Pastries and Play

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Louise was eager for the day. Which is rare cause it's hard to get her to wake up early without some sort of pout on her face. Today, however, she needed to prepare for hanging out with her best friend- kinda- Ty. She'll be honest she's not sure if she really holds that title. Luke was the more likely candidate if there was anyone to be Ty's best friend. That is beside the point though. She's hanging out with Ty today and they are definitely really close friends!

She has so much to update him on- her commissions have begun to increase a lot in numbers so she's been a bit busy. Helps when you have really fancy limbs to walk around on. Maybe Luke has been keeping Ty in the know but still, she wants to talk to him! Why? Just cause! It's not like they don't see each other often but still, she has been busy!

So, she decided to take a little leap of courage. It's a big leap for her but no one else really needs to know that. She invited Ty to hang out with her. She's wanted to do it for a while but always panicked trying to figure out what they could do. She just settled on getting some sweets and just hanging out. Now she has to get ready though. She keeps it simple, tying her hair up into two buns and wearing a t-shirt crop top and skirt.

She applies a bit of lipgloss mostly because it tastes good and she's off towards the cafe. They have such good sweets there, she comes often enough to be recognized. Then again, she is pretty hard to forget. She debates whether or not she should wait for Ty or order when she gets there. Maybe she should walk too because skating would get here there way too early and she would get bored and definitely order.

At least she has the walk to think about it!

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Unlike Luke or Callahan, Ty slept in near constantly when he didn't have plans for the day. He was an adult, dude could do whatever he wanted. At least until someone got to him with a message over his ResLink. Grumbling and shifting in his bed, the boy rolled around to tiredly grasp at the device. Luke was so dead whenever he- Oh. It was Louise. The boy yawned and lifted himself up to read the fairly simple message. For once, the young woman was inviting him out to hang, rather than the other way around. Good on her for finally working up the courage. When he saw where she wanted to meet up, the boy had to debate with himself whether he was surprised or not. 

    He was not. 

    After tossing back a courteous reply, the boy sluggishly rolled out of bed and got himself ready. A nice graphic tee with an angry gorilla head, and a pair of cargo shorts to keep him cool in the mid-summer heat. Avalon wasn't that bad when it came to summer weather, so it wasn't as though he needed a whole bunch to keep himself cool. If Luke's stubborn ass could keep himself from sweating buckets in his grungy, post-emo outfits, then Ty would be just fine. Heh, maybe he should text Luke about being an emo boy? Get a daily dig at the fighty punk. 

    Showering and taking care of his personal grooming took very little time. Hard to take more than a few minutes when he was already perfect. But mostly because the young man's appearance was low maintenance. All part of the aesthetic, or something. The skater boy tossed a text to his older brother letting the big man know where his shithead sibling ran off to, and it was off to the races. Cap on head, backpack over shoulder, and skateboard under his arm. Ty had to fight the eternal urge to slide down the railing like the a slide, but never the less made good time on the way down. Bursting out the door, the boy dropped a few apologies to passerby's along with his skateboard. 

    Unlike Louise who was afraid of being "too early," Ty was more concerned with being "too late." Homeboy spent close to an hour getting ready. Not really, but exaggeration was part of the aesthetic too. Whatever the case, the young man zipped down the street, weaving himself in-between pedestrians. A mental map formed in his head, leading him down the path to the meetup spot. One of the good parts about having a really good memory, and also knowing how to navigate urban spaces. Once you got used to one, overly complex maze, everything else was pretty easy in comparison. It definitely helped that the boy had basically skated the entirety of the city at this point. Saying that he knew the area like the back of his hand was a bit of a stretch, but Ty definitely got close to that mark. 

    Well, as close as he could without an actual map. 

    Minutes later, Ty slowed himself down outside the meetup spot. Quaint little place. Very obviously Louise's aesthetic. "Alright, waiting time." He muttered as he kicked up his skateboard to wait. Good thing the young punk was good at passing the time without actually having anything to do to pass the time. Benefits of being a dude who enjoyed existing anywhere the vibes were solid. And In Avalon, the vibes were always solid. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She actually arrives on time, thank goodness. Her relief though is quickly ended when she spots Ty waiting for her. Wait- how long has he been there? Oh no goddammit. She checks back at the ResLink hooked up to her arm to reconfirm she got the time right. She did. Ok. Good, good. Would be really awkward showing up late to the hang out she created.

