Jul 10 19:37:48 <Knave>	Austin was in a funk. Or at least, he thought he was in a funk. In his fifteen-year-old mind, he was in a funk. To be fair, Sunnybrook kids got problems. The allover of the thing was that he had decided he was in a funk, and that the way out of it was getting funky. And that's why he was sat on the roof, cross-legged, against the wall of the stairwell, hood pulled up, playing his ukulele and murmuring improvised lyrics to himself.
Jul 10 19:41:17 <gumbal1>	"Oh, hello, Austin Silver." Maria probably realized that the roof was closer to the sun than the courtyard, and changed her peculiar sungazing strategy because of it. That the 6'1" Argentine somehow came across Austin was narrative coincidence...or something. Maria isn't quite sure on metaphysical reality or concepts.
Jul 10 19:45:25 <Knave>	Austin had a pretty good hold on the narrative structure of life, which is why he didn't question her arrival. Why he didn't question how he knew his name is another matter. "Hey." He stops the strings, looking up with a small smile, then stands up, leaving his ukulele at his feet, and extends a hand, "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, I haven't had the pleasure." He pulls his hood down with his free hand and shakes out his shaggy hair.
Jul 10 19:47:43 <gumbal1>	Maria wouldn't admit that she's basically been looking for him for a while now. Still, Maria takes his hand, smiling. "I am Maria of Doran. I...actually have a favor I would like to ask of you, if you would."
Jul 10 19:50:07 <Knave>	"An 'of'." He grins, "I've never met anywhere of anywhere before. I've met a Großfürstin, no ofs." He retrieves his hand and runs it through his hair, "Sorry. You said you wanted to ask me a favour. Go ahead."
Jul 10 19:51:37 <gumbal1>	It was her title, and Maria was nothing if not observant of titles. "I have heard that people describe you as slick. Is that correct?"
Jul 10 19:53:10 <Knave>	"Slick folks call me, and Slick I am." He flashes a wide grin, and leans against the wall, one foot against the brickwork, "I'm dying to know how that factors in."
Jul 10 19:54:11 <gumbal1>	Maria takes a deep breath, before speaking again. "...I would like you to teach me how to be slick." All spoken in that same Argentine deadpan.
Jul 10 19:58:00 <Knave>	Austin takes this in, then nods, "Yeah, okay, I can handle that." He bounces his head to the right, "Assuming you mean my gift of the gab and my way with words, and not, like, y'know-" He pushes against the wall and slides down it without any resistance. He examines his nails, "Y'know, it comes natural to me, but I'll do what I can."
Jul 10 19:59:42 <gumbal1>	"That is what I meant. I was not aware there was any other meaning to the word." Maria styas still as this happens, save moving her eyes to follow Austin. Bit of an awkward one, here.
Jul 10 20:02:40 <Knave>	"Okay, let's start with an easy cheat." He snaps his fingers, stepping away from the wall expansively, "Contractions. See, when you say 'that is', you can contract it to 'that's'. You've probably heard people doing it. Like just now, when I said 'you've' instead of 'you have'."
Jul 10 20:05:17 <gumbal1>	Maria nods. "I have heard of those...I've, I suppose I should have said. Extended speaking comes naturally to me, I suppose."
Jul 10 20:09:09 <Knave>	"Well, it sounds more natural usually when you use contractions. But don't strain yourself over it." He paces around her at a few feet's distance, rubbing his chin, "Do what feels right, because of the most important part - attitude. You've got to think and act like you're confident in everything you do, because if /you/ don't see anything wrong with it, nobody else will." He shrugs, "Or at least it won't occur to them until you're out of the room, which works for me."
Jul 10 20:12:28 <gumbal1>	"I...believe I already do that?" Maria very slightly furrows her brow. "I am not sure. English is a somewhat confusing language, I find, and clunky still. I've not really mastered it, as of yet." Maria's attention is briefly directed towards the sun, before looking back to Austin. How can she just stare at it?
Jul 10 20:14:27 <Knave>	Austin stops his pacing, leans one hand on Maria's shoulder, the other tapping his chin, "Well that's pretty much all I do that I think about. Okay, new approach, tell me a situation where you feel you didn't act slick enough, and I'll tell you how you might have done better, we'll see if we can troubleshoot this problem."
Jul 10 20:16:14 <gumbal1>	"Well...I was with Yukihime," At least she didn't do a full background check on Austin. "who I rather want to be friends with. We were in the kitchen, I was baking clam chowder, and I believe she told me I was being too serious. So, I attempted a joke which...didn't quite go how I wanted it to."
