Gloria + Caspian, Oct 24

Oct 24 23:01:19 <Cezar>	Caspian held onto the edge of the roof, looking out to the sunset just before going back into the building to rest. Usually, he had nothing better to do. Ever since he came onto land and met other creatures he could talk to, he became overly dependant, or maybe even obsessed with social interaction. It was all he looked forward to. It was usually his favorite thing to do.
Oct 24 23:04:49 <Knave>	From the edge of the roof behind him, Gloria climbed up on her claws and straightened up. When she climbed, moving on all fours and with the aid of her sharp claws, it was the closest she came to graceful. She stands up, her shapeless brown dress and her blonde hair whipping in the wind, and alerts Caspian to her presence with her heavy granite footsteps and a nonchalant moaning sound that finally evolves into a "'Llo."
Oct 24 23:09:30 <Cezar>	Caspian smiled at those familiar sounds and looked behind him. He waved and moved to float up and over to her, giving her a short hug and then letting go to aimlessly float in the air. He went over to pick up his whiteboard and his red marker. Why was it red? Well, he got tired of black.
Oct 24 23:11:06 <Knave>	Gloria lets Caspian do his thing, leaning imperceptibly into his hug then going back to her staccato march across the rooftop. "Stalking me?" She says with a hint of joviality buried under the rubble of her voice.
Oct 24 23:14:39 <Cezar>	'Maybe.' Caspian grinned to mirror her jest. 'Funny enough, I actually wanted to talk to you.  Something came up that I wanted to ask about.' He wrote, then patted the side of the roof next to him as he went to 'sit' back down.
Oct 24 23:16:18 <Knave>	She steps up beside him, and drops into a crouch, claws planted on the ground between her legs, then drops onto her backside, a leg swinging out over the edge. She makes a motion with her head to prompt him to continue.
Oct 24 23:19:14 <Cezar>	The boy looked back at his board to write. 'I spoke to my English teacher, Dr. Fayer about what love was, and if I would know what it meant.' He wrote and showed her. 'He was very helpful in telling me what I should know to understand it.'
Oct 24 23:21:28 <Knave>	Gloria watches him writing, perfectly still. This isn't all that out of the ordinary. Her pupils flick to his face, then back to his pen. "Hnnn?" She prompts.
Oct 24 23:22:37 <Cezar>	'What is your interpretation of love? What do you think it is? Means?' He wrote and showed her, trying to show no small amount of confidence and curiosity.
Oct 24 23:25:00 <Knave>	The shoulder closest to Caspian shrugs heavily. "Dunno." She gutters, "People say it a lot."
Oct 24 23:27:57 <Cezar>	Caspian looked away and pursed his lips, thinking for a good moment before going back to write on his board. 'Based on what my teacher said and the questions he asked me, I think that-' Pause, 'I like you.'
Oct 24 23:31:32 <Knave>	Gloria's unmoving face looks at the board for some time. Slowly, her head turns to look out over the horizon, and she goes through a tremendous, hacking cough. Finally, her neck has a strange bobbing motion before she says, vaguely, "That's nice."
Oct 24 23:33:49 <Cezar>	He looked at her when she said that... then... sorta.. looked away. Not the answer he was expecting. 'More like, like you more than a friend?'
Oct 24 23:36:26 <Knave>	Gloria continues to stare at the horizon for as long as she can reasonably fake interest in something she sees there, then turns her head to look at the board again. A sound like stone groaning against stone escapes her throat at length, then she says "Yeah?"
Oct 24 23:40:14 <Cezar>	Caspian frowned a bit and felt a weird tingle in his chest and hands. But it wasn't a good feeling, it was like a nervousness. He put the board down and thought for a moment. Well, this is a situation he wasn't prepared for. Caspian was hoping more questions would be answered, but only more questions arose. He was silent, as per usual.
Oct 24 23:42:23 <Knave>	This was new. And awful. Maybe she could wait it out. Her eyes drift upwards, and one claw taps against the rooftop. All it would take was waiting, and perhaps he'd lose interest. Or get the message. She wouldn't have to let him down gently. Or at all. Maybe she could jump off the roof. Worst case scenario.
Oct 24 23:47:35 <Cezar>	But of course, Caspian wasn't stupid. He knew what this meant. He knew what a rejection was when he felt it. It pierced him a bit too hard. Why wasn't she saying anything? Why didn't she say anything to him? Her silence drew daggers into his chest and it was more painful than he thought it would be. It felt so physical, it was odd. Why was he like this? Dammit. This pain only meant that he needed to go somewhere. Caspian needed to try and run from it. He didn't look at her, he pushed off of the edge of the roof. But he left his board and marker with one last message here.
