1809/afterclashmath

afterclashmath
Date of Scene:	27 July 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Amy and Taro make plans to hang out - but when Taro's running late, Usagi has a chance to share some insight on where things stand, after Clashing Sides. Then, Taro returns and sweet treats are shared before the Oyaji Club meets.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust, Taro Yamada

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's the weekend, it's summer vacation, and it's a beautiful, cloudy day, with a brisk breeze going to keep the worst of the heat and humidity off. All of these are reasons that Usagi Tsukino has slathered herself in sunblock, spread a blanket out on a portion of the grassy space behind the dorms. She's got a picnic basket with her - it's got some wrapped up onigiri, some Naru-made muffins, and a bottle of sweet green tea, as well as three more volumes of manga -

Three more, because she's got one in her hands, lounge on her belly, kicking her feet as she re-reads Fruits Basket for the nth time.

Given everything that's happened, it just feels right. Maybe Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki will have some wisdom for her.

She's not planning to meet up with anyone, though given this is a public space, she wouldn't be surprised to run into one of her peers.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    After being up way too late last night -- That's not good... my schedule... maybe I should check if melatonin is available over-the-counter here? -- Amy has mostly kept her mind off things today by playing computer games. She did reach out to Taro about when they can meet, since there always seems to be more to talk about... One of the picnic tables is a convenient meeting place, but Taro's running late.

    So she's reading manga on her phone. Every once in awhile she suddenly looks around, and so she doesn't notice Usagi until after she's set up, and walks over to say hi!

    The manga volumes set out catch her eye. "...Fruits Basket? I never did get around to reading it, somehow... is it good?" After Usagi looks up or responds, she smiles and waves. "Hi!"

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro has been cooking and cooking and stress cooking some more, and eating a lot of what he's cooking and - ok, this week has sucked, a lot. He's glad that he went out to stretch his legs last night. He's glad he met that LaCrima girl, who's got the same dietary issues he's got; he's glad he gave her a chance to not have to go through the rigamarole of having to hunt and feed from a human by taking a bite out of him instead. Less people getting mad about vampires means less people getting mad at him. It's definitely not because his heart got all twisted up at her going through the same ordeal as him.

He's less thrilled that giving up some energy means he's so tired. He'll bounce back in a couple days, and hopefully he can hit up Naru or someone for an extra snack, but for the day, he's eating his weight in sugar and carbs and -

Text: hi amy sry im gona b l8
Text: im still on 4 oyaji club but im slow 2day
Text: see u soon

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Footsteps, moving in her direction, and Usagi isn't always the most aware of her surroundings, but she has been lately, for pretty understandable reasons, she thinks. So by the time Amy is next to her spread out blanket, she's already marked her place with a bookmark and is pushing herself up into a seated position.

"It's one of my favorites," Usagi says honestly, and considers the other girl for a long moment. The situation is pretty fresh in her mind, but is it worth bringing up, when she really has no reason has no reason to worry about running into those rude little girls again?

And then the thought of Taro crosses her mind, and how upset he was, and she sighs a little, because yeah, okay, she should say something.

"You have a minute?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Good day for reading manga, huh?" Amy waves her phone to indicate it but doesn't actually turn the screen towards Usagi. It beeps in her hand, the beep that indicates Zordon is calling the Power Rangers! She glances at it as the texts come in. "Yeah, one sec."

Text: I can't tell if oyaji sounds better or worse than ojisan... See you soon!

    She looks back to Usagi as the other thing said gets through her mind. "It's that good? I guess I figured it'd be..." some social skill brain cell wakes up and decides not to insinuate it could be mistaken for a silly harem anime or rom-com or -- look she hasn't actually thought about Fruits Basket since before Usagi was born. People turn into animals when hugged... Does one of them turn into a girl? Wouldn't that stick out in my mind more? -- "...I underestimated it." She smiles. "I'd love to hear your reccomendation!"

