2021-10-18 - It Suits You
| Title: It Suits You | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Shizuru chances on Mikoto, and they discuss Miroku. Something's hanging over the conversation, but Mikoto is too tense to explain. ... Shizuru isn't nearly so tense. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Ohtori Academy | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2021-10-18 - 2015-12-13 | |
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The campus is quiet, on a Sunday afternoon; no one who doesn't have to be here is here, on account of the siren-song of arcades and ice rinks, and for the truly lost, the library. Mikoto, herself, is here for club activities; there are a few extra boarders in Animal Care's facilities for the winter, and she has to make sure her cat friends are behaving themselves. (And making nice with the cats who were already there. (They're a little smaller, but they get along. (Cats come in all sizes!))) After making sure everyone will be comfortable for the day, she's left with the rest of the afternoon. Stopping by Kasagami's office to leave some extra work she's completed...
Mikoto has already made plans for going into the city by the time she leaves the secretary's doorway, and so, there's a quick stop at the restrooms between then and now. Ohtori's restrooms are, of course, as ostentatious as the rest of the Academy; coming out to wash her hands, the cabinet is four-clawed and sparkling ivory-white, four separate basins with soap in fancy sculpted bars. The mirror gleams.
The taps are just complicated enough to always seem to drip when Mikoto carelessly turns them back about. Drip... drip... drip. A thing evocative of deep water, buried and forgotten, even as those drops slide forlornly to the drain.
Mikoto looks back up to the mirror. Her hair is just as black; her skin is just as imperial; her eyes are just as gold. Her expression grows tighter, concerned, as she meets her own bright gaze. Her hand stills on the tap, where it had reached out to screw it tighter. ... like those fancy birds in Animal Care, it seems she is entirely captivated by her own reflection.
At least there's no one around to notice she's lost in her own little world, right..?
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
"Terrible, isn't it?"
Shizuru is there, a blink away. That probably means she was already here, but Mikoto spacing out makes it hard to be sure. She appears in the mirror, and she is somewhat behind Mikoto, looking over the other girl thoughtfully as she moves to turn the taps, and where she is captivated by her own reflection.
"The way the faucets leak. No matter how often they fix them, it seems it happens over and over." A shake of her head as she steps up to the sink beside Mikoto and turns another on, taking the soap and delicately washing her hands.
She does so throughly, though there is no blood visible. It's nice to have good hygeine.
"Hm hm."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
That there is someone else at first doesn't seem to occur to Mikoto at all -- lost; lost in her eyes, or the memory of who they evoke. She has a little less strength, to meet her gaze, right now.
'Go on then. Take back your leash.'
Would he be angry? Or... would it make him happy...?
Mikoto isn't sure which one is worse. Both knot her stomach, a little twist of her lips, a swallowing.
Which is the precise moment Shizuru remarks that it is really quite terrible. "Ah--!" Mikoto gasps, gaze shifting from herself to the left to find the elder girl reflected there. Her gaze snaps to the side as Shizuru steps up to the water-basin, chin ducking down in a defensive gesture. She's talking about the faucets. "Oh..."
With a small, sharp motion, Mikoto shakes her head, and fastens the faucet tighter. "... right." What's on her hands doesn't wash out so easily, but at least the dirt can be scrubbed away. Mikoto knows that much these days.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
Shizuru says nothing about that conversation on Mikoto's mind. How could she? It's not like the older girl reads minds or something. Or does she? Shizuru watches Mikoto look down, and looks back to the sink and her hands again for a moment. Scrub, scrub... Rinse.
"You're here a bit late. It's good to see you engaging in student life, Minagi-san."
Shizuru smiles at her. It even looks genuine. Then, she similarly closes the faucet she was using, and moves towards the hand dryer.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
From the outside, Mikoto must not seem like much of a conversationalist, but has she ever been one? Though, it's hard to say Mikoto finds this an awkward place for a conversation. Certainly it is an awkward place for a conversation, by most girls' metrics, but Mikoto has never much followed societal norms.
