Closed [The Knirin Gardens] Sssshhhhake It (Tim)

[Ssezzkero]

12th of Spring, 515AV

The day was pleasant, and for the first time in a long time, Sezkero could feel herself at ease. The past few days of relief from the plague had been far more refreshing than Ker could have asked for. She was done with the constant agitations of the last season, and it became much easier for the snake to continue her complacent life and enjoy the regularity of her life. But the last seasons had also given her insight on what she didn't want to be. Who she couldn't ever become again. Especially in respect to her deities. For the last half-a-year the raindancer had been completely disrespectful, especially to Makutsi. The idea of Gods shaping and molding her life was a constant source of anger, which was such a contrast to her everyday life.

The Gods did shape her life, especially Makutsi. But that was exactly why she chose to devote her days to the River Goddess. Without Makutsi's guidance, Sezkero had no doubt in her mind that she would have shrunk back from civilization and returned to her life in the Talderan wilderness, just as her brother had. Instead she was taught to dance, she was taught to learn and Sezkero was able to integrate with her human form for the past fifty-odd years. The snake couldn't even comprehend how she had gone two whole seasons with nothing but spite for that fact.

So today, she had a purpose. She was going to make it up to Makutsi, she was going to stray from the dance that the Goddess had taught her and dare to create a new one. So far, the snake was unsure if straying from what her deity gave her would produce the same effects, but even if it didn't she would have at least done it in good spirit.

But as Sezkero reached a medium-sized gazebo in the Knirin Gardens, just off the main trail, she realized she had no idea where to start. There were not many moves she knew that strayed from what she was taught. But she had watched many, many routines from various Acolytes, it didn't seem too hard to create her own, did it?

Well, the least you could do is start stretching. Ker directed herself, slipping out of her sandals and scooting them together on one of the entrance steps. Afterwards, her light headscarf came off, and she dropped it on top of her sandals. Unlike some of the other dancers Sezkero knew, she preferred to stay in flowing dresses and skirts, thinking they added finesse to the show, and so she wore her favorite white embroidered dress. By now it no longer looked new and crisp, but was not nearly old enough to show. However, wary of the fact that she was just wearing a dress, Sezkero had slipped on a pair of dark maroon stockings.

For a second, Sezkero stood there, toes wiggling on the wood. Would it have been better to dance in the grass? She asked herself, starting to rub one foot over the wood of the gazebo floor. It had been kept well over the years, waxed and painted so that it was not at all splinter-y. Ontop of that, Sezkero knew her feet were far more calloused then they should be, exactly becuase she danced barefoot so often. I'll be fine. Sezkero wrinkled her nose and shrugged, fixing her stance so that both her ankles touched again. Faster than she should have, Sezkero bent down, prepared to wrap her arms around her knees and let her nose touch her legs, but Sezkero quickly realized that she was not nearly as flexible as she was two seasons ago.

"Nooooo." Sezkero groaned under her breathe as the realization hit her, accompanied by a burning in the back of her legs. It was a sensation she had not felt so prominently in such a long time. Two seasons of no stretching and years and years of ample flexibility before left the burning to be an unfamiliar pain. And she didn't like it. Sezkero reached her arms as far down as she could accomplish. As the tips of her fingertips brushed the very tops of her toes, Sezkero could feel her knees going to their limits. Sucking in a breath, Sezkero tried to count while holding the stretch. 5... 4... 3..2-1. Exhaling in relief, the Iyvess sprang back up, immediately taking two steps back to relieve her legs of the position. "Oh, Makutsssi, sssend me ssstrength today." If I can't even stretch, how can I choreograph a dance as well? Sezkero chuckled to herself. Gotta get it over with then.

