Yay for running late [Active/Closed]

[sumofallfayth]

Character(s): Yuna, Belle, Beast, and Tidus
Content: Double date?? Yuna goes out to practice with her dresspheres and runs into a few friends
Setting: outside, exact location TBA
Time: Midmorning?
Warnings: None for now, but maybe Beast's temper ought to get stuck here

Yuna had intended to be up early so she could get outside to work on her dresspheres again, but she'd managed to oversleep that morning. So instead of being able to relax as she got ready, she was running around, gathering up her things as she tried not to disturb Belle. She honestly, wasn't paying much attention to how much noise she was making, though, as her entire morning would get thrown off if she didn't make it out on time, and the whole thing was reminiscent of the morning after her trip to Djose Temple as a summoner and Operation Mi'ihen. She just hoped no one would tease her about having bed hair this time around.

As it was, she barely didn't hit her intended goal. Sighing to herself, she set up camp and started to shuffle through her dresspheres. Which one would be the best option for now? With luck, she wouldn't be disturbed and she could go on training the entire day.

Comments

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

Unbeknown to Yuna, Belle was already gone from their apartment. She'd been so eager to spend time with Beast again that she had come calling to his door earlier than conventional etiquette would allow. Seeing him post on the network filled her heart with warmness and she wanted to help bring him out of his shell a little more. Why she was so invested in him now was still a mystery to her, but she knew she felt an undeniable connection to him. Perhaps it was because it seemed as if they came from the same world.

Now she was walking outside by his side, basking in the morning sun and breathing deep the clear air of the city. Belle glanced sidelong at her companion, checking his mood with a small, gentle smile as their eyes met. "Are you alright, Beast?"

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

Beast stopped for a moment. He hadn't spoken since Belle brought him out of his apartment, and they had been walking for a few minutes now in silence. This, of course, after he left her waiting in the hall while he tried--almost unsuccessfully--to put on a shirt. It had been a very long time since he had worn one.

"Y-yes," he replied hastily. He slowly raised an eyebrow, the corners of his lips falling just a little as he looked down her beautiful features. "...Why do you ask?"

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

"Well..." Belle said hesitantly, looking at the road they walked down. Would it be okay to bring up what had happened on his journal? Maybe it would upset him. But maybe he needed someone to talk to about it! Ducking her head as she brushed back an errant strand of hair, she continued. "I know Timon upset you on your journal the other day. As well as a few others." She looked up at him now as they walked, warm eyes shining in the morning light. "I'm sorry they reacted like that."

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

Beast growled, dismissing Belle's concern with disdain. He whipped his cloak in front of him and resumed his former pace, as if she had said nothing at all. It was no different from how everyone always treated him. He was a monster...nothing more. Even the ones who said they didn't care acted the same.

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

Belle stopped her pace to stare at Beast's hunched figure with exasperation and disappointment. She was right to go with her first instinct, apparently, but it was no less hurtful that he reacted this way. She shouldn't have to walk on eggshells around him, even if his pain was so extraordinary. Feeling her indignation rise, she frowned and continued walking behind him, eyes flashing.

"Of course, the majority of the judgment came from you," she said, her voice cutting through the tense silence. This was definitely a bad idea, she knew that in the back of her mind, but her frustration spurred her forth.

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

"What?" Beast asked quietly, too soft to really be heard. He stopped again and his ears perked up indignantly. He spun around to face Belle, only to have her walk right by him.

His face drooped along with his ears, and he opened his mouth to say something. He closed it again when he found that he didn't have anything to say. She...was...right...

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

In point of fact, Belle hadn't heard, too caught up under her own steam to be as perceptive as she usually would. "Not everyone is going to hate you on sight, Beast!" she sighed, turning around to face him, sure she'd see a snarl or at the very least some spark of temper. When she found otherwise, she closed her mouth and ducked her head.

"...I know it's hard to trust that people won't judge you." Belle herself knew the truth in that. How many odd looks had the townspeople given her when she carried a stack of cast-off books home? She looked up at him again and reached out, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "But there are good people out there. And in this world, if not our own, there are people who have faced real monsters. The kind of creatures who don't have a heart."

Belle gave him another smile. "And I know they can tell the difference between that darkness and you."

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

Beast broke eye contact with Belle as soon as they'd made it. His sigh rumbled deep in his chest, and his brow furrowed while he closed his eyes. It was so hard to hear her say that, but so many of those he'd met here had made barely any mention of his appearance at all. It was almost like the spell had no effect here.

