It was quite an experience, dancing with someone who was rather angry at him, and honestly not the first time that Doryn enjoyed that particular pleasure. When he'd taken the Jarl's daughter on the dance floor, the blonde haired shield-maiden had been positively wroth with him and it'd been quite the struggle just to<em>get her to dance with him</em>. Mercedes wasn't quite that unwilling, but even so, the experience was similar enough as to draw a bit of fire in the Knight-Captain's eyes as he spotted something altogether unexpected in the young barmaid: a challenge. He'd never shied away from such things, and really, it only played into his hand tonight as he...<br/><br/>...well, to be totally honest, Doryn hadn't really decided just what he was doing yet. Was he in competition with the Elf? Was he seeking Hani for himself? Would he, now, end up taking Mercedes into his bed. The last, especially, was at least vaguely tempting. She'd never been more captivating to him than tonight, when she was for once not responding to his advances, and in so many ways it'd almost be ideal. He could get over whatever this thing was with Hani and engage in some distractions with someone else. Maybe get this whole "Barmaid" thing out of his system. Except... it felt almost like surrendering to his opponent..<br/><br/>"You're going to get me in trouble," Mercy all but hissed at him. "You can't let the Bartender see."<br/><br/>"Worry less about that and more about keeping up with me," he said, idly. All but grabbing her, pulling her into his dance,-- his style was different from most everyone else in the room, most of whom had never seen him dance before (excepting some of the nobles that had seen him at parties, and even those that had... well, this was a whole different thing. It was aggressive, forceful, as much showmanship as anything else. He was lucky that Mercedes was as light on her feet as she was, because he wasn't actually dancing a dance that she<em>knew</em>, though it matched the beat of the music well enough. "..hmmph. Not bad."<br/><br/>"It would help if you danced something I knew!"<br/><br/>Doryn just snorted, amused,--<br/><br/>--it wasn't easy, of course, but he didn't<em>want</em>easy. He finally relented, after a bit, dancing one of the local dances with a grace and a skill had more than a few eyes on him. Not that Ethirdir was doing considerably poorly, of course, but that also was something that Doryn was quite familiar with. He'd seen the elf on the dance floor before, and would even begrudgingly admit that the Lord had some skill, for all that Doryn had never really put his all into most of his ballroom dances. Southerners were too tame for most of his dancing, honestly, at least the Nobility.<br/><br/>When the song shifted, to one of those perverse dances that the Southern's had which actually involved--<em>swapping partners,</em>-- Doryn was momentarily too put-off to even notice what good fortune that was. Not that he wasn't having fun with Mercy, of course, she really was much more interesting than he'd ever given her credit for and he'd have to pay her more attention. Even so, both of them knew, it wasn't for her that he was out on the dance floor... at least, not right at this moment.. maybe that would change?<br/><br/>If only she'd get over her pesky fear of losing her job. He'd reassure her, honestly,-- if they fired her, he'd pay her double to serve him at his estate,-- but it was too cute watching her in near panic.<br/><br/>Really, he wasn't even entirely sure why she'd be so upset, he'd distracted Mercy on past occasions for far longer than this and for less reason.<br/><br/>Eventually, though, they changed off partners and Doryn found that,-- rather than whatever else he expected to find,-- he was slightly upset with Hani. Not to the point that he was angry at her, or even mad, but just enough to add a bit of fire to everything. It was the kind of thing that, when she actually had to the gall to say,<em>"I see you have decided to grace us with your fancy footwork, Captain. All this time, I thought you did not know how to dance."</em><br/><br/>She was such a cheeky little thing; it was part of what he liked about her.<br/><br/>Even so, this particular comment earned a shake of his head,--<br/><br/>"Dear girl, sweet sweet Hani, I have to admit,-- I'd thought that you'd have done a<em>little</em>bit of research on Northmen, when I came into your life,-- but apparently I just don't interest you in that way?" he says, eyes looking down at hers, even as he begins the steps of the dance and matching them perfectly. "In the North, dancing is like sex. I do not mean that in the way you Southern's say much the same thing; it is meant in a very very direct fashion. Honestly, I find dances such as this more than a little vulgar, though not without a certain joy all their own. It's strange... I never imagined myself as someone who liked to share.."<br/><br/>That's all the words she gets, as the dance itself comes underway and Doryn leaves her with little room for playful banter, dancing with the same aggression and intensity that he'd shown with Mercy. Honestly, likely considerably more, if only because of the passions that have been roused up in him. It wasn't even about the Elf, really,-- this wasn't his fault,-- but the faint dismissal that he was getting from Hani was all but an insult. Yes, there had always been distance between them, but he'd still thought there was something else as well and he didn't like being so easily dismissed.<br/><br/>...if she'd just been toying with him all this time, playing the game that women in her profession play, Doryn wasn't sure that he'd be able to forgive her..<br/><br/>As the dance came to another transition, and the time approached for them to once more trade-off partners, Doryn just glanced into Hani's eyes and wondered if she knew him at all.