Sezkero moved into her next stretch, spreading her legs some, this time she leaned to one side, throwing the opposing arm over her head to lengthen the stretch. She could feel in now in her ribs, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the firs stretch. She hadn't danced in two seasons, but that didn't mean she hadn't been active. At least she was not out of practice and out of shape. Although as Sezkero thought of it, she realized the run to the Sanctuary had not been nearly as easy as it should have been either. Sezkero switched sides, trying not to think about all the negative effects of the plague. Instead, as she continued to stretch various parts of her body, slowly growing used to the pain that accompanied the odd contortions of her body, Sezkero tried to think about what exactly she wanted to do for Makutsi.

Should she focus on Rivers or Rain? Or both? Is this an apology or is this just an out of the normal display of dedication. Will this dance be made for multiple people or just herself. If she integrated parts of the dance that Makutsi had taught her into it, would it activate her gnosis, or is it possible that she could create a new routine to activate it. Was her purpose to use her Gnosis. Of course it is. The questions swirled in her brain, forming too quickly for an answer from herself, and she began to grow antsy to begin.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Timothy Mered]

12th of Spring 515AV

Whistling a muted, happy tune to himself, Timothy made his way through the park. It was as if the flowery, brightly-colored garden had simply popped into existence on the first day of spring. Ever since he’d found its location he wandered through it whenever he could, enjoying the sights, smells, and tranquility that it offered. The first time around he had gone straight to the center gazebo and gawked at his own, stilted reflection in pensive awe. This time, he had no goal but to freshen up his lungs with the gentle, humid air that lingered there.

The notion of leaving Riverfall hadn’t yet entirely left his mind, if only just to prove to Hirem, Aoren, Kavala, and all the others that he could live on his own. Yet, it was a vague, distant idea, like a hazy memory. For now, he was more than happy to have a proper job at The Red Diamond, not in the least because he now earned more than he could’ve ever dared to imagine. And whereas Riverfall had been a cold, hostile place in Winter, it had opened up like a flower in Spring. Perhaps he had his job to thank for that too. The Akalak seemed to value hard work, and as long as he was employed, Timothy was quite certain the Kuvay’nas would have no intention of booting him out of the city.

Yet during his wanderings, both in Winter and in Spring, he’d caught glimpses of others. Others like him. Children, mostly younger, poorly dressed and with wild, spiking hair. They frightened him a little with their wide, hungry eyes; ghostly appearances lurking in the shadows.

Caught up in his thoughts, his legs directed him back to the gazebos, feet patting lightly on the woodwork. It was a nice day. Leaning on the railing of the gazebo, he let the sun warm his cheeks.

“Noooooo” he heard someone say. Startled, he glanced over his shoulder. There, in one of the other gazebos attached to the one in the center stood a short woman with even shorter hair. She was doing some sort of exercise, trying to reach her feet. From what he could tell, it wasn't all that successful.

Intrigued, Timothy decided to explore further and approached the oddity. A few feet out of her private little gazebo he stopped and folded his arms over his chest, quietly observing. It wasn't that unusual to see people exercise in the garden, though most seem to come there for leisure. However, he couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to accomplish, and so he could only ask.

“What are you doing?” He sniggered after a while. It looked silly, clumsy even, as if she didn’t quite know what to do with her limbs. “Are you drunk?” he laughed. Just to demonstrate his point, he mimicked her earlier movements and reached down to touch his feet with his fingers. It was surprisingly easy, though he could feel something tighten around his chest. She looked quite the exercised type; slender, rippled, and with strong cheekbones. But there was something else he noticed, a fact that he simply could not let slip.

“Hey! I am taller than you!” Grinning from ear to ear he leapt forward, swatted her arms out of the way and commanded her to stand still and upright for a moment. As soon as she would oblige, he would press his back into the woman’s and compare their heights with his hand. “Look! I really am! Cool…”

[Ssezzkero]

"What are you doing?" A voice intruded on her grumbles to herself, and Sezkero popped up immediately, whirring around to face the speaker. The snake, so used to looking up at people, took a little longer to let her eyes fall on the boy's face as brown irises searched the air above him. Less than a tick later, they landed on his which were almost at her own eye level, and yet still a little above. The boy only giggled at her, which earned a light-hearted frown from the snake. "Are you drunk?"

