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// le joli croissant
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Willa wouldn't necessarily say that she was nervous for her match, more nervous for being successful at the game. "A little, I guess," she answered to Mirabelle. "There's not usually much stage fright, you don't have to worry if you look nice or not. You just have to make sure you play well." Willa thought about Mirabelle's thought about dressing on salads. "Actually, it's probably the dressing I hate the most. It makes everything soggy and saturated."
“That’s true I guess.� Mirabelle replied. “Salad is a neutral thing, it can’t be good or bad, it just is.� Mirabelle didn’t have a lot of hard opinions, but she believed salad had a bad reputation. “I mean, it’s agressively bland.� She countered. Thinking about ballet made Mira itchy, so she thought about her arriving salad to calm her down. Ballet was just so... girly. And Mirabelle was the opposite of that� her favorite thing to do was either street race or practice Krav Maga, and her favorite color was black. She itched to go to the gym and spar with someone, she hadn’t done Krav Maga in at least three days. Except, there was quite the lack of people willing to spar with her.
Willa still didn’t understand salad. “I agree it’s bland, but it’s also just a soaked bowl of salad,� Willa reasoned. She had an irrational hate for salad. Since she didn’t want to have to eat salad, she waved over the server to order her food. “So, what do you do every day if Lyra and I never see you?� Willa questioned. She assumed that Mirabelle usually smoked during the day; she had a blunt in her hand earlier and she smelled slightly of smoke.
Thinking over Willa’s schedule, Mirabelle wondered what she did during the day. Most of her illicit activities were in the night, so Mirabelle lied by omission. “During the day I nap. Practice Krav Maga. Usually smoke and drink a bit.� She replied honestly. “I do practice ballet from anywhere around five to seven hours.� Ballet was grueling� besides from Mirabelle’s lack of educational determination, it was one of the reasons she never went to class. There� she didn’t have to lie about anything. Mirabelle wasn’t just a floozy, she did actual productive things. Things that didn’t involve human interaction.
”Napping during the day? Don’t you get any sleep during the night?� Willa asked, having no idea what Mirabelle’s nightly plans were. She assumed some of the students at Vanderbilt were just tired all the time, but if Mirabelle didn’t go to classes, she didn’t have any homework to stay up all night doing. The rest of her schedule was fairly normal for someone like Mirabelle, but Willa wondered what Krav Maga was. “Is that like karate?� She asked, not knowing what to compare it to. It was so interesting that someone like Mirabelle spent so much time practicing for ballet, but Willa assumed it was something she really enjoyed.
Mirabelle deliberately ignored Willa’s questions about her nights� fine, maybe it was a lie, but just a lie by omission. “Just some extra-curriculars activites.� She replied vaguely, silently willing Willa to shut up. Mirabelle perked up when Willa mentioned Krav Maga. “Well, it’s like karate in that it’s a martial art.� She explained, moving her hands a bit. “But Krav Maga is an Israeli form of self defense that they teach to their soldiers� it’s very hard to master.� Okay, maybe Mirabelle was bragging about herself now, but Krav Maga was one of the only things she felt competent in. “It combines other martial arts, like Judo and Karate, with wrestling and boxing.� Mirabelle had extreme confidence in her Krav Maga abilities� she had sometimes used her training to deck a cat caller (oof, they made a mistake after she broke their ribs and fractured their femur) and was very happy that she had the ability to deck anybody who was annoying her. Ballet was something Mirabelle did, although not willingly; she’d rather do Krav Maga or race some cars. Her mother had even told the teacher she’d pay her a hundred and fifty dollars a day to make sure Mirabelle was practicing ballet everyday for a minimum of four hours� what a control freak.
Mirabelle was being especially shady, but Willa didn't want to question her about it. Krav Maga sounded interesting, and it was something Mirabelle actually seemed interested in, so she decided to ask a few questions. "Krav Maga seems really cool! How long do you work on it each day? Is it as important as ballet?" Willa asked Mirabelle. She seemed almost more excited about Krav Maga than ballet, even if she practiced ballet so often.
Mirabelle wondered, how often did she practice Krav Maga? “Oh, just a couple hours a day, usually two or three. I’m already a black belt, 9th division, so I just make sure I don’t lose my skills. Ballet requires a lot more work than Krav Maga. Plus, the ballet teacher is practically a dictator.� Mirabelle replied, picking up her fork as her salad was placed in front of her. “I definitely value Krav Maga more than ballet—ballet is totally useless. What am I going to do, frappé someone in the shin if they’re annoying me? No thank you, I’d rather crack a rib or two.� Mirabelle took a small bite of her chicken salad after her weirdly violent statement.
It seemed so strange that there were some sports where there was a stopping point of the best you can be. In soccer, even if you could consider yourself ‘good� at soccer, it didn’t mean you were finished with it. Willa considered herself a fairly good soccer player, or at least good enough to play soccer for a good university, but she wasn’t finished with learning soccer by any means. “That’s true, even soccer doesn’t seem too useful for being practical. I guess I could run fast if I was in danger, or I could kick them too, I guess.� Willa wondered what MIrabelle did to put herself in a situation where she would have to defend herself so harshly.
“Martial arts are quite practical.� Mirabelle mused, picking up an almond sliver covered in dressing with her fork and observing it. “Soccer is too, for running, like you said. And you can actually have a career in it. Krav Maga? Not so much.� Mirabelle tapped the toe of her Doc Martens against the worn oak floor, wondering how many times she had actually gone out to lunch with somebody. Huh. It was the first time. Mirabelle wasn’t too surprised, but it was odd to think of.
(( marthie i am personally offended by willa’s statement on salads since i eat a salad every single day for lunch lol ))