six. list & private & spam. hail the pages turning.

[indispensible]

This is rude.

➽ Ben: Comfortable, dressy shoes to dance in
➽ Alana: A slim knife, with a note that I’ll show her how to use it if she likes.
➽ Nathan: Memorable smells from my home – the beer and liquor of our hideout, the perfumes of the balls, ash beaten into a Mistcloak, the smell of metal shavings suspended in liquid. A locket with a picture of her in it.
➽ Beatrix: A glass dagger.
➽ Megamind: A music box, with music and steps from home, if you can do that.
➽ Morgana: A comfortable gown with space in the sleeves for weapons, and a simple circlet.
➽ Kelsier: A gold pocket-watch, with a picture of Mare inside.
➽ Marsh: Fabric, as much as he wants and any kind he wants.
➽ Zane: Things to touch. Pieces of coarse furs, or soft leaves, lamb’s ear, rough bark. Things to remind him who he is when he gets upset.
➽ Stark: A koloss sword
➽ Arya: Ways to conceal weapons – thigh straps, arm straps. Thin, light mail. A key to my cabin, in case she ever needs me.
➽ Dean: Ten pies. They have to stay good until he wakes up and be next to his bed when he does.

private } arya

I want to talk to you.

[Because she feels weird and confused about this holiday, and she wants to beat it up.]

spam } stark

[Vin sends Clifford after Stark, not to monitor his behavior exactly, but to essentially bother him until he gets fed up with it and comes to find her. She has a question, okay.]

open spam } library

[She's looking for information - she's even writing it down. Not about the holidays, all of which frighten and annoy her in ways she can't even begin to articulate, but about dance. She starts with a history, gets frustrated with it, manages not to throw it across the room, and finds a book with more pictures and less history. Reading is still relatively new to her. She doesn't understand why it's harder when she's upset.]

[This is her gift to herself, if everyone is meant to get them: a search for movements that mean as much to other people as hers mean to her. Different ways of learning to speak.]

[Soon enough, she's surrounded by piles of books and half-crumpled papers, with her childish handwriting scrawled across it.]

Comments

[mercurialize]

[He'll stop and watch her a moment, holding a 'hmmn'.]

You are way too tense. Just relax, it's only a dance.

[indispensible]

['Only a dance'. She huffs.]

Some of us like doing things right.

[But she does relax, with some effort, and she does improve. A little. Enough to give him a triumphant, haha! look.]

[mercurialize]

Or scared of doing things wrong?

[He'll raise his eyebrows but turns it into a smile once she starts getting a better grasp of it.]

See? You got it.

[indispensible]

I'm not scared of anything.

[The freaky part is, she's mostly not lying. Vin is just stubborn as all hell. She scowls at him at the praise, but then focuses on her feet again, and before she knows it she's smiling somewhat with satisfaction.]

Of course I got it. [Hmph.]

[mercurialize]

Of course.

[He'll fold his arms before peering over at the other books.]

So, why are you trying to learn these? I'm guessing there's more than just that one, right?

[indispensible]

[She hesitates. This is getting dangerously close to sensitive territory, but - well, he'd figure it out eventually. She can always dodge.]

Different types of dances. All kinds. Just to compare them.

[Compare them to what she knew before, and see what's similar, what's different; what they make her feel, if anything.]

[mercurialize]

[He'll pick up a book at random and flip through pages idly.]

Yeah? What for though? Just curiosity?

[indispensible]

Curiosity. And practice.

I used to dance back home. There was never much . . . variety, though.

[mercurialize]

That so?

Then, what were dances back home like? Not like that salsa, I'm guessing.

[indispensible]

No. Slower, but more complicated. Some of them were more complicated, anyway.

Sort of like a waltz. I learned about a waltz here. But a different count.

. . . There might have been some I didn't know about, too. I only learned a few dances before I had to stop. [Because other things became significantly more important.]

[mercurialize]

Huh, so how's a waltz go?

[indispensible]

[She just stares at him, a little suspiciously. But he hasn't attacked her yet, she guesses. Abruptly, she gives a huffy little sigh and takes his hands in hers, pushing him away from the table.]

Follow my steps, all right?

[Which is in her opinion enough warning to just go. It's not a waltz, actually; it's the first dance she learned at home. But he doesn't need to know that.]

[mercurialize]

[He'll hesitate a moment when his hands are grabbed, wondering if the earring will react. Usually, it wouldn't, but everything else had been thrown off so there was no telling about the damned jewelry. And it's not as though he wanted to test it sooner. Luckily, nothing happens, and he relaxes significantly. The last thing he needed was to grow sick to his stomach and then have to explain.]

All right, lead on.

[indispensible]

[All he has to say is lead and she is most definitely leading, showing him the steps by making him do them. She's frowning with intense concentration in utter silence, and she starts at full tempo.]

[She doesn't give most people much slack. Kylar doesn't get any.]

[mercurialize]

[One step, two step, stumble. Oops, did he step on your foot. Sorry not sorry.

One step, two step, three step, four step, right foot not left, okay got it.

One step, two step, three... this isn't so bad. He begins to smile when he starts to get the hang of it. It's not as smooth as a glide but he's wary enough not to crush any toes.]

[indispensible]

[She kicks him in the shin when he steps on her foot - smoothly enough that she's able to get back to the step of the dance without missing a beat. But as he gets better, she starts forcing his movement less and moving with him more.]

[It's not what Vin's used to. He's good, but he's still sort of utilitarian, and she doesn't trust him, which makes it hard for her to move as smoothly as she ought. But it's still kind of nice.]

[mercurialize]

[Perhaps he should take that kick as yet another dance step. Ow.

As she eases her movements he'll gladly take the lead. He can sense that she isn't fully relaxed, but he's not about to pry. He's too focused on getting the steps right and leading properly to make much more of it.]

[indispensible]

[It's the only way to dance when you're Vin! Speaking of which, he's gotten it down very quickly. It makes her look back on the time she spent learning these steps and feel a little foolish. But then again, she knows by now that he's not quite normal.]

[Just like her.]

[After a few more moments of silence, she fixes him with a serious look.]

You should help me teach.

[mercurialize]

[Her look at first made him consider that he may have pissed her off. Or maybe he did something wrong with his steps. But no, she's just being confusing. As women do. His look is incredulous, but he doesn't miss a step with the dance.]

Teach? That's why you're reading all of these books?

[indispensible]

Well, that and I just want to know.

Does that mean you won't? Because you're good at it. [Freakishly good at it, in fact.]

[mercurialize]

Thanks, but doing is one thing I don't think I'd be that great with teaching it.

[indispensible]

But you don't know. You haven't even tried.

[mercurialize]

I'm pretty sure I can take a guess.

[indispensible]

That's a very limiting way of looking at things.

[mercurialize]

[He doesn't roll his eyes, only looks to the side, but the urge is there.]

Maybe.

[He breaks step and takes one back.]

Look, dancing just isn't really my thing. That's all.