    And then she looks more serious. "Buuut that's probably not what you mean you need to talk about, huh." She's not sure what it could be though, so she just looks at Usagi expectantly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Mhm, good day to be out and about," Usagi confirms, though her smile is small. "You thought it was some harem anime rom-com deal and never gave it a second thought? It's kind of how a lot of people react when they take a peek at the cover, or just read the summary."

That could end up being relevant today, maybe. If it doesn't, she'll still end up telling Amy all about it, later, maybe.

"No, it's not. You're friends with Taro, right? I mean, I know you are, he said as much when he was you know, crying all over me after that situation with us and La Mer-chan and Akai-chan at the meteor shower viewing."

She delivers the words in a matter of fact tone, not rude, but not especially delicate, either. Seiko Akai and Laura La Mer are referenced by last name because neither of them is here; if they were, it'd be Seiko-san and Laura-san, kept at a polite but reasonable distance, fitted with her usual habits.

"You've probably talked, if you're as close as he said, but I don't think he'd tell you how upset he was about the whole thing, but he was. You should know, because I know you miss that kind of thing."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    What she thought the manga was about... "Yeah." Amy nods with an awkward smile, but relieved that Usagi doesn't take it as an insult.

    She nods at 'friends with Taro' and then looks surprised. "He cri--?!" ...Given last night's texts, I can see it. I'd have cried if I felt that way, too.

    "...I texted him when I got back to the viewing." She sits down on the grass next to Usagi. "You're right, I hadn't realized how he took it until he explained."

    Amy looks down at the grass. "...It was a misunderstanding, I could see they were both right. He seems convinced chara can be controlled and I don't know if that's--" She shakes her head. "I'm getting ahead of myself."

    "I heard her get yelled at for something she had no control over, and an understandable fear that her Chara might've been hurt, and I knew how she felt, right? I've been there. Been concerned because of a conclusion only I reached. Yelled at that I should know better when I couldn't have known, and may not have been able to do better. I... wasn't gonna let a teenager, new to the academy, have that become one of her first experiences here and end in her crying alone, wondering what's wrong with her and why is she so broken and wrong." Her fingers tighten around her phone. "No one should feel that way."

    She lifts her head to look at Usagi. "I figured once I'd made sure that wasn't going to happen, I'd come back and explain about how everyone's feelings were legit and it was a misunderstanding. But... I..."

    She looks away again. "Well, from the texts I had a pretty good picture of how it made him feel. I explained. But what you said just made it more... visceral."

    She looks at Usagi. "Did I fuck up? Was there a better way to handle that, to notice...?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi listens, and she has to keep herself from shaking her head as she does so, because she's pretty sure the mistake she thought she saw happening did, indeed, happen, and it's a little disappointing, but -

Well, it is what it is.

There's so much empathy for Akai, and a part of her knows she's being unfair to be uncharitably thinking, where's the empathy for Taro, huh, isn't he supposed to be your friend too, he's not that used to the school either -

But just because Usagi is unreserved in her love for her friends and her willingness to stand up and fight for them even on the off-chance they're wrong, doesn't mean everyone is like her.

"You kind of did, yeah," she says, and it's blunt, as she sits back. "But I don't know if you could have done anything differently, because, and I mean this in the kindest way possible... it sounds like you're projecting your own stuff on Akai-chan. Because I spent like, two hours sitting with Taro-kun while he cried about how he felt broken and that everything is wrong with him and no one likes him for reasons he can't understand, so he might as well be bad because no one ever expects anything good from him. In being so worried about Akai-chan - who didn't get yelled at, at all, actually, she was the one who raised her voice - you kind of didn't notice you and La Mer-chan and Akai-chan doing exactly that thing you just described, to Taro-kun."

She winces, a little herself, because she's really not meaning to be harsh, but hearing it described so - yeah, it was probably all a mistake and a misunderstanding, by why so much grace given to one and not the other?

"Since you didn't see what happened, here's what I saw, since I was in the middle of the whole thing. Her chara flew into my face and started demanding to know if I could see her. I don't know La Mer-chan and Akai-chan, so I didn't want them to know I have magic, in my civilian form, at a public event, with a friend I thought was mundane right there, so I tried to ignore it. Taro scooped up the chara and brought her over to Akai-chan and said he thought she dropped something, and to be careful. That's it."

