Jul 04 21:07:58 <Knave>	In the common room, Austin sits with his head in the jaws of his laptop. Theoretically, he got more work done down here. If he stayed in his room he got distracted. He could always go to the library, but Austin's brain was a traitorous one - on some level, he was always just waiting for something to happen, no matter how much he told himself he wanted to get an article done or a problem solved.
Jul 04 21:12:40 <LipstickThespian>	Getting work down at Sanctum was a dream that could never be realized. Especially when you're Austin Silver, the boy who finds himself in the center of a harem anime despite his own wishes and lack of social grace.  So when Yuki stepped in front of him, with her hands behind her back, and a bright smile on her face. It was one of those sudden cuts in an anime that the main character just seems to smoothly flow into.  "Good afternoon, Austin-chan~!"
Jul 04 21:16:38 <Knave>	Austin rises sharply from his dormant position inside the laptop, eyes wide and hair wild as he swings his head around. Then, there's a clear conscious effort to not be afraid, "Heyyy, Yuki." He grins, uncertain and awkward, "How's it going?" His eyes scan her up and down for any signs of weaponry or bondage.
Jul 04 21:21:42 <LipstickThespian>	Yuki's emotions are worn on her sleeve, and today she looks pretty happy. More than happy, she seems delighted to have found Austin after being apart for a couple of days.  "It's going very well," she says with her hands still behind her back. "I was wondering. Have you seen Ashleigh-chan? I had something for her."
Jul 04 21:23:58 <Knave>	The only indication that inside of Austin's head, the Crazy Alarm begins to sound at a deafening volume, is that his eyes widen very slightly at the question. "Uhhh..." He rubs the back of his neck as he regains composure, "Well, I'm sure I'll see her. I could... pass it on?" He had been meaning to look into how bad it was to feed delusions, but he was just so very distractable. The tit.
Jul 04 21:31:02 <LipstickThespian>	Austin is probably just adjusting to the light, after staring at his screen for so long.  Yuki watches him with still eyes that seem to trace the movements of his hands before resetting back to meet his gaze.  "Okay," she says as she buys into the idea without a struggle.  She pulls a small bag, white with a black ribbon tied around the top, from her back. Offering it to him.  "Don't tell her, but it's chocolates I made."
Jul 04 21:35:55 <Knave>	Austin takes the bag and sets it on the table beside his laptop, "I'll make sure she gets them." He says, doing a fair job of concealing his discomfort. Then, to fill the dead air, he says, "I'm sure she'll love them." Because that won't put fuel on the fire. "You must, uh, think a lot of her to be giving her presents?"
Jul 04 21:40:16 <LipstickThespian>	"Thank you," Yuki says with a bright smile. Then, she drops down on the couch next to Austin. Setting her schoolbag beside her so that she has a small barrier between her and Austin.  "Well," she says as a bit of a blush comes over her cheeks.  "It's just, you know, uhm.  She's new  to the school and I really want her to feel welcome. Ah ha, ha ha. It's not weird for a girl to give another girl chocolates, right?"
Jul 04 21:43:12 <Knave>	"Well, it, uh, depends." Austin says, looking around the room as the metaphorical sweat-drop forms over his brow, "If they're friendship chocolates, of course not. But, on the other hand if they're, uh..." An awkward glance at Yuki, a wormy smile, before looking away again, "If they're romance chocolates, then, I guess it would be weird. You know, if the girl wasn't... into girls. Maybe."
Jul 04 21:50:43 <LipstickThespian>	"D-do you think she knows the difference?" Yuki seems concerned now, considering the fact that she had chosen very more than friend chocolates for this present.  "I don't know if she knows about the traditions of my country.  Maybe she'll think it was just friendly?" She shifts, "I wouldn't want her to think I was being romantic.  She just, ah, uh. Seems like the type to be... into girls. Maybe."
Jul 04 21:54:05 <Knave>	"Well, uh..." This is where it came down to the lie of it. Being Ashleigh when he was in a skirt was one thing, even twisting the way he presented his own feelings to put on a show of being a girl. But saying that Ashleigh definitely wasn't into girls was a leap, "Who knows?" He finishes lamely, eyes crossing back and forth until inspiration strikes, "Just, if Ashleigh does, you know. If she doesn't like you like that, don't be, uh, discouraged or anything."
