soundoftheseas | DIAMARI CATCHALL

Dia's not hiding. She might be huddled with her knees to her chest underneath the school's biggest staircase, but it's not hiding. It's a habit carried over from when she was young -- small, closed-off spaces like this would always offer comfort when the world outside proved just a little too much to handle.

She doesn't do it much, anymore. It's unsightly now that she's grown; the student council president and future heiress of the Kurosawa family has no business lurking under stairwells at seventeen. Dia knows this. But she couldn't stand staying in the clubroom even a moment longer, and she doesn't want to leave for home yet, either. Some childish part of her refuses to get too far, just in case Mari comes after her... but when she finally does hear her voice from down the hall, she only hugs her legs tighter in stubborn silence.

No, she won't call Mari over. The least she could do is come all the way here herself.

It's just a sudden movement, a pair of legs poking out from under a stairwell that tuck in, ever so slightly, when she calls out, but it's enough to clue Mari in that someone is lurking over there. No part of that is anything close to an invitation to come closer, but she can't help herself, and comes running straight over.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

If she has a comment about her bring under the stairs, of all places, it's one that she keeps to herself. Instead, she kneels down a little bit lower, just to get to Dia's eye level. She won't ask her to get up, but...

"Did it really make you that upset? I thought you would find it cute..."

Dia glares up at Mari, but quietly listens to her talk just the same. She can't help but hope, perhaps foolishly, that Mari would show some understanding. Some remorse. Perhaps even go as far as offer an apology.

But 'foolishly' quickly turns out to have been an accurate prediction, and the words that leave Mari's mouth have Dia flaring up in a matter of seconds.

"Cute? What about that was cute?! Did you honestly think I'd be endeared by your endeavor to humiliate me before all our friends?!"

Dia's reaction makes Mari flinch a bit; she didn't think she would take it so personally! It wasn't as though everyone was laughing at her...it was just intended to be a joke!

"Dia, I didn't write it to embarrass you!"

...Maybe to get her a bit flustered, but, not embarrass in the way she's assuming--

"I just thought it would be cute to write a song like that, I didn't think you would be so offended...you really didn't like it at all?"

"What do you think?!"

Planting a hand against the floor, Dia climbs to her feet. She gestures wildly with her hands as she speaks, voice rising in a steady crescendo, cheeks flushing in flustered indignation.

"I took this challenge seriously. I put forth every bit of effort to create a piece I could share with pride. And you give me... that? Was your sole purpose from the start to make fun of me?"

Mari's done a great many things with the sole purpose of making fun of her. Very rarely have they affected Dia to this extent. Her hands squeeze into quaking fists, palms clammy with sweat within. Her face feels like it's on fire. Her throat itches, but the words keep pouring out just the same.

"That block of gibberish you wrote was an insult to our competition, an insult to me, and an insult to my--" my feelings threatens to roll past her tongue, but Dia clenches her jaw and swallows down hard. "--our friendship."

She inhales shakily, nostrils flaring. That momentary hitch has made her stagger off-pace -- her voice comes out smaller now, and a little uneven.

"You're the worst."

Edited 2017-02-24 01:45 (UTC)

"D-Dia, it's not like that at all...it's totally not what you think, I promise! I didn't mean to insult you, not even a little..."

She didn't quite know what she was expecting from all of this, but it's blatantly obvious that she's gone way too far. She's given her fair share of dumb jokes before, but, this time, she fucked up, there's no skating around that. She's seen Dia get upset over her antics before, but, not like this; the look on her face, out in the light from her spot underneath the stairs, says it all, and Mari staggers a bit from her crouched position close to the ground, making no move to get up to meet her. Her instinct, of course, is to get up with her arms outstretched, to pull her into a tight hug, but, her experience with Kanan has taught her that it may not be the smartest idea. Not yet, anyway.

"Say what you will about the competition, I obviously wasn't trying to make a masterpiece, but, I at least thought you would enjoy it...all I wanted to do was motivate you to write your song. If I had known you would've reacted like this, I wouldn't have made it so cheesy, but, I just...I thought it would be fun, I didn't mean to make you so angry with me..."

She, to her credit, looks devastated, when Dia gets that last word in. But she doesn't refute it; she certainly feels it.

Watching Mari shrink before her forms an instinctive tug at Dia's chest; it's not enough, however, to quell the anger and hurt swirling red-hot in the pits of her stomach. She's not ready to let it go just yet. She wants to understand just what Mari was thinking -- even if some part of her is scared of finding out.

"Then why did you write it about me? You could have written down any string of inane nonsense for me to embarrass myself reading, would that not have been enough for you?"

Mari just gulps at that. If she actually tells her the reason, she doubts it'll go over well. She's in the same dilemma she found herself in on Saturday night; Dia always interprets her feelings as a joke. Not that it's her fault, of course, because far be it for Mari to lay a serious confession on her, but, the problem that arises now because of it is a critical one: if she confesses now, and, God forbid, Dia interprets it as yet another joke, it might just make things much, much worse.

It's not like her to avoid being forthcoming about it. But she can't just...outright say it. She's not used to hesitating like this, but, Dia is very important to her, so she can't help but weigh her options, here. She has to choose her words carefully.