"And then she burst into tears and started snapping at him for not following proper etiquette, La Mer-chan snapped at because she somehow thought he was from the future and then got on him as if he were bullying Akai-chan, and then, even if you didn't mean it, you pegged him as the problem because you asked 'what did you do>'. Not what happened. What did you do?"

She spreads her hands.

"Of course he was upset, Amy-chan."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy cringes as Taro crying about feeling broken is mentioned. "I know! I-I didn't... I was trying to look at the stars and then people were shouting..." Knowing she was wrong shows on her face... until it's said she did that to Taro. "Hey! No! I didn't say he did wrong or tell him off for that! Beyond asking everyone to hold off 'till after the meteor shower, I didn't realize... But I did not take her side! I said there was no side! It was a misunderstanding!"

    She's angry and frustrated now, a bit at herself but mostly at the world, for a thing that happened and was a misunderstanding and no one's fault but people were hurt, including a close friend, and her actions played a part in it...

    Until Usagi says that last part. 'What did you do.' Her eyes widen with realization. "I did not assume malice! I just meant... what actions did he take, from his perspective! I figured he would give a more accurate description of events, and certainly his intentions, than Seiko!"

    She looks back at the grass, still distressed. "...I think. I maybe didn't think it out in such detail at the time. But I know I did not assume malice. Or even negligence." She speaks faster, "W-what happened would be a demand for an objective description that neither side can accurately give if a misunderstanding has happened, so..."

    She holds her head in her hands. 'What did you do.' Even across decades of time the memory of the feeling of a well-meaning autistic kid hearing those words from anyone, especially an authority figure, can grab her heart in its claws.

    "But I hear it. Those were the wrong words. And I should have known. More than anyone I should have known! What have I done..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
When Amy says she wasn't taking sides, Usagi just kind of hums in acknowledgement and carries on with the rest of her words, what happened that she saw, because she has a feeling it will all sink in.

And then it does, and she takes absolutely no pleasure in the obvious distress and frustration on Amy's face - it's why she was just disappointed, whereas she's more actively annoyed with Akai and La Mer, because as far as she's concerned, their behavior was worse.

"I didn't think you were trying to do that, or meaning to assume malice. But I mean, I can tell you, from a lifetime of experience as a very cute girl who cries easily, it's really easy to assume the girl who's crying is like, the one who's been harmed, instead of the one who did the wrong thing. And her chara did do the wrong thing. Even if she's new to life, there's no way she's dumb; there is no one, in the whole world, who likes a stranger literally flying into their face and demanding answers out of them. She's lucky I'm not some of the others - they might have actually swatted her away, just out of sheer reflex."

These are words that should be conveyed to the chara, and to Akai, who's got responsibility for the chara, but Amy is the one who's here.

"I'm telling you because I don't think he'd tell you, ever, because I think he'd be too worried you'd get upset with him, or tell him he was in the wrong, because you're really important to him. But not knowing would mean this just got like, buried deep and he'd never mention it and then it would never get fixed."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy listens, and makes another connection, but lets Usagi finish, nodding and lifting her head out of her hands. She's thinking about all this but her expression just ends up looking like resting bitch face. "He was distressed in text. From my own experience I could certainly see someone crying from that. He did tell me he was worried I thought ill of him. I'm... Glad we communicated more than you feared, at least. ...If we hadn't texted last night..." Amy shakes her head. Her brain refuses to imagine how bad she would feel then.

    "...I'm used to the cute girl getting attention over me. I'm not used to her crying and it getting blamed on me." She looks off into the distance. "I wonder if that's happened to him a lot, though... I hope it hasn't. He always says he was raised to treat girls well; I hope that that he still says it means it hasn't happened so much rather than that he's suffered through it, but... ugh."

