[fieldbox="Out of Place, #007dba"]
Madoc Yamanaka and
Miyazato Aoi | Team 4 Chuunin | Akinian Empire, Magnhild
A collab between
@Oblivion666 and
@FrostedCaramel
Aoi and Madoc talk after meeting their new team. Expressing the worries they already have about the two new additions and the reaction of Meilin to them both. They then decide to dance so they can undertake a personal mission and spy on Meilin as she dances with a stranger.
[spoili]
Aoi was at this point about done with all the excitement of the party. It'd been a new experience at first, something she never thought she'd be able to do, to be surrounded by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people of the nation.To be wearing a formal dress of a culture she still knew next to nothing about and a hairstyle to match. She'd even been somehow mistaken for a Chonobi on more than a few occasions which ended in rather quick apologies in Taika and awkward bows as she quickly fled from those people and anyone else who had been unlucky enough to spot the interactions. She'd been treated as though she were there for a bigger reason than being the extension of an invitation to her team leader by everyone who she had talked with, and it felt slightly empowering, to be spoken to on such an equal level with all of these important people.
But now she was done with it. She'd spoken to her uncle a short while before and at this point just wanted to get outside and head back to the inn that Madoc and Meilin and her were staying at. As she walked she spotted something she'd never have imagined she'd see, Meilin talking with a rather tall dark haired male. Even through his formal wear it was obvious he was strong, so military had to be his job in one way or another, and by the seeming look on both of their faces the conversation appeared to be going well. Aoi would continue walking through the crowd, not wanting to watch for too long and risk being seen. Trying to find her way from the party she noticed the familiar blonde of the one and only Madoc Yamanaka and would creep up alongside him. She kept her voice low and stared out at the party without looking at him,
"So how are you enjoying this? Flirting with fine noble women, spinning tall tales, maybe even a little sleight of hand work?" Aoi said, the tease obvious in her voice.
Even for one such as himself who would know exactly what to say and how to say it by simply reading what they wanted him to say, the game got boring after a while. Entertain a few ladies, get praises hell he was sure one asked if he wanted to arrange a meeting with her father? It was getting simply too easy so much so that he retired by the refreshment table and was now onlooking as he was drinking away. Hopefully they would be allowed to leave soon, he saw Aoi multiple times running away from people and only caught Meilin's brief interaction with some guy.
Yet think of the person and they will appear as Aoi would move up alongside him and asked if he was enjoying flirting, lying and stealing. He would chuckle and take another sip.
"It got old an hour ago, too easy. Can't sleight of hand anything, not here anyway. So many people would have a sword up against me before I could even sniff them out."
She brought her hand to her mouth and laughed a little at the fact he was finding it too easy to flirt with the women and get in with the powerful aristocrats of the country,
"The ability to read must remove the risk in these things huh." she wondered how convenient that'd have been to have, to know what the other wants and is going to say,
"But removing that risk also gets rid of the fun doesn't it?" she tilted her head slightly to look up at Madoc to her side,
"I mean, where's the fun in talking to a woman if you know everything you say is exactly what she wants to hear hmmm?"
Aoi would catch a server as they passed and pull two small glasses of a bubbling liquor from it and offer the second to Madoc with a smirk,
"Have you tried this stuff yet? It's amazing, I've never quite had something that fizzes and is sweet and alcoholic at the same time." she was talking to talk now, unsure where she was even going anymore.
"If I had a silver shield for everytime some female here wanted a compliment on their dress. Shit I wouldn't need to sleight of hand anything. Yet it's handy even if I never have any risk. Unless they think in a language I don't know. Then I'm shit out of luck." Madoc said as Aoi would grab two glasses from a server and hand one to him. Taking the drink in one hand he would look at the two drinks in each of his hands and would chuckle.
"Ahh there we go. Now I look like I hate this party." he said before taking a sip from both drinks and shaking his head, as Aoi asked if he ever tried it before as she never had anything sweet and alcoholic which caused him to laugh.
"You really don't remember that one night in Hanaguro huh? While it wasn't fizzy, Cloud Nine as it was called was sweet and alcoholic. Seemed to have earned the name alright." Madoc said as he downed the rest of his first drink setting the glass on the table and pounded his chest a bit.
"Oh shit is daddy gonna be drunk in the morning. So! What about you? Have fun running from people?"
Aoi's smile grew into a bit of a terrified look as she realized Madoc had already had a drink, she'd moved up alongside him and not even checked to see if he was already holding anything and just assumed he wasn't,
"Sorry wasn't really looking." she apologized as she shook her glass to let him now what she meant. She'd raise it to her lips and take a short sip before being a hand to her chin and thinking a moment,
"I remember, bits and pieces of course, but I remember. I was more so talking about the bubbles." Aoi would say as she raised the glass up and eyed the amber liquid as the bubbles at the bottom rose up in droves.
