A Day Off

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    It was that special day of the week. The one day that every worker celebrated, every employee yearned for, and every awful manager dreaded. The Day Off. Being self employed, Tyler had the freedom to set his work days however they felt right. Of course, Louise got more time off than he did for the sake of giving the girl proper time to herself, but that's typically how things went in the working world. It had been an easy choice to hire her, and it paid off very well. Despite her lack of self-confidence and small worries, Louise was a fantastic employee to work with. Her high energy always kept things lively, which definitely helped the days pass by quicker. 
    
    Typically it was a rule of thumb that you didn't hire your friends, but what about making friends with someone you hired? That couldn't be too bad now could it? No of course not, don't be fucking stupid.

    Besides, Louise needed friends. 

    It was something she'd admitted, and while the young man didn't understand why no one would want to have such a high energy goofball such as her as a friend, the guy chalked it up to her just meeting the wrong people. All things considered, the pink haired wildcard was a delight and anyone who said differently needed to sit down, shut the fuck up, and never voice their blatantly incorrect opinions ever again. Could you tell Ty was loyal to his friends? But it was that mentality specifically that inspired Tyler to do something he hadn't done on a day off in a long while. 

    With the sun presently high in the sky and a small layer of snow coating the ground, it was an almost picturesque representation of winter. Sat a top a low wall, the young punk watched his breath come out in small puffs. Instead of his usual t-shirt, a hoodie had present dominance over his attire. Beneath that, a sweatshirt just for added warmth. Hood up, and cap poking out from beneath, the young man certainly wasn't the warmest he could be, but who needed warmth when you had style? Besides, not like he would be outside all that long. 

    The young man's fingers tapped away at his phone screen. A few messages from Luke, some from Luna, a whole bunch from Cal. However, the one he was more concerned with at present was the pink-haired techie herself. It was certainly spur of the moment, but considering how spur of the moment Louise seemed to live her life, the guy hoped it wouldn't be too much of a bother. Ty shifted on the wall and typed out his message.

Ty: Yo, enjoying your day off? Shit's kinda slow for me rn, wonderin' if you'd be down to vibe. Thinkin about maybe goin to an indoor skatepark or smthn. Maybe some fuckin' arcade or a couple shops. Idk, wingin' it rn. Hmu when you get this, I'm over by Babel's, you know, that one Gobbo's place on main street. Guy's sellin hot choc for 5 a cup, p good deal tbh.

   
    Fuck, he kinda wanted a cup now...

Ty: Anyways, if you do join, text me when you leave so I make sure you don't get lost. Peace

    Now to just sit back and wait for a response. A cold breeze washed over the young man, piercing through the few layers he had on. Not enough to chill him to the bone, but certainly enough to get a small shiver out of the guy. Maybe I should grab some choc...? Be good right about now...  

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Life has been suspiciously generous as of late. This is weird, cause it's a good streak for her. She wants to enjoy it for what it is, but another part of her dreads when it ends. Will it be her fault? Possibly...probably. Wait- what was she doing again? Oh! Right. She was working with a beam converter.

One wrong move and she could burn her hand off. Not that it couldn't be repaired, but it would REALLY suck to have to fix all that. She might have to make a whole other arm if she messes that up. Well, maybe she could make her arm better then if that happened, give it a few cool upgrades. Maybe she should- ok wait no don't stop. She pulls her hands away from the beam converter, pulling out the activating magic crystal. Mhm yep, maybe it is time to stop work. Man, frustrating she can't even focus on that today.

Her brows furrow and she lets out a sigh before perking up when she sees her arms glow signaling a message. Oh hey! It's Ty! Weird he's messaging her on her day off. Something must be wrong at the shop. She pulls open the message and skims it over, pausing and blinking. What-?

Someone willingly seeking her out beyond obligations? Shocking, but if anyone was to do it she supposed it would be Ty.

Louise: I was working on some stuff for a lil side job i had but i couldnt focus at all! :c
Louise: oh wait bitch there is hot chocolate? and also all those other things sound suuuper fun so of course! where are we meeting? also fuck u i have a good sense of direction!!! when im paying attention!!!

