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 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:44 pm
He gave her a -very- serious 'I AM FIRM ON THIS' look, but made no comment against her in terms of 'going out of his way' to assist her. If he didn't 'go out of his way', hell if NOBODY did, she'd always be relying on overall bad karma and herself for things to happen.
"-IF-." he replied, sighing deeply. Damn, this would have been a -wonderful- time for tea. The day had been mostly stressful and he wasn't exactly looking forward to, what seemed to be, the likelihood he'd be intoxicated by the end of the weekend.
The last time had been 'pleasant' enough. Well, at least that told -who- would be the least effected by the weekend at the end.
Or so -he- thought. Kanda would learn how -wrong- he was.
AND THEN THE BED MUTATED AND ATE SHAE, THE END. But not really, that was simply put there because Kanda's author is a retard. However, Kanda was frankly surprised it -didn't- do just that, watching the androgynous female as she carefully 'dealt' with said disaster area.
"You can borrow those," he was obviously talking about the pajamas, "For the entirety of this venture if it'll so suit you."
Kanda was -pretty- sure the girls weren't going to have men's Pajamas tucked away in their rooms.
She wasn't exactly enthusiastic about her compliance, though. In fact, she forced as much of a 'bare minimum' as possible. But she wasn't frowning or sighing or doing any of the 'UGH YOU'RE SO MEAN TO MAKE ME DO THIS' stuff, eventually finishing off about.... a fourth of the tray, ultimately the only fourth she'd even -touched- because it at least looked familiar.
Then she set it back on the nightstand and -then- proceeded to sigh.
But she didn't 'kill' the silence with some pointless statement she might have otherwise, instead taking this time to get up and walk back to the window, leaning against the doorframe to actually -look- out the window for once.
Sitting in the chair had been more of an 'I'm throwing a fit' action with had focused more of her attention on the -floor- than the scenery.
Well -this- was awkward.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:13 pm
That look had earned a visible cringe from its recipient on the bed, ears shifting back a bit and looking as if it had suddenly become difficult to maintain eye contact... so she didn't, and forced a sheepish nod of resignation before averting her eyes to the bedfluff instead. Damn her spinelessness; she'd just never be able to put her foot down against him, would she?
It really would have been lovely to get some tea again though; Shae's nerves could certainly do with the smoothing over... and oh, just to have something nice and TAME for her stomach again would be so heavenly.
But on to other subjects-- safe things like the pajamas he'd just mentioned. Yes, that'd do.
"Oh... ah, thank you for that." While not usually one for 'charity', she wasn't about to turn down the offering of keeping her newfound 'comfortable wear' at the risk of finding nothing but slips and gowns in her own room (... if it ever got UNLOCKED THAT WAS). "And... for everything else as well, sir. I appreciate it."
Would he take her thanks as useless and unnecessary? Oh, probably-- but she still thought the action deserved a bit of merit. After all, he hadn't been required to do her ANY kind service once they'd escaped the watchful eyes of Delilah and Thane.
... But the 'bare minimum' was at least SOMETHING, and Yossarian (contrary to popular opinion) wasn't cruel enough to press her into choking down any more. She'd eaten SOMETHING, and wasn't cowering in the dusty corner of an even dusty hall, and so, as far as he was concerned, that qualified for tolerable progress.
Although the silence wasn't really as pleasant as he thought it would be-- or pleasant at all for that matter, actually. It was thick with an aura of reeking AWKWARD and compelled him to shift his stance a little: the very closest to fidgeting he'd allow.
Just what was he supposed to say at a time like this? He STILL didn't know WHAT the hell was wrong with the woman's head, but... at the same time, she wasn't screaming or antagonizing him, which left no room for the squabbling and yelling on his end that their 'conversations' were often made of... Think, man, THINK.
Dammit, this wasn't his strong suit.
"... Are you... feeling any less miserable now, woman?" he finally prompted, graceful as a drunken, three legged blind giraffe.
Nope, not his strong suit AT ALL.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:35 pm
What was she -thanking- him for?
"Hn."
