bravenewworld | Seeking Refuge (pun intended)

Entry tags:

Seeking Refuge (pun intended)

Who: Mami and Yosuke
Where: On the way to Refuge, then at Refuge.
When: Week 78
What: Travel! Adventure! And ~~Mami doesn't want to admit that they're totally~~ flirting, too!

"Holding up fine down there?"

Mami has checked, routinely, on Yosuke as they travel. She is more than capable of moving across long distances quickly. With her ribbons and her limited flight powers, courtesy of being a Child of the Howling Gale, she is able to leap from landmark to landmark. She can carry Yosuke with her easily enough; she has another ribbon around him, with loops for him to hold onto. The loops end in elegant bows, to tie them together, because Mami is a little ridiculous sometimes. She made sure that he practiced moving with her, just the same. Despite appearances, it takes some balance and focus on on his part.

But she has it down to a rote movement, ribbons flying to keep them moving. At the moment, they are moving through a wooded area, and nearing Refuge. They probably have a few more hours, at least by Mami's best recknoning.

"I told you that it would be fine!" she calls back down. Mami winks when she does, before she looks back up, and casts her ribbon for the next tree.

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"Yeah, sure!" He walks confidently forward. Now he gets to show off his skills, stepping into the small area where everyone was having a good time. He waits for her though, to join him, holding out a hand.

"If I may, madam?" He says in the most gentlemanly voice he can muster, bowing first.

Edited (wrong iconnn) 2015-07-12 19:28 (UTC)

Her confidence increases ever-so-slightly when she steps out on the dance floor. Mami takes the offered hand in her own and steps closer. She smiles, her expression radiant and only slightly hesitant. She hasn't danced in years; not since her parents...

That thought hangs there for a moment in her mind, before it flickers away. What could it hurt to try now?

"I'll follow your lead."

Yosuke is secretly glad his little cheesy move worked out, taking her hand and suddenly trying to figure out how to dance with another person. He's never actually danced with someone else before, so he awkwardly puts his other hand on her hip, hoping that's where it's supposed to go. The beat is a little too fast for a slow dance, so he leads off with a little footwork, stepping back and forth quickly while swinging their arms just slightly.

"Ha ha, better keep up, Mami!"

This is equally new ground for Mami. She danced with people when she was a little girl, but those were her parents, rather than someone her own age. Someone that she is, perhaps, rather fond of. That prompts a blush, when he puts his hand on her hip. She puts her hand into his and the other on his shoulder, after checking a nearby couple to check. She takes a couple of steps, haltingly.

Dancing, though, isn't so different than how she fights. Her feet find the movements quickly, and she keeps up with him easily. She beams back at him, laughing despite her earlier uncertainty.

"I think you'll find that I can do more than keep up!" she says. "It's been a long time since I've danced, but I've not lost my balance."

"Hey, you're pretty good."

He grins a cheeky grin back at her, throwing some more steps into the mix as he gets more and more comfortable with dancing with her. He too, also tries to eye what other couples are doing, and he gets a wild idea. He tries to spin her, stepping back and lifting his arm with hers. He's not so sure if he's doing it right, but he's going to try.

Or it will end in failure, which is what he's not hoping for.

"Ah--"

She didn't expect for him to try the spin. There is a moment where it seems she might falter. But then she realizes, and lifts her arms smartly. She does the spin with true grace. She has done landings like that in the middle of a battle. Mami's feet glide expertly. When he pulls her back in, without thinking, she follows all the way like the other couple that she has her eyes on.

She presses against him briefly and smiles, before she takes a step back and keeps up the careful, fancy footwork. There is a hint of pink in her cheeks when she does, though.

"Very good!" she says. "You're, ah, you're talented at this."

She looks so good, while he spins her and even moreso when she comes in and presses against him. That motion combined with her smile up at him is enough to make him blush now, breath catching in his throat. She looks so cute, and he can even see the pink in her cheeks...it's almost too much for him to handle.

"Thanks..." he says a little dreamily, caught up in his own thoughts that his mouth just moves and words come out that he doesn't think through all the way. "You're really cute too...I-I mean! Really good! A lot better than I expected! No, that's not what I meant! I mean....nevermind."

He shuts up, panicking, but keeping his footwork going. Barely.

Cute? She startles momentarily at that. She flusters again, stumbling in her dance steps before she recovers. Then her smile comes back. Once again, the thought of what it would be like -- to be more than friendly with him -- comes to mind. The reasons that she can't do such a thing feel vague and far away, lurking at the back of her mind but not wanting to be heard.

She smiles up at him, as the dance comes to an end She slows her steps, but keeps her hand on his shoulder, and looks up at him. Some of those reasons come back. What if she lets him down again? What if duty can't overlap with those feelings?

For that matter, what does she feel?

But, she thinks, that blush on his cheeks is cute. And, when she looks up at him, she almost forgets those doubts. Mami is quiet for a moment -- but then the band, in an act of capricious fate, strikes up a slower tune. She moves closer, then she puts her head on his shoulder. They can have a second dance, she decides.