    "...I was usually the one crying. If there is an age at which it garnered sympathy or concern from anyone, I don't remember it; I suppose when I was a primary schooler it made them a little softer and more awkward, though." She holds her hand to the side of her head (her phone was dropped in her lap earlier.) "He's probably had that experience too. Radiant Heart has made me forget how cruel children usually are, but he's been here even less time than me."

    Something else Usagi said finally has a chance to hit her. Amy looks at her friend, "He said I'm really important to him...?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm super glad you guys talked last night," and she means it and it shows in her face. She doesn't seem to mind the resting bitch face she's getting from Amy, but then, why would she? Her boyfriend is dating Kazuo, someone she thinks is very cool, and Rei-chan is, well, Rei-chan.

"He said he's too scary to exist around people, which I told him is dumb and he shouldn't have dumb thoughts because he's not a dumb person. But, that kind of tells me he's used to people seeing him as scary, so I bet he's used to getting blamed for things going wrong. You might know more about where he's getting it from than me," because Amy is closer, clearly, and knows him better. She doesn't know that much about Taro, after all!

"He didn't say it in all those words, but he talked about you, and it was the way he talked about you. The times he mentioned you. It's definitely, really clear, that you matter to him, and you're his friend. I get that you weren't trying to take that little girl's side, now. It probably just struck a bad chord for him. I was just really annoyed by the whole thing - he was crying."

There's definitely some dismissive annoyance in the way she says that little girl.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods, she's glad they talked too. Her poker face is terrible, though, and there is a reaction like she knows something about Taro being seen as scary, but she doesn't elaborate. She nods at the bit about dumb thoughts though. "They're... when you've been told something all your life it's hard to stop believing it."

    Saying little girl dismissively does bother Amy, somehow. "Even if she is a cute little girl -- and has never experienced being otherwise -- she's still a person that can suffer... But maybe I'm being too nice." She sighs.

    There's something else she kind of wants to talk about with wise Usa-chan, bun of wisdom, legendary double-girl. And she wants to say something, but hesitates, before looking away awkwardly.

    "I... Think I might be feeling feelings. I don't..." She looks into Usagi's eyes for a moment. "...I guess I noticed it after I left Akai-san, but... I was very impatient to get back to you and Taro, from as soon as I left. I think I might..."

    She looks away. "I don't know. I..." her voice grows quiet. "...had this mental image of watching the meteor shower sitting in his lap, or--" and her cheeks redden from admitting that, "--I-I don't know that that's what he wants, or what it'd mean, or, or, like just wanting to be close sometimes or," and she starts speaking quickly again, "or now that I think about it we watched horror movies and I thought, isn't the actual point of these movies to be comforted by someone when it's scary and I figured that was just a thought that didn't mean anything but now I wonder if I would've still thought it with anyone else but Hannah and,"

    She holds her hands to the sides of her head and looks down at the grass, "and I shouldn't have said anything, this is, I just don't know, my brain won't shut up..."

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro's been meandering his way to the picnic bench, pacing himself. Ugh, getting drained was the wooorst. He's just glad he'll be able to walk this off in a couple days! He put some of the cookies and merangues he's been working on in a bag so he can share with Amy as they talk. Oyaji club returns after a Paris related break!

And as he approaches in his Bad Badzmaru hoodie, he recognizes Usagi's double dumpling hair along with Amy's cherry red - they were talking! Which was, probably good? especially after that DISASTER at the meteor shower viewing. Usagi was pretty upset on his behalf which was - really nice, actually - and he still feels a little sore about Amy leaving to take care of those seventh graders, but - it was natural to check on a little kid before some tall ass quasi adult anyway - she wasn't mad at him about it, which was the important thing. Anyway!! He was practically an adult, he was fine. It was fine.

And then he's in earshot and - ah, yeah, there's Usagi talking about that messy feeling strung up in his chest with half the words and double the impact. And, uh. He wasn't going to tell Amy he was crying, but that's out of the bag now. It's a good thing he hasn't told many people Thetis killed him or he'd... He doesn't know. Maybe... it wouldn't be a disaster to tell people?

