crowspace | voicetesting!

Yes. You're beautiful.

[She hasn't mistaken you for Kou somehow.]

Well, yes, but- [ nice save, lira, nazuna's on the defensive now. ] -that's not the point! Are you telling me girls have been on the menu this whole time and nobody knew?!

You're the first girl I've felt this way about.

[so uh, good job being lira's bisexual awakening?]

Is that so? Sheesh, some time you chose for experimentation...

[ she shoves her hands in her coat pockets, looking at lira directly. it's hard to read what's in nazuna's gaze, there. kou's not here, for one. she hasn't really had anyone to talk to these nights, and while she'd have been used to that a year ago it's different now.

and worst of all, she hasn't gotten to eat since she got here. ]

So? Whaddya want me to do about it? [ she takes two steps closer, removing a good portion of the gap between them in a direct challenge. ] I'm a lot older than you, kiddo. You've put that together already, right?

[So assertive...! It makes Lira's cheeks flush even more, but she doesn't back down. She's never backed down in her life.]

Age is just a number. It doesn't matter for real love.

Ehh? Is that so? [ another step. they're only about a foot apart, now... though that means nazuna has to crane her head back to look up at the girl. she's so tall. ] Maybe you're right, Echigo Lira.

[ it's not said in mockery. it's her name - if nazuna's aware of the joke, she doesn't stress it right for it. she just keeps looking up at lira, forcing eye contact with those disarming, piercing blue eyes. ]

So just how old do you think I am then, huh? If it's just a number, then that won't be enough to scare you off, right?

[ she can keep pushing, keep aiming until she scares the girl off.

and failing that, she can prove it's just infatuation in an entirely different way. ]

Just Lira.

[Not angry, but firm. Even if it's not said mockingly, she doesn't like to hear it.]

You're the same Nazuna from before... So you must be in your thirties?

Hah? Fine, just Lira. [ ... ] Lira-chan.

[ yeah, she can't do yobisute. feels weird. ]

Huh? It's- it's way higher than that! [ she was expecting some cool vampire guess, even with the girl not knowing exactly what she is. not... a mostly accurate guess. ] Not even close! Bzzzt!

How high would it have to be to matter?

[Even if she were hypothetically like a hundred.]

Isn't that your call to make?

[ she's not gonna be scared off, huh? guess that leaves option two. nazuna sighs, heading to the balcony door of the room lira's asked to speak to her in and opening it. ]

Well... fine. You know what? I'll tell you some things about myself. We'll talk it out. And if you're still convinced you luh- [ she stumbles on the word, flushing a bit before she composes herself. ] -if you're still convinced your feelings are real, I'll put them to the test.

[ she steps outside, onto the balcony, clearly expecting lira to follow. and then, as if it were perfectly natural, she hoists herself up onto the guard rail. ]

Lira-chan, what does the night mean to you?

Edited 2022-08-10 19:06 (UTC)

[Lira follows, admiring the way Nazuna fearlessly climbs onto the rail like there's no chance at all she might fall from this height.]

The night... The night is beautiful. The stars in the sky are so pretty. ...But it's a little lonely, too.

Ah, so that's how you see it, huh? [ nazuna chuckles. ] It's beautiful alright. The stars, the city, the people... All of it. And yeah, it can be a little lonely, too.

[ she stands at her full, not particularly impressive height, without a single fear in the world. she turns on the ball of one foot, facing lira directly. and then she holds out her hand. ]

Come on up. If you're gonna say you love me, you should at least know what the night means to me.

[Romantic...!

Lira takes Nazuna's hand, not entirely sure what she's expecting but knowing it's going to make her heart race.]

[ oh, that's sure one way to put it. she tugs lira up, barely waiting until the girl's stepped onto the railing before sweeping her up into a princess carry. lira may be huge compared to her, but she's the vampire; the strength advantage is on her end. she crouches, her legs tensing in preparation- ]

Hold on tight, missy.

[ -and nazuna leaps.

it's not that large of a jump for her - just a few stories up, five or six at most. but for lira, it's probably the fastest she's ever moved in the open air, and certainly the fastest she's ever moved vertically. like this, with the wind ripping around them and the ambient sound of the city moving beneath them - genuinely moving, cars and trains shifting in pitch as nazuna goes past - it's hard to remember they were just in a normal room. ]

So? [ she leans in to say it, grin spreading wide. ] Is this the night you remember?

Edited 2022-08-10 19:27 (UTC)

Wahh--!

