"You know, for someone who's never danced before in her life, you
fake it well," Dani chuckled as they took a break for the moment to allow Allison to catch her breath a little.
"Not too different from fighting, when you think about it," Allison
replied. "Need the right mix of flexibility and agility, improvisation...and a good partner that can compensate for when you mess up can help a lot,"
she added with a smile, taking a bit of satisfaction in the light blush that graced Dani's features at the compliment.
"Still, when you accepted my invitation, you knew what you were getting
into. Not many would take me up on that if they didn't know how to dance at all."
"I felt looking a little clumsy was worth the company," the Sabre
said. "I hope you don't mind me bringing Sammy along a little earlier to help with those creeps. I wanted to make sure we could get to you
safely."
Dani smiled faintly at the practicality inherent in that statement. She knew
the other woman was probably more than a match for the entire group that'd busted into the simulation, even all at once, but Allison was also not one to
take anything for granted, as she'd evidenced when the two had escaped from the deletion program's formatting early on in their acquaintance.
"It's fine. I mean, she seemed nice enough, and it's not as if it was anything but beating up a few punks."
Allison nodded, leaning her weight back on her arms as Dani crossed her legs.
The pair spent a while in that position, neither saying anything. Dani knew it wasn't because of awkwardness, but because her date was simply the type not
to waste words unnecessarily. Dani liked that, actually. It gave her time to frame her thoughts which were, if she were honest with herself, still a little
rattled. Really, seeing Allison again had been a decision that she'd not regretted since, not even with this most recent (totally not a date even as Dani
admitted it might as well be) date having been vaguely inconvenienced with the arrival of some of her stalkers from that Freakshow group and other hackers and
script kiddies. She certainly hadn't minded the thrashing that Demo'd handed them, to be certain. Allison hadn't thought of the implications of the
little combat with her latest suitor, Dani was certain, but that didn't mean she wouldn't think of it eventually. Demolition Sabre in action was slow
but steady, eventually grinding anything in her way underfoot, and Allison's thought processes worked the same way. But they had to be started by
something, like pulling the stick out that was holding back a boulder from rolling downhill. She'd seen it when Allison hadn't said anything about her
past until Dani'd asked(and what a story that had been), and again when she hadn't said anything about Dani's previous invitation onto a
date until Dani'd felt comfortable enough to think in those terms. It wasn't that she wasn't concerned about those things; Dani'd noticed the
infinitesimal hesitation before Allison told her life story, and she'd definitely been happy when Dani asked her to go dancing. It was just that the
younger woman, as much as that applied when Demo acted like she was 20 or older despite being barely a year old, was in possession of a surplus of patience
that could wait as long as possible, and a disposition that accepted things happened when they happened and not before.
Admit it, Dani. She's practically tailor-made for someone as
borderline screwed up as you, she chuckled ruefully to herself. Slow to take offense and
always willing to let you take your time sorting out your feelings and minor neuroses.
Which left Dani vaguely uncertain about where this was all going. She'd
gratefully let Demo take care of her suitors, and word of the situation would probably be filtering through the Net about some of Dani's latest hasslers
being handled by "my date" which would, at least, dissuade some of the more easily intimidated. The fact that Dani's date had been seen in (all
of seven foot) full armor and was a licensed hero meant the rumors would fly off the hook in about, oh, four hours before maximum saturation of the full story,
and another hour before the in-depth overanalysis of the minimal facts began to really get out of hand. Allison, of course, wouldn't so much as be miffed
about it, going by the one news report Dani'd seen of her, but it would get her started thinking about what they were...which meant she'd be waiting
for a confirmation from Dani which she wasn't sure she could give yet. After all, Allison was attractive, especially when she let up on the
overly-practical but unflattering construction worker ensemble she tended towards. The tank top and tight shorts she'd worn along with some slightly less
utilitarian boots(still practical and easy to run in, unless Dani missed her guess), minus her almost omnipresent baseball cap had done wonders, along with
showing off the fact that not all Allison's strength came from the suit. Dani found herself idly considering a weight training sim before whapping herself
across the nose with an imaginary newspaper. Bad Dani, thoughts before hormones! You don't even have those anymore, anyway! That somber thought
was the core to her hesitation, really. Allison could probably get any guy or girl she wanted. Why hold her to someone that could never really touch
her? And never really interact in certain other ways, Dani's "nonexistent" digital hormones aside.
/* Bill Ocean "Suddenly" Suddenly */
She was so caught up that she didn't notice as Allison got up, before
holding a hand out to her with a smile. Dani blinked, noticing the music had changed, before shrugging and taking her hand as she stood up. "Bit slower
than the previous song," she pointed out, getting another smile from Allison that piqued her curiosity as they stepped out onto the floor. At that point,
Allison took the lead, smoothly pulling them into a perfect slow dance position, getting a blink from Dani. "I thought you said you didn't
dance."
"I don't...at least not the type that you were planning on. But
I've done a few odd jobs that require this kind of skill set. Apparently I have a knack for it," she explained with a slight smile that got a laugh
from Dani.
"Tricky girl. What else aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing really. Just have to ask."
"Artfully dodged, good sir," she chuckled, before letting herself
slip into the dance. Before long, she found herself comfortably ensconced, head against Allison's shoulder as the music rolled on. It was a comfortable
feeling. If only it were real...
***
Continuity Note: The plot of the snippet "Party
Crashers", linked to above, happens between this and part one. For the rest of the events, well...the arc's there for the playing.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
fake it well," Dani chuckled as they took a break for the moment to allow Allison to catch her breath a little.
