[HH PRP] You Got A Grand Star! (Chance & Abbi)

[kuropeco]

Chance refrained from mentioning that he did, in fact, have a lighter that was currently tucked into one of the pockets of his jeans, mostly because the idea of actually attempting to cook a ghost creature was somewhat unappealing after all.

He knew what dancing was, of course, even if he'd never done it, he'd at least seen it. But professional, ballroom dancing - or at least, anything that did not involve a drink in one hand and strobe lights - was something that was not ever put into practice, not in Chance's world. It seemed almost awkward to attempt it now; like he was trying to do something that he wasn't cut out for.

But it was a casual moment of placating Abbi, and Chance gave her a small smile as he stepped into position, lifting his right hand first, up near his shoulder, and then his left, as though he were holding someone in his open arms. He followed Abbi's step back with a step forward of his own, and then a step back, and a step left, mimicking her movements very messily, slipping and sliding without so much as an ounce of grace in them.

Clearly he was not cut out to be a good professional dancer.

"Well," he said, laughing a little. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

ayeavast

 

[AyeAvast]

Her grin got brighter when he silently fell into position, her hands rotating a little back and forth to further encourage him. The first step was shaky but she only nodded and took another step back from him. It wasn't often at all that Abbi was given a chance to hang out in a ballroom, even a stupid spooky one, but she was finding the experience enjoyable.
"Yeah yeah! Just like that!" When they stopped after the first set she bounced onto her toes and clapped. "Hey! That was a really good first try! And its not like you... Stepped back with the same foot twice or fell down." Both of which Abbi had definitely done on her first try.
"Ok so the next part is the same thing, only you go backwards and I go forward."

Sorry Chance, you'd given her one yes, now she was going to take all of them.
Abbi nodded once more and moved her right foot forward, flapping her hands a little to make him take the step back.
"So after we finish our dance ya wanna go explore the rest of the house, or you wanna head back?" Either seemed perfectly fine to her as she continued with the next step forward, then slowly moved to the right so that they were in their original spots.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Chance didn't find the ballroom too frightening or scary, but almost hauntingly interesting, at least from a casual glance about it. Certainly it was more curious than a lot of places on the island, and at the same time he found it almost soothing - though it lacked the certain sense of openness that being on an island gave him.

He leveled a pointed look in Abbi's direction, arching a brow. "It wasn't that good," he said, shaking his head a little in amusement. "You don't have to try and sugarcoat it, I told you I wasn't that great at this sort of thing. But there's nothing wrong with that, I'm sure I suck at a lot of things."

A sigh passed through his lips, but he obediently followed her directions, stumbling and sliding ungracefully around. Chance took a step forward and nearly tripped, catching himself at the last moment before stepping back again, then sliding terribly to the left.

"I think we could head back," he said lightly. "We've got a marshmallow for observation, after all," he added, with a nod to the skewered ghost still lying on the ground.

ayeavast

 

[AyeAvast]

At first the look he gives her makes her fall into a stance resembling standing at attention, looking quite like she expects to be scolded by the man. But the raise of his brow makes her crack and she laughs a second later.
"I'm not trying to sugarcoat it, you did well! C'mon, next one! Make it better!" Once more she bounced on her toes before she hurriedly fell into position and lead him through the next set.

Abbi began a little hum, pieces of a song she thought fit the steps they were supposed to take. She starts to laugh right before he trips so that she makes a startled noise, a hand reaching out as though in hopes of steadying him without getting close enough to touch. But she levels her surprised look with a smile when he moves back in front of her.
"Alright, alright, you could use some practice." She amends with a nod of defeat. Though she does pause to twist and look back at the Boo, pursing her lips in thought for a second, she whirled back to face Chance quickly after.

