2023-03-02: .waltz for the voiD
- Log: .waltz for the voiD
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-03-02
- Summary: Elisa distracts Yuliana from her restlessness with some dance, and learns more about her ways of dancing in the process.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: Final Fantasy 8 - Waltz for the Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=963o_H3XUic
The Silent Castle, naturally, has a ballroom.
It is a sweeping, echoing hall; its hardwood floor is only the finest import, designed to withstand and support the dance. It is lit by traditional candelabra and hanging chandelier, leaving aside the ever-present fireplace; those candles flicker with yellow light. The doors leading in are grand, and currently latched open, feeding the music playing from an undisclosed source through into the hall. The light filtering in from the windows is scarce and grey.
Obviously, no one will disturb them.
The tragic truth is that Yuliana is the one so easily disturbed, asked to convalesce for so long. (Her restlessness is what really led to all these issues, even if she's accepted it was her tinkering that's to blame.) She goes stir-crazy so easily; she starts getting ideas about going out and doing things. If she's not otherwise occupied...
Well, luckily, she has everything she needs right here. Including a gown, bright emerald with fabric streaming from her wrists and her shoulders, all wrapped about her chest. It is decorated with pitch black flowers, and it covers only one shoulder; the other, and her back, are laid bare. (More of that colourful green fabric decorates the snakes which arc out from her spine, there.) Where the gown ruffles down past her knees, the green gives way to black, in several light layers. ... and she's still wearing all her jewellery, of course, her right sleeve pulled back slightly to allow for her bracelet.
She holds Elisa's hand as she steps onto the floor. The other plucks at her skirts; as much as she dances, wearing the outfits is less common. She doesn't comment on the strangeness, though, as she smiles to her wife.
"Would you like to lead," she offers her, warm and affectionate, "or shall I?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
The hall is beautiful. The company is beautiful. Elisa Kafim is here, today. But is she here? That remains to be seen. Still, she is in sumptuous darkness, a deep green velvety gown that is so much sleeker by contrast to Yuliana's, leaving shoulders and back bare both, though she has no such companions as the little snakes there. Her layers are not light. Her jewelry is heavy. Long hoops for her ears, her wedding ring, a necklace of dark crystal.
Elisa holds Yuliana's hand in hers as well, and need not pluck at her skirts; they are as familiar to her as any clothes could be, though she has not yet worn this dress. She in fact smiles back.
"This time, I think I shall," she says, and as the music goes, so goes Elisa's movement, forward, one-two-three.
'This time', she says, and leads Yuliana into another dance.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
This time, as if she hasn't been leading them from the start.
"Wonderful," Yuliana agrees, just as she's done from the start.
Yuliana's greens are lighter than Elisa's, by contrast, eye-catching and louder still. (She tasked a servant with finding the correct hoops from a fine jeweller, rather than going out herself; she presented them to Elisa as if she'd done the work anyway. She's so glad to see her wearing them, complementing her own smaller gold loops.) And oh, she's glad to see her smile; Elisa's lips lift, and her heart will surely melt.
One-two-three, one-two-three, she follows her steps; to the side, back, to the side, approaching. They needn't worry about disrupting the dance floor with their fleckerl, as others often would -- because there's no one else on the floor. The joy of both the movement and Elisa's touch is obvious, in Yuliana's eyes, as they move in constant rotation.
"You know, I only learned this method later in life?" She shares, though she hasn't made a single misstep. "It was terribly useful to know the styles of the world, when I was navigating social functions. But it wasn't just useful, not really..."
Yuliana follows Elisa so easily, so naturally. There's no threat nor danger of her stepping back at the wrong moment. Her layers flare, and catch the eye; even so, she's matching her dear wife's movements.
"... I really love moving like this," Yuliana says, a step to the side, a step forward, following where she leads. "It's so... freeing."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Wonderful, she agrees, and Elisa thinks that it is so.
Elisa glides along the floor as if she is barely present, but her eyes are clear, her attention sharp like a knife gently held. She treasures these objects Yuliana gave her more because Yuliana gave them to her than because a fine jeweller acquired or made them.
One-two-three, one-two-three--this is not about the dancers who are not there.
