7107/Rean and Mikoto on Ice

Rean and Mikoto on Ice
Date of Scene:	21 February 2020
Location:	An ice rink in Winter
Synopsis:	Mikoto and Rean go ice skating.
Cast of Characters:	Rean Schwarzer, 7002

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Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Out in the depths of Winter is an ice skating rink, decked out in bright string lights, and  an ice statue in the back of a woman creating a swirl of ice with a gesture. There's a food court with a cafe off to the side, perfect for warming up after being on the ice.  There's plenty of people here, still getting in some late winter skating. ...Not that it ever /stops/ being winter in this corner of the multiverse, but still.

Rean gets here first of the two of them. He's never been to a rink before. Most of his experience was with skating on the river that ran through the Ymir valley when it froze over, and he hadn't done so for quite some time. He goes over and rents some skates,  and then goes back over to the entrance to wait for Mikoto. While he waits, he looks down at the two tickets...and the note he got from Santa.

["Show her you care. Help her through what she needs. And, remember, have fun! Being angry all the time isn't good for your health."]

Rean lets out a sigh. Well, he's been doing a bang up job of that, hasn't he?  But, well, they /were/ here to have fun, right? Hopefully whatever Mikoto had to tell him wasn't too big a deal, either.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The rink wasn't TOO far from the nearest portal, but still, it was no reason for Mikoto to not be dressed for winter.  A green coat with a similarly colored hat and gloves sit on her body.  Black stockings with a dark gree dress keep her legs covered, as she makes her way towards the rink itself.    Her eyes roam over the skating rink itself, the statue of the woman seemingly making ice, the lights...

Then finally Rean stands there waiting for her.  With a smile walking up to the boy and giving him a nudge as she moves by him.  Letting him catch up as she walks inside the area proper.  She doesn't have a pair of skates, so she'll have to worry about renting some, but still.  She takes a moment to breathe in the surroundings figuratively before speaking.  

"So have you actually ever been skating before?  If not prepare for falling and blisters," She titters a little, "Something I got to enjoy once I got my second family.  You know a few winters with them, and then a few by myself.  It was tradition to hit the rink once the first freeze came...tradition my father said," She says without losing a beat as she normally does.

"So what about you?"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean gives Mikoto a wave and a smile when she shows up. "Hey." he says, handing her her ticket. He's got on the same red winter jacket and black pants that he had on back when they were trying to save Christmas, plus a pair of matching brown gloves and scarf.

Rean nods. "A few times. There's a river that flows near my hometown, so sometimes us kids would skate on it when it froze over. I'm not sure if we have anything like this, though. Maybe in Heimdallr or something. Did the rink near you look like this?"  He then laughs a bit. "Let's see how rusty I am, then!"

Once Mikoto gets her skates and anything else, Rean gets on the ice. He shakes a bit, holding onto the wall for support. He eventually steadies, though, letting go of the wall and making a small circle on the ice. He then looks around. There's a lot of people here but... "...Want to warm up with a race? Just 2 or 3 laps around the rink. We'll have to be careful not to run anyone over, though."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Nah, not like this, except maybe the lights.  No mini-mall near or food courts.  There was an old man who ran it, apparently had since my dad was a kid.  I wonder what's going to happen when he can't do it anymore...the last few winters had been hard on him," Mikoto says, with a shrug.  "Maybe he has a son or a daughter to take over for him."

"On a river eh?  Little dangerous, eh?  With the possibility of weak spots in the ice?" She asks as she gets her skates on.  Once on the ice, she takes a few moments to get her legs again, taking small glides and keeping her arm stretched out towards the wall.  Confidence builds as she finally starts moving freely again.  

"A race huh?  Hmmmm...Sure.  Three...two..." And then she peels off, trying to get a head start.  She laughs making sure to avoid people, but not unwilling to take chances to get a lead.  

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"Oh wow." Rean says. "Hope things turn out ok."

Rean shakes his head. "Most of the adults know what parts of the river are safe to skate on, and how to check for weak spots before anyone got on. Pretty much everyone in the village has lived there their entire lives, so..."

Rean takes off after Mikoto, also trying to not knock anyone over as he rushes forward.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
It feels nice to throw off the weight of the world, even if for a little bit.  Right now all she cares about is trying to win the race, even as she pulls some tight maneuvers around people.  After a second lap it's not even about the race anymore, but just weaving around and having a good time with Rean behind, next to, or just slightly in front of her.  

Once the race calms down, she grabs his arm and pulls into a calmer pace, "So a quaint, quiet village, huh?  Does this make you a /country/ boy?" She says, though teasing it's not mocking.  "I could never live that life, the city is where my heart is.  The people, the places, the power," she says with a shrug.

"Which do you prefer?  City or country?"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
The adrenaline rush as the two of them chase one another around the rink, weaving between the other patrons, and ahead or behind one another. He just focuses on passing her, or even just keeping up, letting his worries disappear for a bit.

He needed this, didn't he?

Eventually the two come together again, and Mikoto takes his arm, slowly looping around the rink. Rean pulls Mikoto a bit closer when she calls him a country boy, letting out a soft laugh.  "Maybe. Too quaint for a city girl like you?"

Rean hums, deep in thought for a moment. He'd seen a lot of places by now, both city and country. Varied, and each had their perks and moods...

Eventually, he says, "...I think I'll always have a soft spot for country life. Sure, it's not always exciting, but it's nice, feeling that close knit with people. And being able to just take it slow."  

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Mmm...maybe, I haven't decided yet.  Then again, maybe I just like things that are opposite of me," Mikoto says with a bit of teasing in her voice.  "But maybe I can be convinced to forgive your lack of refinement," a smile on her lips as she goes through her favorite past time.  Teasing a bean.

