Taning noted as Yulia was headed out, with no small degree of amusement, that her first instinct after a good fight is to have a smoke. Obvious, really. Why didn't I see it before? He grins at the thought.
Taning followed her through some corridors and out into the back porch of the training hall building. When he caught up to her, she was trying in vain to light up against a cupped palm to hide from a gusty, dusty summer gale. He fished a cigarette out of his own pack, stuck it between his lips, and with a tiny rote action akin to the flicking of a lighter, ignited it (and Yulia's) with a simple, focused heat spell.
He wasn't showing off for her. Not really. He just remembered something Tohru told him earlier in the day: if you want to get the most out of your magic, you've got to want to use it.
So what if he wanted to use it just then? ... Okay fine, he self-justified, so what if I wanted to show off?
"What is it you want, old dog?", you say? Maybe I want to be worth this blade. Maybe I want to have the raw passion you have for fighting. Maybe I want to know what it feels like to be like you, always obsessing over being the best.
"I wanted to use the training hall, but really, formulating lightning spells while you blade-maniacs are fighting in the same room is a recipe for disaster, don't you think?"
For a split second, Yulia flashed back to a memory: about a year ago, in a similar situation, but in the colder north where the air always nipped at you. She'd finished a spar back then, too; Ingrid was catching her breath, slouched at her feet and she was having a hard time lighting up. And then he comes up, flames at his fingertips and a smile on his face as he said, Here, let me help you with that.
She frowned just slightly, letting the memory go, and uttered a quiet thank you. She tucked her lighter (silver, engraved with an initial that didn't belong to her) in her breast pocket, then took a long drag from her stick and exhaled, eyes fluttering closed.
"There are many training halls, you know." She looked at him, eyebrow raised. "But if you want to join, next time just say so. I think Saxon and Breton will enjoy."
Taning saw the ghost of a frown flit through her face. He wanted to ask about it, but he supposed, if their blade did well enough, that he'll have all the time in the world (and better situations) in which to do so.
"I value my life, thanks. Saxon and Breton might enjoy too much."
As they smoke, Taning feels the weight of the silence, but doesn't fill it with inane chatter. He isn't the sort for idle talk, for one thing, and for another, neither is Yulia. The air has stilled, and Taning thinks, maybe Josh isn't the only Sin-Eater on our blade. Yulia's countenance is of one who carries ghosts.
Then again, I could be a Sin-Eater too.
"I'm headed back for our quarters," Taning says as he Matter-magicks his cigarette butt to ash, "would you care to walk with me?"
"That," she says, pausing only to point her cigarette at him as she smiles a little too cruel, "is the point."
She lets the conversation end there and finishes her cigarette, only to light another one. The zippo is successful this time around; she thanks it quietly by thumbing the engraved initial (that clearly isn't hers) before tucking it back to her breast pocket.
Yulia thinks of trying to break the silence. Hikaru Shinta had told her the first day she was her that she needed to socialize a little more. Maybe she did. Taning was, after all, her blademate now.
She isn't even halfway done with her second stick when he speaks again. She lifts an eyebrow. "Does the old dog need to be walked home?"
Ah, no. He might take offense. She pushes herself off the wall she's been leaning on. "I will join. I was going to head back, anyway."
some day when Taning isn't taking photos of incriminating notes? XDD
There weren't a lot of people along the way, so Yulia smoked as they walked toward the dorms. She wondered if they should even keep staying there. They were of age and did not require studies at Balamb, so getting a place each at the residential area seemed more appropriate for them. She should probably bring that up the next time the rest of the Blade gathered.
The two of them walked in silence. Yulia didn't have anything to say. Small talk wasn't her forte-- socializing wasn't her forte. Her language was more fighting, dancing with blades and blood, and she was sure Taning wasn't the same. He was more... restrained (between the two of them, he definitely was).
Still, she doesn't find the silence uncomfortable. That counted as progress, right?
Taning walked beside Yulia, hands in mage-robe pockets (Tohru had insisted that if he was to learn about being a better mage, he had to dress the part. Hikaru Shinta's influence, no doubt). He would have preferred to be talking to his companion, but he understood that 1) Yulia wasn't one for small talk, and 2) he didn't have anything useful to say anyway.
He snuck a glance at her and saw her watching the children, with what could probably pass for a pensive expression on her face. He gently nudges her with a shoulder.
Yulia was expecting complete and total silence until they reached the dorms. It usually was quiet between her and Taning, but apparently, he wanted a conversation.
She took a drag from her cigarette and turned towards him, slowly. Then, she smiled.
"I was wondering if they would taste good medium rare, with potatoes and bit of wine," she said, simply.
(A joke, sister? I didn't think you could.)