"Not too different from fighting, when you think about it," Allison
replied. "Need the right mix of flexibility and agility, improvisation...and a good partner that can compensate for when you mess up can help a lot,"
she added with a smile, taking a bit of satisfaction in the light blush that graced Dani's features at the compliment.
"Still, when you accepted my invitation, you knew what you were getting
into. Not many would take me up on that if they didn't know how to dance at all."
"I felt looking a little clumsy was worth the company," the Sabre
said. "I hope you don't mind me bringing Sammy along a little earlier to help with those creeps. I wanted to make sure we could get to you
safely."
Dani smiled faintly at the practicality inherent in that statement. She knew
the other woman was probably more than a match for the entire group that'd busted into the simulation, even all at once, but Allison was also not one to
take anything for granted, as she'd evidenced when the two had escaped from the deletion program's formatting early on in their acquaintance.
"It's fine. I mean, she seemed nice enough, and it's not as if it was anything but beating up a few punks."
Allison nodded, leaning her weight back on her arms as Dani crossed her legs.
The pair spent a while in that position, neither saying anything. Dani knew it wasn't because of awkwardness, but because her date was simply the type not
to waste words unnecessarily. Dani liked that, actually. It gave her time to frame her thoughts which were, if she were honest with herself, still a little
rattled. Really, seeing Allison again had been a decision that she'd not regretted since, not even with this most recent (totally not a date even as Dani
admitted it might as well be) date having been vaguely inconvenienced with the arrival of some of her stalkers from that Freakshow group and other hackers and
script kiddies. She certainly hadn't minded the thrashing that Demo'd handed them, to be certain. Allison hadn't thought of the implications of the
little combat with her latest suitor, Dani was certain, but that didn't mean she wouldn't think of it eventually. Demolition Sabre in action was slow
but steady, eventually grinding anything in her way underfoot, and Allison's thought processes worked the same way. But they had to be started by
something, like pulling the stick out that was holding back a boulder from rolling downhill. She'd seen it when Allison hadn't said anything about her
past until Dani'd asked(and what a story that had been), and again when she hadn't said anything about Dani's previous invitation onto a
date until Dani'd felt comfortable enough to think in those terms. It wasn't that she wasn't concerned about those things; Dani'd noticed the
infinitesimal hesitation before Allison told her life story, and she'd definitely been happy when Dani asked her to go dancing. It was just that the
younger woman, as much as that applied when Demo acted like she was 20 or older despite being barely a year old, was in possession of a surplus of patience
that could wait as long as possible, and a disposition that accepted things happened when they happened and not before.
Admit it, Dani. She's practically tailor-made for someone as
borderline screwed up as you, she chuckled ruefully to herself. Slow to take offense and
always willing to let you take your time sorting out your feelings and minor neuroses.
Which left Dani vaguely uncertain about where this was all going. She'd
gratefully let Demo take care of her suitors, and word of the situation would probably be filtering through the Net about some of Dani's latest hasslers
being handled by "my date" which would, at least, dissuade some of the more easily intimidated. The fact that Dani's date had been seen in (all
of seven foot) full armor and was a licensed hero meant the rumors would fly off the hook in about, oh, four hours before maximum saturation of the full story,
and another hour before the in-depth overanalysis of the minimal facts began to really get out of hand. Allison, of course, wouldn't so much as be miffed
about it, going by the one news report Dani'd seen of her, but it would get her started thinking about what they were...which meant she'd be waiting
for a confirmation from Dani which she wasn't sure she could give yet. After all, Allison was attractive, especially when she let up on the
overly-practical but unflattering construction worker ensemble she tended towards. The tank top and tight shorts she'd worn along with some slightly less
utilitarian boots(still practical and easy to run in, unless Dani missed her guess), minus her almost omnipresent baseball cap had done wonders, along with
showing off the fact that not all Allison's strength came from the suit. Dani found herself idly considering a weight training sim before whapping herself
across the nose with an imaginary newspaper. Bad Dani, thoughts before hormones! You don't even have those anymore, anyway! That somber thought
was the core to her hesitation, really. Allison could probably get any guy or girl she wanted. Why hold her to someone that could never really touch
her? And never really interact in certain other ways, Dani's "nonexistent" digital hormones aside.
/* Bill Ocean "Suddenly" Suddenly */
She was so caught up that she didn't notice as Allison got up, before
holding a hand out to her with a smile. Dani blinked, noticing the music had changed, before shrugging and taking her hand as she stood up. "Bit slower
than the previous song," she pointed out, getting another smile from Allison that piqued her curiosity as they stepped out onto the floor. At that point,
Allison took the lead, smoothly pulling them into a perfect slow dance position, getting a blink from Dani. "I thought you said you didn't
dance."
"I don't...at least not the type that you were planning on. But
I've done a few odd jobs that require this kind of skill set. Apparently I have a knack for it," she explained with a slight smile that got a laugh
from Dani.
"Tricky girl. What else aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing really. Just have to ask."
"Artfully dodged, good sir," she chuckled, before letting herself
slip into the dance. Before long, she found herself comfortably ensconced, head against Allison's shoulder as the music rolled on. It was a comfortable
feeling. If only it were real...
***
Continuity Note: The plot of the snippet "Party
Crashers", linked to above, happens between this and part one. For the rest of the events, well...the arc's there for the playing.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."