She rushes over to Ty now with a bright grin and an enthusiastic wave. "Hi Ty!" She says bounding up to him and pulling him into a hug. Ahah hugs feel so weird now with the new upgrades but that just makes her like them even more. "How have you been? You aren't super busy and I wasn't bothering you right?" She asks with a flash of concern in her bright blue eyes.

Her eyes quickly flick over to the cafe and she attempts to peer inside to get a peek at the menu. Of course, they have her favorite usuals but she wants to know what specials they might have for the day. A bit hard to see from this distance. They should go inside. She's almost already dragging Ty along with her before she remembers that it might be nice to ask.

"Uh.. w-wanna come inside?" Does she have to ask? God she's acting like a total dork all of a sudden. Well, not all of a sudden, but more so than usual.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A cool breeze brushed past as Ty waited, back against the wall, hidden eyes up at the sky. As luck would have it, Louise didn't actually take that long. But as soon as she arrived, Ty was bombarded with a many different things. Always to be expected when it came to Louise. So with his characteristic calm demeanor, Ty set to work taking it all one at a time. The young man cleared his throat, and patted Louise's cheek. 

    "It hasn't been that long since we last saw each other, doofus. You work for me. I've been good. I wasn't up to anything today, just sleeping in when you shot me a text." As bubbly as Louise was, the immediate hug on arrival was definitely a surprise. But a welcome one. Ty was a dude who could appreciate a hug from anyone. Especially a cute girl. Upon seeing the flashes of concern, he once again patted her face. "Listen dork, if I was busy or you were bothering me, I wouldn't have come. Buuuut, I'm here, aren't I?"

    Louise was a special individual. Overly worrying about a lot of things, getting concerned when she didn't have to. It was endearing, in a sense. But also required a lot of thoughts to be defused with proper pressure. Pressure meaning logic, of course. As smart as Louise was, she could definitely lack some of that good ol' fashioned reason in that brain of hers. The young man had a few assumptions as to why that was, but was never one to pry. If the pink haired woman was going to tell him anything, she would do so on her own time. Still, left him with more than a bit of work to do, cleaning up the messed inside her head that she couldn't. At least, that was the imagery he had in his own mind. Going around the pinky's brain with a broom, sweeping up the messes she made for no reason. 

    For example; inviting him into a restaurant. 

    The boy couldn't help but laugh as she started pulling him along, only to get suddenly shy about it. "No I'd rather sit outside and feast on the pastries with my eyes." Ty made the joke, but knowing Louise, he immediately followed it up. "I came this far, didn't I? Not like I'm gonna just steal a hug and then leave, right?" His smile was calm as ever, making up for the lack of visible eyes. Ever expressive, ever patient. 

    With the new sense of touch, Louise's grip on Ty's arm sent signals running up the new prosthetic. His skin was relatively soft, but the muscle and bone underneath was firm and solid with only a slight give to it. Dude was, unsurprisingly, fit. But for the young woman, the sensation was no doubt a completely alien one. While hugging him, she no doubt would have noticed the subtlety's in his back muscles, his shoulders. The boy was in no way shape or form any sort of tank, but being active and bonking a lot of things with a baseball bat certainly had its up sides. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She felt her hands twitch wanting to wander and feel more of the muscle and flesh. Cause seriously being able to register sensations now has her all excited but also overwhelmed. She grins sheepishly at him when he pats her cheeks. The skin on her face is beginning to turn a hue similar to her hair.

"Well I know-! Just feels like a while dunno why! I just wanna see how you're doing is all in case anything interesting happens.  Wait, I woke you up with a text?  I'm sorry!" She exclaims. Louise really isn't a fan of bothering people and personally getting woken up is quite a bother indeed. He could have just slept in if he wanted to. Maybe he should have. All the concern washes away with another pat to her face which turns the soft pink of her cheeks into a brighter red.

She finds herself smiling again and nods along to his words. "True, you are here now. Didn't keep you waiting too long right? I'm really glad you decided to come by the way. They have some super good stuff here. Also, their drinks have cute foam art too!" Not always, but she appreciates it when it does happen.

Ty does a lot to help reassure her and she can appreciate that. But her never-ending worries wonder if he's going to get tired of that. Or tired of her. She wouldn't blame him- ah why is she thinking about this now. She's got a menu of pastries to look at and some company to enjoy. Still, she's glad to know he actually wants to be here and isn't doing this just to please her. Well, maybe he is. But why? She keeps getting ahead of herself she really needs to get out of her own head.