And Amy replies. And she - uh -

He likes her! He likes her a lot! Amy was his first friend here! But he's pretty sure he doesn't like her like that?? Oh no, what does he tell her?? I care for you a lot and I'd like to sit with you but I'm not too hot on kissing under the moonlight??

Ok. No. Hold on. There's got to be a better way to approach this. Hold on.

"Oh no, I dropped my cookies!" he says loudly, kneeling down, pointedly not looking at either of them. "I sure hope I didn't break any when I wanted to share them with my friends!"

Nailed it! Normal man behavior!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Of course she's a person who can suffer," Usagi agrees, "But she's also a person who can take responsibility, instead of crying and running off when she's responsible for something. And even if she can't control her chara, they're still her responsibility."

Usagi has not been impressed, not by any of this. Banished to little girlhood!

But then, Amy is sharing something much more... important. More interesting, at least.

"Ohhhh," her eyes are wide. As resident polycule member, she's certainly not judging, but, but, but, oh that's a wrinkle to this whole thing she was not predicting and oh she had already told Mamochan all about this and should she keep this part to herself, but then, he wouldn't gossip, and she really needed to go holy fuuuu -

"I don't think keeping it in would have been a good idea," she starts to say, and then there's Taro's voice, announcing that he dropped cookies, loudly and staged, and oh no.

"Wow!" She says, loudly, jumping up, "Amy-chan, look, poor Taro-kun is here and dropped his cookies."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The 'Ohhhhh' just makes Amy's cheeks redden more and she covers her face. Although it's encouraging to hear Usagi thinks telling her (or at least telling someone) was the right call, and in truth, while this was not planned, she had considered telling Usagi, such that other bits of information are on the tip of her tongue, ready for any comment about anything with a guy with the observation that Taro might be nonbinary and into guys, though the former does nothing to assuage internalized badthoughts and the latter only complicates things more--

    Oh no! Taro dropped his cookies!

    Amy turns around. "Oh no!" She stands up, grabbing and pocketing her phone from her lap and running over to help pick up the cookies. "It's, it's okay," she is concerned for his feelings in the moment, he must have made them with care planning to share them with friends and it sucks to have the thing you worked on break, "They'll still taste fine!" she says, pitching her voice up at the end in a tone indicating she has the suspicion that that will not, in fact, make someone who made broken cookies feel better.

    It's possible their eyes might meet when she goes to stand up after picking up cookies, or if he's got them before she gets there.

    She looks away awkwardly.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Ploy SUCCESSFUL. Thank goodness. Things are already awkward with Amy. If she's going to - you know, confess to him and stuff - then she ought to be able to do it on her terms! When she wants to! A maiden's heart was delicate and all!

...and also. If he's going to tell her 'probably not', he wants to do that properly. Tell her that she's one of his closest friends and he cares for her, and that not wanting to kiss her didn't change all the other stuff.

"Thanks, Usagi-chan, Amy-chan," he says. A couple of the merangues cracked, but they should be fine. The cookies, which look like little chainsaws, have a few more casualties because he's still testing the shortbread recipe to be properly sturdy, but they'll still be fine. Probably. A cookie is a good price to pay for this.

She looks at her, and she looks away. He glances away too - he's never had this happen before, whawt does he do??

"Sorry I'm late. The Slasher was trying to do a good deed last night and let himself get drained so a normie human wouldn't be, so I let him take a bite of me so he didn't pass out in my dorm room. I'm a little sluggish today, but it's not a full drain so I'll be fine in a few days." That's the story for Usagi, anyway. He thinks Amy will read between the lines. "I've been doing some cookie testing for a project for Halloween; I was teasing Chiyo-chan that if she wasn't careful, I'd take over her shop with spooky cookies, so these are the prototypes. I hope I didn't miss too much?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There are some vibes happening here. Unfortunately, they are not, receptive vibes. Usagi has seen enough dramas and romantic comedies and everything in between to know that this crush is, unfortunately, fated for doom.

