songerein | I think that it's best if we both stay

Entry tags:

I think that it's best if we both stay

Who: Bunta Marui & Leia Rolando
Which: Log; closed
Where: Woods near residential.
What: December events: gumdrop, arguments, and competitive snowball fights.
Warnings: None, but will update if necessary!

[At some point she slipped into this quiet acceptance of their situation. What was supposed to be a few days of Marui crashing at her place until he found a house has somehow ended up with them now living together for an entire month. And she doesn't feel particularly inclined to upend the status quo. Though that doesn't make the situation any easier on her emotions. She is, sadly, used to pining for someone and keeping her true feelings to herself. It's a complicated situation, one that might cost her a great deal were she to ever find the courage to confess, and those thoughts are enough to keep her mouth shut.

If she had an inkling he felt anyway special towards her, she's somehow dismissed it with some excuse, or assumed she's reading too much into it. Marui is... sweet. And he's always surprising her with little gifts and sweets, only some of which she's asked for and most of which she's only briefly mentioned and he somehow took it upon himself to get for her. But she also does the same for him, as well as using other means to gauge his interest. Like wearing cute PJs around the house, with one in particular being a little revealing. But all that she's gotten from him were a few cracks and cheeky comments which have only proven her suspicions. That his actions could be reactions to both her gestures and him staying with her- like tokens of appreciation.

Admittedly, it's hard to decipher his actions when her own mind is a fierce storm of emotions. Were she to confess to him, she will be forfeiting any feelings she could potentially have for Jude. Which is something that still worries her, as if accepting that Jude's role in her life is more familial and platonic somehow diminishes his importance to her. She just never expected to fall for anyone else. More troubling is whether or not Marui would accept the complicated role that Jude plays in her life, if not then she would lose Marui entirely, and she's left with one-sided feelings that she'd have to eventually bury and move on from.

She jokes that she's trained herself long and hard in the art of unrequited love to be able to handle this, but the thought saddens her a little. Still, it's not enough to keep her down. If anything she's appeared entirely like her normal self around everyone. Marui's a fun roommate, even if he's occasionally obnoxious, and she enjoys his company. And that's all she can really ask for. More than anything, she doesn't want to lose that by forcing something that may not even be there.

Obvious complications aside, everything else is just fine.

All of it seems habitual now, no matter how they spend their day and what isn't said, they continue their now very domesticated lifestyle. The house is still somewhat bare, and with all the new shops opening up, and the seasonal chill in the air, it felt like an opportune time to go looking for some crystal powered appliances, clothes, and whatever else they could find for the house while enjoying the wintry scene outside. It's also the type of weather one could curl up together with someone. Even as they walk along the streets of the market she has fought the urge more than once to reach for his hand. Thankfully he's none the wiser else she'd probably never hear the end of his teasing.

It doesn't take long to pick up any last minute items they might have missed, cute decorations and the like, before they soon start heading back home with their modest haul. Between what they have now and dreamotion, there's almost a sense of convenience and normalcy returning to her life and for the first time since she arrived she's starting to actually feel a sense of belonging. Like this is a second home.

Is it okay to feel this way?

Suddenly she feels some icy water slip into her boot and she stops, wincing at the discomfort the sharp chill brings, and halting the bit of small talk they had going.]

Hold up a sec, I have to fix my shoe.

[Setting everything down, she kneels and notices her shoelace is completely untied, so she takes a moment to tie it and make sure it's secure, not really paying too much attention to her surroundings. When she's finished, she straightens up and looks around... noticing a certain someone is gone.]

Hm? Marui?

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[ Marui didn't mean to stay longer than offered or planned so much as it simply happened. The combination of inertia and there never being a point that he actually wanted to leave always made it seem like a task he would take care of tomorrow. By the time two weeks had passed, it felt so normal sharing a place with Leia that he could barely imagine returning to life without a housemate as he'd done for the first two months. He was happy there, with her, and she seemed happy too. Why question an arrangement that everyone was happy in? So he doesn't.

The days and nights pass like this, with fun and smiles and short-lived spats, teases and taunts and an endless cycle of little gifts left for each other. Each interaction leaves him just a little more smitten than the one before. He loves her laugh, the liveliness in her eyes, how her enthusiasm is sometimes contagious and sometimes a prelude to disaster but never half-hearted or boring. He loves her competitive spirit, her positive attitude, her ability to make every day feel special. To make him feel special. Even her clumsiness, a quality she had initially downplayed to him before it became impossible to deny, is endearing.