Jul 04 22:04:46 <LipstickThespian>	There was hope in the ambiguity of Ashleigh being into girls. Which was hope that Yuki grabbed onto and held close to her heart, and it showed in the sparkle of her eyes.  Austin was dishing out hope for a mythical relationship and Yuki was more than willing to let reality slip a little more and believe it.  "I think she does," she says as she dismissed the idea of being discouraged.
Jul 04 22:04:46 <LipstickThespian>	"I mean, I don't know many girls who would sleep over with someone so quickly.  And she said some really nice things, and we almost, uhm."  She shakes it away and looks at Austin, "I'm not telling you anymore!  It's just, I know it in my heart.  Okay?"
Jul 04 22:06:38 <Knave>	"Okay, but..." Austin steadies himself, clears his throat, and tentatively puts a hand on Yuki's shoulder, "Just in case your heart is wrong, and it might be. We're all wrong sometimes. It's not the end of the world if she isn't into you, and it doesn't mean anything bad about you," He tilts his head forward, eyes full of concern, "Okay?"
Jul 04 22:10:20 <LipstickThespian>	"But Onee-chan," Yuki says quickly, too quickly.  There's an excuse and an answer already in her throat even as Austin places his big brother hand on her shoulder. "It's- well- I know you care about me and don't want my feelings hurt.  But it's the red string! I know it is."
Jul 04 22:12:29 <Knave>	"The red string." Austin says vaguely. He knows enough to know it's Japanese and something to do with love - so nothing that he couldn't have picked up on context clues anyway. Stay in school, kids. "And what's that, exactly?"
Jul 04 22:18:30 <LipstickThespian>	"The red string of fate," Yuki says with a dreamy look on her face.  She held up her hand and extended the pinky finger.  "They say from the moment you're born, the red string of faith is tied to your finger. And if you follow it, you'll find it tied to your soulmate.  I think- well, you can't see it- but I think it's her."
Jul 04 22:27:58 <Knave>	"Uh huh." Austin nods. He doesn't want to be cruel, but didn't you have to be, sometimes, to be kind? Deep breath in. "Have you ever felt like that before?"
Jul 04 22:29:32 <LipstickThespian>	"W-well." Putting Yuki on the defensive, she slumps back a bit into the couch and crosses her arms over her chest. "I uhm, sort of. Ya. I guess I've felt it before."
Jul 04 22:31:06 <Knave>	"And," He tries not to look at her. It's like shooting Old Yeller. Or crushing the romantic dreams of the girl whose romantic dreams he /consistently crushes/. "How do you know for certain you're right this time, if you weren't before?"
Jul 04 22:34:06 <LipstickThespian>	"I- I was right before." Yuki says as she sits up straighter and looks at him with confidence in her eyes. "It just, wasn't meant to be.  That's what you told me before. But I'm certain I was right about my feelings before." She glances down at her lap. "Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could have been with someone else, but it just wasn't meant to be?"
Jul 04 22:36:00 <Knave>	"I don't believe in 'meant to be'," He says, eyes wandering off. This is terra firma - philosophy on life. Austin's speciality. "Stuff just happens. We make our own destiny."
Jul 04 22:42:59 <LipstickThespian>	"That doesn't seem like a very bright way to look at life," Yuki says as she swings her leg gently in front of the couch.  "Don't you believe in, you know, spirits and stuff?"
Jul 04 22:44:29 <Knave>	"Well, spirits, yeah. Some go here, I think." He says offhandedly, "But isn't fate way, way worse? Like, if you're destined to be with someone, what does that make you, in the grand scheme of things? Just a little gear or something, going along the track designated for you." He gesticulations and voice get very California hippie, "Trust me, my way of looking is the bright side."
Jul 04 22:46:26 <LipstickThespian>	That Austin joke gets a giggle, he really did know how to turn everything into a lighthearted affair.  "But isn't it nice to think that, the path you're taking is your own. Made for you, and it's going to be an amazing journey.  Instead of having to make it amazing and maybe failing. Or, well," she fumbles with her words and it becomes very apparant that thinking of these concepts is beyond her mindset of the world.
