smash_logs | I'll be there for you

Entry tags:

I'll be there for you

Who: EV ERY ONE
What: Graduation. Prom.
When: The evening of May 31st.
Where: The Stadium.
Warnings: WHO KNOWS

One might find the stadium a little hot and humid for those used to a spring graduation ceremony. This fine evening the Academy is experiencing its first hints of summer, a warm breeze providing relief to those who would sit on the stadium floor, which had been rearranged into a platform overlooking neat rows of chairs meant to seat the gathered crowd of faculty and students. Towards the other end of the complex was the arrangement for the prom that was to follow. Food and drink, chairs and tables, each with a floral centerpiece, and, of course, a dance floor.

title or description

Before everyone could get their party on, however, there was the main event of the evening. From his place at the podium, Master Hand watched students and staff alike find their way into the stadium. With the recent robot shenanigans, there seemed to be tensions in need of dispelling. If the Headmaster knew one thing, however, it was that some silly city antics were not going to ruin this esteemed event. Not tonight. Not if he could help it.

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HEY DUDES! Here's how stuff is going to work. We kick off the log with GRADUATION. This part of the log will be divided into separate threads. I'll post them all at once, so feel free to hop around, mingle, post whenever, wherever.

HOWEVER, once the PROM starts, it will be up to you guys to post your own threads. Please check out last year's log if you'd like an idea of how this works. Everything after the thread titled "DISMISSAL" (I will post that in a bit, so don't post prom threads until I have that up!) will be considered prom, though don't let that stop you from continuing to post in the graduation section.

Please label all your threads appropriately! (Examples: "SHENANIGANS AT THE FOOD TABLE", "DANCE-OFF", "THE PUNCH IS SPIKED", "BOTHER X" In general, a location + what is going on in the thread is the way to go. Obviously, more than one thread can take place at the same location.   Linking back and forth when and if you thread hop is very much appreciated. If things start to look a bit laggy, we'll bump to the next page. Most importantly, HAVE FUN, and let a mod know about any problems or concerns you might have!

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One last flex and the seam was close to splitting, though, he let the bicep 'deflate' before the actually broke the shirt. He wasn't like Max, who seemed to love destroying clothing. That guy must have a fairly large clothing budget.

"Tadaa." He said, making a small bow. "Was that impressive enough or do you want to see my pecs dance?"

She was actually fairly relieved that no shirt tearing would occur, because she wasn't sure she could take it. Seeing guys without shirts probably wasn't something her delicate sensibilities could handle well, after all. As it wasn't exactly something she had been subjected to. And the hot spring just didn't count.

Voile applauded for him and was unable to resist laughing, "No, no. I don't need to see your... pecs. Dance. You're very funny, Knuckles." Then her features softened, "If you would still like a dance with me, you may have one."

"I absolutely would." he replied, rolling his shoulders and picking up his jacket again. He liked to make her laugh - She had a lovely smile and it was no small lift to his ego to know that he'd caused it on occasion. He grinned and took her hand, leading her toward the area cleared for young couples and the occasional young single to dance.

"You make it sound like some grand occasion," she chortled when he led her along.

But she was relaxed and oblivious. As she ever had been with him. "It's just a dance. I'm sure you've got a whole waiting list and what not. You're just that kind of guy. You know, the guy all the girls want to 'get with.'"

Or something. She could have been teasing too. In fact, she was probably just teasing him.

"Hah!" he replied articulately, a little red shining in his cheeks. The guy all the girls wanted to 'Get with'? Really?

"I ain't gonna lie - I got a pretty full dance card! But I will always make sure I get at least one dance with you or really, I can't consider my Prom experience complete."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, "You're going to make me blush if you say things like that."

Except she knew he was being sincere. It didn't stop her from trying to duck under her hair shyly, however. "I'm glad to hear you've got yourself kept busy, however. I hear idle hands make for mischief. Or something like that."

"Especially true in my case. Gotta give these things somethin' to do or they get restless."

He took one of her hands and placed his other on her shoulder, ready to dance.

"So, how's everything, anyway? If we're done talking about my hands, that is."

