Dancing Fox In XII: Dance If You Want To

[Recaiden]

Leah looks back to see and return the smile. That's Mist being Mist, alright.
"Thanks."
Now, the second floor has three things of interest. The window at the end of the hall, the way up to the attic, and the private rooms. Now, you would expect Leah to be going to Mist's room, but it seems she's going past it to look out the window.

[Deathkeeper]

"Whatcha lookin' at?" he asks her, standing next to her.
Out the window is a good view of the field the inn is sitting in, and the woods a bit farther off in the distance.

[Recaiden]

Leah shakes her head.
"Just looking."
She puts an arm around Mist, since he was standing there and all, and looks past the field to the woods.
"Do people go out there much?"

[Deathkeeper]

"Sometimes. Some people have to pass through there to get here. I hear it's fairly nice. I have taken the other ways usually." he admits.

[Recaiden]

"We should head through it! It's silly to never have been by when it's so close."

[Deathkeeper]

"I mean, if you want. I could close up the inn for a bit." he offers, thinking.

[Recaiden]

"Doesn't need to be right now. Whenever you have free time from working the bar. I mean, and also you want to at that time."

Maybe the woods are deeper than they look.

"I don't go into the woods at home often because they're a bit of a dangerous nightmare place. Leads into the Weald if you go the wrong way, and all."

[Deathkeeper]

"Yeah, the worst these woods could probably lead to are my Family's woods." he says, thinking about it.

[Recaiden]

"Not that you want to accidentally end up there either."

Leah chuckles and turns away from the window, heading back along the hall towards Mist's room. As far as she knows, the attic isn't particularly interesting.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist shrugs.
"It's not bad if you avoid the politics. The worst that would happen to you is temporarily being a cat. And that's just how those woods work." he says.
His room isn't locked, if she tries the door.

[Recaiden]

"I have a feeling the politics would end up finding me."
Leah does try the door, and heads inside. Why not, with Mist still following?

[Deathkeeper]

Mist's room is as it was last time Leah saw it, well-kept and simple with Browns and greens. The one luxury is the big, round bed, which looks suspiciously close to the size of the bed back at Leah's room.
"Please, sit down if you want. We can sit, watch TV or something." he offers tentatively.

[Recaiden]

At that offer of hospitality, Leah hops onto the bed and sits down, nodding. Looks...thoughtful? Nervous?
"That could be nice. I didn't mean to make you get a bigger bed. But fitting in here is, well, I'm glad to."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist sits down next to her, though it might not be big enough for both of them without a little squeezing and a leg or two hanging off.
"Well, it wouldn't be proper for you to not have a place in my room, wouldn't it?" he asks her, leaning against her.

[Recaiden]

Leah doesn't mind being very close to Mist if needed to fit. So she leans against him happily.
"Well, you didn't call it 'our room', so it would be proper enough without a space for me."
"Thanks for making one."

[Deathkeeper]

"You know, the Inn can technically be moved, though it's a delicate process. I could move it closer to the Fort town, if it would be easier for you." Mist says, after a bit of thinking.

[Recaiden]

"You would do that for me?" Leah quivers happily.
"Well, the fort can move too, and I wouldn't want to make it difficult for you, but I imagine in the Nexus anyone who wants to can still find the place and you'll have incidental traffic either way, and only if you're okay with seeing me more often-"
"Yes? Please do."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist nods.
"Of course, Leah. I can't ask you to move the Fort. There's a whole town built around it, and that doesn't fly." he points out.
At least, he's fairly sure the town doesn't also fly.

[Recaiden]

"I just meant it could move back and forth, probably more easily, where moving the Inn can't be done so spur-of-the-moment."

Leah sits up a bit, excited, and almost (but doesn't quite) falls off the bed to the side.

"That's an idea, though. We can pick up the Fort, and build a new fortification where it used to be! Then we can make better use of its mobility, the place will be more respectable, and having that to build will help the town's trade, and it will feel more like the town's fort than the fort's town to people."
"Or we could try to get the whole town to fly, but that sounds a lot harder. And everyone would think we were imitating Skyside, even though we're just a little village, and I'm not sure the fields would take well to flying...it would be really impressive, though. And project a lot more than just the skull could, the disruption might be worth it, after all."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist chuckles.
"You have some really talented people with you, for that to even be an option."

[Recaiden]

Leah laughs, shaking her head.

"I'm not sure we actually do have that much talent around. It's not actually a matter of just doing it - I'm not sure we could, you know? And it's one thing to lift something up. Quite another to keep it there. I'll have to consult with some people...But even if that doesn't work out, a solid attached-to-the-ground fort should help."

She takes a deep breath. Looks around the room. Hoping, somehow, that the solution to her thoughts and obligations and problems will just show up if she waits for it. Obviously, it doesn't. So she just sort of looks down at the bed.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist leans against her with a quiet sigh of pleasure.
"You're a smart girl, Leah. All of you. I'm sure you'll figure everything out." he says, the utmost confidence in his assertion.

[Recaiden]

Seeing that he really thinks that, Leah looks up, leaning back in, starting to smile.
"Yeah, we will."
If someone's believing in you, you have to believe in yourself at least that much, or be willing to say they're wrong.

"What would we do without you?"
But since she does have a Mist here, Leah puts her arms around him.

[Deathkeeper]

"I've no idea. Well and truly." he says with a sigh. He doesn't even bother to think about the question. He doesn't see point in doing so.

[Recaiden]

It was a rhetorical question, Mist. Supposed to show that the speaker appreciates you.

So Leah's own sigh turns into a bit of a laugh.
"Doesn't matter, does it?"
Another rhetorical question, that is.
"I am with you, someone better than I could ever ask for."

"I guess you've seen we're not getting to watching TV. In the abstract I prefer reading. Cuts right to the point of things, I find. And right now, in particular, I'd rather do something more personal."

[Deathkeeper]

Mist turns to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh? And what would that be?"

[Recaiden]

Leah pushes up her glasses. I think it's supposed to be a bemused expression, but it might not come across.
"I'd tell you to guess, but you wouldn't."
"Ask if you would be my lover, and then deal with your answer."

Other peoples' stories are always just that, other.

[Deathkeeper]

Mist blinks.
"Oh. I guess the shape and size are finally appropriate." he says shakily, not really sure what else to really say, besides what she just said to say.
Presumably, there's some subsequent curtain-drawing.

[Recaiden]

"Oh?"
Leah watches Mist for a moment, honestly bewildered.

Very presumptuous, that, but correct in this case. She has to take a guess as to the reasons for his shakiness. So she quashes her fears and draws a curtain over the scene.

---

There's a lot she could say. Exclamations of surprise, apologies, intimations about the future. But she stars with
"Thank you."
There also a lot she afraid to hear.

[Deathkeeper]

"You're welcome." he says simply, having no idea what else to say. If he were to envision how that would have gone the first time at any point in his life up to three hours ago, he would not have been able to correctly describe how it actually happened by a long shot.