Jul 04 22:51:20 <Knave>	"That way lies grim implications. Grimplications, if you will." He says airily, "Like, what about people whose life sucks? For no reason? And what if that's you? If fate's real, it's cruel and arbitrary and no friend of mine." He gives a half-shrug and an apologetic smile, "Sorry. I ramble."
Jul 04 22:57:18 <LipstickThespian>	"Is that a real word?" Yuki isn't sure, this language is her second and sometimes Austin saves some off the wall words that she actually finds in the dictionary later. "It's okay. You're allowed to ramble Austin-chan."  She glances to her bag and then pulls it into her lap.  "Do you think my life sucks for no reason?"  Her smiles gone.
Jul 04 23:00:15 <Knave>	"It's not real wo-" He cuts himself off as things get Serious. Austin shuffles over, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into him just a bit, "No, I don't think so. For a start, I'm your friend, so you're already one of the luckiest people in the world." He grins down at her, goofy but uncertain, "But aside from that, nobody can judge your life but you. And if you think it sucks, only you can make it better." He sits on his wisdom for a second, then sighs, "I'm not very helpful, am I?"
Jul 04 23:07:12 <LipstickThespian>	Yuki's little serious switch seems to have a hair trigger.  From smiling and bright a few minutes before, to digging in her bag and muttering in a soft whisper in that moment.  Then she's pulled into him and her smile comes back, forced, but it comes back for a moment at least.  "No," she says as she agrees with his assessment. "You're not very helpful."  She shakes her head a bit but doesn't move to get away from him, leaning into him seems to be fine with her.  "Sorry for- for- ah. Uhm. Tell Ashleigh I'm sorry for- for-" she stops to take a breath and doesn't finish the thought.
Jul 04 23:08:42 <Knave>	"Take your time." Austin says, very quietly, afraid to even breathe too hard in case it disturbs her. He was really bad at this, he knew, but he could just about force himself to shut up and sit still to give her space to think.
Jul 04 23:14:24 <LipstickThespian>	"Noriko-chan says I should ask her out," Yuki manages to make the conversation about her friend instead of herself. "It worked last time, so I thought I'd try it again."
Jul 04 23:20:59 <Knave>	"Well..." He searches for words, then repeats, "Take your time. Take it slow." He keeps his mouth running in the hopes that he'll eventually hit something that's not a cliche, "You don't want to rush things. It can be... bad." He takes his arm back and rests it awkwardly on his leg.
Jul 04 23:27:45 <LipstickThespian>	"I know," Yuki says with a sigh at the lecture, pulling her schoolbag to her chest and hugging it tightly.  "I'm going to, okay? Ashleigh said the same thing." This makes her smile, considering the two had the same ideas. "Isn't that weird?"
Jul 04 23:31:16 <Knave>	"The weirdest." Austin agrees immediately, and a little too loud, "Just... crazy..." He trails off. He fiddles with his jacket nervously, having spent time on the precipice of insanity and now not quite sure where to go to.
Jul 04 23:32:30 <LipstickThespian>	"Well, uhm." Yuki says as she rubs her legs together. "I should get going, I guess. It's not that I don't want to spend time with you, but maybe you'll go and find Ashleigh-chan after this."
Jul 04 23:33:33 <Knave>	"Maybe." He says, voice strained, "Yeah. Don't, uh, don't worry about it. I should..." He gestures at the laptop, then shuts it, "I should go do stuff."
Jul 04 23:35:43 <LipstickThespian>	"Okay," Yuki says with a nod as she stands up straight and looks back at Austin. "Thanks," she says quickly and in a higher pitch.  "For, you know, being really nice to me and everything. It means a lot to me, that you're willing to help me.  It's like having a Family here to look after me, you know?" She smiles at him and then takes a step back, "bye Austin-chan!"  She turned and made a quick jog back to the stairs.  She really was lucky to be friends with Austin.
Jul 04 23:36:56 <Knave>	"That's what-" He watches her go, and trails off, "Friends are... for?" He sighs at length, then collects up his things. Maybe the library is the way to go...
Jul 04 23:38:27 <LipstickThespian>	-Scene Break-