She giggles at his joke when she starts dragging him inside. "I didn't know you ate with your eyes Ty! Must be super easy to feast," she jokes along as she pushes open the door and holds it for him to get inside. "I mean you could steal a hug but that would make you a thief and I would be very upset with you," she pokes him playful and gives a pout before grinning at him again.

Her hand gently squeezes around his arm that she's gripping just so she can feel it a bit more. For testing purposes only of course... and it just felt cool. She takes her time to look up at the menu board settling on a drink before letting her eyes roam over the display of sweets. She's practically drooling over the glass casing.

"Anything looks good to you?" She asks him.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    It should have been illegal for such a dork to be so adorable when flustered. It was way past funny seeing Louise's face match her hair. So cute it just wasn't fair. Ty wondered how much he could get away with teasing the young scatterbrain for that, but held back. She didn't grow up with the rest of the Lost Boys, and way overthought tiny things if they were said carelessly. If he wasn't conscious of what he said, the pink haired girl might shut herself down needlessly. That sorta thing really wound up killing the vibe, and the punk was very much adamant about maintaining his chill status. Being a mood killer because of a bad joke didn't really fit into that title. 

    "Hey man, I'm just down to hang with my buddies. Any day with my friends is a good one, y'know?" A placid smile sat comfortably on his face as they spoke. It was always fun to see Louise excited over everything. Little foam arts or pastries were just another thing to add to the list. Having someone so high energy and bubbly was honestly... a pretty nice change up from the usual pace he lived his life in.

    After a moment of watching Louise struggle internally over her reddening face. While also doing absolutely nothing to avoid the situation entirely. It was interesting to watch her just casually feel him up for reasons only apparent to her. And then immediately getting flustered over that fact. How many times could he mentally say the words 'Cute' or 'Adorable?' Turns out, a lot. Wait, was this what went on in Luna and Luke's brains when they did shit together? No, that couldn't possibly be the case. Could it? After a playful poke to his cheek, Ty's hidden eyes darted down to Louise grabbing onto his wrist, tugging him along with a bright smile and red cheeks. A knot twisted itself in his gut. Nothing fearful, but abnormal all the same. A lightbulb flickered on in his brain. 

    Oh. Oh no. 
    
    Oh... this was an interesting realization. One not aided by Louise's absent minded fucking fondling of the guy's forearm muscles. For once his brain was alight with concern over the techie's absentmindedness. Was this purposeful or playfully innocent? A mix of both? Or was it something not even she realized. What didn't help matters was that the young punk had no idea how to respond to this sort of situation. Ty was a guy that hung out comfortably on the sidelines. Liked watching people stumble through these feelings with a mixture of mischief and support. He was not prepared to be the new victim in this cycle of endless teasing and torment. By the gods Luke and Luna would eat him alive if they ever found out he was even capable of having a crush. Especially after all the shit he gave them. 

    Crush? Shit, no, wait, stop. Don't give it a name. Absolutely not. This was just a friendly hangout, nothing more nothing less. Please stop fondling my fucking arm, Louise you're really making this all very confusing for me. Internally, the panic button in Tyler's brain had been fully pressed. Outwardly, nothing changed. Champion Poker Face. Still, there were a lot of new thoughts entering Ty's mind that didn't really exist up until this point. Sure, like all his friends in his group, he could admit Louise was attractive.

    Everything else was not something that he had in mind here. 

    Stupid cute girls being all blushy and adorable and latching onto him for really weird reasons. Making his brain go stupid and dumb for no real reason. It was fine though, as long as Louise didn't notice, then there was no reason to change anything. He was fine, this was fine, shit would pass once his brain stopped frying itself like an egg. There was probably a perfectly legitimate reason for... this. And no, Tyler, do not respond to Louise's question with "You" because that will just make things more confusing and weird. And probably get you slapped or something. 

    Ty cleared his throat and let his hidden gaze wander to the menu. Perfect distraction from his new inner turmoil. When he spoke, he did his best to keep his voice calm and measured. Just like normal. "Ehhh, y'know the crêpe with powdered sugar and strawberries looks pretty good. Don't normally eat shit like that, but I've kinda wanted to try. Probably gonna get that for myself. What about you?" Yes, this is good Tyler, keep talking like normal and all the bad thoughts will go away. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Ty is always there to reassure her and remind her that he actually wants to stick around and be her friend. She still doesn't know why she's so fearful. She has no reason to be scared she thinks. A part of her is still scared of losing this friendship though... She doesn't want to think about that right now. Ty's done enough work dragging her out of her head!

