It was different, having Valaine take the lead. It felt like everything else; Kito was the one often dragging the girl behind her. Seeing Valaine glide gracefully, as if she had done so her whole life, was mesmerizing. Kito couldn't take her eyes off her, watching each movement, the confidence that moved with the quickened pace. Kito kept up as best she could, but she was slower to join the activity. Soon, though, she passed the wobbly legs stage.
Her face wrinkled in silent disagreement with Valaine's comment about herself. To the Shaper, the woman was good at many things and deserved to take credit for them. Still, Kito let it pass for the moment, nodding along as if to accept it.
For now.
"Don't be silly. You're good at a lot of things — I've seen it firsthand," Kito said, her voice steady and matter-of-fact as her crooked little grin surfaced. It was hard not to smile around the Sangnir. Even when the galaxy seemed determined to keep them apart, they always found their way back to one another.
A blush brightened the shaper's cheeks as she cleared her throat. Kito had also felt she would be pretty natural at skating. The concept seemed simple enough, and balancing was necessary for some of the more complex martial arts she performed while fighting at the speed she did. And yet, sliding on ice was too foreign a concept for her body.
Her cheeky grin faded to a sheepish smile,
"I thought…" she chuckled softly and shrugged.
"I thought I'd be good at it too, but I'm a pretty fast learner."
Pausing, Kito continued to smile, taking the opportunity offered to her,
"It helps when I have someone talented to show me."
Kito kept her feet under her and continued to listen. Suddenly, her ears perked up when Valaine revealed she had met someone else like her.
Deep down, Kito worried, she had met another Sangnir before, the woman — she seemingly relished in the concept of killing those unlike them. For the first time, the Shaper had felt like prey, a feeling she had never felt when it came to Valaine.
Her hand squeezed gently as she kept up Valaine's pace. She wondered curiously what things were important that Valaine needed to tell her.
Though nothing seemed different in a sense with the Sangnir that would echo that she had become something like the other Kito had met. The momentary worry faded as they came to a stop near the wall of the rink. Kito followed the line of Valaine's vision towards her pocket. Despite how sly the Shaper had tried to be earlier, it seems nothing got past the Sangnir.
"Aah, you saw that?" Kito laughed as she leaned against the wall for support. As she pulled her hands back, she gave a small kiss to the top of Valaine's knuckles and then released. It didn't take long; she pulled the small box from her pocket and held it out to the other woman.
"I made you something. Happy Life Day, Valaine," Kito smiled as she waited for the present to be opened. Inside would be a grey-silver flower earring with a pearl and a red gem carved into a sphere. The moment the box opened, the Shaper's force presence, along with a calming aura, would gently emanate from the earring.
It was the same earring that the Shaper wore on her left ear.