Sometimes, he thinks about confessing. He knows how he feels, and he keeps seeing signs she might feel the same way back, but she's hard to read on this point. Sometimes when he teases her with questions to gauge interest, her denials seem superficial, issued with a blush or a slight catch in her speech. Other times she's swift and cool shooting him down, and this is the version of Leia that fills his mind when he imagines asking her out.

"As if!"

"You wish."

It's just enough to keep him from following through.

So he makes the most of being friends with her, sharing cake and playing games and staying up late talking. He appreciates the thoughtfulness of her gifts, and he bears in silence the flirtatious nightgown she occasionally puts on that she has every right to wear in peace if it's what she likes. That friendship has today taken them to the string of shops that have popped up over town in search of pleasures and comforts to add to their treehouse. It's been productive, sure, but more importantly it's been fun. He's got bags hanging from both hands as they walk back together admiring the ice crystals and snow sculptures that speckle the landscape. A flock of transparent blue birds with flowing wings and tails has settled among the branches of an otherwise barren tree, making it almost look like it has a full canopy of ice leaves. It's beautiful.

When Leia stops to fix her shoe, Marui initially waits for her. But it doesn't take long to become distracted by all of this snow around-- or more specifically, all of the different kinds of fun that could be had with all of this snow around. Struck with inspiration, he sets the bags down and sneaks off as well as one can when every step creates a soft crunch of snow underfoot and leaves a telltale print behind documenting the path.

With those prints leading away from her, it's pretty obvious which direction he's gone. So Leia gets just enough time to process that he's no longer where she left him before he calls out to her: ]

Think fast!

[ Because a snowball is flying right at her forehead. ]

[She notices the footprints far too late, but the voice is unmistakable. As is the white object hurtling towards her face. She ducks quickly and it just barely sails over her head. She casts a glance back at the tree the snowball smacks against, as if to confirm what he just threw, then glares back at Marui.]

So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Attacking someone when they're unarmed.

[Stooping down, she hastily scoops up some snow and begins shaping it. She maintains the glare, her tone firm, but it's clear that she's just playing around.

A little.]

You leave me no choice. I'm gonna have to take you down.

[She darts right, trying to throw him off with movement instead of standing still, and aims the snowball right at his chest. Hard. Like... maybe a little too hard.]

[ Excellent. ]

Try and hit me! [ He challenges, and he's not the least worried about his ability to dodge. Getting out of the way of balls that were roughly tennis-ball-sized? He's practiced that nearly every day for years.

Leia's snowball to the chest is no exception. Marui sidesteps and turns and the ball sails right past him. Whiff.

He scoops up the other two snowballs he's managed to make in advance and gets on the move, throwing another at her nearer shoulder. ]

[Damn him. Of course he'd be good at this! Well, she's not giving up that easily, and is already scooping up the next snowball and dodging the one he's thrown at her.]

I am! Stay still!

[She tosses her next one, then quickly ducks behind a large tree to scoop up more snow, quickly making a few more snowballs.]

[ Marui laughs. ]

Stay still? You don't want that much of a handicap. Think how embarrassing will it be if you still miss!

[ It's a good idea she has moving behind cover though, and he moves to do the same for a replenishing of ammo. He's still got his one other, but he'll save it to use with the next batch. ]

I absolutely would not miss! Besides, you started this when I was unarmed and totally not prepared, and I still managed to dodge. What's that say about your aim?

[In just a few seconds she's got several snowballs made. She's in fight mode now, listening to her surroundings in case he tries to sneak up on her. Her reflexes and adrenaline kicking in. She's going to pummel him senseless.]

It says my aim was perfect. If it wasn't, you wouldn't have needed to dodge! That's just like me!

[ Marui just. Digging his grave deeper by the second here... ]

Fine, I'll give you that. [so obnoxious!] But aim means squat if you don't have the speed to back it up! And you throw like you're being weighed down by your own ego.

[Why does she like him?? But she remains focused, making several more snowballs.]

Edited 2021-12-05 06:43 (UTC)

You think so? I'd say it's a testament to your reaction time more than a tarnish on my speed.

[ Never mind that, though, because Marui just had an amazing idea. Genius, he'd even say. He makes a racket with his dreamotion energy and encapsulates one of his snowballs in it, picturing this energy becoming a hard shell that will protect it from exploding on impact. ]

Of course, reaction time will only get you so far...!

