Sleepover!

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly loves sleepovers. It might show, just a little, in her preparations. There's a bar set up, with blenders and paper umbrellas and cherries and liquor of various unnatural colors. (There may even be humorously shaped ice cubes.) There's an impressively vast selection of nail polishes, makeup, and hair accessories. (All the better to make you over with, my dear.) Also, pillows, blankets, selection of girly movies, and a few other things that may come in handy later in the evening.

Now all she needs are her guests.

Comments

[sai_delgado]

"Oh," she says, and looks around.

Her glance falls first on Meg and she says, "Truth or Dare?" with a quick look at Kaylee to be sure she's doing it right.

[balletrat]

*Meg, predictably, giggles.*

- er - er er. Er. Truth!

- there's the option to take dare if you don't like the question, right?

[sai_delgado]

"I think so?" She doesn't know, but is laughing anyway as she tries to think of something.

"What's the worst dance ye've ever done?"

[balletrat]

- what, you want me to demonstrate? *Meg asks, giggling.* Too easy anyways. Give me a dare!

[sai_delgado]

"Teach Anthy the commala!"

Instantly.

[balletrat]

. . . also easy, *Meg says, clambering to her feet and laughing,* but useful, too. Come on, Anthy -

Er. Anyone got boots? 'cause fuzzy slippers, while comfortable, not so much the right kind of shoe -

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

And Anthy's barefoot. She climbs to her feet, blinking, and looks at Meg. "Teach me what?"

[balletrat]

The dance we're going to do at Susan and Cuthbert's wedding, *Meg answers immediately.*

I taught Lilly -

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

Anthy likes dancing! "Oh, all right," she says trustingly.

[balletrat]

All right - Lilly and Susan, you want to give me some backup here? *Meg says, with a grin.*

Kaylee, you can learn too, if you want -

*Holy hell, it's a girl band.*

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly bounces over.

"Tamade-commala! I'm so there."

*Come Come Commala! The chart-topping hit from girlband the Rose Singers is propelling their Dark Tower album straight to the top of the charts! Hopefully Susan from the Drop, their next single, will do just as well!*

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

(I'm still, I'm still Susan from the Drop
Used to be a gilly, but things got too hot)

[sai_delgado]

Susan grabs Kaylee's hand and pulls her toward the rest of the group, laughing.

She may not be a dancer like Meg, but Susan's got the benefit of experience here.

[balletrat]

All right then, *Meg says, wiggling her toes happily.* Basic step of the commala is so simple even Cuthbert can do it, so you lot shouldn't have any trouble - now watch my feet.

- or Susan's or Lilly's, if you think they're prettier, long as you get the basic principle -

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

Anthy watches all three, head tilted, and skips one bare heel along the floor. Beside her Kaylee's trying it, too, tentative at first, and then more confident. They're uncertain, but they're picking it up; Anthy likes dancing, and Kaylee's good at making things move right.

Five pairs of bare feet. It makes a . . . kind of wimpy scuffling noise, but at least a pleasantly rhythmic one.

[sai_delgado]

She has no skirts to swirl about her, not this time. But there's else she can do--

(commala-come-come)

--and as a bare heel skips off the floor and the pace picks up, Susan begins to clap on the counterbeat, laughig.

[awesome_lilly]

Lilly picks it up from her, clapping and laughing and the laughter's falling into a rhythm too.

Fuck-commala, this is awesome.

[gonna_live]

It's not much like what they did on Three Hills. Similar, maybe, but not close.

But Kaylee's always been a good dancer...and she's always been good at listening to rhythms, and responding accordingly.

The pace quickens, and Kaylee keeps up, and her head is back and she is laughing and all she can think is

(come)

that this is what it all should be. That Simon ought to be here.

Maybe she'll try to teach him, some time.

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

It's not much like the dancing Anthy's done. A lot less formal. Less decorous. There are no tablecloths involved.

Among other things, Anthy doesn't often dance, sleepy and barefoot and dressed in a nightgown, with drunk giggling friends -- friends? -- in the middle of the night.

Still, she's keeping up too, though she'll pay for it in the morning with sore (if sparkling) arms and legs. Susan and Meg and Lilly are clapping on the beat, arms over their heads; Anthy's arms are raised waist-high, but she's focused on her feet.

