"come, come," I hear it calling me

[headedforhope]

Characters: headedforhope, gentlecuteside, revolutionized, waha
Date: 2/14~ and onward, spanning the length of the event.
Summary: The magic of the Gardens draws Mami to each of these three girls in turn, and them to her, keeping the pair locked together until both reveal something to the other.
Warnings: Should be nothing, will edit if anything comes up.

[Mami is no stranger to the feeling of her heart fluttering in her chest, the sensation of being tugged by the fragile strings toward another. She's also no stranger to resisting it and making the lessening of distance a slow and cautious thing, if she allows it to happen at all. Gradual, like some intricate, orbiting dance of light footsteps and restrained movements.

The magic at play affords her that much, at least, but no amount of digging in her heels and shoving away the feeling of being pulled can stop the inevitable from happening.]

Comments

sakurako amamiya

[headedforhope]

[gentlecuteside]

[Amamiya likewise felt pulled by invisible strings connected to her heart. Annoyed, she tried to fight it, trying to pull at the thread itself, but it proved untouchable. But, seeing that fighting it was pointless, she began following it instead. She might as well figure out what was at the end of it sooner as opposed to later.]

[Oh hi there Mami.]

[headedforhope]

[Oh hi.

There's a curious feeling of fulfillment when they meet, like some puzzle piece clicking into place. The stubborn pull of this enigmatic link lessens, but doesn't dissolve.]

Ah, Amamiya-san.

[She inclines her head in a polite nod.]

[gentlecuteside]

Mami-san.

[This is kind of awkward isn't it?]

Were you also...pulled here?

[Somehow she instinctively knows the answer before she asks the question.]

[headedforhope]

[A pause, the small smile faltering. She both does and doesn't want to answer that question; courtesy must be observed, and yet where was the point?

The response was obvious before it could even be spoken.]

...I suppose that's one way of describing it, yes.

[gentlecuteside]

[A sigh.]

The Queen's up to her tricks again. I wonder what her agenda is this time.

[headedforhope]

Probably the usual machinations, mm?

[And yet even so, even now, Mami is compelled to take another step toward the other girl.]

[gentlecuteside]

I suppose. She really does seem to have a one-track mind.

[Too bad Amamiya knows that that's not to be...no that's not a little bit of bitterness sinking into her voice, why do you ask?]

[headedforhope]

Agreed. I can hardly bother to get too upset about it, though.....I guess I'm used to it.

[She tilts her head and frowns slightly, catching that unhappy note. Bitterness is a thing Mami is far more acquainted with than she has any desire to be, and hearing it reflected back at her in her friend's voice is....troubling.]

Forgive me for prying, but....is something wrong?

[gentlecuteside]

Wrong? Why would you think that? What could possibly be wrong?

[WHOA WHAT'S THAT]

[headedforhope]

[that scores a C- in Denial, but thanks for playing!]

Well....would you like me to start with your tone of voice, or your response just now?

utena tenjou

[headedforhope]

Re: utena tenjou

[revolutionized]

[Utena doesn't like leaving Anthy alone, especially not in this unfamiliar place, but there is a strange, irrepressible tug today, an odd sort of wanderlust. She doesn't want to follow the urge to move, but she can't quite manage to resist it. So she slips into her jacket, wraps her scarf around her neck, and begins to walk.

The curious tug slackens some when she reaches the frozen-over lake. She walks in an ambling, lazy pace, but with the confidence of someone who knows where they're going.]

[headedforhope]

[Mami had reached the lake a short while before Utena had, her progress slow and reluctant. But it was progress all the same, drawing her ever closer in graceful, yet cautious steps from across the Gardens. She's standing by the rim, where the snowy ground ends and the iced-over water begins, gazing out across the frigid expanse. She feels the tug lessen when Utena nears her location, but doesn't turn around. There's an untouchable sort of beauty to be found here, in the bleak winter sun gleaming off the ice, and Mami would rather face that then what surely awaits at the other end of this pull.

It's just going to be another girl, right? Like Amamiya-san.]

[revolutionized]

[It shouldn't have surprised her, to see Mami waiting at the lake. Why would it be anyone else? The thought is a bitter, frustrated one, and it's a thought she immediately feels guilty for. What had been happening...it wasn't Mami's fault. It was all the Gardens, the cause of all of their newfound awkwardness.

It occurs to her that she hasn't seen much of Mami, since Anthy arrived, and her delight is evident in her voice. Even with the confusion brought on by the Garden's magic, she can't help but be happy to see her friend.] Hey, Mami-san. [She raises a hand in greeting, her smile bright and cheerful. Her other hand reaches to tug lightly at the blue scarf around her neck.]

[headedforhope]

[And there's a reason for that, Utena. Mami isn't stupid, isn't dense or oblivious; Utena can shrug it off all she wants, but it's become painfully apparent to Mami that the Rose Bride is deeply important to the pink-haired girl. ....And as long as that remains the case, Mami will never come first. There's no point in confessing her feelings - it would only make things even more awkward and painful. So recently she's decided to give the two some space, for her own sake if nothing else.

