[He saw that. As determined as she is to pretend she has no emotions, that was definitely an actual smile. And he's certain that huff was a camouflaged laugh. So this is what it takes to amuse her? At least someone is getting something out of the coat, he guesses, but she'd better not hope for a repeat performance.
He points an accusing finger.] You have never felt sorry for me in your life.
[Well, now he looks like a jerk. Nothing new in their acquaintance (nothing new in pretty much any of his acquaintances), but this time he'll admit it is, actually, the case.]
...Went too far with that. Sorry.
[For your struggles in the past. She hadn't even known most of them, and has surely forgotten more by now. But it mattered, then, and matters now.
("You don't just stop being friends with someone.")
Too storybook, huh? That's one way to put it all. He glances around the garden, back over his shoulder at the twinkling lights of the ballroom.]
Mm. Many a tale has a ball, a garden... [a serendipitous meeting of individuals whose lives intertwine...]
Simply standing here leaves you open to such things. But keeping your guard up may not serve you well in such cases. [destiny seldom cares, but people do.]
[with a sprinkling of haughtiness:] If it was for me, why would I speak to it aloud in such a way? [she turns her head to peer at him sidelong.] I'm passing along wisdom I seldom share, Wolfwood. Consider it a gift and do as you like with it.
[She's been so guarded in this world, at this age. Not the sharp defensiveness of when she was younger (or...less of it). But walls built over time, and carefully maintained for just as long.
Pot, kettle, black. Isn't he supposed to know better by now? But old habits make everything easier.]
[her mouth turns up slightly before she turns away again, tilting her head as her ears pick up on the music flowing through the windows on the building's upper floors. her exhale comes with a drooping of her shoulders.]
Meanwhile, the advice for me...must be to return to where my attention may be most necessary. [but not necessarily wanted.] Which, it seems, means we'll part ways for a time. Since you mean to escape the night.
Don't think maybe you're supposed to be open to taking a break?
[She does worse at hiding how tired the idea of going back inside seems to make her than she does at hiding her little part-smiles, and she hasn't had a flawless success rate with that either.]
[she takes a moment to pick at his words and look for meanings under meaning that might hide there...all in speculation, of course - all built from scenarios lived through many times over. difference here: this is the first scenario with Wolfwood himself within it.]
Compared to now? Are you suggesting break or breakaway, I wonder.
[Ah, she let him see that one. Maybe it's a compromise, considering that she is indeed not listening, or heeding, or whatever.
The accusation of laziness does sting a bit, but he's pretty sure she's leveled the same accusation somewhere in their past. Probably. And in this world, it's truer than it's been before. On the last Earth, there were kids to look after, churches to volunteer with, gardens to help with, and sometimes the universe to save. And in his own world, of course, he'd kept...busy. Here, though, with all the magic and established hierarchies around, he's taken more of a back seat.
[with a dry note:] Didn't you notice? The ballroom has quite the array. Were none of them to your tastes? [or is he off to partake now? admittedly, she didn't expect to hear his long-legged strides behind her.]
A few of them are. A lot of it's too sweet, though. [He wants a drink, not dessert.
He keeps those strides in check enough to stay behind her. He got used to playing rearguard, and besides, they usually have an easier time talking when it's not face to face. The kind of people they are like to limit how much they give away at any one time.]
[He, in turn, looks down to meet her reflection's eyes. There's probably some kind of metaphor to be found in that, only looking directly at each other through the shadows they cast on the glass. He's not fanciful enough to come up with it, though (and there's something painful in keeping the thought long enough to try).
Best to just be relieved their reflections aren't trying to kill them.]
[her mouth curves up faintly, briefly, before the reflection is blurred with her moving inside, back into the noise and movement of the party. she remembers many like them, though none are ever precisely the same. the lifting of her chin is as much a response to the atmosphere as it is necessity to see over dancing figures and survey what she can beyond them: the ever-flowing dance floor is bordered by throngs of bodies or tables...a dense jungle to navigate. one could be terrible and bully themselves through any and everything in the way, but that's so unbecoming, and could also yield some consequence greater than a party foul - fey nonsense is a threat here, after all.
before her foot can even cross the threshold of the dance floor, she turns her head to peer behind her at her lanky, shaggy-haired shadow.]
[He shrugs, as casually as he can in this stupid, stupid coat.]
I may not be much use with politics or spells, but I know how to have a friend's back.
[Or sides, or front, as may be necessary when such a large crowd of people and tables are shoved into such narrow borders.
...Wait. That's the gauntlet, right? Not the dance floor. Please tell him he simply has to bully a path through a crowd. Please do not tell him he's just committed himself to dancing.]
He's been shoved around to these kinds of parties for...3 years? It's really been that long? The point is, Wolfwood has been very successful at not dancing. It's just too...too much like putting himself at the center of attention. Too exposed. Too distracting in the event that something's about to attack, which it probably will.
But she's smiling, and that's really unfair. That it's crooked just makes it kind of cute.
He holds out a hand.]
About all I can promise is that I won't step on your feet.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-06-08 12:22 am (UTC)He points an accusing finger.] You have never felt sorry for me in your life.
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Date: 2022-06-08 12:42 am (UTC)[she surveys the darkened garden, her hands folding in front of her.]
