Galactic Dance RP

[Jas]

His eyes didn't trail away from the scenery, though his mane did twitch instinctively when he heard movement. Masurao could tell she was coming his way, hearing the soft pattering of bare feet on the shiny floors. He heard and felt rustling at his side and sure enough, soon she sat by him, taking a position similar to his. She didn't say anything and neither did he, nor was there an exchange of glances. Masurao was slightly relieved she hadn't left, as it surely would've made things a bit more complicated. It was actually rather peaceful, for a while, as they set there in the noiseless room.

"Do you think it's possible for a person to be brave and a coward at the same time?"

Masurao heard the sudden speech, but wasn't startled by it. Nor did he look to the side right away. Instead, he kept looking up at the many celestial bodies above them, staring at them as if the answer to this question lay there, only concealed and cryptic.

"Good question." he eventually said, shifting his gaze from the sky and turning it to the opposite wall instead, his facial expression unchanged. He was quiet for another few seconds, not inquiring as to why Tala had posed this specific. Things often had the tendency to work themselves out in the end. Or so he hoped.
"I suppose it... depends." he spoke out loud again, his voice hoarse, but quiet. "Technically, the two are supposed to be opposites... One who says he'll protect you in battle, but then refrains from doing so and runs away to save themselves is, I would say, not brave."

The blue-furred teen lifted his head once more, the stars reappearing in his eyes as he gazed back up at them. "But someone who says to protect you in battle, and thinks it to be wise if everyone ran away, can be considered brave. Being brave doesn't mean you lunge yourself at the enemy without consideration." This time, Masurao did cast a glance at his companion, though only just briefly. He didn't know if this was the answer she sought, as he did not know what it implied to. But he had tried to answer it to the best of his abilities.
"Do you think you are a coward?" he inquired, believing it might not be a bad idea if he asked a question this time. It triggered a vague memory in his head, of a game they had once played as kids where they both had to ask a question to the other. Unsurprisingly, it hadn't been a game a silent character as Masurao was rather fond of. But, in situations like these, it proved to be quite useful. And not so prying either.

[Sadie]

His words made sense. Well, Masurao usually made sense. It was that fact that distinguished him from the Telarian girl at his side, the idea that he perpetually made sense. While she was painting the ceiling with cookie dough, or trying to see if she could count the dots on the panels in the ceiling, or shouting things across the room at Dengeki and Unagi when it was just as easy to talk over and talk to them normally, Masurao always stood there in all of his sense, being as logical and serene as he always was. His words, his actions, all of it with reasoning behind it. Something Tala rarely had.

But she liked it that way. If they were the same, things wouldn't be nearly as interesting as they always were.

His question, however, made her ears droop slightly. For someone who hid behind an exterior, Tala was unusually expressive in her body language. When she was happy, her eyes danced and she acted as though she was walking along clouds. When she was angry, every part of her was tensed, and her teeth would clench together as she tried to bite back hurtful words. And when she was sad, her whole being seemed to fall, with her antennae dangling into her face and her eyes downcast toward the floor.

Being sad now, it was as though all bits of light had been taken out of her. Fingertips, toetips, all dulled to a dark blackish color. Watching her, it would have been surprising to anyone to know that the girl was able to glow.

"Yes."

It had taken her a few long moments to respond, but she did, and the word was said firmly. She didn't elaborate on it out loud, however, simply answered his question with a singular, decided response.

A coward, she thought to herself, tipping her face upward and letting the moonlight spill across her thin features, would weep merely at thoughts of home. A coward would be unable to bear the distance. A brave person would accept their duties and remain strong.

Look at me, she mused with a little chuckle to herself. I've become as speechless as Masurao.

So she tried to elaborate, just enough to help his side of the conversation without giving away any of herself. "If the two are opposites, then I'm not sure what I am. But . . . I don't feel brave at all."

