Arthur smiled a little at the response. Mission accomplished. The dancer knew he was here, and wouldn't be surprised. Surprising him would likely throw him off, and that would be bad. Arthur wanted Cyrin to be comfortable with him, and he couldn't do that by throwing him off.
The MC stepped up and introduced the next group, and their music started. Arthur positioned himself where he was sure he could be seen from the stage, and focused.
He wanted Cyrin to feel the full weight of his attention during this dance.
Cyrin waits a moment, before moving onto the stage, smiling slightly and closing his eyes before launching into the dance. His breaths easy, and his movements fluid. He knew Arthur was watching him, he knew lots of people were watching him. Not that it fazed him, he was used to being watched.
(out of curiosity, what kind of dance is he doing? mentioned it wasn't ballet, so maybe more like contemporary?)
Arthur made sure to pay rapt attention, even letting his jaw drop, just a little bit, like somebody completely taken with the grace and movement on display. He couldn't be sure Cyrin would see him, but he also wasn't sure he wouldn't.
Contemporary dance was… meh, as far as he was concerned. Really, the arts in general didn't rank very high on his list of priorities. He'd seen all of it in his years, and it no longer meant much to him.
But. He needed to show interest and make sure Cyrin felt appreciated. If you didn't build something, nobody would be hurt if you tore it down.
And the tearing was what he was really after.
Cyrin doesn’t look anywhere, mostly keeping his eyes closed most of the time, focusing on the moves instead. If he looked around, he knew he’d get distracted, and distraction was not a good thing.
Cyrin lets out a soft sigh imperceptibly, still keeping a slight smile on his face. He would have preferred Ballet, but money was money at this point. He keeps dancing, not enjoying himself as much as he normally would have.
At the end of the five minuets, he leaves the stage, his smile turning into a slight frown of irritation. He defiantly would have preferred a Pas de Deux, that would have been much better to preform. More his taste.
He picks up his bag, sitting down on the bench and taking a drink of water, silent.
There was a peppering of applause from the audience, though many of them just kept eating. Arthur made sure to applaud an appropriate amount.
He waited a couple of minutes for Cyrin to come out, and then sent him another text.
That was great! Join me for a drink? I'm at the bar, if you're down. I'm buying.
He wasn't sure Cyrin drank too much, it hadn't been clear in his 'research', but offering couldn't hurt.
Cyrin looks at his phone, smiling slightly and gets up, grabbing his bag and walks over to the bar. He smiles slightly, sitting down, “Hey. . .” He leans forward slightly, resting his elbows on the bar, quiet. He seemed down slightly. He looks at the bar, quiet.
"Hey, buddy…" Arthur had intended to be all congratulatory, but Cyrin didn't seem in the mindset for it. "What, uh… whatcha drinkin'?" he asked, before waving the bartender over.
He scooted his stool over a little closer to Cyrin as the bartender walked over. "Something bothering you?"
Cyrin shrugs, “Eh. Not in the mood for a drink besides my water.” He sighs, “Just. . . Didn’t like the way that turned out. I don’t do contemporary very often. It’s not my cup of tea.” He drinks from his bottle, “I almost always prefer ballet. It’s more. . . Peaceful and fluid.” He hums softly.
(Hence why he's graceful- it comes from the ballet)
(got it. I kinda figured :)
Arthur nodded, and just ordered another drink for himself, since the bartender was there anyway.
"Well, I'm sorry it wasn't what you were hoping. I thought you did great, and you looked very fluid and peaceful from here." He gave Cyrin a sympathetic look. "How can I cheer you up, huh? Not in the mood for a drink, but have you eaten? Can I get you some food?"
Cyrin sighs softly, “I’m going out with my family for dinner.” He smiles at Arthur, “But thanks for the offer.” He takes another drink from his bottle, “I could do with a small snack. . .” He murmurs after a moment, laughing softly.
Dancing always made him hungry, and it wasn’t like he could wait 2 hours for a meal, so a snack will do for now, he supposed. He looks over at Arthur, “Come on, be honest, that wasn’t very good. I suck at contemporary.”
Oof. Change of plans.
"Oh, fun. Well that'll be nice." Arthur smiled at him. "Pretty close with your family?"
He turned and waved down the bartender again, before putting in an order for mozzarella sticks and garlic knots. "Hope that's ok." he said, once the bartender had walked away.
He quirked his head at Arthur, his brow furrowed. "I am being honest, I thought it was good. You don't suck at it.* He gave a wry smile. "Maybe I need to see you do ballet to know what's really good, but to me, that was good."
Cyri n smiles, "No, it sounds good." He watches the bartender walk away and then turns back to Arthur, "Yes, I am. Except my sister, she's a pain in the ass most of the time. I bring in most of the money for the family and she tries to sucker up to me so she can get more."
Cyrin watches him for a moment, a contemplative look on his face and he just hums softly in response, resting his chin on his hand
"Oh. Are you still living with your family?" Arthur had to remind himself to pretend he didn't know the answers to these, hadn't thought how to get around things already. The food came, and he slid all of it towards Cyrin, taking a mozarella stick. "And sisters can be super irritating, especially if they're the baby."
He noted Cyrin's contemplative look, but didn't push it, though he did mirror the dancer's position and hold his eye contact.