Her responses are expected, a bit scattere,d and probably incomprehensible without context. The best texts.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    The reply actually came faster than he expected. Ty honestly expected Louise to be arms deep into a project, maybe tinkering with something overly dangerous that someone of her attention span really shouldn't have been tinkering with by herself. The young man sipped his hot chocolate as he read over her response. Scattered to the wind as normal and- yup, she had been working on something, but apparently his timing had been perfect for once. His thumb tapped out a response as soon as hers had come in. 
    

Ty: /When/ you're paying attention. I rest my case. I'm inside Babel's now. His Hot Choc actually slaps, bro. Shit's got like. Nutmeg or smthn too, it's hella good. Lemme know when you're almost here. I'll kick ur ass if u get lost, glowy arm havin' bitch. 

    A sigh escaped his lips as he sipped on the hot chocolate. Babel was tight lipped on what he used, save for mentioning he did use a little bit of espresso to enhance the flavors. The Goblin wasn't really trying to hide some secret recipe as he was enjoying watching people try to figure it all out. A few people apparently got close, according to him, and apparently he planned on giving out the recipe once winter was over. "Bad for business if people can just make it themselves" he said. 

    Ty shrugged, but what Babel said actually reminded him of something

Ty: Hey, did you ever follow the advice Luke gave? How's it been going for you so far? Might as well toss him an update to let him know how his pseudo-apprentice is doing.

    Luke probably couldn't handle having an actual apprentice, but the way he lectured Louise when the two first met was pretty funny. Super teacher-like and it made the punk-techie sound way more mature than he actually was. Man if Luna heard Luke talking like that, she wouldn't even recognize the guy. Chuckling at the thought of Luna's dumfounded expression, Ty finished off the hot chocolate. On one hand, he could brave the cold again and wait for Louise outside. On the other hand, he could wait inside and maybe get another cup? Maybe this was Babel's insidious plan? Getting customers so hooked on the warmth that they never wanted to leave and had no choice but to buy as much as possible, sustained only on the hot chocolate the goblin made. 

    Funny thought, but Babel was way too sweet to do something like that. Ty was totally buying another cup though. At least he was going back out, however. One for the road mentality and all that. Outside, a few clouds had started creeping in. White and fluffy instead of dark and brooding. Not enough to kill the mood, but the young punk was going to miss the little bit of warmth that the sun provided to him. Thank gods I had the forethought to buy a warm drink... He mused, taking a sip as he looked out for a familiar pink-haired goofball.
    

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Louise: yeah!!! im paying attention rn. also u cant kick my ass if im lost u would have to find me. and knowing you would kick my ass makes me wanna stay lost if i do get lost.

Cheeky? A little, but Louise certainly was the type. She clicked her heels together to skate and pulled up a small device she made to be able to play some of the music she got from the shop on the go. Everything is better with music playing. Always. However, this does not help with her notorious attention span.

Louise was jamming out and skating through the town, humming to the song and doing some twirls and shuffles with her skates. She likely could have come in a faster time than she arrived, but hey she was here now! That's what mattered.

Besides, getting sidetracked wasn't 100% her fault. Ty's next message had some part in it too. She can't skate and text at the same time, she's had far too many accidents to risk trying that again.

Louise: yeah i started charging a bit more and going out on the markets offering my services if i see they r needed. also like there is a huge market for tech aesthetics? so ive been upgrading tech and then adding some flair to it which has been getting positive reviews. it's been super fun trying to think up of all the ways i can transform things into something never thought of before u know???
Louise: i havent talked to luke tho. i was kinda like under the impression he wants to be left alone.

Right, she needs to get on it. He might have had all the hot chocolate by now. Then she'd be shit outta luck. She screeched to a halt as soon as she saw Ty. Time to walk since she wanted to avoid crashing right now. She readjusted her dress which clinged to her thighs. The good thing about robotic limbs is that they don't really get too cold. Just cover the torso and you're good!

She begins to eagerly jog over, pausing her music and waving at Ty.

"See? Told ya I wouldn't get lost!" she says with a playful poke to his side. Oh fuck the robo limbs are freezing to the touch damn.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A cold mist puffed out from between the young man's grinning lips as he chuckled at Louise's responses. It was good that she was finding her own little niche in the market, and hopefully making a good amount of gold while she was at it. Tyler typed out his reply with one hand and took a sip of his hot chocolate with the other. 

Ty: Whatever you say you hyperactive goofball. See you soon. 