[ He steps out, tosses the ball up, and serves it high and fast, well over Leia's head.

Because he isn't aiming for Leia while she's hiding behind that tree. He's aiming for the top of the tree trunk. Bam! The served ball rams into the tree, giving it a small jostle.

And down collapses all of the snow that's settled on the tops of the branches: a bomb from above covering the entire area under the tree's spread.

Dodge that, Leia! ]

[No, Marui. This is a competition! A DUEL TO THE DEATH. You don't go complimenting your opponent. It's smack talk time! Jeez. How does he go from obnoxious to... to whatever that is in the blink of an eye?

No. It's a ruse. And she's not falling for it.

And speaking of falling...

She manages to poke her head out from behind the tree just enough to see him using a racket. And she's very confused. Then the whole tree she's leaning against shakes and the only thing she can do is launch herself and roll away from the falling sheet of snow. Which means leaving behind the pile of snowballs she made. And she just barely clears the larger area of snow, but gets hit by a couple of patches.

Immediately, she scrambles to her knees and uses dreamotion to create a wall of ice to hide behind, making sure she's not under any trees.

Her snowballs, though... gone.]

Hey!! This is a snowball fight, not a tennis match!

[ You absolutely do compliment your opponent when there's nothing to criticize about your own performance and it was still bested. He told her to think fast and she did. It's clearly deserved praise since she somehow manages to escape 99% of his air attack as well. That was impressive.

She's gone and hidden behind a protective wall, which means the attacks will have to keep coming from directions other than head on. Marui scoops up his lot of snowballs onto his racket. ]

It's still a snowball fight!

[ So he's using a tennis racket. They're still snowballs! He takes a step back and gives the racket a heft to get the balls airborne. ]

Special technique: Hailstorm.

[ With an underhanded swing of the racket he lobs the mass of balls high overhead, and like an airbomb attack they fall in a haphazard scatter close to where Leia is standing. At least one of them is on course to smack her right on the crown of her head if she doesn't move. ]

[Leia gets too fired up during a competition to be anything but strictly competitive. Playful jabs and smack talk are all in good fun. Also, this is most definitely not a snowball fight anymore. Luckily, between the noise of the impact from the racket hitting the snowball and him shouting out what it's called, she can anticipate when to watch out for any incoming snowballs.

Like. Seriously? Hailstorm? She knows to look up for that- of course there's no other place for the snowball to go but up, right? She takes out her staff and twirls it in the air above her head, dispersing the snowballs into a fine powder. But now it's time to whip out the big guns.

Literally.]

If that's how you wanna play it--!

[Her dreamotion training is certainly getting a workout today. Using what she's learned, she vividly pictures a cannon- though it's obscured behind the wall that she's hiding behind, and it quickly takes shape, becoming solid, and made entirely out of ice. She hastily packs a ton of snow down the wide mouth of the barrel, then pushes it out so that it's facing in the direction Marui is in and fires it by pulling on a cord.

The giant snowball that is hurtling through the air at Marui is coming at him fast.

A bit excessive?

Maybe. But it's still a snowball, according to his rules.]

[ What was that about Leia's enthusiasm? Sometimes contagious, sometimes a prelude to disaster? Oh yes, and never half-hearted or boring. ]

Whoa--!

[ Marui gets out of the way of that snow cannonball in the nick of time; it's so close the force of the snowball sweeps his hair as it blasts by. Fair play? Absolutely. But if she wants to get that rough, he won't hold back either!

It's a thought he doesn't have the chance to take any further; getting out of the way of that massive snowball means that instead of knocking him over like a bowling pin it's crashing into the tree behind him.

This tree happens to be an evergreen and as a result is holding rather more snow in it than the one he struck with his snowball a moment ago. The snow cannonball hits the trunk with a resounding BOOM and shakes the whole load down.

More snow = heavier load = faster fall = less time to react. Especially when you're still processing the invention of a freaking snow cannon (which was beyond cool but not on his list of things he expected to see today!).

The next thing Marui knows, he's lying on his back with cold and wet all around him. It's beneath him. It's on top of him. It's creeping under the hems of his clothes.

Oof. ]

[Just as the snow cannonball is fired, Leia leaves the cover of the wall to watch in awe as it sails towards Marui. She didn't actually think it'd work, it had been hastily devised after all, but even as he dodges, he can't escape all the snow that drops on him when it hits the tree instead.