She caught herself almost laughing when he referred to himself as "Daddy", wanting to say something coy but finding it to be a rather inappropriate setting for such a comment she'd hold her tongue,
"I guess so." she said a little sad,
"I didn't get to talk to as many people as I'd have liked, I got scared a bunch when people opened with Chonobi." she swayed from side to side as she frilled out her dress,
"I guess maybe it's the dress? But blue hair I mean? I've never seen a blue haired Chonobi before…." she kept swaying for a little before stopping,
"Some people were interesting though, I spoke to a Clan leader from a small River province clan. Talked about Hanaguro for a bit… There's apparently a lot more that we failed to see of its beauty during our stay." the way she said the final part made it obvious she was a bit remiss about the fact they hadn't really gotten to explore.
"Oh trust me its fine. Maybe looking like a drunk will keep people away from me." Was his reply to her apology as she looked sad that she seemed out of place, as others tried speaking Chonobi to her to which she used her blue hair as an excuse.
"What about the buff dude Meilin's talking to. He has blue hair. Granted it's dark as hell but its got that blue tint to it." Madoc said downing the other glass and pounding his chest a bit as he shook his head again.
"The….. What is their names the Taimyo? Nah they own Hanaguro….. Eh not that it matters much. It was to be expected we missed like seventy five percent of that city. Saw the important parts though!" he said with a chuckle as he pat Aoi on the shoulder.
"Chin up. You will see it again I'm sure. Hopefully while not staying at the Pink district the next time." Madoc said as he joked about their choice of luxury during their time there. Which of course led them to the giant breasted Albino and the duck, Sworn Swords his ass.
She found herself smiling a bit wider as Madoc also brought up the man that Meilin had been speaking with, She turned to him a little and looked up,
"So you saw that too huh?" she asked, a spark of curiosity in her tone as she seemed to grow excited at the happening,
"So what do you think? Did Meilin start that? Or the man? They seemed to be having fun too," she had a hand up on Madoc's forearm as she rambled,
"Meilin smiled but then I stopped watching! Oh do you think they're friends? Maybe an old flame or something? She'd keep that from us, I mean I keep that from us so I don't really blame her do you think that maybe he tugged on her sash like she said they do? Did she maybe," her eyes lit up and she was gripping at Madoc's sleeve and tugging at it incessantly,
"Do you you think she accepted? What if they're dancing or something!"
Good thing he wasn't drunk or otherwise Aoi's rapid fire questions shot his way would have surely confused him, heck it confused him regardless as he had to take some time to process them all while she tugged at his sleeve.
"I think it's fine? Probably the male did, and looked like they had fun. She did smile, not sure if they are friends. I doubt Meilin even had a boyfriend before…. Don't tell her I said that. Maybe he did? Not sure if she accepted." Madoc said before rolling his eyes and taking her sash.
"Like this? Honestly that's an odd way of asking for a dance but to each their own. If you want to see if she's dancing so badly then only one way to find out."
For a brief moment she kept up with him as he crossed every question off her list, smiling wider with each confirmation of her questions and even the fact that they did in fact appear to be having fun. She laughed a little when Madoc mentioned that he didn't think Meilin had ever been with anyone in the past,
"I'm not sure, I kind of agree but maybe she has… She is really secretive." Aoi agreed as he continued to answer her questions. When he grabbed at her sash it took her a moment to realize what that was supposed to mean even though she'd been talking about it just before. She took a half step back and looked up at Madoc,
"You want to…?" she asked a little confused, she was pretty sure it was just to satisfy her, maybe he'd read something from her mind even she didn't know yet, or maybe he just wanted to spy on them as much as she did.
"Okay." she said as she finished her drink in one go and placed it at the table.
She wasn't sure if she was supposed to lead him to the floor or the other way around so she would stand for a moment and offer her hand, to let him lead. She was smiling, a small flush to her cheeks as she waited for the surprising turn of events to take form.
"Noooo I grabbed it cause it looks really fun to grab and hold." Madoc said giving her the oh really look, before taking her hand and leading her to the other hall where dancing was being held. Various nobles were out and about dancing and sure enough in the distance was Meilin and the man from earlier dancing.
"Holy shit those arms are huge…." Madoc mumbled as he pointed for Aoi before leading her to a spot where they wouldn't see them. Holding his left hand out he would smile.
"Well there you have it, Meilin be dancing away with a dark blue haired jacked man."
