ic contact;

[coexistent]

"I'm not around, so... leave a message, I guess."

Comments

[immobileyes]

Yeah, like that.

[ And she's nodding, focusing on their feet once she's rested her fingertips on his shoulder. Roxas should lead, so which-- ah. ]

You start with your feet together, and then you're going to step forward with your left foot and back a little to the side with your right foot. Then you bring your left foot back beside your right foot.

... You keep doing this and switching feet, and you can put in turns, but we can go really slow for now.

[ Because feet will probably get stepped on, and it's a lot to remember at first. ]

[coexistent]

[okay, maybe this is a little more complicated than roxas anticipated. but he's going to try, for mary's sake. he feels like it's something he needs to do... even if he doesn't totally understand how this works. even if he's not sure why this a thing people would do.

but something in his chest says he has to try.

the fortunate thing is that even though roxas has no idea what he's doing, he's not totally clumsy. he's good at taking directions, and his combat capabilities make him fairly swift on his feet.]

Feet together.... [which he does.] Forward with the left... back to the side with the right...

[he's trying to go in motion with this as he repeats them, as if saying it out loud will help him remember better.] Left foot back...

Then forward with the right... [he'll pause there to look at her. he's got it, probably, but it's not very graceful—kind of mechanical, really.]

Is that it?

[immobileyes]

That's it! You try to, um... make a box with the way you're stepping. And if you want to go a little faster, you count to three. Each step is one. It's supposed to go one-two-three, one-two-three.

[ Roxas getting this at all is better than Mary's first attempt; she'd done a whole lot of stumbling at first. ]

[coexistent]

Okay, let's try it, then.

[he's honestly a little less graceful the second time around—trying to keep all that in mind along with the counts is a bit tougher. and his dumb kingdom hearts-sized feet probably don't help that much.

but he's doing his best to be careful at least, so even when he missteps, he doesn't actually step on mary's feet. ...maybe that leads to a couple of awkward stumbles in balance, but he's trying here. it could definitely be a lot worse, especially when his movements are pretty mechanical.]

[immobileyes]

[ He's definitely trying; she can't fault him for that. And it really is easier when she has a partner, and if she just focuses on coaching Roxas through the movements, it's not as embarrassing. ]

I think it's not as hard when there's music... but you know, you're learning it faster than I did.

[coexistent]

I am?

[he seems genuinely surprised by that, considering he doesn't think he's doing a particularly good job here. apparently, the organization trained him better than he thought.]

Music... We could probably find some, right? If that'll make it easier...

[immobileyes]

[ His moves are more mechanical, and Mary had just been so unsure about her movements that she's pretty sure Zara's feet were swollen after the first session; they had to be, after how many times she'd stepped or stumbled right onto them.

What graceful individuals.

But she nods, letting go of his hand and lowering her other hand to glance around thoughtfully. ]

Yeah... you don't have to count as much because the music kind of counts it for you.

[coexistent]

It counts.. for you.

[once she lets go of his hand, the other lingers for a moment thoughtlessly before dropping to his side. obviously, he's a little puzzled by what she's saying.]

Sorry. I don't really know much about music, either.

[immobileyes]

It's okay! It's the first thing about the outside world that I learned about... Seto had me listen to it.

[ And it had completely blown her mind, but that aside-- she's moving over to the couch, where her CereVice rests, fiddling with it with a look of Great Concentration.

And finally, lo and behold...! Music!

Well, after like three attempts and finding songs that were way too fast. ]

But if you close your eyes and count to three, the music matches up with you.

... That's kind of hard to explain, though. Somehow it just works.

[coexistent]

[he's patient while she finds the music, and then once it plays... well, roxas follows along with her instructions.

he's concentrating, and after a few seconds, it clicks well enough. his head bobs in tune with the counts almost naturally—he gets what she means from hearing it. which is a good thing, since he won't need her to explain it.

it's pretty cool to him, though. he's never listened to music this way; most of what he ever heard came from demyx's sitar, and that was nothing like this at all.]

