lynchpin_castle | Lynchpin---Castle and Surrounding Grounds.

Himawari was leaning on a chair near by, grinning at him. "If you feel comfortable enough, maybe we can do a double next round. We're about evenly matched!" She giggled, only wanting to play for fun and not for sport.

Ahsoka felt herself smile a bit, lopsided as it was, as he praised her for her having fun. The injury to her hand wasn't too bad, and when they returned from the maze the wound was healed up, though the soreness was still there, as promised. A reminder of the trauma to learn from.

"It's not like I don't know how to have fun, Trunks Briefs." She said with a lift of her chin. She shook her head a moment after, looking down at the Jacket, before pushing it over to him. "Yes, well... resistant to cold or not, I meant to bring it back sooner. Thank you for allowing me to barrow it."

Ug, she liked his jacket. It was comfortable and warm and smelled like him. And if she had curled up in it in her bed last night, she wasn't going to say as much.

"Oh? Last time we had fun was tearing down clankers, Ahsoka Tano." Trunks grinned back at her in answering tease. Then taking the jacket, and throwing it back over the chair with a shrug. "You're more than welcome. We're partners, right?"

Yes, he meant all of them. Ignore that his eyes had met hers a bit too deliberately (and unconsciously) on his part as he'd said it. Ignore that his tone was hopeful and genuine. Especially as he turned his head back a bit to watch Tamaki for a moment.

"I think as long as I don't fall of this pad, I'd be game for that Hima-chan." Tamaki replied, letting himself catch his breath as that song ended finally. Ty Lee grinned at him and poked his arm teasingly. "Maybe I should go get some of those water-bottles for all of us. And a towel. And a chair for you, Tamaki." Impish grin as she said that.

"Last I heard, taring down clankers was fun." She said back, head lifting, and a smile coming back to her lips. And in that moment, as he said they were partners, she had caught that glance, t hat look. Blue eyes looking back at him a bit too long.

She took a small breath and nodded, looking away and said. "Partners. Yes." And then smiled a bit too large, arms wrapping around herself a moment as she stood there. The song ending and poor Tamaki getting a break. She pushed away a step and clapped for Tamaki. "I liked that last song. Nice show, Tamaki." Awkward Togruta was awkward.

Himawari chuckled faintly, leaning on the chair she had. "Here, Tama-chan. Take a break. Next time you go up, we'll dance off. Have you done this before?" A commoners game, he called it. How cute.

Though she did glance over to that awkward aura of Ahsoka and Trunks, curiously watching them.

"That's why it was the last time we had fun." Trunks shot back gamely, perhaps also a bit awkward. "We should think about doing that again sometime. Or get you that speeder, so you can show me."

"Himawari-chan, you are a gift." Tamaki praised, before also smiling at Ty Lee. "Ah, a gentleman should be the one who takes care of gentle ladies." Which made Ty Lee giggle and toss her hair flirtatiously. "Normally I'd agree with you Tamaki, but I think you really should sit right now."

"Once you have more awareness of the space, you'll pick it up Tamaki-kun." Trunks also commented, shooting his friend a thumbs up.

"Hey, I've had fun since then." She said, head tilting a bit. "I swim with Tamaki. That's fun." Then, a tap of her chin. "Playing dodge the laser beams with you with acid was fun as well." No. No that was not fun. Ahsoka, no.

Himawari moved the chair a bit closer and stood. "You take care of us all the time, Tama-chan." She chuckled about the space awareness too. "A bit of muscle memory will help also. The more you do it the more you learn the songs." But then she nodded to the rest of the room. "There are other games we can play too, if everyone needs a break."

"The acid wasn't so fun, but the dodging part wasn't bad." A rueful smile, but there was still amusement in his eyes. "Logan and I had fun beating each other up, so I guess that counts too." Okay---it hadn't exactly been fun so much as a stress relief.

Tamaki smiled, miming taking Hima's hand and raising it teasingly. He'd noticed her aversion to touch too. "I shall have to practice, to keep up with all of you." Sinking into the chair slightly, and then turning to look at the rest of the games. "Maybe once I can't stand, I'll go try another one."

Ty Lee shook her head in amusement, before turning to Himawari. "You'll have to teach us how to use these things. They're way more advanced than anything I've seen, even in the Fire Nation." But she was game. "I think I'll go see about water though, and towels. Maybe some other snacks too."

"I think I can help with a bit of it." Himawari said, giggling at Tamaki and his motions. She let him take a seat, hands going to her hips and smiling at them. Friends. She liked every one of them. She was glad they were careful around her with out her having to explain yet.

"Beating you up is kind of fun." She shot back, yeah, as if she ever had. She moved with them nearer the others, just in time to hear Ty Lee starting to excuse herself to go get things. "Here, I'll come with you, Ty Lee." Ahsoka said, only for Hima to speak up right after.