She's smiling as the beat speeds up, and color's rising in her cheeks. For some reason she's thinking

(come)

of dancing in the night sky, surrounded by the soft rushing sound of water, with red roses floating and spinning across the reflections of stars. And maybe she wonders how Utena would do at this.

Faster, and faster; at this rate, they'll all pay for it in the morning.

[sai_delgado]

Their feet are flying now, and hair as well, and Susan exchanges a look of

(yes joy always)

understanding and delight with Meg as they dance. A moment more, a few more steps, as Susan is chanting softly under her breath

(commala-come-come-COME)

and as the dance comes to its peak, oh aye, say true, she thrusts her hips forward and throws her hands up with a cry--

"COMMALA!"

--and then tosses her hair back over her shoulder and stands, swaying slightly, flushed and laughing and nearly breathless, but happy.

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

Anthy's stopped watching, and when the end comes she just stumbles to a halt, bewildered. But she's smiling.

Also flushed and dizzy and suddenly shy, but -- she's smiling.

Lucky there's a beanbag nearby; Anthy curls up in it while the others reclaim their seats, and waits for someone to point out whose turn it is.

Then she remembers it's hers.

Hesitant: "Kaylee? Truth or dare?"

[gonna_live]

Kaylee looks down a moment, smiling, considering.

Then:

"Truth." A little nervous. A little challenging.

And still smiling.

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

Anthy's eyes are on her hands, and she's not smiling.

(It's gonna be okay, River. You ain't gonna have to worry any more about fightin'. Simon ain't gonna have to worry, either.)

One hundred desks under a cloudless sky. Kaylee's face twisted into a cold killer's smile. Roland unconscious by the doorway, with his heart sharp and gleaming in Kaylee's hands. The rose on Kaylee's chest, so dark it bleached the color from her shirt.

(It's all gonna work out once that bèn tiānshēng de yìduī ròu is dead. Now, come on. Let's go.)

Kaylee would have gone down the elevator. She would have drawn Roland's sword. Spoken to Mikage. Maybe Nemuro, too. If only Anthy could talk to him again, ask him --

(Truth.)

She inhales. "My question . . ."

Kaylee has a nice smile.

"What's -- what's your favorite memory, from when you were little?"

[gonna_live]

It's obvious she's going back. Way back.

Finally:

"We were livin' in town, then -- it was maybe six months before we moved outside it all. I couldn't have been more than five or six. And Aden and Bennett -- they're my brothers, I'm the youngest -- were goin' outside to play, and Mama made them take me, but they didn't want to. So they said, hey, let's go by the shop, see what Daddy's up to, and I knew they were gonna leave me there and go do whatever the hell they did when I wasn't around. Probably go find somethin', light it on fire. So I cried all the way there, and Bennett smacked me, and Aden just kinda waved it off. So we get to the shop, and Daddy's busy -- times were okay then, not great but okay, good enough so we could afford to get out in a couple of months -- and he says, Kaylee, go wait in the office, and he sounds all mean and I go, but I'm cryin', because Daddy never sounds mean unless you're in trouble, and Aden and Bennett had left by then. And a few minutes later, in walks Daddy, and he says, come on, I finished up with everybody for the day, let's see if I can't teach you a thing or two since your jīngcháng méiyòng de brothers ran off -- "

She's grinning now.

"He showed me how to rewire a grav boot that day. First time I ever saw anybody do it. Only -- he let me do it. Held my hands and made 'em work the tools. And I didn't notice the afternoon goin' by at all. And then Daddy finally looks up, and he says, tiānna, we're beyond late, come on -- and we put up the tools real fast, and Daddy locks up, and he runs down the street with me piggyback and laughin' the whole way, and he gets in and Aden and Bennett are there lookin' terrified and Mama's there just glarin' at 'em, and you don't mess with Mama, and Daddy says, did we miss dinner? and Mama said, oh, you missed dinner, but that's all right because these two are gonna cook somethin' up for you right now -- Kaylee, how 'bout you pick it? and so I got to have my favorite and Daddy and I talked more that night, and then he started teachin' me all about machines, and...yeah."

She's grinning.

"So. The first day I ever laid hands on a set of tools, kinda. Yeah."