( open ) baby i like your style

[winces]

CHARACTERS: lapis (onerism), nami (weatherscience), olivia (winces), & company!
DATE: one lovely evening before the 8th
WARNINGS: nami's feminine wiles, lapis' pyro-happy ghost buddy, and olivia's hives... also extreme second-hand embarrassment and possibly some less-than-savory audience members. potential for violence?? maybe???
SUMMARY: lapis, nami, and olivia try to earn some extra $$$ by doing what they do best. chaos ensues.

Whether you've come to the Desert Flower Saloon this evening for boarding or for entertainment, you'll find the first floor practically vibrating with activity and life. On this night, unlike any other before (or so Miz Poppy will proclaim), the saloon's main stage will feature not one, not two, but three new performers, fresh (a week or so old is still fresh, right?) from the far corners of the universe to delight and excite the saloon's loyal patrons with the song and dance and magic of their alien people.

Come! Sit, watch, and enjoy!

Comments

[grunehexe]

[Wordlessly, Sieglinde reaches into the sleeve of her gown and, unaware that she may be ruining the look for said patrons, offers up a handkerchief.]

Ah, no- there were none in my village.

[And no one came in, or went out. Let alone the fact that... she was hardly encouraged to indulge in such wastes of time when she could be working on her duty to solve the Ultimate Magic.]

[winces]

Oh... that sounds awfully sad.

[ wordlessly, she takes the proffered handkerchief, caught up in the idea of a danceless life. ]

But — surely there was music, at least?

[grunehexe]

[Was it sad? Having not had it in the first place, it wasn't exactly something she knew to miss... but she'd read about it, of course, and longed to see it as part of the "outside world".]

We had songs, of course... for the ritual prayers to the three-faceted Goddess.

[winces]

[ songs... but songs for rituals were not quite like the songs you listen to at leisure, for recreation. they were not the sort of songs you let envelope you and move you, or songs you lost yourself to and sang to at the top of your lungs when you thought no one was around. ]

Sieglinde...

[ with her free hand, she holds it out towards the young girl. ]

Would you like to dance with me?

[ better late than never, she supposes, and there were some things that one simply must have a chance to enjoy. ]

[grunehexe]

[None of this was going like she thought??? She'd come down to take notes on the performance, because Olivia, she was lovely and admired by men, and perhaps watching this would give her better insight into the opposite gender and how best to control them, but now she's being invited to dance?

In this crowded, public place?]

W-

[She glances around somewhat awkwardly, hunching in on herself slightly, suddenly self-conscious.]

Me- ? I thought the performance was over...

[winces]

It is.. but that doesn't mean the dancing has to be.

[ she does not withdraw her hand, but rather sets it on her knee for the moment as she leans forward, imploring. ]

Do you not know how?

[grunehexe]

[Sieglinde did not find any shame in admitting she didn't know how to do something, not everyone could do everything, but... it's still a bit embarrassing, when it's something so simply as that, her bound feet aside.]

I have danced with Graham before...

[But that had been in Nalawi, on soft sand, balancing precariously on the Huntsman's feet while he did the actual dancing.]

[winces]

[ olivia takes quiet note of the young girl's hesitation. she does not pull physically, but there is a gentle prodding in her words. ]

Did you enjoy it?

[grunehexe]

It was alright...

[She'd enjoyed it. Even though she had been self-conscious about her bound feet, her inability to truly dance, it had felt good, in a simple, carefree way, when Graham had lifted her for that spin and the world around them had blurred.]

Not quite like I imagined...

[winces]

[ olivia's smile widens a bit, and if she shifts closer suddenly, it's perhaps all sieglinde's imagination. ]

What did you imagine it would be like?

[grunehexe]

Well, I imagined I would be... not standing on his feet...

[For all Sieglinde is skilled at research observation... she doesn't notice Olivia's movements at all.]

[winces]

Oh.

[ olivia seems surprised by the news, and yet it doesn't seem too out of place for her. rather, she merely smiles fondly at the idea of the two, imagining it to be a lovely image indeed. ]

That sounds quite lovely though. What kind of dancing was it?

[grunehexe]

[What... kind...]

Pair dancing... ? I am no expert, I could not say... we merely mimicked the Nalawi at the beach.

[winces]

[ how cute..! ]

I'm sure you made a lovely pair. If not tonight, I hope you'll indulge me in a dance when you're ready to try again.