It was the only real answer he'd give to the thanks, having gathered enough information to know what simply squashing gratitude had a tendancy of making the opposing party whom had offered it feel bad. Though probably not on the same level as the 'flower' (she was by no means delicate enough to be one, but her actions could have been compared to one often enough) that was on Yossarian's care.
"I wouldn't offer such things if I didn't wish to follow through with him." he added as an afterthought, not quite smothering her words, but moreso implying that his offers of charity, while he forced them upon her, weren't something for her to simply reject so she wouldn't 'burden' him.
However, now they had nothing to talk about. At least -he- had nothing to direct the conversation towards. Kanda had really run out of ideas.
Frankly it was a -tad- awkward after being so used to silence when he -wasn't- in company of an associate.
She tapped her fingers on the sill of the window for a minute, not exactly rushing to answer his inquiry upon it's prompting. In fact, her lack of answering -PROBABLY- made the atmosphere even -more- awkward.
As would her lack of emotional reply. No breakdown as might have been expected, no ungodly blinding smile. Hell, no smile at all. She didn't even look at him.
"Nn...."
Oh god, she was turning into Kanda.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:26 pm
Indeed, Shae wasn't on quite the same level of... special as Aster when it came to emotional fragility, but she might have still been more sensitive than she let on, and seemed content to accept the 'sound' of response without any more fussing. She'd been around Kanda long enough to know that 'Hn' was more or less a code word for 'Not Saying You're Welcome But Not Out To Shoot You Down Either So Let's Move On', which was... yes, enough for her.
And that sentiment was only reinforced by his little additional statement, earning a slightly hesitant nod of compliance, but a nod none the less. She wasn't going to shoot him down either (or try and fail to), since... well, even if it probably wouldn't help her ingrained 'burden' complex much in the long run, it was still a nice gesture.
... She didn't usually mind silence, although there was a FAINT hint of Awkward in the atmosphere (or maybe that was just the perfume they were still soaked in) when they ran out of subjects to discuss, trying and failing to think of something benign worth conversing over when--
Knock knock knock.
No sooner had a very soft rapping sounded at the door did someone peek in-- a maid, but... unusually small by comparison to the others who'd been flocking and twittering all day. It was the little blue-clad girl with the ghost-striped skin, Roselyn, sidling nervously in through the doorway.
"E-Excuse me, Ma'am a-a-and Sir--" She choked a little at that word and hurriedly AVERTED her eyes from Kanda, looking to Shae instead with a trembling smile. "... I've come t-to pick up y-your clothes, i-if you could..."
"Hmm? Oh-- right..." Shae snapped out of her (momentary) daze to grab her discarded dress and fold it as neatly as she could, smiling in turn for the sake of the obviously timid latter. "Here we are..."
Of course, the awkward in THAT room was nothing by comparison to the atmosphere in Yossarian's, as the dark male just... continued to perch stiffly on his bed (damn the thing felt like it was trying to take him under) with hands in his lap and eyes pinned on... something on the far wall. Just what, he didn't really know.
She wasn't giving him straight answers and he found it pretty damned frustrating. Hell, even the fact that she wasn't responding to either extreme (bawling and shrieking was usually the norm of their conversations) left him unsettled, STILL failing to grasp just WHAT was making her so damned screwy in the first place.
"... Everything's going to be fine, you realize," he echoed for lack of anything better, with a light huffy sigh before sagging back a little, testingly, against one pillow. "I'm not allowing for ill mishaps in this dreadful little venture, so... any petty fears you may be harboring are entirely unwarranted."
... Yeah, king of comfort right there.
But hey, he was trying, dammit!
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:44 pm
Kanda rose from his seat, not even noticing the adorable little girl (though he'd -never- describe something as adorable) wasn't looking at him, simply retrieving the clothing he'd discarded earlier, folding them into some semblance of 'neatness' over one arm before crossing the ENORMOUS room again to meet the child.
It hit his 'Little kids shouldn't be doing the work of an adult' note a tad. However, she wasn't out fighting in nasty wars, so it didn't trigger a face (moreso as a noticeable tightening of his expression) entirely.
He made a point to make sure she was within arm's reach when he deposited what he had been wearing previously into the girl's arms, before placing a hand on her head to keep her attention for a moment longer.
