bakerstreet | Little Steps

Little Steps

little steps

No matter how much they care for the other person and want to be with them, some people simply can't dive head first into relationships. Little things that form intimacy and romance, little acts we take for granted - being close, holding hands, kissing, showing affection in public - they won't or can't do...at least not right off the bat. Something in their past, their experiences, their trauma, or even their personality holds them back. For both them and the person they're "dating," as it were, this can lead to a frustrating experience.

Still, steps can be taken towards letting the walls fall down. Little, tiny steps, but those can mean the world all the same.

The People
One With the help of a partner, one person warms up.
Two Both sides of this couple are learning how to be in a relationship and to be open.

The Actions
Talking → A relationship can't exist if there's not some communication, so either learn to use your words or become so close you can speak without them.
Spending Time → Even such mundane occurrences as watching TV or cooking together is new ground.
Touching → You might just find you enjoy reaching out and touching them.
Kissing → Another kind of touch, when you think about it.
Cuddling → ...at least they're warm and, hopefully, soft.
Sleeping → You're at your absolute weakest when you're asleep. It shows trust to doze off around this person.
Public Display → It's one thing to be in love in private, but showing you care in public is a different story.
Kind Words → Three little words (more or less) are all it takes. Why, then, are they so hard to get out?
Sex → The ultimate stumbling block to some. To be laid blissfully bare is to truly let your guard down.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Weee~eeell-- ☆

[ STOP HER ]

And remind Ruby she's meeting me and You on Saturday!

[Sheer stubbornness has her continue the still-futile attempts to grab Mari's phone. Not holding it is fine, if she can hit...the end call button...

That said, the helpless flailing simply makes Kanan resemble a certain E. Honda doing a certain Hundred Hand Slap.]

[ Congratulations, Kanan! Your valiant efforts have earned you another day of living in not as much shame as you would have otherwise, because after Dia says 'I will' and 'have fun with... whatever it is you are doing', she hangs up. You can now stop flailing!

Mari, however, can not seem to stop laughing. ]

Pfffffhahahaha--

[ There are tears. ]

That wasn't funny!

[They both just narrowly evaded mortal peril, show some relief.] Dia can and will do awful and unspeakable things to us, if you'd asked her.

["Student council president kills childhood friends in fit of annoyance" is probably the lamest headline to raise a rating far above PG.]

It was-- [ wheeze-- ] SO funny! Hee!

[ Wiping at her eyes now. Okay, she's starting to get it back together. ] You're way too pessimistic about this, Kanan. There's no way she would've gotten that mad!

So you say.

[The gall. Gal. Unable to settle on either, she takes the next best option and flicks Mari on the forehead.]

Dia totally could kick my ass. And then what, huh? Who will hold her back from going after you?

Owie! [ Oh no, she got scolded! And yet no part of Mari shows any sign of repentance. Geez, she could at least make it sound like that actually hurt. ]

You mean, you'd protect me...? [ Gasp. Sniff. Sparkly eyes. Oh no-- ] Kanaaaaaaaaaaan! I love you! [ Yup, going in for one of her signature tackle-hug cobra-grip combos. Look out!! ]

[Dazzling...! Almost supernatural, the way Mari can violate the laws of all things reasonable like (supposed) immunity to her -- capital-T The -- sparkly eyes, or the way Kanan ends up bowled over, stumbling even when she had braced for impact.

Also. "I love you"???????

...it was too overblown to be meaningful, she understands as much, and she has enough self-awareness to tell her perception is coloured by foolish hopes it did have meaning. Still.

?????

Outwardly, though, a perplexed scowl barely forms the sole indication towards how shaken she is.]

Ehhhhh... [Is this how koala trees feel like. The favoured trees, those which koalas form strange attachments to and refuse to be removed from. But trees probably wouldn't enjoy koalas' attentions as much...

Ehhhhh.]

'Ehhhh', what? [ Arms around Kanan's shoulders, Mari rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet, pointedly brushing her nose to the other girl's cheek. ] I'm touched by your noble sacrifice, obviously!

[ The very loosely-defined, wholly hypothetical sacrifice, but still. They've hugged on shakier premises! ]

I'd much prefer not having to come to the...sacrifice bit.

[No fault of Dia's that she, well, has such a colossal and Mari-specific soft spot. She'd feel bad to bother Dia over stuff they can handle by themselves. Add the mention of Ruby, and she can imagine Dia taking far less kindly to hearing -- "You interrupted my bonding time with Ruby for what?!"

Shudder. Even mental image Dia is so terrifying.]