"...It would have, if I was writing it entirely as a joke."

She doesn't want to agitate her further, though, so, she'll leave it at that, though she wants to say more. But she tries to pick herself up off of the floor, at this point; it wouldn't be right to say any more unless she can say it right to her face, though it's tough to make eye contact with her without feeling a bit queasy. She messed up bad...

Dia's eyes widen a fraction of an inch at the implication, but she hurries to rein herself back in, brow furrowing low. If she sets herself up to be knocked down by another of Mari's stupid, stupid jokes, the one most worthy of scorn would be Dia herself.

But she can't, despite her best efforts, keep her heart from picking up its pace. At least that's one thing Mari can't see.

"What else was there to it, then?"

"I'm...not really sure you would believe me, if I told you, Dia."

No nicknames, no flourish; Mari just gives her an awkward smile as she fidgets. This isn't really the way she imagined this coming out; not that it'll be anything new, once she says it. It's just that Dia will have to look at it in a new light.

Kablillion-and-first time's the charm, maybe? That's what she wants to say to herself, to Dia. But now, when the atmosphere is so heavy, in this empty hallway as the rain comes down against the windows, and everything is so serious, she can't help but be a bit nervous about it, as unlike her as it is. Mari Ohara doesn't crack under pressure, not usually, but, she can feel her gut wrenching as she tries to take a step forward. This time will be different. And no matter how Dia interprets it, it'll change things between them.

After what happened today, she's not sure how to feel about that.

The sudden closeness makes the little hairs on Dia's nape stand on end, and she takes a step back before she's thought to.

"J-just spit it out already," she says, straightening her back and squaring her shoulders. Her hands are still balled up tight. "No more games."

"...No more games. Right."

Dia steps back, but Mari just steps closer. She can feel herself fidgeting, still overcome with nerves; there's really not an easy way to say it, just because there are so many different ways she can react here...and, it might as well be proven now that she's not the best at predicting her reactions. It's so much easier to just keep it lighthearted...but the time for that has long passed, and she doesn't have any more time to beat around the bush without Dia getting mad, and--

"You told me...you said the theme was to write about a one-sided love. So, that's what I wrote about. I thought you would just...take it as a joke, like all of the other times."

There. It's...it's a start.

"But I'm serious, now. No jokes, no games. No ridiculous smiley faces. Not right now. For you, I'm being honest, okay?"

Dia spends a moment just staring at Mari's face, unblinking. The goosebumps creep down her back, but she doesn't move away a second time, her feet rooted in place. Her pulse is beating out of control, and she can feel it in her chest, in her fists, in her throat when she swallows.

"You... meant it," she echoes Mari's sentiment once she's able to process it. Somewhere in her head, Dia feels she's known for weeks. Somewhere else, she still doesn't believe it.

"You're serious?"

"Would you like for me to prove it?"

She sees Dia doesn't move back, so Mari, instead, tries to take her hands in hers, and lead her in a little closer. Mari's palms are starting to sweat, but she thrives on physical contact, and closing the gap between them is the first step towards making herself feel a bit more confident before continuing. She's really no good at being this serious, but...when she moves in like this, when she can inch her face closer to Dia's and regain some semblance of control with their positioning, she feels a bit more confident in herself, that she can keep going.

Dia hasn't pushed her away, not just yet. To Mari, that's all the more incentive to keep pushing forward. She can do this; Dia's still shaking, and she's still jittery, but, she can still, they can still...

"It was never a joke, Dia. I've been telling you, all this time. You just didn't hear it."

Edited 2017-02-24 13:57 (UTC)

Having her own words from weeks ago hurtled back at her trips Dia up, and she stumbles inwardly, sputtering out a half-formed protest:

"That's-- that's because you're always--!"

But something in her throat knots up, sealing the words inside. Reason, trumping her natural urge to argue -- yelling at her Mari just confessed, do something.

They've finally got this far. They're finally talking about this, with no jokes or excuses or patched up half-truths. Dia can't let herself squander it, not even to defend her own pride.

So she snatches her hand out from Mari's hold, takes hold of her by the jaw, and brungs their mouths together. The kiss is clumsy with inexperience and a little rough, her frustration and embarrassment still simmering beneath the surface -- but it's as earnest and determined as Dia is in all she does, just the same.

"D-Di--"

It all happens in an instant; just when Mari thought she had an inch worth of leverage, Dia's hand is on her chin and pulling her in for a kiss here, under the staircase.

Dia kissed her. It wasn't a clean kiss by any means, and Mari's a bit too stunned to even reciprocate it at first, but it was her first kiss, and it was with Dia--

If she was thinking straight, she'd hug her tight while this was happening, or pull her in closer, or something. But the longer Dia's lips stay on hers, the more hazy her thoughts get, and every coherent string of words she tries to come up with are drowned out in this fog of Dia is kissing me.

And even when Dia pulls away, Mari's face is still red as a beet; any sort of smug, collected pretense she had before wiped away completely. All she can do is stammer Dia's name, stunned to her core that this isn't a dream--

Once the kiss is over, Dia slowly comes to her senses, and what she's just done begins to sink in. She kissed Mari -- right here in the middle of school, where people could've easily passed by, where such displays are of course strictly forbidden to begin with, and-- and top of that, Mari barely reacted at all...!

