Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-05-02 11:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, arielle chiaro, pyr min |
Who: Ari & Pyr
What: Fluff, really
Where: In the street
When: Today
Rating: Tamest of tame
Status: Complete
Out of any crowd Pyr would have been able to pick out her silhouette, even without the instrument case strapped to her back. Even in the middle of the destruction, with most of the buildings near the Tipsy Sheep laying in ruins, his eyes were still drawn to her, and he was walking to meet her the moment he spotted her. “Ari!” he called out, raising a hand in greeting. The grin on his face faltered when he had drawn level with her. Something seemed off; he had no idea what, and she seemed not to be injured, but the cheer she always exuded was a shadow of its former self. He felt his heart sink as he asked, “How are you?” She smiled at him, more practiced now at keeping her actual state from her face, though even under skillfully applied cosmetics she was pale and still a bit sickly looking. She answered the wave, too, refudes to show reaction as his own smile faltered (how bad, she had to wonder, did she appear?). “Pyr! A nice surprise. You seem busy, as always.” Very pointedly, she did not answer the question she had grown weary of a week ago; at this point, it seemed better to avoid the topic of her relative wellness altogether. Pyr shrugged, flattered in spite of himself. "Eh, not really. Just running some errands." He considered her for a moment and decided not to ask how she felt again, in any variation; she didn't seem like the Ari he knew, but he didn't want to press the issue. So instead, he asked, "Do you have rehearsal today?" She sighed and told him, “Good guess. A hole in the theatre roof is no deterrent for the really determined director. That the orchestra doesn’t appreciate the extra rhythms provided by construction, well.” She shrugged. “It can’t be helped, I suppose. We’ll open soon.” And rehearsals had, against all odds, turned out to be pretty good for her. In any case, she had more than enough emotional turmoil of her own to pour into Juliana now; her director was thrilled, and by the time she got home for the night, she was usually too emotionally worn out to do anything but sleep. "You'll be great." That was all he could think of to say to her, and he hovered awkwardly for a moment before sighing and saying, "Listen, this isn't like, weird or anything," and pulled her into a hug. And somehow, nothing happened. The butterflies that had plagued him every single time he'd laid eyes on Ari since he'd met her were nowhere to be found. It was not, in fact, weird; it felt just like hugging any other friend. “Hm?” But before she could say anything else (an odd statement indeed -- this isn’t, like, weird or anything -- though it was in fact rather odd), he’d wrapped his arms around her. He’d gotten taller, she noted, and his grip was stronger than she’d expected, somehow. And she had to wonder, too, whether this was his strange way of asking for reassurance or if he perhaps thought she might be in need of some. Either could be true. She did pull away after a few moments, patting him on the shoulder as she asked, “Feel better?” With a small smile, she added, “You should, as you’ve gotten taller.” A bit of levity in a situation that, for him, might be potentially awkward. And true, besides -- she actually thought that he might stand a bit taller than her now, if not for heeled shoes. He preened. "Yup, I have! Finally." He took a step back. His heart wasn't threatening to beat right out of his chest, for some reason, but he couldn't help thinking this was nice, too, talking to Ari like this, not wondering with every word if he was making a fool of himself. Still, he could not help glancing away for a moment, amazed that he had just done what he had, the slightest blush on his cheeks. He looked back up and grinned. "Listen, I should probably get going, but I hope you have a great day," he said. "You're prettiest when you're smiling. I like seeing you like that." Before she could say anything, he gave her a sheepish bow of the head and turned to leave, trying to hold back giggles at his own daring. “Why, thank you for the advice, Melvin,” she called after him as he bolted, but she couldn’t help a laugh and shake of her head. Strange, but she did feel just a bit better after the unexpected bit of uncomplicated affection, after all. |