"Oh, no, Ahsoka, you stay. I need to take a break myself and can give you a hand, Ty Lee." She beamed, then reached over to pat the machine. "How about you two give it a go together. Try not to break it, huh?"

She bounced over with Ty Lee, not having intended to go help her at first, but not wanting Ahsoka to leave, she gladly put the offer in.

Tamaki tried to not flop. Just because he wasn't the athlete most of his companions were, doesn't mean he wanted to advertise just how much he wasn't. At Himawari's suggestion though, he beamed and sat up straighter. "Oh yes! That's a wonderful idea Himawari-chan."

Ty Lee was happy to have the company, especially since it meant Ahsoka stayed. She had never meant to make the other girl uncomfortable. She hadn't meant to make Trunks uncomfortable either--he was just so reserved and shy!

"I think we should get some proper snacks and plan for the next hour or so up here." She commented, before turning back to the 3 remaining. "There's even a couch you can take a nap on Tamaki."

"Ha ha ha, Ty Lee. You wound me." The blond teased back.

Trunks was watching them all, mind turning and then studying Tamaki for a moment. Hmmm... Tamaki was president of a host club; Trunks wouldn't put it past the blond to have picked up something.

His brain could turn it over in the background though, as he moved from his position and left the jacket on the chair. "I'd be up for it if you are Ahsoka."

Himawari moved to the door out of the Den with Ty Lee, nodding and smiling, chipper as always. "We'll be back soon then. Wear them out, Tamaki! When we get back... maybe we can all see about the racing game I spied earlier." And then just moved with the other girl, talking about what a racing game was and controllers and how they worked. She had never got to play games like this with other people. Not when she was at home. It wasn't until these last few years that she got to try. Yasuke got her into it, and Shikamaru surprising enough. It was Sephiroth and Angel that surprised her the most with them though. If THEY could do it, this bunch could.

Ahsoka waved lightly at the two leaving, then moved to rest her arms on the edge of one of the rail guards. Maybe she was the last to really pick up on anything here. It was there, in the back of her mind. She knew it as well as she knew she had feelings for Lux before. But this was... different.

"I could go a round or two, if you want to be 'schooled' as Ty Lee said." She then tilted her head, looking over at Tamaki. "You want to pick the song? That way if he messes up too badly he can blame you for the bad song choice." A tease to him, but also to Trunks. See? She was trying to be relaxed and chill... even if she felt so... awkward right now.

Tamaki had never gotten to play these games before, even though they'd been available. In a way. The whole idea of this room with games and game systems was inspired, and he promised himself he'd thank the Master later.

Trunks moved over to the machine, and his gaze flitted between the two, before settling on Ahsoka. "If he chooses the song, you can blame him. I say he's giving us both a fair chance." Ignoring the puppy dog look Tamaki was giving them both, and dramatic hand on his forehead.

"You both wound me more than Ty Lee-chan. But I do think it fair if I pick the difficulty and songs, considering how skilled you both are." No more moping with the end of that statement, as his grin was decidedly cat-like.

"Sounds good to me. Ahsoka?" Trunks stepped up onto one of the dance pads, and waited.

Himawari had also vowed to herself to thank the Master for the recreation and entertainment. She had things she could train with, but she was no fighter and where someone like Ahsoka or Trunks or someone were out having fun beating things up, she found fun in other things. This helped.

And if it takes her and Ty Lee a bit longer to pick snacks up? Oh well. She's going to make some popcorn as well.

Ahsoka tilted her head, looking from Trunks to Tamaki, then giving him a smile. She liked when he got that devious grin on his face. Something about him was charming in a completely different way then she saw Trunks. (Not that she would admit it about Trunks yet. Or she does but she doesn't and oh gosh...)

"That works for me. Tamaki is the unbiased one here." She rolled her shoulders and pulled herself up to the short platform, stretching a moment, both arms high above her head, behind it, fingers splaying a moment. "Make it a good one."

Tamaki was of a similar mind about the games to Himawari. Having seen some of what was required as a champion (even if it had been more 'mental' supposedly), he knew he was never going to be a fighter. He was likely to ever be the athlete Ty Lee, never mind Ahsoka or Trunks or Logan. While he was making mental notes to try and learn some self-defense, and maybe how to use a ranged weapon, having a form of recreation that could double as 'training' while being fun was for the best.

The blonde also had a mischevious streak (all in good fun) which he blamed the Hiitachin twins for, as he looked over the music selections.

Trunks' grin didn't change, but he also seemed to light up more when Ahsoka did decide to join him. He was already still pretty warmed-up, from swimming and then playing his first rounds. "I think we've found Tamaki-kun's evil side, so I don't doubt he'll make us suffer."