    While he waited, the punk finished off his drink and spent the last few minutes drumming in the air. A few people passed by, some went into Babels, others enjoyed the snow, most seemed more intent on escaping the cold however. Ty certainly could get that vibe, but as long as the wind didn't bully him, the guy could handle a little bit of a nip. At least, he thought so until Louise came on. The guy didn't even have a chance to wave before the cold bite of frozen metal punched through his layers and attacked his skin. 

    "Fuck!?" He exclaimed, jerking back away from her touch. Being out in the cold with less than proper clothing was pretty inadvisable bad without cold metal being added to the mix. The young man allowed a brief shiver as he rubbed the spot back to warmth. After a small sigh, the young man gave a smile and small salute. "Good to see you Louise. Proud of you for not getting sidetracked and lost." 

    The young man jerked his thumb back towards the shop he was standing outside of. "Hot Chocolate's back in there. I already had two cups myself, so I can confirm that shit is really good. Warms you right up." Ty turned back towards the door, continuing to talk to Louise as he did so. The way his voice came out was steady and collected, as he went through the mental checklist he'd prepared. "Once you grab some of that-" He said bumping the door open with his hip "-we can talk about what we're gonna do for the day. I'm playin with the idea of an indoor skatepark, but I dunno if getting super sweaty with all that shit in this kinda weather is a totally good idea???"

    "There's also a few new movies out, so if there's some sorta cheesy action flick we can buy some tickets to laugh at it or somethin?" The young man shrugged, appreciating the warmth of the shop. Babel's ever polite and cheerful smile certainly helped. Despite the guy facing some hardship for being a goblin, there really weren't many locals who didn't love him nowadays. "Could go shopping at different places, pick up some parts for you to do projects, who knows. I mentioned it in my text but I'm pretty much just winging it today." 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She burst into a fit of giggles as he jumped at her touch. Man, she always forgets how cold her hands are. She can't actually tell since most senses of touch are dulled with her limbs. That included the ability to sense heat. She goes to touch her one neck and pulls away from her hand. Ah. Fucking COLD. Maybe she should install heaters in these things. But then it would risk overheating the whole thing and that would end in disaster. Well, something to think about for now.

She opened her mouth to correct his comment. She didn't get lost but she did, in fact, get a little sidetracked. Not enough for a noticeable delay it seemed though so maybe she should keep her mouth shut. After all, she doesn't wanna prove his point he had made in the previous texts. "Good to see you too! See? I can get to places!" Not well. But she's here which is what matters.

Her eyes dart to the shop he pointed to and she's already making a beeline to get inside, giving Ty a nod of thanks as he pops open the door. "You already had two?!" Well now she needs to catch up. She sticks her tongue out in concentration, brows furrowing as she rummages through the pockets of her dress. Yes, this bitch does have pockets and it is amazing. She pulls out her coin purse filled with a decent amount of gold. Enough to purchase like four cups of hot chocolate. None of those are for Ty it's all for Louise.

The lights in her arms flicker and whir when she grabs her first cup and makes swift work of it. There's already an excited and joyful grin spreading across her face when she takes her first few gulps of the sweet drink. She lives for this shit! She was so enthralled by the drink she nearly missed Ty's monologue about the plans for the day.

"Hm?" she said turning to face him, now drinking her second cup of hot chocolate. "All of that sounds fun. The sweat stuff I don't need to worry about cause I sweat less thanks to these bad boys," she gestures to her mechanical limbs and does a little spin. She takes another sip of her hot chocolate while she's at it. Then again Ty doesn't have her limbs and he likely sweats way more. Hm...no skate park then maybe. The shopping trip seemed appealing to her, but she knew that it would be super boring for Ty. The details of mechanics are fascinating to her, a snooze fest to anyone else she tried to talk to about it.

"Ugh. I don't know! Decision making is hard..." she mumbles with a small pout. Guess they could watch the movie, but she got kicked out of the theater last time she went for speaking too much during the film. "We could go see that movie you mentioned. Hope they let me in. I don't think they remember me..." she mutters that bit to herself, sipping her hot chocolate in contemplation.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    And there she goes, off to down whatever was left of Babel's hot chocolate. Honestly, Ty was surprised she didn't buy up the whole tray with how competitively Louise had looked at him. Now, a normal person might ask; "Who gets competitive over Hot Chocolate?" And you see, the only logical answer was, of course; Louise. It didn't surprise Ty in the slightest, infact, it got more than a chuckle out of the young man as the girl down the first cup without even blinking. Even the goblin shopkeep was in a bit of awe. If anything, the only thing that surprised Ty is that she hadn't sewn any more pockets onto her skirt. You'd think a techie would want as much storage as possible, but then again she was probably leaning harder on aesthetics right about now.

