doku | VISIONS I HAD BURIED UNDERGROUND / RETURNING TO ABUSE US

Then what's the problem?

[Don't be hurt by him...well, not getting it.]

Girls 'go clubbing' together all the time, don't they?

[He shrugs.]

Not that you have to go to one if you just want to dance. She has her own studio.

[Yeahhh, no, she's a little hurt. That'll be violently repressed along with everything else but the point remains.]

I guess so?

[Sure, she went out with her female friends when she was still in school but as an adult she hasn't had any free time or very many friendships that weren't attached to her band, and therefore her label. In any case she's not going to explain that dancing is generally far more enjoyable when it's not just herself in a studio or maybe herself and one other person. Mostly she's gonna take the bags from their cashier.]

Speaking of that, do you think we can head over there now? [For lunch and all that.]

[He's totally ignorant of her repression...]

Yeah. I don't know if they're ready but I need a drink anyway.

[Not a boozey one! He's genuinely parched. Once the truck's all packed up they start heading back to Izzy's.]

Edited 2016-04-18 14:45 (UTC)

[She plays on her phone for the majority of the trip back and when they make it back to Izzy's and their trailer Nariko sets about putting most everything away. Her new clothes are folded and put off to one side while all the new ropes and such go in their tiny little storage closet. She can't really think of anywhere else to keep them.

Hopefully by the time she's decided on an outfit, done her hair and makeup, and double checked her appearance three times it'll be about time to go! She's switched out her shorts for a nice, flattering blue skirt and a flattering white top, and a thin beige belt and four inch heels, so she doesn't have to crane her neck so much to look up at him! She's curled her hair a bit at the ends and made her face flawless.]

See, this is the right level of perfection for meeting another woman you respect.

[Either way, she still has weird standards about the whole thing, but at least she's in a better mood!]

I see...

[No, not really. He's kind of equating it to being some derivation of a formal event or something? Still, he spends the entire time she's getting ready hydrating himself idly, just...sitting around and waiting, but now that she's done he steps out of the trailer, where Izzy and Chroma are waiting.

It seems like a case of "opposites attract" at first. Where Izzy is tall, muscular, and dresses in a fashion-forward way, Chroma is shorter--about Nariko's height--and chubby, with straightened and blunt-cut hair dyed a deep, dark purple with a single silver streak in her bangs. Her taste in fashion? Dark, space-themed lolita.

She stares like a deer in headlights as Krieg steps out of the trailer--"Oh my God," followed by Nariko, "Oh my God." She pulls Izzy aside and whispers, harshly and audibly:

"You didn't tell me your brother was Krieg," she hisses. "And--and he has Nariko with him."

Izzy just gives her a silent, shit-eating grin. Krieg takes a blasé sip from his water bottle and glances at Nariko.]

[Blink blink stare.]

Guess she's a fan.

[She looks up at Krieg and ends up meeting his gaze.] Can I have some of your water?

[Whenever Chroma is done with her moment they can do the introductions! ... Although they might be kind of one-sided since she knows who Krieg and Nariko are.]

Mm.

[He hands it over while Chroma has her little freak-out, who eventually takes a deep breath and turns around to introduce herself to the two of them, starting with Krieg.

"Hi, I'm Chroma0xide, member of the two-time championship winners Riptide. You can call me Chroma."

Because apparently this is a networking thing? SHe manages to shake Krieg's hand without any problem but she becomes obviously starstruck when it comes to Nariko, barely holding herself together to shake her hand.]

[How does she even pronounce that nickname. Screen name. Whatever, Nariko doesn't understand half of what Chroma's saying, she's mostly just smiling politely through it, even though Chroma seems way more concerned with being near her than Krieg. How weird.]

It's really nice to meet you!

[She's very patient about the whole thing, whenever Chroma's ready Nariko's grip is firm and easy. There's nothing to be starstruck about anymore! She's no one's lead anymore.]

[As it looks!

Lead or not, Nariko still had a profound impact on people, and there's no going back on that.

"It's a pleasure, Nariko."

She's practically trembling with joy. Izzy makes her way over to the garage and opens it, revealing a well-maintained seven-passenger van that will be more than comfy for the lot of them. The question is: who gets shotgun? Krieg isn't calling for it.]

[Wait .... Waiiiiiit! This was probably why Izzy looked at her funny earlier, right? Because she knew her girlfriend would be excited to see her! The whole thing clicks into place between the garage door opening and physically moving towards it. Everything makes sense now! Let's hope no one catches the self-satisfied grin on her face!

But Chroma's probably going to have to take the front because Nariko isn't really detaching from Krieg's side. She certainly isn't hanging off of him but she follows after him, and is a half step away from maybe invading his space.

It's a subconscious thing, for what it's worth.]

[Then it's to the back seat with them!

Krieg gives Nariko another glance on the way to the car as they get in, taking her by the...lower wrist, almost as if taking her hand. Chroma nervously fidgeting as they back out of the driveway. Izzy looks at the two of them from her rear view mirror, and having noticed the relative lack of space between them, she asks:

"So...are you two dating...?"]

[Krieg that's an incredibly strange way to take someone's hand - arm. Whatever. She looks at his hand before trying to just hold hands normally. If he's not cool with it they don't have to hold hands at all! This just seemed way more comfortable. Or it was until that question.]

Uh. [This is probably going to come up a lot, so she needs to get used to it.] No? We're just ... Y'know.

[What they are. They're friends and partners and they live together in an incredibly small space and a truck.

Feel free to chime in, Krieg.]

["Friends with benefits?"

Izzy jumps in before Krieg has the chance. Chroma whispers oh my God to herself.]

