beautifulmemer

[ Glasswing outright splutters. The contrast between that and her dainty, graceful appearance would probably be pretty funny under literally any other circumstances. Right now, though... ]

I'd -- really prefer not to! [ She has to beat back another particularly bold Torment, even amidst her protest. ] Don't you have some other way?!

If you wanna risk us getting overrun? Your call! But if this turns into a total rout, I'm not sticking around for the bitter end. Nothing personal, but time's money, friend.

_{[ Even if he's not gonna have a dance partner, the orrery's started to spin, giving the stuttering beginnings of a tune to set the rhythm. Ballade flicks away his yellow ribbon-- it's all just magic and dreamstuff, right?-- and it lands near Glasswing's feet.

Least he's focusing on pulling his weight now-- Ballade's proper fighting form fits with his costume, almost extraneously elegant moves and artful dodges.]}

[ A quick, clever swipe of her naginata has two Torments scattering into mulch and smoke but even as she cuts them down, another appears to take their place. Yes, they're making progress, but it'll only take a second of losing their tempo to get overwhelmed and then...

Glasswing's eyes flit down to the ribbon – to the Torments – back to the ribbon – and then she grits her teeth and hisses in irritation. ]

Fine! [ She snatches the ribbon up and thrusts her hand out. ] Just... get it over with!

_{[ Ballade's smile reveals he has an eminently punchable face. ]}

Great choice.

_{[ The shorter end of the ribbon in Glasswing's hand doubles back over to wrap around her wrist in a cuff, tying itself off in a bow.

The long end, meanwhile, followed the momentum from Glasswing's hand when she thrust it forward-- it sails off to its master, who raises a hand not to catch it-- but for it to similarly tie upon his wrist, though curiously, a little bit of it also looped around his fingers.

It's more than tripled in length, but hey, dream magic.]}

Now listen to the song, and keep fighting-- but let it guide your steps! If that's too hard... Move when you feel the tug!

_{[ giving her the training wheels means he has to mind his own and her steps, but-- hey, he keeps his eye on the footwork of up to twenty people at once for several timeslots a day. Ballade's pretty sure he's got this.

The music starts in earnest. ]}

Edited 2023-04-07 02:57 (UTC)

[ The music feels like it's reverberating up her spine, down into her stomach - she's never heard music in the Dream Sphere, come to think of it, so she has no idea if this effect is something that happens to music here or if it's some strange, unique effect of Ballade's magic. It reminds her of the way a bassline thrums in your throat when the speaker's pumped up too loud and... maybe it's dream magic, dream logic, but Glasswing thinks she can fight like this.

One tentative step towards the throng of Torments becomes two. Followed by a third and a fourth before Glasswing gives up on thinking in earnest and simply surrenders both to the music and her instincts as a Dreamer.

It's not much of a dance, but even soaked to the skin in this miserable gloom as she is... maybe it's the music, but there's a strange elegance to it all the same. ]

_{[ Ballade's still new to this, in terms of magical power. The Torments don't respect their rhythm; they dash in wherever it's convenient. But as the two Dreamers build up a flow, that matters less and less. And even when he takes a solid hit, Ballade's body remembers how to recover from a stumble.

It's not a song that builds to a strong crescendo, nor a frantic finale. It just accompanies them, until a final, staccato note-- as the last Torment takes a hit that knocks it apart.

He stops short when the music does, needing to catch his breath. Keeping up with his partner had gotten harder, as his magic did its work on her behalf. It's not that it drains him, precisely-- it's just, imagine you're at 3, and you stay there, but the other person is 1 advancing to a 5. He needs to warm up better next time... ]}

[ Glasswing doesn't immediately realize when the music stops. She's so caught in the rhythm, the flow of cutting down Torments, that she's still waiting for another to step into her path even as the last one scatters into fragments. A one-two-three beat of silence stretches out before the quiet settles into her and she realizes... ]

... it actually worked. [ D–don't sound TOO surprised, girl!!! ]

_{Ha, haa...} Welcome to the beginner class.