    Which he could respect.

    It was a good thing the young man understood how to deal with people who's minds went a million miles a minute, as Louise's scattered pondering failed to throw him off. A grin played on his features as he waited for the pink-haired girl to finish her train of thought, and took it one piece at a time. With a short cough to clear his throat, the capped punk looked at her from under the veil of shadows. 

    "What we can do is we can start off with the shopping, break with a movie, and maybe stop by some place to grab a bite. If you're not tired out by then, we can stop by the indoor skatepark and give you a chance to burn all that energy off. E-Z-P-Z." Ty shifted his shoulders up and spread his arms to the side. A finger flicked side to side with each of the four last letters, to really emphasize the point. "How's about that for a plan, eh?" 

    Of course, they still had to wait for the girl to finish at least two of the remaining three cups of hot chocolate before they could leave. Maybe just the second one, but that was pushing it. The young punk didn't want test and see if such a scatterbrained girl could manage to keep both those cups from spilling. Heck, he honestly could picture her walking down the road, going to grab something only to whack herself with her own cup in the middle of her own fit of absentmindedness. Chocolate everywhere, it'd be a choccy tragedy. 
    
    And it'd be a damn waste of good chocolate too. As it stood, the drinks were very rich and went down easy. It didn't have a harsh bite of raw dark-chocolate, but it wasn't overly sweet either. A nice balance, with a creamy texture to please the palate. You could tell, too, that it wasn't the powdered shit either. The drink was made with real, high quality choc. The catch? Many homemade drinks and confectionaries such as this sometimes used espresso to enhance the chocolatey flavors. Which Babel most certainly did. And Gods only knew Louise needed four cups of that in her system. One or two cups probably wouldn't do much. Four was starting to play with fire.

    "Unless you have any better plans, let's wait for you to finish up a couple more of those drinks and we can head out. We can alternate a bit, start with a shop you wanna head to, then go to one I wanna stop by. Or we can just wing it, see where shit takes us. I'm honestly not in much a rush to do anything or go anywhere." Ty stated. Turning from the girl, the young man did a surprisingly sensible thing, given his current attire and stubborn attitude; He bought a scarf. A simple one, of course. Plain white, no fuzz or decorations. Completely utilitarian. And yet it fit with his whole vibe laughably easy. 

    The goblin was always thankful for a few extra coins, of course, and after wrapping his neck in the soft fabric, the young skaterboy pulled his hood back up over the cap. "How's it look?" Ty asked, staring towards Louise patiently. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She finishes up her second cup moving on now to her third. This stuff was really good, this was going to be addicting, wasn't it? Well, there goes some of her hard earned money. On the bright side at least this hot chocolate joint would have one more regular sooo she's doing something good here.

"Sure! We might end up shopping all day though... What sorta places were you gonna shop at?  I wanted to check out some tech stores- or or maybe some more clothing?  I burnt up one of my last shirts on a project and I really liked that one... There's also parts that I'm gonna need to re-stock on," she said. She has a habit of wandering off into stores and messing around with anything and everything she could get her hands on. Especially bad for a place with high tech equipment and sensitive explosions. In her defense her track record is pretty good, she's only blown up once so far.

"Oooor we could go scrapping too~," she said rocking on her heels taking another big gulp of the hot chocolate. "It's really fun seeing what people leave behind and it's even better seeing what you can make out of it! Most of my first inventions were from all sorts of stuff I collected around." Growing up in an orphanage didn't give her much in terms of cash so she couldn't buy any proper parts to fuck around with. So wandering and wading through the trash was the next best thing. Plus it gave her another excuse to be out and away from that place for a good bit.

She realized she was mentally getting sidetracked and finished up her third cup of chocolate now going onto her fourth. This was not gonna end well for her... Caffeine always made her feel weirdly...still. That and her heart would beat like FUCKING CRAZY and that was never a fun feeling. She was just beginning to feel the thumping of that hyped up hammer in her chest. Ah fuck.