She feels a jolt all the same when Utena speaks and confirms the quiet suspicions of moments ago. Briefly, Mami wonders if the Queen is trying to torture her, specifically, like a dog with a favorite chew toy.]

Ah, Utena-san!

[Mami looks over her shoulder, the hollow cheer she injects into her voice becoming genuine despite herself. Some of the sudden, tight feeling in her gut is eased by the fact that Anthy is nowhere to be seen.....and that the scarf she made for Utena is.]

How have you been?

[revolutionized]

[Utena's smile widens helplessly, and she perhaps looks as silly and flustered as she feels, but she can't quite manage the desire to be embarrassed by it this time. Instead she walks a little closer, hands stuffed in her pockets, breath escaping in puffs of shimmering, frosted air.]

I've been good! Ah, Himemiya arrived, so I've been a little busy... [And here it occurs to her to apologize.] Sorry if I haven't been around much. This is the first time in a while that I've had a friend from home, and Chu-chu is here too, and he--she gets into so much trouble that I can barely keep up.

[She does look truly apologetic, clearly intent on taking the full blame for their lack of contact over the past couple of weeks. It (perhaps gratefully) has not crossed her mind that Mami might be deliberately avoiding her.]

[headedforhope]

[She turns fully around to face the other girl, the movement graceful and betraying not a hint of her real feelings. That's something yet to change, might not ever change - the way she can almost always hide each twist and pang of emotion before they can show in her eyes or the lines of her body. There's the briefest pause as Mami studies the apology scribbled so openly across Utena's face.

She smiles.]

Oh, it's quite all right. I'm sure with you helping her, she'll settle in just fine.

[It only hurts a little to smoothly deliver such a lie; Mami does not really believe that. And furthermore, she does not particularly want to keep talking about it. Dimly, Mami senses that the invisible tug which had led the two of them here has not faded entirely, only eased. But the lingering desire to stay close, to draw nearer still.....is it only the magic at work, or have her own feelings amplified it? Mami doesn't know, and rather than dwell on such things, she glances back across the frozen lake.]

...it sure is pretty, huh?

[A quiet, subtle attempt to steer this conversation elsewhere, away from the topics of Anthy and absences.]

[revolutionized]

[Utena makes a non-committal sort of noise. Truth be told, she's not sure if she believes it either. Anthy had taken their new residence with the same unerring calm she handled everything else. It was just as familiar and comforting as it was alien.]

...Yeah, it is.

[She takes a step, then another, until before she knows it, she's sitting beside Mami at the lake.] Say, do you remember when I taught you how to swim?

[headedforhope]

[She remains standing. It's too much of a temptation to hunker down and sit beside Utena, close enough to let their shoulders press together - it's not a happiness she can grant herself, no matter how small and harmless it might be. Still, her smile somehow manages to grow warm and crooked at the edges.]

Mm, I do. [...] You were awfully patient with me.

[revolutionized]

Ah, yeah. [Utena returns the smile, but it's subdued and distracted.] You know, it's odd. I don't really remember learning how to swim, but I think I had a patient teacher too. [Her eyes slide away from Mami's, and she falls into a contemplative silence.]

[headedforhope]

[Mami finds herself disliking this silence, although it isn't yet as awkward or painful as it could be. She doesn't like the thoughts she's being drawn to contemplate while such a void holds sway.]

Oh, I'd believe it. Don't we all teach how we were taught, usually?

[She takes a step forward, tests the strength of the ice with one foot.]

Hey, you know, I wish it was spring already. I'd like to go swimming again. Maybe even find that rope swing - remember?

misha mikado

[headedforhope]

/fashionably late

[waha]

[Misha, on the other hand, barely recognizes the tugging as something unusual; being a gardenian neophyte, she simply chalks it up to wanderlust... which, of course, she obeys without question.

And so, off she sets, swinging her arms as she walks in an exaggerated, comical manner; it would be inaccurate to say that she hasn't a care in the world, but... she's certainly happy. Does it count as imprisonment if you're trapped in paradise?

Non! Non, my beauty!

Oh... is this her destination? The other girl that pursues the way of the drill?

Good, excellent.]

[headedforhope]

[She’s just sitting outside at the time, alone beneath a tree, hands curled against the thighs of her slacks. The expression on her young face is focused, almost stubborn; the tug grows sharper the closer that Misha gets, urging Mami to get to her feet and follow her half of this thread of magical compulsion.

She’s at least reluctantly stood up by the time Misha comes into view. The gold eyes are calm when they regard her, although the girlish brows first furrow together and then raise. Wasn’t that the girl who thought that plants were the internet? This....possibly doesn’t bode well at all.]

Ah, good day.

[Still, no reason to be rude!]