You're right... it really does work.

[immobileyes]

Right??

[ Mary's thrilled that the simple explanation and the demonstration had worked well enough-- because the more complicated stuff is harder to word, and she messes up the wording more often. Knowing that Roxas can understand it now just warms her chest. ]

I think it'll be a lot easier for you to move now, Roxas!

[coexistent]

[he's not really sure how or why he has any understanding of it, but really... it's probably not the time or place to question it, either. he'll just take it for what it is right now and then wonder about the rest later.

(maybe he's just that determined to be able to be helpful to mary.)

in any case, he nods.]

I guess that's why you're supposed to dance with music normally, right?

[immobileyes]

Right! [ She's been doing well, incredibly well, considering-- but when he smiles at her like that, Mary can feel her face get a little warmer. Which happened a lot in the manga, she knows, and she can only hope that Roxas hadn't understood those parts.

Things really were easier when she hadn't thought to put a name to the depth of a feeling...

But she takes a deep breath and offers her hand once more. This is still practice-- and selfishly, she thinks it might be more fun to do this with Roxas and the music, like a very impromptu ball. ]

Do you want to try again?

[coexistent]

[she doesn't have to worry about that much—it totally slips past him that she's blushing at all. he's... kind of focused on what they're trying to do here, so at least mary can be off the hook in that regard this time around.]

You still want to practice, right? [since... he did kind of end up interrupting her. roxas figures she probably wants to finish before he bails out. this isn't something he's terribly interested in on his own, after all.

but he wants to help, so also long as she wants to, he's got not problem with it.] We can try again, then.

[immobileyes]

[ Right... this was for her benefit, wasn't it? Mary smiles, a little ruefully, and settles back into position. It really is easier to remember the steps when someone else is there to guide her. Even when it's someone who's only just started to learn the movements himself. ]

I think I've almost got it, and I don't want to make you keep having to help me, so... [ A nod, firm. ] We can stop after this.

[coexistent]

Huh? It's okay...

[oh... did he sound like he really didn't want to be there or something? he can't help but wonder, but it wasn't really his intent. roxas wants to keep helping.]

I'm glad I can help you, Mary. So... I don't mind. I don't think I'll be as good as Zara, but I'm probably better than an empty coat.

[immobileyes]

[ That just makes her flush darker-- not because of any oh my dokis, but because let's not mention dancing with a jacket ever again, okay? It's embarrassing. ]

You're definitely better than an empty coat.

[ for the record. But knowing that he seems to be happy just helping her... it makes her feel a little better about roping him into this. ]

[coexistent]

[sorry, mary. he couldn't help himself.]

I'll try to be. But I guess as long as it works for you... that's what matters.

[immobileyes]

[ Her fingers curl towards her palm, her fist lightly pushing against his shoulder, scolding-- don't tease. Good dance partners are hard to come by. ]

I can't talk to my jacket, [ Mary finally mumbles, a little huffy. So yes, of course this works for her. ]

[coexistent]

[he could be sassy and point out that theoretically, she could talk to her jacket—but that wouldn't make for good conversation.

but for all his sass, he's not interested in riling mary up when he's trying to help her. that's just rude. besides:]

It's better that we can talk to each other anyway, right?

[immobileyes]

Well, yeah.

[ But since he did tease her, she's going to comment lightly with: ]

If talking to me doesn't make you miss a step.

[coexistent]

[...yeah. he should have seen that one coming.]

Oh... right. I guess it might be hard to do both. People don't usually talk when they dance, right?

[immobileyes]

I don't think so. Usually when it happens in the stories, they just stare into each other's eyes.

[ Which would also be hard, she thinks. Especially if you were trying to concentrate on what your feet were doing. ]

[coexistent]

Just... staring?

[why though.]

Wouldn't it be hard to dance like that?

[immobileyes]

I guess if you're really close to your partner or you're royalty or... something like that, it's really easy to do?

[ She has no idea how they do it. ]