She wanted to come back with some sort of a clever response to his jest but she found herself a little lost for words as he took her hand and pulled her along. She watched as he led her to the dancing hall, a flurry of people passing on either side of them as they would move into a room that was much wider, featured far less tables to get in the way, and had a live band of some sort. When Madoc talked about the man's arms the shorter Aoi couldn't help but to try and see what he was talking about. She rose on her toes and tried to spot them over the other people dancing but to no avail. She let out a defeated sigh,
"I can't see them." she said as he continued to lead her on. He stopped and turned and offer his left hand to her which she took quickly. She knew little of dancing, but she was pretty sure she could fake it well enough if Madoc knew what he was doing.
She raised an eyebrow in question as she moved a little closer to him like the people around them,
"You know what you're doing right? Because I don't." she admitted with a small apologetic smile as her gaze moved to the side. She caught sight of Meilin and the mysterious man and nodded her head in agreement with Madoc's earlier statement,
"Very large.", she hoped it wouldn't make Madoc feel conscious of himself.
"You can't? Well Meilin looks so out of place, they looked like they were having fun though." he said as she took his hand and proceeded to tell him she had no clue what she was doing. Smiling he would nod his head.
"Place your left hand on my right shoulder but let it relax there." he said cupping his hand at her left shoulder blade.
"Then it's simple." he said as he took a left step.
"You try to match my movements. You go left. Forward. Right and back." he explained doing each step as he said them. He would then do the same steps this time without informing her.
Aoi nodded as she'd follow his instructions, placing her left hand on his right shoulder and letting it hang in place instead of grabbing at it. She listened and found herself staring at their feet as he walked through the movements. Left. Forward. Right. Back. She was pretty sure she could handle that. When Madoc began to do them as he said them she stepped left and found herself awkwardly far away from him, she stopped moving almost instantly as she was obviously not getting some fundamentally important part of what he was saying,
"Are you sure? I Think this is wrong." she said as she would move herself back to their starting position.
Her fumble was his error, he forgot to explain that's the steps for the one leading.
"Well for the one leading it's those steps. The one following would reverse them, probably should have mentioned that.. So if I'm leading and going to the left. You would be going to the right. As I go forward you back. Just the same as me but reversed. Lets try it again." Madoc said as he would do the steps slowly at first then picked it up slightly.
She smiled a little at how very easy it was to fuck up something so simple and nodded again,
"Alright I get that, it's kind of like…" she seemed to hold back a snicker before continuing,
"Like my feet are running from your feet." her smile grew a little as she would follow along, unable to keep the image that she was running away from his feet as they tried to step on hers from lingering at the front of her mind. She bit her tongue, a metallic taste filling her mouth after only a few moments as she was choking back tears from the incessant and childish thought. Finally able to get it to leave her she would bring her view back up from their feet with a little bit of confidence in her voice,
"I think I've got it this time…" she raised a questioning brow at the Yamanaka,
"This is not something I would have expected," her voice trailed off as she found her gaze to be a little too intent on him,
"How do you know how to do this?"
She was picking it up fast enough even with the goofy thought about her feet running from his. Yet it was a good enough example he supposed. As she grew more comfortable with the steps he nodded but titled his head as it wasn't what she expected. The dance? Then she voiced what it was and it was how did he know how to do this.
"My mother taught me. Told me I would need to know incase I ever got married. Women like a man who can dance is what she would always say." He said with a chuckle as they would continue the small steps, as he wondered slightly if he should throw her for a loop.
"Hey real fast. With your left hand, clutch my shoulder." He asked and once he felt her grip, he would instantly dip her. Looking down at her as he supported her with his right arm he would bring her back up.
"And that was about as exciting as the dance really ever gets."
She would need to ask a bit more about his mother someday. She seemed rather a large figure in his life from what she'd seen at his house and now from his knowledge in dancing. She was smiling pleasantly as he spoke, enjoying the simple movements of the dance, but the smile would turn into a thin one when he told her to hold on,
"Why....? she asked a bit suspicious as she tightened her grip anyway. When he dipped her down she was sure she was going to land flat on her back and made a small scream that gained the attention of some of the nearby couples long enough for her to realize she was the reason they were looking. With Madoc's right arm supporting her she would be quickly lifted back up. Her face was on fire as she was now starkly aware of the people that were still looking their way,
"You need to warn me about things like that!" she whispered to him as they picked up their dancing,
"I wouldn't have made any noise if you'd warned me!". She wanted to offer apologies to those around her but by the time she had taken her eyes off the Yamanaka no one was paying attention to them anymore.
She didn't question the blessing and turned back to him,
"So what then," she asked a little annoyed,
"Aren't we here to sp-- Watch Meilin?"
As she let out the scream he had to resist laughing as she gained some of the nearby attention of the couples, before they would resume dancing while Aoi laid into him about warning her.
"But I did. I told you to clutch my shoulder. Would have fell if I didn't." He said with a rather smartass smile as she wanted to say werent they here to spy on Meilin but instead choose watch.
