Himari Yamasaki (![]() ![]() @ 2018-03-10 14:31:00 |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Jessa was supposed to be looking for a blue scarf and as she looked, she was surprised by her willingness to even be here. Perhaps it finally happened, perhaps her friend Bae had rubbed off on her enough that she didn’t mind so much being pulled to parties she didn’t really want to attend or being set up on a blind date. The last one did go pretty well after all, and Jessa couldn’t help but be curious now. There was also the fact that they were ice skating. It was one of Jessa’s favorite winter activities. It was easy to be in a good mood when she was in an environment that made her feel comfortable. Still, she was a little nervous because she had no idea who would be wearing the blue scarf. Hoping it wouldn’t be rude, she went ahead and put on her skates and did a few laps to get a better view. Finally she spotted a blue scarf in the crowd, and as she got closer she saw that it was Mari. Jessa didn’t know her very well, but she had seen her around, and didn’t think it was a coincidence. Once she made her way over to her, she smiled. “Hi.” There was a little uneasy feeling, hoping that Jessa hadn’t made a mistake. “Did Bae send you?” She thought it sounded better than saying ’You must be my blind date.’. Even saying in her head sounded stupid. Ariadne thought this blind date lark was a fabulous idea and her influenced pushed Himari on, preventing nerves from taking control and sending her slipping back into her old habits of buttoning up her desires. Since awakening and riding the roller-coaster that was Ariadne's memories and experiences, Himari had managed to find a delicate balance between her pre-awakened self and the new one. There'd been some help from the university counsellor of course, and thankfully with everyone so focused on Shu-Wei Zhang's arrest and trial, Himari had kept her little battle on the down-low. It was realising that she was feeling less off-centre that led her to sign up for Bailey's dating service. She also knew her fellow Kappa meant well and hey, she'd had some successes with her match-making, so perhaps it could be the same here. However, after carefully made her way to the entrance to the rink in her hired skates, Himari started to have second doubts as she watched people effortlessly zooming around the ice. She had ice-skated before, but not often and not for a long time. Her memory of when she had was taken up with several falls and subsequent bruises, which wasn't exactly sexy or romantic. Now she was having second doubts about the practicality of her outfit, although no one could deny she looked cute in her sweater-style white mini-dress and thigh-hi black stockings that left a peep of flesh between the ruffled tops of the stockings and the hem of the skirt. Maybe jeans would have been better... Himari then realised someone had skated up to her and was speaking. Blinking, Himari realised that this was her blind date... and for a moment she was at a loss, but then remembered the name - Jessa. Pretty... Ariadne crooned, and a number of naughty suggestions followed, causing Himari's cheeks to go a little pink. Yeah, so she still wasn't quite used to Ariadne's blatantly sensual side, evoking her role as a goddess of orgiastic rituals, and she was heartily glad she was able to stop herself from vocalising anything other than a calm response. "Yes," she wiggled the blue silk scarf that was looped around her neck. "Hi there blind date whose name is Jessa." And then (it wasn't quite her idea, but she let it happen), Himari leaned in to give the other girl a little greeting kiss on the cheek. Jessa didn’t expect such a greeting, but she found herself not minding at all. As someone who had a lower body temperature than most, she suddenly felt warm, and her cheeks burned. “That’s me.” She replied with a smile. “Lucky I was able to spot you this quickly. Nearly everyone has a scarf here.” She thought about telling Himari the statistic, but that would take a minute to calculate and she wasn’t quite sure that was first date talk. Her previous blind date helped her in that area. “So-” She said instead. “Have you ice skated before?” Jessa could see that Himari had her skates on and ready to go. She tried not to focus too much on pretty she looked. Jessa tried not to feel as if she looked rather plain in comparison. She was wearing black leggings with off-white knitted leg-warmers that barely reached mid-calf, and a red knitted sweater long enough in length that it went just past her bottom. Her hair was down, strands pulled back from her face into a simple braid and a dusty pink scarf. Being cold wasn’t something she was worried about as she could stand cold temperatures, but she did wonder now if she looked okay, perhaps she could have asked Bae to help her get ready. Himari noticed Jessa’s blush and the fact the girl didn’t flinch away, all good signs. She wasn’t expecting the love of her life at this date but it would be nice to enjoy it. And if something more developed then neither she nor Ariadne were going to object! Seeing how simply Jessa was dressed brought back her earlier qualms but Himari stomped on them hard. They both looked good and what mattered was the confidence to believe it. “I have… but a long time ago and I wasn’t very brilliant,” she confessed, smiling wryly. “So fair warning that I might not look very cute out there on the ice.” Ariadne poked for more and Himari found herself asking. “Perhaps you can teach me?” A smile instantly appeared on her face, her nerves slowly fading away. Not only did Jessa love ice-skating, but she also really enjoyed sharing the experience with others. “I’d be happy to,” she replied. With a bit more courage she offered Himari her hand. “If you’ve done it before you’ll probably get the hang of it in no time.” "Don't be too sure," Himari said with a little laugh as she took Jessa's hand. She still wasn't sure if she was getting romantic vibes here, despite Ariadne's interest, but either way this blind date was going to be an enjoyable day out at least. She wobbled alarmingly on the ice, legs splaying in an effort to keep her balance as her hand tightened on Jessa's. "Sorry if I'm gripping too hard," she gasped through the effort of finding her 'ice-legs'. "Wah... it's so slippery..." Jessa was careful and patient as Himari stepped onto the ice. Himari did grip her hand, but it wasn’t painful. She kept a nice firm grip to help Himari keep her balance. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Jessa replied then quickly added with embarrassment. “I mean it doesn’t hurt or anything.” Smooth. “Yes,” she agreed. “It’s a bit slippery. Here.” Jessa positioned herself and moved in front of Himari, positioning her hands just above Jessa’s wrists and vice versa. “This will keep you a bit more stead and just move with me. Sort of like dancing, but on ice.” She added with a slight pink blush. She was rather cute when embarrassed. Himari smiled, moving her grip as Jessa directed, not making any comment on her awkwardness. She knew she’d have been in the same boat without awakening. “You move well,” she observed, once she had the hang of things, an honest remark mixed with some flirtation. This was a date after all. “Do you dance too?” “Thank you.” Jessa answered, pleased with the compliment. “No, but I spend a lot of time ice-skating.” It was one of the places, she she was awakened that made her feel like home. “I live in Colorado, and winter sports are a big thing there.” She laughed. “I guess I lucked out considering how much Cheimon loves being around the snow and cold.” She looked at Himari curiously. “Are you like that in anyway? Do you enjoy or dislike certain things after you were-” She paused for a second. Did Jessa actually know whether or not Himari was awakened. She didn’t think Bae would set her up with someone who wasn’t, but she needed to be thorough. “I mean-I should have asked first if you were well-” She paused. Hoping that Himari would get it. She laughed, not mockingly but warmly and gave Jessa’s hands a little reassuring squeeze. “I’m awake, although I was late getting there - only woke up at the beginning of this year, but not many people noticed because of… well,” Himari didn’t want to spoil the date with talk of Hunter’s murder and the dramatic arrest of Zhang, so she just raised her eyebrows in a significant manner, hoping (like Jessa before her) that the other girl would get her meaning. “I feel more complete now,” she explained. “Stronger even. I was always afraid before… afraid of disappointing my parents because I was always the ‘good girl’ while my sister wasn’t. But since I remembered Ariadne, I’ve stopped worrying so much.” Himari realised then that she was following Jessa without thinking, she’d found her ‘ice legs’ and probably could go on alone, but she didn’t say anything or break the contact. “How about you? Did you feel ‘complete’ when you woke?” Jessa smiled, feeling better that she hadn’t just made a fool of herself. Ariadne. The name sounded familiar, but Jessa didn’t enough information. Ever since she had learned about herself and others, she decided not to go looking. In the past it was interesting to learn about different myths, but now that she was here, it felt more intrusive. Besides, she’d rather get to know the person and not have any pre-judgements based on what their person was. She nodded along, knowing exactly how she felt. “Yes,” She replied. “It’s hard to put it into words, but like you, everything just feels ‘complete’. In some ways I feel the same, I don’t think my personality is all the different. Living in Colorado, I’m used to winter and snow, but after this happened, I feel much more at home. I can’t tolerate heat the same way I used to though, which can be difficult.” Hearing Himari talk about how much more confident she felt made Jessa feel slightly jealous. There was a confidence there for Jessa, but it didn’t feel the same. “Most of the personality stuff I think just comes from being friends with people like Bae, who push me to get out of my comfort zones.” “That might be a problem if I invite you to California then…” Himari teased, grinning. She was glad she didn’t have an element power. All in all, despite Ariadne’s tumultuous past, she felt she’d gotten off quite lightly compared to some. “Girls like us need friends like Bae, don’t we?” she agreed and then glanced to the seats at the side of the rink, wondering for a moment if her Kappa sister and their mutual friend was watching to see how successful the blind date was - Himari wouldn’t put it past her. “She’s going to be crowing up her success here though…” she paused and looked at Jessa, one eyebrow rising simultaneous with her next question. “This is a successful date right?” “Depends on the time of year, I guess.” Jess joked. “Usually if I keep myself hydrated, I’ll be okay. I’m getting better at controlling my temperature when it gets warm out, but I suppose if you’re from Southern California that heat is going to be very different from what I’m used to.” She laughed. Deciding to go along and not worry or wonder about Himari’s original comment about having Jess visit her. It honestly didn’t seem that bad of an idea but decided that she shouldn’t worry too much about the what-ifs. “As much as it pains me to admit, yes.” Her expression was bright, obvious that she truly wasn’t annoyed by Bae’s friendship. Their personalities may be different and Jess constantly fights her when it comes to social situations, Jess truly cared about Bae and was very grateful for her friendship. At the question she smiled shyly and turned red. “Yes, I believe this is a successful date.” Feeling a bit more daring, she squeezed Himari’s hand affectionately. “Maybe a second one will be in our future?” Himari chuckled. “We could always tease her and say it was awful and how terrible each other was, although I don’t think we could keep the lie up for long,” a rosy blush stained her own cheeks. SHe was fairly certain that Ariadne wasn’t influencing her here, she genuinely did like Jessa’s company, feeling at ease - as if she could tell all her secrets without shame - while at the same time being attracted to the other woman. So confidently she smiled and boldly swished in a little closer, meeting Jessa’s gaze. “I’d say there’s no maybe about it.” |