She hums through her lips; she, herself, just swipes her hands on that orange-brown blazer. "Animals needed food," she explains, to the point, and forgets to explain her position in Animal Care Club entirely. Shizuru smiles, but Mikoto still looks a hair unnerved.
She doesn't explain that, either.
A hand to the back of her neck, still a little chill from the damp, and Mikoto makes another noise, thoughtful from the back of her throat. "Hey..." She starts, before Shizuru can escape back to whatever dimension Shizuru spends most of her time. "... why'd Shizuru give me that?" What 'that' is, Mikoto evidently thinks is obvious.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
Shizuru, on the other hand, is a great conversationalist. When she wants to be. Apparently that happens to be now, despite the awkward setting. Indeed--she doesn't even seem to notice how awkward it ought to be, talking calmly and casually anyway. It's all fine. Super fine.
"Of course." It makes perfect sense. Animals needed food. So that's that.
But Mikoto makes a thoughtful noise, and Shizuru pauses, turning towards her. She tilts her head, amiable in her question. 'That'? Hmmm. She considers, for a moment, pretending not to know. But she doesn't give Mikoto so many things that it's a reasonable thing to assume. No... She knows. So--
"I thought it suited you," she answers simply.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
It doesn't occur to Mikoto that Shizuru is pretending, really; her first impression is that she's gathering her thoughts. It's what would be happening on Mikoto's end, after all. She knows Shizuru is socially clever, but those particular tricks...
Well, the reason they work so well is because Mikoto isn't used to them.
So Shizuru says it suits her, and Mikoto's head cants back against her fingertips, as if her neck is all acrick. She has to look up to Shizuru, anyway. She's grown an inch or so since she came here, but she's still quite short.
"Why?" Mikoto asks, after a moment, when she has gathered her own thoughts. (She's trying, after all, not to assume the worst of Shizuru. ... she doesn't always succed.)
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
Shizuru is of course always pretending. That's just how it is. But people don't know that, as a rule. She's very good at social tricks.
Shizuru is not so short! She looks down to Mikoto. And she gathers her own thoughts. Why? Well, that's a fair question, isn't it?
"Hmmm," she says, with the sort of tone one takes with something particularly interesting. "I could tell you it's because a cute monster is very like you--small, adorable, but dangerous nevertheless. That the club reminds me of your sword..."
"But no, you don't like games. So I will tell you instead:"
"It's because I wanted you to know that I know about your friend. The one you summoned, that time."
"...And it suits you."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Is that why it's so hard for them to get along..?
Mikoto, with no pretence, waits for Shizuru to answer. Now those eyes are all on her, too gold and too bright, a perfect mirror of her condition. Shizuru tells a story of what she could have meant, and Mikoto grunts, head canting to the side with a note of unspoken scepticism in that gaze.
Then, she gets to the point.
'That time'... there are only a few times Shizuru could have meant. Mikoto's eyes narrow, in that moment. She was watching?
Then they close, the rest of the way; her head dips, as her hand drops down to her side. It comes up in a nod, a languid motion, as she opens her eyes again to look at Shizuru. There is a certain sharpness to them not entirely present, before, guarded, ready.
Does Shizuru realise just how much weight it holds for Miroku to suit her..?
"Okay." She acknowledges it; she accepts it. She is silent, for a moment, a moment longer. In this place, it could so easily be called an awkward silence. Surely neither of them would be so easily fooled.
"You're right," she cedes, with imperial omae. There's nothing particularly arrogant to her tone; Mikoto has simply always been too, too close. "Miroku is my Child, and my Element. We're always together." Does she mean that sword, in its case on her back, or..? Perhaps not only that. "We served my Lord Brother, but when I left, Miroku came with me. That's all."
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
It might be.
That time. Mikoto's eyes narrow, and Shizuru's eyes do nothing at all. She doesn't flinch; she doesn't rear back. She doesn't even widen her gaze in interest. It's just... the same, as it was. That's all. Does Shizuru realize it? It's impossible to say, in the moment.
