Week 1 Mingle;

[omnivoracious]

❤ Week 1 Mingle

Welcome to a new week, lovebirds! Monday dawns gray and misty, and it's actually not long before a thunderstorm rolls in! You can, of course, kiss dramatically in the yard in the rain and risk getting struck by lightning-- or you can stay inside, cuddle in the conversation pit, USE THE GODDAMN BOOM BOOM ROOM or do anything else until the storm blows over by the evening! Don't worry, the rest of the week will be bright and sunny and beautiful!

There's also a new section of the house, weirdly enough! There's a bright turquoise door located near the bedroom and opening it leads to... a massive indoor pool. The water is a pleasant temperature, there's a hot tub, there's an assortment of flotation devices for those of you who might have trouble swimming (tubes, life vests, boogie boards, pool noodles that can also be used to wage Deadly Combat if you are Sara and Kasque or Jeritza or anyone else ready for Violence). And if you somehow didn't pack a swimsuit because why on earth would your canon let you have one--

Worry not!! There's a rack of swimsuits in every size you lot could need! The catch (or not): they're all sexy. Like. Barely there sexy. Impossibly adhering to you sexy. Shoelaces would maybe cover more sexy. Absolutely great to play Chicken Fight in sexy. You get the idea.

Anything having to do with being able to write is still also Not Present.

Enjoy!!!

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[reappraise]

[ luckily they have no idea what vault is, so this flies over their head. in any case: ]

Certainly. Here, [ They put an arm around his waist, still gentle. ] You can lean onto me if you lose balance. I'm very hard to tip over. And I can catch you if you fall the other way...

[ Experimentally, they take a step forward with their bound foot, testing how much resistance his weight gives them. ]

[gilden]

...why does this feel familiar. [ Muttered, but they're close enough to hear it. Diamond also might notice that for someone with as much bravado as Ash normally exudes, he startles a bit at the touch. ]

S-sure. [ He makes to follow their lead, but there's no way to be so in sync from the start. At least he's light, so the most indignant thing about him falling over onto them might be his yelp. ]

[reappraise]

[ The comment only raises their brow for a second, wondering if they were too forward to touch him without asking. But then, he's stumbling into them after a few steps, which causes them to put their other hand on the other side of his waist to steady him. From their perspective, he's light as a feather, so they set him straight easily. ]

Oh! I'm sorry, it's probably my fault... [ For going too fast? Not fast enough? They aren't sure. They retract the arm that's not looped around him, suddenly self-conscious. ] I haven't done this before, so you can tell me if I do something wrong. Or if I hurt you somehow... I won't be offended.

[gilden]

I haven't... [ He shakes his head, takes a breath. ] Gimme your hand.

[ So he says, but he's just taking theirs within his. Maybe this is suboptimal, but. ]

Count with me, like we're playing the Harpy's Folly. One, two, three, step. One, two, three, step.

[reappraise]

One, two, three, step.

[ They diligently count with him, probably a little too diligently, because their thick brows are knitted in intense focus. Apparently, they take this stuff very seriously.

And perhaps because they don't want to break their own focus, they don't pipe up again until the pair come up on the first cone, unconsciously gripping his hand a bit tighter. ]

I see, so it's a bit like dancing. It's easier with a rhythm.

[gilden]

Yeah, like we're a pair. [ There's something about that word, pair, that's a measure soft; it matches the way his fingers have become entwined with theirs, confident and secure. It only lasts until he glimpses the cone. ]

So uh, this part, we just gotta— [ Guess who's never kissed either. ]

[reappraise]

[ It would be normal to get shy about sharing a kiss with someone for the first time. Or it would, if he hadn't been acting the way he had been a few days previous. Calling them dearest, taking their hand so easily, and other such things. This hesitation, combined with the other glimpses they've seen today... it must mean...

That matter aside, they have a bigger problem on their hands: it'll break their romantic heart in two if they have the most unromantic kind of kiss as their first kiss— an awkward one, with no sense of timing or spontanaeity. It has to have some kind of flair! Or they'll never forgive themself. And it's not romantic to talk about these things so bluntly.

So, without consulting him, they cut him off, using their linked hands to tug him down a little - and then they're tilting their face up to give him the most chaste, most fleeting kiss they can. It's over in a second, and they break away even faster. ]

[gilden]

[ (...)

As much as he was expecting the contact given the challenge, the actual kiss comes as a surprise, a light rosy coloring spreading across his cheeks. But as the moment itself is short, he recovers (if you can call it a recovery) and snaps back into himself. ]

...People get paid just for that?