Louise is unsurprisingly unaware of the internal turmoil occurring behind her. She's much more focused on what sort of stuff she wants right now. Her eyes continue to scan the glass until they land on these tiny babycakes in an array of pastel colors. They looked small and bite-sized with tiny detailing on the frosting to match various flowers and plants. "Oh my gosh!  Look they're so cute!!!  Small cakes how is that possible?!" She exclaims dropping her grip on Ty and pressing herself closer to the glass and leaning towards the small delightful cakes.

"Can I have like- four of these?" She asks the lithe figure behind the counter. They only give a small nod and begin to take out the cakes and plate them. She claps her hands together excitedly at receiving these little cakes. Louise does not care what flavor these cakes might have.  She wants these god damn tiny cakes for the aesthetic.  She turns back to face Ty and listen to his order.

Another grin appears and she nods enthusiastically. "The crêpes here are super good. You can take them to go and stuff which is pretty nice.  Also there's a spot where you can sit and watch them make it. It's really interesting to see." Her eyes dart over and she is happy to discover that it's open. "Plus no one's sitting over there. Oh wait-!"

Louise suddenly turns back to the person behind the counter and the bright grin she had on before melts into a shy embarrassed one. "Um, excuse me? Could I also get a rose latte? A-And a strawberry crêpe!" She asks as sweetly as possible so as not to piss off the poor worker for forgetting to ask before. She just hears a sigh and sees another nod. Ok phew didn't make them too upset!

She turns back to look at Ty and say "I'm paying for this you can't stop me!" and sticks her tongue out. He can try and argue but she invited him out, it's only fair. Plus he's paying her so it's kinda his money. Not all of it obviously with her commissions and repairs doing better and better but- ya know! She's already taking out her wallet from the pockets in her skirt. Of course, the skirt has pockets. It's a requirement for her at this point dammit.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    There was some slight relief on Ty's mind as she let go. Of all the days she picked to not be hyper conscious of herself, this was certainly an interesting one. It was fine. He was fine. The boy just got a bit flustered is all. Why? Who knows, but it was obviously for no real reason in particular. With a sigh, the punk quietly followed Louise along when she excitedly pointed out the pastries she wanted. It was wholesome. So wholesome it made his heart hurt. How could someone who's lost all their limbs still be so bubbly and happy all the time? The levels of adorableness were damn near toxic. Was it just that Louise ate so much sugary food that the girl became innately sweet herself? 
   
    Cheater.

    "Yeah I mean, doesn't look like a bad little spot to pop in-" Ty stopped mid sentence as Louise gave the guy his order. No fair! That was cheating! As far as the worker was concerned, he looked less irritated towards Louise, and more just generally tired that he had to do extra work. So. You know. Basic minimum wage worker. Extra work was extra work, no matter how easy it was. Ty looked at the young cashier and quietly saluted their efforts. They gave a small nod in response as they took Louise's payment. You know what, two could play at that game. Ty approached the front counter. "Hey, homie. I heard sometimes the drinks get little foam art, right? Pinky here talks very highly of it." Oh yeah, he was playing dirty. 
    
    The cashier eyed the young punk up and down, keeping up a placid customer service face. Polite, but masking the internal urge to die every second they had to stand there. Ty put up his hands in a disarming fashion. "I know it's extra work, and believe me, I hate that shit as much as the next guy. But, I'm definitely willing to drop a few extra gold pieces if you could have someone else do something cute in the foam for her, ye? If possible, of course. Not gonna try to twist your arm, here." The key was showing the cashier that he emphasized with the plight of the common worker. Solidarity amongst lazy shitters, and show that he's not doing this to be some sorta uppity prick. 

    A pause settled in the conversation as the worker studied Tyler once more and thought good and hard about the prospect. Finally, after a sigh, a placid smirk formed on their lips, and they shrugged their response. Everything was all good. A few gold pieces changed hands, plus a few more for a tip, and Ty herded Louise away before the girl could make a scene of her complaints. "Dope, thanks man, hope you have a good one!" He called back. The young punk may not be able to stop her, but the girl certainly couldn't stop him either. This is what those in the business called the "Get Fucked" mentality. But, in a more friendly tone, of course.