Elisa's hand rests up at Yuliana's, her other at her waist, and they twirl and move. "Was it?" Elisa asks. "...I have always known how to dance."
Hm. When did she learn? Perhaps it's not important.
"You move so beautifully," she says. "It is lovely to see, and to touch." A beat, "Yes, there is a freedom in it..."
"A freedom you should have more often."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And Elisa is holding her so gently.
"Always?" Yuliana echoes, her hollow green gaze sparkling with captured light. Her attention is captured, too. "Oh, Elya... you're so talented!" If she were a little more observant -- if she questioned her surroundings just a smidgen more than she does...
Of course, she doesn't have to, so surely it's not important.
"Oh...!" Her cheeks flush, as Elisa compliments her; she doesn't falter as she's whisked across the floor, regardless. (Her slippers have been chalked, so there's little chance of slipping.) When she comes to her again, their hips meet, and only one side of them is open to the dancefloor. The promenade carries them forward, and around, in their personal absolute spiral.
If Yuliana notices their position closing, she's scarely one to protest.
"Do you think so?" Yuliana asks, light and beaming, as she twirls. "I would love to... and oh, I love dancing with you, too...! It's the most natural thing in the world..." She's one to talk, perhaps, given the claws of those snakes resting about Elisa, the way the boneless wings at her ears fan out and flush deep emerald between those dark tentacles.
"Opening up like this... well," she laughs, tilting her head, "haha, I'd better not go too far... you'd worry, wouldn't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Always! For most, it might be an exaggeration, or a figure of speech. For Elisa it must be the same. A little smile there though. "I must be at least this graceful to keep up with my darling."
Elisa continues to move about the floor, and indeed, begins to close them forward and forward, closing their positions. She does not draw attention to this.
"I do," Elisa says. "Yes... It seems right, does it not?" A twirl. She adores those claws resting about her; she loves those wings. And...
"It might be dangerous in some places," Elisa allows. "With the wrong people."
"But this is your home, and you are with me. You can set down such concerns so long as our home holds... and hold it shall."
"...Others, they simply do not understand."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Surely, it must be the same. "You're doing terrifically well," Yuliana praises Elisa's motions, and her wordchoice is deliberate.
Elisa doesn't call attention to it; Yuliana lets it happen. When they next turn, it's such a fluid movement, pressing her body in against hers. Their arms, too, have no more space between them, as Elisa holds them out to lead them around and around.
But -- it could be dangerous, Elisa says, and offers safety in the next breath. "They really don't," she agrees, a step or two after she finishes speaking. "Dancing... it's very honest, you know? Even if someone's lying to your face... no one can keep it out of every motion. You can say a lot, without saying anything at all..."
She spins around, with Elisa, and someone else might become dizzy.
"It's funny... maybe this is the only way I was ever really able to communicate something real with other people."
But it's dangerous, with the wrong crowd.
"Maybe that's why..." She trails off, to take a sharp breath at a particular twirl, chest lifting and neck arching with the motion. "Ahaha," she laughs, tilting her head. (Her hair has continued growing out at a good pace; it bobs about her ears, now. The evidence of those grievous crimes is covered.) She enthuses, a secret shared: "You know! Reaching Her, too! If I couldn't move so freely, I don't know how I'd do it..!"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Terrifically well! What a lovely phrasing. Of course, she was a gymnast; this would be natural, wouldn't it?
Safety and danger, all tangled together... "It's so clever that you know that," Elisa tells Yuliana. "Such things often escape me, concerned as I am with other matters..."
Spin, spin, spin.
"But with you I see these details. With you I am aware of these motions..."
To be honest is to be vulnerable. Isn't it?
"Yes," Elisa says. "Yes, that is so exactly. You can reach Her, in this way. And if you could not move so freely, you could not!" They dance, and dance, and Elisa dips Yuliana down low at a moment, and back up again. She speaks with the tone of realization; Yuliana has shared something important.
"Mere words... are insufficient. It has always been action that must be made."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana knows Elisa is so graceful, gold-medal, and yet she still frames it in terms of Yuliana's movements. It's very flattering!
Is that the word?
Her eyes shine, as Elisa praises her; her smile widens. "Oh, wonderful," she says, as she spins. (As she is spun.) "You offer me so much, Elya... I'm glad that I can help you, too."