"No, it'ssss called sssstretching." She watched the boy repeat her movement and sighed a little bit at how flexible he was. Although it was no doubt her lack of activity the past two seasons, the snake was beginning to think that the past hundred years had not been as kind to her body as she had previously thought. Placing a hand on her hip, Sezkero tried to explain to the boy her purpose agian. He was clearly just a boy, but she felt the need to reverse the embarrassment he had managed to paint on her cheeks already. "It warmssss up your jointssss and musssccclessss to prevent injury if you are going to be exxxercccissssing, or danccccing, in my casssse."

"Hey I'm taller than you!" The stranger exclaimed suddenly, which only made Sezkero yearn to grown again. Who isn't? But as the boy stepped closer to compare, Sezkero decided to mess with the charismatic youngster. Lifting her heels up ever so slightly, Sezkero was far enough on her toes to be a few inches taller than the boy turned his back to her to measure.

Once he was done, Sezkero twirled to face the boy again, a playful smile on her face. She looked at his young green eyes for a moment, as the realization hit her of how easily she had started talking to him. She was not a shy woman, simply a quite one, and she was especially bad at making conversation with children. The past season of slowly gaining the trust of the street urchins may have made it easier. The snake had learned one thing very quickly, don't talk to a child as if he or she was actually a child. Very few past the age of being a toddler were willing to put up with the patronizing. Maybe that realization had made it easier by leaps and bounds, but thus far she was hardly noticing progress. Yet, this strange child had simply walked up to her and now she was teasing him as she could Codin or Wayland.

"I think you are too tall for your own good, ssssir. What are your parentsssss ssssstuffing you with?" Not thinking much about the question, the snake immediately offered her name to the boy. "I'm Ssssezkero, by the way." Ker held her hand out to the boy.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Timothy Mered]

12th of Spring 515AV

“Yeah, you’re not fooling anyone with that,” Timothy said smugly when the woman tried to cheat her height. Waving dismissively he assumed his former, cross-armed posed and eyed the curiosity critically. Truly, he’d never once met a woman so short, the whole phenomenon was intriguing to him. Was she stunted? Perhaps some strange race he’d never before heard of? The possibilities were many, but he allowed himself little time to meditate on them as he noticed another peculiarity about Sezkero. She lisps. There was no denying that the odd little woman’s words were drawn out. Does she do that on purpose? he wondered.

Frowning, unsure whether she’d consider it rude if he pressed the matter, he decided not to ask about her accent. Who or whatever she was, she was decidedly a foreigner and that was enough to know for now.

“You’re a dancer? Hmmpf” It did explain her rather lean figure though and he had little reason to question the truth of her words. Back in Kenash or Sunberth you could never be certain if someone was lying, but in Riverfall, most people –thank Yahal- favored the truth.

"I think you are too tall for your own good, ssssir. What are your parentsssss ssssstuffing you with?"

“I am no Sir!” He laughed, “I’m just Tim, or Timothy if you’re into long names.” He shook her hand eagerly, only briefly pausing to take note of the X-shaped scar on her palms. What a strange person. If anything, it only piqued his curiosity further. “And my parents don’t eh…don’t stuff me.” A pained expression flashed across his face at the mention of his parents, but he’d long learned not to dwell on idle hopes. Mom is dead, and so is Father, there’s nothing you can do about it, he comforted himself. "You're not saying I am fat, are you?" he shot back playfully. "Honestly, everyone complains I am not growing, not in height and not in width," he patted his tummy, "but I eat loads and loads, I just don't get any bigger!" Not nearly fast enough at least.

Sweeping the unpleasant thoughts aside, he decided to present a joke of his own. Lifting his chin, barely looking down at her hand he announced pompously, “It’s a great pleasure to meet you. Allow me to take this dance from you oh Queen of the…-uh…something!” Without further warning he made a jovial bow and reached out to grab her other hand-

-but held back.

“Uh,” a puzzled, somewhat flustered look wrinkled his face, “I don't really know how to dance.” Pursing his lips he dropped her hand and scratched the back of his head idly. It took him only a few ticks to arrive at the inevitable conclusion. “Could you…could you teach me?”