I wept for you, didn't I? Long ago. For your struggles in the past. For a childhood I naively thought was too storybook to be true.
It wasn't so long ago for you. Couldn't have been.
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Date: 2022-06-08 02:29 am (UTC)...Went too far with that. Sorry.
[For your struggles in the past. She hadn't even known most of them, and has surely forgotten more by now. But it mattered, then, and matters now.
("You don't just stop being friends with someone.")
Too storybook, huh? That's one way to put it all. He glances around the garden, back over his shoulder at the twinkling lights of the ballroom.]
Heck of a place to talk about storybooks.
[The good ol' change in topic as peace offering.]
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Date: 2022-06-10 09:36 pm (UTC)Simply standing here leaves you open to such things. But keeping your guard up may not serve you well in such cases. [destiny seldom cares, but people do.]
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Date: 2022-06-26 08:32 pm (UTC)That supposed to be about me or you?
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Date: 2022-06-27 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-27 01:25 am (UTC)[She's been so guarded in this world, at this age. Not the sharp defensiveness of when she was younger (or...less of it). But walls built over time, and carefully maintained for just as long.
Pot, kettle, black. Isn't he supposed to know better by now? But old habits make everything easier.]
...Appreciate it.
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Date: 2022-07-27 07:15 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, the advice for me...must be to return to where my attention may be most necessary. [but not necessarily wanted.] Which, it seems, means we'll part ways for a time. Since you mean to escape the night.
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Date: 2022-07-27 11:41 pm (UTC)[She does worse at hiding how tired the idea of going back inside seems to make her than she does at hiding her little part-smiles, and she hasn't had a flawless success rate with that either.]
"May be" ain't the same as "has to be."
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Date: 2022-07-27 11:54 pm (UTC)Compared to now? Are you suggesting break or breakaway, I wonder.
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Date: 2022-07-28 12:08 am (UTC)I'm suggesting you don't have to go back in if you don't want to.
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Date: 2022-07-28 12:22 am (UTC)What I want really isn't what's important here.
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Date: 2022-07-28 10:24 am (UTC)Y'know, even I knew you had to take a few hours off now and then.
[It didn't always work, in that it was perfectly likely he'd just pass out and have nightmares for those hours. But attempts were made.]
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Date: 2022-07-28 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-30 02:26 am (UTC)[It's more that he knows what it looks like when you forget yourself because of what you "need" to do.
It wears you down, blinds you to options. And eventually probably just makes things worse.]
But you're not going to listen, are you?
[Wolfwood, after all, isn't nearly as good at breaking through to people as Vash.]
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Date: 2022-07-30 02:35 am (UTC)I always listen, Wolfwood; it's a matter of heeding you're on about. And I'm afraid there's a few things which overrule you in that regard.
[that said, she shrugs her sparkly, sheer shawl up over her shoulders and starts to walk down the footpath back toward the doors.]
Shame, though; I can't say I could predict what a break would look like in your company...you laze about enough as it is.
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Date: 2022-08-05 03:18 pm (UTC)The accusation of laziness does sting a bit, but he's pretty sure she's leveled the same accusation somewhere in their past. Probably. And in this world, it's truer than it's been before. On the last Earth, there were kids to look after, churches to volunteer with, gardens to help with, and sometimes the universe to save. And in his own world, of course, he'd kept...busy. Here, though, with all the magic and established hierarchies around, he's taken more of a back seat.
He starts following her, a few paces behind.]
It usually involves alcohol.
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Date: 2022-08-07 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-10-15 09:12 pm (UTC)He keeps those strides in check enough to stay behind her. He got used to playing rearguard, and besides, they usually have an easier time talking when it's not face to face. The kind of people they are like to limit how much they give away at any one time.]
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Date: 2022-10-16 10:42 pm (UTC)Sauvignon Blanc. It's dry, but not without flavor.
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Date: 2024-02-15 06:52 pm (UTC)Best to just be relieved their reflections aren't trying to kill them.]
Thanks. I'll ask for that next time.
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Date: 2024-02-17 01:29 am (UTC)before her foot can even cross the threshold of the dance floor, she turns her head to peer behind her at her lanky, shaggy-haired shadow.]
Are you going to cross the gauntlet with me, too?
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Date: 2024-02-17 11:55 pm (UTC)I may not be much use with politics or spells, but I know how to have a friend's back.
[Or sides, or front, as may be necessary when such a large crowd of people and tables are shoved into such narrow borders.
...Wait. That's the gauntlet, right? Not the dance floor. Please tell him he simply has to bully a path through a crowd. Please do not tell him he's just committed himself to dancing.]
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Date: 2024-02-19 12:31 pm (UTC)And her hand?
[across a dance floor, right?]
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Date: 2024-02-20 05:18 pm (UTC)He just committed himself to dancing.
He's been shoved around to these kinds of parties for...3 years? It's really been that long? The point is, Wolfwood has been very successful at not dancing. It's just too...too much like putting himself at the center of attention. Too exposed. Too distracting in the event that something's about to attack, which it probably will.
But she's smiling, and that's really unfair. That it's crooked just makes it kind of cute.
He holds out a hand.]
About all I can promise is that I won't step on your feet.
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