ic contact;

[coexistent]

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

Comments

[coexistent]

A dance...

[he repeats back, thoughtfully. he knows nothing about dancing, really. but he gives her a small smile and nods.]

I didn't know you knew how to do that, Mary.

[immobileyes]

Zara taught me, awhile ago... but now that he's not in the colony anymore, I was worried I'd forget it.

It's just, you're supposed to have a partner, so... [ She nods to her poor, pitiful jacket. ]

[coexistent]

Oh... I get it.

[she's doing her best with this, isn't she? he may not know how to dance, but he at least gets the need to practice something to stay sharp.]

I don't know how to dance, so I don't think I can help you... [but he would! if he could...]

[immobileyes]

I can teach you the steps, but...

[ But then she'd have to hold his hand and that's-- well. ]

I might not be the best teacher, [ she says instead. Because she's never taught anyone anything before. ]

[coexistent]

Would it be easier for you to practice if I learn the steps?

[he's not sure he'll be any good at picking it up, just like mary may not be a good teacher. but if he can help her, then he'd really like to do that. this is what friends do and all.]

1/2

[immobileyes]

[ DILEMMA... the safest answer is probably "No, I'll be fine on my own" because Zara had stressed very firmly that this was a dance that required close contact with your partner. And, while practicing with a person who reminded her more of her mother than anything else was perfectly safe, this particular person is not safe (for her heart) at all.

But if she says no right after she said she could teach him (and why did she say that, that was stupid), he might start wondering. No. No, for the sake of their friendship, she has to act normal!! ]

[immobileyes]

... Yeah. B-but I can still practice like this, so don't feel like you have to!

[ There. It's still honest. ]

[coexistent]

I don't really mind... I dunno if I'd be any good, though.

[he just wants to help her! after everything that's happened, he feels like it's the least he can do.]

[immobileyes]

[ Despite the rising swell of nervousness pushing up from her chest into her throat, Mary can't help but laugh, shaking her head. ]

I'm not very good, either. So we can be Not Very Good together!

[ Probably not something anyone wants to hear from their potential teacher. But she did take her lessons with Zara very seriously, so she can probably parrot them back without much trouble. ]

[coexistent]

[and yet... it doesn't seem to bother him. maybe because it's mary, but he thinks it'll be fine.]

All we can do is try, right? That's the whole point of practicing, anyway. [there's probably a lot of other people better suited for this, but it's not like roxas would even know where to look to help her find someone like that anyway.

this will probably be a disaster, but he's not thinking about it much.]

[immobileyes]

[ Not even Mary knows who to ask for something like this... maybe Edgeworth, but she doesn't know him well enough to even consider bothering him for a thing like this. Roxas is closer to her height, anyway-- hopefully that helps.

OKAY DEEP BREATH, MARY. ]

Right, so... [ And she offers him her hand, praying that nothing about this is going to betray her. The poor jacket will go on the couch to catch a breather. ] You take this one, and you put your other hand on my waist.

[coexistent]

Okay.

[that part seems easy enough. he takes her hand when offered, then places the other... where she tells him to.

(this is a thing people do?)]

Like this? [? dancing sure seems like a thing.]

[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?