"It seems as though the girls were locked out of their rooms by some mistake." he said, not in his 'DEMANDING' tone, but actually forcing something that sounded.... 'understanding', "So it'd be helpful if you could have those opened before the end of the evening?"
Ugh, he was forcing some niceties here, but he'd rather force some niceties now than find himself hunting down someone to do it later.
"Thank you."
For anybody (AKA Shae) who knew Kanda, those words coming out of his mouth sounded -really- odd.
She looked over her shoulder at him and sighed again, before looking back out the window. The silence -really- didn't suit her, but she really didn't feel much for talking. Hell, she only entertained herself for some time by making sure the pajama shirt didn't fall off her shoulders.
And thinking. Asteria didn't really like thinking much. It gave opportunity for all the negative 'What Ifs' to filter into her mind.
Never positive ones. Positivity was a spontaneous feeling, unfortunately.
"What is 'everything' in this case?" she finally asked, backing away from the window to sit in the chair she'd set up in front of it, curling her legs underneath her and holding the collar of her shirt up around her. God, she -should- have put on the pants too, but frankly they would have fallen right off her tiny hips. That wouldn't have been very useful.
There was an odd silence, before she continued with another thought: "And I.."
She stopped, mouthing the words to herself a couple of times, before resuming, "I wasn't worried about this 'venture' when I left the table."
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:16 pm
Kanda's acting abilities (or perhaps there was even a real touch of sympathy in there somewhere) were rather impressive, really-- particularly in the masterful way he could turn the cordiality on and off so easily-- and Shae couldn't help but marvel at for it. He really had a lot more depth that most people gave him credit for, huh?
Roselyn certainly seemed to think so, gaping back at him with a kind of mystified bewilderment for several seconds before, almost guiltily, she flinched back to attentiveness and hastily accepted the suit in her free arm (that WASN'T cradling a dress), nodding.
"... L-Locked? ... Oh, oh, y-yes Sir, of course, Sir!" Wait, was she... actually blushing? But at least the girl was behaving herself well enough, and didn't appear half as... malicious as her supposed cohorts. "My a-apologies, I didn't... I mean, Ma'am, I--"
"It's perfectly alright, Miss Roselyn," but Shae, too, was capable of just as much pleasantness as her companion-- and meant it, too, in this case. "Thank you again for doing us such a kind service and--" Oh! Wait a minute, how had she forgotten that so easily? "... Could I ask a small favor of you?"
"O-Oh, yes Ma'am?" Perked and straight to attention. And still flustered.
"... Would there happen to be any green tea in the house kitchen?"
"Hmm?" A pause and a moment of thought there, before the latter female nodded emphatically, appearing to catch on. "Oh, o-oh yes! W-Would you and the Sir like some?"
"That would be lovely, please."
"R-Right, right!" And with an awkward, shaky little salute (made so by the fact that her hands were so full) the littlest of the maids scampered out in a frantic rush, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she darted away.
So then, maybe it would be such a bad evening after all?
... Oh, great, she was asking pointless questions now. Well at least that gave him SOMETHING to reply to, so perhaps it might help the feelings of Awkward dispel a little.
HA. If only.
"... Everything is everything," he responded with a very... controlled growl of (slight) annoyance, heaving a sigh. "The mission as a whole and whatever may fall within it..."
But of course she had to make it more complicated with that last lovely mutter, silently wishing he could've groaned without some horribly WRONGFUL interpretation on her part-- because she always did that, dammit, and it frustrated him to no end.
"... Well then, if you're going to confess that much, woman, are you preparing to cease this beating around the bush and just come out with it then?" he groused flatly, blunt and to the point as he'd ever been.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:39 pm
Kanda's 'pleasant' act died off as soon as the girl had fled the room, frowning -quite- willingly to make sure he hadn't twisted the muscles in his face out of shape (It was as though he -was- trying to keep the scowl as his permanent expression).
Following that he went right back to his previous seat, partially slouching into it with a deep sigh. At least the matters of returning Shae to her room and.. well, tea had been handled quite well.
However, Kanda wasn't stupid enough to -not- miss that he seemed to have adopted some adorable new admirer. At least she wasn't throwing herself at him at every moment. that made her, so far, the most tolerable of the lot. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she wasn't running on estrogen.
