-- heaven help me ( eli )

[quinn]

Stretch, inhale, stretch, exhale, stand, point, spin. Repeat. Quinn Healey couldn't remember the last time her toes had caused her so much pain, twisted and warped against the flattened ends of her ballet slippers. Was there much attention paid to the fact, though? Not really. Determination and drive overrode the pain one hundred times over. If she wanted to pass her physical exam then she would have to persevere and failing simply wasn't an option. Besides, an empty auditorium was quite a rare thing at Emerson institute. All of the different majors offered on campus and the amount of students attending the school made for limited practice space.

Given it was somewhere close to eleven at night, Quinn would've been surprised if she'd had to fight for the space. For many students exam block was nearing an end - the days were getting warmer and summer was creeping up in stealthy silence. It was a good thing her final exam combined both her major and minor in one neat little package - choreograph and perform a piece in front of the curriculum's examiners. The performing part was simple in comparison to showing the individuals on the board something they hadn't seen before. Quinn hoped that her music would at least be something to win them over - a mash-up of contrasting classical pieces and faster-paced, more modern music. A standalone wooden chair had been encorporated into her routine, as well as some very carefully planned out gymnastics.

Whether her piece would be pleasing or not was quite questionable, but she'd done the best she could do thus far and now all that remained was to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse until her feet couldn't forget where they were supposed to go next. Her muscles were beginning to ache and the old stage was certainly beginning to feel the weight of her workout. She remembered being warned about the fact that new lighting had just been fixed in the ceiling and it would be best to keep the music and movement to a minimum, but the drive to perfect her performance meant a certain ignorance to the 'be careful' spoken to her earlier.

All of the females in her course were brilliant. Hell, some of the males could probably dance circles around Quinn, but she wasn't quite sure if anybody else had the strong-headed determination she'd been blessed with. If she failed the first time it would only push her harder, give her more reason to better herself and succeed the second time around. There was no time in Quinn's life for messing around, no way she could juggle her need to prove herself as a dancer with the othe things women her age seemed to indulge in.

No drinking or partying as she could land herself in hot water with her fitness levels (at least not until summer or when exams weren't around the corner, anyway) and certainly no men in her life. A boyfriend would only consume what little time she had to focus on the very thing she loved the most. Of course she'd go to her grave swearing it was nothing to do with any sort of fear of relationships. Men would only let her down anyway, right? Her mother had known that from the start, and it was why Quinn was raised by a single woman.

One more hour. One more hour and Quinn would allow herself to finish for the night. If she allowed it to get much later she'd be quite cold walking back to her room, and pushing too much would only result in feet too sore to practice the next day.

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[eli]

Eli could be kind of a dunce sometimes. You’d think with the performance looming and his lines only half memorized, that he’d be a little more likely to actually remember to bring his script back with him from the rehearsal room, but no. He’d left it sitting on the ground by the stairs to the stage. He could picture it now- right where he dropped it after coming off-stage. His attention being captured by the need to tug one of his co-stars off the ground in a bear hug as a congratulations for the amazing job she’d done on her monologue. That was really just the sort of guy he was, more concerned with hugging pretty girls then his script. That, and feeding his stomach.

That’s right, there had also been an invitation of pizza involved in him forgetting his script. Pizza an d beer. A winning combination if you ask Eli Cadence. Some of the cast were going to get some dinner and a drink after rehearsals and of course Eli was going to go with them. He had never been one to ever pass up food. The day he does, you will know something is deadly wrong with him. He was certain he’d be stuffing his face on his death bed. That’s how he wanted to die-full of food and happy. In fact, everyone should die eating a big fat piece of steak.... Oh man, now he really wanted a piece of steak. Even though he’d had several rather massive slices of Pizza. Steak sounded kind of awesome at, what? Eleven pm?

But no, alas steak for Eli. He was a man with a mission; a mission to learn his lines. A mission that can only be fulfilled when he finds his script. So out into the dark night he was going to have to venture. Which would require him putting some pants on. Once the Pizza and Beer was done, Eli had gone back to his down, stripped off his jeans, and settled into bed to watch TV for a few hours before he considered doing some school work. When he’d eventually turned the TV off, it didn’t take the kid to realise he was sans a script and remember where it was. “Dildo” he’d cussed as he rolled out of bed and found some pants. He wasn’t getting shoes though. No, that was way too far.