"I would take offense to that were it not true." Tamaki responded with a laugh as he found a good warm-up for them and set the difficulty. "Prepare yourselves!" as the song started.

Himawari has some archery skills from Domeki. Maybe she and Tamaki could try a few lessons. She's not great, but it could help them both. Either way, learning a new skill as well as having fun is important to growing better at it. Or so he feels.

"It's about time. I was pretty sure he was aligned to the dark side." She teased back, trying to relax as well. She tapped her feet a moment on the center pad and leaned back, holding the brace bar, watching the blond pick a song.

"The charming and dashing side of Tamaki is a cover." And then he said to prepare, and the song started. She pushed to standing and bounced a moment, hearing the music, trying to get to the... what did Hima call it? The Groove?

"Yeah, I got this." She said, and moved, with ease, tapping arrows at the fair pace. In truth, this game was easy enough for her but also not at all something she can call the Force to help her with. After all, she couldn't tell in a computer program what the next arrow is, but she had gotten good at multi tasking arrows and her feet. Good enough that, like most DDR people, the rest of the body actually falls into place like a dance.

Tamaki blinked at her, with the dark side comment. Swallowing slightly and trying to not pale--it wasn't as if his sempai was around... "Remind me to tell you about Nekozawa sempai, and his black magic club sometime, Ahsoka-san." But then he let the two proceed to focus, and watched.

Trunks wasn't quite as smooth with it as Ahsoka was--yet. He had good reflexes, knew how to learn patterns, had good spatial awareness, AND knew generally how his body worked and how he moved. It was just a matter of picking up the 'groove'... But he was closer.

"You look better at it than I do." Murmured absently, as he wasn't focusing on his words or how they sounded. Tamaki had actively work to keep himself from smiling with that comment, but inwardly was cheering his friend on.

Especially as the short song finished, and he was then moving on to select the next one.

Edited 2017-11-14 08:01 (UTC)

"Black magic club..." she repeated, curiously, but nodded. As the song went, she missed a few steps but nothing too bad. A good warm up.

At Trunk's comment, she was too focused on the arrows to react to that like she might have normally. Instead, eyes focused, she smirked a moment. "Only because I'm more graceful than one might think." She teased.

When the song ended she rolled her shoulders, peeking over at him. She gave him a fainter smile, more focused than before, and glanced away as the new song started. Part way through she lifted her head a bit more. "I rather like this song..." And she liked playing this dumb game with Trunks.

"I had no doubts, Ahsoka." Trunks smirked back absently, before focusing once more. It was easier to split his focus a bit now, especially since she was right there with him, than him solo.

"Ahsoka-san, I should teach you some proper formal dances from Earth. You would enjoy them." Tamaki commented and then lit up when she mentioned she liked the song he'd picked. "If I recall, it is from a movie on my world. I wonder if it's also on Himawari's Earth, or Logan's. It was a child's movie, but it was about the power of imagination and I thought it was wonderful."

"If you find it, you'll have to show us, Tamaki-kun." Trunks commented, knowing it would make the blond happy. Plus it would be nice to see something that sounded hopeful for once, when his own childhood had been not. Right then though, he was having fun with the beats and with Ahsoka. Games were not something he'd had a chance to play before despite his Mother's technical genius.

She chuckled at his comment of having no doubts, but was too focused to really flirt back at the moment. Though she was grinning much more strongly.

"I'd like that, Tamaki! You know, in the Order we didn't have to learn to dance! The only times it was needed was when we had to use it to respect another worlds customs or some celebration that we were forced to take part in. A friend of mine and my masters taught me how to do a classic Nabooian dance once. It wasn't anything like this." It was a rarity that Ahsoka spoke about anything from the Order or friends or her master. A rarity indeed, but she wasn't focused on not talking about all that.

When the song ended she stood there, hands on her hips and smirking at the screen. They were even matched at least. "Movies were never really a thing we had time for either, though I have met some movie stars. I'd love to see what ever movie this song was from."

Tamaki was positively beaming as Ahsoka shared more of her past. Also at the idea that she would enjoy learning to dance. "I will have to make that happen then. We do have an even number of partners if everyone would like to learn or practice."

"You've had a more exciting life than I have then, Ahsoka." Trunks grinned, smirking also at the screen. "But it...would be nice to see what a more normal upbringing is like, Tamaki-kun."

Inwardly Tamaki was soaking up the praise now, because as he loaded up the next song he wasn't sure their good will would remain. "Time to test you both then. Himawari did say I should wear you out..."

Ahsoka let out a bit of a laugh as Tamaki mentioned having even number of partners. "I'd like to see you convince Logan to come and learn." Because she didn't believe it would work.

A glance spared to Trunks, she shook her head. "Exciting, maybe, but it's not the best of lives. I was a commander in a very long war. I'd rather check in on what normal is any day." She said with a smile at Tamaki again. She didn't think less of any of them for having more normal lives. She envied them.