Perhaps it was the fact that she was shorter than him, and therefore not very intimidating, but he found it surprisingly easy to trust the woman. So far, his history with women had been nothing short of tumultuous, save for his mum, and possibly Kavala. But even his relation with Kavala had been bumpy at first, thanks to the anger and frustration he had bottled up for so long. And then there was Rosela of course. While he got along just fine with her now, when they'd first met things had been much different. Sezkero was certainlty the first to earn such immediate trust. The fact that her short hair made her look a bit like a boy helped too, and though her humor was not nearly as good as his, she did at least have some humor. That's good.

[Ssezzkero]

"You're not saying I am fat, are you?" The fattest kid I've seen so far. Sezkero wanted to say, but decided against it, shaking her head instead. She was back to her rational thinking and it threw her off to find that she could now pause before voicing her thoughts again. The loose lips of the past seasons had gotten her into more trouble than she needed. The kid in front of her did not actually have much fat on him. He was lean, but there were no shocking highlights of starvation or sickness carved into the bones on his face like the children Sezkero had grown used to seeing. It was a refreshing sight to say the least. "Honestly, everyone complains I am not growing, not in height and not in width, but I eat loads and loads, I just don't get any bigger!"

"I'm sssure you will grow like bamboo ssssoon." Sezkero assured the boy throwing her right arm above her head. She bent her elbow so that her hand reached down the top of her back and with her left hand she pushed the elbow down. The burn ripped across her shoulder and leaked into her ribs, and Sezkero knew she would need to get in shape soon. "My brother ssshhhot up when he wassss about..." Forty. Sezkero caught herself. Her kind did not age at the same rate of humans, and although she wasn't sure exactly how much slower she ages, she assumed she was about three to four times the age she looked. "A teenager."

The snake switched arms as Tim launched into a show of chivalry. He reached for her hand, and Ker hesitated a fraction of a moment before reaching back for it. But her hesitation transformed into his. The snake's eyes widened as she watched a flash of confusion crawl through his features. She was more than prepared to run around and dance as if she was sixty years younger again, but suddenly, he was less so.

"uh... Could you... could you teach me?" The ultimate conclusion split the Iyvess' face in two.

"I'd love to," She dropped her hand and pointed towards the boy's raggedy boots. "Thosssse may be a nuissssancccce on the wood. Not very easssy to move in bootssss, or ssshhhoes at all actually."

Sezkero twirled again, giving some space between herself and Tim. She was already in the mindset of dancing, and therefore moving normally seemed unnatural to her.

"To be honessst, Timothy. I have not prepared a dancccce for today, I was thinking I would create one today." Sezkero felt the need to explain as she realized she would not have any basics to teach the boy. She knew one routine, which was why she had devoted this day to starting something knew. Something for Makutsi. "A dancccce for my Goddessssss, Makutsssi. She pressssidessss over both rain and riversss alike. I've never made ssssomething for her before, so thissss may be interessssting for the both of ussss." She admitted sheepishly, running the toes of her left foot in a semi-circle in front of her. She held no shame in preaching her Goddess to the boy. She doubted Tim was very aware of Makutsi or what she did, for some reason not many people were attracted to the rain Goddess, especially in this city. Maybe Sezkero would not have been either, if not for what the Goddess had done for her. And yet it was the only city where a temple had been constructed for her deity. Even if he was not curious about Makutsi, or if what she had told him was all he wanted to know, there was no doubt she was speak much of Makutsi that day, for she was exactly what Ker had committed the day to. "But that doesss not mean I can't teach you what sshhe taught me. Perhapsss you can help me create a dancccce for her?"