So barefoot did he go, across the dark campus. Whistling the Mission Impossible theme as he came. He knew his way from his dorm to the theatre rather well, it was a path he had trekked many times before. One might deduct that being a theatre student he spent a great deal of time there and well, one might be right. It was hard to be a stage actor without a stage you know. Letting himself into the stage-door, Eli made his way carefully through the darkened backstage- Only it wasn’t as dark, or quiet, as it should have been. Someone was indeed there. A someone with music playing and feet pattering across the stage. Smirking to himself, he snuck up to one of the wing curtains for a peek.

A vision stood (or well, danced) before him. Eli’s heart picked up, beating faster than it had all day. A vision of pure beauty in spandex. Eli didn’t think he’d ever seen her around before. In fact he was sure of it. He would have remembered seeing a girl like her before- because he would have gone out of his way to woo such a beautiful little thing and she’d probably already be in his bed ‘running lines’ with him. The boy swallowed slightly. She was so.. so- perfect. Everything about her. He didn’t think he’d seen anyone quite like her in his life. And the way she moved! It did things to him.. Ew not that perve. His was a pure love.

Now, he was easily distracted, so as taken as he was with her, a slight clinging noise caught his attention. Looking up, he noted the new light rigging that had gone up today for an up-coming show. Only one of the heavy spotters was shaking each time the girl landed too hard on the stage. The fool who had put it up hadn’t screwed it in correctly. Now being something of a tech buff, Eli knew this and how to fix it. Which he would- once his beauty had stopped dancing of course. However that might have been a little too late. As his attention started to return to the girl, he heard another threatening clunk.

The kid looked up just in time to see the light detach itself from its home and start to fall. “Shit!” Without taking a moment to think, he dashed onto the stage. He didn’t have time to try and work out where it was going to fall-he just had to get her out of the way. He knew how heavy those things were- the damage they could do. Encircling her in his large, sturdy arms, he lifted her clean off the ground. Diving them both off the stage. Twisting his body so he broke the fall. The light, which was on and probably incredibly hot, crashing to the stage. Sending sparks, glass and bolts flying.

“Fuuck...” he groaned softly, still holding the female safely in his bear-hug.

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[quinn]

There was nothing Quinn Healey hated more than being interrupted when she was rehearsing - once she was stopped it was so very difficult to get going again and her stamina simply wasn't the same after taking even the shortest break. It meant she had to stretch again, get herself into a frame of mind where she had nothing else to concentrate on, and it really was something of a painstaking task. So, what happened when she was tackled to the ground, away from the stage, and ended up lying on top of a rather broad-chested boy she'd never seen before in her life? Well, it didn't make for a very happy ballerina, that's for sure.

Her first thought was that she was being raped. Or murdered. Or something equally as dismal because why on earth would anybody else even be in the auditorium at eleven o'clock at night? For a few brief seconds her mind had time to flash through the minimal martial arts training she'd done as a kid, and there was an instantaneous panic when she tried to remember the moves. Maybe kneeing him in the crotch and then poking him in the eyes would do more good than trying to wriggle her way out with lacklustre karate skills? She'd heard once that the best way to deter a rapist was to wet your pants, and although she'd be awfully embarrassed about it later, Quinn would probably try it out if it meant the difference between having an illegitimate round of unwanted sex or...welll...not.

Before she could even comprehend any thoughts about emptying her bladder, however, there was a rather loud crashing noise that demanded her attention. The lighting fixture? Well, she'd known it had only recently been fitted, but surely she wasn't heavy (or strong) enough to knock the thing out of its place. Perhaps one of the other females were conspiring against her, trying to kill her so that they could steal her routine and woo the judges with her brilliant moves? No. That was probably getting ahead of herself - so it was probably just a loose screw, but it would've been a hell of a lot more fun if it was all a plot to have Quinn wind up dead.