She blinks before remembering what Ty had said and what she wanted to talk about. "Wow I totally forgot what I was talking about mid-conversation..." Mind outran her tongue it seems. Happens way more often than she wants to admit and it feels a little embarrassing. "I'm always up for seeing where I'm taken. I've found all sorts of cool little things that way! And gotten into some trouble too but that's beside the point." She waves away trouble as if it had no big consequence on her life. She lets out a small snicker seeing Ty's scarf and bounced her brows in a teasing manner. "You look very cool." Haha cause cold weather. She's internally punching herself for that shit pun.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Scrapping? Gods, you and Luke." The young man laughed. Unsurprisingly, scrapping was how Luke famously got his start as well. Ty remembered watching the kid strip down an entire engine when they were younger just so the guy could learn how it worked. Unfortunately, Ty didn't have the brains to follow along with it all. A shame too, he might have learned something from it. "All you tech-peeps are so alike, I swear." 

    "But yeah, for me I just need to stop by a clothing shop and a grocery store to pick up some stuff. You know, some new digs for the colder weather, and some food for the week. I might honestly wanna stop by a game store though, browse what's on offer. See if there's anything that catches my eye." Compared to Louise, Ty honestly felt a bit plain. His go with the flow attitude made planning what he was going to be shopping for a bit more difficult. Especially given he just kind of wanted to window shop all over the place, see if something piqued his interest, and go from there. 

    Once the girl had finished her third cup, Ty waved for her to follow him. "Thanks for the scarf compliment by the way. Though, I honestly think the look I'm rockin' is a bit more... chill than it cool." Wait. The young man fired off a few finger pistols at Louise for added cheese. He certainly wasn't known for his puns, that's for sure. 

    A cold wind battered the young man as soon as he swung the front door open. Even with the added warmth of the scarf, it still dug through the layers and gave him a shocking chill. The scarf certainly helped mitigate a bit of that, but there was only so much it could do. It almost made the guy think twice about leaving the warmth of the shop. Against any better judgement, though, the young man pressed on and stepped fully into the cold. 

    Ugh. Winter. 

    The layer of clouds up above seemed to have thickened while they were inside Babel's odds n' ends shop, and it seemed to promise, to Ty's dismay, incoming snow. Well, no better time to shop for winter clothing than now. He supposed. "Alright, You pick the shop we go visit first." He announced, snow crunching underfoot as the young man began to walk. The sidewalks had been cleared as best they could, but dusting after dusting still left a thin layer. A few, larger spots of bare stone marked where unobservant and unfortunate individuals slipped and fell. 

    Thinking about that got a chuckle out of Ty, but nothing more. No need to tempt fate, he'd only wind up on his backside himself. "Do you get good traction with those mechanical limbs of yours?" Ty asked, casting his shadowed gaze back towards the young woman. "I noticed that you still wear boots and stuff. Is that, like, an aesthetic choice? Cus I'm sure you could build something into the legs themselves, right?" Look at that Louise, an excuse to talk about your inventions. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

"What can I say? Great minds clearly think alike!" She gives him a grin and a little peace sign before following behind him. Her eyes alight with excitement at the mention of clothing shopping and gaming. So many ideas began rushing through her head all at once she nearly stopped in her tracks to think. But she was walking and surely someone on the sidewalk would fucking hate that shit. "Do you think I could pick out some outfits for you if you're going clothes shopping? Maybe then we could find like- a multiplayer game we could then play together at the game store! Oh! I wanted to go to a crystal shop actually first for some experiments I wanted to try. I wanna see what else I can do with some of the other magical elements in my work. Imagine like- a really cool magma speaker or something I dunno!" SO MANY FUCKING IDEAS. AAAAAAAAAH.

She nearly didn't notice Ty beginning to walk out of the shop. She was quick to follow after him, taking another small sip from her cup. She let out a chuckle and rolled her eyes at his shitty pun in return. Neither of them are comedians that much is obvious. Louise hardly shivered at the blast of cold air. The warm sweater dress and the cup of chocolate made it very cozy.

Not like her hands could really register the temperature change anyways. So long as she left the important bits warm that's what mattered. She's yet to have her limbs freeze up on her! At least- due to cold weather.

"We could go get some stuff for magic crystals so I can use them in bombs." She needs to find a more inexpensive method, maybe dust??? Hm. Surely a shop like that would have dust regardless. But did it retain its properties when destroyed??? Ugh. She has to do research again.