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Listen the sweets she eats have nothing to do with how sweet she is. Maybe. She would have to stop eating sweets to find out and that's a big ask. Besides, she could be sad over lost limbs but she has super cool ones now that she made with the help of Luke! So, honestly, not much for her to feel upset about. Louise was sort of relieved no one really knew her in her recovery state since she was just in the depths of misery.

Not now though. Definitely not now. She's quite happy, elated even, to be out with a friend showing him a nice spot and all. Her bright-eyed joy soon turned into a narrow-eyed pout. That bastard! Requesting the latte foam art just for her. It's really nice... But the poor worker-!

Her eyes immediately snap over to the figure who just gives a shrug in response. So were they really gonna do it? You could just ask? She looks back at Ty and smiles softly at him, though it again turns back into an agitated pout seeing he's putting down a tip. "I said I was paying!  That's no fair c'mon!  Ty!!!" She whines stomping her foot a little. She's already being moved away before she can try and add more to the tip. It's no use though.

She goes and settles in her seat and lets out a defeated huff and crosses her arms. Her fingers begin to twist on the fabric of her shirt just enjoying the sensation. "You also didn't have to ask for the foam art... We're gonna be here a while cause it definitely takes time.   I mean- I really appreciate it but you didn't have to do it." she mumbles looking away from him blushing again. She just didn't have the guts to bother workers like that. Though part of her wonders why he did it in the first place. Latte foam art wasn't like- a super big deal. Okay- well- maybe it was really really cool when it happened and stuff but-

Maybe he's just being fucking nice sheesh. She has to internally laugh at herself at how hard it is to accept people actually being nice to her. This time she wants to be nice though and try and repay her friend back a little for being around and spoiling her far more than she deserved.  She casts her gaze over to where she knew the crêpes were being made. That was just totally so interesting right now despite the fact that the worker was definitely not making any crêpes at the moment. Instead focusing on the drink for the time being.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Ty stuck his tongue out at Louise's pout. She started the war, but it seemed he won it. Getting a little victory like that was almost enough for him to ignore the nagging thoughts in his head. Unfortunately, they were still there, quietly screaming at her to stop being so adorable. Ty dropped his bag and board, settled down, and wistfully cast his gaze off in the same direction as Louise. Ok brain, we need to have a talk. Stop it. Just stop it! Cease. Calm. The young man sucked in a breath and let it out nice and slow. Don't get overwhelmed here, re-center yourself my dude. People can be cute without you crushing on them. You've dealt with that before.

    With a heavy puff, the young punk leaned back in his seat. Arms behind his head, foot kicked up over the opposite leg. Dude looked way more relaxed than what was going on inside his head. Complete opposite situation compared to Luke and Luna. Constantly comparing to them was a bit tiresome, but they were the only proper example he had to go off of at this moment. Especially seeing as despite how hard they tried to deny it, they were both so, so painfully obvious. The second they smooched he was gonna pop confetti over them and proceed to get punched twice.
    
    And it would be worth it. 

    Well deserved, of course, but worth it.

    Quietly, the young man watched over Louise as the girl eyed up the crepe station. "Soooo, any particular reason Luke sent me a video of you adorably stumbling around like a cute ol' newborn deer?" Oh yeah, Luke sent that video. Of course he did. A smug smirk formed over his lips, grinning mischievously at the pink haired woman. No one was safe from his gremlin-like energy. The capped crusader may have good vibes, but that didn't mean he wasn't a being of chaos. Tormenting Luke, Luna, Zack, and the rest of the Lost Boys was a full time job. And it one-hundred-percent extended to everyone else in his life around him.

    No one, no where, would be safe from him.

    Grinning ear to ear like a smug bastard, the young man rocked back in his chair. Careful not to go too far and fall on his ass, of course. One way to take the wind out of the sails of a smug fuck is to embarrass themselves, and he needed the smug energy for at least the next five minutes. "Also, there any sorta reason why you suddenly decided to start feeling up my back and my arm?" That was certainly going to garner some sort of exaggerated response. With any luck, however, it was going to be obvious that it was lighthearted teasing. Ty really didn't want to actually upset Louise, just play around a little bit. Fluster her up a bit more, maybe burn out some of the synapses in her brain for a few beats. Wait, why did he want that? Eh. Hm. No reason. No reason at all. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

He won this time. It was so annoying. Can't he just let her win once? Ugh...! She can't really stay mad about it but still, she just wants to do nice things without having to get nice stuff back. Mostly because she feels like she simply isn't repaying him enough and this was a failed attempt at some form of repayment. Thwarted once again.