Unfortunately, Leia is too excited to realize that the ice cannon has managed to propel itself back against a large, thick tree that's currently rumbling from the impact.]

YES! THIS DREAMOTION STUFF IS AWESO--

... Huh?

[There's a lot of shaking and before she realizes it, a blanket of snow falls down and covers her as well. Not to the degree that it has Marui, but certainly enough to give her a shock of cold to her system, forcing out a sharp yelp.

Guess she got a little carried away?

But, man, that cold stings. Just... not as much as her pride does.]

[Then the transparent blue birds that had been occupying the nearby branches overhanging the area give frightful squawks before flying away. Ah, oops. A twinge of guilt shoots through her.

And maybe a little of it is reserved for Marui too. But mostly those poor birds. She gives a sheepish smile before walking over to where he is and offering him her hand.]

Haha, okay, so... how about a do-over without the dreamotion? Think we scared off those poor birds.

["We."]

Edited 2021-12-06 03:45 (UTC)

[ Marui pushes himself up to a sitting position, unearthing himself from the mound of snow that had momentarily buried him, and looks in regret at the birds flying off. ]

Mmmh... Yeah. We shouldn't bother the wildlife here.

[ It's totally a "We" this time-- he's the one who started it. He takes her hand and pulls himself up. Somehow, his hand just decides not to let go, and it's an extra couple of seconds before he notices and, begrudgingly, releases it. ]

[... For a moment, she thinks that he really doesn't have to remove his hand. But he does. And, instead, she focuses on a single, long twig that's stuck in his hair, that same hand he held now reaching out to gently remove it.]

Bet you weren't expecting an ice cannon, though.

[She should win that round for sheer creativity.]

[ Funny, he hadn't even noticed the feeling of that twig there. That isn't like him, but he is a little distracted right now between the brightness in Leia's eyes, his reluctance in letting go of her hand, and how much of a shock it was to his body to be buried in snow. That sapped a lot of heat from him-- and it's going to make the hot cocoa they warm up with that much more delicious! Once they get back anyway. For now, they've got a score to settle.

The corner of Marui's mouth turns up, and he lifts his other hand that's been holding onto a little surprise since he was pulled up. He lightly flings a small handful of loose snow at the side of her head point blank. ]

Well. Now we're even.

[ It's hardly a payback for being full-out buried, but it'll do. ]

[Yeah, that hot chocolate is going to be amazing... if Marui survives their duel. She flinches when he flicks the snow at her, but she's been scheming something this whole time.

She laughs and smiles sweetly.]

You think so?

[She pulls her other hand from her coat pocket, holding onto a small snowball, and mashes it right against his chest.

Then dashes off.]

Got ya!

[ Sometimes, they're so alike it's downright eerie.

Hello, cold?!?!]

[ But it's only a moment before he's grinning wildly with fiery spirit in his eyes. ]

Don't bet on it for long!

[ He bends down to scoop up a big handful of snow. His hands are about frozen by now since he doesn't have gloves or mittens, but he's not going to let a detail like that stop him! She's gotta pay for that first!

He hurls the snowball at her retreating back. ]

[And because they're so much alike, she anticipates he's going to toss one at her back. She would do the same. But also it's just an easy target, so she's careful to look back, and when she sees it coming she swiftly dodges.]

Oh, c'mon! That's so obvious!

[Then she swoops down, gathers a handful of snow, and throws it at him. She doesn't expect that to hit him, but it'll keep him on his toes. Right after that one, though, she's already gathering enough to make another. And tosses it. And another, then tosses it. Trying to bombard him with a few snowballs at once. All while laughing.]

[ Her laugh is truly the best sound in the world.

He avoids her snowballs one after the other while chasing her around to score a hit of his own. Every so often he dips down, often without even stopping, to grab up another handful of snow to pack down into a ball and throw at her.

And after a few more of those, he just saves the one he has and focuses on catching her, because mashing it against her back the way she got him in the chest is a payback he simply has to experience.

As soon as he gets close enough. ]

[He's pretty fast, but she's just as fast, so she has to keep sprinting away, often zigzagging, though stooping down to grab handfuls of snow brings her dangerously close occasionally. She keeps hurriedly forming the snowballs as she runs, then turning to toss them at his chest or legs.

On one particular instance, she reaches down to grab the snow, and nearly tumbles over her self, but just barely manages to keep her balance, however it might not be in time to get away from him, so she makes a last ditch effort and tosses one at him and tries to run.]

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