A pair of bright blue eyes fluttered up at him and a sweet smile curled Abbi's mouth, the tell-tale sign of she wanted something.
"We'll go back after just oooooone more set, ok?" Say yes, say yes. "I know you're a Hunter, not a dancer Bones, but just one more, it'll be fun! I'll even like... Be your real partner and help steady you so you don't fall!" A hand rose to wiggle her fingers in the air at him, though she half expected that to be the deal breaker.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, which made the black curls go all over the place in the process. Inside his head, Asher said, with some amusement, { - at least she's enthusiastic; that is more than can be said about many here - }

(It was undeniably the truth, but it still made Chance a little tired.)

"See?" he said, with a laugh. "I told you. There's no shame in admitting when you're terrible at something, and I most definitely suck at dancing. I also suck at math and science and English, but as you've already seen, I do pretty well with history.. And I do like to think I'm pretty good at making nachos," he added, somewhat musingly.

Abbi was smiling at him in that way again, and Chance looked down at her, lips quirking upwards in a faint smile. For a moment, he seemed to be considering her offer - but then, he stepped back away from her.

"We should get back," he said lightly and stooped to pick up the skewered ghost. "Maybe next time."

ayeavast

 

[AyeAvast]

It was more fun arguing with him than the other serious people she knew in her life since Chance seemed amiable about it regardless of what she said. That placidness was probably mostly forced, but Abbi still appreciated the sentiment regardless.
One hand pulled to her waist and the other rose into the air to hold up a pointer finger, the motion bouncy and sharp, supposed to be cute.
"Almost everyone sucks at math, science is only applied facts, and I doubt you're bad at English if you worked in a bookstore!" She attempts to look stern and doubtful but can't stop grinning. "Oh man, nachos are so fantastic, I miss them soooo much! One day you'll have to make some for me!" Sure, she'd had some when she went drinking with Jack but that was weeks ago and they were unavailable now.

The smile he gives her makes her own widen because those almost always preface someone giving her her way, but when he steps back she finds she is mistaken. A measure of disappointment is clear in her features, one side of her mouth falls while the other valiantly tries to keep up the smile and her stance slips a little downward slowly. Abbi did half expect him to say no, so she recovers quickly, taking her own step back and nodding.
"Yeah, maybe." She shrugs and pulls out the pendant in her pocket, running a hand over the runes for something to do.
"I owe you a favor, B-T-W. For coming with me today." The hand holding the pendant moves back to indicate the room they are standing in.
"You didn't seem super excited for food, so you can pick whatever you want! Wine, chocolate, promises I don't intend to keep, whatever!" Since she's slipped a reference in there she laughs at herself, but returns to normal quickly. "Its up to you!"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Fortunately for Abbi, the placidness was entirely not-forced, even if she suspected otherwise. Chance himself was the epitome of being relaxed in situations that didn't even call for being relaxed, or at least, gave that appearance most of the time.

His eyebrows rose, an expression of amusement on his face. "I never said I sucked at reading, just English in general," Chance said with a smile. "Reading, sure. I love to read. Writing and grammar and everything else that goes along with that, however, I'd prefer to avoid when I can. As for the nachos, as long as you're okay with a lot of meat and a lot of spices, then I would be happy to make them for you one day."

He knew he had disappointed her by saying no; but Chance remained steadily at ease, twirling the skewered ghost on its stick in mild curiosity as he looked at it. "To be fair," he said, casting Abbi a glance. "I never seem excited about anything." He laughed, shaking his head. "One of my many lacking traits, as aforementioned. Food is food, and good food is even better. I do like wine, though I prefer whiskey."

Chance swept his hair back with one hand. "Chocolate, not as much (I'm partial only to some sweets) and most promises are never kept anyway, so don't worry too much on that front, Cogsworth," he added.

ayeavast

 

[AyeAvast]

A defensive finger came forward to point at him.
"Hey, I never said you sucked at reading, that's your damage Bones." Now her eyebrows rose, her expression one of sassing back and mild challenge. "And wait... You make spicy nachos? I don't..." She shook her head, clearly unconvinced. "You're like... Super chill and you like spicy nachos?? Does not compute."