[Jas]

Haha, Masurao is bad for romance XD Poor Niji <3

- - -

The composed youth hardly moved a muscle as he sat there, waiting patiently for the other to reply, his unblinking gaze still fastened upon the everstretching sky above their heads. One didn't need to move his eyes a lot to take in the many twinkling dots that shone there. The sight itself was quite inviting, as if it called out to the aliens in the observatory to look at them and bask in their beauty. They were a place the lot of them had traveled off too many a time before, but Masurao never seemed to get over his awe as he looked up at them. He didn't want to either. No matter how many times they went off to explore the unknown depths of space, those glistening specks never lost their tranquility or mystery. Two characteristics Masurao himself seemed to represent, even though his name had nothing to do with stars whatsoever.

"Yes."

Again, the boy's mane twitched slightly at the short, but quiet answer. His eyes narrowed, though only very slightly as he kept his green gaze set on the sky still. He sat there for another minute, then tilted his chin down, his eyes closing attentively. He'd expected such an answer, even if he disliked it. Otherwise, she'd surely wouldn't have asked him this seemingly contradicting question.

"If the two are opposites, then I'm not sure what I am. But . . . I don't feel brave at all."

The silence lingered on after this statement where neither of them said anything. Masurao still hadn't shifted positons, sitting there with arms and legs crosses still, eyes closed in apparent concentration, as if he were in some kind of meditative trance. Though his exterior looked calm and composed, inside his mind was working, searching for a possible answer as to why she had asked him this philosophical question. Apparently she considered herself her coward. Masurao tried to link this idea to the earlier events, of her dancing in the air and then running off to end up here. He sought for a possible connection but it was rather hard to find one. It seemed to be there, vaguely, but he couldn't quite see it.

The quiet wolf opened his eyes this time, the tassel of his tail twitching softly. He stared at the dark wall opposite them again, as if it was about to reveal everything he needed to know. Which it didn't.

"I have to admit I fail to understand why you consider yourself to be one..." he said after another moment of silence, his intent gaze wandering to to ceilingless roof again. "I can't name any situations in which you have proven yourself to be one."
He'd liked to have dismissed her idea of her cowardice as 'silly', but the sadness he'd detected earlier did not seem to have gone away, so he'd rather not say anything that was potentially upsetting. It was remarkable how this girl could shift between two completely different emotions so suddenly. One minute she'd throw a fist in her brother's ex-girlfriend's face, and the next one she confided that she doubted her strength and abilities, while she clearly didn't have any reason to do so.

Masurao cast another glance at his companion, who still hadn't seemed to brighten. It was peculiar how much they contrasted. He was quiet and reserved, and she was not and displayed her emotions quite vividly, even if she did try not to. But when she did, it seemed to make her upset and confused, not unlike this very moment. It made him wonder if he was the most suited conversational partner for her, but so far she hadn't run away just yet, so he must be doing something right.

[Sadie]

Despite the girl's otherwise downcast features, she was able to dig a laugh out of the bottom of her throat; soft, unusually dim compared to her normally boisterous laughter, but a sound of happiness nonetheless. Her eyes flicked over to him, and she looked mildly stunned, although she was doing her best to seem like she wasn't. "You think I'm brave?"

Ridiculous. By his standards, anyway. The guard, she sometimes felt, wasn't even a person. He was just loyalty, honor, and bravery, all bundled up, stuffed together, and given life. The perfect clone for a bodyguard.

But this wasn't entirely true, since she could recall a few scarce times that he had shown emotion. Rare occasions, and often only a small degree, but Tala knew that beneath his cold bodyguard exterior, there was a person underneath. A person that could be hard to find, sometimes, but definitely a person.

A person, it seemed, who wanted to help her.

It took her a few long seconds of silence to continue on, but finally she began to speak. She wanted to hate herself for willingly telling him everything, but it felt more like a relief than a burden. And if there was anyone that she could trust to keep her secrets to himself, it was Masurao. Once she had given herself permission to tell him everything, it all came pouring out of her lips like water droplets plunging into the air from a waterfall.

"Sometimes I feel brave, but it's really not even bravery. I was so angry once that I went and punched Divad in the face even though he was huge, but that wasn't bravery. It was just rage. And when we go on missions, I always feel scared, like what if something were to happen to me or people I care about? If a person stays around to fight, even if they're scared, does that make them a coward for being scared, brave for staying around, or stupid for ignoring the dangers? Or all three, even? And the dark! I'm terrified of the dark! I hate it, I always have to go to bed glowing or with some kind of light like the moon or the stars, just so that I don't have to be in the darkness!"

