[ She can't see Suletta's face but her mind has already drawn up the melodramatic, pained and embarrassed expression she must be wearing. Miorine laughs softly. ]
That's all, sorry to burst your bubble. Better I tell you now.
[ Miorine is almost lulled to sleep by the pleasant din of Suletta's voice, her arm is a comforting weight draped across her body. Again the synapses in her brain light and spark, struggle to travel through that networks that get her to move and act.
She sits up suddenly, just when on the cusp of sleep. Miorine climbs out of bed and begins rifling through her suitcase like a madwoman, looking for her tallest heels. ]
Get up. I'm going to teach you. You want to be ready for when it happens, don't you?
[ Miorine finds a pair of stilettos (they're too tall and too flashy for corporate gatherings but some hopeful part of her always absentmindedly threw it into her suitcase) and slips them on. She motions to Suletta. ]
Come here- I'll lead so just do what I tell you to.
[ Even in her tallest heels there's a quite a few inches between them, but at least not so many that Suletta will have to crouch. ]
[Even though it's warm, Miorine's laughter makes her feel chilly. She smiles sheepishly all the same, pleased at the sound of it. Miorine almost never laughed — that was another thing she remembered. Even if Suletta's the butt of the joke, it's not mean-spirited, and she feels a little proud of herself for being the source of it. The feeling is soon replaced by bewilderment when Miorine slips out of her arms and starts going through her suitcase like she's remembered something urgent. She leans over the edge of the bed, wrapped in the duvet, her eyes wide.]
Eh? Wha-
[Her eyes get even wider.] Right now? But you should sleep...!
[She's scooted so far to the edge of the bed that she loses her balance, her arms flailing wildly before she just barely manages not to fall. In the process she loses the duvet, then hurriedly grabs it and wraps herself in it again, like a caterpillar.]
We... we aren't even dressed!
[It comes out a little squeaky. Gradually, she falls silent. She looks up at Miorine. She doesn't recognize the shoes, is the first muddled thought that comes to her — they're taller than usual. She wonders how she can even stand in them, let alone dance... but then, Miorine was good at almost everything, and much more graceful than she was. She would be able to. Suletta's sure of it.
Her stare goes somewhat unfocused, distracted: she comes to herself with a start when she realizes, her head whipping up so that she can lock eyes with Miorine. Shyly, her gaze dips. At last, she quietly shuffles out of bed, her eyes still lowered, and nervously approaches Miorine. Finally she meets Miorine's gaze again, chewing on her bottom lip.]
[ Miorine waits (im)patiently for Suletta to wrap the duvet around her, it's like a dress with a hemline that's just too long. She reaches for Suletta's arms and angles them in place: one arm wrapped around Miorine's arm and the other hand firmly in her grasp. Occasionally Miorine gave things like this as much concentration as her work. And usually, these things had to do with Suletta.]
Hold your arm around my shoulders, the other one I grab like this- we're going to waltz. It's a push and pull movement, you're going step back when I step forward.
[ It's a stilted motion for them both no doubt, but Miorine doesn't mind. She expects it and has already offered corrections. ]
Then when I step back you're going to move forward. We take opposite steps but we're moving in the same direction.
[ It would be easier if she was taller but she seems to be making the best of it, accounting for the hardships with her shoes and posture. ]
[to herself as she does. She is deathly afraid of stepping on Miorine's feet, though considering that she's the one not wearing shoes, it's not Miorine she needs to be concerned about.
She starts off slow and cautious, clumsy too, though eventually, inevitably... she begins to find the rhythm of the dance. It's simple, she realizes, each movement dependent on Miorine's own. It's a little like how she feels piloting. Her expression gradually takes on the same focused, serious look.]
[ Suletta, as always, was dedicated to the task given to her. Whatever knowledge anyone chose to share she always soaked up like a sponge, grateful for the patience given to her. Gradually (and in part due to her sordid encounters with her ""mother-in-law"") Miorine began to realize this was because how rarely she was offered either of those things.