While Abbi wouldn't necessarily call being cooler than a fair number of cucumbers a lacking trait, it certainly made socializing more difficult for her. She thrived on finding things people were excited for, seeing someone honestly pumped, or even genuinely pleased, was really all she had to live for. But she didn't know what to think about Chance at all. And it was crazy frustrating!
"Yeah, do you actually ever get excited? Is that within your emotional range or are you like... Always under control like this?" Abbi is sure to inject a deal of cheer into her voice when she asks this, but she's being honest and it feels weird to ask someone she still considers mostly a stranger such a question.

She's about to tell him that whiskey isn't bad, that she doesn't mind it like other people seem to, but stops with a start because he got her reference.
For a second she's not sure what to do with herself, stuck staring at Chance like he'd suddenly sprouted a second head for a few seconds before she clapped her hands together under her chin. Once again her eyes went wide, but this time it was with gratitude.
"Bless!" She cooed, practically sparkling. "If I knew you better, you'd get a hug for that. Ahhhhh plus five points Bones!" Not getting her way is a disappointment, but she will accept this as consolation.
"I will have you know, I always keep my promises. But c'mon, what do you want?"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

"I like all spicy foods," said Chance with a smile. "Spice is the spice of life, or whatever the phrase is. The spicier, the better, usually. Indian food is possibly one of my favorite types of food, as is Asian food in general, so I suppose there's that."

He tapped the skewered ghost against his leg in a thoughtful sort of way as he considered Abbi's question - or at least, whether to answer it. Asher murmured in amusement in his head, sifting through his thoughts. "Oh, it's within my range, I can assure you," Chance said finally, amusement touching his voice. "But I've never really been one of those people that goes out and bounces around and shouts and yells and all of that. So an exact answer would be, I am mostly always under control like this. And I've been like this since I was a kid. I'm sure I could bore you stupid with all of the lame details of my sordid life, but another time for that."

Her starry eyed stare made him raise his eyebrows again, and Chance let out a little snort. "I'll have you know that was one of the only movies they let us have in the home," he said. "Good morals, and all of that s**t, along with The Incredible Journey, which, after watching for the forty-second time, isn't so incredible."

He shifted his footing and said mildly, "I'm not good at just accepting things like gifts, really, especially when I don't think they're warranted. But good whiskey is hard to come by in a place like this, so I wouldn't say now to a good bottle."

ayeavast

 

[AyeAvast]

A deep seated feeling of pure disbelief mostly clammed the girl up, she just couldn't wrap her head around the idea of Frosty Chance actually liking something warm and spicy. She mumbled an ominous, "The spice must flow." before she turned the pendant over in her hand.
Abbi didn't feel it really necessary to say anything about his emotional range, sure she was curious but she also felt she was getting to the point of hitting a conversational wall. Keeping a manner of decorum from her perceived idea that they weren't good enough friends kept her from asking and surely a deal of mysticism about himself kept him from divulging her further. So the teen only smiled a little and nodded, focusing her gaze back on the pendant.

"Aw, even when one of the dogs shares your name?" Tired of standing around and wanting to be back she crosses the room to him and holds out of the pendant.
"Come along, Bones." Is all she says, waiting for him to touch it. Once he does she gives the command and they are zapped back. Upon arrival Abbi is as jovial as ever, giving Chance instructions to hurry the Boo to the Life Labs and thanking him once again for coming with her. She makes no mention or gives any indication of lingering and as soon as she is done speaking she is off, running from the portal across the beach and back to her room. It is a lackluster start to her plan of getting field experience with healing in the Haunted House and she is eager to record her findings and to think of more ideas.

A week later she leaves a pretty bottle of whiskey, etched with four roses on the front, outside of Chance's dorm room. It is wrapped with a lilac ribbon and a small card, just a folded up index card that reads his name on the front and the phrase 'See? I always keep my promises!' on the inside, doodled with a little crescent moon underneath.

kuroopu