[reappraise]

[ "Just for that," he says... they wilt, averting their eyes. ]

Oh, do they?

[ It's a rhetorical question, mostly said to themself, the faintest note of disappointment in their voice. Then, lightly Knowing: ]

I just wanted to make things easier... for the both of us.

[gilden]

[ A hand through his hair and a look off elsewhere; they are both failing at this eye contact business. ]

Don't ask me to explain like that bookworm did. [ Rhetorical as the question might have been, he answers it anyway as it gives him some space to consider the rest. ]

But uh, thanks. [ And then more in line with his usual bravado: ] I'm a quick learner, I gotta be.

[reappraise]

[ They let out a breath through their nose at that, finding more and more that they prefer him without the put-upon show, as fun as it had been at first. Interesting. For just a second, they chance a look at his profile, before keeping their eyes firmly forward, no longer needing to count to walk in time with him. ]

And that's because of your profession...?

[gilden]

[ Diamond will get to see Ash recenter himself, though he's not stepped fully back into the role he usually parades around. ]

Well, yeah. [ Back to staying in sync, he adds after a moment. ] That and habit.

[reappraise]

So, you were like that since before you became a hero.

[ They can only imagine why... they, too, seem a bit more serious, keeping their smile small and to themself. ]

Learning quickly is a great skill to have on the battlefield. You must be very valuable to your peers.

[gilden]

Probably. I try not to think about it. [ Said carelessly, but Diamond probably knows better by now. ]

They'd be stuck in the first hole they fell in without me! And they'd be broke since health potions ain't cheap.

[reappraise]

[ they Do know better now... something about that sentence reminds them of someone they once knew who was very, very forgetful about the past. ]

Right, you have some kind of rejuvenation ability.

[ Wow, he must actually be a very relevant and important member of whatever team's he's on... they're almost a little jealous. Almost. Anyway, they seem to have brightened up a bit, easily interested in anything fascinating and new. ]

Could you tell me how you came to have it? Or is it a secret...?

[gilden]

Nah, it's not a secret. But it's not something a lot of people can do. Most healers devote their life to saving others and all of that, spend years learning how to call Light from one religious sect or another... [ This is clearly not the path he took. He picks up his pace a little but then sees to catch himself. ]

I've got a natural talent for it. Learning how to really use a sword took more work.

[reappraise]

A natural talent, hmm? I'm jealous.

[ They say that lightly, jokingly even, a serene smile on their face. When he increases their speed, they follow it, but they don't slow down again. ]

I think... it must be nice to be born with a talent like that. I wouldn't know myself.

[gilden]

[ Guess he's being dragged along a bit, but it's his own fault. He sputters momentarily but then concedes that he's being the one led here. ]

Eh, I wouldn't call it nice, but it is handy. You trained for your shows?

[reappraise]

Yes, but that was easy to do. Like you said, it's much easier than fighting. And I've only been at it for two hundred years...

[ Said casually, and as if that really is a very short amount of time. ]

If I'd been born incredibly strong or talented in fighting, I probably wouldn't have started doing shows in the first place.

[gilden]

[ He whistles. ]

I wouldn't want to do anything that long. You must have a lot of patience.

[reappraise]

I spent ten times as long fighting. That's why I got sick of it.

[ Someone sounds a bit bitter over the fact. ]

I suppose you can't have been doing it for long... but don't you ever get tired of it?

[gilden]

That's how long? Nevermind, it's too long either way.

[ He sound exhausted just thinking about it. ]

If I don't fight I don't eat, and I like eating. But yeah, I guess I do, but it's still the easiest way to get a meal every day.

[reappraise]

I suppose wealth would help with that.

[ Apparently they have not thought about how food costs money, working = money, having lots of money = never running out of food. ]

What happens if you don't have money, then? Aren't there people who can't fight, or are bad at other jobs?

[gilden]

'Course it would!

[ Money is useful for so, so many things. ]

If you can't fight you learn a trade, sewing, gathering, farming, shopkeep...if you're not good at any of that you better be a rich kid or a beautiful maiden. If not you wind up on the streets, begging for whatever scraps guilty people will throw at you, stealing from them, or both.

[reappraise]

That's terrible...!

[ Not this capitalism discussion... they frown, looking deeply troubled, and this alone has taken their mind off this stupid challenge. This all sounds like such a bizarre way for any living being to live. ]

Can't the people with wealth do anything? My kind always shared what we had with each other, even to those who were bad at everything...