Mikoto isn't afraid of the closeness, enjoying it.  "I figured then, I expect you to find some land when you get older and be like 'I'm going to make a hamlet there,'" she giggles, "Seems very...you.  I don't think I'll ever be happy with just being still.  Enjoying new things, exploring fun ideas...but maybe that's what draws me in.  The desire to have someone who is more grounded."

"So...before this gets, even more, lovey-dovey..." She says, with an air of seriousness.  "I need to make something clear.  I realized that...I've been acting in a way I thought that people would accept me, instead of how I really am.  I think it's the desire to be close to people, to be accepted by them..."

"However, after what happened with Lillian, and really thinking about my own desires.  I'm not going to pretend to be something I am not anymore.  I am going to seek what makes me happy, and seek what I really am.  I'm not a good person, I'm a selfish girl who wants to control what she can in her life so that she is never taken advantage of again.  It means I'm going to deal with shady characters when I feel I can get an advantage..."

"It means I'm going to do things you might not agree with.  Not because I have some high minded ideas like you or some others..but because I am going to protect myself from being hurt again.  Eventually, I am going to make it so that I can control the system I am caught in.  This might mean I get a stronger position in the Concord."

"I'm not selfless, and I am not going to pretend to be anymore."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean nods. "Opposites indeed. Though, moving around all the time is fun too. Maybe one day we'll just...go off somewhere for a while, disappear for a bit."  

And then Mikoto suddenly gets serious. Rean stays silent as she talks, explaining that she didn't want to pretend to be a selfless person anymore.

...Was it wrong for him to expect this? To expect her to just...continue to be selfish and guarded? Wanting to see her move forward, but remaining who she apparently was? And yet, that desire to be accepted and be close to others, to feel like a part of something even if you had to hide parts of yourself to do so was in him too. They were the same feelings that kept him from defending Mikoto. So...maybe he had no right to judge.

"...Alright." Rean finally says. It's quiet, tinged with sadness. Not because he was disappointed in her or anything like that, but because of the fact that she felt the need to pretend to be someone she wasn't. That, and because of the apparent certainty that one day their desires would conflict with one another.

But they knew that was going to happen from the beginning, didn't they? Still...

"...You have at least one person who accepts you, despite everything. And I probably shouldn't speak for Touta and Sarracenia, but I think they do too. It's for the best, you being honest with yourself."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto listens, noting the sound in his voice as he starts.  She was expecting this, and better to rip the bandage off now than later.  She can take this because she knows that nothing is going to control her life anymore.  If he can't be hers or her partner in crime...

However, the surprise from her is palpable when he says those words.  Staring at him for a moment as he tells her this.  "Are you sure?  I might do things that violate your code.  Or get me into trouble with you and yours."

"I'll have views that you might find terrible.  Are you going to be able to not sit there and shout me down like with Lezard?"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean Schwarzer says, "...Well, we knew what we were getting into when we started dating. And even when we started being friends."

Rean goes silent again, his grip tightening a bit. He can't lie to her.  "...I don't know. I realized my issue with Lezard isn't that he uses people. It's the /callousness/ behind it. To just...not care about who it hurts at all with no remorse. I don't know if you'll ever become like that. But that's something only you can answer. Maybe you have a limit somewhere to what you're willing to do to protect yourself. Maybe not. ...Maybe we'll fight for a bit, and somehow, be ok with some of it."

"...I want to at least try, first. Is it silly for me to hope?" Was it silly for him to not want to let her go yet? Especially not like this?"

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Maybe understanding why Lezard is the way he is might shed light on why he is callous," Mikoto says, "It's not a quality I like of him, but at the same time...he lives entirely in logic.  Even his obsessions have a detached logic to them.  He removes the human element, and approaches his problems like a science experiment."

"Sure, he can be manipulative, but...well, can't we all?  Getting people to see our point of view is manipulation to a point.  The difference is the ends."

"And...no I won't judge you either.  Part of what I find attractive to you is that hopeful side.  That desire to think the best in people, even when you see the ugliness of the world.  Maybe it's something I wish I could do more.  At the same time, it's not.  I have accepted that I am not a good person, that Lilian and I aren't too different.  She is just better at hiding it, and doing it."  

"I don't want to hurt you, and I hope you want the same.  It's not going to get easier from here.  We might come to cross purposes.  We might disagree on a fundamental level...and that fighting is the only way to resolve it.  One of us might lose...or get hurt."

"Are you okay with that?  That I won't hold the same values you do, and that we might fight on it.  Or I might hurt someone to fulfill my own goals?  That I ally with people like Lezard, and I do so willingly and without being deceived."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"...Hmm." Rean says. That didn't really...help his opinion of Lezard much, but it at least made sense. "And I suppose so. Politics boils down to social manipulation, when you think about it."

"Of course I don't want to hurt you. Part of me is scared that I might go too far if we do fight." Both verbally and physically. Maybbe their eventual differences would become an irreparable rift...But, in a way, wasn't that why Class VII existed? Bringing a bunch of students with different backgrounds, abilities and values together and see if they could work together.

Rean nods. "...I think I can."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto smiles, the desire to want to retain some small part of this life before she feels she has to plunge into the deep end...it was nice.  Foolish, maybe, but nice all the same.  She reaches a hand, as they skate, towards the side of his face.

She pulls him into a kiss, before letting go and returning towards the skating part of their activity.  "Thank you, Rean.  I really do hope you keep to your promise.  I do hope, it all works out...and even it doesn't that we can hold on to these moments."

A laugh, a soft one.  "Well, let's just enjoy the moment."