She does not expect this realization to make her ache the way it does. She can't do anything about Suletta's sparse childhood (and really, who is she to talk) but she can be a decent dance teacher. ]
Like that. Make sure you don't lose rhythm. This is where the spin comes in-
[ Miorine slows their pace. ]
- forward, now my hand pulls yours up. Spin counter clockwise and don't let go.
[ and then suddenly- ]
I'm going to dip you now, lean back and keep your arm on my shoulder.
[ Miorine wastes no time: her arms slip around Suletta's waist as she falls back. Miorine's feet are in the perfect position obviously- one toe pointed forward, and one toward Suletta, for a moment she's proud of herself for leading and making good use of those terrible charm classes all young girls in her circle were forced to attend.
But she forgets one very important thing: she has little to no upper body strength. Almost immediately her feet begin to slip and pull forward in opposite directions. Suletta is taller and more muscular and the effort required to hold her up is not something Miorine has. ]
Why..- why are you so heavy!
[ She speaks through gritted teeth, already red in the face. ]
[Miorine instruction is good, and she's patient — gently correcting any missteps, carefully guiding her around the hotel room. Suletta imagines a grand ballroom, or dancing in the rain, and feels her heart lurch in her chest.
It's so kind. What Miorine is doing, it's so nice. Suletta feels... it's beyond definition. She couldn't explain it even if she tried. It almost makes her want to cry.
When she spins, it's with ease. For a few brilliant seconds, she's transformed: her posture excellent, her movement flowing and graceful. If she were to see herself, she wouldn't be able to recognize this person, so confident and beautiful.
Then, Miorine dips her.]
Ah-?
[She'd been prepared for it, though she'd also been prepared for Miorine to be able to keep her upright. They both wobble, and before they fall, Suletta instinctively wraps an arm around Miorine's waist to keep her from hurting herself.
She topples over, landing on her back hard enough for a pained oof to escape her. Wrapped in the duvet as she is, it doesn't hurt too badly, and she'd at least broken Miorine's fall with... herself. Either way, it was a crisis averted.
Suletta stares up at Miorine, wide-eyed, her hair fanned out all around her. For once, she doesn't immediately blurt out an apology.]
[ The fall, in her mind, happens slowly (thanks to the booze)- it's a slow motion debacle that involves limbs flying everywhere and Suletta hitting the ground like she's been felled in battle. For a moment she lays there with her ear unintentionally pressed against Suletta's heart again. It's beating fast, though Miorine logically assumes its due to the fall and not much else.
Miorine pulls herself up with a shaky breath that is as annoyed as it is pained- it slips through her gritted teeth. She finally seems to remember that Suletta is underneath her and had been the reason it didn't hurt as much as it could have. Either one of her palms rests on the ground beside Suletta's head; she looks down at Suletta through the curtain of hair that falls over her face. It's funny that she herself probably looks so disheveled but Suletta looks serene, maybe just a bit older with her hair down like this- the roundness in her face is shaved away and in her half-undressed state the curves of her shoulders are smoother, less boxy than they usually are in her uniform.
Her eyes drift down to her mouth, pink and pursed - frozen but unafraid.
Miorine tucks her hair behind her ear and leans down to kiss Suletta- soft as she goes, quick enough to not feel like a sleaze for doing it without asking. Miorine pulls back and sits up (still on top of Suletta). Her fingers drift down unconsciously to graze her skin and trace the shape of her face, not yet done with reveling in how soft she is. ]
Sorry.
[ For this, maybe. Or for the fall, or for everything that came before. ]
[Miorine's staring down at her. Her face is flushed; her stare is intense. It captures Suletta's attention, keeps her pinned in this spot and this moment. She waits in silence to see what Miorine might do next.
It's brief, barely a few seconds of warmth and gentle pressure. A kiss that a child might give another on a playground. A kiss like the ones in the books she would read, which were set in the past and so came with a complex and orderly set of rules for courting. Suletta's breath catches and snags in her throat the moment before, a sound that could be mistaken for surprise. Her eyes stay open. Miorine's apology comes through like words underwater: garbled and indistinct. Suletta puts two fingers to her mouth in startled quiet. She blinks. The silence stretches beyond what might be comfortable, as she contends with the fact that things have changed for the two of them.