The silence feels a little tense for a moment. Though Ty is pretty quiet usually so she shouldn't think anything of it right? At his question, Louise feels her face grow warm once again. She giggles and rubs the back of her neck trying to gather herself together. "Uh well, Luke invited me over to work on a new model for the limbs. Which you are seeing right before you! It was basically the first time I was walking on my new legs. Had to make sure they worked and all. They got some super sweet updates." She stretches out her arms and legs and showing off the skilled craftsmanship.

"He even invited me to come and help him out sometimes for some jobs. I'm super excited about that. Though uh... I dunno if he still wants to. May have teased him a bit too hard. That or next time he sees me I'm getting decked," she says with a sigh and resting her head in her hand. It was totally deserved and she knew it but still. Not exactly eager about it.

At his next question, her face turns bright red. "I-I got new sensory updates. So I can like- feel stuff now..." Her eyes dart over to the counter again looking for some sort of escape from the answer.

She sees that her cakes and latte are ready. Quickly she gets to her feet and rushes over to grab her order. She peers over as she walks back to the table seeing the worker get started on the crêpe. It was so entertaining watching the batter spin around the skillet. She snaps out of her quick little distraction and finally settles back in her seat.

She looks down at her latte and gasps in delight seeing a cute little teddy bear in the foam. "Aw now I almost don't even want to drink it. It's too cute," she says with a sigh. Successfully swerved the conversation. She thinks.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Ooooh, I see. Mhm, mhm..." Tyler nodded his head along with Louise, patiently letting her ramble on and desperately try to change the subject. "...So of course, with your new found sense a' touch, the first thing you did when you saw me was feel me up. I'm honored that my muscles are that nice." It didn't work. "So tell me, Louise, how do I feel~?" It was easier to ignore his own embarrassment when the punk could force it upon someone else. And with how red the girl was getting, Ty could see this train going for more than a little bit. No more thinking of his own weird bullshit emotions, now it was time to make her start thinking of weird bullshit. Life was a brutal, endless cycle of the stuff. 

    Comparatively, Ty was no where near as jacked as his older brother, and he didn't have as much definition as Luke. His form was a little more lithe. That didn't mean he wasn't still built solid. Not only was he a powerful war mage, but baseball and bashing heads were equally great work outs. To emphasize that fact (and to continue the teasing) Ty made sure to flex that fact. Literally. Similar to Luke, his arm muscles were nothing to scoff at, though there was clearly more emphasis in different areas. While Luke and Callan's fists were weapons of mass destruction in their own right, Tyler definitely had some impressive biceps compared to his build.

    It was almost deceptive given how little he showed off those puppies. 

    Of course, Ty was not the kind of guy who actually gave a shit. If the young man was bragging about anything, then it was a joke. And unfortunately for Louise, in his mind fucking with people was a grand joke. It was perfect, too. Louise wasn't the type of person to plant his head into the floor like Luke, or strangle him half to death like Luna. Or stick his head through a wall like Callahan. Or put him in a dumpster like Zack. Come to think of it, Ty's favorite pass time came with a lot of near immediate fallout. But Louise was too cute and soft to start trying to kick his ass so this was alright. 

    Probably. 

    A glint shimmered underneath the ballcap's shadow. Light briefly catching the boy's hidden eyes. Not enough to discern color, but enough to give a sense of mischief. Louise had a front row seat to Tyler shit talking Luna for not asking out Luke, she shouldn't be surprised that he was an equal opportunity shit talker. "Snrk- heh, y'know, it's kinda adorable that's the first thing you do when you see me. Your hugs are deceptively soft." Tyler paused. Let the silence hang. Clicked his tongue. "Shit, can't wink. Pretend you saw me winking at you and now you're super embarrassed about it." 

    The question hung in the back of the young man's mind over what he was trying to get from this teasing. Part of him really didn't want to know. Part of him denied the fact that he already did. This wasn't flirting. This was fun. Just casual teasing between two good friends. No, he wasn't acting like Luke, that would be ridiculous...

    Fuck, he's acting like Luke. 