At his sudden question, Louise looked down at her feet, forgetting what shoes she was wearing that day. It happens ok? She doesn't look at her feet that much. She looks back up at Ty and grins once again before taking a deep breath and beginning the flood of an explanation.

"That's a good question. Actually, the material I used for my shoes doesn't affect my ability to use my skates I put into my limbs. I mean it's a little weird to go wandering around in bare feet. Even if like- those feet are robotic. It just seems like a bad idea. Plus you know getting dirt and rocks all up in my limbs wouldn't be good for the sensitive equipment in there. So I took the time to research materials in clothes that wouldn't actually affect the magical and technical processes needed for my little skating trick. That and I also increased the field of sensory for my skates so I could wear heels or something if I wanted to. I COULD have made permanent shoes on my feet but that just- it felt weird." It was one of her first prototypes and she scraped it so quickly. Her sheets and stuff just got dirty and it was a mess of a limb.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Heh, I wouldn't mind seeing what you'd pick out for me. We can stop at a couple places first." Great minds. Sure. He might not personally go thaaat far with either of them, but Ty guessed unique could probably apply where great couldn't. It definitely took a type of person and a type of motivation he simply couldn't comprehend. Whenever they went off on their projects there was a gleam in their eye and a type of dedication that practically made his capped noggin spin. On any given day, the young man could probably keep a lock on what Louise or Luke were like, but the second they started getting technical, that's when they started running circles around his brain.

    And sure, he tried his best. He cared about his friends and loved them enough to show that much effort. But expecting the young man to be able to put in much more than that was asking for a bit much. "Growing up Luke was pretty much always holed away in his little room. First time we met, I swear to Gods he was going to damn near rip my head off, but Luna managed to calm him down enough. You could tell he was very begrudging about it, the guy never really tries to hide it even to this day. It was like that for a month until one day we just started talking about music out of nowhere, and one thing led to another and we figured out we had a lot more in common than we thought."

    Whoops, it was his turn to get side tracked by a tangent. He only meant to give a bit of context but instead went through the whole autobiography. "But yeah anyways, so, holed up in his room. Usually Luna was hovering around his shoulder, you know? Like she does because everyone can tell she has a thing for him and vice verse." Louise probably didn't have a chance to see it as the two hadn't been in the same room around her yet- but soon, hopefully the pink-haired girl'd be in on it as well. "Every so often though, I would come in and he would be literally buried in some project. Like, covered in grease and oil, elbow deep in some gutted out machine. Wouldn't even say hey to me, second I walk in the door it was always; 'Grab me that tool over there. Cool now shine a light in here for me.' Looking back on it, it's kinda funny, but back then it was enough to give me whiplash." 

    A soft, cool breeze brushed past, tugging at the brim of his cap a bit. It was enough to make the veil of shadows lift ever so slightly up his face, teasing what was underneath for a moment. Soon, sparse little snowflakes began to fall around them. Ty's prediction had been correct. "It's honestly both funny and kinda respectable how tech-peeps like you guys function. Second you start working it's like a switch is flipped in your brain. I saw it there the second you started talking about your legs." A smile tugged at his lips as he looked back towards her.

    "I kinda envy you guys. I don't got nothin' like that myself. That kinda drive. But you guys straight up dig in and refuse to budge until you figure out how to get something to work the way you want it to." The young man shook his head and pressed against a door, pushing it open into a clothing shop of sorts. Unsurprisingly, the styles on display very clearly fit the aesthetics and vibe Ty had around him. See: A lot of punk shit and casual wear. "Honestly, I wish I had the same kind of aspirations you did. All you needed was a bit of a push in the right direction and you've already carved out your own place. Shit's bangarang." 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She pumps her fist in victory at his agreement. Fuck yeah, she gets to help dress up her friend! She's always imagined this- admittedly with dresses and stuff but she's not gonna push Ty's limit THAT far. Yet. She takes another happy sip of her drink as she strolls along with him. She could skate but she would very quickly out skate him and it would be like constantly outrunning an NPC. Though Ty doesn't have NPC energy.

She goes quiet when he begins to recall his past. The same names popping up with the same fond grin. She can't help but share in the joy of nostalgia though there is a sudden twist in her hyper caffeinated heart. She can feel a tightness consume her throat and her brows furrow slightly. This sensation always washed over her whenever she recalled her time at the orphanage. It was pretty lonely being the odd kid out. She wondered if Ty, Luke, and Luna knew of a kid like that where they grew up. The one kid without a friend, the one kid that got left behind while the rest got together and buddied up. Man she hated that this fun nostalgia trip was turning into the alleyways of fuckin memory lane.