"Mmhmm. Watch. "Madoc said with a raised eyebrow as he looked through the gathering of people.
"I mean I saw it, they looked awkwardly adorable. So far you are the only one missing out. But fine take about…." he stopped for a moment as he looked behind her and debated the math in his head.
"six steps back and resume the dance from there."
She wanted to protest that being told to hold on wasn't a very good warning but at this point the act was done and no one seemed to care anymore but her. With his agreement that they were in fact there to watch Meilin she perked up a little, even if somewhere she felt a small amount of pain at the fact they had only come to watch their team leader dance with an unknown man, she was at least getting to dance a little with Madoc as a bonus. She nodded excitedly and clutched a little at his shoulder, quickly releasing it as she realized that was against the rules or something and let her hand relax as he talked about how he had seen them both and that she was currently the only one unable to see it in all its glory. Aoi abruptly stepped into Madoc when he stopped dancing, rebounding slightly off of him she stayed up as they weren't moving fast enough to throw her off balance, but she was a little confused he had stopped at all. She looked at him raising an eyebrow but not questioning his directions when he gave them.
Counting each step in her mind she'd stop on six and wait for Madoc to continue the dance as she would peer around,
"Where exactly?" she asked him.
Letting out a oof when she collided into him, he would chuckle before she would do as he said and move back six paces. Resuming the dance they had he gazed around trying to spot them and sure enough he could make out the two in between gaps. When she would ask him he would motion with his head.
"Towards the left side corner. Nearest to the fat man." Madoc said softly as he really debated not even informing her of a dip but knew she would smack the shit out of him and possibly fall, which would blow their cover. As he watched the two Madoc still looked confused.
"Seriously what does that guy do? Those arms are bigger than me." Madoc mumbled again before focusing on Aoi.
She followed his gaze and the motion of his head to try and spot the two. When she heard Madoc talking about the size of the man's arms she began to snicker a little until she finally caught a glimpse of him,
"Jealous?" she asked with a devilish grin as she had to admit, the man was rather large and it was obviously getting to the infallible Madoc. As they danced she wondered what the two might have been talking about, what someone could possibly entertain Meilin's focus on long enough at something like this to get her to agree to dance. Aoi had some ideas but all of them had something to do with Shinobi life or Chonobi things that she knew little about.
"Hmmm" she hummed as she turned her gaze back on Madoc, she tightened her grip a little and grinned. There wasn't much they could really figure out from where they were, and since Madoc seemed to have enjoyed it earlier maybe she'd give it a try where she wouldn't scream.
When she asked if he was jealous, he would look once more and then back to her.
"Oh me? Nah bet I have more muscles than….. No… No I don't." he admitted in defeat as he would stop focusing on them and started to think they should get going soon as they were requested to meet up soon enough anyway. When he felt her clutch his shoulder causing him to smirk as he looked her in the eyes.
"Alright but no screaming this time. Otherwise we have some explaining to do." Madoc would warn her giving her a couple of seconds before he would dip her once more supporting her with his right arm as he looked down at her with a sly smile.
"You seem to enjoy putting yourself in dangerous positions with me." Madoc said before lifting her back up.
Aoi's smile only grew as it became that much more obvious Madoc was feeling a little emasculated by Meilin's mystery man.
"Ooooh Madoooooc." she cooed to him as his pride was obviously hurt. With Madoc saying that she couldn't scream she would nod her head eagerly before she felt herself dropping once more. The sensation sent her heart racing and when she rose back up she was laughing softly, a warm red covering her cheeks as she was having a bit more fun than intended on their spying mission. She gave him a scoff at his comment, and nodded her head to agree she did seem to enjoy dangerous things with him,
"And you're obviously hurt by Meilin's friends size." she countered before continuing,
"Big muscles aren't everything you know?" she would think a moment,
"He's probably making up for other," she managed a wink,
"shortcomings.".
Did she just ooooh him? Oh he should have dropped her, mostly when she made her next comment he stammered a bit and nodded his head.
"Well played." he said before her next comment felt like a weak attempt at comforting, so when she made a joke that worked much better than simple words of what she probably thought he wanted to hear.
"Ahhh mean humor. The best medicine in the world, might I say. Very impressed, didn't think you could throw a mean zinger like that. So since were here, what do you think of our newest team members? Dea and Dagrun? I personally feel very threatened by the high number of females on this team."
Her smile remained as he complimented her on her humor. She was feeling rather proud of her joke, and was a little happy it seemed to work to comfort Madoc at least a little,
"Sometimes I've got it in me for that sort of a thing." she said victoriously. She continued to dance and listen to what he was saying about their new team members, the two Chonobi girls that had suddenly been thrust upon them not long ago. She shook her head softly,
"It's hard to say. Too early you know?" she was lying. She was more than a little uncomfortable with more Chonobi being added to the team,
"Okay not exactly." she said with an apologizing smile.
