502/Men, Kote, Do, Tsuki.

Men, Kote, Do, Tsuki.
Date of Scene:	25 September 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	In the wake of something emotionally destabilizing, Amy Faust finds herself cornered in one of the sports club storage rooms. Hilarity ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Hinata Muramasa, Adora Rainbowfist, Amanda Faust, Hinoiri Kirara, Adrien Agreste

---

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata Muramasa calls out "DO!" and steps to one side before driving her Bokuto into her opponent's side, under his guard. "I think that should do for today. You're getting better." the younger girl 'sheaths' her bokuto in her left hand, and bows formally to her opponent, who returns the gesture and makes to leave.

    Hinata hangs around for a few moments longer, taking off the helmet and setting the wooden sword in the stand. She sighs and wipes her brow, unclipping the padded armour on her chest and legs, returning them to their stand as well.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is busy, busy, busy. More time focused on activities is less time being heartbroken over a certain bitey cat. Her boxing club has been approved, and the equipment has arrived. So, Adora makes her way into the pavilion area, carrying a stack of boxes in her arms. They look quite heavy, but she's managing. However, she can't really see around them. So, she heads in the direction she thinks the sports equipment is stored in, hoping she doesn't run into anyone.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Puella Amy followed the magical people into the shrine assuming that they would be snooping around looking for magic stuff without people around. Despite living here for years, she's never played tourist or seen a lot of places (besides Akihabara, of course she *had* to see Akihabara!) So she doesn't know that much about the place or, realistically, how full of people it would be. And she's been *so focused* on the magic stuff, and magical occurances, and on Ami shouting 'come out, whoever you are!' at the source of dark energy that she... doesn't notice, until her loud voice attracts specific attention and she's being chastised by one of the other investigators. And when she notices *that* group of tourists looking at her, now she's LOOKING for that and sees more in the distance. And also not so in the distance.

                BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWgEwE1gArE                

    

"Uhh, it's a movie," she's about to poof it away and then realizes she shouldn't be able to do that, and instead says, "this is a prop, see?" while adjusting it a bit moving it like it's a fraction of its apparent weight... and then they're in Zero Time. She switches back to her default outfit and poofs the launcher away and pulls her hood over her head.

    It all made sense a moment ago! They were confronting some dark magical being... and then suddenly, she's brandishing a weapon in a weird costume in the middle of tourists and made to look the fool.

    Oh how she wishes Hannah was here. Hannah would make everything alright, somehow.

    She's faced with a choice: Trust the people around her to understand if she just explains, or accept that they've written her off as a fool and will never see her as anything but.

    How many times, before, has Mallory chosen the first option and it was wrong? She's dug her own hole deeper and made even more of a fool of herself countless times. She should know by now: Cut your losses and run.

    But... but... can things be different, as Amy? A lot of things have been different as Amy. (She has mixed feelings about what that implies as to *why*.)

    But... they already looked at her like that. And she was Amy the whole time.

    And now she's standing frozen, *like an idiot*.

    She takes a breath and rallies all of her courage. "I..." she starts to explain. You *what*? "I..." you're MAKING IT WORSE. You couldn't even feign confidence and *sound* like you know what you're doing! Of course you seem like a fool!

    She runs.

    She turns and runs. The outfit changes to a schoolgirl uniform as she hits the edge of Zero Time, and just keeps running. Get out of here. Get away from people. Get out of here!

    You idiot. You idiot. You idiot!

    Amy flees. Just keep moving. As long as you're moving your mistakes can't catch you.

    Eventually she gets an opportunity to take to the rooftops and speed up. Just get back to the academy. The academy is safe.

    She reaches the grounds near the sports pavilion, still transformed but in a school uniform, and eventually finds herself in a secluded area where equipment is being stored. Good, she'll get a moment alone here (bad decision count: +1, a storage area means people will use the things stored there!). She transforms back to normal, and then collapses to sit on the ground with her back to the wall, and it finally hits her what an immature idiot she's being by running away on top of everything else. Yes, emotions, but even if she's not a man who's supposed to keep it all inside, she's an adult for gods' sake! She should be able to control herself! So, y'know, that's one MORE way she failed to add to the pile.

    She's on the edge of tears, staring at nothing and lost in these thoughts, when Adora or anyone else stumbles across her.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was... in a foul mood. Because of course she was. Her hand was bundled up so tightly in its cast that it couldn't move AND THERE WAS AN ITCH! And, honestly? Considering the injury she was DESPERETLY trying to not think about it. As much as she wished she could just... magic it away, nope, not an option here. INSTEAD she had to find something thin and narrow to slide under it so she could itch it WITHOUT disturbing it and she didn't even know where to start with that and she was already struggling to think and frustrated and GAHHHHH!