Jul 10 20:17:30 <Knave>	Austin's face moves very little - the result of a lot of effort. Then he smiles and says, "Okay. Let's see if we can work with that. Do you remember what exactly the joke was, and why it didn't go right?"
Jul 10 20:20:43 <gumbal1>	"I...believe it was the one about the salted peanut. And...delivery? I do not quite remember what went wrong." Maria's always had a weird relationship with everyone. Hating Madeline, showing distate for Daniel, inexplicably not being attracted to Akemi. Only natural it extends to Yuki.
Jul 10 20:24:20 <Knave>	"Uh... okay. Right. Tough nut to crack." He chuckles at his own joke, then says, "Okay, let's try some roleplay. I'll be Yuki, you try to charm me, okay?" Austin clears his throat, then steps into his Yuki impression, hands held together in front of him, bouncing on the soles of his feet. "Hey Maria-chan! How are you today?~"
Jul 10 20:27:43 <gumbal1>	Maria pretty briefly freezes up (odd for someone with a body temperature that would've killed a normal human) before going back to her usual self. "Hello, Yukihime, I have been fine. What about you?" There's...she at least knows how to fake a smile, oddly enough.]
Jul 10 20:29:05 <Knave>	"I've been good.~" Austin lies, then leans forward, "Jeez, Maria-chan, why are you always so serious-sounding?~" His imitation of Yuki's gentle ribbing voice is spot-on.
Jul 10 20:31:30 <gumbal1>	"Well, I guess I'm just //stone//-cold." That might've worked if anyone besides Ellie knew that Maria was full of magic rock.
Jul 10 20:33:04 <Knave>	Austin tilts his head, then holds up a hand, returning to his normal voice and posture, "Okay, okay, I've got to know. What was the reasoning behind that?"
Jul 10 20:34:12 <gumbal1>	"...I am filled with rocks. There is little meaning beyond that." Maria shrugs.
Jul 10 20:37:09 <Knave>	"Okay. Right. See, you've got the punchlines down, rock solid, but you're missing the set-up." He turns up a palm as he explains, "So before you make a joke, you have to be sure that the person listening knows everything they need to know to understand it. Got it?"
Jul 10 20:38:53 <gumbal1>	"...right, yes. I...suppose that should be obvious, in any case." Maria fails to visibly react to Austin's own puns. "How would you have done it?"
Jul 10 20:40:26 <Knave>	"Alas, we may never know." Austin poses with a hand dramatically over his chest, "I like to be open and honest, but I cannot comprehend being so serious, so I could not answer such a question." He blinks and furrows his brows, straightening up, "Say, there's a point. Why /are/ you so serious?"
Jul 10 20:42:35 <gumbal1>	"I...it feels natural to me, I suppose. Since I was...I can't quite remember, but I do know that I was taght that I should act serious." Maria tilts her head, slightly. "So I suppose that is why."
Jul 10 20:45:30 <Knave>	"Well, if you want to be slick, it's important to be silly." He skates over to the wall, spins on his sole while still moving and leans against it again, "Because if there /is/ a big secret to being slick, it's that it's silly as fuck. It's just doing things that are silly and weird and fooling people into thinking it's cool. Or not. Because you don't care." He shrugs, looking up and then back down to Maria, "It's probably more complicated than I'm making it sound."
Jul 10 20:48:19 <gumbal1>	"I mean, I do actually care about this." Maria turns to face Austin's next position, though her gaze is once again briefly distracted by the sun. "And...to tell the truth I am not sure how I would go about being silly."
Jul 10 20:51:34 <Knave>	"I mean, obviously, you care about making friends. But you shouldn't care about making an ass of yourself to do it." He puts one hand in his pocket and gestures with the other, "Look, if you just care about making friends, then skip all the being slick stuff and just be yourself. Be open and honest. Say, 'Hi, I am Maria of Doran and I would like to be your friend."
Jul 10 20:52:49 <gumbal1>	And at that, Maria just sort of blinks...Austin might notice that that was the first time she'd done it in their entire talk. "Is it...truly that easy?"
Jul 10 20:56:13 <Knave>	He shrugs with a little smile on his face, "Pretty much." He nods his head, "I mean, sure, there are people who might make fun of you for being genuine, but then, why would you want to be friends with them? Only nice people are worth being friends with, and nice people respond to honesty." He traces a happy little circle in the air with his index finger, then saunters up to her, "For instance, hi, I'm Austin Silver, and I'd like to be your friend." He grins.
