"What is your PROBLEM?! If you're just gonna heckle us, then get lost! And for the record, I paid you back the same day you lent me that money!" Jack having finally lost his patience turned around and hollered back at him across the ball room.
"Oh, you did?" Ace smirked teasingly as if pretending to not know about it.
"How can you remember lending money but not getting it back?!" Jack scolded him angrily.
Silver turned to Jack hurriedly as he urged him back quietly with a calm gaze, "Settle down, Jack. You're letting them distract you."
"Says the person who should be resting in bed." Lotus huffed in dismay, "Hurry up and finish this so you can go back to your room! Or shall we force you back to your bed?"
"Urgh..." Silver grimaced nervously under her threats.
"I heard you yelling from all the way down the hall!" Vil bursted back into the room with an unimpressed look and his hands on his hip, "You've been goofing off, haven't you?"
"It's... It's not what it looks like! Silver and I were trying to practice, but these two wouldn't stop heckling us." Jack replied nervously with a guilty expression.
"We were only trying to ease your stress, you know. What a hurtful accusation..." Lilia responded with a feigned hurtful expression across his face and crocodile tears at the edge of his eyes.
"Now look, you made him cry! We were just being supportive. Way to go, Jack." Ace scolded Jack playing on with the act.
Jack huffed in disdain and scowled before walking over from his practice spot, "Those are fake tears and your know it! Augh... I'm having a hard enough time as it is. Don't make this any more difficult. Sorry, Vil. Sorry, Silver. Let me just throw them out real quick."
He turned to Vil with an apologetic look. Vil looked hesitant upon seeing the scenario. It was the same. Lotus recalled the two being the same as they are now many years ago. Whenever Jack did something he realized was wrong to Vil, he would do what he could to make up for the situation or fix it after apologizing to him with a guilty look. Vil would then scold him again before finally letting it go. It would seem that some things just don't change. With a sigh, she opened her mouth as she got up, "Vil, Jack is sincere when it comes to his practice and you know that better than anyone else in this room, don't you? Jack has a tendency to always be true to those around him even if it's expressing his own displeasures. You also know he's telling the truth, don't you? You've known one another for so long. Can Jack really lie? Perhaps the most is excuses, but he never lies. Just give him another chance. You know he's not lying."
Hearing her words, the two were surprised. Vil hesitated as well before he sighed and nodded his head, "Good idea. I wouldn't want anything else hindering your practice."
"Oh, dearie me. And here I was hoping to watch a little longer..." Lilia bemoaned in false despair upon hearing this and began to make his way to the door quickly.
"Well, that was fun. I can see myself out. Good luck and-" Ace was about to follow when an idea hit Lilia and he turned back with a smirk.
"I know! Ace, why don't YOU demonstrate a runway walk for them?"
"Wait, what?" Ace looked to him stunned in disbelief upon the betrayal.
"Sure, why not. Show us how it's done, Ace." Jack sneered upon seeing the tables have turned so conveniently.
"Why should I?!" Ace shouted in disblief and pouted.
"Oh, so you'll talk the talk, but you won't walk the walk? I see how it is." Jack glared at him angrily with both ears and tail alert as he bore his fangs.
Hearing this, Vil sighed and nodded his head, "I can see we won't get anywhere without settling this matter. It would be a decent teambuilding exercise. Ace, why don't you do as Lilia says and join in?"
"That sounds great. I'm happy to watch and learn." Silver agreed and came over to take a break as he picked up his towel to wipe away the sweat.
"Maaan, do I have to? I'm the emcee! Emcees don't strut down the catwalk." Ace whinned as he reluctantly still made his way to the center of the ball room.
"Ace, don't tell me you're going to take Jack's insult lying down." Lilia stated with a smirk and declared, "I say you prove him wrong!"
"Uh, I don't care, actually..." Ace paused upon realization and turned to him in annoyance, "Whose side are you on, anyway?
"Yours, of course. Now come along, show us what you're made of." Lilia replied with a wide smile.
"Agh, fine. Let's just get this over with." Ace huffed angrily before getting into position, "But if you're expectin' something fancy, I wouldn't hold your breath."
"Hah, this should be good. Let's see how you like being heckled. I'm takin' any chance I get." Jack sneered.
Hearing this, Lotus frowned, "Then, you're wasting your breath."
"Huh?" They looked to her in surprise upon hearing this.