Letting out a breath, she pulled her leg back to stretch it, balancing on one foot a moment, then reversing it. "Considering I've been in here for a few hours? I think you have a good chance of wearing me out." Because the next song was starting, and it was fast, and... what are those lyrics, Tama?

"I am not certain that my life was normal so much, but I understand what both of you are saying." Neither had yet been made aware of exactly the few problems Tamaki faced. If only because they were trivial, in the blond's eyes, compared to what he did know of the pair's own upbringing. Which isn't to say it didn't affect him, but...he felt it wasn't worth bringing up. So in this case, he was alluding mostly to his unfamiliarity with the 'commoner' life style.

"I was swimming, and in the dojo before that, so...not quite the same." Trunks commented, although he said nothing yet about the wearing out. "I don't think it's obvious you've been at this a few hours already, if that helps." It wasn't affecting how she played the game anyways.

Then the next song started, and it was faster, and for at least the beginning Trunks was focused on matching the arrows to the rhythm. Until the lyrics started to sink in, and he fumbled before catching himself. This...couldn't be deliberate, could it?

Ahsoka would understand, to an extent, some of what Tamaki's problems were. Even if they were not her own, she had known some people in situations almost like his. Or at least had witnessed a struggle such as that. Thankfully her time as a peacekeeper had shown her a lot.

Trunk's comment about her not looking as if she had done this for hours did not go missed this time. She glanced over at him, only to miss a few steps, making her try to catch up in a double step, head down a bit. The lyrics hit and she was sure her face was red now. Or, well, darker in some places, pinker in others.

She shot Tamaki a glance, brows raised as if to say 'really?' and... missed a few more steps. "I... feel like I have been at it hours thought." She said at last, stomping a few more notes, then calling to the blond. "Maybe you want a turn against him next?"

Tamaki, inwardly, was aware his new friends would probably understand. Each was wise in their own way, and their hearts were strong. It simply had not come up yet. He was also blithely ignoring any looks the pair might be giving him.

"No no, I think perhaps one more! Then we can all see what else is on offer before Himawari-chan and Ty Lee-chan return." Tamaki was quick to point out.

Trunks briefly lost his focus again, mostly with Ahsoka's comment and Tamaki's protesting, and missed the last few notes before catching up right as the song ended. A dismissive noise (not unlike his father's), and he was keeping the blush from his face by willpower. "I think he just wants to practice more before he tries against you or me."

"Please? One more?" Tamaki pleaded, while already cue'ing up the last song he'd found. But if neither wanted to play this round, he would not force it.

When the song stopped and Tamaki said just one more, Ahsoka stopped, hands on her hips and took a breath. She stared past Trunks to the blond, looking at him curiously.

Then glanced at Trunks himself and... oh no. Her hands ran over her face a moment then moved as if stretching out again. "One more, Tamaki. But you can't get better if you don't practice." She said, wagging a finger at him, and trying not to feel so heated in the face.

She couldn't even look at Trunks for the moment. Conversations from Tamaki near the pool, and from Himawari at the training room popping up, as well as her own actions.

Oh.

The last song was just as bad. But slower. She shot Tamaki a sharp look, brows raising, before moving in to step the notes again. Trunks might not be blushing, but something clicked in her head and she sure as hell was.

Tamaki was relieved inwardly that he had decided this would be the last song. Between the look Ahsoka had just shot him, and knowing Trunks was studying him, he figured he might have one or two 'talks' coming up. He didn't regret his actions really, the two of them needed to have fun with each other again. The tension since they'd arrived wounded and with her in his jacket in the maze had been almost a physical presence.

The song choice did not help--and while it was slower, it had some tricks. One held-note and some separate stomps together, and this was repeated and switched up. Which meant any worries and awareness he would have of things was narrowed.

IN some ways, he couldn't help it--he was just competitive enough to care. Add that part of him refused to be foolish in front of Ahsoka if he could help it... Blue-eyes were focused while his mind turned things over.

It was a sharp look, and her face was a blaze with heat. She turned back to the game, stomping a bit harder than needed, and missing a few beats. By the end of the song, points were tallied and she was behind Trunks.

With a laugh and a clap she gave a bright smile. A bit too bright. "Welp! Good rounds, Trunks. Look like I'm going to have to practice myself if I'm going to beat you the next time." She said, patting him on the shoulder twice, then moving to swing hop through the two back bars, bouncing off the machine and turning.

"Which meannns... It's Tamaki's turn to beat Trunks." She gave him a salute and backed up. "And I think I'll go check on Ty Lee and Himawari. See what's taking so long. I'm starved."

A flat ass lie. She was going to go and wander off. Maybe meditate for a bit. She was definitely starting to make her way to go though. You know, to help with the snacks.

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