No, we're just the only ones that could trust each other while the industry blowup was happening.

["Oh, I see."]

It's hard to put it into words, but it's the kind of thing that makes and breaks friendships. Mostly breaks.

[She nods along, even though half of what he says is white noise. When he's done, though, Nariko catches Chroma's eyes in the mirror and teases,]

But if you'd like to think I have a secret, long-standing crush that may or may not have started the moment we agreed about hot tubs and respecting meat, I won't argue! [And she sort of doubts that Krieg cares at all, he's unnervingly chill about this sort of stuff.] Makes for great fan fiction, right?

[She's going for the 'it's in plain sight therefore you cannot see it' method. Seems like the best tactic with Krieg.]

[Actually, I forgot to mention what Krieg's busy with. Her attempt to hold his hand is mostly successful, but he still kind of holds hers as if he'll break it as if he so much as touches it the wrong way.

Chroma shrieks as she clasps her hands over her face.

"If you kill my girlfriend with an aneurysm, I won't forgive you, Nariko," Izzy retorts with a smirk.]

[Later she's going to ask him about that, but right now, well, teasing Chroma with what is ultimately the truth is too much fun.]

I'm only speaking the truth. [But that's often very damning, and no one knows that better than her.] But speaking of great love stories and all that, how'd you guys meet? I want to hear all about it.

[And without missing a beat she just squeezes Krieg's hand a tiny bit. He wasn't going to hurt her!]

["We met at the first international tournament of Overlook. I choreographed and led the dancing part of what was basically the halftime show, and she was there to, you know, compete. We started talking to each other in the green room while other teams were going at it...in fact, we ended up talking every time Riptide wasn't up. So we exchanged contact information.

"It was kind of hard at first because I lived here while she and her team lived in Texas, but once they won their first championship they moved further west."

Meanwhile, Krieg is...slowly warming up to this whole hands-holding idea, playing and gently squeezing her fingers. Weird. He knows he's practically twice her size but her hands are tiny compared to his...how does she manage to play the guitar so well?]

[She figures out that Krieg's essentially hand curious while Izzy is talking. Has no one ever held the man's hand? What a shame, considering how big and warm it is. She tries to avoid smiling in an awkward way - the little space between her middle and forefinger is weirdly ticklish - and lets him do as he pleases. She does sort of teasingly scratch her nails along the top part of his palm, just to mess with him for a second before it goes back to normal hand activities.]

I can't imagine being in a long distance relationship like that, even if it's just for a little while! [She's very clearly impressed with the work it must have taken.] That's so romantic, though, it kind of sounds like you both met and just knew.

[She's as genuinely happy for them as she is utterly jealous.]

Well, they are really calloused and barely maintained....and she does successfully mess with him because he's not really sure what he's supposed to do in response to...palm scratching??? What is even going on right now.

"Not quite," Chroma speaks up. "We were convinced that the other was fishing in another pond. It took one night of a mutually drunk Skype call and joking-around-but-actually-being-kind-of-serious to get things moving."

Maybe still something to be jealous about?]

[She takes her free one and uses it to pat their two joined hands: It's okay Krieg, she was just messing with you! But now she settles for trying to thread her fingers with his, briefly looking down at the result. Her hands really are small compared to his! Wow. She's quick to look back at Chroma, though.]

Bless alcohol for bringing out the right kind of feelings. [As long as you didn't over indulge in it.] How long have you been together? If you don't mind my asking.

["Four...four and a half years?" Chroma projects.

"Sounds about right," Izzy agrees.]

Hmm...

[Krieg is quiet as he admires the contrast of their hands together.

"So, uh..."

Chroma looks over her shoulder at Nariko.

"You guys write anything together yet?"]

[His fascination is really the sweetest thing. Good thing she got a decent manicure before they started traveling. Her nails are still a perfect, shimmery red.]

I've been writing pretty consistently, but we haven't had a lot of time to really sit down and do anything together. Nothing good was going to come out of staying in that city.

[They both felt a need to get the hell out of there, after all.]

That and when he told me how long it had been since he saw his sister I almost cried, so, now that we've accomplished both those goals I think we can make time!

[Oh no, that's probably why he's so enraptured. Red is his favorite color.

"It's true," Izzy says. "Vista City's economy is tanking now that the labels were convicted of what they did. Which is fine with me, because the place was stealing talent from everywhere else."

"She's not biased at all," Chroma fake-whispers.

"Look, I saw a lot of good people leave Vegas to go there on contracts I would have never signed."]

So you were lying when you said that you were happy for me?

[The awkwardness in the vehicle becomes thick. Izzy makes a quiet, choked noise, the one you make when you get called out on your shit.

"Yes and no," she finally admits. "It was better than what you were doing, and probably a safer bet than anything else at the time."]

Edited 2016-04-24 15:03 (UTC)

Krieg, it's not like Vergil was very happy to see me go, either, but I'd have run off and done it anyway. Better to be supportive than to disagree and get push back.

[In his situation it was far more serious, of course, but she thought the general point remained. Using her other hand she sort of hugs his arm, as if that'll help quell all of the tension.]

Hopefully everyone else came to their senses and got out of it. For now it's enough that we did. It'll be more difficult in some respects but we've got time, if nothing else.

[So no use in worrying!! They could only work with what they had anyway.]

["It was guaranteed exposure, for better or for worse," Izzy explains. "I mean--Gaige really took off on her own after she got fired."]

Wait, you're following Gaige?

["Chroma is."

Said gamer shrugs. "I keep up with the tabloids more than I should." One wonders how Izzy can stand being in love with such a huge nerd. "So that's why I asked if you guys were working on anything--people are waiting to write about it."]

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