"Okay, here goes nothing." Ace called out and began his catwalk.
As he did so, she began while watching his smooth movements, "The only reason why you and Silver struggle to pull this off is because of both of your temperaments. You two have grown to be very strict on yourself and to follow everything by the rules and standards. This leaves no room to breathe. Ace is different in this regards. While he does follow the rules, he also uses his mind to see the loopholes of those rules to fit in his own desires. As a result, he is very malleable in both mind and body."
"Ohoh!" Lilia noted in surprise upon hearing and seeing the outcome just as the other two are stunned over Ace's first attempt which was progressing smoother than theirs.
"He's extending at the knee quite naturally, all while maintaining his center of gravity. Not bad at all." Vil critiqued with a nod of approval.
"You see how naturally it is? The problem with that is that he's done this multiple times before. So, even though it's a bad trait, in scenarios like this, it can be very beneficial. Adding in with his mind to easily comprehend instructions and put it to work with his body movements. Doing a catwalk becomes easier for him than it was for the two of you." Lotus finished.
"...And there you go. How was it?" Ace finished with a satisfied expression upon seeing their shocked expression, "I'm guessing it was pretty decent, given the looks on your faces."
"Yes, actually. There's room for improvement, but I'd give it a pass." Vil nodded in approval.
"Heh, why thank you." Ace smiled wide proudly.
Jack rushed up to him in awe as he shouted, "Dude, Ace! How'd you get so good at that?"
"Have you modeled before?" Silver questioned curiously.
"Nope, and I've never gone down the runway like that either." Ace replied.
"Then how?!" Jack looked to him intently for an answer.
"Easy. I just did what Vil's been telling you to do this whole time. I was paying attention, y'know. I just thought about how I'd do it and went." Ace replied.
"Huh...?" Jack looked to him dumbfounded by the answer.
"Meaning you were bored too." Lotus huffed a smile.
"Khee hee hee." Lilia chuckled, "You picked all that up just from listening? What skill."
"He IS also a student of Night Raven College. The number of prodigies here are so many that we can't remember our mind works faster or differently from others." Lotus shrugged.
"Please, it's not hard. In fact, it boggles my mind that you guys are still having trouble after Vil's laid things out multiple times." Ace said as he gloated, "But hey, I take compliments where I can get 'em. So yeah. thanks."
Hearing this, the two retracted their further praises seeing that he had lost his consciousness to their words of praise and began to ponder how to best replicate that picture.
"There, you? I'm not asking for anything unreasonable. Though I'll grant Ace's natural skill may have given him an advantage." Vil looked to the two as he said this.
"Okay, so, we good here? 'Cuz I'm about to head out." Ace shook his head tiredly after hearing Vil.
"Oh, leaving so soon?" Lilia looked to him in surprise.
"Like I said, it was fun. But I've got stuff to do. I can't sit around coddling poor, shy Jack all day. Catch you on the flip side." Ace replied and quickly dashed out of the room hastily.
"See you around!" Lilia waved as he watched him leave.
"Rrrgh... I can't let Ace outdo me! I'm gonna get this walk down perfect! Vil, you have to train me harder! Don't hold back!"
"Agreed. We aren't at Ace's level yet, but we'll get there if we persevere." Silver stepped up eagerly.
"You don't have to get so hyped up, you know. You just need a little more practice...Though, it looks like this was a good way to light a fire under you." Vil smiled in relief before a stern face overcame his expression once again, "Breaktime's over. Back to practice, boys!"
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing their hype and renewed confidence, Lilia smiled, "Hmm... Their facial expressions are much better now. I see. It may have been an ineloquent show of support, but it was support all the same. Khee hee hee."
"You knew from the beginning that Ace may have a chance to help motivate them all along..." Lotus sighed, "I was eager to see what he would do on his own in the end, even if it meant doing nothing by the end."
Hearing this, Lilia huffed a small laugh and tapped her forehead with a wide smile, "You too. If you knew all along, shouldn't it be your goal to help them? After all, Ramshackle is not excluded from this effort."
Rubbing the spot in confusion, Lotus thought about this carefully before looking at the struggling two with a frown, "If I did, it would have been a different way..."
"Then, go help." Lilia urged her with a smile, "After all, we are all schoolmates, aren't we?"
Lotus contemplated before remaining seated on the ground and clutching her lower belly quietly as though she was simply cold.