She looked around to make sure they weren't near by for some reason before placing her gaze back on Madoc,
"I'm afraid. Uncomfortable I guess?" she seemed unsure of herself,
"I mean I had to burn down a temple and that still didn't get the simple trust I deserved out of Meilin…." she didn't want to think of what it would take to gain the simple respect everyone deserved from the two new additions. She perked up a little,
"Although maybe it won't be too bad with Dea..."
So she wasn't comfortable around them, which made sense yet it also seemed like a trust thing. He understood that sentiment, Meilin did simply expect them to trust her while giving hardly any in return. Hopefully that would change though, he didn't like being wrong about those situations. Yet effectively the ball was in Meilin's corner.
"I understand what you mean, they may not be horrible though. Dea is young she can learn from you…. Maybe. Dagrun however….. Unsure, seems like she would be a bitch. Yet in a good way if that makes sense. Eh hopefully Meilin hasn't told my mind reader thing to them yet. It's starting to not become a secret." Madoc said with a sigh
"So I get the trust thing, since I trusted you two with it and it was forcibly told to those Sworn Shits, and while your brother is cool. I rather not have my abilities told to every child. So hopefully she will let me determine if they can know about my Mind Reader myself."
Aoi was more than a little happy Madoc seemed to at least share similar fears as her for the two new additions. She raised an eyebrow as they danced,
"Dea can learn from me?" she wondered to him, not entirely sure what she was supposed to teach in the first place, she snickered a little when he stated he thought Dagrun would likely be a bitch,
"I'd maybe use a different set of words but I can see that, I'm afraid she won't like me, you a little less, but me for sure. She's another older Chonobi, I doubt she has any reason to do anything more than tolerate me." she sighed.
The part about the telling of his mind reader technique twice by Meilin now did make her feel a little bit responsible, at least for the fact her little brother knew even if the reason was completely out of her hands, "Sorry about that, Miko will probably tell people. But he doesn't have many friends, and he won't be very good at explaining it other than something about a guy he met being able to read minds." She said trying to reassure him. "It'll have to be said eventually though, no?" as much as she may distrust two new members suddenly thrust upon the team, it wasn't beyond her reasoning to understand that at some point they'd need to be let in on the secret.
She seemed confused by what he said as he himself tried to figure it out as well.
"Like…..I don't know just accept the compliment! We are not having another Kimono situation." Madoc said while seemingly weighing his options on called Dagrun a bitch.
"Hmmmm I don't know. Beaten by her could be one of the better ways to die. Yet I don't think I'll be calling anyone of you women a bitch….. Maybe. Yet who knows, use that Aoi charm wiggle your way in and see what makes her tick."
She would go on to apologize in advance as she stated Miko would probably tell the other boys his age, granted he would do it poorly. He figured as much and her saying it would have to be said eventually only made him frown as he looked at the floor.
"Probably, rather it be by my choice though. I kept things a secret for that very reason." Madoc said with a slight sigh as she wasn't wrong, he probably would have to tell those two eventually if it wasn't already said.
She stepped a bit too quickly and almost caught his feet as they danced, a small noise escaping her as she corrected the mistake quickly,
"Sorry." she said quietly as she continued to listen to him,
"Thanks. For the compliment." she said still just as confused as before about what she'd be teaching Dea. It could be anything, fighting styles, jutsu, that not all Taika were terrible human beings to look down upon. The possibilities were all there, it was more a matter of which she'd jump at first. As he spoke about Dagrun and his choice to use the word
bitch she couldn't help but to worry for his sanity and more importantly his health,
"You did say it first, you're completely surrounded. I'd shy away from such words if possible." she said nodding her head as if giving wise words. She shook her head in agreement to his want to give up his own technique,
"I think that'd be for the best… I can… I can talk to Meilin about it if you want? Just bring it up casually?" she offered before his words from before seemed to connect in her mind.
"And what was that supposed to mean? My charm?" she whispered accusingly as he seemed to be implying that she was good at getting herself into yelling matches with others like during the mission in Hanaguro.
Even though she took the compliment out of forced obligation, he would give a smile.
"See? Much simpler to just say thank you at random compliments. Not like I'm trying to sneak my way into your pants. " Madoc stated before giving a shrug, honestly he figured that he was going to have to be very select with his words. They were all different people with differing taste in humor. If anything Dagrun would probably enjoy his I don't give a shit humor most, yet now they had a child on the team. Did he have to watch what he said now around her? Was he allowed to swear? When she asked if he wanted her to talk to Meilin for him he just shook his head.
