Maybe the world is ready to explode in a terrible conflagaration of maho and otherworldy portal nonsense. But that was no reason not to dance. Drawing close to danger was even more reason to take hold of whatever gave life meaning and savor it.

So Mumei was back at the club, tossing a few zeni into the bar till for some sticky sweet drinks before finding a table and tapping at her communicator to check on her date. The iridescent leotard looked as shiny as ever and the laddered rips in her blue leggings had only deepened over the past week and change.

If Mumei was listening carefully, she might have been able to hear an answering chime from not too far away as soon as she sent the message. Yul had just arrived; he frowned down at his communicator, the frown instantly turning to a smile as he read it. Eyes narrowed, he scanned the area, eyes brightening as he spotted a familiar figure in an unfamiliar outfit.

He made his way over, smiling. "Hey there." He said, giving Mumei a brief but graceful bow, the fabric of his new outfit trailing with the motion of his body.

"Wow." Yul said, his admiring gaze sweeping her up and down. "You really came ready to dance, huh? I like it." He slid smoothly into the seat opposite her, flashing another playful smile as he did.

Glass in hand, she pauses, eyes traveling along the fluttering movement of the new outfit then up again with a appreciative smile. "So did you, this is fantastic." She reaches to take the edge of the flowing jacket and let it slip through her fingers, and resisting the urge to pull him closer. What would be acceptable on the dance floor was a bit too much simply standing at a table, however much she wanted it to be otherwise. "It looks amazing on you, and this is going to move so well on the dance floor."

Gesturing vaugely at herself, she adds, "But this is just what I practice in...nothing else in my wardrobe is really suitable for this except my formal outfit. And I'm not ruining that before the end of this festival." Sipping her drink, she grins around the straw. After setting it down she teases, "Your neck's doing better, I hope? I don't want to end up with you needing medical attention for a third time today."

At this distance, and to a familiar eye, the tension in Yul's body was obvious; he wanted to lean closer at least as much as she wanted to pull him closer. "Yeah, Hyeon-ju helped me to pick it out. She said something about it being formal but also good for dancing." Yul grinned. "Instantly sold me on it."

The grin turned playful. Well, more playful. "Much better, thank you." Yul said, leaning forward, one elbow on the table. "In fact, I can say with total certainty that I felt much better after the treatment." He shrugged, shoulders rising and falling, loose fabric swaying. "But you know, stuff like that is always coming back. A more thorough examination later might be a good idea." He kept his smile mild, but his eyes were bright.

Mumei's own smile faded a bit, "has she been OK today? I know you're bushi, but that was something else. Not something I want to talk about a lot here, but at least how she's doing. Hope she doesn't lose her taste for fashion, because..." she gestures at him..the whole thing, "is pretty great. And fortunes know you don't want style advice from me."

She's able to match his playful grin with one of mock disapproval soon though. "You realize I don't have an ounce of medical training beyond like...chapter one of some texts Kuchiki-sama pointed me to? And also that everyone in that tent is aware of that fact?" Her hand reaches across the table to his. Unicorn and hand-holding is fine, in public right? Or at least only mildly not-fine. "Just being completely honest about why and how I plan to conduct future examinations, okay?"

Sipping her drink, she asks, "what did you think of the con? I thought it was nice that they got it to line up with the miai...good for the vendors for sure."

Yul took a deep breath. "Yeah. She's a lot better today." He smirked. "Well enough to toss a few barbs my way. And based on the look I got at her at the con, her fashion sense is as impressive as ever." He spread his arms, striking a casual pose.

As Mumei's hand found his, Yul's eyebrows went up... and then he gave her hand a squeeze. As long as people thought of Unicorn as barbarians, he might as well take advantage of that. "What, you're saying that wasn't a proper medical examination?" Yul grinned at her. "I thought it seemed strange touching my abs would ease neck pain. But hey, I'm not a doctor."

Reminded, Yul's other hand found the drink she'd selected for him; he gave it a sip. "Not bad. Mmm. I had a good time. It was almost overwhelming. There was just so much to see and do, though." He shrugged casually, giving her a sidelong glance. "I may have picked up a thing or two. Maybe a present for someone. No big deal." He flashed her a smile. "What about you?"

"You mean your neck didn't feel better? You're right, I'll need to try harder next time." Her thumb brushes gently, absently along the back of his hand as she determines to find a subject that's a little less likely to tempt her to try harder now. "I will try very hard not to take all this frustrated energy out on you on the dance floor, by the way," she says, the teasing tone vanishing. "It's...there's some kind of feelings that are going to transfer out there."

"And yeah, fancon was really just a lot. So much to see. I did a bit of dancing and learned that watching the same 10 episodes of Starlight Miko Kami that every ship seems to have was not at all sufficient for a trivia competition." She raises an eyebrow. "Decided on a more appropriate souvenir for Geriel, then?"

Yul leaned forward a little, over the table. "Hey, you know best." He murmured, smiling. "But you saw me fly. Like, really fly. I'd love to see you really dance. Express your feelings." He tilted his head, his eyes on hers, searching for that glint of green he sometimes saw in them.