"Thank you," she says quietly.

Worry crosses his mind at first. Did he really blow it? It's like every time he tries to get with a girl, he always manages to do something for them to get disgusted with him. His memory flashes back momentarily when Yukiko shut him down pretty quickly, and in this moment he's afraid that's what is about to happen. He blurted it out without thinking, once again. He really liked Mami and he didn't realize it until he felt like he was about to get crushed once again.

But the difference now, is that she's not telling him off or saying something to push him away. She's smiling at him, and that's confusing. Something that hasn't ever happened before to him. He barely even notices the slower tune that starts to play, and it's almost surreal when she places her head on his shoulder instead of letting go of him. He breathes out heavily, not knowing that he'd been holding his breath the entire time.

"Anytime," is all his brain can manage to get out, spoken softly as he tries to collect his thoughts. His hand moves, holding her lower back now as they dance together slowly, rocking back and forth in a simple two.

"You know, this is really nice. D-Don't you think?" He sputters nervously.

"It is," she agrees. She closes her eyes and smiles. For a moment, she's happy to keep her head on his shoulder. To be in a room full of people, but alone with him in any meaningful sense, and enjoy the simplicity of the moment.

There are many questions to ask later. This means something. She wonders about what that might be and what it might entail. But she can puzzle it out later. She can't jump into anything blindly. She can't forget the complications of her life and events from earlier in the day.

Except, of course, that she leaped already.

This is one of those moments where he doesn't want it to end, and is loathing the time when it has to. The song won't last forever, his heart feels like it's beating out of his chest, and it's all he can do to slow his breathing to calm himself. But when he finally does, it's relaxing, and having her in his arms even in his capacity was more than he could of asked for. He lets himself continue to sway back and forth with her, letting his own eyes close to enjoy the dance before it inevitably ended and moved on to something more lively again.

He wonders if now is a good time to ask her. The words fumble in his mouth, and before he gets the chance to ask, the music stops and changes to a more upbeat tune. He stops moving as well, hesitating to let go of her but releases as to not make it weird.

"You ever dance to this kinda stuff before?" He decides to ask instead, abandoning his first idea.

She, too, doesn't want the moment to end. It isn't often that Mami Tomoe gets that kind of simplicity in her life. She knows, though, that such things never last forever. It has to end eventually. She sighs, softly, and pulls back. Mami looks up at him -- she wonders, for a moment, if she should say something -- but the moment passes, as she finds herself wondering what it might mean.

In the end, Mami is left smiling in the way she always is, and wondering when they might get another chance. She steps back after a few moments too longer when he releases her.

She shakes her head. "I... didn't really go to many festivals to dance," she says. "I guarded them--ah, or participated in the contests. It was expected of a Valkyrie. But I never had much time to dance, since I became one."

"Seriously? Man, they don't let you do anything do they..." The contests sounded fun, but there's so much more to festivals than that. The song is really catchy, and has a good beat to it, so he decides to try to make this less awkward, at least for him. He grins again, looks over to the band, and looks back to her. "You wanna learn how to really cut a rug? I've totally been practicing, and I can teach you."

He takes a few steps back to give himself some room, foot tapping to the beat of the song.

"Here, watch me for a sec." And he starts to dance for her, a little nervously at first, but he starts to get into it the farther he goes along.

Edited (i had something i wanted to add haha) 2015-07-13 02:37 (UTC)

"Mm, well, they let us, but..." She doesn't finish that thought. Does she truly want to admit that she never has, for a variety of reasons? It feels heavy. It feels like the opposite of having fun. It feels like something deeply serious, not unlike what happened earlier today.

She doesn't want him to see that side of her right now.

But Yosuke has the perfect distraction. She blinks, at first, when he begins dancing. It isn't a dance that she has seen before. But after a moment, she smiles and nods, before she steps up to him. She falls into the same movements -- a little less certain than him, at first.

He can't help but crack a smile when she joins in, even if she's not quite as confident at the moment about it. Making sure to throw in some complimentary moves to her own, his hand goes out to 'showcase' her while she dances, before joining in once more. He also spins himself so they almost dance back to back at times, matching her speed and rhythm.

She looks like she's having fun, and that makes him happy to see, plus she's not half bad.

"See? No sweat!" He laughs, enjoying himself, offering encouragement.

"It is quite fun," Mami says with a smile, "and fast. I'm surprised."

She keeps up well enough, too. Once she gets used to it, much like the dances from before, Mami finds her footing easily. She has a natural sense of grace, after all; it comes out in how she fights. She can apply that readily to how she dances, too. After a few steps, she looks up at him and smiles a little brighter.

She can talk while she dances without much trouble. "I'm glad we came."

He watches her pick it up easily, dancing with him and moving step by step along with. And for the first time, because of her words and that smile on her face, he feels a warmth that he hasn't ever felt his whole life. It's exciting, and he lets the adrenaline of dancing take the brunt of that outburst.

"Me too! I didn't know this place really knew how to throw a party!" The song ends, and Yosuke finishes with some cheesy end move.