Of course, that's when she drops the smile.
are you hungry or something i heard humans taste like veal
And then, he surprised himself by laughing out loud.
"I think," he coughed, in between laughs, "that you should ask Inquisitor Lim." He composed himself and grinned, even though Yulia was no longer smiling. "He would probably know how they taste; I'd grant you he probably didn't cook anyone though."
Yulia, joking. Maybe there really is hope for the world.
i had salad for lunch so yes i am kind of hungry right now
It felt weird, actually, to realize how comfortable she had gotten with this new set of people, her new blade. It had taken her months after getting to know her old one before she even started opening up to them. Years before she even admitted that she was developing feelings for-- for them.
Maybe she wasn't as closed off as she thought she was.
"Are you done laughing?" She asked, sounding a little annoyed. Not at Taning, but at herself. Just a little bit. (Or maybe you are embarrassed?)
Taning felt a sense of accomplishment. A quick thought passed through his head: maybe Yulia, not having cared for emotions for so long, is unused to hiding them.
Because even though her question sounded gruff, her face was lit up by embarrassment.
Brig was right, Taning realized, though not entirely. You don't just look better when you smile, you look better whenever you don't look annoyed. Even if it means you look embarrassed.
"Yes, yes, I'm done laughing, sorry. Though please realize, that is the first time you've ever made a joke that I heard, so that just makes it soooo" and Taning made an expansive gesture with his arms, "much funnier."
Taning thought he heard Yulia hmph (and stifled a chuckle; that's another thing he's getting from her for the first time), and contented herself with walking in huffy silence.
Presently they made it to the living quarters. Taning, sensing no killing intent from the Bladian (another first! especially after someone annoys her!), magicked her door open for her.
A semi-servile bow. A too-amused-to-be-unctuous smile.
She did huff and cross her arms as Taning flailed his arms about in explanation. And then she promptly ignored him the rest of the way. At least, Anya comforted her, it wasn't as bad as it was in Mexico.
It made Yulia hiss.
She was calmer, though. Not as angry as she used to be, although still a bit irritable. She didn't feel the need to punch Taning's nose in is face, or the urge to cut him into ribbons. That would be... progress. (Josh would be proud.)
Yulia frowned when Taning opened her door with his magic. She could never understand why he kept insisting to show off like that. He had hands, he should use them. Idiot.
"We just happened to walk in the same direction," she said. Which she really didn't mean to say-- it was different in her head, but her mouth ran off before her thoughts could form properly.
Ah well.
Edited (i need to stop derping) 2014-01-27 13:55 (UTC)
Why did I open that that door with magic? Oh yes, because I don't want to be anywhere close to Yulia when I do gentlemanly things for her. She has a propensity for hitting people.
"Sure we did." He smiles. He did, after all, enjoy the walk. "Well, see you."
Taning started walking away. He thought it a high privilege indeed to be able to show your back to Yulia Bostova after you have annoyed her and not worry for your life. It means she respects you, or considers you a friend.
Then again, Taning thought, it's just as likely she thinks you're not worth the trouble.
Taning turned back before he got to his door.
"It was nice, talking to you. You should do that more often. We'd all like to know you more, you know?" He nodded, once, mostly to himself. "Anyway..." he trailed off, as he turned back to open his door, and shut it as he stepped in.
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no subject
Taning followed her through some corridors and out into the back porch of the training hall building. When he caught up to her, she was trying in vain to light up against a cupped palm to hide from a gusty, dusty summer gale. He fished a cigarette out of his own pack, stuck it between his lips, and with a tiny rote action akin to the flicking of a lighter, ignited it (and Yulia's) with a simple, focused heat spell.
He wasn't showing off for her. Not really. He just remembered something Tohru told him earlier in the day: if you want to get the most out of your magic, you've got to want to use it.
So what if he wanted to use it just then? ... Okay fine, he self-justified, so what if I wanted to show off?
"What is it you want, old dog?", you say? Maybe I want to be worth this blade. Maybe I want to have the raw passion you have for fighting. Maybe I want to know what it feels like to be like you, always obsessing over being the best.
"I wanted to use the training hall, but really, formulating lightning spells while you blade-maniacs are fighting in the same room is a recipe for disaster, don't you think?"
mine gets shorter and shorter im so sorry
She frowned just slightly, letting the memory go, and uttered a quiet thank you. She tucked her lighter (silver, engraved with an initial that didn't belong to her) in her breast pocket, then took a long drag from her stick and exhaled, eyes fluttering closed.
"There are many training halls, you know." She looked at him, eyebrow raised. "But if you want to join, next time just say so. I think Saxon and Breton will enjoy."
so are mine!