Should Tim agree, Sezkero would step forward, ready to instruct with a false confidence. She had never taught anyone anything before, least of all dance. Yet Tim had put her in such an elevated mood that she forgot her nerves. "The very firssst thing I was taught wassss how to move my hipsss." Sezkero placed her right foot out a little, which angled her hips already. Then she swiveled them, showing Tim the simple motion. "Yeah," She laughed, watching the boy's reaction. "It looks a little ssssilly, but almossst everything can be bassssed off of your hip and core movement." Sezkero stepped a bit forward with her other leg, showing him the other side as well. There was not much effort in it, simply wiggling the hips back and forth. By stepping forward, she provided an angle for her hips to exaggerate their movement. Enough to make the simple move look more flashy than it actually was. "You don't need to put a foot forward every time, it ssssimply makessss it look a little more... nicccer." Sezkero tried to explain her thoughts out loud to the boy, smiling as encouragingly as she could. Her previous courage was starting to diminish as Sezkero realized that teaching something was not nearly as easy as just doing it.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Timothy Mered]

Following Sezkero’s instructions, Timothy kicked off his boots. When he looked back up, she had twirled away and confessed they would have to make up a dance. “Well, at least I can’t do anything wrong then, now can I?” he beamed as he momentarily left the gazebo and washed his feet in the cold water. “Right,” he unbuttoned the blouse he wore that day, tossed it into a corner and crossed his arms over his beige undershirt. “Makutsi eh? Dunno,” he pursed his lips, “I quite like the current weather.”

He considered this new deity for a moment. Truly, he’d never before heard of her, but it made sense that water would have its own God and that she would have followers in a city named Riverfall. If she ruled over the rivers and seas like Sezkero claimed, it was strange that none of the Akalak he’d talked to had mentioned her. Then again, he hadn’t spoken many Akalak to begin with. “I don’t mind,” he shrugged, though he really hoped they wouldn’t be rewarded for their reverence with storms and floodings. We’ll see.

Uncrossing his arms he stepped closer to Sezkero and mimicked her pose to the best of his abilities. It was a little strange at first, as if his limbs didn’t understand the pose he was trying to move them into. Glancing down he moved out his left feet to meet her right, before correcting himself and putting out his right foot instead. What happened next made Tim’s eyebrows dart straight up and he had to stifle a laugh. “A little silly? A little?”

Perhaps this hadn’t been the best idea after all. A quick glance around proved them to be comfortable alone however and put him back at ease. “Right…” Hesitating and somewhat reluctant Timothy shook his hips. It felt off, it felt wrong, it was way too girlish, it was bad, it was…

-actually kind of fun.

“Like this?” he shook his hips again, a reddish hue rising to his cheeks. But Sezkero had already moved on. Keen grassy eyes soaked up her every movement as she explained how he could make the movement look nicer. “It’s still a bit silly,” he said as he attempted to mimic her motions. “Can’t we do something a bit more…” he choose his next words carefully, not wanting to insult his newfound teacher, “something a bit more athletic? Like this.”

The boards in the gazebo creaked under his weight as he took a few steps back, sucked in a deep breath and dove towards the ground. His hands scraped over the smooth planks as he threw his upper body into a handstand. Puffing and panting, he only lasted for two ticks before he collapsed into a clumsy pile of limbs. His face reddened further, whether from exertion or embarrassment it was hard to tell. “Uhm, maybe not…” he scratched the back of his head. From his position on the ground, Sezkero suddenly wasn’t that small anymore. “Why do you talk with a lisp?”

The question was out before he knew it. A dark little creature entered the back of his mind. Maybe she was one of those creatures out of a fairy tale, trying to seduce honest, hard-working men with their bodies and false promises, only to drown them or skin and eat them… Nah, she can’t be, he told himself. She didn't much look the part.

Casting the thought aside, Timothy stood up and glanced up at the gazebo’s ceiling. He doubted shaking his hips would do Makutsi any good, nor would his failed handstands. They needed something better. That same dark creature warned him not too, but it was already too late. “Maybe it’s easier if we dance together?”