She couldn't help but feel that she was losing the bodyguard in her long stream of speech, somewhat.

"And what about a girl who wants to go home? What if she stays at the headquarters out of a sense of duty to the Galactic Teens Next Door, or because she loves the thrill of adventure. But then memories of home are enough to make her cry! Cry! And she never cries, not much! And she feels like she doesn't know what she's supposed to be! A brave, strong person shouldn't weep over mere memories of home; they know their duties and responsibilities and should be ready to face them, even at personal cost. So what does that make this girl?"

Orange eyes turned to face him, open and imploring. "Is she a coward because she would rather go home than fight yet another battle? Is she brave for fighting the battles anyway? Is she stupid for loving the thrills, the adventure, when it all includes danger?" A light snort passed through her nose. "Is she silly for referring to herself in third person when we both know who she's talking about?"

Suddenly, she fell backwards onto the floor, linking her hands behind her head and staring upward at the endless mass of stars that stretched on forever and ever. Masurao, she hoped, would have the answers that she was seeking. And if not, then perhaps the stars did, but they always held their mysteries close, twinkling with laughter down at the silly inhabitants on the worlds below while their secrets remained hidden above.

[Jas]

"You think I'm brave?"

Again, the guard didn't respond immediately. Not because he considered the possibility that Tala was right about thinking she was a coward. His gaze had fastened upon the dimly lit wall again, his pupils larger than they usually were due the darkness. His bright eyes glinted like emeralds in the light from the sky, thoughts and consideration seeming to swim in them as he sat there, looking for words which might render help.
Masurao seemed to have found some and opened his mouth to express them out loud, but was not given the chance when Tala suddenly spoke up again.

The composed boy turned his head to look at her this time, seeming a little startled at the words that suddenly came pouring out, though it showed on his face merely through a raise of his eyebrow and a widening of his eye. His mane trilled a bit, his eyes wandering across the girl's face as she talked. Each sentence seemed to come faster than the one previous, and he had to admit he had concentrate a bit harder to keep track of it. It seemed to be that some kind of barrier had been taken away and everything came out suddenly, like water from a lock.
He caught him slightly off guard again when she suddenly turned to him and stared him full in the face, her eyes pleading and without further concealment. The expression made him raise both his eyebrows, seeming a bit more surprised this time than before. She hadn't stopped talking yet, nor did Masurao want to interject. He didn't really know what had caused this sudden openness, but he'd rather not spend his time wondering about it.

And then it stopped, rather abruptly when the girl collapsed onto the floor. It alarmed him for a second, believing she might have suffered some kind of stroke at the display of emotion, but was proven wrong upon the second glance when he saw her eyes were still open, and rather alive. Blinking down at her for another second, double-checking if she truly hadn't passed out. This done, the wolfboy turned back to look at the wall again. His expression did not change as he did this, though his eyes had that same glint again, which seemed to be there each time Masurao was in thought. There was no denying that what Tala had just relayed was a lot to take in. Though tranquil on the outside, the Egriadanian's mind was working and buzzing, recounting the emotional tale of the girl at his side.
It seemed, Masurao thought, she had decided to trust his judgment on this matter. The boy didn't have an immediate answer at the ready. It wasn't like he was so experienced on emotional stuff. But she had confided in him and he appreciated it. He could only hope he could answer the question to the best of his abilities, and that his opinion would be meaningful. He never liked to disappoint.

"You are not brave because you fight," he began, his green eyes trailing back up to the immense starry sky above their heads. His voice was balanced and quite kind. "You are brave because you are there. And stay there. And continue to stay there even though danger is staring you right in the face." He paused there, maybe waiting for the words to sink in, or maybe just searching for the right words to speak next. "What I derive from your concerns is that you seem to think you are a coward, simply because you care."
Masurao looked away from the stars and turned to look at her this time. "I might not know so much about all this," he continued, glancing to the side momentarily. "But being brave doesn't mean you have to shield your emotions from the outside world."

