3nanashi | (no subject)

Well. Sure.

Trowa cants his head slightly towards the wire. Does she want to give it a go, or . . . ?

X casts another quick look between Trowa and the wire, then crouches down to take off her boots.

A few seconds later she is making her way to the wire, pausing to study it -- and take stock of the wind -- before she sets her foot down.

Hmm.

This will be interesting.

Trowa makes the educated assessment that X does not need a spotter -- she may fall, but it's not that far, and there are mats -- and also that she does not need the complication of somebody else on the wire just yet.

Accordingly, he strips off his own shoes and socks, and heads for the opposite pole. He'll climb to the small platform there, and wait.

Sometimes a demonstration is useful. But X can give it a go on her own first, if she wants.

Clearly, sometime in the past, Trowa has been unwise enough to allow Duo uninhibited access to his phone. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor starts playing.

X does not startle -- she has been better trained than that.

But she does go still on the wire, toes curling to get a better grip, and looks to Trowa.

Is it an emergency?

Well, it's Duo.

So potentially, but probably not. Especially given the current context.

"Duo," he says to her in explanation, and slips the phone out of his pocket. Into the phone: "Hi."

"You just like springing surprises on me, don't you?"

X, all the way across the wire, stifles a laugh.

She is not very practiced at it.

(And it startles her every time.)

Trowa notes X's evident hearing abilities.

Also, that she's picked something reasonably amusing to laugh at! (Also, the startlement, but he politely ignores that. Which is not to say it doesn't go into the mental dossier.)

Quizzically unhelpful deadpan is a lot harder to effectively do over a voice-only phone. (This is one of the reasons Trowa doesn't like voice-only phones all that well.) Giving it a go anyway is always an option, but he opts for: "Mm?"

"When did the two of you become good enough friends for you to invite her for a visit?"

It's obviously not just because Duo is friends with her. Sure, Trowa trusts his judgement, but that's different than bringing someone 'home' to meet Cathy and his co-workers.

"We've talked some."

Or, more relevantly, companionably failed to talk a lot.

"And she was interested."

Trowa doesn't shrug, because: phone. He doesn't believe in pointless gestures. "A while."

There, Duo. An extra-long answer, just for you.

X, while paying attention to Trowa and Duo's conversation, has also begun making her way along the wire.

Carefully, if not particularly slowly.

Just to get the feel of it.

"I need new friends," Duo says in a mournful tone. "But I'll come supervise you anyway. It'll have to be after work. When should I show up?"

"The show's at 1800."

So . . . whenever he wants! And whenever his shift allows.

That does mean that X is going to be on her own from about 1715 on, but Trowa suspects she's pretty good at keeping herself occupied. Boredom is kind of silly.

"I'll find you when I can. Don't let the lions eat X, she'll give them indigestion."

He hangs up.

"I am faster than the lions," X observes, once Duo has stopped talking.

And, presumably, once Trowa has put away his phone.

"You do not have to worry."

"I wasn't."

Truth!

Though it's useful information about her reflexes.

X almost smiles, but not quite.

"I know."

Then they are in accord!

(Trowa's not smiling either, as such. But he's pretty relaxed; it maybe almost counts.)

He doesn't say okay, because there's no need. Just lapses back into silence, and lets X continue to explore the tightrope.

Either she's been on one before, or she's got excellent balance. Trowa didn't learn this fast, and he had Catherine assuming from day one that he'd learned the basics before.

Excellent balance comes with the territory. That and ruthless training.

It makes her adaptable. (And she's run across similarly narrow things before, if ones with a bit less give. It helps.)

She crosses over to Trowa's side of things, stepping carefully off the wire and onto the platform. Then she tilts her head a bit, looking up at him.

He would like to show her some things now?

Sure.

He sets the phone down again on the platform -- X can be trusted not to step on it, and there's no particular reason to hang onto it for this -- and steps out onto the wire.

There's always a certain amount of care involved in crossing a wire. But this has been Trowa's day job for the past seven years, and it's always come naturally to him; there's none of the caution X employed.

Trowa's never particularly cared about showing off. He's not opposed, but he feels no drive to do so for its own sake. Doing acts for an audience is different; that's a performance and a job, not personal.

However, he's fine with providing an example for X of what can be done on a low wire, and what his job entails.

Accordingly, when he reaches the middle of the wire, he sets himself briefly (very briefly) and does a simple flip.

Less simple ones will follow.

X studies Trowa's movements with a gimlet eye, making note of his technique as well as his timing.

And the amount of force he exerts on the wire.

And how he determines where his feet will land.

It is interesting.

And when he is done --

Maybe she will see her way to trying a simple flip.

Just because.

That may have been part of Trowa's intention in starting with a simple move.

Learning, and teaching, through observation has always been the most intuitive to him.

He follows it with a couple of variations -- a one-footed start, a layout, a roll along the wire into a double flip. He keeps the pace deliberate for X, although to be honest the tightrope necessitates a certain amount of that anyway.

X labels the roll into the double flip as a bit advanced for her current abilities. But maybe, if the simple flip goes well, she will try the layout.

It is not very different from some of what she has done in actual combat.

This always helps.

A few more tricks, and then five tidy steps backward take him to the far platform. He doesn't need to look back to step onto it with assurance; he got a look before he landed the last one, and in any case he could cross this wire blindfolded by now. (And has.) He's still breathing easily. This is much easier than a full routine, and between shows and practice sessions he does those multiple times a day.

X gets a glance. Does she want to try some more?