"I...I'm sorry, Belle." It took him a few moments to get the words out. He didn't apologize often, and he lacked confidence as he spoke. "It's...It's just that...I..." He paused for a moment longer. "It's so weird here."

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

"I know," Belle replied softly, a wry smile quirking up the edges of her mouth. She gazed at her hand on the tawny fur of his arm, vaguely aware that none of this seemed possible, shouldn't be possible at all in fact...but she was very glad it was. Despite the risk, the danger of living here, Beast's friendship alone made it all magical.

She withdrew her hand, cheeks faintly colored pink at the sudden knowledge that she'd be touching him far longer than what was considered proper and smiled brighter at him. "Well, I'll always be your friend, Beast, no matter what." Turning away, Belle began to walk slowly once again, hands clasped behind her back.

"So where would you like to go today?"

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

Beast didn't walk with her. If Belle looked back, she would see a face that was about to weep. Beast caught his breath, and rubbed a hand at the scruff of his neck nervously. "Belle?" he asked softly. "Did you...did you really mean that?"

Branching off here so not to disrupt the flow~

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

Belle kept her back to Beast, suddenly feeling a burst of shyness. She'd never really had a friend before -- Papa and Phillipe didn't count, though of course there was Yuna. A man, or a male beast, seemed different, though. She wasn't at all sure how this sort of thing happened and she was now regretting saying so much. Maybe she'd embarrassed him?

"O-of course I do," she said softly, turning her head to glance over her shoulder at him. Blinking large, honey-brown eyes at him once, she smiled again briefly before glancing away.

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

Tidus hadn't ever experienced anything like this before; crossing his arms, he looked at the clock and wondered exactly how long it would take Yuna. "Yuna, we don't want them to wait too long, do we?" He mused aloud, somewhat softer than his usual outspoken volume, hearing the rummaging of spheres from the other room. Sitting on the couch he took temporary residence on, he looked around the decor of the room.

[sumofallfayth]

"I'm working with my dresspheres first!" Yuna called softly, pulling out her Gun Mage first before tucking the others into her hip pouch. "Come on! I need to go outside before I wake up Belle!"

She still had no idea that her roommate was already gone, but that was all right.

"Training, you know? I have to keep it up." Hopefully, Tidus would follow her out. She really did need to get some work in before she could think about play time.

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

"Dress... spheres?" Tidus cocked his head to the side. Did Spira really change that much during two years, or did he snooze off during the Dressphere lecture from Lulu or Rikku? Since Wakka didn't seem to type to be into dresses. Shaking his head, he ascertained that detail probably wasn't all too important, unless there was a Stripper or Lingerie Dressphere he'd get to see somebody in later on. But that seemed unlikely; that regular outfit Yuna sported now was more than enough to give him an eyeful.

Following Yuna at a decidingly somewhat slower pace, he found them outside. "Training?" It suddenly hit him, then. "Hey, Yuna, are you going to go join the others in getting out here? At that Castle Oblivion... or whatever?"

[sumofallfayth]

Yuna paused a moment and changed her mind on the dressphere she wanted to work with first. "I might, but it's all the more reason to practice now. You should practice too," she added slyly, wondering what he would think of sparring against her. He didn't know all she was capable of these days.

Kicking her feet out a little, she activated the songstress dressphere quickly, making the clothing change in record time and a lot of blinding light.

"So. Do you want to work with or against a Songstress?" she asked teasingly.

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

"I could side with either end of a Songstress." Tidus smirked, recalling Lenne. Shaking his head, though, he held out the Brotherhood sword Wakka gave him. So, that was a Dressphere... seemed nifty. "I'm willing to be your sparring partner, but I'm going to go easy on you. I wouldn't want to hurt you, after all." He stated, rather confident in that even in the span of two years, there was little chance that the woman who required Guardians on her pilgrimage could take on a blitzball player without her aeons.

[sumofallfayth]

Yuna grinned and then wrinkled her nose a little, brandishing the microphone she now held at him. "You say that now." She knew she wasn't the best fighter in the world, but she'd been practicing and she had some tricks up her sleeve now that he wouldn't expect.

Starting with a nice little Darkness Dance as she pondered which dressphere would make the best second shot.

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

"What are you going to do? Hit me with a microphone?" Tidus lifted an eyebrow, but once Yuna's dance began to take effect. It only slightly hit him that Yuna's dress looked very familiar... but he dismissed it. They came from the same world, after all, so fashion might have been shared, like the people in several different cities wore the exact same clothes and hairstyles.

"Haste!" With that, he swung his sword (blindly) yet gently as to not hurt the woman.