[Ssezzkero]

"It'sss all a bit sssilly and ssstupid in the beginning." Sezkero squinted at the boy and then shrugged to answer his question, although she knew it had probably been rhetorical. But the boy followed her example easy enough. Immediately a string of embarrassment lit up her cheeks as he continued to call it all silly. She had taught him the wrong move. Of course teaching a boy to shake his hips would be weird. Any male dancer she had seen rarely focused on their hips. Mostly she did, since she saw them as her strongest tool, but then again she was a girl.

"Can't we do something a bit more... something a bit more athletic? Like this." A short chuckle shook out of her when he leaned into a handstand. She knew he would fall immediately, even she could hardly hold a handstand, back when she was fit. The boy's shirt fell down past his belly-button and she noticed how the boy's stomach was sucked in. She grinned at the boy when he fell, pointing to his torso as he scratched his head.

"You had to tighten your sssstomach, not hold it in. I told you: it'ss all in your core." She leaned down to offer the boy her hand. Once she had helped him up, if he took her hand, she listened to his question. "The common tongue issssss not may native language, but I have forgotten much of what I usssed to sssspeak." She tapped her chin for a second before turning the question towards him. He was terribly observant for a child. Too observant. She dared correct herself, but decided it shouldn't matter. "You've got an accccccent to me too. Do you come from sssssomewhere near Sssylirassssss?"

After getting his answer, she tried to hurry the lesson along, keeping the boy from asking more questions, although she knew she would find more to ask herself. "Okay, you win. Hips are not your tool for dancccing," One corner of her lips turned up as she tried to think of something. "But what issssssssss?" She almost spoke to herself, allowing her last 's' to drag farther than needed and not thinking about how the boy may not really understand her question. Everyone had a basic movement that stemmed almost all of their routines, it just was. Sometimes it changed as others learned new styles though. She knew she focused on her hips and leg movement. Shi'ra tended to favor her legs and feet for movement while Kal preferred quick and wide swinging arms. She had met another dancer, Zydrunas, who favored his upper torso as far as she could tell. Tim said he liked more athletic movements.

"Oh, I know! You sshhould like thissss one." She stuck a finger in the air to signal an idea. "Thisss issss another one I usssse a lot, but itsss quite a bit of ssstomping." She grinned at the boy. She reached down to grab the hem of her skirt, hiking it up around her knees so there was a clear view of her feet. She had rolled the maroon tights near her ankles, since they had been too long. Her bare feet were scuffed and calloused, which she had never really felt embarrassed about until they were seen by a non-dancer. "Hmm, I'll ssshhow you a move first."

She moved her feet together to prepare herself, before flying into the short move. The arcs of her feet were suddenly highlighted as she focused the pressure of her weight onto the heels and balls of her feet, taking weight off of her toes so they arced up. She had always been told her style of dancing was far more... hoppy than most, but maybe Tim would enjoy it as much as she did.

She brought her right foot forward, tapping her toes twice just in front of her left foot. Then, she stepped forward with her left foot and did the same again. Dropping the skirt that was held in her right hand, she brought it up to curve over her head, her fingers curled to complete the arc, but her forefinger and thumb instinctively arched out to deviate from the curve of her arm. As she brought her arm up, she turned her head towards it, closing her eyes a tick longer than a blink. She followed the movement by bringing her right knee up to hip level and swinging it away at a ninety-degree angle. She kicked her toes out to straighten the foot as it pointed towards the ground. Her muscles strained as she launched her weight from her left foot, allowing her right foot to bend to absorb the small hop before she dropped her hand. She struggled to find her balance for a second, which forced her left foot to the ground to keep herself from falling on her face.

Again, her heels found each other and she repeated the very first moves, returning her right hand to her dress to draw the hem up again. She tapped her toes again, one in front of the other before forcing herself to stop. She wanted to continue where she had left off, but remembered she was attempting to teach the move, not show it off.

Brown eyes flew back to Timothy, where she reassigned her attention. A light grin crawled into her features. "Did you watch my feet?" She knew it was an odd question, because she didn't ask him to in the first place. "Tap-tap, tap-tap, leap, tap-tap, tap-tap." She tried to elaborate, realizing her utter lack in the ability to explain anything to anyone. "It'ssss a little more athletic. More 'bouncccce', I've been told. I can teach that move to you, the footwork, if you'd like?"