The lack of running on estrogen made females tolerable, yes. Shae didn't run on estrogen and she was far preferable to any of the other 'company' he could have had at that time.
Not to say that was the only reason he defaulted to her company.
"Same routine as always, somehow."
Indeed, Shae and Kanda were conversing, and they were borderlining tea in the future. 'Same as always'.
She didn't want to.
Asteria had let out information she hadn't been fully willing to devulge, and then Yossarian had pretty much asked her to finish it. Oh she -so- didn't want to finish that thought. Sosososo didn't want to finish that thought. Or rather she -didn't- know how to finish it.
So at first all Yoss got was a sigh and another few minutes of silence.
And then another few minutes of silence. She wasn't exactly jumping on top of the explaination train in a rush. She was still debating on if she wanted to or not.
"You're only asking me because you want me to come out with it so you can 'listen' to me, then give me the same 'Don't worry over such unfounded things' answer you always do." she finally said.
And frankly, he seemed to do just that quite often.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:25 pm
... The 'same routine as always', was it?
Same as always. Shae rather liked thinking about it that way, merely shrugging off the comment with a light, if not slightly weary smile, watching the closed door for a few minutes to make certain Roselyn had scampered off before she reclaimed her spot on the corner of the bed, back to the same cross-legged position as before.
As always.
"Well... creatures of habit take a certain comfort in routine," she answered simply, with a light sigh. "Familiarity can make a difficult situation... easier to handle, at times."
Oh, if only he could've known the depth of meaning behind that little comment, too; if only he could've known what terror and atrocities awaited them by the end... but alas, she was a far better and more skilled 'actress' than Aster, and wasn't about to trip up so easily.
It was only a matter or time, anyway.
".........." Twitch. Twitch twitch twitch.
There it was again, that one particular spasm of his left eyelid that seemed to happen whenever Yossarian was truly and genuinely disgruntled, feeling his teeth clench and his muscles tighten EVER so slightly at the woman's final remark.
He'd tried to 'help' her. He'd tried to put aside his annoyance, his frustration, and even his DIGNITY to stop and break Asteria out of whatever ridiculous depression she'd lapsed into-- and to what end? Having it thrown in his face? Getting danced around hinting at some STUPID FEAR that she seemed utterly INCAPABLE of fessing up to?
"... Fine then." His voice had taken a strange new overtone to it, oddly... sharp and bitter. Genuinely, ANGRILY bitter. "If you're going to be so damned petulant and evasive about admittance to this whole damned ludicrous debacle, then leave! Go and sulk to your heart's content!"
Oh... ouch.
Maybe that had been a little too harsh?...
But he had already growled and turned himself to glare at the wall, his livid scowl plain as day. He'd tried, dammit, and now... he was just DONE.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:00 pm
She didn't know a handful of the words that were spewed at her, but... it was his tone that let her know fully well she'd stepped over the 'line' she'd been alotted with his patience, sighing deeply as she rose from the chair, taking a moment to push it back to where it had been before she'd moved it so she could hide in it.
Aside from that, there were only two more delays before she left the room, the first of which was retrieving the dress she'd stripped out of earlier, the second of which was a second visit to a momentary lean against the angry mercenary's back to purr for about two seconds, before giving up on pushing her luck and leaving.
Not a word.
She could handle letting him have some 'steaming over' time, which he'd frankly earned for putting up with her for the day... but she hadn't been expecting to make him so mad.
Which on top of finding she was -LOCKED OUT- of her room didn't exactly make her feel very much better. Which ultimately resulted in her finding somewhere else to retreat to where she'd -hopefully- be found the next morning....
..
Hopefully after she'd -not- ruined the dress by sobbing miserably.
'Comfort in routine'. Perhaps that was why he found himself still less than comfortable in this routine that was so different than what it was he'd been doing for several years previously. Not bad, different.
"The natural world seeking order." he stated as his own observation. While said natural world didn't seek an OCD like order, it did seek out enough order to make things that were anomoly be ostrisized. Such as the giggle of maids that filled this place.
They had found a 'sanctuary' in a world full of hate that would not accept most of them into it as anymore more than 'others'.
