DWTS Prompts and Imagines

Preference #1: First Meeting

Derek

You went in for the first day of rehearsal with your celebrity dance partner. You were a bit nervous, because it was your first season on the show, and you wanted to do well. You were worried that you might be the first person to go home, or that the fans wouldn't like you and wouldn't vote for you.

It was only seven in the morning, so you were about an hour early for rehearsal. You used this time to go warm up and get your jitters out, knowing you'd be no good trying to teach your partner how to dance if you were too nervous to focus.

After you stretched a while, you still had some extra time before your partner arrived for rehearsal, so you decided to try and loosen yourself up. Hooking your iPod up to the stereo, you turned on one of your favorite songs and closed your eyes, dancing by yourself. Some movements were actual snippets of dance; others were just you moving to the beat.

"Oops!" You hadn't heard the door open, but you heard the voice that came after. You whipped around and saw Derek Hough standing in the doorway, smiling like he was trying to contain a laugh. "Sorry, I didn't realize this room was taken."

"It's fine," you said, scratching the back of your neck awkwardly as your cheeks blazed with embarrassment.

"Nice moves," he said as he began to pull the door shut. "I like that song, too."

Mark

You couldn't help your sweet tooth. It was important to eat healthy and stay in shape, especially when training for a dance competition, but...you also really loved candy. Every day for lunch, alongside your salad and chicken and fruit, you also packed a bag of skittles.

In many ways, you were an early bird. You loved sleeping in, but if you had something to do in the morning, like rehearsal, then you were up extra early. Your rehearsal started an hour earlier than other rehearsals simply for this reason. That also meant that you went to lunch a bit earlier.

You were sitting cross-legged at a table in the studio, munching on skittles and scrolling through your phone. There were only two tables in the eating area, so you didn't mind it when somebody came and sat next to you at the table. You were all done with your lunch, enjoying the last few minutes of your break by eating candy and reading Yahoo articles on your phone.

It was quiet for a few minutes, before you decided to break the silence and look up from your phone. When you did, you saw it was one of the other male pros sitting next to you, but you didn't remember his name off the top of your head.

"Hey," you called, trying to grab his attention. He looked up at you. "Want some skittles?"

He looked down at the skittles before smiling. "These are my favorite," he said, popping some into his mouth. "I'm Mark, by the way."

You smiled, beginning to realize how cute he was. You introduced yourself, and moved the bag of skittles between the two of you so you could share.

Maks

Understandably, a common pastime among professional dancers was going out to salsa clubs. Derek, Julianne, and some of the other pros on the show had invited you out to the clubs numerous times, but you'd always turned them down. You loved dancing, and you loved going out, but there was something about dancing in a club that made you a bit nervous.

Eventually, they convinced you to go. They pulled out the big guns: "You don't have anything better to do tonight!" "We've been begging you to come for months!" "You'll really love it, I promise!" So you gave in and agreed to go with them.

By now, you were friends, or at least acquaintances, with most of the pros on the show. That made being at the club a little more comfortable. You did have some fun, getting passed between the guys, until you ended up in the arms of a man you didn't know. You recognized him, and he seemed to realize that you couldn't put a name to his face.

"Maksim," he introduced, before sending you twirling. When you turned back to him, you were out of breath - and you didn't catch it until you stopped dancing hours later.

Val

You were sitting in the eating area of the studio with you partner, trying not to be too obvious about staring at the Chmerkovskiy brothers. You had the biggest crush on both of them - though, admittedly, mostly on Val. You were always too shy to introduce yourself, so you kept to staring longingly from afar when no one was looking.

Or, at least, when you thought no one was looking.

"You haven't heard a word I've said in the last five minutes, have you?" your partner, Lucas, asked. You blinked, eyebrows raised.

"Of course I have!"

He rose an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. He looked over his shoulder to see what you were looking at. When he turned back to you, he was chuckling. "Why don't you just go over there and ask one of them out?"

"I haven't even met them yet. It would be weird."

"So go introduce yourself!" You frowned. "Are you still too shy? Come on, live a little! I promise you, they won't think it's as weird as you think it'll seem. You're professional dancers on the same show, for goodness sake."

"I guess..." you said, still a little unsure. Lucas huffed and stood from his seat.

"Fine. I guess I'll take matters into my own hands, then."

"Wait, what? What are you doing?" you panicked, looking between Lucas and the brothers across the room.

"I'm going to set you up," he said matter-of-factly.

"No!" you cried, even though something inside of you really wanted him to do it. "This is ridiculous. Try to get Val for me? You can't do this! I'll die of embarrassment!"

"It'll be fine," Lucas assured, before turning and walking towards the brothers. You were sure that you were about to die of mortification, bringing your phone to your face and staring at it, pretending to have no idea what Lucas was up to. Your gaze was so intense, you were sure you could have burned a hole through the screen.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucas came back and sat across from you again.

"I got you a date," he said just as you were about to open your mouth and speak.

"With which one? I mean, not that it matters. Was it Val?"

"It was Val," he laughed, shaking his head at you. You bit your lip, unable to suppress the smile beginning to grow on your lips. When your eyes flickered up to where the brothers were standing across the room, Val met your gaze and smiled at you. Your face felt hot and you looked away.

"Thanks, Lucas."