By helping her to focus?
They're both in on the secret, and Elisa agrees, so, so easily. "Ah!" Yuliana gasps, one leg lifting high, as Elisa dips her low. Her arms fan out, billowing those scarves; she's placed all trust in Elisa, to bring her standing again.
And of course, she does.
"Yes," Yuliana agrees, as she moves, in constant motion. "When I can unwind... when I unwind myself... it's hard not to feel a little manic like this at the best of times, but it's only when I let go that I can grasp the edges, right?" Step to the side, step back; step to the side, step back.
"Grasp, and tear..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Is it?
"You do. In many more ways than this. But in that way, too. The world matters more when you are in it. When you are absent, there is so little that can hold me here."
They are both there. And here, those billowing scarves... it is a lovely effect, really. Elisa even seems to appreciate it in the moment, the tiny motions of her eyes trailing down Yuliana's form to actually take in the details the clue.
She does, of course, bring her back to standing.
"Yes," Elisa says. "Only when you let go," she says, step-step, step-step, "Can you tear at this reality. But... it is all right, to let go, if I am with you."
"When I can protect you."
"Remember that. Together we are freedom..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
... Yuliana isn't sure. It's hard to be sure of herself, these days, so it's a good thing she can rely on Elisa.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," Yuliana murmurs, with soft, affectionate gratitude. "Yes... we need each other. Without you, not even nothing matters... so don't worry. I'll always be near." She means to promise it, of course. Surely it's a promise she's given Elisa; not one Elisa took.
She is lovely, through all her scars -- and she looks so much better, after all Elisa's care.
Step-step, step-step, and Yuliana doesn't consciously place the way she's constantly moving backwards, now, spun about the ballroom floor. It's a comment on her own talents, perhaps, that she's able to keep up with a step which demands so much of her space. It's another comment, entirely, the way she freely cedes it. "Yes... you'll protect me," Yuliana sighs, gazing lovingly to Elisa. "When we're together, we can be free..."
She has so much to remember. She does. Every word.
"I'm so glad you're with me," Yuliana smiles, bright and flourishing. "And I'm glad you're here with me here, too...!" And perhaps, in this closed position, Elisa can even feel her quickening heart. It's not entirely the exercise.
"... I only want to dance for you..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
What would she do without Elisa? Die, probably. She's certainly tried hard enough at it with her reckless behavior!!
"But with me it does?" she muses. "Nothing..." She meditates upon it, for a moment. She considers the way Yuliana calls it.
And she does look so much better.
Elisa demands much of her space indeed, but perhaps she would stop if Yuliana really didn't cede it. ...Maybe.
"I will," she says. "We can." She said freedom itself rather than free, but it will do. It is close enough. And Yuliana will remember. Yes, it is so good when she remembers.
Elisa smiles, then. "I am..." She considers. "Many things, with you. I believe one of them to be 'happy'."
And then she stares into Yuliana's eyes. "...Yes," she says. And she considers. "...And we shall both dance, together, for Her as well."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana can be so impulsive...
"Ever since I met you," she says, with that foolish smile, "things made sense... you make me make sense, Elya." That affection dims with old pain, briefly, as she tries to explain. "Before I had you, it was hard... I was all alone... I couldn't rely on anyone. How could anything I hold matter, if I'm not held by you?"
Her peace and her smile returns as she insists: "It couldn't. I need love you, zhenushka! More than anything!" Surely she does; surely that's why she's spun around so easily.
She may come to understand, in time, the intensifier she ought to use -- being freedom itself, and not just free. She does love to make Elisa happy like this, after all...
And Elisa is happy, she believes, and Yuliana smiles so brightly. "I love all the things you are," she affirms, "and oh, you make me so happy, too, Elya." Though she sways, her eyes settle on Elisa, held in her staring gaze.
"Yes," she says, cheeks flushing under her attention and Her attention. "Come, come! Dance with me..! Elyula~," Yuliana lilts, with embarrassing affection bordering on baby-talk, "I want to know how you dance, too!"
Perhaps her excitement and enthusiasm can even be infectious for Elisa, who has to suppose how she must feel.
And surely any dance Elisa knows, Yuliana knows as well.