For a moment he found himself tracing the well defined burn on his chest absent mindedly, freezing the moment he caught himself doing it and planting his hand on the armrest to GRIP the arm of the seat.
He'd done so well to -NOT- mess with it up until then too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:52 pm
Yes, Aster HAD stepped over a line... and right onto the last strained nerve of Yossarian's patience, pitching the once-tolerant Koshka into a mood of flat out ANGER, painfully plain to see regardless of the fact that he wasn't even speaking.
While he usually humored her appeasement attempts, there was no softening of the scowl this time, nor any response at all beyond a... snarl. It was dull and restrained, sure, but there was no mistaking such a noise... and he didn't even look back at her once as she shuffled toward the door, waiting for a good five minutes after he heard the door click before he took his eyes off the wall, rolled back over... and promptly shoved his face in the nearest sickeningly fluffy pillow to shriek, swear and curse to his heart's content.
God dammit.
God dammit.
God dammit.
This was a simple guarding job. It should have been a simple ******** guarding job.
Eventually he just chucked his suit into the middle of the hallway and then shoved a CHAIR in front of the door to wedge it shut, going to bed once the sun set with a miserable scowl STILL lingering on the corners of his lips.
... But thankfully, not all was distressed within the manor and its little quartet of freshly groomed aristocracy, as Shae and Kanda had managed to end their night on... well, not quite a high note, but a level one, and that was good enough for her.
Somehow little Roselyn had managed to swipe a skeleton key (god only knew where she got it from) and unlock both of the sealed doors-- but not before bringing a polished silver tray and kettle filled to the brim with fresh tea (and hell, even some surprisingly mellow and unfanciful looking... uh, scones? But they were close enough to plain old biscuits) for the two to enjoy.
Green tea did wonders to settle the stomach from noxiously over-rich foods, and the starches helped safely her take the edge off of any remaining hunger. The company was also pleasant enough, savoring a little 'normal' conversation (and occasionally lack thereof) with her 'partner' before finally retiring to her own room and...
Well, her bags were missing, but that was alright by her for the moment... since Del had already managed to find 'his' way back to her in good time, fluttering down the hall a few minutes after her ears picked up the faint screaming of maids over something like 'OH GOD IT'S A BAT GET IT AWAY WHO WOULD KEEP SUCH AN AWFUL LITTLE THING'.
And she'd never ask about the burn, even if she hadn't failed to catch that lapse.
Intriguing, sure, but... not her business.
But not a bad end to the night.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:12 pm
The next morning hadn't gone over any better, from Asteria's point of view.
First she'd woken up to someone sounding -very- unhappy to find her sleeping in a chair in the LIBRARY (but not on the dress, which had been carefully draped over another seat), only to get her a** hauled off to both get dressed and as the teal dress had not been retrieved for alterations the night before due to her being 'missing', she had been shoved into one that was, to say...
Well, she didn't exactly -WANT- to wear purple after the previous night.
But she'd at least been fitted for another 'delightful color of gown for later that evening' to be altered for her smaller figure. Damn she hated being tiny. Not anorexic tiny, but.... yeah, she could probably stand to ingest more.
That had also forced her to stand still for measuring and being informed that wearing men's pajamas was very un lady-like, as well as having her speech corrected constantly.
Which had left her forcing to ignore most everybody except for random shows of 'Please pass me that' or other various niceties at breakfast while she tried to retain the four handfulls of vocabulary that was being shoved into her.
It had been a good distraction until after lunch, frankly. That's when Thade had made his 'lovely' announcement that they needed to make sure everybody could dance.
Which she -knew- she could not, so she'd be STUCK THERE for a while.
He'd been able to tell right off the bat something was wrong when he'd been woken by Mary Ann to see if he'd seen where the 'Dark Haired Miss' had gone off to.
Apparently, as he found out a few seconds following the 'No', the other male had been asked the same question just to have gotten a very unpleasant answer. Which, while Kanda knew that Yossarian did have a small patience for Asteria.....
He would have -groaned- at that question in any 'normal as ever' situation.