The wolfboy stopped here again, perhaps realizing that the words he'd just spoken seemed to relate to him. "You are not un-brave because you are sentimental about home. As matter of fact, it'd concern me more if you weren't sentimental about it." At this, his gaze wandered over to the stars above once more, as if he tried to catch a glimpse of his own home. It was quick to return to the girl on the floor. "And as far as fear of the dark goes... You are certainly not the first one to come across this kind of fear. The little guy is not much different from you." he said, referring to the little blue creature downstairs, who emitted light in the darkness everywhere he went. "I don't think such kind of fear is one you have to be that upset about. But for what it's worth... You never fear darkness itself. You fear what's inside the darkness. And in the end, those are demons you create for yourself."

Masurao concluded and turned away again, eyes wandering up to the sky for yet another time, making the stars reflect in his eyes once more. His tail gave another gentle flick as he placed his hands behind him, supporting him as he leaned back a little. "But as for the other... Would you consider your brother, or Dengeki or Nalo or me or anyone a coward, because they miss their home and the people there?" He threw her another glance, one eyebrow slightly aloft.

- - -

Aghn, I'd like to make Nebulos do something too, but I can't think of anything XD;

[Renee]

The rest of the cleaning went by like a blur, Niji was too caught up in her own thoughts to realize that the remainder of the had been neatly hung up and stored away. I'm so excited for the dance now! But I still need something to wear, maybe I can go to the mall later on, I hope I can find something Jamal would like... Suddenly a tap at her shoulder startled her, making her jump slightly. She turned to the boy behind her wide-eyed.

"Er, Princess Niji? Are you all right?" Numbuh Infinity asked, raising his eyebrow a bit. Niji blinked rapidly,

"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine!" She said a bit to quickly for her liking. She blushed embarrassed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well...You sort of spaced out for a minute or so. I was worried something was wrong..."

The blush on Niji's freckled cheeks deepened, "I-I was?" Numbuh Infinity nodded slowly. "O-oh, I-I was just thinking of how..." She searched her mind for a plausible excuse. "...Of how great a job we did fixing the closet!" She rattled off, "Y-yeah! Doesn't it look great?" She turned to it, hoping this would change the embarrassing topic.

Numbuh Infinity tilted his head slightly, "Oh...Yes!" He nodded, "We did quite a great job if I may say so myself."

Niji's smile faded knowing that their little task was done. There was no reason for him to stay anymore, "Y-yeah, we did." She looked up at him. "So, I suppose you have to get back to work now, huh?" She wondered, doing everything in her power to mask the great amount of disappointment she was feeling.

Numbuh Infinity uncomfortably nodded his head, "Yes, I'm afraid I do..." Niji's shoulders dropped a bit.

"W-well, you'd better get going then." She managed to form a small smile. "Thanks again for helping me, Jamal."

Numbuh Infinity blushed, and returned the smile, "The pleasure was all mine, Princess..." He said bowing and placing a kiss to the back of her hand. He smiled at her one more time before exiting the room leaving Niji to float to the door to watch him go.

Once she was certain that he was completely out of earshot, she let out a small high pitched squeal. In her excitement she floated on and proceeded to jump on the bed with all the enthusiasm of a five year old child.

"Go Niji! It's your birthday!" She sang in between bounces. "You're going to the dance, with Numbuh Infinity!" She grabbed a small pillow, hugging it close to her chest, then continued to bounce on the bed, "Go Niji! You Rock! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Woo!" She threw the pillow up in the air excitedly. Unfortunately for her, the pillow hit the celing fan that was spinning, sending fluffy feathers flying all over the floor. Niji groaned, and slapped a palm over her forehead. She floated over to the closet to pull out a vacuum and a broom and began to clean.

[Ellie]

Milo-Lee clicked off the game and sighed, leaning back onto Finnick's shoulder. I looked up at him and smiled, "Sooooo.... The dance?"

The boy blinked, "Yeah?"

"Weeeell, I think you should know that I have no desire to go, and will be looking for every excuse to bail between now and then," She said with a smirk.

His dark green eyes rolled a bit, "Is that so?"

She snorted, "Of course, why would I want to go to a dance?"

"Well, let's see, you like music, you like dancing, aaaand.... You like... Me, don't you?" He added with a shy smile, wrapping his hand around her waist.