Taking a breath, Yul leaned back again, before his feelings got out of control. Still, he most certainly did not let go of her hand, his thumb moving as a mirror to hers, stroking the back of her hand. "Hah. Well, yeah, actually. Or a more portable one, anyway." A quick grin. "I'll show you next time you stop by my room."

Yul paused, taking a generous sip from his drink, blinking as the warm alcohol fuzziness hit him. "I think I know those episodes. As a young flight cadet, I was too cool to watch them for the first month. Now I'm pretty sure I could sing the theme song." He set down the glass, shaking his head, freshly washed hair brushing his shoulders. "It was nice to do something like that. The last few days have been pretty intense, huh?"

Mumei laughs dryly. "Intense...yeah." Her fingers squeeze his as the many ways that it's been intense flit through her head. "It really was nice to have a small break in that. A really small one, since I was still in the library researching for a few hours. So yeah...I think I've got a some feelings to set loose there." She looks past Yul to the dance floor, some of the dancers still sporting their cosplay outfits from earlier. The green lights can still pick out the color within her eyes, but the vague weariness of so many things all at once is there too.

It lifts a bit as she smiles. "I got to go show Hida-sama some moves to that theme song at the con, so I probably could sing it again too. And all the costumes were really fun to see." She sips at her Energizer, tasting the slight bitterness of the heavy caffeine dose hidden in the boozy sweetness.

"Oh, and Hida-sama wanted to dress up, so now I've got a worn once costume. I'm guessing your sister's a bit old for that kind of thing, but maybe you've got some nieces or nephews into the show?"

His lips parted to ask about the research, but then Yul shook his head. "Yeah, it was fun." He chuckled. "I wish I was a bit better at that stuff. My costume was pretty much... hang on." He reached up, frowning as he pulled a lock of his hair loose from the ponytail. Tilting his head forward, he got it to hang down over his eye, a vague resemblance to how he'd worn it at the con. "Shinjo Hikaru, heroic squadron leader." He struck a pose, hands on his hips.

After a moment, he made a face, shaking his head; the errant lock settled further back. "In fact, I've got lots of nieces and nephews. But Mumei..." Yul smirked. "You've gotta tell me what costume you got."

Seeing the weariness in Mumei's eyes, Yul took another generous sip of his drink. Once they were done with the drinks, it would be time to dance...

Hand over her mouth, Mumei giggles at the impression, before reaching to tug at the dangling lock. "Very heroic, yes. But wasn't this horribly in the way?" The heavy syrup has settled, and she's finding the last third of her drink a bit too sweet, grimacing after a sip to lift the straw and stick with the stronger stuff toward the top.

"Anyway, I had trouble deciding. I'd kind of liked Shiba An'yu as a kid, right? But if I was going to be handing it off, and well...nothing wrong with minor signaling at a miai, neh? Plus they somehow had costumes from the Chikushudo alternate timeline spin off...maybe thought those would be more popular here? The Shinjo Mai costume had this cute little horn, and the most amazing rainbow tail. It's got some really nice movement to it." She bounces a bit from foot to foot with a slight lift to the hips for a very understated shimmy. "Hmm, I should have brought that with."

Yul grinned, tilting his head to give her easier access to his hair. "Yeah, it was super in the way, in fact. I'm never going flying like that, believe me."

Eyes on hers, the little excited flash of emotion in Yul's eyes at the mention of minor signaling, although it quickly faded to more general amusement. "Seriously?" He leaned closer, across the table, grinning again. "You've gotta show me that sometime. The Mai from the older live action show was my first TV crush." His eyes followed the motion of her body at the little shimmy, his lips curling up.

He took another sip of his drink, almost done now, even as he offered her his other hand again, palm up. "An'yu was cool too, though. Was she your favorite?"

"Yeah, something about how fierce she _could_ be, when it was important really spoke to kid me." She sips at the drink again with a grimace, pushing the rest aside. "I mean, the skirt is like...up to here," her elbow is not even fully straight as she indicates where the fabric had stopped. She pauses, looks at him, then reaches to give his loose hair a tug again. "You know full well that, if I wear that again, there is no way we can pass it to one of those kids, right?"

With that mental image, she takes his hand eagerly, thrumming with several different kinds of energy. "So...you're leading?" Her other hand still twines in his hair, "Also, how much do you hate having your hair down? Because with this outfit, it should be."

"Yeah." Yul murmured, grinning. He stepped around the table, moving closer to her, not quite touching, but somehow nevertheless tangible. "Something definitely to be discussed later." There was a definite heat in his eyes, and a hint of a throaty growl in his voice.

With another flash of his grin, Yul led Mumei out to the dance floor, just as the last notes of the song faded away. A new one would doubtless be starting any moment. His excited tension, curiously close to how he was when flying, ran through his body, meeting hers where their hands touched.

"Yeah? I don't mind a bit." Reaching up, with an easy gesture, he pulled away his hair band. A toss of his head, and his long dark hair swirled about his shoulders, the motion mirrored in his flowing outfit. "How's that?" He asked, smiling down at her.