    That thought definitely sent a shudder running up Tyler's spine. How much teasing and grief he gave the young man for not being honest with his feelings. Biting back a huff, the boy worked the thought over in his mind. Trying to toy with it and get comfortable with that sort of honesty. The two of them hadn't known each other for that long. A little over a year now, from the middle of last spring up until the tail end of summer. That being said, it wasn't as though the two interacted a whole lot outside of that. Well, ok, yeah they did. They hung out at work and also outside of work a little bit here and there and also Louise knew his two best friends. And also his brother. 

    Was it normal to fall for a person after only a year of knowing them? Gods. Fucking. Dammit. Yeah, ok, looks like he was admitting to the crush, wasn't he? Well, Ty was now ten steps ahead of Luke. Didn't mean he liked to admit it though. Emotions were. Weird. Really weird. And he was one hundred percent not about to actually come clean to Louise about the new discovery either. If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't. But until proven otherwise, the boy was going to just politely assume that Louise had no actual interest in him. All the weirdness and blushing she displayed was just her being a goof like she normally was. So. Fuck. What do people do with these sorts of emotions once they had them but couldn't act on them? 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She begins to take a bite out of her small cake before Ty begins to tease her again. She nearly chokes on her own food and quickly sets the pastry down as she tries to compose herself. Louise is adamantly convincing herself the only reason she 'felt him up' was because she simply wasn't used to it. That's normal right? She tries to open her mouth to speak but a squeak comes out in reply. Her blush just grows worse after that. God, she can't even speak right now what was he doing? Teasing her like this... She can't recall if she normally gets this flustered. Maybe it's the topic at hand or maybe it's how he's speaking to her.

"I... uh..." she looks back down at her cute foamy drink to try and conjure up the right words for herself. "Well you know after not feeling stuff for a while feeling everything feels...weird! Wow, there were a lot of feels in that sentence. Anyways-! Wouldn't you wanna touch everything after not really feeling in your limbs for a while?  I just- I mean... you have muscles," was all she could manage. Yes, he does indeed have muscles great observation. Hard to miss when you're literally groping at them. She tries to hide behind eating a baby cake but it does nothing besides show her flustered distress.

There could be a lot of thoughts daring to float inside her head. Louise however, won't hear any of that shit. She's sure Ty is just teasing her cause she's acting all embarrassed. Though that begs the question as to why. She blames it on the head pats she received. Not exactly a thing she's used to, but she definitely enjoyed it. Ahh, she really really enjoyed it.

She can't help but giggle and grin as Ty begins to flex on her and she rolls her eyes. He definitely does have nice arms. You know from like- a totally objective anatomical perspective. She's studied enough anatomy to make functioning prosthetic limbs she knows about these things! The arms of course aren't the only nice thing about Ty. Why is she thinking about this?! Is he making her think about this stuff on purpose? So many questions and absolutely no answers.

It's not fair that's he is teasing her because she's always really easy to tease. The kids when she grew up did it all the time. But this is a completely different teasing than the one she was used to. Ty's teasing makes her feel all giddy and like her wires and insides are melting. What does this mean? Hopefully, nothing that causes internal damages to her system.

She leans a bit closer catching that glimmer of his eyes. Aw dammit, she just missed seeing his eyes! Ugh! One day he'll show her. One day! Is he gonna tease her about this too now? Once more her cheeks turn cherry red at the compliment. Her, adorable? I mean- yeah, but it just hits different hearing it from your friends. She can only stare at him once the silence begins to pool over them. She is at a loss for words. Words are not working.

Does he like her soft hugs? She hopes he does. With him teasing her though it's hard to tell. Why does interaction have to be so fun and so confusing?! She lets out a chuckle when Ty admits he was trying and failing to wink. Wait he was trying to wink at her? Was this a part of the tease? Now she wants to see it. Totally to see his eye color cmon stop thinking it's because of other things. Because it ISN'T. What other things? Nothing, cause there are no other things.

"You've already been embarrassing me! Not gonna give you any more satisfaction after that. Also, I would see you wink if you let me see your eyes," she points out leaning over and playfully poking him again. Now though she's getting started on sipping her latte. Not before she whispers out an apology to the foam teddy bear she is about to destroy with a sip.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Seriously, it should have been illegal for Louise to be this cute and adorable. Seeing the pink-haired young woman turn into a blushing, stammering mess was delightful. Though the downside was that it only served to twist the knots in his gut even more. Unintended consequences be damned. Perhaps it was a good idea to maybe, potentially, possibly lay off just a little bit before hearts started popping out from the boy's head. Like some sort of stupid lovey dovey bullshit. Gods help him, it was already lovey dovey bullshit, wasn't it? 