"No need. She gives away my secret, I give away hers. My secret anyone can learn, hers is a clan secret~" Madoc would state with a sly smile.
As she yelled at him about what he meant by her charm, he smirked and would halt their dance as he pulled her in closer to him. Smiling down at her,
"You know what I mean." Madoc said before pulling away with another devious smile as he resumed their dance.
Aoi felt a slight blush returning to her with Madoc's suggestive comment as her heart began to pick up its pace,
"You better not be." she said quietly. The fact he wanted to talk to Meilin should have been obvious, she wasn't anything for him, and she certainly didn't represent him in anything they did. She didn't laugh about him telling her that he'd give away a clan secret of Meilin's if she gave away his, especially with the difference in the level of both of their secrets. She thought a little on it and was suddenly feeling even worse about the whole incident of telling her younger brother their jutsu.
Being pulled in close caught her off guard, she felt her face getting warm and had to direct her gaze away from him before looking back up as he spoke,
"I don't--" she wasn't sure what this must have looked like to the people dancing around them,
"I don't think you're supposed to get this close in these sort of dances!" she protested with a small smile before being sent back from him and continuing the dance. She shot a glance around and was able to breathe a sigh of relief when no one seemed to be staring at them like when she had screamed earlier. Turning back to Madoc she'd continue the simple dance,
"Do you think we should get going soon?" she asked as the party appeared to be dying down around them,
"I mean, I don't--" she fumbled on her words as she realized it might come off as though she didn't want to dance anymore,
"I want to keep dancing but..." she nodded at a small group of people that appeared to be leaving.
"I have more class than to try and weasel my way there. You wound me Aoi." Madoc would state feigning pain before he caught her off guard with the sudden pull in. Where she would proceed to say that they shouldn't be this close in dances such as these.
"Oh? Nothing wrong with a romantic dance.~ In fact for one dance being that close is a must. Maybe I'll teach you it one day." Madoc said with a smile before realizing what that sounded like.
"Like I'm not kidding… that wasn't meant to sound…. Wow that alcohol is hitting alright." Madoc mumbled to himself as she asked if they should stop due to everyone starting to slowly leave. Looking around at the various couple leaving he would smirk and chuckle a bit.
"Well we can, after all Meilin and that mystery guy seemed to have left apparently." Madoc said with a motion with his head to where their team leader use to be.
She tightened her grip slightly as he continued to joke,
"Right right." she managed out with a smile as her heart continued to pick up. He wanted to teach her a dance? A particularly romantic one at that? She shot the idea down in her mind. He was drunk, nothing more. He didn't mean what he was saying.
"Seems for once I'm not the drunk one." she teased as she peer around to see that Meilin and her mystery man had left as well.
"Alright, we should get going then." she said as she would slip her hand from his shoulder and away from him but keep her other in his hand as she'd lead him away. She would lead them to the area that had been turned into a temporary coat area and would turn to him,
"Now stay right here. I don't need you wandering off into Magnhild, and definitely not without a coat." she said a little sternly as she would turn to the attendants at the coat area.
She returned shortly later, happy to find Madoc still waiting and handed him his coat as she put hers own,
"Lead the way home then, Madoc." she smirked out, wondering if the drunk Madoc could possibly get them back to their hotel on a route that even she was barely sure of.
"Who me? Pffft I don't get drunk I get tipsy." Madoc said as she would stop dancing yet continue leading him out of the hall and to where all their coats were. It was amusing as she started telling him much like a mother would to stay put while she found their coats. Giving a thumbs up he would whistle as he rocked back and forth, while taking the chance to grab a drink from a passing server and down it real fast before Aoi got back.
"Oh…. I'm going to regret that one in the morning…. Yep. That was Bloody Victory.. Well played you Tokugawa dicks." Madoc said pounding his chest.
As Aoi arrived back handing him his jacket, he would put it on before giving her a look at him having to lead them home.
"I could do that in my sleep." Madoc proclaimed as he walked to the door opening it to the outside where a cold breeze smacked him in the face. Shaking his head he would look around.
"..... Okay so….. I may not be the best with directions while intoxicated." Madoc said with a playful smile as he would lean his arm on her.
"So I trust you to….. What's the word… Escort! Escort us home safely oh blue haired maiden."
"You sure?" she joked before he opened the door. The bite of the cold caused her to ease back away from the door before she'd pull the collar of her coat a bit closer to her neck. She breathed a warm breath into her hands and managing a laugh as Madoc admitted he probably couldn't get them back to the hotel. His arm sudden to at her shoulder she'd slip in a bit close and place one arm behind his back and the other around his stomach, her hands meeting together at his flank to keep him up.
"I can get us back. I think." she laughed out as he called her a maiden.