Oct 24 23:50:15 <Knave>	Gloria's body moves in a sudden blur, that you might not believe it is stone. One moment she is sat by the roof edge, the next she is clinging to it with three of her claws, leaning out over the opening after Caspian, eyes fastened on him, hand stretched towards him. But of course, Caspian could float. He didn't need her to catch him. She was being silly.
Oct 24 23:53:23 <Cezar>	He looked at her when she did that. He wasn't falling. Caspian couldn't take his own life like that, he always floated. He looked at her and... well... it didn't exactly make him feel better about the situation. But... at least she cared enough to catch him?
Oct 24 23:56:29 <Knave>	Gloria's eyes scan up and down Caspian for a few moments, then slowly she retracts her outstretched hand. She looked stupid. This was stupid. What was she meant to say? Why was he making her figure it out? For a moment, she wondered if she could petrify him and run away, then wondered if she did if he'd fall out of the sky. Finally she just takes a step back onto the roof and looks at the floor in between her feet.
Oct 24 23:59:31 <Cezar>	If she wasn't going to do anything else, Caspian frowned and looked away to where he was heading. The message on the board sweet and simple - 'Sorry.' It was his fault. Now he thinks he lost another friend because of his stupid thinking that people could like him like that. Nobody on land wanted to be with a sea creature.
Oct 25 00:02:53 <Knave>	Gloria growls to herself. How did he expect her to follow him? She couldn't fly. She picks up the board and marker from the rooftop and marches inside. It wouldn't take her too long to find his dorm, and when she does she props herself up against the wall and sits beside it, marker in one hand and board in the other. He'd have to come home eventually.
Oct 25 00:08:09 <Complete_Zero>	Well, he didn't mean for her to follow him. He just went to the lake for a couple of hours to be alone and think about what really just sorta happened. Finally, he goes to get his board from the roof, but finds that it is gone. Frowning, he decided just to go to his room, it was already dark.
Oct 25 00:08:47 <Complete_Zero>	When he saw her, Caspian froze, just... oh God.. what was he supposed to do now??
Oct 25 00:11:39 <Knave>	Gloria's face doesn't change and her body doesn't react upon seeing Caspian - it's that lack of the natural jerks and impulses in fleshier people that makes her so consistently creepy to watch. She offers the board and marker up to him.
Oct 25 00:15:26 <Complete_Zero>	Caspian floated over to her and took his board and marker, nodding, a somewhat somber look on his face.
Oct 25 00:17:22 <Knave>	"Why do you like me, Caspian?" She practically coughed the words. She'd had a good long while to thing about what to say, and hadn't come up with anything better.
Oct 25 00:19:50 <Complete_Zero>	'I don't know why. I do. I love talking to you and being around you. I enjoy it when I can be around you. And like my teacher asked, I would do a lot for you. So, I think I like you.'
Oct 25 00:22:38 <Knave>	Gloria absorbs this in silence from her position sat on the floor. A low growl becomes words, "I don't think I want that kind of thing." She folds her arms over her chest and slides down the wall an inch, "I like being your friend. Is that okay?"
Oct 25 00:24:32 <Complete_Zero>	Caspian watched her for a while and nodded, looking away. He's not been here before, but it's not all bad because she seemed to at least want to be his friend.
Oct 25 00:26:40 <Knave>	Gloria stands, her back sliding up the wall, and idly smooths down her unflattering dress. "Good." She nods sharply, "Friends, then."
Oct 25 00:27:51 <Complete_Zero>	'Sorry. I didn't want to make you hate me for asking. I didn't want to lose you because I asked the same stupid question.' He frowned.
Oct 25 00:29:43 <Knave>	"Don't hate you." She says, looking at the ground past him, "Just..." Her head sways side to side, "Find a better girl. There are lots. Look around."
Oct 25 00:30:13 <Complete_Zero>	'What do you mean better?'
Oct 25 00:31:38 <Knave>	She shrugs. "One that wants a boyfriend."
Oct 25 00:32:16 <Complete_Zero>	He nodded in understanding at that. 'Can I still hug you?'
Oct 25 00:32:35 <Knave>	"If you want." She exhales hard.
Oct 25 00:33:10 <Complete_Zero>	'I don't want to make you uncomfortable.'
Oct 25 00:33:53 <Knave>	"It's fine." She rolls her shoulders, "It's fine." She looks down the corridor, "I'm gonna go now. Do you want to hug me?"
Oct 25 00:34:23 <Complete_Zero>	He nodded and went to do so, giving her a firm hug.
Oct 25 00:34:52 <Knave>	She puts one stiff arm around him while he hugs her, and waits for it to be over.
Oct 25 00:35:21 <Complete_Zero>	He let her go and watched her leave before going to his room.
Oct 25 00:36:10 <Knave>	-scene friends-