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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 11:47 am
For a tense moment it seemed like the horse-girl was going to turn him down, which would have been terribly embarrassing. From the way she kicked at the dirt he was worried he might have offended her. He grinned with relief when she looked up at him and smiled. "Great. Then you won't be mad at me for not being any good!"He reached out to take Shakuntala's hands to lead her in the dance. He definitely wasn't very good at dancing, but what he lacked in skill he tried to make up in enthusiasm. He didn't want Shakuntala to think he hated dancing with her. "This isn't bad. Oops, sorry. Almost stepped on your foot." Axel tried to reign in his clumsiness. He didn't want to step on poor Shakuntala and make her regret dancing with him. He tried to make some conversation. "So... you like horses?"He caught a glimpse of Preacher out of the corner of his eye and resolutely kept a smile plastered on his face. He wasn't going to lose his temper and embarrass himself arguing with a street rat any more. He was just going to pretend Preacher didn't exist. The Semblance of Unity grouchy mention returned!
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 11:51 am
If Rikki was bothered by the stomping on his feet, it only showed with small winces.
"They might, since they'll probably need riders for the parade. I've ridden before. I've got a horse, her name's Espoo." He smiled while talking about her, though it had a sad tilt to the corners.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 11:57 am
"Aha! You smiled!" Zin exclaimed, quite proud of herself for finally making Lenore happy. "When two people share a smile, they'll be friends forever, don't you think?" she asked, apparently unaware of how cheesy she sounded. Zin continued to dance about; she seemed to possess an endless amount of energy. However, she did try to be considerate and was careful not to step on her dance partner's toes. She wanted this to be as much fun for Lenore as it was for her, so she danced quickly, but not so chaotically that Lenore was unable to keep up.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:00 pm
Danny was in shock and awe. "You own a HORSE?" It was as though Santa had descended from the sky and gifted her a thousand presents. "That is SO COOL. Can I ride her some time? Can I? Please?"
Her face was so desperate that it seemed the might die if Rikki didn't say yes.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:03 pm
Lenore's blushing intensified and she looked away from Zin. "That's a really childish outlook of things. I think I read something like that in a book when I was seven." The girl focused on the other's feet, trying hard to keep up and not step on them.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:04 pm
He looked just slightly bewildered by the outburst. "I... yeah, I don't see why not? She's not a fancy trick horse or anything, though, so she can't do any jumps or stuff that the Utopia horses probably do." Not that he would ever have need for that kind of frivolous training. She was best for transportation.
Talking so much nearly made him forget they were even dancing.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:14 pm
The girl chuckled a bit. "T-The same with me," she responded. "I'm... not good either."
When the two started to dance, Shakuntala couldn't help from keeping her eyes downcast and concentrated on her pair of feet. Her vision shifted from Axel's quite a bit to the point she ended up just keeping her eyes down to prevent from stepping on his own feet as he almost did to her.
"I-It's okay..." she trailed off, returning her mind to stepping on wherever there was open ground. The male's attempt at conversation nearly went in one ear and out the other. Realizing she should answer, she added with a energetic nod. "Y-Yes, I love them. B-But my father is frugal and... while can could buy one... he won't allow it. So... I just watch them instead."