Maybe, for poor Amy's sake, it will turn out to have not been a crush.

"Well," she says, loudly and cheerfully, "Even if they fell, these are pretty tasty looking! Okay, they're actually kind of scary-looking, but that's perfect for Halloween - wait, you're going to get these at Nounamu?!" She is gawking.

Chiyo-chan... would be sharing sales... with Taro-kun?! She's gonna have to help her come up with more designs!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "It's good that he's doing another good deed. If only more monsters would do that." The rest of what's being talked about just kind of flows over her as she's lost in awkward thought.

    "Scary? Can a cookie really be scary?" Without the insinuation that it's a person-turned-cookie like something Majin Buu would do, anyway. Or without a calorie label on it if you're trying to lose weight. "Umm. Miss much?? No uh... Usagi-chan was just... She was concerned for you, after last night. I told her we talked. Um. So I think we're all on the same page now, but... Again I am so sorry for last night." She tries to give him a comforting hug from the side so as not to disturb the cookies. "I didn't think about the words I used. I... I understand what it is to feel like... I hated feeling like that when I was young the first time, or any time ever really. And I'm sorry I was thoughtless with my words."

    She lets go. "Although honestly I'm not sure how to be more mindful of them, in the future." She frowns in thought. If she didn't notice it when she said it, how can she interrupt the thought process when the problem is she wasn't thinking about it?

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Yeah. I'm sure he'll bring it up if he pops up around here." The Slasher will, at some point. When things are a little calmer. He's got things to do, LaCrimas to potentially coax into calming down, witches to fight, Obsideons to avoid.

But more importantly - "The merangues are modeled after Jason Vorhees' mask, and the cookies were set up to look like chainsaws - although their shape didn't hold very well with this batter. I was helping out at Nounamu while Chiyo-chan was out of town and I like it there, so I was thinking of trying to get hired." It's a good shop!

He looks to Amy as she speaks, and, ah. He puts the cookies on the picnic table so he can hug her properly. "Yeah, I was - pretty upset. I didn't want to freak that kid out and I was - she- well," oh no, words. "...I've gotten in trouble like that before. Tall guy hanging around someone upset has to be the culprit, right? And I"m no good at talking my way out of things... I thought you'd understand what was going on when you saw it, since you're like me."

They have so much in common. He knows she's not malicious, she's not mad at him, but - it had still cored him.

"...Is there any chance I can ask you to take my side on instinct next time? I've done some dumb stunts, but in general, if I'm going to be a jerk on purpose, it's pretty obvious." He smiles wanly. "You have a big heart and want to protect people. That can't be helped."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Horror-themed cookies. "I never did see those movies..." Being hugged back is nice. And then Amy hugs him again, tighter, when he says he's gotten in trouble like that. "That's so wrong. People are so awful."

    Take his side on instinct? "There wasn't a side..." she repeats, frustrated, but then adds: "But, I'll check in with you first next time, to make sure my feelings are clear." She sighs. "How dumb of me. I thought, 'I don't want her to feel this way. He's probably not taking the misunderstanding as badly, he's older. But I should have thought. It might hurt her. But she will not feel the pain of ' oh no, it happened again ' the way... the way only we can."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sneaking a few cookies, and waving, Usagi departs back to her blanket, folding it up, and tucking everything into her basket - she has done her part, for this friendship problem, and now, she can let these two friends sort things out -

After all, it sounds like Taro and Amy have a history of things they've already sorted out.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro waves after her - he's grateful for her help, and he needs to talk to her as the Slasher later - and turns back to Amy.

"We can watch them. They're - ok, I don't know if they're the kind of horror you'd like, but they set up a lot of genre stuff for the 80s. And - "

His face pinches up as he tries to explain himself. "It felt like sides to me. I didn't push it then since everyone was upset and it'd make things worse, though. I would've just left until everyone calmed down. I was being gentle with her little creature, you know? If those get too far from people, they can get hurt. It's better that someone told her that now before she finds out the hard way..."