For now, she follows to the dance floor, feet still stepping on the faded beat of the song that's melted away, every line filled with that loose energy that's ready to move in any direction, just waiting for a cue. Her hand rests lightly in Yul's, remains there as she comes around to face him.

As he lets his hair down, the flame of her eyes, and a hard swallow are probably answer enough. Her hand tightens slowly on his for restraint."Let's dance before I do something that gets us tossed out for indecency," she says in as near a whisper as would be audible over the music.

There's a tension in the contrast of the dancers. His flowing, fluttering lines beside her bared arms and form-fitting clothing. Her half and head of hair offers one small similarity to tie the tableau together as the next tune comes up. She knows it, the slow opening transitioning into a driving piece of electronica, and closes the distance between them. Her other hand reaches up toward all that hair, then stops, with visible restraint to move to his shoulder instead. It's a basic, and rather formal hold. Formal seems...safer right now.

Meeting her gaze, Yul's lips parted, but then the music started. Whatever he was about to say turned into a smile, his hand giving hers a gentle squeeze.

It started slow, which worked well for Yul. It had been a long time since he'd danced, barring the brief interrupted turn they took before the drifter attack. Still, some things could never be forgotten. As her hand rested on his shoulder, his automatically went to her waist, circling almost to the small of her back, just as they began to move, Yul guiding them in a slow circle. The desire to pull her tightly against him in a passionate embrace was a strong one, but he resisted. That potential energy was still there, though, an added spice, an excited tension.

Hand on his shoulder, Mumei would feel Yul begin to relax into the steady rhythm. He wasn't a trained dancer, but he'd had experience, and adding a graceful dip to his shoulders, a little twist to his hips, was easy. His hands on her helped to guide, leading her into the rhythm.

Slowly, the rhythm began to build. They turned faster, centrifugal force urging them apart, Yul's hand shifting on her back to keep her close. He grinned, exuberance showing in his handsome features, clothes and hair trailing in his path as they moved...

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D9EN, Fluff Dance roll, VP 1k1 because YES: 5d10o10k4 26

A traditional hold, a basic dance to start with. All the energy remained solidly between them for now, none of this was designed to show off or impress anyone else...yet. Mumei's eyes shine, fixed on Yul's. Her hand in his, cool but vibrant with that restrained energy. Her other hand wrapps solidly around his shoulder, forearm touching his upper arm without resting on it. Points of connection and communication as they move.

Her grin grows as the pace picks up and they hold tighter against the spin, she spots over his shoulder now to keep from running into the other dancers at this speed. At the opposite side of the floor, she simply releases their handclasp, letting momentum spin her out beside him, trusting his hand at her back and hers guiding his shoulder to follow this tangential trajectory for a moment hip to hip before momentum carries him around to that closed position once again with a pronounced dip toward their hands, clasped once more.

"Sorry," She laughs, not sorry at all. "I know you were supposed to be leading."

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D9 EN Dancing, Void +1k1 Shiny!: 7d10o10k4 21 Thanks Orokos. We'll settle for merely competent, then.

Yul's eyes widened a little, but even thought this was their first time on the dance floor together, in a way, they'd been dancing for days now. He laughed as they dipped, moving as one. "Don't worry. I already figured you and I will be trading lead a lot." In dance, in life; Yul smiled at the thought.

A shift, and a reverse, their bodies turning the other way now. Yul's hand moved to her hip, guiding more with a gentle push than a pull, urging her closer. His eyes found hers, his lips parting, just a little, their heartbeats close... the dance wasn't exactly the one they'd shared by the lake, but it was very close, Yul drawing on his memory of that primal rhythm.

The beat shifted again, just as it had before. This time Yul let their joined hands serve as their point of connection, momentum carrying them to full extension. He grinned across the space at her a moment, watching the play of motion and color about her, his own form trailing wisps of yellow fabric and strands of dark hair. And then, with a firm pressure, he pulled her back in towards him, balanced and ready for whatever it was in her heart to do.

For just a moment, they dance close, a breath from the kiss they'd desperately like to share, with only the insistent shift in the music to draw them away from drowning in one another there. Mumei gasps with the transition and the snap-shift as Yul flings her along their shared path, all iridescent shine and her fluttering blue hair an odd comet to his flowing sun.

She laughs with surprise and joy, spinning back to him beneath their joined hands and then past him, letting go for a few steps before twirling around to face him, challenge in her eyes, hands held wide before her, palms up in obvious invitation as she grooves to the beat. Shoulders, hips, and head sway and pop to the syncopated electric pipes, her eyes holding his, expectant.

It wasn't entirely clear, even to him, which made Yul grin more: the beauty and grace with which Mumei moved as she spun back to him, or the sheer joy she took in it. The latter, he decided suddenly, laughing as she twirled around to face him.

His eyes met hers, and in a moment, they were moving together, Yul's natural grace letting him flow into the music with her. His smile grew as he saw that challenge in her eyes; he was never one to resist a challenge, after all.

Still shifting and swaying, Yul moved closer, drawn in. His hands came up, going to hers, tilting his face to her face... but leaving just the slightest distance between them. A shift as they danced, and their hands would come together, or their lips might meet... the struggle seemed to make Yul dance with even more intensity.