Resplendent rose petals swirled into the air; a dappled flurry of color against the sparkling ivory skin. The phantom partner stirred no petals, but instead, floated atop them, acting as a guide to the icy dancer. The colors, the flowers, the mechanical motions of gliding alongside the fallen petals; Alice's graceful lone waltz greeted the rosy stage like an old friend. She had danced here before, once, with her waltz partner. The familiar environment brought the unique boyish girl to mind, but she tried to frost over the distracting reel as to keep her concentration. Even without her here, she still had enough experience to forge an invisible partner of her own.

She waltzed with her own shadow, watching every mirrored twirl and elegant step. Her shadow guided and she followed. Of course, the act of guidance was all in her head; all motions were completely her own. Each pivoting glide sent another snow flurry of roses spiraling about her tall white heels and the black and white striped dress. Some managed to whisk across her face and hair, some, across the shadow. As elegance as the scene probably was, it was obvious something was missing, and thus, stole any further grace that could be administered to the spectacle. She wasn't in the best of moods today, but foul mood aside, practice was still necessary with or without a partner. The alabaster spider performed another sweeping swirl, and her shadow mimicked exactly.

Mimi Wakana entered the Rose Garden, hiding her nervousness beneath a calm mask. She had found out about a club for those who enjoyed the company of others in a refined location where one could take tea and spend a relaxing time in a place well suited for the Miator girls. Even though it was LeRim. Mimi didn't understand that part of it. A place to take tea that was flowery and so refined even grandmother wouldn't be able to find fault with it should have been a Miator place. That's what it seemed like. After thinking about it, Mimi guessed that Le Rim got away with it because they had all the clubs.

Mimi was dressed in her school uniform with a light knitted shawl over it. She hadn't been sure what to bring or if the club was meeting today. The place was very empty. Mimi had brought her own bag of tea leaves that were currently wrapped lightly in her bookbag. She also had her portable water heater so even if she was alone, she could have tea properly. Her grandmother would accept this.

The garden was pretty but empty, and Mimi's inner grandmother chided the flower petals that coated benches, tables, and paths. The sound of quick and rhythmic steps were loud in the otherwise quiet garden. Mimi had began moving towards them unconsciously. Footsteps had a pattern, running had a pattern, these steps had a pattern but it wasn't a constant, not like running or walking. There was music to it. Mimi turned a corner and saw a girl dancing out in the open. There wasn't anyone with her which was strange. Dancing at all wasn't exactly frowned upon by grandmother, but there were strict guidelines. Dancing by yourself was almost certainly not appropriate and to do it for an audience was even less appropriate. There were appropriate dances, to be done for deaths in the family or welcoming spirits, but otherwise dancing was for a lower caste. Grandmother didn't approve of the kind of dancing that happened with mother and father so she hadn't been able to see much of that.

Another elegant twirl was performed, making the snowy widow's sparkling white hair flutter in an ominous shoulder-length wave about her neck. Rose petals once more graced the lone dancer; creating a dazzling, swirling flurry of red petals that funneled about her body like a floral tornado. She was none the wiser of the student's presence, well, rather, she had sensed it from the moment the girl had entered the garden. How long had it been since she had encountered another? She could not quite recall, but still she carried on her lone, elegant waltz regardless, determined to finish the number.

Finally, Alice twirled one last time, using the gentle momentum to slowly continue it until she ended up facing the direction of the girl, white snowflake lashes sealed delicately over her ghostly blue eyes and her torso lowered to initiate a gentleman-like bow. An arm was crossed across her chest while the other stretched out at a subtle angle behind her, the fragile wrist tilted ever so slightly up and the slender fingers curled. There was a silence, the lull of the soft autumn breeze, and another stirring of the fallen rose petals before the dancer parted her ivory lips to speak, frozen in her bow.

"Come to observe the monotony of a lonely soul, my dear?" The icy ballerina's usual monotonous voice rolled out softly on the wind. She opened her eyes a little, casting the light of her frozen blue gaze up through the curtain of starry eyelashes to observe the new face indirectly.

Mimi watched the older girl finish the dance. The girl was older and more developed than Mimi was, her best guess was third year. She was very beautiful and her movements were exceptional. It was clear that they were practiced and choreographed more than the dancing that her grandmother hated. Maybe this wasn't so shameful a dance after all. Nothing so beautifully rhythmic could be bad, after all. She watched in silence from a distance. The girl hadn't seen her yet but Mimi was wrong. The girl finished with a bow directly at her and spoke to Mimi.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to peep on you." Mimi stepped out fully into view and performed a suitably apologetic bow. She approached the dancing girl slowly. She was a bit embarrassed at being caught out watching the girl practice alone. "No, I heard that there was a club where I could have tea with others of class and refinement. I did not realize it would be so empty." The girl had an interesting method of speaking. It didn't have the bouncing tones of ups and downs. It was smooth, like a long and sustained note. Mimi hadn't heard a voice like that before. It betrayed no surprise or emotion other than cool assurance. It was fascinating but a bit off putting. Mimi wondered if the girl could sing, she could dance certainly but that wasn't all of music. Could somebody understand music if they couldn't do both? "My name is Wakana Mimi, I am a new student of Miator." She spoke very formally, and gave a polite bow. She was meeting somebody new and it was required to be polite.

