Riverpaw nodded, moving around the bench and sitting, and trying not to be obvious about the space she was leaving between them. Again, she didn't want to assume, but just in case. Besides, this girl might not even want her too close.
"Um…are you okay?" She asked. She kept her eyes down - eye contact was scary. "I-I mean, I don't wanna pry but…i-is there…anything you need to talk about?"
Charlie looked up and smiled a little. "It's alright… I just miss my mother is all." She says quietly. She looks at the stars and sighs. "But otherwise, myshka I'm alright." She says quietly, brushing off her dress. "Why aren't you dancing? It must be very boring out here with me." Charlie mutters as she gazes at the other for a moment. "There isn't much that's interesting about me." She says quietly.
Her mom. Guess she'd rather be home with family than be here. Or maybe her mom is away somewhere?
"O-oh, I'm sure that's not true." Riverpaw looked up at her. "You're just sad right now; I bet there's plenty interesting about you. As for me, I…" She shrugged, looking away. "I needed to get out of there; I-I don't do well with crowded places. Besides, e-even if I was going to, I prefer not to…to dance in public."
She sighed quietly, fiddling with her tail. She was doing better than she thought - no panicked crying yet, but her arms were still itching.
She noticed the other was tense as she listened to the other. She smiled a little. "It's very rare for someone to notice I'm upset." She says before looking at the stars. "I can understand not wanting to be in public. People were never my strong suit. My mom was good with people though. She was very social." She smiled. "I never really go to dances. No one asks a tall girl to dance anyways. My dad said I needed to go since it was senior year, but it's honestly pointless for me. He's not even at home right now."
Riverpaw looked sadly at her, then gazed up at the sky. "I'm pretty good at telling people's feelings… Um, why wouldn't anyone ask a 'tall girl' to dance? That seems unfair, and…y-you seem nice."
She smiled. "I'm just intimidating to the boys… and thus, the girls are also scared of me. No one likes to get to know someone who intimidates them." She mutters quietly, resting her head on her hand. She looked very sad. "So there's no point in me coming to dances."
She nodded. "I guess. Th-though, you'd be surprised how many friends I have that still intimidate me to this day. People…people will always judge a book by its cover - i-it's just a thing we do, and trust me, I know how much it stinks to be that book. I'll bet you could have any kid in that building on their knees for you if they just stopped and…l-looked past your height." She cringed inwardly and glanced at the other girl. "A-am I helping at all? I'm not..the best with advice, but I- I don't like seeing people upset."
She listened and smiled a little bit. "People can be very judgmental. But people are scared of me for reasons other then my height…" She mutters softly. She sighed a little and looked at the sky, shaking her head. "You're helping a little. It's kind of you to even talk to me." She mutters gratefully.
Riverpaw nodded, then tilted her head a bit. "Who wouldn't have? You were upset. I mean, I guess if people are scared of you…but that's no reason to not help someone who looked so sad."
Charlie looked to the side and sighed softly. "I suppose…" She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Not many people like me, or care for me. So I'm used to just… pushing things away." She looked down. "People aren't as kind as they used to be." She mutters quietly.
"No, no they are not." Riverpaw frowned, then looked up at the other girl. "B-but you shouldn't push people away; it'll just make things worse…" She trailed off, gaze going back to the ground. Don't give advice that you don't even follow yourself.
Charlie shrugs. "I've been alone pretty much all of my life. Even when I was little. So I'm used to it." She looks at Riverpaw. "Thank you for being concerned, myshka. Would… Well. Since this is a dance… Would you like to dance with me? Out here is fine, I don't like crowds. So I can thank you for cheering me up?"
Riverpaw squeaked involuntarily, the question catching her off guard. She opened her mouth to answer, but only looked away and shrugged, her face flushing lightly. "Y-you don't have to…thank me f-for anything."
She smiled a little bit before standing and offering her hand. "We don't have to do any fancy dancing." She says a little lightly. Now that she was standing, it could be seen that she's wearing A soft midnight dress that reached her mid thighs and black tights with black flats.
"O…kay." Riverpaw took Charlie's hand, but dropped it as soon as she was standing and fiddled with the bow that tied around the middle of her ruffly, forest green dress, which flowed down to her shins. She wore matching flats and mint green leggings. Her ears pinned back nervously.
She smiled a little. "Well then, may I have this dance?" She bows kindly. She offered her hand and grinned at Riverpaw. "I promise I don't bite." She says gently. Charlie looked rather happy now, a small smile on her lips as she stood before the other.
Riverpaw could only nod, taking the hand once more. "Y-you know, w-we don't know each other's names, do we?" She asked.
"Charlotte, but I prefer Charlie." She smiles gently and slowly begins to dance, beaming at her a little bit. It had been a while since she had danced with people, but she was very graceful.
Lovely name. "Riverpaw." She said. "B-but um, you can call me River, if you want." She swayed and stepped, though still hesitant, with the music they could hear from inside, and she grinned up at Charlie. "Y-you're good at this."
"Riverpaw. Very pretty. I suppose I should change myshka to volchonok." She chuckles softly, dancing to the tempo. "I had practice with my mother." She says, a small smile on her lips as she danced with the other. This had been the first time in a long time that she had danced with someone that was not her family.
Riverpaw tilted her head a bit at the odd words, but decided not to question it yet. She had a Russian-speaking friend who had called her 'myshka' before, though she still didn't know what it meant.
"Y-you, um…you speak so kindly of your mother. I guess you learned a lot from her?"
She laughed. "Myshka means little mouse. Volchonok means wolf cub." She replies as they dance. Her expression became sadder. "I did. She was a very wise woman." She says quietly, continuing to dance. "She taught me how o be strong. Helped me through a lot of things. I always looked up to her."
Riverpaw nodded. "I…looked up to my mommy too. She was a police officer, and she was tough as nails but very kind." Her smile dropped, and her movements slowed a tad. "I-I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, though."
She glanced at Riverpaw. "May I ask what happened?" She asked gently, a little smile on her lips. There was concern in her eyes. She looked genuinely concerned about the female she was dancing with.
Riverpaw inhaled, her shoulders shaking slightly. "There was…a-an incident on my fourth birthday. I-I can't bring myself to go into d-details, but s-she was…shot." She stopped dancing and cleared her throat, gently wiping at her eyes before the tears could spill over. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't cry."