Louise forced the smile back onto her face as he continued to speak. She giggled upon hearing the dynamic between the group. Can't believe you can be friends with someone for that long and not figure out that you have romantic feelings for each other. Seems real dumb, or maybe at that point they are just trying to ignore it on purpose. She actually gasps out loud as soon as that thought enters her head. THEY MUST BE DOING IT ON PURPOSE. Why? Maybe it's a long con deception for Ty and they might already be together- wait no the neck snapping indicated otherwise. Or it could be that the idea of actually being together and the change is so terrifying they just aren't gonna do it. Cowards.

"Haha...well it isn't all sunshine and rainbows you know!" She's definitely missed a good chunk of the conversation deep diving into her own head. Fuck. "That switch might not turn off for like 18 hours and I find I haven't eaten anything or had any water at all. You know, things like that!" She figured it was a side effect of the cyber limbs, but that was also adamantly denying the fact that she's been like this since she was a child. "Plus all that focus towards tech means my focus on anything else is," she waves her arms around nearly sloshing the hot chocolate. She let out a yell of distress before stilling the cup and downing the last bits of it. Then she chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck before cringing at how cold it was. "My focus just- isn't there and it's not like I'm not trying!!! I am! It's just- it's..." she let's out a frustrated sigh and there seemed to be a storm brewing for years under there. Then she just looks up and grins and all signs of distress were gone.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Ty! You got a really cool music shop you made all on your own. That's definitely something. Plus you have friends and stuff and can make em suuuper easily!" Something she definitely could not do. "You're just good at some stuff while I'm good at other stuff. We don't have to be good at the same stuff to still be good at stuff!" How eloquent.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Hah! Yeah that doesn't surprise me, the number of times Luke has pulled all-nighters working on some shit is literally uncountable at this point. I think that's just a trait of people like you two at this point." He let out a small sigh. "Yeah... man I'm glad you two actually hit it off. Normally he's very standoffish and just doesn't let people in. You know. The loner type." 

    There was a pause as he noticed Louise try to cover up the emotional frustration. It wasn't as though she could hide it. Ty doubted that was even possible for her, no matter how hard she wanted to try. The boy stopped and gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow. "Hey, c'mon. No need to beat yourself down like that, man. I like the way you are. You're good to vibe with and you always know how to keep the energy high." Another pause. "I know you might not like how distracted you can get, and I know I can't really help all that much- but your hyperactivity doesn't make you a bad person or anything. You're a sweetheart." 

    Ty plucked at a bit of cloth, looking over the design of the shirt. He had to keep it in mind next time he came by, since he was letting Louise pick his outfit this time around. "I can tell you're a lot like us. You got more damage down there than what's on the surface. But honestly, you need to listen to your own advice and not be so hard on yourself. You've just been tryna talk to the wrong people. I mean, come on, Luna and Luke love ya', I love ya'. You just got to find people that fit with the energy you put out, you know?"

    "Honestly like... I'm not gonna really say much on it, but we all grew up as the outcasts ourselves. So whatever weight your carrying, we can probably relate. You know? You're not on your own anymore" Ty raised a fist and tapped her shoulder with his knuckles. The young punk was clearly trying to be comforting with that move, the best way he knew how. For all that casual air he put up around him, he was pretty awkward deep down wasn't he? "C'mon, Pinky. How about you pick out some outfits for me, see if that cheers you up a little bit."

    A genuine smile tugged at his lips. Ty was a ride or die kinda guy, and he didn't want to let her day get ruined by some shitty, dark cloud. He certainly wasn't going to dig in either, the young man didn't want to ruin her mood all the way out in public. Maybe if they were in a more private setting with less eyes around, then Tyler would ask about the scars she carried. For now, though, he was just letting her know that she didn't have to bear that weight by herself. Which, given her hang-up on friendship, probably was something she needed to hear desperately right about now.  

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

"Guess it must be! Sometimes I find that even when I'm laying down my mind is still thinking about all my work," she said. Seriously it never stops, sleep is really hard to get when her brain keeps running schematics over and over again. Even after all the blueprints stop making sense on paper her mind is still eager to dissect it.