Thus he was able to determine something had happened. A something confirmed when, at breakfast -and- lunch Asteria hadn't even paid a lick of attention to much of anybody at the table, outside of polite conversation to review her 'words' and proper use of them with the Matron of the house. In fact, she seemed to do -much- better at the table now that she was ignoring Yossarian.
Which had confirmed his suspicions.
But alas, they were soon ushered off to continue their play of 'prize dogs' for the older pair. Which had prompted a poll of who actually needed to learn how to dance.
Which, fortunately, he did -not-. But he'd probably be stuck staying anyways.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:40 pm
... As it turned out, the next morning had been equally unpleasant for Yossarian, and in more ways than one.
To begin with, he'd woken up to the eager face of none other than Mary Ann inquiring as to where the Dark Haired Idiot (okay, maybe it was 'Miss' but dammit, he was still angry) had scampered off to... to which he hissed and growled that he didn't know, dammit, and that her it wasn't his business to keep a leash on her all the time.
Following THAT joyous little exchange he'd rolled out of bed and finger-combed his hair through, giving in to Thane's "usual" doting and primping with little more than a scowl of protest as he was hauled off for yet MORE fitting, and yet MORE theatrics, and yet MORE IDIOTIC MAIDS HANGING OFF OF HIM AT EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY.
Last off, and pushing the disgruntlement scale to its breaking point, was a lunch full of over-elaborate food and forced niceties... FORCED, of course, being the key word. He managed to say his pleases and thank-yous, staying just within the fringes of 'proper' behavior yet somehow managing not to look at ANY other table occupant throughout the course of the meal.
It was... worrisome, to say the least.
Shae certainly didn't appreciate the tense atmosphere, but the little koshka female couldn't really do much to provide a remedy, resigned to sit back and play the elegant little 'doll' for Delilah while her inner thoughts toiled and churned on.
Aster was obviously miserable; that much she could tell. Something must have gone awry in the 'comforting' to follow the previous night's little episode, and... sadly, she could guess what it had stemmed from.
God, the guilt of having such an awful secret could just eat someone ALIVE... but she comforted herself with the constant reminder that, no, she could still make certain Ma'am would be alright, and if someone needed to end up being thrown into the fire for the sake of finishing this job... she would quietly step up and take it, just as planned.
Yes, putting someone else's neck up to the chopping block just wasn't fair... It wasn't... Not for Aster or even the unknowing males who--
Oh, right, digressing from that in favor of other equally pressing matters-- like the fact that their two darling patrons had suddenly spirited them off to a rather grand looking ballroom for... dancing lessons.
God help them all.
"Of course the point of a ball is to dance the night away!" Delilah cooed sweetly, standing in a kind of vaguely 'teacher-esque' position before the four victims who'd been lined up in a row akin to something the firing squad would be taking out. "So then, we'll begin with the more basic of steps, just to brush up! Shall we try a nice couple's waltz then, hmm?"
... A WHAT now?
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:12 am
"Oh, a -lovely- start, m'dear.." Thane cooed approvingly, causing Asteria's stomach to sink in her gut. That pretty much meant she was going to be -forced- into dancing.. with.
NO. NO. NO. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO.
But frankly, that was her only 'requirement' outside of the very Yossarian colored PURPLE of her dress. It was almost depressing. But she forced a deep breath and more of some WELL trained theatrics. Afterall, the elderly pair had yet to have caught on that Yossarian and Asteria were -less- than pleased with each other...
Though the rumor -had- spread amongst the maids whom, not realizing how badly they'd been rubbing the salt into the wound, had been waffling off about him when they were sure he wasn't paying attention -just- loud enough for Asteria to hear them.
She wanted to throttle them.
"Well, we'd be best to not spend our time shilly-shallying about." she submitted, forcing a very mute smile.
She wanted it to be over.
It seemed as though Thane had gotten -another- idea from the female's anxiety. Oh yes, it was that same suspicion that Yossarian and Asteria just could -not- stay away from each other. Though they -had- been playing 'hands off' all morning.
That would perhaps make the emotional make-up later in the day (OH HE HAD NO IDEA) much more intense.