Warm. Miorine's mouth was so warm.
She props herself on one elbow, glancing off to the side as if troubled. What can be seen of her expression is pensive. Then, she leans forward. Her hand nervously lands on the nape of Miorine's neck, and the other clenches into a white-knuckled fist beside her. It's awkward - their noses bump, and the kiss lands more on the corner of her mouth. She counts the seconds: she makes sure that it lasts a beat or two longer than Miorine's had. This time, she closes her eyes.
When she pulls back, she's smiling a little. Her eyes open slowly.]
It's okay.
[Her lips purse as she thinks over something, and she tries to sit up a little more. The smile returns: a little giddier now.]
[ Miorine fights her discomfort. As self-conscious as she is she tries to be positive in the way of pragmatism - Suletta's brain short-circuited often. Ultimately, she's already got her cue cards ready: that nothing needed to change, that Miorine did not take offense and that she was not small-minded enough to throw away friendship because of some wordless rejection. But then Suletta reaches for her.
She's not frozen, not stunned. She is simply patient. Miorine lets her body acquiesce to Suletta and when she kisses her she grows red again even though the alcohol has begun to drain from her system.
The kiss is sweet, maybe just a little sensual despite how Suletta misses her target; it's the way her mouth lingers and how she dares to place a hand on Miorine to guide her towards her. It's surprising for her to take the lead in any capacity but Miorine realizes belatedly it shouldn't after the slow build of all that's transpired tonight. Every bit of it was an ( admittedly successful) attempt at pushing forward, and at moving them forward. ]
Keep your eyes open until you get more comfortable, or else you'll slam into my nose.
[ It's rare to see Miorine bashful. Though the delicate pink tinging her skin is counteracted by the surly way she grumbles out her constructive criticism. Miorine stands with shakey feet, flinging off the one heel that'd managed to stay on during the fall.
She reaches down to grab Suletta's hands and help her stand. ]
It's not a big deal. That's what you do when you care about someone-
Mm! Okay! [It's a lesson she takes to heart, like most lessons she's given. She nods her head in enthusiastic acknowledgement, her expression so serious that it becomes, like most of Suletta's expressions, almost comical. Back on her feet, she stares down at their clasped hands. Her giddiness fades into something a little more subdued, a quieter kind of contentment. Miorine's face is flushed again, and though Suletta tries to catch her eye, she avoids her gaze. It occurs to her then that she's embarrassed, and the idea of Miorine being embarrassed over anything is so charming that she gently squeezes her hands in nonverbal comfort.]
Even so... it means a lot to me.
[She gently tugs on Miorine's hands to guide her back to bed.]
You should sleep now. You're tired, right?
[She's still draped in the duvet, and has to unwind herself from it to tuck Miorine in, the way her own mother used to do with her. This time, finally, the act comes without the self-consciousness her nudity in front of Miorine had caused her before. Her hair falls over her shoulders and down her back, and with the way she's angled, it's hard to see much of her face, other than her chin and the curve of her neck.
She puts on her pajamas with her back turned, and once again wriggles under the blankets beside Miorine.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 03:21 am (UTC)That's all, sorry to burst your bubble. Better I tell you now.
[ Miorine is almost lulled to sleep by the pleasant din of Suletta's voice, her arm is a comforting weight draped across her body. Again the synapses in her brain light and spark, struggle to travel through that networks that get her to move and act.
She sits up suddenly, just when on the cusp of sleep. Miorine climbs out of bed and begins rifling through her suitcase like a madwoman, looking for her tallest heels. ]
Get up. I'm going to teach you. You want to be ready for when it happens, don't you?
[ Miorine finds a pair of stilettos (they're too tall and too flashy for corporate gatherings but some hopeful part of her always absentmindedly threw it into her suitcase) and slips them on. She motions to Suletta. ]
Come here- I'll lead so just do what I tell you to.