She looks a little surprised that Luke actually seemed to like her and that he wasn't an easy person to please- ok well the second half wasn't surprising. But what was surprising was the fact that she didn't seem to get on his bad side right away! Maybe Ty was right and she just got mixed up in the wrong crowds. But it just happened so much and with so many different people it wasn't really hard to figure the fault was her. She was so sure all those people weren't even the same. She shouldn't linger on it though, it doesn't matter realistically.

Still, she can't deny the pain in her chest or the burn in her throat even thinking about it all. It just wasn't fun to recall since the emotions were so deeply entwined with the memories. "I mean- I know I'm not a bad person! I'm just annoying," she said with a matter-of-fact shrug. "But I guess it's an annoying you guys like so..." There was still that deep pit of...whatever these feelings were still lodged within her soul.

She began to fidget and move around as he attempts to gaze beyond the candy-colored surface of her personality. Mmm being perceived is uncomfortable and not fun. Besides love was certainly a strong word wasn't it? They didn't even really know her that well. Sure they worked with her and knew her kinda but they didn't know her. In a way, she still feels like a stranger to others. Even to Ty though she would count him as a friend there was still some invisible wall. She opens her mouth to say something before the words catch in her throat and she renders herself silent.

"Yeah it's all in the past. Doesn't really matter. Just gotta keep moving forward!" She nods, willing herself to believe the statement. She's not on her own anymore right now, but it's only a matter of time before she's alone again right? She'll just do something to royally fuck it up. Hopefully not as bad as murder again...

She's been unusually quiet for herself and god is the caffeine not helping the levels of discomfort and vague panic she's feeling at the moment. The little tap on her shoulders make her jolt and the lights in her limbs blink. She looks over at Ty and gives him a small grin. Time to shove those dark clouds back into their fucking bottle. "Sorry for making everything a total bummer all of a sudden!" she said looking off to the side and into the street. Guilt crushing her soul for a moment before she turns back as if the grin had never disappeared. "Yeah it would make me feel better. Now c'mon I'm gonna make you look fancy!!!" She wasn't since she actually wanted to get him stuff he might like but- she also wanted to have a liiitle fun!

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "I wouldn't call you annoying, and you don't have to apologize to me." He stated with a wave of his hand. Louise had nothing to apologize for. She couldn't control her brain and he knew that. No one could. But that was enough of the sad shit, he was here to help her have good vibes and to have a good day. "Let's have a look around here, see what you can come up with and then we can bounce wherever you wanna go next." 

    Truth was, Ty would know how Louise felt. Being an outsider. Having trouble making friends. That's all the Lost Boys were. The rejects, the unwanted. Groups of orphans and children from broken homes. The ones that The City cast aside. Chewed up. Spit out. Even still, Ty had barely been a actual member of the gang. While the "real" members of the Lost Boys Gang never really had any family (save for siblings at the very least only a few years apart), Ty had an older brother that was still around and still cared. More than that, his older brother was in the system, working for the city guard. Callahan's moral objections aside, it made Ty feel more like an honorary member than an actual one. 

    He never took part in any of the big things they did. Never really got to shout their signature line at the top of his lungs. Even with how shitty The City was, Tyler had it better than most back then. At least he had a place he could technically call his home. Even if they had to leave it all behind anyways. 

    The young man always wondered if any of the others hated him because of that.

    Maybe that's why he got on so well with Louise? Or maybe she just was a better person to hang around than she gave herself credit for? Those were topics to debate on later, when she wasn't jittery and stuck in a cycle of self-deprecation. The boy watched her move around the store each day. The way she used the mechanical limbs made them seem less like prosthetics and more like layered armor. The pink-haired young woman was far more adaptable than she probably knew, and deep down, the young punk respected it. The way she could take each new situation without breaking her stride, both the good and the bad. 

    "Man, it only feels like it was just yesterday that we were dancing at a summer rave. Time just seems to fly by." His voice was wistful as he mused on the previous event. The way everyone tried so hard to come out on top in the dance-off. Running away from Luna at the hot springs only to run into the god of it all. Actually he could have done without the last bit but that was besides the point. "In my honest and humble opinion, you and your glowing prosthetics were one of the standout during that whole dance fight. I mean, you should have seen how many people were just staring off in awe at your handiwork."