Hey, quit that. I'm not food.

[Koala. Tree.]

Edited 2016-12-28 04:58 (UTC)

What are you saying? You're Mari's favorite snack~♪ [ Nuzzle, nuzzle, peck. She nips at her ear, too, for good measure. ] Yum!

[ Sorry, Kanan. You are indeed the koala tree. ]

Whuh -- [WHAT IF SHE JUST NEVER PUT HER HAIR UP AGAIN] Let go...

[Except the attempts to pry Mari off do very little, other than causing the arms around her to slide slightly lower. Fantastic!!!

Why does she try.]

[ Oh, you wanted them lower? All you had to do was ask! Mari happily adjusts to wrap around Kanan's waist instead, squeezing tight. ]

No can do! See, it's your punishment for failing my quiz. [ A low giggle, and she kisses the edge of Kanan's jaw. ] You'll just have to endure, Contestant Matsuura.

[Her sigh is harried, defeated. At the rate they're going, allowing Mari to do however she likes is an increasingly viable possibility.]

Then. [She angles her head, looking on Mari's side.] Won't you tell me the standard answer?

[The game show analogy wore out its welcome long ago, but she'll roll if they are sticking to it.]

[ Letting Mari do however she likes, at the end of the day, is the only real viable possibility. It's just that sometimes, it takes six or seven calls -- or the physical equivalent thereof -- to get people to see that.

But Mari can be pretty patient when she wants to be, so she doesn't mind waiting. ]

Mm... [ Is she contemplating it that seriously, or just distracted by how soft Kanan's skin feels, and how nice she smells? ... The latter, definitely the latter. The way she breathes her in is a dead giveaway. ] For which question?

[One? Pick only one?

The sense that she is a next, if yet conscious, meal being toyed with hasn't lessened.

How troublesome.]

Wait, I got this. Uhh...R-E-L-L-I...

[The sounds of Mari's breathing are certainly slowing her down.]

Bzzt. [ She blows a hot, reprimanding breath against the side of Kanan's neck. Come on, what would Dia say? Honestly. ]

You're really bad at this, you know that?

[Score two for leaving her hair down the rest of her life.

She'd made the mistake of inhaling right when Mari chose to blow on her neck, the hitch, the slow and forced swallowing thereafter, would be obvious.]

Why else do you think I'm getting the simplest out of the way first?

[Justification for her claim to the answer. LOGIC.]

[ A snort. ] I meant you're bad at that, too.

[ With that, she loosens her hold -- just enough to lean back, now looking Kanan in the eye. ] I feel sorry for you not getting a single one right, so I'll help, okay? Just repeat after me. R, A, L, L, I...

Hah? [Here it comes, the return of the dubious expression.]

Did you say "A"? That makes no sense. [Translation: SOUNDS FAKE BUT OK.

A shame they'd called Dia earlier. She's sorely tempted to get backup from Dia anyway, against her better judgment.

Between the inevitable wrath (and endless nagging) of Dia and FAKE BUT OK, however, it wouldn't hurt (so much) to play along.] ...R-A-L-L-I...

[ Are you really going to make this into an argument, Kanan? Because only one person here lived in America until elementary school and then for another two years during highschool, and that wasn't you.

--Is what Mari may well have resorted to saying, except Kanan seems to be going with it anyway! Wonderful. Now, where were they? I... ]

... Love, [ she punctuates that one with a peck to Kanan's lips, ] You. [ And one more. ]

[ And she pulls back. ]

-- Whoopsie, silly me! There's no U in caterpillar, backwards or forwards! ♪

[_{_AA}A^{^AA}A_AA^A

What actually explodes out of her, in a less impressive display:] Y-You tricked me!

[Couldn't keep the stutter from showing, this time. Ugh. She huffs, frustrated as much at herself as with Mari.]

Seriously, if you just wanted to make me say it...

[ The accusation only makes Mari look all the more pleased-- until that last little addition, which instantly flips her self-satisfied grin into a scowl. She claps her hands around Kanan's cheeks, hard, pulling her in until their noses are barely an inch apart.

And she stares into her eyes with the sort of no-nonsense glare that'd make even Dia a little pale in the face. ]

Kanan.

I asked.

[-- all you had to do was get the vocal recordings from Riko, was how she originally planned to finish with. But that would exacerbate things, and they don't need any further exacerbating.]

Yeah. You did. [Fine. Fine!! Maybe she should have put a later expiry date on it!!!

UGH.]

no subject

no subject

that's like the best possible descriptor

a gif wouldn't have been as entertaining

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject