we have even one routine to one song, we can start to build around it. But I think one song at a time, don't you, Nathan, darling?"

He leaned back as well and picked up knife and fork. "Of course you're right." He smiled, then picked up a fry. He took a bite into it and grinned as he chewed. "So, what music do you like?"

"Anything with a good beat to follow," she told him openly, cutting up her small plate of food. It was obvious that she was known here - the portion was smaller than most people would get. "But I like dances that have some kind of story to follow, rather than simply showing off technical style. What about you?"