notfaking_it | (no subject)

Even though she's been working with T.J. for months now, for some reason she hasn't expected to see Doug here. She isn't sure why, from what she knows of him she knows he's awfully proud of his brother, but she still doesn't expect to see him inside the studio until he's there, watching his brother play as she rehearses. She's practicing a piece for next season, something from The Faerie Queen, though she has yet to be cast, and when she finishes, she hangs back for a few moments, giving T.J. and Doug some time to talk before T.J. has to play for another dancer.

Lily, though, is done for the evening and she hefts her gym bag onto her shoulder, crossing the rehearsal space to where Doug is still watching and gives him a smile. She's sweaty, strands of hair clinging to her forehead and she reaches up with one hand, pulling the elastic out of her hair so she can let it dry.

"Your brother has another hour or so of work left," she says, running her hand through her hair to shake it out. She's had several not quite arguments with the instructors here about the way she tends to leave her hair loose during rehearsal and it's such a small thing, but she hates it, she hates having to tie it back and pretend to fit into their mould of what a principal dancer should be. She's never fit into that, not between her attitude and the visible tattoos, but that's never stopped her from dancing the roles they ask of her and she's never understood the obsession they have with a certain look.

Still, she's the only principal they have and despite their complaints, they don't seem to be in any rush to hire another. She smiles up at Doug, inclining her head toward the door. "Come get a coffee with me?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Any other day, Doug might have done a double take because there's no denying that Lily is beautiful. He'd seen her out there, graceful and elegant in all her movements like Doug supposes a lead ballerina should be.

Today, though, today has been about coming in to see T.J. work, and it's not like Doug hasn't seen T.J. work before but watching him in front of that piano here and now, knowing that his brother's more than six months sober... It's different. Saying that he's proud of T.J. would only scratch the surface about how he feels about this because T.J. has worked so hard to get to where he is today, and he's done it all this time with the help of people like the woman next to him.

"Well, I'll never say no to coffee." He glances back to where T.J.'s taking a brief break, rolling his shoulders while the instructor speaks with the dancer on stage, and Doug signals to him that he'll be back before following Lily out the door. "You looked great out there, by the way. At least from what I saw." He gives her a sheepish smile. "To be honest, I had my eyes on T.J. most of the time."

"Yeah, I noticed," Lily answers with a laugh, though she certainly doesn't mind. It's really nice, actually, seeing someone from T.J.'s family who actually cares about him and how he's doing. She doesn't think it would make much of a difference in the long run, but she knows she'd have more than a few things she'd like to say to T.J.'s parents should they ever arrive in Darrow.

"Besides, he's easy to watch when he plays. You can see how much he loves it." And she knows playing here for rehearsal isn't exactly his dream, but it's the only thing she could really help him with and there are opportunities for him. The head of the symphony comes by often and she's seen him watching T.J. the past several times. "I get distracted during rehearsal all the time watching him, I'm sure my teachers love it."