...that kid had been scared. He'd have also been twitchy about someone running off with Dory, but that was why he made sure she never was out of arm's length. He'd figured the thing couldn't be that delciate if it was allowed to roam free.

....that Laura kid was still a jerk, though.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods solemnly. "It felt like there were. And the feelings hurt, and that hurt is real. I'm sorry I didn't check that you were OK first."

    She looks up at him, then awkwardly away, trying to decide whether to tell him about some more feelings.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"We figured it out. And we'll figure it out again."

Hesitatingly, he reaches out, taking her hands. "You're my best friend. It'd take more than one bad night to chase me off."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Best friend. Why do I feel like I just hit a flag... Amanda thinks. But it's true. Though their experiences are different, the parts that are similar have helped them to understand each other better than most and bond in such a short time.

    Her hands look so small in his. She looks up at him again. "I'm glad. That you can... That I can talk to you like this. Plainly and without games. It makes being around you nice. And comfortable. And safe. It's hard to see you as scary," She glances around to see Usagi has gone, "...whatever shape you're in."

    She looks away and takes a breath. You can do this. It will be better. Than to get caught up in unsaid things and misunderstandings.

    Red eyes look up at him, seriously. "And it's in the spirit of that that I have to tell you something. I... I don't know what it means, exactly. My head is full of stories about things that--" She shakes her head. "But they're just stories. S-so I'll tell you what happened, and... and we can figure out what it means. Like reasonable people."

    She closes her eyes and takes a breath, then opens them again.

    "While I was chcking on her, I was thinking about how I'd rather have stayed with you. I..." She looks away, cheeks reddening again and lowering the volume of her voice, "...Was imagining being held by you while watching the stars together, a-and... I wanted that. As soon as I'd explained things to her I transformed to run back to the party faster." She frowns. "When I found out you'd left and there was no chance that'd happen, it bothered me."

    "...And I'm not sure it's... new." She glances up at him, "Y' remember how clingy I was on movie night?" And then away again. "I... was thinking about how the appeal is prob'ly supposed to be having someone there comforting you, and I told myself I was just... Trying it, to have the experience, but I wonder if I would have decided to do that, with anyone other than you or Hannah."

    She glances back up, wincing slightly at the sheer awkwardness of the situation, but finishes: "You're gay, I know. Or might be. I'm not... sure what this is. If it's that. Or what. For all I know this is some normal feelings thing that happens and I'm silly for worrying about it. That's why. I figured. Let you know. And go from there."

    She's worried this will, somehow, explode, and looks up at him worried yet hoping that somehow just being honest and vulnerable will work, with him.

Taro Yamada has posed:
He lets her speak.

He heard some of this confession before. He doesn't interupt. This is something important to be said, and just as important to be listened to.

Wait. Is he gay? He never gave it a lot of thought before. It's normal to find men handsome, isn't it? Girls do that all the time? No,don't get distracted!

(And his heart does squeeze, hearing that she'd ran back to him at the patrty. Part of why he'd been so excited to be there was for the chance for the two of them to catch up while watching the stars.)

"...I don't know if I'm gay or not. I've been too busy to figure that out," Taro says honestly, a little awkward. "I do know that I like you a lot, but not in a kissing way. I don't know if that will change. I'd like holding you and watching the stars together, and I want our friendship to last even after you turn 18 and the Veil comes down." His voice lowers as well. 'If you turn into a monster, I'll come to stop you myself, so that you don't have to worry about hurting anyone.

"I don't know if that's a good answer. I wish I could know what to say better. I don't think your feelings are silly, though. I can't kiss you, but I'm not going to go anywhere."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    I like you a lot -- and she can hear the 'but' coming and isn't sure how she feels about it -- but then he says something she didn't think of. Kissing?!

    In truth, she hadn't considered that! In her worry about these feelings she kind of... skipped that, her concerned brain going rather farther than kissing but then she refused to allow those mental images to form, so that got her nowhere.

    Kissing a boy -- or boy-shaped enby -- is something her internalized homophobia feels is icky, but not so much so that she can't imagine it.