If that was the case, however, that meant that the male she was still languidly lying on top of was some kind of hero. Yuck. Quinn really wasn't fond of hero types. Her mother had done just fine without a knight in shining armor sweeping her off into the sunset, and she'd certainly saved herself a lot of heartache. Maybe Quinn would be able to shake it off, pretend that the light falling was a part of her routine to add real theatrical drama? He'd probably know though, wouldn't he? That she was lying? Damn it, she didn't want to be indebted to anyone! Why couldn't he have just let the light crush her?

She wanted to whine and sigh and groan about it, she wanted to kick her legs in a sort of tantrum and yell at this silly man for saving her life. But, alas, the deed was done and she couldn't exactly be rude, could she? She did, however, have to get off of him or else he might think she enjoyed the spot in which she'd been previously laying. Bringing herself up onto her knees, Quinn winced as a slight pain shot through her hand. She'd landed on it wrong, and it was a damn good thing her legs and feet were still perfectly intact and able. She sat on the stomach of the man below her for a brief moment and then finally pushed herself up, offering him a hand to help him from the ground.

"You know, I wish I could say that was meant to happen. But it wasn't. It could've crushed my skull - so thanks for...you know...not letting that happen." Hand still outstretched, Quinn smirked, waiting for some sort of response. "I'm Quinn Healey. Junior. Ballet Major. Who're you?"

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[eli]

Eli was chuckling. He couldn’t exactly help himself. The man liked to laugh. Everything made him laugh. He laughed when he was nervous. He was worse than a giggling little girl sometimes really. It was funny... Or pathetic. Depending on the way you looked at it really. Whatever it was though, he was laughing. The site of the smashed up stage light and the girl of his dreams (albeit very recent dreams) so close to him was enough to send him into a fit of childish giggles. It was strange how exhilarating fear was. I mean, that light could have done them both a lot of damage and yet instead of shitting his pants; the kid was pumped. He could go another round really. Or some other sort of physical activity. If you know what I mean. Bow chicka wa waaa.

Loosening his grip, the young man allowed his reluctant damsel to get up. Of course if it was up to him they’d have stayed like that. Perhaps engaged in a wide range of horizontal activities. However he was something of a gentleman. Or at least thought of himself that way, so he didn’t insist on her partaking in his fantasies. At least not right now. Perhaps after he charmed her a little he would. Get her warm to his form. Of course he had thought that perhaps the simple act of saving her life would work. But it was cool. He could dig the playing hard to get. It wasn’t as though he didn’t love the chase himself.

There did come a point though, where it was like ‘screw the chase and do me’. But he was patient. Kind of. Watching that graceful body un-curl from his and stand up- well it was testing his patience to be honest. Everything about her was so inviting for Eli. It was hard to keep his self control. Which was good practice. He probably needed some more of that stuff at times. Like, when he downs a whole pizza then feels like throwing up afterwards. Only to down another the next day, having forgotten about the gross after feelings. It was easy to forget though, when a steaming hot meat lovers Pizza was in front of you. A lot of things were easy to forget when pizza was involved actually.

It was cute, that she thought he needed a hand to get up. Looking at her hand, he let out a low rumbling laugh as he pulled himself up without her aid. Making precisely sure he showed off as much muscle and strength as he could on his way up. Just in case she hadn’t already realised just how buff he was. As if the a little too tight shirt he was wearing didn’t make it completely obvious just how toned he was. He’d worked hard on his body though, so why not show it off? Let all the honeys appreciate his chest. He knew if he was a chick, or a dude lover, he’d dig his physic. Oh who was he kidding? He dug it anyway.

“Well, I couldn’t let the thing crush you now could I?” He smirked, licking his a little. “It’s like, a crime to let gorgeous girls get crushed by falling lights. So really I had no choice see.” Stepping closer to her, he softened his grin. “Not that I wouldn’t have done it anyway..” Oh yes, he was full of charm. “I’m Eli.” He took her hand, since well, it was still there. “And I’m the guy you know owe your life too. I’m sure we can work out a repayment.” He gave her a wink as he spoke, once again chuckling.

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