Alice remained frozen in her bow, still peering up through her snow-white lashes. When the girl fully revealed herself, the snowy widow took a moment to look her over, analyzing her short stature and the distinctive style of her hair. A pretty girl. Young and rather cute, too; most likely a first year by the look of it. But what lay underneath the cusp of that surface information? What kind of story - unique characteristics - had this new face of Miator? The slight, common curiosity was threatening to ignite her temporarily dormant predatory nature. She frosted it over for the moment.

Wakana Mimi, was it? Such formality too; it was rare that the ivory dancer came across such a way of presentation. It pleased her. Finally, she slowly rose from her bow like a broken marionette. Once straightened, she wrapped a slender arm around her torso and propped an elbow up onto it to rest her narrow chin on the folded hand, assuming her signature analytical position. "No harm done, my dear. Such an exquisite beauty needs not to apologize for such an act." She spoke softly, her voice still monotonous yet laced with a mysterious edge. "Astrea was been rather...luiet as of qa-- ah, quiet as of late."

Alice silently cursed herself within her mind. A Spoonerism had almost slipped into her speech. They were common in everyday speech, but for the widow, it happened so often that it had been classified as a periodic speech impediment. A rift in her grace. A chip in her ice. She loathed it in all its entirety. Another light gust of wind curled through the autumn air, whisking up yet another round of swirling red petals. They contrasted ominously with the snowy spider's snow-white hair as they fluttered past. Introductions were all fair and proper and only functioned if administered as in an exchange.

"Himeno. Alice Himeno." She gave a slight, graceful decline of her knees to imitate the start of a curtsy and finally flashed the entirety of her frosted gaze to the girl, keeping the curtain of lashes fallen ever so slightly over them as to hold her usual mysterious air. "A pleasure to meet a beauty such as yourself, Wakana-san."

The girl moved like a wind up clockwork ballet dancer. Her movements were graceful and practiced. Mimi didn't really want to look away. The movements sang out of a dancing different from her grandmother's, from her father's, from her mother's. Her parent's dancing was wild and free, but the movements were natural. Grandmother's dances were formal and heavily controlled. This girl moved with deliberation and freedom. Perhaps she could stand to study it a bit more.

"Thank you for the kind words, Himeno-senpai." Mimi replied. She had not given much thought to the misspoken words. Everyone did it sometimes, the polite thing to do was to not bring further attention to it. "But you are quite lovely amid the flowers and the garden. The contrasts are favouring you beautifully." A complement should be repayed in kind, though Himeno-senpai seemed to be laying it on a bit thickly. "Your dance is what interests me, was it taught to you? I have not seen one like it before." Mimi stepped away from Himeno-senpai and towards a table. "Would you like some tea? I will make us some while you tell me all about your dance." With some care, she slid her bag from her shoulder so to more easily draw the tools of tea from her bag.

Alice offered a nod to the girl's first words. She wasn't really in her usual predatory, flirtatious mood at the moment, yet, perhaps by habit, her words just formed that way. The compliment that was echoed back was one the widow heard quite often. Of colorful contrasts highlighting her snowy appearances. A white-wash canvas amid a rainbow, perhaps. Like any compliment she received, she offered an acknowledging wave of a lily-white hand, brushing it off. Compliments regarding herself usually weren't acknowledged verbally by the snowy widow, nor quite acknowledged much at all. She was one to give compliments, not so much to receive them.

So it was her dancing that intrigued the girl. An interesting thing to express intrigue in. Was she perhaps a dancer herself? It awakened a slight curiosity within Alice, yet she refrained from asking for the moment. In regards to the offer of tea, the ivory dancer offered another graceful nod.

"My dancing...was taught, yes, originally. How to step and move. Yet, over time, this one in its individual respect, has become my own, in steps and movements." The answer was slightly vague, as was Alice's nature, yet explained the basics of the minimum for now. Her dancing was taught to her; all from the Himeno lineage learned to dance. Not quite being one to follow rules, however, each drilled, robotic motion; while some were still kept the same; had slowly been manipulated and changed as to flow with the individual movements of the widow's own maturing, snowy grace. Because dancing; although some forms could be rigid and stiff; was overall free-flowing and unconscious; a way of own individual movement if given the permission to flow freely.

Mimi set her bag on the table and began to withdraw the items she had brought with her. She had expected things to be here, since it was a club of some kind, but she had not counted on it since she knew so little about the club. So her tea set was a little under equipped. Mimi set down her electric water heater, her tin of loos leaves, one of her linen bags, a bottle of water, and two cups. "I apologize for the informality of the tea and the lack of ceremony. I had not expected to be playing host and have been caught lacking." She gave a small bow of apology before taking her seat.

"It is important to make something you have learned yours." Mimi said as she carefully poured water into the electric heater. "However it is important to learn respect for those who came before and established the traditions and not abandon them. The traditions were there for a reason." Like pouring water into cups and then back into the pot was done to perfect the temperature, or posture was done to avoid a sharp rap on the knuckles from a branch. There were reasons for lots of things people did in traditional ceremonies.

"I say that as an extension of an idea, you understand. I do not believe that you have done so. Your talent is lovely." Mimi reached into her bag and pulled out two small cloths onto which she set each cup. Then she opened the tin of leaves and began to carefully measure a small portion into the linen bag.