Quiet Time Partnership (Tensai)

With his eyes closed, all he felt was the slow rhythm of their breathing. It was merging together well enough, he guessed. With a little time, Tensai felt that they'd matched up their breath rates as well as they possibly could. After a small amount of time, he began to feel her breathing through the subtle rise and fall of her hand pressed against his. As he focused on Vespera, Tensai pictured her exact movements based on the small parts of her movement he could feel. It was like he could see her without his eyes. He'd never done this technique before; what exactly was he supposed to feel at the end of this? Was he supposed to feel like he trusted her? No, that'd be too much to ask for from this small encounter, right? But, he did feel closer to her now, just sharing in this comfortable silence kind of brought them closer together. At least, it was great for him; he didn't know about Vespera.

After about a minute had passed, Tensai let his hand drop from Vespera's and he opened his eyes. He'd pulled everything from this that he felt he could. For some reason, he felt like Vespera wouldn't dare hurt him. He didn't feel nearly as safe as when he was inside his room, or with Toshioni. But, for some reason, he felt safer right now than he typically did in the library or anywhere in the school. This was...a unique feeling. Was this what a partnership was supposed to feel like once you trusted someone? It was...it was kind of a nice feeling.

With a small smile, Tensai thought of what to say to Vespera. What should he say? Was there some magical combination of words he was supposed to used to convey what had just happened? Or was he just supposed to tell her in whatever broken words he could? Well, when in doubt, try. "Ummm, I'm sorry for that. It must have ummmm...seemed awkward I guess. But ummmmm, I uhhhh I feel safer with you now. So...yeah. I'm sorry."

Vespera felt very calm throughout the strange little exercise. It seemed very spiritual to her, and she could respect that, feeling a great need for such reassurances herself. She had a very soft smile on her face as Tensai pulled away, and she looked into his eyes. Her green eyes had an equally soft look about them. She wasn't quite sure what that did for Tensai, but she could... feel something was different from before.

"Ummm, I'm sorry for that. It must have ummmm...seemed awkward I guess. But ummmmm, I uhhhh I feel safer with you now. So...yeah. I'm sorry."

Vespera simply shook her head at the needless apology, still smiling. So what she felt was the barrier between them giving way. It might still have some remnants, but this feeling was their souls being able to see each other now. Tensai's soul was no longer closed off from her own, and that was a great feeling. It sounded like Vespera finally had her partner.

"It's perfectly all right. I'm glad I've made you feel comfortable, Tensai. So, does this mean we're partners now?" she asked, putting her hands together in a praying, "please don't say no" fashion.

Tensai saw Vespera smile as he withdrew. That was...good. Perhaps she felt as relieved as he did now. All he could really put his finger on was that he certainly felt closer to her. It was...it was almost trust. It was the most he'd ever trusted someone after one short encounter at the very least. So, he guessed that meant that they would be partners now. Was this okay? After one meeting like this it was okay to say that they should be partners, right? That was how this normally happened, right? Him agreeing to be partners with her wouldn't seem out of the ordinary? Oh, this was just too intense. The lights were too bright right now; the sun was in his eyes and someone was shelving books. How could anyone expect him to make a decision at a time like this?! How?

"It's perfectly all right. I'm glad I've made you feel comfortable, Tensai. So, does this mean we're partners now?"

Eyes darting between Vespera and the desk he had laid at, Tensai didn't know if he could handle this right now. Wait, he could do this. He was Sarungekki Tensai. That didn't mean much to anyone else...but it meant a little to him. He could do this; he could be Vespera's partner. He didn't know if he was necessarily ready to fight with her or any of that. But he was certainly ready to be her partner. They could train or whatever it was partners did. Maybe they could just talk some place cozy like the library from time to time. That'd be nice. So, he blinked a bit and looked at Vespera.

"Well, Vespera-chan...yes. I mean, we bonded and had some comfortable silence. I don't typically have those with new people I meet. I'm sorry, I was rambling. So, yes. I'll be your partner Vespera-chan. If you're okay with that...yeah."