Beginning to walk forward she'd lead him along as she took in the Keep. The entry had been one thing, but leaving in the dark? There were lanterns strung up along the main avenue to the Keep, Magnhild City Guard lined the walkway on either side of them and spaced about equally down the road every so often their armor was accented by that of a pair of Sworn Swords in their silver plate glinting in the lantern light. She wondered how cold they probably were and felt a little bad. They probably had switched out at some point. She hoped they had. As they passed out of the main gate of the Keep and into the city they would be whipped by a gust of cold air and snow. She pulled herself a little closer to Madoc,
"It's a beautiful city, isn't it?" she asked as they started the ought the city.
When she wrapped her arms around him he would look down at the smaller woman and snicker.
"You know…. I'm not at the point where I need help standing just yet. But by all means keep hugging me." Madoc said whistling as she would lead them a fair bit through the lantern light pathway. Guards on standby for various reasons. Some of the influential leaders still were at the feast, while some were probably stationed just to remind people to not do anything stupid.
As they got into the city she would pull herself in closer to him while asking if the city was as beautiful as she thought it was. Staring at her for a bit he would look around before looking back to her.
"You want the truth, lie, or flirt option?"
Trying to steal as much warmth from the Yamanaka as she could Aoi would notice he was staring at her after her question and reach a hand up to push his face away when he looked back for a second time. She snickered and turned her gaze to watch the road as it stretched out into the city before them,
"Can I get all three again?" she asked, a little hint of excitement evident in her voice. She was pretty sure it was a bit of a walk to their hotel, and if they could shorten it with little things like this she wouldn't mind the cold too much.
Moving his face right back to look after she pushed it away, she would request all three to which he chuckled.
"Oh? Now who told you about the special deal going out on all three?" Madoc would joke before rubbing the side of his face.
"The lie is, no the city looks worse than the Pink District in Hanaguro. The truth is that it has its beauty I will give it that much. The flirt one is that I can't focus on the city when there is a stunning beauty right next to me."
"Is that so?" she snickered as he stated that the special was out only to answer all three anyway. To say that the city was uglier than the Pink District was the obvious lie, there were surely places worse than there, but Magnhild wasn't among them. Then he stated it had its beauty which was true, the alpine landscape and tiered nature of the city definitely leant it its charm. The flirt made her heart skip, she smirked and smiled,
"Hmmmm" she pretended to think for a moment as she searched the people around her, peering half-heartedly over the women that were around them, some simply going about their business and others obviously having just left the party as well,
"So which one is it? The beauty that is?" she joked.
Nodding in response she would seem to think a moment on what he said as she would look at all the other women that were around. Asking which one it was, the beauty as she would put it.
"Well clearly it's me. There is a reason I'm not allowed to wear suits. Very dangerous. Makes everyone swoon, even guys." Madoc said with a wink as she knew what he meant but he wasn't going to be that generous now.
"So what are the odds that we get a free day tomorrow? Cause oh boy. I don't remember the first half of this night at all. I remember awkward meet up with empress lady, more women outnumbering me and teaching you to dance while spying on Meilin and her man hunk."
"What…?" she began before his words truly hit her. She clutched tightly at him as she began to laugh at his joke, so terrible that it had been funny she would press her face into her own coat to try and lessen the sound. After a good bit of laughing she would bring her face from her coat and back into the cold of the Magnhild air,
"You're truly something else." she said as if repeating something they both knew. She shook her head as they walked and noticed a small vendors stall selling more alcohol in the night, the vendor sitting next to a small bucket fire as he sold his drinks, she quietly thought about stopping but didn't want to end up in the same position as Madoc in the morning,
"That's honestly a very good question. I guess it depends..." she remembered Dagrun and Dea, and for a brief moment was alright with what she was about to say before the irony of it struck her,
"I guess it depends on how quickly Meilin wants to make the new Chonobi feel accepted."
Smiling happily at her response to his joke, he would do a really poor bow as she had hold of him.
"That went better in my head." was his excuse as she would guess that it all depended on how fast Meilin wanted the two new Chonobi girls to feel welcomed.
"Oh… Well then that Bloody Victory I had as you got the coats is really gonna bite me in the morning. Shit I must be part Hanta with how much the Tokugawa just fucked me." he said snorting at his own joke as he poked her side.
"Get it?" he said with suppressed laughter.
"Well good news! You all get to see what a hung-over Madoc is like! Bad news. You will be missing my words of wisdom for most of the day."