"Let's take a breather. Come on, I can see a table we can snag some seats at." He'll lead her to it, pushing through the crowd that seems to start to thin out. Things must be winding down for the evening.

Mami can't manage that end move. She needs to see it another time or two, first. But she does follow after Yosuke, a light skip in her step -- she had fun, after all -- and she flashes a smile at him.

"Certainly," she says. "I wonder what Refuge's food and drink are like. It's underground, so it must be far different than what we're used to."

"I'll grab us some. Just wait here." He trots off, letting her sit at the table while he gets some food for them, returning and placing it at the table. He has to make a second trip for the drinks, which is quick enough, also placing a cup in front of her.

"It smells a little different, but I bet it'll be just as good as home." Even though he's a little uncertain about it, being used to the food from the open plains.

"Hey, Mami..." His voice trails off, thinking. "Is...it okay if I ask you something?"

She takes a sip from her drink, before she looks down at the food. She can get used to the smell, she thinks. She has already grown used to Union's more vegetable-heavy diet, after all. She is briefly distracted, but when Yosuke talks, Mami looks up at him.

She blinks once, wondering what he might ask. Then she tilts her head to the side and nods.

"Of course," she says. "Always."

"So uh..." He picks at his food, surprisingly a little nervous. But he manages to ask what he wants, even if he might sound a little panicked about it.

"I was just wondering, you know, since we've been training and doing stuff together..." His words come out of his mouth in a badly strung out sentence. He had the courage to ask her to go out and do thing with him, but now this is a little harder. Because to him, this feels a little more official.

"If we could make this whole hanging out thing a little more frequent. Cuz like...I'm definitely interested in more than just being friends."

There he said it. He got it out there. And then he freaks out a little.

"Not that I'm asking you to be my girlfriend or anything! I mean like, just seeing each other more often!" With a romantic intent, but he doesn't say that.

More... more than just being friends?

Mami can see that this has not been entirely friendly; that unspoken and undefined, there is something between the two of them. She can't define what it is, precisely. She isn't sure what to do about it or what she wants. She opens her mouth--

And then he clarifies.

Her cheeks redden slightly again. She doesn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She wondered, on some level, if she imagined things. She isn't familiar with courting or romance. She never had time for it before. The idea that she misread him the entire time takes hold, slowly, and she tilts her head. She hopes not; disappointment begins to win out. But, on some level, Mami is a pessimist.

"O-of course!" she says, smiling after a moment. "I'd love to spend more time with you. It's... been quite fun, hasn't it?"

She's blushing, and she's not saying no. He's taking this as a good sign, relieved to hear her agree and give him an answer that was roundabout or avoiding answering his question. He'd felt good enough about it that he could ask her, at the least, and this is a step in the right direction. He assumed she must get a lot of people asking her stuff like this, being a celebrity of a sort herself back at home.

He isn't able to hide his excitement. It comes right out.

"Yeah, it's been tons of fun! I seriously thought for a second you were gunna say no! Good things never happen to me!" He realizes he's shouting with excitement, and quiets himself down though that same gusto still powers his words, just at a lower volume.

"I-I mean like, I'm glad. I didn't want to move too fast or something."

It's a good thing, she realizes. She has time to figure it out. She doesn't have to watch him walk away. She doesn't want that; she fears it, still, because she is a pessimist at heart. She expects to be left alone, eventually. But, for now...

She can be happy with this. She can hang onto this. Her smile softens and she nods, once.

"Oh--oh, hardly," she says. "Truth be told, I don't have so many close friends. Or..." She offers a vague gesture. More, in whatever way they are more. "I enjoy your company, though, and I wouldn't like to lose it."

Even if she thinks of herself as selfish for wanting it.

Yosuke can read into it, it's not as if Mami hasn't made it very clear. He's surprised to hear she doesn't have that many close friends, at first. Until he thinks more on it and realizes that the life of a Valkyrie such as herself might not allow room for even much social interaction. She already admitted to being limited before for activities, and he feels he's learned a little more about her.

And in a way, he can sympathize- being alone is awful, and he can't imagine what it was like to be her. He'd always idolized the Valkyries like Mami, and Mami herself. And as it seems, being one isn't the amazing position he always thought it would be.

Being popular and cool. Everyone wanting to be your friend. He never imagined he'd hear Mami say that she didn't have many close friends.

"Well, you can count on me. I'm not going anywhere." He means that, with all his heart. "And, you know, if you ever need to talk, you can hit me up at anytime. Just...not at like, three in the morning or something, unless it's an emergency."

Seeking Refuge (pun intended)

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this holding her hand out icon is way more useful than I ever expected

good i'm glad because it's a nice icon!

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sigh i wanted the vid to start at 3:46 but i think that doesn't work in comments

alas!! but omg, P4:DAN!!

i'm so hype dude

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in which i don't know what kind of food they have

you know, me neither, I forgot there's not even Refuge PCs (I think?) for a sec

i think you're right, tbh

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would you like to leave it here?