[Lira's definitely clinging, arms around Nazuna's neck. They should be falling, but instead they're flying upwards - it can't be called jumping when it's this far, right?]

So high up! How-?

Hmm? What was that, Lira-chan?

[ a little swing of one leg, a little angular momentum... and just like that, they're upside down. nazuna doesn't even change her grip, past holding on that little bit tighter. after a few moments of upside-down teasing, a few moments of nazuna laughing with soft exhilaration, she flips back upright, and like that they glide easily - only slowing down to a more reasonable speed as the air buffets away the initial speed of the jump. ]

So? There's a girl named Nazuna you like, right? [ she leans in, whispering directly into lira's ear. ] Could your Nazuna-chan do things like this too?

[Being upside down makes her dizzy, but thankfully Nazuna rights them after a few seconds. She's never had to consider motion sickness as a real possibility before this and tonight would not be the night to start.

Breathlessly:] Nazuna-chan can do anything.

[She is more in love than she has ever been, surely.]

[ nazuna's smile slips, just a bit. but it's only for a moment. she has to concentrate on landing safe for lira, after all. wouldn't want to make her sick - or to hurt her, after all. she's just trying to scare her a little.

(and maybe, just a little, she's trying to show her the night. the time, the place, the mood she calls home. is that so wrong?)

they light down onto a rooftop. nazuna lands with an almost ethereal grace, with no more jolt to lira than if they'd been walking down a small staircase. and then, with that same odd expression, she sets lira down onto her feet. ]

You really are an odd one, aren't you. [ it's not meant to condemn, for once. there's a genuine sort of curiosity to her voice. ] That doesn't make you want to run away?

[She'll never think of the night the same way after this, that's for certain.]

No. I want to know everything there is to know about you. Nothing about you could scare me.

[ "nothing about you could scare me." for a moment, she thinks about the night school. about nico, about her first classes. about kyouko, in that same room lira took up.

it's a stupid thing to get caught up on. it's a weakness and a regret she'd rather not think about. and maybe that's why a single flicker of something plants itself in her brain. not love, not even a crush. just...

would it be so bad to have another friend? ]

Nazuna Nanakusa. [ she finally manages to get it out, with her tongue tied after that little profession. ] I don't know exactly how old I am. [ not a lie. ] I'm a vampire. Fangs and all, the real deal.

[ she reaches up, tugging her lip back to prove it. those... sure are some wicked fangs, huh. ]

Hey, uh... Listen. [ she sounds uncharacteristically serious. ] What you're feeling isn't love. It's just... [ lust, she nearly says before correcting herself. this girl doesn't seem like that sort of girl, after all. ] It's infatuation. You know? A crush. And...

[ ... ]

And that's probably a good thing. [ she finishes, a bit lamely. ] When a vampire feeds on someone that... y'know, meets certain criteria... [ she gestures to lira. ] If it's love, then they turn too. That's how we're born.

[ well. most of them. but there's no need to tell her about that just yet. ]

[She's not surprised to see the fangs - Nazuna's already flown through the air with Lira in her arms, nothing could shock her at this point.

The insistence that she's only experiencing a crush makes Lira frown.]

If you bite me, and I turn, that'll prove that it's real love, right? So bite me.

Wh- Were you even listening? [ of course she was. how else would she know? ] Think about what you're saying for a moment, dumbass! If for some reason, it really is luh-luh-luh-luh-

[ take a breath, nazuna. deep breaths. ]

-if you're right, then you're gonna turn into a freaking vampire! Have you given any thought to that? What are you gonna tell people? What about your parents?!

[ it's not that she cares, too much. it's just that, well... even if it's to prove a point, she doesn't want this girl's life to be ruined. ]

I'll tell them that I became a vampire to be with the one I love.

[Obviously? What else would she say to them.]

What, and they'll just accept that?? What kind of morons are your parents, huh!?

[ oh, jeez. she's getting genuinely pissed about all of this. it's not love, and she knows that, so it's fine, it's just - if it is, you know? then... then she'll...

she blocks it out of her mind. fine. this girl wants to play like that, she'll play back. ]

Fine! I'm not gonna turn you. But. [ she straightens up, shoving her hands into her pockets irritably. ] I haven't eaten since we got here a few weeks ago, and I'm freaking hungry. So I'll take a bite, and- and whatever happens, that's on you!

[ it won't happen. it'll be fine. she's... she's sure of it. ]

Still sound like such a good idea now?

Yes, please.

[She tugs down the collar on her dress. She knows enough about vampires to know that they bite people's necks, and the rest - she'll learn as she goes, right?]

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