"Always do." she agreed when he said the joke was better in his head. His second attempt at being funny about the Tokugawa and the Hanta had less of an effect on her, but the fact he had sncuk a drink while she was getting the coats caused her to smirk,
"I should have known you'd do something like that while I wasn't looking..." she smiled,
"That's what I get for babying you I guess." she shrugged as best she could with her arms wrapped around him only to jolt slightly away as he poked her in the side, a small laugh escaping her lips as the touch tickled just a bit,
"I get it!" she proclaimed through a bit more laughter.
They were nearing a large square that she definitely remembered, so at the very least they were on the right track back to the hotel,
"I'm looking forward to hung-over Madoc in honesty." she turned her gaze up to him with a devious smile,
"Means we won't have to put up with your annoying talk as much I guess." she said as she would retaliate for earlier and press a knuckle into his side.
He pointed at himself like he was surprised she thought he would sneak a drink.
"I am a good man. I think after a hard day of not calling a noble a dick, that I can have as many drinks as I want. Besides. I ain't the one hugging a drunk man for warmth. How aggressive of you." he would tease as she would squirm slightly at his poke.
"I have to make sure. Not everyday I drop gold lines like that." Madoc said wagging his finger as if it was a fact.
Although he now wondered if he should take her next comment as a joking insult.
"Oh sweetie. Ain't nothing in this world that can stop that. I could be lobotomized and I would still find a way to annoy each and every one of you. How else am I supposed to show I care?"
She rolled her eyes at how he would always be able to annoy them and was happy he couldn't see her face where she was as she did. They passed into the center of the square and Aoi stopped in her tracks, keeping him close so as to not lose her grip on him in case he accidentally kept walking. She gazed between the four streets that branched off of the square ahead of them and struggled to remember which was the right one,
"I think it's that one." she said as she freed a hand to point quickly before lacing it back into her fingers on the side of Madoc. She swallowed as they kept walking, the idea that they were probably about to be lost in a Chonobi city beginning to creep to the front of her mind. She swallowed again and tightened her grip for a moment as anxiety began to take root,
"What do we do if we get lost?" she asked nervously as she led them down the road.
She would point towards what she assumed was right and he would look at her and shrug.
"Sounds good to me B- Oh yeah! I can use sensory!" Madoc said snorting as he basically answered her question.
"Well we can cry. Until someone tells us in Taika where to go. Or freeze to death. One of those options." he said as he would use his sensory to find where Meilin's chakra signature was and sure enough Aoi was on the right path.
"You are right on your guess! Also Meilin is already back."
"I like the freezing to death option." she joked as he seemed to remember that he could just use sensory and figure out where they needed to go rather easily. She tilted her head and waited a moment as he seemed to search for what she could only guess was Meilin and confirmed that she was indeed on the right track. Her heart sank a little.
"Great, we'll be there pretty quick then." she smiled up at him as she moved him down the road and toward the familiar Inn a bit farther ahead. There were still people out and about even at this hour of the night, and the Inn appeared to be disgorging people into the street as they approached, likely it was time to close the pub part of the place. She stopped and kept Madoc tied in her arms as she did, watching the patrons of the place as most of them exited in drunken stupors,
"Well it was fun while it lasted." she said with a small sigh,
"Thanks." Aoi unwrapped her arms from him and looked up a moment, a small smile adorning her face,
"For the dance, it was nice."
"Oh that's not true. I could fall and break my leg, you could fall and break your leg while I fail miserably tom understand what gripping is again. I could also be lying and be so far from Meilin that we would take an hour to get there. We could get mugged, I could get stolen by some woman swooned over by my suit. You could be stolen by some man who likes himself some pretty Taika women. Lots and lots of ways this could not be quick." He explained in detail as he looked up at the building.
"I could also be horribly wrong." he said with a shrug as she would go on to thank him for the dance to which he stared at her.
"It was a simple dance, now if you want a real dance. That requires more personal contact…. Again not what it sounds like. The dance it… It's a very close dance…. " Madoc said fumbling over his words as he looked at the building.
"Well can't wait to be dying internally in the morning. We should probably get inside. Cause I'm not sure if you know…. But it's really fuckin cold."
Aoi allowed herself a small smile when he went over a list of absurd happenings that could have kept them from the inn, although the part about him simply lying did strike her as something she'd need to make sure she was vigilant of in the future. When he seemed to offer a more personal dance, or at least lessons in it she couldn't help but laugh a little as he seemed to fumble over his thoughts, she shook her head as she continued to giggle a little,
"I get what you mean Madoc." she said reassuringly before he brought up the fact it was rather cold out. She thought for a moment that she should maybe do something, a better thank you for the dance or the words he had for her. She shuffled in her spot, swayed slightly forward and reached out.
She took his forearm and turned for the inn dragging him along behind her,
"Can't keep Meilin waiting all night for us. She'll think we're lost." she said, happy with the strength in her voice as she bit her tongue and stepped inside.[/spoili][/fieldbox]