Kanda, on the other hand, had no desire to go through the steps of something he already knew to waste time, but frankly it was the lesser of two evils. A lesser evil which prompted him to see what would happen if he -didn't- step in to lessen a situation (If the two were -that- mad at each other he -might- have stepped in and taken the 'demonic she-beast' as a dancing partnet).
Which of course required him to put the very un-Kanda like formalities into play, if only to put on a show (so maybe he could hide in a corner later), bowing lightly to Shae and offering her his right hand.
"If you would be so kind?"
Oh he could -feel- the oozing that formality had earned.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:41 am
Oh, waltzing. He hated waltzing.
But worst of all, he hated that he already knew how to do it perfectly.
Yes, Yossarian was guilty of being more cultured than he let on-- cursing his wretch of a father for that one-- and was unfortunately versed in the ways of... formal dance, groaning inwardly at the inevitable PAIN he'd have to suffer for it-- but at the same time, wanting to get this hell over with as quickly as possible.
And hopefully without having to actually look at Aster while he did it.
His eyes seemed to look through her as he forced a thin semi-smile, reaching over and lightly taking her hand without a word to lead her away from the wall and towards a more appropriate spot for their hellish little practice session. It was... almost disturbing, the way he moved and acted-- oddly graceful and cordial and QUIET, which... wasn't him at all.
No, this was just a pleasant exterior forced to get the job done and be out of there are quickly as possible, that was all.
... If only Shae could have been so stoic about the whole mess, feeling a little pang of guilt and unnerving hit her at the word 'waltz' and realizing her HORRIBLE FAILURE OF DANCING KNOWLEDGE in a heartbeat. For all of her odd talents and skills, she had never been particularly decent at any physically oriented activity, and... hell, for that matter, she'd just never TRIED this in the first place.
That, and Kanda's flawless gentleman act was still secretly throwing her for a loop. Just how in the world could he be so relaxed about this without faltering?...
But she put on her bravest (or calmest) face and followed his example, smiling lightly as she (oh god how odd this felt) bowed and accepted his hand with her own, resigned to follow his lead in the manner of a 'proper lady' with her little dress and shoes (oh thank god she'd escaped Delilah's pressing of heels for some harmless little flat-soled things) and flowered hairclips and other assorted girly things.
... Oh, sigh.
Hopefully she wouldn't be too embarrassingly horrible for her poor partner, but... it was painfully obvious that she was a fish out of water anyway, lost for the steps, the movements, the proper proximity and... EVERYTHING.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:00 am
Yesterday she would have probably -loved- this situation. Even if it was just an act to him. A means to an end. Even though he was just trying to get out of as much physical contact as possible, his hand almost felt -gentle-.
Not on purpose, she was sure, but..... Ah, she was thinking again.
Asteria didn't exactly look back at him, simply being a good girl and complying to keep from making an already bad situation worse (damn she hated these shoes, but at least she'd been able to talk Delilah out of shoes from hell), as well as forcing herself to not look at his face... or his hands... or...
Hell, she simply settled on the place where her eyes were level with his ch-... were -NORMALLY- level with his chest (Damned shoes made her another 2 and a half inches taller and that would leave her at about Yoss's lips.) to stare at, sighing lightly.
Well, she'd just have to follow his lead for now. As unpleasant as it was.
Oh he'd be -so- pleased to have this all over with as quickly as Shae. However, Kanda was better than to simply rush anything, clamping his fingers -lightly- (as he had no desire to hold her hand in reality, it was a silly emotional thing) around her hand before righting his standing to mimic his rival's earlier action to walk Shae out to a less 'We'll take ourselves out on the maids' position of the floor.
Which wasn't half as awkward as the proper 'position' for such a dance.
Kanda, in any other situation, would have NEVER placed his hands on a female below the shoulders unless it was to hoist them over a shoulder or out a window or whatever life-saving technique was required at the time, but he somehow kept a straight expression when he placed his right hand on her waist (AH HA HA THAT TICKLES) and held onto her other hand.
"I lead with the left, use your right." he instructed, quietly, waiting for Shae to be at least -semi- settled before he made any further move.
Thane, on the other hand, seemed so pleased by the entire scene, whispering to Delilah about ah, the Beaus are taking over the lesson, and other various romantic twitters.
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