The feline girl looked shocked for a moment, a pinkish orange color appearing on her cheeks. She then pulled away, and was hovering over the coach within an instant, "Umm, yeah, of course, I gotta go, err, take care of something, bye!" She said quickly and zoomed out of the room so quickly she stirred up a breeze as she flew out the door. She continued down the hall and over a familiar blond head, but didn't stop until she heard a loud voice coming from a room with an open door. She quickly slowed to halt and peeked inside, where she found Niji and a mass of feathers swirling through the air. "Woah, what happened here?"

Meanwhile, Finnick sighed dejectedly and stared down at the ground for a minute or two, and then left the room as well. He had barely gotten out of the room when he collided with a red-and-blond figure. His glasses flew off and clattered to the floor, flashing briefly in to light. "Oh, I'm sorry," He couldn't make out who he'd run into with his glasses and he began glancing across the floor, trying to spot them.

[Paula]

(same here.....wait! I think I got something)

EDIT: Oops, I didn't see ellie's post. Fixing! Fixing!
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It wasn't before long that Zoelin had reached where the voices were coming from, now seeing the large room that contained a few aliens inside. Some of them were playing games, others were just lounging around, talking casually.

"Huh. Looks like everyone's just acting normal," she muttered under her breath before putting her hands into the pockets on her shirt again. She walked in, looking around to see if she could find anything to do, anyone to talk to, or just--

"Oof!" She fell backward, colliding into someone that was just coming outside.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other person said.

Zoelin shook her head a few times as she stood back up, rubbing her bottom while replying, "no harm, no foul." When she lookwed foreward, she saw Finnick on the ground, trying to look for something.

She bent foreward a little, now noticing that his glasses had flown off in the collision. "Sorry, dude. Didn't mean to knock off your glasses--here they are." The spectacles were just behind him and she went over to pick them up.

After placing them in one of his hands, she added, "if you want Milo-lee, she went that-a-way. I think she lost something, or something."

Figuring he was probably going to go after the girl, Zoelin shrugged and went inside the room....

Only to lay her eyes on something sparklely.

If it weren't for the long yellow bangs that covered her eyes, one might've seen the lavendar orbs grow huge with excitement as her mouth grew into an ear-to-ear grin as she kept her gaze over on one of the couches.

There was something shiny. And she had to take a closer look.

As she had done so before, Zoelin began to creep along the way, tip-toeing on her already-positioned small feet, and made her way towards the couch. When she grew closer, the tiny white orbs seemed to be glowing brighter. Keeping her eye on them, Zoelin went around the couch, creeping along it's backside and lowered her head, rendering only her ears to be visible.

Scarlet ears could only be seen as they went along the couch, looking almost like a parody of a JAWS movie, and they soon stopped when they were directly behind a small Luminarian boy who was sitting with his Ursaminorian friend.
---------------------

Lunira watched Cyril give Ynda a ride on his back through the air, giggling as he kept turning and weaving while she tried to steer.

"I'm kinda glad they're going together," she said out loud thoughtfully. "Ynda and Cyril, I mean." Then it occured to her that Cyril already had loads of dance partners, or so he proclaimed out loud for about five minutes when he nearly asked everyone in the room.

A small thoughtful frown creased up on her forehead. "Do you think that's possible? Dancing with so many partners all in one night?" An image appeared in her head, where Cyril was dancing in the middle of all of his partners, which only made her laugh out loud. She shook her head away from the thought and sighed.

"Hmm..."

Then, she lowered her gaze towards the comic that was next to Nebulos. Even though she hadn't even heard about the comic before, nor did they talk about it after she asked him, Lunira was now curious about it.

"Hey, Nebby. You never told me what else happens in your comic." She pointed out, raising a paw to point at the book. "Do you wanna read it together?"
------

(uh-oh....dun-a, dun-a. Dun-a, dun-a. Dun-a, dun-a.)

[Sadie]

"But for what it's worth... You never fear darkness itself. You fear what's inside the darkness. And in the end, those are demons you create for yourself."

