driftfleet | selvin-9 system mingle

[NO HE WAS NOT so he faceplants right onto the ice]

Oof-! [Pushes himself up with his elbows, then onto his knees and pats down his chest like banging on a front door] Mikleo! What's the big idea, aren't you gonna help me?

[hah hah can't get me]

Are you going to stop gawking at me like that and pay attention?

[he more or less used to it after this long, but he's not going to indulge when it starts causing problems.]

[GRK. Caught. Mikleo might not be able to see his hangdog expression from in there, but he's sure it's obvious enough from the half-guilty thrum of his soul.]

...I'll pay attention... [but he will ALSO try to gawk at you, thank you sir]

[There's a quiet sigh of reluctant exasperation, but after a moment Mikleo orbs back out of him, hands reaching down to help Sorey back to his feet.]

Come on, up you go. Try to check where your feet are once in a while, alright? Don't forget that you're literally wearing blades on them.

[Slips around a tad unsteadily, but hangs onto Mikleo's hands with all the confidence in the world that if he falls, he'll be caught this time. ...even if Mikleo decides not to] Don't kick anybody or myself, got it.

[For his part, Mikleo at least seems slightly less miffed now that Sorey's... mostly focused. Only time will tell if it lasts, but he's mollified for the moment, and that means catching is more like than not.

He waits a little bit, taking it step by step - or slide by slide - and then,]

Well? How's it feel?

Kind of weird, but also... [Sorey wobbles a bit again, not as badly as before, but still clutches at Mikleo's hands until he gets his balance back.] -oh! Yeah, it's kind of like when we're swimming together.

Just a little more challenging. At least while we were swimming we couldn't fall on anything.

[Mikleo turns them slowly to avoid the next bank, guiding Sorey around so he doesn't lose control.]

Did you want to try armatizing?

[Tempting, but...] I'm okay like this. I should master skills on my own sometimes, right? [Looks down at their hands.] ...mostly on my own.

Besides, I like looking at your face.

[Mikleo scoffs faintly at that, lingering annoyance from Sorey's earlier distraction mingling with a level of vanity that might be hard to notice if he was with anyone else but Sorey. He can't help it, he likes to look good and they both know it.

He does tug one hand free after a moment, since they're back on a long stretch of ice without curves.]

Here, you lead for a while. Test out your level of control.

[He's still here for balance, but Sorey won't learn by being pulled along the whole time.]

Okay...okay, I got this. [Sorey doesn't have turning down so it's good they've got some space, and the glides he takes are short and childlike but he's not threatening to overbalance and tumble with every movement at least. He still holds Mikleo's hand tight, the other out to help him keep his balance, but as they skate along he's definitely not relying on Mikleo to keep them upright this time.] I see...it's kind of like shuffling a little, huh? It looks so much more graceful than that.

Shuffling, but with style. It looks a lot better when you start taking longer strides... though I'm not entirely convinced you've got a single graceful bone in your body.

[He moves around a little to skate more in front of Sorey again rather than beside, better to show off the difference between his steady foot-to-foot glide versus Sorey's shuffle-scoot over the ice. His movements are slower but he's keeping to a good pace.]

[The example helps; when Sorey pays more attention to Mikleo's feet than his face, he can see that Mikleo actually spends a lot of time just on one foot or the other. Sorey tries it and finds his strides much smoother, to the point where he's almost keeping pace with Mikleo (even if his turns still need work).]

Hey, look at that! You're a pretty good teacher after all, Mikleo.

I'm not so sure about that, [is Mikleo's quick scoff in return, glancing back over his shoulder.] I know how to teach you because I know how you think. I wouldn't be so confident with anyone else.

[And it's a little daunting, but... an interesting thought, admittedly.]

[That's Mikleo, always ready to discredit himself...] I'm not all that different from other people. I bet you could adapt, if you wanted to. [But Sorey won't push it; Mikleo would make a great teacher but it's not as if he can be argued into it.]

Maybe, but I still have a long way to go before I'm knowledgeable enough to teach anyone proper. And it's probably a moot point- my students would be limited to those would resonance.

[which, granted, is better in the fleet than back home, but still slim pickings at times. His areas of expertise are equally limited.]