[sumofallfayth]

Well shoot. Yuna had forgotten just how much Tidus liked Haste. A smile crossed her lips as she pondered dresspheres.

"No. That wouldn't get anything through your head," she teased, jumping aside to dodge the first attack. She had a few more seconds left before she could swap to another, so she danced around to another side, wondering if Tidus would be able to figure out where she was now.

"Sooo, what should I use next?" she mused, making her curiosity from a moment before a completely moot point.

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

"How about something that'll let me see?" Tidus teased, preparing to cast another spell. White magic certainly came in handy; no wonder why Yuna used it. "Slow!" Aimed at the general vicinity of the current-songstress. "Try dodging so easily now." His cocky attitude was bound to land him in hot water sooner or later, but he continued to attempt to strike Yuna... hopefully without hurting her. Especially in an impromptu training session. He just had to think of it as an exhibition match, is all.

[sumofallfayth]

"Hey, that's cheating!" Yuna teased with a grin as she barely managed to dance out of the way of his blade that time. Her dance ended then, giving him back his sight, and she immediately activated the Mascot dressphere. Bright lights engulfed her and when they died off, she was dressed as a rather large stuffed moogle.

Even though it was a bit stuffy and hot, she loved this dressphere. Ribbon canceled out the Slow and soon, Yuna was offering a Delay Buster to Tidus, though she wasn't trying to hit him very hard. She didn't want to hurt him much, either. And then she used a special ability called Sentinel to lessen any damage he landed on her.

Testing the waters. It was good for both of them.

*interrupting French peasant girl*

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

So caught up in Beast's company was Belle that she didn't notice her roommate and her companion right away. As they neared the dueling couple, however, she was hard-pressed not to notice flashy powers of Yuna's dressspheres. She gasped, halting in their progress, reaching out to tug on Beast's cloak.

"I-it's Yuna!" she whispered urgently, eyes wide. For a brief moment, Belle thought her friend was in trouble, but...it seemed both of them were smiling, even laughing. Were they play-fighting then? She glanced up at Beast, shrugging.

TIDUS SMASH!

[mystorydammit.livejournal.com]

"... A moogle?" Tidus dropped his stance, raised an eyebrow, and after a second or two burst out in a fit of laughter. "GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT'S HILARIOUS!" He smirked, almost totally losing it; he and Yuna may as well have been on the balcony in Luca where they laughed out loud, only he was covering for both volumes.

Then he got hit.

"Hey, that hurt! You definitely don't hit like a girl!" He grinned, slightly more serious than before. It may have been a goofy looking costume, but it certainly got the job done. "Jecht Shot!" Taking out a blitzball out of who-knows-where, he aimed true and shot.

[tolove-inreturn.livejournal.com]

Beast's blue eyes were just as wide as Belle's for a moment, seeing Yuna surrounded in light. It reminded him of the enchantress...and that horrible night. But before his good mood fell away completely, Belle looked up at him.

The great monster turned toward the other couple again, and saw what was going on. He had seen this kind of behavior among his servants. Something about being violent apparently gave them amusement, though he'd never understood why. He looked back down at Belle, and shrugged himself.

The blond boy was familiar. They'd fought against those shadows together. But Beast had quickly parted from him, and the other blue creature. He hadn't even stayed long enough for an introduction.

Lady Luck is in the house~~~ AND IS APPARENTLY AN EDITING FIEND

[sumofallfayth]

Yuna couldn't help but feel slightly put out at Tidus' reaction to the dressphere, though she couldn't honestly fault him for it. She'd been a little weirded out when she first saw it, but it definitely was one of her best ones. So with a smirk, she felt around for another dressphere-

-and promptly got hit by the blitzball.

"Hey!" she cried, laughing in spite of herself. "I've got a few more abilities these days. Let's see how you like Lady Luck."

She noticed Belle and gave a wave, wondering what her roommate was doing out, but then focused on Tidus again. With another grin, she activated the next dressphere in another flash of light. Time to see how he liked having a couple of cards thrown at him.

[beautiful-tale.livejournal.com]

Belle lifted a hand and gave a little wave back, a bemused smile slowly spreading across her features. "That must be Tidus," she said quietly, watching the blonde boy. "He's Yuna's closest friend." She glanced up at Beast again, smile turning a bit mischievous. "I believe they might even be in love." She sighed dreamily, turning back to watch the other couple. "Look how well they move together! They're like characters from a story -- two great warriors, bound together, implicitly trusting in one another. Isn't it lovely, Beast?"