    Fuck

    "Yes, I do indeed have muscles." Well, there goes the idea of laying off. Dammit, why does Louise have to make this so easy? Gods, why did he have to have a thing for this dork? "So after getting a good grip on them, you must really like said muscles?" Ty what the fuck are you doing? Yes, it was really funny to see Louise's brain fry, and it was adorable to have her try to dig her way out using her own weird logic. But also, the young man was just digging his own grave even deeper. By the time he was done digging, Ty would already have dug down to the center of the world. Hell, maybe even completely through to the other side entirely. This was a dangerous game he was playing. She was trying to dig out, meanwhile he was digging deeper. Both were still inside their own respective holes. 

    Watching Louise flick between giggling at something funny, and then immediately falling back to blushing up a storm was way past endearing. And for a moment, Ty found himself lost in her eyes. They were so honest. So genuine. Even when Louise tried to hide something, the girl's eyes told all. But what was it that was there now? A shimmer that the young punk had never noticed before, a sparkle of something new. The young man swallowed hard, feeling a pit form in the tangled nots of his gut. Maybe these feelings were the reason why everyone else was so slow in their own relationships? 

    Before his thoughts could linger too long, his crepe was finished. Saved by the bell. Or... the pastry? Fuck, fuck, fuck, why is today different from any other time we've hung out? Screamed his mind. A huff escaped, shifted shoulders up and down. As he took the treat, the boy could have sworn he caught something from the cashier's gaze. A knowing smirk, perhaps? No, no. I'm just being paranoid here. If he didn't try to talk himself down like this, then he was going to just wind up going insane. Tonight, he was going to have a talk with Luna. 

    Oh gods. That was going to be a time. 

    Ty settled back down in his seat as soon as Louise started on about his eyes, giving him a playful poke. Though she couldn't see it, the boy blinked behind the shadows. Followed by his lips curling into a confused expression. "Do you... wanna see them?" Had this been on her scattered brain this whole time? If so, why hadn't she asked or brought it up until now. The young punk cocked his head to the side, just trying to study over Louise and figure out just what sort of weird puzzle had been put together in her brain. "You know, if you wanted to see them, you could have just asked, right?"

    It was true that Tyler had his own reasons for why his eyes were masked. Those reasons, however, never extended to those close to him. In a way, Louise's frantic hesitance to not ask, despite how long they'd known one another, left the boy feeling bemused. He couldn't help but chuckle at that. Seemed that the young punk under estimated just how much she worked even the smallest things over in her own mind. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She doesn't know what to do with that smug little smile on his face. But she's- oh it makes her so frustrated. It's not like she's going to do anything about it cause if she did she might seriously hurt Ty. That was not at all the goal here. What is the goal now? All she wanted was pastries and now she's turning into a puddle of confused feelings. She's not even sure what these feelings are but it's a lot right now fucking gods.

Louise refused to answer his teasing question. She just buried her face in her hands and went to finish off the small cake from before that she nearly died on. What can she even say to that?! She has nothing clever to say and that feels so fucking bad. She wishes she could snap back with something witty so that he's suffering just like her. "Tease..." is all she can retort bitterly.

She's a little relieved to have a few seconds of a break as Ty gets up to grab his crepe. She quickly finishes off another cake in distress and sips on her latte. She does not know what her mind is doing at the moment but it's not a great thing. Ty's been acting weird. Or maybe she's just thinking he's acting weird? It's not a bad weird though. Not at all! It's just kinda different. Still, this outing shouldn't feel much different than normal. Is it because she started it this time? Something to think about but still, there was just- something that felt- she doesn't quite know but it's a something.

She settles back into her seat before a look of shock passes over her features. Her eyes go wide and she gasps upon learning HOW FUCKING SIMPLE IT WAS TO SEE THIS WHOLE TIME. "Wait- I- I could have just asked?" She says softly before slamming her hands down on her thighs and leaning forward. "I could have just asked?!" She throws her head back and sighs. God damn, she is such a nervous fool. She really could have just asked. "I didn't know! I thought asking might be rude or something and I didn't want to upset you." She explains rubbing the back of her neck.

"But to answer your question I really do want to see them I've been dying to know since we first met. You don't know how many times over the past year I've thought about just taking the cap off," she admits with a small little grin and laughs. "I didn't though!" She was being good. It was so god damn hard though and he will have no idea.