That's true...but there's a lot of people in the fleet with resonance! And it seems like here, people develop it a lot faster than they do at home.

So I've noticed. For a while it was kind of disquieting, since I'd gotten used to going unnoticed during our journey, but I've more or less adjusted. Now the weird part is not being able to tell whether I can talk to someone at first meeting.

[As funny as the startled shrieking can be, he's not quite as entertained by it as Edna.]

Yeah...back home, it was never a problem because we could always test out their resonance between you and me. Like we did with Alisha. [It had been kind of funny to see Mikleo get in her face and yell only to receive not even so much as a blink in return, but Sorey can see how it would be so frustrating to try talking to someone only to have no way to communicate.

...well, no way that wouldn't immediately make them scream AHH A GHOST or something like that.] Well- you know, you can always ask me to come along. I don't mind helping. [trying not 2 look 2 desperate]

I know you don't, but I can't expect to depend on you for everything.

[He can smell the desperation, though. It's as tiresome as it is predictable- but, okay, kind of sweet. It's not like he needs the reminder that Sorey still likes him around, but there's so many more people he could be spending time with these days, as opposed to just himself and the others in Elysia, and he usually won Sorey's attention over everyone else back then. While he wouldn't exactly call their friends "competition"... anyway, it's just really satisfying to still be top rank.]

...but I suppose if I used you as a vessel more, I'd just end up meeting whoever you meet, so that might be a faster way to gauge resonance.

[It's because Sorey knows Mikleo enjoys his independence and his ability to communicate without his assistance that he's done his best to back off and give him room. After all, when they go back home they'll be returning to a world where most of the world's population won't be able to see Mikleo.

...and Sorey, to his slumber.]

If that's something we wanted to test out, yeah. [Sorey hesitates a moment, his hand still in Mikleo's as they skate very, very slowly along, but decides ultimately not to bring it up. Not right now, anyway; they're having a nice time together, there's no reason to ruin it with half-baked worries before he even knows how to voice them.]

[The hesitation is noticeable and somewhat telling; he's been good at picking up on Sorey's cues for years, having grown up witnessing them, and ever since the hellionization mess he's watched more carefully for warning signs, or secrets, or things he ought to be more attentive with rather than letting them go. It's not just about preventing a repeat of what happened - he'd like to think that they both know better by now - but to be better, himself. Neglect, miscommunication, poor judgement calls, all things that can conspire to tear people apart. He's been reading a few things. And he's heard about plenty of stupid mistakes couples make in those tacky romance novels, too, because Sorey's always babbling about them.

He slows his pace, sliding back to move to Sorey's side instead of in front, tucks an arm briefly around the other's waist and tilts his skates to guide them in a half-circle arc so they can cross the length of the pond again. And then, quietly,]

Will you tell me later?

[He doesn't know what it is, but later is more acceptable than never.]

[Mikleo guides him into a turn, awkward on Sorey's behalf but graceful and arcing on Mikleo's. He can tell, just by the way Mikleo holds himself, holds his breath, his words, that he's debating saying something, and Sorey knows that he's noticed. Even before all the hellion business Mikleo observed him closely, but rarely would he stick his nose in without due cause.

Things changed.]

...when I can figure things out, [Sorey finally confesses; Mikleo moves to pull away his arm when they complete the turn but Sorey reaches up with his opposite hand, presses Mikleo's fingers to his side, his own arm coming up around Mikleo's shoulders. The closeness makes skating awkward...but the contact is far from unwelcome.] When I figure out how to say it, you'll be the first to know.

...Mm.

[It's not exactly a satisfying answer, but it isn't the sort of brushing-aside that he used to get, so Mikleo's response is... well, not pleased, but not annoyed or unhappy, either. At worst, a little disappointed, but Sorey's allowed to be unsure of how he feels, he's allowed to keep things to himself for a while. Mikleo himself has done that and gotten away with it. It isn't dangerous to experience uncertainty, so long as it doesn't swallow you up inside. It doesn't feel like that, not this time.]

Alright, [is his eventual answer, his hand shifting just enough to twine Sorey's fingers through his own.] I'll hold you to that.

[He can wait, he won't prod or press. But he won't forget, either.]

selvin-9 system mingle

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