But it was a compliment, right?
It could have been an awkward silence, if either of them were awkward about it. Shizuru smiles, though, when Mikoto says that she is right. "Yes, I see. So that's why."
Another pleasant smile. "I do hope you'll take care of it." The plush, obviously. "But clearly, when I say I'm glad you're looking out for our mutual friends... You can imagine it's extra-true, with such a powerful friend on your side."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Was it a compliment..?
Mikoto is not calculating; neverless there is something calculated to the way she plainly confirms that information, for Shizuru, who wanted her to know she knew. Her association, complicated as it is, is not shameful. Hidden, yes; but many things are hidden, in this world. It is not so strange to have secrets.
"Yeah," she says, with no argument, as Shizuru hopes she'll take care of it. Mikoto, as ever, is economical with her words. 'It' could apply to a great many things in this discussion, plush included.
The rest of it, she doesn't reply to so quickly.
Mikoto isn't smiling, but she is, at least, conversing neutrally. That readiness has never quite left, a little curl of her fingers, a little narrowing of her eyes. Without cheer her words drag in the gravel of her throat, gruffness given from years of growling -- nevertheless she is talking, which is a signifier all its own.
Kozue might not have any respect for her, but she still warned her. It's uncomfortable, to speak of her Child.
But, given time, she speaks.
"I'll protect them," she says, "and I'll keep Miroku safe." These statements are similar, but not, entirely, alike.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
It could've been.
Many things are hidden. Shizuru has secrets of her own--but it is not strange to know that Mikoto has them. Not since the whole school learned of it, those years ago. And Shizuru has long been known to understand many things. The Student Council's power and reach is significant...
A normal girl would be worried at this Mikoto. Today's Mikoto is ready to fight--ready to hurt. Perhaps kill. There is no cheer in her words. But she is talking. ...Shizuru, for whatever reason, is not a normal girl. She watches calmly.
It's the most fun she's had all day.
"I'm sure you will," Shizuru answers Mikoto. The statements are not the same. And yet she sounds sure of both. She smiles.
And then she turns to go. Unless there are more questions...
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Some secrets, yes, are more secret than others -- and this is one Mikoto has kept close to her for years, rarely seen, seldom understood.
Perhaps it's no wonder she's so tense.
Shizuru smiles; Mikoto grunts acknowledgement. She turns to leave.
It's not until her hand is on the door that Mikoto organises her thoughts to lance a question through the air, sharp as any blade: "How long?" Her eyes close, briefly, as she takes a breath; this question, at least, she realises may be unfairly ambiguous. She clarifies, a beat later: "Watching me."
It's not that she's too tense to mind her tense. Mikoto just wants to know how long she plans to watch her just as much as she wants to know how long she's been watching.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuru Fujino [Ohtori Academy (U)] has posed.
Rarely seen, seldom understood. That's fair. It's reasonable, for Mikoto to be tense. Shizuru isn't, though. She doesn't seem tense at all. Not until Mikoto finally asks the all-important question, and Shizuru pauses, briefly. It is ambiguous, and yet, it isn't. Shizuru turns back to Mikoto. She smiles again.
"As long as you're in Natsuki Kuga's life."
Shizuru continues out.
It's cold, in this bathroom.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Of course it's cold. It always is.
There's that little dip of recognition, as Shizuru turns to smile. It's hard to call it a nod. Perhaps it's more of a ducking of the chin, so as to protect a neck far too vulnerable to bloodless hands.
She gets her answer; she doesn't stop Shizuru again. The door closes. It has a nice, fancy hinge to stop it from making too much noise; that would simply be uncouth.
Mikoto glances behind her, back to the mirror, to her gold, gold eyes.
"... I'm used to it."
That's what she tells the empty room, more dismal, before she turns to leave just the same.
If she's being watched, she'd better set a good example.