Sezkero took a breathe to look at Timothy, finally allowing him to answer. She had been talking too fast, a quick rush of nerves fueling her voice box. It was such an odd feeling to show a segment of a routine, let alone to someone who she didn't expect to understand it as she did. And to stumble during it too! How embarrassing. Her inner thoughts hummed to themselves, hoping the boy hadn't actually noticed her loss of balance.

Common | Snake-Tongue | Tukant | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Timothy Mered]

Grubby fingers eagerly accepted Sezkero’s extended hand as she pulled him back up. A quick glance down at his tummy didn’t help much. How did you hold your stomach? The whole matter was soon forgotten as she patiently answered his questions, or tried to at least. That common wasn’t her native tongue was rather obvious, yet she looked quite human. He wondered where she was from.

“No I am not from Syliras,” he paused a moment. Honestly, he had no idea where Syliras even was. “I’m from Sunberth, dunno if that’s close, but I don’t think it is.” Like dew a salty drop lingered on his brow. Birds tweeted in the distance, invisible to the eye but not to the ear. For a tick he zoned out and simply enjoyed the warmth of wood under his feat, the sun on his face and the wind tousling his hair. At times, Riverfall was bliss.

Sezkero seized the opportunity to proceed with the lesson. A relieved grin split his lips. Thank all the Gods for no more silly hip shaking. What followed was a wild, seemingly disorderly array of stomping. Eyes so fixated on the movement of her feet it was hard not to notice how worn and calloused they were. Don’t her feet hurt terribly when she does that? What if I step into a splinter? The thought alone made him flinch ever so slightly. Whatever, she was the expert. If she could do it safely, so could he. Hands tucked neatly behind his back he closely watched as she moved one foot in front of the other. Soon enough he discovered the pattern in her motions and the regular rapping of her feet against the planks. A polite smile was plastered on his face.

His feigned stoicism was soon broken as she warrior-kicked the air and did a sort of hop. Her loss of balance remained unnoticed as he’d completely cracked up by the time she landed. “Ow, ow, ow,” he clutched his stomach with both hands, chest shaking involuntarily as he laughed longer, louder and more cheerfully than ever before. Like a drunk he stumbled towards the edge of the gazebo, hands reaching wildly for the bannister. He was choking, his face had turned bright red and tears of laughter flooded down his cheeks. The image of Sezkero, the lisping danceress, hopping through the air shattered every mental defense.

“Just-“ he gasped for air, arms and legs limp as noodles, “just give me a- a second to…ow, recover…” It wasn’t until three full ticks had past that the painful shaking of his chest began to show any signs of slowing down. Having practically collapsed with laughter, Timothy glanced up at Sezkero with bleary eyes. “Ah…oh, I am sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just…you were bouncing and,” he hiccupped.

“Maybe I should do something else,” he suggested. “I can’t do that without cracking up. I can uh,” he lowered his voice, not wanting anyone else to hear. “I can sing, a little bit. Is there any music or song that would go with a dance?”

Suddenly he shot up. “I have it!” He playfully punched her shoulder. “We could do like street performances! You dance, I sing. We’re gonna be so rich!”

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Character: Sezkero
Experience Awarded: +1 Planning, +3 Socialization, +2 Teaching, +2 Dance, +2 Observation
Lores Awarded: Dance: Stretching Before Dance. Timothy: Fattest Kid She’s Met, Timothy: Doesn’t know how to dance,



Character: Timothy
Experience Awarded: +3 Observation, +3 Socialization, +2 Dance, +1 Acrobatics
Lores Awarded: Sezkero: Shorter Than I am, Stretching: Prevents Injury, Sezkero: A Dancer, Makutsi: Goddess of Rain and Rivers, Dance: The Importance of Hips and Core Movements, Acrobatics: Performing a Handstand,

Notes:

As always PM me if you have issues.