She takes a wobbly step back, feeling her face heat up all over again. One hands rubs across her tingling lips, while the other incessantly brushes at nonexistent dust on the front of her uniform. Anything to keep occupied, and to not have to meet Mari's eyes. That stunned silence from her really is the most daunting part in all this.

"... I-is that all you're going to say?"

It isn't because the kiss wasn't good or anything, of course; Mari just needs a moment to let the whole thing soak in, but, Dia's words are quick to snap her out of the haze of "I was kissed by Dia, she really did like me back this whole time--". It's a sudden jolt back to reality, as if someone just pulled her straight up for a breath of fresh air after having spent a full minute underwater. Her eyes go wide, seeing Dia trying so hard not to look her in the face...

And at that point, she's already tearing up and clinging onto her, throwing her head straight into her chest with a loud wail.

"Diaaaa!"

Her arms lock around Dia's waist, with as much force as she can muster as she sobs into her sternum. Mari's fingers grip her poor friend's (lover's, now? oh my God.) uniform, and at this point, it'd probably take a crowbar to pry her away.

"I love you, I love you, I love you! I'm so sorry! I love you! Ti amo! I'll never let you think I don't ever ever again!"

Whether she's completely forgotten she's in public or she just doesn't care, her declarations in love are, at the very least, muffled into Dia's chest between sobs and the occasional hiccup--

"Wha-- buh--"

Dia stumbles back with the force of the impact, thankfully managing to steady herself on the side of the stairwell before she collapses onto the floor. She asked for more of a reaction, yes, but she didn't expect anything of this caliber. The sudden switch is far too much for her to handle, Mari's words are making her whole body burn -- and so even though her arm strength is nothing close to a crowbar, Dia's first response is to try and free herself of the wailing girl's grip.

"M-Mari-san! Cease this at once! Your voice is way too loud! We're on school grounds, for heavens' sake, and--" It's then that she notices the hint of wetness seeping through her uniform's blouse. The sobs were a touch too dramatic for her to discern their sincerity, but this leaves little room for doubt. "--Are you crying?"

"Of course I'm crying, you big dummy!"

As hard as Dia tries to wriggle out of her grasp, Mari just won't let go; Dia's like a fish on a line here, and she has no intention of giving her up. When she peeks up from her spot in Dia's chest to look up at her, her face is wet with tears, and her lip is quivering...

"I had no idea that you liked me back! And for you to kiss me like that...I can't believe you! Now I know why you reacted like that! Please, please, please, please, please forgive me!"

"Ah..."

Mari's words take a second to register, as Dia's brain grinds to a temporary halt at the sight of her face. It's overwhelming, in part due to the realization that she's the one who brought this on, and in part because-- well...

It's cute. Mari's flushed, tear-stained face is painfully, unbearably cute.

It's probably-- no, definitely wrong for her to be thinking this, and Dia shakes the thought out of her head, screwing her eyes shut.

"I forgive you," she squawks, "so let go already!" But she instantly regrets how harsh that comes out, and so she tries again, softer: "I-it's hard to breathe like this, okay?"

"O-oh...right, of course, I wouldn't want you to choke..."

Her forgiveness, at least, seems enough to get her to loosen up her grip and wipe at her eyes, as she starts to calm down a little bit. She couldn't help herself, she was just so overwhelmed...she's still shaking a bit, her knees still quivering, but it's a different feeling from before. Like she's only just starting to catch her breath, even though the butterflies in her stomach are still in full force.

Even though her cheeks are still red-hot, and her eyes are a bit puffy, she can't help but giggle.

"That...definitely wasn't how I imagined this would go. Dia, I didn't know you could be a real casanova...you're just full of surprises this week, aren't you?"

"Back to your usual self, are you?" Dia heaves out a sigh, but in truth, she's relieved. Even knowing Mari for a whole decade, she's completely unequipped to handle her tears.

"Here," she reaches into her pocket to produce a handkerchief, which she holds out to Mari. "Dry your face properly."

Outside, the rain lightens to a drizzle.

"It's all your fault I'm like this! You've been the one doing unexpected things...it's been driving me totally pazzesca!"

She swipes the handkerchief, but before Dia has a chance to take her hand back, Mari locks arms with her and holds on tight, letting her fingers nestle between Dia's while she wipes her eyes.

"But, it just means I'll have to surprise you more, too. Doesn't it? You know I'm not gonna let you off easy, now that we've...gotten it all out in the open."

"It's only because you've been pushing me into these situations with your impossible behavior," Dia mutters. There's little bite to it. Her hand is loose in Mari's, neither rejecting nor reciprocating at first -- though her fingers do, after a beat, curl back against hers just barely.

"--And I don't consider this conversation over, either! I still... want to talk to you more." Her eyes dart away again. "Not at school. Just the two of us."

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pictured: a rarely defeated mari

dont talk to me

"dia what's this?" mari asks, pointing at the doll of her crying that hangs from dia's lamp

b l o c k e d