"I value my life, thanks. Saxon and Breton might enjoy too much."
As they smoke, Taning feels the weight of the silence, but doesn't fill it with inane chatter. He isn't the sort for idle talk, for one thing, and for another, neither is Yulia. The air has stilled, and Taning thinks, maybe Josh isn't the only Sin-Eater on our blade. Yulia's countenance is of one who carries ghosts.
Then again, I could be a Sin-Eater too.
"I'm headed back for our quarters," Taning says as he Matter-magicks his cigarette butt to ash, "would you care to walk with me?"
so when exactly does this take place again xD
She lets the conversation end there and finishes her cigarette, only to light another one. The zippo is successful this time around; she thanks it quietly by thumbing the engraved initial (that clearly isn't hers) before tucking it back to her breast pocket.
Yulia thinks of trying to break the silence. Hikaru Shinta had told her the first day she was her that she needed to socialize a little more. Maybe she did. Taning was, after all, her blademate now.
She isn't even halfway done with her second stick when he speaks again. She lifts an eyebrow. "Does the old dog need to be walked home?"
Ah, no. He might take offense. She pushes herself off the wall she's been leaning on. "I will join. I was going to head back, anyway."
some day when Taning isn't taking photos of incriminating notes? XDD
This is someone I can walk beside. Ghosts are best borne in company.
he'd better not be
The two of them walked in silence. Yulia didn't have anything to say. Small talk wasn't her forte-- socializing wasn't her forte. Her language was more fighting, dancing with blades and blood, and she was sure Taning wasn't the same. He was more... restrained (between the two of them, he definitely was).
Still, she doesn't find the silence uncomfortable. That counted as progress, right?
;)
He snuck a glance at her and saw her watching the children, with what could probably pass for a pensive expression on her face. He gently nudges her with a shoulder.
"What about the kids are you thinking about?"
#sorrynotsorry
She took a drag from her cigarette and turned towards him, slowly. Then, she smiled.
"I was wondering if they would taste good medium rare, with potatoes and bit of wine," she said, simply.
(A joke, sister? I didn't think you could.)
Of course, that's when she drops the smile.
are you hungry or something i heard humans taste like veal
And then, he surprised himself by laughing out loud.
"I think," he coughed, in between laughs, "that you should ask Inquisitor Lim." He composed himself and grinned, even though Yulia was no longer smiling. "He would probably know how they taste; I'd grant you he probably didn't cook anyone though."
Yulia, joking. Maybe there really is hope for the world.
i had salad for lunch so yes i am kind of hungry right now
Maybe she wasn't as closed off as she thought she was.
"Are you done laughing?" She asked, sounding a little annoyed. Not at Taning, but at herself. Just a little bit. (Or maybe you are embarrassed?)
qt yulia
Because even though her question sounded gruff, her face was lit up by embarrassment.
Brig was right, Taning realized, though not entirely. You don't just look better when you smile, you look better whenever you don't look annoyed. Even if it means you look embarrassed.
"Yes, yes, I'm done laughing, sorry. Though please realize, that is the first time you've ever made a joke that I heard, so that just makes it soooo" and Taning made an expansive gesture with his arms, "much funnier."
Taning thought he heard Yulia hmph (and stifled a chuckle; that's another thing he's getting from her for the first time), and contented herself with walking in huffy silence.
Presently they made it to the living quarters. Taning, sensing no killing intent from the Bladian (another first! especially after someone annoys her!), magicked her door open for her.
A semi-servile bow. A too-amused-to-be-unctuous smile.
"Thank you for walking with me, ma'am."
no subject
It made Yulia hiss.
She was calmer, though. Not as angry as she used to be, although still a bit irritable. She didn't feel the need to punch Taning's nose in is face, or the urge to cut him into ribbons. That would be... progress. (Josh would be proud.)
Yulia frowned when Taning opened her door with his magic. She could never understand why he kept insisting to show off like that. He had hands, he should use them. Idiot.
"We just happened to walk in the same direction," she said. Which she really didn't mean to say-- it was different in her head, but her mouth ran off before her thoughts could form properly.
Ah well.
no subject
"Sure we did." He smiles. He did, after all, enjoy the walk. "Well, see you."
Taning started walking away. He thought it a high privilege indeed to be able to show your back to Yulia Bostova after you have annoyed her and not worry for your life. It means she respects you, or considers you a friend.
Then again, Taning thought, it's just as likely she thinks you're not worth the trouble.
Taning turned back before he got to his door.
"It was nice, talking to you. You should do that more often. We'd all like to know you more, you know?" He nodded, once, mostly to himself. "Anyway..." he trailed off, as he turned back to open his door, and shut it as he stepped in.