A chill shivered up and down Tala's spine, visibly shaking the girl, and she bit her lip harder than necessary while she looked upward at the sky, thankful for the light that the moon and stars provided. It chilled her, the darkness, in a way that she couldn't explain. Like shadowed claws and ripping teeth were lurking in the corners, inching closer and closer while pine-tree melodies swayed hauntingly by and ran their icy touches along her skin like they couldn't wait to sneak up and devour her entirely while she screamed and tried to run but they were faster, always faste-

A gasp of air hitched in Tala's throat and she shook the images away, listening to the pounding of her hearts in her chest. Her eyes shot up to find the moon, a constant source of light, and only the sight of the white light was enough to relax her while she lay reclined on the floor, stiff in fear. But remembering where she was, she was able to relax, and she tried to focus on what Masurao was saying again.

"But as for the other... Would you consider your brother, or Dengeki or Nalo or me or anyone a coward, because they miss their home and the people there?"

Blast it, he always made so much sense.

She wanted to bring up the fact that they didn't cry, but she felt like it would be a useless, pathetic argument. Besides, maybe some of them did cry, in the dark recesses of their rooms where no one could see the tears. The girl sat up again and hugged her knees to herself, seemingly a small huddled form in the infinite, celestial room. It was killer to have to admit to Masurao that he was right, but, as usual, he was. "No. I wouldn't."

It was a relief, his words. Like a reassurance to a scared girl that it was okay to be scared sometimes. That wanting to not fight wasn't an indication of cowardice.

Suddenly, Tala didn't want to talk about it anymore. He had told he what she needed to hear, and she didn't particularly want to draw it out any more, especially considering that bodyguard wasn't a talking type. And she was certain that he didn't want to hear any more of her concerns, not when they seemed so silly in retrospect. Pulling her hands out from behind her head, she studied the green ends of her long, nimble fingers.

Lighter. Even glowing briefly. Yes, she was happier now.

"You're right," she declared, trying to bring them out of the serious mood that they had fallen into. "You always make sense. Your people must be so smart, like all the time." Her voice was an attempt at light-heartedness, a little more bright than it should have been.

And then it dropped back into all seriousness, full of more emotion than she wanted to display. ". . . Thank you."

Inhaling a breath of cool air, she lifted upwards, levitating herself a few feet while letting her happy green glow consume her. The seriousness was gone, replaced by a light attempt to be happy again. Turning around to face him, she hung there for a second and then pulled a devilish grin.

"Race you downstairs!"

He probably wouldn't even be aware of how much his words helped her. How much they made her feel better about everything, everyone, herself. He couldn't know how much of a difference he made. And she was okay with that, because she knew.

"Loser has to dance with Etoile!"

--
aha, I'm not going to lie, writing in the second paragraph about Tala's fear of the darkness freaked even ME out.

[Renee]

Niji sat in the middle of her carpeted bedroom floor, covered in dust, with feathers still scattered on the floors and other various places where feathers tended to rest. She was currently having a glare off with the vacuum cleaner.

The thing was mocking her. By now she was certain of it...

In the beginning cleaning her own room for a change was enjoyable. She liked being able to do this on her own, as she had servants who did most of the cleaning back at the Palace at home. She never got the chance to watch them clean, since they did most of it while she was in school or here at the GKND headquarters, so she did not really have any experience in using cleaning appliances. But nevertheless, she deemed the task of vacuuming an easy one. It was a machine that sucked up particles of dust and other things, how hard could maneuvering one actually be?

Well, in that time, the vacuum managed to attempt to swallow the pretty golden curtains she had hanging on the windows, the crystal balls she had dangling on the ceiling. Then as a final insult the stupid thing blew dust on HER. That was the final straw, she pulled the plug on the vacuum cleaner leaving it powerless on the floor. Leaving her for that moment victorious.

She groaned at the events of the past half hour, and sighed. She could just picture her the look on Masurao's face when he came back from wherever he was to check on her. "He'll be all like "Princess Niji" I thought we agreed that you'd use appliances in my presence only because we don't want to have another exploding incident and Blah...Blah...Blah..." She rolled her eyes covering her face with a pillow. She'd finish the cleaning later on, right now, the girl needed a nap.