Cyrin watches Arthur for a moment longer, "Ah. . . Well, ni, I don't I moved out recently, but I haven't told anyine. Nothing about it online. I don't use social media often. It's a distraction really. The only things about me online are old, before I stopped using it, and the new stuff is just people filming me on the street. In plus, it's kind of stupid to throw the 'I'm moving out' online, no one needs to know that shit. And if they did, well, I'd tell them in person." Cyri n wasn't lying either. He rarely posted about himswlf, and he knew his friends and family respected his wishes to not be on the internet, nd avoided doing it as much as possible. But he wasn't an idiot, if someone really wanted to find stuff about him, they could. He knew there were peoe who would meet someone and in an attempt to learn more, would social media stalk them. Cyrin didn't think Arthur was the guy to do that. But Other people were.
He hums looking back at Arthur a moment longer before looking at the food, taking a mozzarella stick and biting into it, smiling slightly. One of his favorite snacks. He watches at the cheese stretches and then snap. He uses his finger, piling the excess cheese over the end of the stock before taking another bite.
Arthur nodded along. "Makes sense. Social media can be such a trap." Cyrin did indeed have a much smaller social media presence than most people, but Arthur had been able to find out a few relevant things.
He watched Cyrin eating the mozzarella stick, and had the good grace to blush and look away. Something about the way the dancer was eating was… setting him off. Maybe it was the prolonged eye contact, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, it was working.
"So, uh… what, umm… how do you like your new place?"
If he could pull off the 'easily flustered' look, it might make things easier.
He began fidgeting with the garlic knot he was holding, tearing the bread into little pieces and eating them slowly.
Chris hums, still watch Arthur and then goes back to his food, "It's small, but it works. Two bedroom, one bath and insanely tiny kitchen that I don't read use. Also an even smaller living area. Not much space to put anything but a small TV and small two seater couch." He takes another's bite, humming softly, "Like I siad, it works. It's low rent and a place for me to sleep after long days, but I don't send much time there."
Arthur nodded slowly. "Sounds… small, but nice. Any particular reason you don't spend a lot of time there?"
As he'd already demonstrated, money wasn't an issue for Arthur. So he had a nice, full floor sized apartment in one of the apartment buildings here in town, which he owned.
He was hoping to lead up to that, and then invite Cyrin over to see it at some point. Get him used to being in Arthur's space, and move from there.
Cyrin shrugs, “I’m the main money maker for the family, they need me. I spend a lot of time either with them, on the streets dancing for a little extra cash, at a studio taking a class, or working at the restaurant I work at.”
He smiles slightly, “I usually only sleep there. And it’s too small for the likes of me. Not even enough space to stretch in the morning.” He laughs softly, picking up another mozzarella stick and eating it.
"A restaurant, huh?" Arthur asked. "What kind? Got any good food?" Nonchalant, don't let on you know the place.
He chuckled along with Cyrin's laugh. "So would you look for another place if it cost you less but was bigger?"
Bait the hook. Try and get more than a nibble this time. Cyrin was clearly family oriented, more than Arthur would have guessed, so. If he could get a better handle on the dancer's living space, that would be good.
Cyrin hums, “This pizza place. It’s trash. But then, I’m not a pizza person.”
Cyrin debated for a moment, “Sure, but I still wouldn’t spend much time there. I need my own space to retreat to, but I’d still spend my time the same way. With my family, working or dancing.” He shrugs, “The space would go to waste, even if it cost less. There would probably be someone who needs the space more than I do and at that low a price.”
"Ah, me neither." Arthur shook his head. "Too greasy, usually."
Cyrin debated for a moment, and Arthur waited for his response with growing anticipation.
The answer came, and he nodded slowly. Roll with the punches.
"Well… it wouldn't be that low priced for everyone. Just for people I like." Arthur admitted. He gave Cyrin a look. "I, uh… I own those apartments over on Gillie Street. The nicer ones. I could… well, they don't get a lot of takers in this area. I've got open rooms, and I could let you have one for less than the typical. You're-… a nice guy, Cyrin." He looked down, averting his eyes before he started blushing.
Cyrin watches him, silent for a moment before shrugging, “Like I said, I don’t need that much space, it would all go to waste. I’m going going to pay for a something I won’t use.” Cyrin takes another bite of his snack, debating for a moment, “Unless it was big enough for me to have my own space to dance without having to pay to use the studio downtown, then maybe I’ll think about it.”
"How big of an open space would you need for that?" Arthur asked. He was almost certain he could give Cyrin that, but checking made it look like he hadn't planned this in any way.
The lower floor apartments were 4 to a floor. Pretty decent sized. The upper three floors were 2 apartments to a floor, and of course the top floor was one apartment, Arthur's.
He took a moment to think, remembering something her had read online, “Well studio sizes are varied, but you have 20 x 20 small, 20 x 30 medium, 30x 40 large and anything over is extra-large. All feet. I prefer medium or large, as when I dace, I move around and dont stay in one spot. But Small would work for a private one. The small can fit about 16 dancers, so. . . If it’s just me using it, it would be plenty of space.” He takes another bite.
Arthur made a pfft sound and leaned back, waving his hand. "Man, I can get you an apartment with a living room that's 30x40 if you don't put furniture in it. I'm assuming hardwood, not carpet, right?" The upper apartments were easily that large.