As if a little unsure of how to dance with him, because to be fair, Voile didn't really ever dance with other people, she moved a little awkwardly after admiring the way their hands looked together. She imagined if he really felt uncomfortable, he could move her free hand to wherever he wanted it.

"Hm? With me?" she asked him, thinking it a rather silly question the moment she asked it. "Uhm. Seems to be going." Whether it was well or not, she couldn't quite say. Confusing, if anything. "Which is better than it being still," she clarified.

"Well, sure, OK, progress is usually a good thing." he replied encouragingly. Considering the last time they had talked, she'd been feeling kind of conflicted, and considering he'd seen that one of the sources of that conflict was back (And had been arrested and turned into a viral mewtube video.) to say he wasn't worried after her welfare a little would be disingenuous.

He lead the dance, though, not too briskly, mindful of her seemingly slower pace. Actually, she probably could have just stood on his feet and allowed him to do all the dancing for both of them - he nearly suggested it, though, mostly just as a joke.

She chortled.

"It's still complicated. I mean - it's complicated for me." If she'd had a hand free, she would have started tapping the tip of her nose. Without that, she simply scrunched it up briefly before she continued. "I mean, it's probably complicated for everyone involved, but I think just because of my emotional state it's doubly so for me."

But then Voile shrugged and inclined her head to watch her feet. Just to make sure she didn't step on his. "Ever had a time in your life that you thought romance was just an over complicated mess that you could do without?"

"Hmmm... A little. There was this one girl a loooong time ago who was into me, but I wasn't really into her as more than a friend. Princess Daisy. Not the same one who's here now! Different one. But I felt bad for tryin' to keep her kinda at arms length while doin' my best to make sure I wasn't being cold about it."

He looked down at their feet too.

"Then, there was Roselia - I think you woulda liked her. Him. Well, I knew him as a her. She was real sweet. But then she left and we tried just having me visit her all the way in Sinnoh and it was just gonna be real difficult for both of us, so, that kinda had to end. Even though it was... uh... amicable, I guess is the word."

Then there was the whole thing with Rouge, though, he decided not to talk about that because it really didn't amount to much of anything important. The question, however, remained. Had he ever thought he could do without romance?

"I don't guess I ever thought life would be that much easier without it, though. I just thought I was messing it up because I didn't hardly know how to be around people, let alone somethin' that involved. Being a little older and a little wiser now, I KNOW I was messing some stuff up. But that's how we learn."

She listened attentively as he went into his past relationships. She didn't know about either the previous Daisy or Roselia. The latter she'd at least heard of, but it was the first time Knuckles had gone into so much detail. In fact, it was a little surprising to find that they still had things to learn about one another.

Difference was that Knuckles didn't hide anything. She did. Still. Even from him. Although it wasn't for lack of wanting to say anything. Only that she felt it was less than important to impart to him of her past or days before they met.

Voile nodded slowly.

Did she really have that experience? No. Sonny had been her first boyfriend, if she was going to be honest about it. Did she really know what she was doing? No. She didn't know how a 'good' girlfriend was supposed to act. And Sonny had said she was good. Marie seemed to think the same thing. It was... conflicting.

"Those are some good points," she admitted. "I think this is the first time I've felt like I think you're older than me. Any other time, it's like we're the same age." Or that she was older with the way she wanted to be nurturing.

"Heh, really? I dunno. I've always considered you to be more mature than me. But maybe not older. I guess I've never really thought too much about it." he replied with a small smirk. She definitely had that older sister vibe with the way she was always looking after everyone, but then again, she also had a kind of innocence to her which made her seem younger at times. Age - the number and the state of maturity - was kind of a fluid thing anyway. Especially with how time worked in this place.

"Anyhow, point is, I think it's all learning experiences. None of us immediately knows how to deal with this stuff so.... it's fine to make mistakes or whatever. It gets more difficult than you'd like sometimes but you wind up a better person for it. Like training for a big fight. You get knocked down enough times, you start learnin' how to keep your feet under you when it's gonna count the most."