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:19 pm
"I guess you're right," Zin admitted, blushing a bit herself. "But... But maybe it's okay to be childish still. We're young, and we're celebrating, after all. Maybe your book was right!" She laughed. "There's no harm in making friends anyway. If friends make smiles, and smiles make happiness, that is good enough for me." She was starting to get a little breathless and slowed down a little. She laughed and glanced around. "See, everyone looks happy when they dance with their friends!" ((I apologize; Zin is made out of the moon. That is to say, she is an extremely cheesy loon. XD))
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:22 pm
She shrugged expansively. "Sparring is more useful than a dance, anyway. Though I betcha could pass off sparring as dancing, so long ya didn't hit anyone, ye ken?" She glanced up at his next words, a puzzled frown squiggling across her face. "Work? Whatcha mean? Unless you''re talkin' bout this-" She thwapped herself in the arm where the security band was displayed. Unfortunately, she forgot that a spectacularly purple bruise lay underneath and she winced. Although she was standing apart from the dancing, she couldn't help but sway a bit. The music had a good beat and, if Preacher was honest, she wanted to dance. She had a natural grace that had helped her in thieving adventures over the years as well as dodging Tinker's blows. But as she looked over the crowd, Axel twirled into view, a s**t-eating grin plastered on his face. Well, to her, it seemed like an ugly grin. "Ugh. I hate him." She groused aloud, still tapping one foot to the beat.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:28 pm
Saga peeked out the window, thinking. He'd seen Preacher in the crowd earlier. She was glaring daggers at him, yesterday's offense far from forgiven. No matter what upbringing she'd had he had approached a lady in too boorish of a manner. Suddenly, she seemed to offer a dance to a man- who appeared to reject it. He refused a maiden's hand for a dance? This may be no ballroom, but where the parade marshal was from, it was an act of outrage. He felt the color drain of his face, taken aback. Rising from his perch on the windowsill, Saga took off his hat and headed out the door, determined to set things right for the navy-haired girl. Once outside he approached her, flourishing a bow in greeting. "Good afternoon, miss Preacher." He thought she might prefer it if he put some distance between them in his manner of address. "I wanted to apologize to you for my rudeness yesterday. As a token of our reconciliation, would you take this dance?" He offered his hand, palm turned down, and smiled innocently. It was an invitation for her to take the male lead- which he guessed she might prefer, as she wore male clothing, after all. Besides, this was a folk dance; he knew them less well than any from around these parts. The Semblance of Unity Yep! Social dancing is part of a noble's edumacation.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:32 pm
Lenore had to concede to Zinnia on that point, even if she wouldn't say it. Instead, she nodded sheepishly. Lenore looked around at Zin's words, and noted that nearly everyone did seem to be having a good time. "Most of them, yeah."((No need to apologize, Lenore is just made out of cynicism. xDD))
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:36 pm
Shun tilted his head in thought. He did have a point there. As long as the spar didn't get overtly violent, he might be able to get away with something like that. However, it would involve holding back, which wasn't something he really liked to do, regardless who he was up against. There was more to learn when combatants gave their all rather than 'going easy' on one another. But for the sake of this exercise, perhaps he could do just that. "Is that a challenge, then?" he asked with a raised brow. Preacher was younger, but he no doubt should be able to defend himself somewhat, considering his upbringing. Life in the streets was rough. "No. I should have grabbed a bloody armband though. I got dragged here because of my recruit status to help out with s**t," the young man grumbled before pausing. He followed Preacher's line of sight and blinked as he heard the groan. "Something you want to do about him?" he asked plainly. When Saga suddenly came by, he furrowed his brow before staring between the two. Wait. "...Miss?"
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:39 pm
Shakuntala seemed awfully shy. But then, maybe she was just stammering and looking down out of fear of being stepped on. Axel's cheeks reddened a bit and he tried to step more carefully. He didn't want to trample the pretty girl, not after she was reluctant to dance with him in the first place. "Sorry," he said again, hoping he hadn't annoyed her with his clumsiness. "Maybe you can buy your own horse someday," he said encouragingly. As far as he was concerned horses were big, smelly, bitey, kickey, expensive beasts, but far be it from him to rain on Shakuntala's parade. "I've never liked them much. I guess I'm not an animal person. But they are very noble-looking, some of them. And that horse last night seemed to like you."The weirdo field marshal guy was out mingling with the crowd, and to Axel's astonishment he was asking the street rat to dance. Moreover, the field marshal guy was holding out his hand like a woman, waiting for Preacher to take the lead. Axel tore his shocked gaze away, back to Shakuntala's pretty face. "What do you think is going on there? That guy is a weirdo. D'you think they're all like that in Utopia?"
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:42 pm
"So, are you going to take part in the parade? Or just watch?" Zin panted. "You've already been really helpful! First you were at the goldfish booth, and then you helped clean up. I guess you really do care about the parade after all, huh?" she asked, her smile widening into a by-then familiar grin.
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 12:48 pm
Lenore shook her head, taking a deep breath. "I'm only doing any of this because the manager is making me. I don't think he realized that I'm not going to be able to hold a sign promoting the store during the parade."
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