[Jas]

As they continued to sit there, Masurao did not avert his eyes from the yellow-skinned girl, but kept looking at her, most serious. It was as if he refused to look away until it dawned on her that her previous thoughts had been incorrect, his gaze almost demanding that she'd see the sense of it.

"No. I wouldn't."

And it seemed that she had.

"You're right. You always make sense. Your people must be so smart, like all the time."

Masurao, having turned his head away this time, didn't comment on the idea, but gave a mild shrug instead. He appreciated the compliment, but didn't believe he needed to acknowledge it, she'd probably know so herself. He was already content the message seemed to have gotten through, and that she had been quick to understand it. Considering this, something seemed to un-knot in his stomach (something he didn't even realize had been there) and he looked up at the stars once more, looking considerably less stern than he usually did.

"Thank you."

The quiet boy looked away from the roofless ceiling this time, looking just lightly befuddled as she bestowed her gratitude upon him. He blinked once, looking up and found an earnest expression there, which said more than the two little words she'd just said out loud. Rather unfamiliar with it, Masurao couldn't help but blush a little and looked away again, though he was soon to look back when a green light caught his attention.
He saw here there, mid-air, and undoubtedly a lot happier than she had looked before. He looked at her for a second and then the thought came to him that he had played a part in all this, and that he somehow had been able to lift Tala's spirit. Though the reserved guard hardly looked very happy himself (he didn't display any emotion rather vividly anyway), the idea of having induced contentment in another person seemed to please him. It was nice.
And then there was something very unexpected.

"Race you downstairs!"

The sudden shift in demeanor surprised him a little. He blinked once more, as if he needed an extra second to register what she had said.
But Masurao, being Masurao, was always quick to recognize a challenge when he saw one. And this was undoubtedly one. One that involved speed, no less. In one swift movement he had risen from the floor and stood proudly, his green eyes shimmering with certain determination, but lifting an eyebrow at the sentence that ensued.

"Loser has to dance with Etoile!"

Well, this was certainly a challenge he simply had to win. For everyone's sakes.

"You're on." he accepted in his hoarse, monotone voice. He sounded like nothing extraordinary had just happened and he didn't feel the need to mention anything about it either. If Tala wanted to speak, she surely would, he was rather convinced of it. Another thought hit him and he looked over at her, raising a finger and squinting one eye lightly. "But no cheating."

- - -

"I'm kinda glad they're going together. Ynda and Cyril, I mean."

As she said this, Nebulos followed her gaze and watched their fellow Squirts soar through the air. The sight was entertaining to behold and it brought and even wider smile to his already happy face. He liked moments like this, when the room was full of life and happiness and laughter. It made him squeeze Lunira's paw a little tighter once again, the thought that he was taking her to the dance fueling his glee all the more.

"I'm not sure," he replied after Lunira inquired him about multiple dance partners, "But it's Cyril, hes rather resourceful, I'm sure he'll think of some kind of way..." He, too, had a mental image of his bird-friend dancing, only Nebulos' picture existed out of Cyril piling up all his partners onto each others' shoulders and dancing with the bottom one.
The Luminarian chuckled at the silly idea. By the time he was done, he turned to look and saw that Lunira had turned also, watching him instead. It brought a little blush to his face, but he didn't feel as nervous anymore. "Hey, Nebby," she said, "You never told me what else happens in your comic. Do you wanna read it together?" The blush on his faintly purple face increased and he eyed the comic which had been discarded on the sofa, long forgotten since Lunira had accepted to accompany him to the dance.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, apparently needing another minute to register what she had actually said. "Well, uh... S-sure..." he said, a tad more nervous than before. His small hands reached out at took the comic, smoothing out the wrinkled edges (which he himself had caused). He fiddled with the pages in his hands, glancing over at his fuzzy friend unsurely. "I-I mean, if you want to... It's kinda of, well..." Nebulos chuckled, bringing a shy arm to his head, "You know, boy stuff..."
Nevertheless, the blue teen opened the comic and put it down on his lap, inviting her to read the story if she was interested. Engrossed in these actions, he had failed to notice the two red ears which peeked from behind the sofa, targeting the sparkly yoyo Cyril had deposited on the couch not long ago.