[ Even in her tallest heels there's a quite a few inches between them, but at least not so many that Suletta will have to crouch. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 05:30 am (UTC)Eh? Wha-
[Her eyes get even wider.] Right now? But you should sleep...!
[She's scooted so far to the edge of the bed that she loses her balance, her arms flailing wildly before she just barely manages not to fall. In the process she loses the duvet, then hurriedly grabs it and wraps herself in it again, like a caterpillar.]
We... we aren't even dressed!
[It comes out a little squeaky. Gradually, she falls silent. She looks up at Miorine. She doesn't recognize the shoes, is the first muddled thought that comes to her — they're taller than usual. She wonders how she can even stand in them, let alone dance... but then, Miorine was good at almost everything, and much more graceful than she was. She would be able to. Suletta's sure of it.
Her stare goes somewhat unfocused, distracted: she comes to herself with a start when she realizes, her head whipping up so that she can lock eyes with Miorine. Shyly, her gaze dips. At last, she quietly shuffles out of bed, her eyes still lowered, and nervously approaches Miorine. Finally she meets Miorine's gaze again, chewing on her bottom lip.]
...
Okay.
What should I do first?
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 03:14 am (UTC)Hold your arm around my shoulders, the other one I grab like this- we're going to waltz. It's a push and pull movement, you're going step back when I step forward.
[ It's a stilted motion for them both no doubt, but Miorine doesn't mind. She expects it and has already offered corrections. ]
Then when I step back you're going to move forward. We take opposite steps but we're moving in the same direction.
[ It would be easier if she was taller but she seems to be making the best of it, accounting for the hardships with her shoes and posture. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 09:41 pm (UTC)Step back, move forward, step back, move forward...
[to herself as she does. She is deathly afraid of stepping on Miorine's feet, though considering that she's the one not wearing shoes, it's not Miorine she needs to be concerned about.
She starts off slow and cautious, clumsy too, though eventually, inevitably... she begins to find the rhythm of the dance. It's simple, she realizes, each movement dependent on Miorine's own. It's a little like how she feels piloting. Her expression gradually takes on the same focused, serious look.]
Like this?
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 02:24 am (UTC)She does not expect this realization to make her ache the way it does. She can't do anything about Suletta's sparse childhood (and really, who is she to talk) but she can be a decent dance teacher. ]
Like that. Make sure you don't lose rhythm. This is where the spin comes in-
[ Miorine slows their pace. ]
- forward, now my hand pulls yours up. Spin counter clockwise and don't let go.
[ and then suddenly- ]
I'm going to dip you now, lean back and keep your arm on my shoulder.
[ Miorine wastes no time: her arms slip around Suletta's waist as she falls back. Miorine's feet are in the perfect position obviously- one toe pointed forward, and one toward Suletta, for a moment she's proud of herself for leading and making good use of those terrible charm classes all young girls in her circle were forced to attend.
But she forgets one very important thing: she has little to no upper body strength. Almost immediately her feet begin to slip and pull forward in opposite directions. Suletta is taller and more muscular and the effort required to hold her up is not something Miorine has. ]
Why..- why are you so heavy!
[ She speaks through gritted teeth, already red in the face. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 05:54 am (UTC)It's so kind. What Miorine is doing, it's so nice. Suletta feels... it's beyond definition. She couldn't explain it even if she tried. It almost makes her want to cry.
When she spins, it's with ease. For a few brilliant seconds, she's transformed: her posture excellent, her movement flowing and graceful. If she were to see herself, she wouldn't be able to recognize this person, so confident and beautiful.
Then, Miorine dips her.]
Ah-?
[She'd been prepared for it, though she'd also been prepared for Miorine to be able to keep her upright. They both wobble, and before they fall, Suletta instinctively wraps an arm around Miorine's waist to keep her from hurting herself.
She topples over, landing on her back hard enough for a pained oof to escape her. Wrapped in the duvet as she is, it doesn't hurt too badly, and she'd at least broken Miorine's fall with... herself. Either way, it was a crisis averted.
