22 BBY, Month 10
Hunter
Joseta was enraptured by the music, and Hunter couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her dance moves were nothing like he had seen before. Sometimes she threw her arms around but sometimes she just stood there bobbing her head. But it was dynamic and all over the place. Hunter loved it.
Hunter cleared his throat, tapping his foot as he waited patiently for Joseta to stop doing some mash-up of the running man and the chicken dance.
Joseta's head snapped towards him, her eyes bugging. She looked over his shoulder, presumably at Rex and Hunter felt her heart slow after a moment.
Joseta met his eyes, licking her lips as her heart rate spiked again. "I'm guessing you apologized to Captain Rex?"
Oh, so it's Captain now? Not just Rex like before?
"Yeah, I did," he grunted out, tapping his fingers on his crossed arms. "He was surprisingly understanding."
Joseta smiled, glancing over his shoulder again. "Yes, he is. A great leader." She looked up at him, tapping her fingers together in front of her. "So..." she gestured to him. "Um..."
"I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?" Hunter blurted out, clenching his jaw to steel himself to an answer he expected.
Joseta blinked, and Hunter felt her heart race again. "Oh. I mean, sure." She looked down. "I am just surprised."
Hunter fought the smile that begged to grin. "Why are you so surprised?"
"You're the first person to ask me that."
"Then everyone else is stupid," he found himself saying.
Joseta's cheeks turned bright red as she met his eyes. A sad look crossed her face. Hunter's heart plummeted. Though wasn't looking over his shoulder at Rex, Hunter knew she was thinking of the captain. He just knew it.
Joseta's jaw set and a determination glinted across her vision. "Let's do it," she said, pulling him by his arm deeper into the dance floor. "Show me what you've got, Bandana Boy."
Hunter's gut fluttered as he cleared his throat. "You first, Sergeant Pro."
Joseta sent him a broad smile, gesturing to herself. "I mean, I am a pro-dancer if you can't tell." And she proceeded to dab and do the stanky leg at the same time.
Hunter shook his head. "You are something, that's for sure."
A warm smile crossed Joseta's face. "Thank you, kind sir," she said, bowing magnanimously. She started bopping her head, dancing along to another song. She squatted, doing some martial arts attack with her hand, beckoning him with her fingers. . "Are you going to dance or what?"
Hunter gulped. He hadn't really planned this far into it. He'd never really danced before. "Uh, sure, but you'll need to help me."
"It's simple," she said, popping up from her squat. "Set your legs at a shoulder's-length apart and just bop." She demonstrated, swaying back and forth. "Then, once you've found the rhythm of the song, you just add arm movements—" she did the Wave while bouncing on her toes like a video game character. "Or add leg movements." She did some sort of grapevine with her legs criss-crossing. A crazed look entered her eye as she met his gaze. "Or you can do both if you're feeling risky." She then wobbled her knees, taking steps while doing the Sprinkler. "That one is my favorite. I call this one the Grasshopper." She did the wobbly legs again while extending her arms in different directions, sometimes like a bird and sometimes up in the air.
"That looks nothing like a grasshopper, but it is entertaining," Hunter admitted.
Joseta resumed a normal stance as the speakers blared the final chorus. "You still haven't tried a dance move." She glanced over his shoulder. "See? Even Crosshair is doing the Stanky Leg."
Hunter looked over, mouth dropping as he watched his lanky brother awkwardly go through the motions with Rylann whose laugh could be heard over the loud music. Hunter couldn't help but smile. If Crosshair could do it, so could he.
Hunter took a deep breath, trying his best to shift the weight between his feet to the rhythm of the music, and so far, he didn't seem to be doing too bad. Joseta was encouraging him every second of the way, yelling out a "good job!" or a "yessir!" or an "I love it!" above the music. How could one lady be so encouraging? Hunter, who had been faced with trying to prove himself his whole life, didn't know what to do with that.
The song ended and Joseta gave him a side-hug. "Dude, I'm so proud of you!" she said, squeezing his shoulders tightly. "I know how hard it is to take the first step and dance."
"It's easier than I thought," Hunter admitted, scratching his neck as she pulled back from the hug.
Joseta smiled. "Yeah, dancing should just be you having fun and throwing things together." She tapped her fingers on her legs in thought, looking over his shoulder. Hunter followed her gaze, seeing Rex sitting down in the same spot as some reg talked to him. Hunter couldn't tell if he was actually listening, for the captain was looking at Joseta and offered a small wave. Joseta sighed, turning to Hunter. "Wanna do the next dance, too?"
"Sure," Hunter said, looking between the two of them. He wanted so bad to say something, to ask what was going on between them, but he knew not to. Joseta would tell him in her own time, right?
The music turned into a slow ballad. Hunter and Joseta's eyes met. This was unexpected. They already said they were going to dance, but to a slow song?'
"Of course it's a slow one," Joseta mumbled, eyes flickering between the couples joining the floor.
"We can skip out if you want," Hunter offered, wanting to be the last person to make her uncomfortable even though thirty minutes ago, he did when he berated Rex for no reason. Well, there was a reason, but not a good one.
"No, I'm a woman of my word," Joseta said, raising her hand like a swear. "Even if it is to my downfall."
"Oh, I believe it," Hunter chuckled. "You're too good for your own good."
Joseta laughed, gesturing to him. "So, how are we dancing this thing?"
Hunter looked down. "I'm not too big on touching, so maybe..." He looked around, spotting Rylann and Crosshair holding hands as they swayed back and forth. "We could do it like them?"
Joseta nodded, offering her hands before pulling them back, eyes widening. "Hunter, I didn't know you didn't like being touched!" she covered her face in her hands. "This whole time I've been hugging and nudging and elbowing and you didn't say anything."
"For the most part it's fine," Hunter said, internally adding for you, but shook it out of his cranium before the thought got too comfortable. He offered his hands. "Shall we?"
Joseta nodded shyly and he felt her heartbeat rise as her fingers slid into his. Her skin prickled against his own like fire as the music swelled. They swayed back and forth, averting each other's eyes, looking anywhere other than at each other.
Joseta finally looked at him, offering him a smile. "I don't think I've ever danced slowly."
"I don't think I've ever danced, period," Hunter said.
"Well, now ya can't say that can you!" Joseta said, a smile once again making its way to her face.
Man, did that girl ever not smile? He was about to comment on her smile when the doors swung open, revealing a whole squadron of police officers. They swarmed into the room, making a beeline for the arcade machines. Or in other words, a beeline for Tech. He must have made one too many wins which must have raised suspicion.
There wasn't anything Hunter could really do besides watch as some officer shoved Tech up against the arcade machine, his glasses pushing up into his hairline. The lady officer was yelling something at him before three others handcuffed him. That was a lot of backup for one guy winning the lottery. Well, winning the lottery probably thirteen times over. So much for making money.
Tech was seemingly calm through it all, actually being gutsy enough to make demands about treatment as they shoved him out the door. Hunter side, looking over at Crosshair who nodded before whispering to Rylann. Rylann was quick to join his side as they followed after, no doubt going to the police station.
Hunter turned to Joseta, a bit disheartened that their dance ended early even if it was extremely awkward. "I should probably go," he muttered, clearing his throat.
"No kidding," Joseta said, covering her mouth in shock. "Poor Tech."
"Well, it was his turn so he had it coming," Hunter said, chuckling at the irony of it. Their first mission to Mandalore got him, Cross, and Rylann arrested and Tech got them out of confinement. Oh, how the tides had turned.