_{[ Ballade lets go of the fold of the ribbon he'd been holding onto to use as an emergency lead-- it starts to break apart into stardust, disintegrating up its length until it reaches near the cuff on Glasswing's hand. It stays there, back to its original length. ]}

So? Not so hard once you get started, right?

[ She doesn't respond right away. Her gaze falls to the ribbon still twined around her hand, suddenly hanging limp compared to how easily it flowed and fluttered before. It makes something itch at the back of her head, that irritating something-you-forgot impulse that can't even be called a memory but one she's learned not to chase unless she wants a thundering headache to follow. ]

I don't think I can take all the credit. [ Or any of it, her dry tone says, as she holds out the ribbon for Ballade to take from her. ] I definitely wouldn't be able to move like that without magic. ... though I suppose that goes for most of us.

_{[ He smoothes the ribbon out once he's took it, checking for knots that aren't there and it wouldn't really matter to tug out, but. A habit is a habit. ]}

That's the point of working with a Saver, right, ri~ight? ...or at least, that's what I figure I'll count as, once I get my sea-legs.

_{[ Ballade kneels down to reach his fluffy tail, to manually tie the ribbon back, threading it through with its match in purple. ]}

...hey, but thanks. For playing along.

[ Glasswing blinks at him, not bothering to keep the surprise off her face, then tilts her head. ]

You don't know yet? Which one you are.

[ He'd acted so confidently and Glasswing hadn't had time to question it but... he seems a fair amount older than her and those two facts combined had her assuming she'd run into someone higher up in the DU. ]

Did I fool you~? ...I've been at this maybe two weeks, so I figure it'll take a minute before I know, but...

_{[ He gestures to the orrery he trusts to be somewhere behind his shoulder, gone completely still. Lonely little Pluto's been left pointing closest to them. ]}

Doesn't look like a hard hitter kind of weapon, does it?

[ Two weeks?

She feels a stab of misplaced annoyance and she has to bite back some sort of nasty comment that she knows would be both undeserved and also deeply unhelpful. It's nobody's fault but her own that she's so inexperienced despite how long it's been since she Awakened but it still makes her feel all sorts of mad.

She pushes the feeling down and instead turns her attention to the orrery. Somehow, it looks a little eerie frozen in place like that. ]

Hm. I don't know about that. You could always pluck out some of the planets and start throwing them if you were really in trouble.

[ ... that was (probably) a joke. ]

Guess I'll have to pick a least favorite to toss first. Dearest Venus, maybe!

_{[ _{did the Venus part of the orrery just turn away out of sight, a little? dream world be like that.}

they're out of the soup for now, but Ballade decides to keep it summoned. Right before the Torments had kettled the two of them together, he'd also thought there wasn't much danger around... he's looking around, but... ]}

...I still don't understand where they all came from so fast.

[ Glasswing doesn't respond right away. She tips her head back, looking up into the swollen clouds in the sky above, lets herself feel the icy rain making its away down her spine. This place is sorrow, so if the Torments here are suddenly so vicious...

She turns her face back to Ballade, shaking her sodden hair out of her eyes as she does so. ]

The feelings from the other side that were influencing them must've been particularly strong. Though I don't really love the thought of that.

Oh.

_{[ welp, there's where he's showing his inexperience. he forgot to even think about the other side, looking at where they were... ]}

...It is a... rough part of the season, isn't it. _{[ He reaches up and flicks away a cherry blossom petal that had landed on his shoulder. ]} If you're already down and alone, seeing all the little clusters of people looking up at the blooms, well...

_{[ sources cited: The Great Spring of 2019 Breakdown In The Park feat. your host, Novae Rex ]}

Ahhhhhh... They'll make it. With us here sanding off the edges.

Edited 2023-04-16 03:01 (UTC)

[ Glasswing doesn't exactly smile, but the corner of her mouth tugs itself into a slightly less severe shape. Even though the air is so thick with misery and the topic of conversation itself is so grim, something about hearing it put in those words make her feel a little more at ease. ]

Right. That's what we're here to do, after all.

[ Even if nobody had been able to do it for her until it was too late... Glasswing can at least make sure that what happened to Ryoko Shinonome doesn't happen to anybody else. ]

TDM #1

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get ready for the rhythm game larp glasswing

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