[Paula]

First the scarlet ears..then the top of a blond head. Slowly, Zoelin raised her head up from the couch, her smile and nose being the only thing visible on her face. When she looked over the couch, seeing the two squirts reading, she noticed that the shiny she had followed belong to Nebulos' head...so it was a miss.

She had overheard them talking about some sort of dance, which made her raise a blond eyebrow. She hadn't heard of this dance...when did they decide on a dance?

Zoelin frowned a bit and looked up in thought, but then her lavendar eyes--which were hidden by her bangs--widened again. There, up in the sky in the pocket of a bird-alien...was something super shiny.

Her grin returning, Zoelin crouched down again eyeing Cyril and Ynda as if she were a sniper-gun, and soon, she jumped.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
-------------------------------------------

Lunira smiled and nodded. "Just 'cause it's boy stuff doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested." When she looked down at the comic, she couldn't help but chuckle at her glowing-friend trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

The comic did look interesting, however, it was certainly colorful, although the main superhero's secret identity looked a bit obvious. Then again, if they didn't know his identity and alias, then they might've been a little confused as well.

Taking a furry paw, Lunira pointed to one panel and said, "I like his catch-phrase. He looks like he's going to pounce on something--"

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Odd enough as it was, just when Lunira had spoke a red and yellow blur whizzed by over their heads and into the air, almost jumping and pouncing like an earth-cat.

"What in the stars?" It looked as if Zoelin, which she realized by the voice and yell, was aiming towards Cyril and Ynda.

----

(Question: How do you make the image a little smaller?)

[RohaHat]

Suddenly violently attacked by a red blur trying to steal his shinies, Cyril yelped and, dropping Ynda from his back in the process in the most careful way he could manage while still defending his prize, let out more loud shrieks of surprise as he was rapidly losing flight. "THEY'RE MYYYYYY SHINIES GO AWAAAAAAY," he squawked in alarm, trying to fend the girl off with his wings while still remaining airborne, which was difficult when the girl was trying to drag him to the ground.

[Vera9]

Ynda perked up when she heard someone basically shouting "shiny" so loudly her ears hurt approach her and Cyril somehow. Next thing she knew, they were attacked by an alien she didn't know and ended up falling off Cyril's back, exhaling a shriek in the process.

She managed to land on her four paws like a cat, but even with a safe landing, her face still expressed shock. She stood up and watched the two in the air, narrowing her eyes at the taller alien girl.

"Hey!" she shook her fist in the air, wishing they were closer so she could help Cyril fight her off. "Leave him alone, you idiot!"

[Sadie]

Weaving through the air in elegant long lines, the girl seemed to be trying to bring herself up and out of the dismal feelings that she had been feeling earlier. She came to a halt in front of Masurao and shook a finger at him, almost like a teacher might when scolding a student. A hilarious feeling, since he was often the one teaching her.

"Now, now, Mister Sebes," she said sternly. "You're using that information against me. I should have never told you that Telarians are notorious cheaters, you'll never let me live it down."

It wasn't that she meant to be a cheater; it was the way that she was raised, and Etoile was the same way. Since every Telarian was telekinetic, it was almost expected that they would use their powers to throw a game, either by tripping someone or affecting the equipment or sending the ball farther than it should have gone.

Because of this, everyone grew used to using their powers to either guard against such things or to cause them, and it was a well-known fact on D'thlany that every game included cheating. Games could become very intense, competitive, and that was what caused the fierce competition between the two siblings when pitted against each other.

Tala had made the mistake of telling Masurao this, and now it appeared that he wasn't going to let her forget it, even though she promised him that she didn't cheat when she was in the headquarters. . . usually.

"I'll beat you fair and square." Dropping onto her bare feet, she lifted a challenging eyebrow at him and propped her hands on her fists. Actually, she sort of hoped to beat him, simply to see him look uncomfortable at the idea of dancing with Etoile. But she knew that she would lose, and she planned on dancing with Etoile anyway. It was just fun to see the bodyguard get interested in the challenge.

"Ready?" Leaning down and tensing to run, she flashed a wide grin at him and then shouted, "GO!" Taking off in a sprint, she was gone from the observatory, leaving memories and stardust in her wake to sleep with the rest of her initial fears.