Suletta stares up at Miorine, wide-eyed, her hair fanned out all around her. For once, she doesn't immediately blurt out an apology.]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-05 12:09 am (UTC)Miorine pulls herself up with a shaky breath that is as annoyed as it is pained- it slips through her gritted teeth. She finally seems to remember that Suletta is underneath her and had been the reason it didn't hurt as much as it could have. Either one of her palms rests on the ground beside Suletta's head; she looks down at Suletta through the curtain of hair that falls over her face. It's funny that she herself probably looks so disheveled but Suletta looks serene, maybe just a bit older with her hair down like this- the roundness in her face is shaved away and in her half-undressed state the curves of her shoulders are smoother, less boxy than they usually are in her uniform.
Her eyes drift down to her mouth, pink and pursed - frozen but unafraid.
Miorine tucks her hair behind her ear and leans down to kiss Suletta- soft as she goes, quick enough to not feel like a sleaze for doing it without asking. Miorine pulls back and sits up (still on top of Suletta). Her fingers drift down unconsciously to graze her skin and trace the shape of her face, not yet done with reveling in how soft she is. ]
Sorry.
[ For this, maybe. Or for the fall, or for everything that came before. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-05 04:24 am (UTC)It's brief, barely a few seconds of warmth and gentle pressure. A kiss that a child might give another on a playground. A kiss like the ones in the books she would read, which were set in the past and so came with a complex and orderly set of rules for courting. Suletta's breath catches and snags in her throat the moment before, a sound that could be mistaken for surprise. Her eyes stay open. Miorine's apology comes through like words underwater: garbled and indistinct. Suletta puts two fingers to her mouth in startled quiet. She blinks. The silence stretches beyond what might be comfortable, as she contends with the fact that things have changed for the two of them.
Warm. Miorine's mouth was so warm.
She props herself on one elbow, glancing off to the side as if troubled. What can be seen of her expression is pensive. Then, she leans forward. Her hand nervously lands on the nape of Miorine's neck, and the other clenches into a white-knuckled fist beside her. It's awkward - their noses bump, and the kiss lands more on the corner of her mouth. She counts the seconds: she makes sure that it lasts a beat or two longer than Miorine's had. This time, she closes her eyes.
When she pulls back, she's smiling a little. Her eyes open slowly.]
It's okay.
[Her lips purse as she thinks over something, and she tries to sit up a little more. The smile returns: a little giddier now.]
Thank you for teaching me how to dance.
1/2
Date: 2023-06-06 05:03 pm (UTC)She's not frozen, not stunned. She is simply patient. Miorine lets her body acquiesce to Suletta and when she kisses her she grows red again even though the alcohol has begun to drain from her system.
The kiss is sweet, maybe just a little sensual despite how Suletta misses her target; it's the way her mouth lingers and how she dares to place a hand on Miorine to guide her towards her. It's surprising for her to take the lead in any capacity but Miorine realizes belatedly it shouldn't after the slow build of all that's transpired tonight. Every bit of it was an ( admittedly successful) attempt at pushing forward, and at moving them forward. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-06-06 05:07 pm (UTC)[ It's rare to see Miorine bashful. Though the delicate pink tinging her skin is counteracted by the surly way she grumbles out her constructive criticism. Miorine stands with shakey feet, flinging off the one heel that'd managed to stay on during the fall.
She reaches down to grab Suletta's hands and help her stand. ]
It's not a big deal. That's what you do when you care about someone-
[ Her gaze drifts off to side. ]
- you help them do the things they care about.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-06 08:32 pm (UTC)Even so... it means a lot to me.
[She gently tugs on Miorine's hands to guide her back to bed.]
You should sleep now. You're tired, right?
[She's still draped in the duvet, and has to unwind herself from it to tuck Miorine in, the way her own mother used to do with her. This time, finally, the act comes without the self-consciousness her nudity in front of Miorine had caused her before. Her hair falls over her shoulders and down her back, and with the way she's angled, it's hard to see much of her face, other than her chin and the curve of her neck.
She puts on her pajamas with her back turned, and once again wriggles under the blankets beside Miorine.]