    He says it, and the mental image forms unbidden, and...

    There's a look of realization on her face. Plainly, and a little surprised, briefly staring into the distance behind him, she states: "...I didn't think about that. I don't think I want to kiss you. Huh. I guess maybe like on the cheek would be okay."

    Her eyes focus again and she looks up at him. "Can you just want to like. Be close and stuff but not... that?" She looks thoughtful again. "But moreso than just like. How I'm happy to hug most people. I'm a very huggy person! This is more than that, but not... kissing? Is that a thing? What does this mean?" Well now she's just puzzled.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"When boys and girls like-like each other, they kiss each other. I'm pretty sure that's how it works." Kissing, trees, birds, bees, and so forth.

But she doesn't want to KISS-kiss him, which. Removes a tension that he didn't realize was there. He likes Amy a lot! He didn't want to turn her down! But like, if they get married it'd be for tax benefits.

"Yeah, I think you can want to be close without like-liking each other. Like, my cousins and I did that all the time before," and he gestures, the same flex that he uses to summon a palm blade as the Slasher, "things changed. And in manga, girls are always hugging each other and snuggling and stuff and that's got to be at least somewhat true to life. And I'm not a girl but I'm like, weird for a boy, so it's probably ok if I do that."

(Several decades of trying to be a Stoic Man are not going to get reversed in a few months.)

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods. She considers other hypotheticals. "...If Hannah were a guy I think I'd still wanna kiss him. Although I'm not sure if that's because of gender, or if I'm still imagining him as a girl on the inside, or if it's that the person matters more than gender. So, that hypothetical isn't helping narrow down how feelings work, I guess. Hmm."

    She nods along at the explanation that in his time he was close, not in a weird way, with his cousins. And at the comment about manga. "Yeah, it's... Like it's more, by default, acceptable? A guy can be huggy, I guess, but it... is the kind of thing you might be afraid of standing out for. If it's not just with your SO and family or close friends you haven't seen in awhile. And if it's guys you gotta--" She leans in and hugs him but also gives a couple of firm pats on the back. "--Like, 'this may look like a hug, but we're hitting eachother, see? It's still a guy thing.'"

    She lets go and steps back and looks up at him and smiles. "It is absolutely fine if you do that." The closeness in general, she means. Not 'Hugging is fine if you make it technically hitting eachother'. That is just dumb.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm still a boy right now," Taro says thoughtfully, "and I thought you only like-liked girls, which does complicate things. I've never really fallen for anyone, though, so I don't think I have any useful advice..."

He's looked! He has eyes! But things have been so fraught he never, you know, done anything.

"When you phrase it like that, it's kinda dumb? That guys are like that. Maybe it's because my family was mostly girls... But I had to try and act like a normal guy so no one figured out I was stuck as a kid forever, so that didn't help either.' Hmm.

"So we can be friends who cuddle and see what happens next?" Yeah, that sounds about right. "And there may not be a rare meteor shower tonight, but the moon's still gonna be there."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Still a boy right now. She looks kind of doubtful, which is rude but no one's really talked to her about that. Only like-liked girls... "I don't... know for certain, I guess. Like. It sounds so weird to me that people meet and fall in love, or even just in lust, without even knowing what eachother are like. But apparently that's normal?" She shrugs. "If I'm being totally honest, how would I know what anything feels like? I never... fell in love, in my previous life. Does liking both... like is liking a guy the same as liking a girl? How do nonbinary people come into it? If I turn out to like some guys is it just that I'm slightly gay--err, straight? Or is it just a 'it's okay if it's you' thing? Or does it mean I like some combination of personality traits that's just much more likely to appear in a girl?" She shrugs.

    And looks away, briefly. Quietly, "...I don't think I can be 100% against guys. I can. Imagine that, but like. Not with a specific guy? And I can't really picture a... relationship with one."

    She shakes her head. "Sorry. Mind wandering." She hugs and smiles. "Yes! Cuddle friends. I am down for that. Sure."