"That's a good point," she admitted as she listened to him. "Where would we be without hardships? To gain strength, one has to go through hardship."

Then Voile smiled a little, "Even when one doesn't wish to. I've never liked conflict and maybe I would run before confronting it, but it just... seems so tense. Tense is not fun."

"But I'll do my best," she finally conceded gently.

"Tense never is, nope." Knuckles agreed with her. "But it can't possibly last, either. Bein' tense is generally the first step in findin' some kinda release."

He was no stranger to tension of other sorts, after all. He was generally a person confident in himself to the point of outright cockiness, even if he didn't always express it. But there had been a long process behind that, and it was full of tension.

"You just gotta make sure you're the one guiding that release. That's the main thing."

"I think this kind of thing is a lot easier to talk about." Then she tilted her head, "Not that I understand a lot of it. Probably because when things get too tense, I tend to split, or find a way to excuse myself. I remember once upon a time, things were very tense between Professor Cyrus and myself."

A slight pause before she continued. "But then I smacked him. And I felt better. And things have never been that tense between us again. So perhaps hitting isn't necessarily something I should rule out. Sometimes it may be useful."

"I'll admit, I've found hitting to be an excellent way of settling certain things." Said Knuckles, who was basically born punching things. "If that's gonna work for you, I don't see why not. And I can think of worse people to hit than Cyrus, too."

"Certain things only, right? As in, it's not always the immediate thing you think of." At least that was what she hoped. Although when she considered how often there was trouble, she usually could only think of his strength. He sure put that to use often. But probably because he had it.

"Oh, geeze, yeah - I don't settle every dispute or disagreement with my fists. I'm not a thug, after all. And sometimes I wind up disagreeing with folks I'd never hit."

Like little kids and old ladies and stuff.

"Though, I gotta be more careful with myself than you might need to be. I can't remember the last time I saw you shatter a boulder with your fist or tear steel in your hands. Though, that would be pretty great to watch!" he joked.

"Oh... I don't think I'm capable of anything like that," Voile admitted. She lifted a hand from him to eye it for a few moments. "No. I'm pretty sure I'm not. I've got these noodle arms and everything. I mean, I can move things like boulders and what not without touching them, but I can't shatter them. At least, not that I know of."

A pause and then she smiled, "I'm not that fond of violence, admittedly."

"Really? I was just kiddin' around - You can move boulders with your mind? That's incredible!"

Sure, he could do all manner of things with boulders. But they all involved his muscles. Not his noggin.

"Someday, we should go into the mountains together and train. We could have so much fun with that!"

He was imagining her hurling rocks at him with her mental powers, which he would then have to break. Maybe with one hand bound behind his back. Or maybe both.

"W-well, it's not really... incredible," she modestly began. "I'm capable of telepathy also. I can move all kinds of things without touching them. And I can teleport objects, too. And myself. And I supposed I've got the power of foresight."

So in other words, she seemed to underestimate herself. Or undervalue.

"There are lots of things like that about me that I don't really bring up. I told Phoenix once and he grew so nervous that I didn't think it was wise of me to randomly bring it up again."

"No way! That really IS incredible, Voile. You know me - I'm not the kinda guy to chuck around empty compliments. It doesn't make me nervous at all and why should it? You ain't nervous around me and I can do some pretty incredible things too. And heck, I bring that stuff up all the time - and do it in public. Like bendin' those pipes at your contest."

He shook his head and laughed.

"We've known each other... what? Four years now? And I never had a clue. Color me surprised, buddy!"

She didn't say anything immediately, mostly because he'd managed to quiet her. She really wasn't fond of talking about herself. At least not about that kind of thing. Except anyone who knew her knew that she didn't like saying anything about herself.

"Oh..." She reddened and tried to hide beneath her hair. Well, as much as she could. "I guess I should have said something sooner. I'm sorry for keeping it to myself."

"What? Why are you apologizin'?" Knuckles asked, honestly confused. "You decide how much you tell folks and that's fine. It's not like I feel bad you didn't say anything. That's your choice. I was just surprised, that's all."

He gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

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