Oh goodness.

This is a lot, ok? Like, there's just... a lot here. A lot of frills. A lot of scarf. A lot of lifting. A lot of spinning. A lot of height difference. A lot of, erm, a lot of Esmeralda. Oh goodness.

It's all Alina can do to follow along, to turn being lifted into being posed, to take three quick steps for each of Esmeralda's long and languid ones to match pace with her, to swing and cling and twirl and crane her neck farther up to look at the smolder in her eyes and not the... her... well, the frills. She is graceful, she is poised, she is very definitely wrapped in that scarf and squeezed much too tightly. She is warm and she is having trouble breathing properly and she is only blushing a little bit, ok?

But Alina also has a girlfriend who she loves very very much, and the time where she would have let herself get swept away in the arms of a tall, strong adventuress is behind her. So when she squeaks, it's not a stuttering 'um' (well. not just a stuttering 'um), and when she can't take control of the conversation, she tries again. Um? She dances on. Louder, then. Um?? She's swept low, so low that her knees disappear under Esmeralda's skirt. She 'eeps', and this finally earns her a smirk and an 'oho?' as she's dragged by a scarf back onto her feet.

"Listen, I'm... y-you know I'm always happy to help with games and schemes and stuff, but y-you should know that I'm..."

Alina's eyes flutter away. She tries not to, but winds up glancing straight at Rita anyway. It's a short glance, she goes right back to Esmeralda right after, but there's so much in it that no princess could ever miss.

"Just, you know, kind of off the market? But, um, you know I have," she swallows. Find your confidence, Alina, "Another deal that I could offer you. If... if you're interested in a real score."