Jul 10 20:58:03 <gumbal1>	Well, it's pretty easy for Austin to tell that Maria's smile is genuine, because it's a lot goofier and less dignified than her last one. "I...suppose I would like to be your friend as well. Should we exchange numbers?"
Jul 10 21:00:07 <Knave>	"Sounds like a plan, Maria of Doran." He forces the rhyme a little, beaming proudly as he pulls out his phone and presents his number to her, "You smile at Yuki like that, she'll never want to leave your side."
Jul 10 21:02:09 <gumbal1>	"Door-awhn. And...thank you very much." Maria fetches her own from a pouch, putting his number in and texting for good measure.
Jul 10 21:04:33 <Knave>	Austin bites his lip with a shake of his head, then smirks, "I could listen to you correct my pronounciation all day. You've got the voice for it." He spins away, texting off a little <:P> "So, any special reason you've got your eye on being friends with Yuki?"
Jul 10 21:06:09 <gumbal1>	Maria liked to think her (monotone) voice was one of her better qualities. "Well, she is rather nice, and...quite obviously displays interest in me. Not...many peaople seem to do that."
Jul 10 21:09:55 <Knave>	"I really can't figure why." And Austin was being honest about that. Sunnybrook - he still thought of the place, spiritually, as being Sunnybrook - was full of weirdos, to the point where he was pretty normal by comparison, and he rarely heard of people flat-out not making friends because of their weirdness. Hell, Maria was beautiful and strange, by rights she should be as popular as- well, as popular as Yuki. "You seem like a very nice person."
Jul 10 21:12:04 <gumbal1>	Beautiful and strange, and also rather socially awkward. Being denied proper human contact kinda does that to you. "Thank you for that. I believe it is...differences in feelings towards my profession?"
Jul 10 21:13:48 <Knave>	"Your profession? You mean you've got a job?" Then he winds his incredulity back, "Wait, I guess I have a job too. It's not that weird." His eyes widen and he looks at the ground, "Oh shit, I have /two/ jobs." Austin Silver, free spirit, had never really thought of himself as a working man. He brings his eyes back up to Maria, "What, uh, what is your job?"
Jul 10 21:15:59 <gumbal1>	"I am the High Priestess and Prophetess to Sals. I provide a number of services, including readings, relationship counseling, makeovers, wingwomaning, legal counsel, cleansings, pyrotechnics, and otherwise." She says this as if she's memorized it by now.
Jul 10 21:17:04 <Knave>	Austin mouths the list back to himself, thinking it over, looking vaguely up at the wintry sky. Then he asks, "And you're qualified to do all of that?"
Jul 10 21:18:53 <gumbal1>	"It is my religious duty, and I have been trained in all of it." Maria is somehow able to deadpan all of this.
Jul 10 21:20:34 <Knave>	"Makeovers are part of your religious duty? Wingwomaning?" He grins gently, as if he finds the concept mildly amusing.
Jul 10 21:22:27 <gumbal1>	"To an extent, yes. Though I have noticed a divide between the romance I was taught about and...what happens at Sanctum." She had like three weddings she still had to officiate in Doran alone, why can't they just give her religious leave already?
Jul 10 21:23:36 <Knave>	"Sounds like a fun religion." Austin scoops up his ukulele and fiddles with it in his hands, smiling idly.
Jul 10 21:26:02 <gumbal1>	"I would not call it fun, exactly, though I do enjoy being a part of it." Whether or not she really had a choice in the first place.
Jul 10 21:29:31 <Knave>	"As long as it works for you, rock it." He grins. This feels more like him. "That's what I always say. Or it's what I should say, anyway. I've probably said similar things, but that sounds better." He perks up, "Hey, look at that, I know a High Priestess and Prophetess. I wonder if that outranks a  Großfürstin." He shrugs, "I'll have to ask Elspeth."
Jul 10 21:31:37 <gumbal1>	"...what exactly //is// a Großfürstin, if I may ask?"
Jul 10 21:33:02 <Knave>	"I'm not entirely sure. I think it's some kind of nobility. I'll ask Elspeth that too."
Jul 10 21:35:32 <gumbal1>	"Well, alright." Beat. "...I believe I should start my prayer." And with that, Maria begins actively staring at the sun.
Jul 10 21:36:38 <Knave>	Austin watches for a few seconds, looking Maria up and down, "I, uh, I guess I'll leave you to it, then. Nice to meet you." He begins slipping away down the stairs.
Jul 10 21:37:10 <gumbal1>	~scene prayed~