So uhhh... instead she was going to the place with sparts equipment, because some of the things they used to setup had to be thin enough, right? It beat asking for help. She didn't like doing that during the best of times, but with a damaged hand... yeah. She was extra snippy about it. And... And there was a girl.

And she stopped, unwittingly blocking the way for a soon to be MASSIVE mover-of-blockades.

"Uhhhhh... heyyyy... sport...? You... okay? There?" she asked.

Not sure why she asked. IT WAS KIND OF OBVIOUS SHE WASN'T!

Itch itch itch gotta scratch the itch but don't want weird crying girl to knoooooow...

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Not far off from where the Kendo club was practicing today stands a blonde boy in a white padded outfit meant not for Kendo, but for fencing. Adrien had already finished his own practice for the day when the calls from the Kendo club not far off had drawn his attention.

Though it wasn't his style that didn't mean he wasn't curious as he pauses to watch, politely quiet, until they finish. With a quick grin he calls out a friendly remark of, "Great match!" To those involved as they begin to disperse. That meant his standing around spectating had come to an end as well. He didn't have gear to put away, if only for the fact that he was well off enough to have his own personal equipment--But his path still required he go past the storage area to leave in the first place. It only makes sense that he offers, "Do you need help putting anything away?" It never hurt to help out others! Besides that, it was also a way to potentially make some new friends from those among other groups. He was still trying to find his footing on campus in general.

Adora carrying that large box of equipment is quick to catch his attention in this instance. Speeding up his steps he reaches not for the box to help her (it looked like she had it well in hand), but to open up the door to the room so that nothing was in her way.

"Ah, here, let me get that for y-you---" he begins only for his voice to almost crack as he hears the sobbing within and finds himself staring in at an injured Hinoiri and a crying girl he couldn't quite see in the shadows that was directly in the path of Adora now that he'd opened the door.

He finds himself at a loss for words.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata sees the movement of a familiar face. Adora gets a pair of green eyes following her, before she picks up the equipment she's been using and starts carrying it back to the storage unit the Kendo club uses. Adrien's offer earns him a look, before she indicates the sword frame. "Could you bring that over for me? Save me a trip."

    Once she's close enough to the tall blonde, she calls out. "So, they approved the club idea?" she asks conversationally, setting the armour frame down to open the kendo storeroom door.

    It's then that she also hears the crying girl and sidles over to see what's going on. Her face is a passive mask, but her eyes flick from Amy, to Hinoiri, and back again several times, as if silently asking.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh, thanks!," Adora calls out as Adrien opens the door for her. She hesitates as she hears the sobbing, though, and she slows. She ends up putting the boxes down with a thump outside the door, glancing at Adrien and then inside. The scene against the teacher with the gacha game was hectic, so she isn't sure if anyone around here saw her transformation. But that was then, and this is now.

She looks to Hinata, then, distracted by the crying she hears, but can't quite see from where she's standing. "Huh? Oh, yeah! And my Equestrian Club. Got all kinds of stuff setup with faculty for that one. It was more complicated then the boxing one. No sign-ups for either yet, though, but I'm hoping..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Hey... sport? You... okay, there?
    Amy looks up. Oh no now she's further inconvenienced someone else with her behavior, dammit, dammit, *dammit!*

    And her eyes widen slightly as she realizes it's the girl from the yearbook club she looked kind of foolish in front of the other day.

    Her mouth opens to answer but what can she possibly say?

    ...The pause is getting awkwardly long.

    "Sorry!" She blurts out, and tries to press herself more against the wall, get herself out of the way, make herself smaller.

    And then like two, no, three MORE people come in as the storage area suddenly becomes very crowded! She cannot make herself any smaller! Her eyes widen and she stands up to take up less horizontal space at least and not be in the way of Adora moving boxes, as she looks back down at the ground, "I didn't mean to... bother you... o-or any of you... I'm sorry!"

    She glances partway up, looking at how people are positioned to try and figure out if she an make a break for it and get past them all without bumping into and inconveniencing anyone!

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara froze up when suddenly... Oh. Oh wow. There werre a LOT of people suddenly here. She moved herself... awkwardly right besides Amy. Cause that was gonna make things better.

Then paused. "Hey, ummm, I didn't do this," she said quickly, motioning to Amy. "She was broken when I got here." Then blinked once. "Crying. She was crying when I got here. I didn't do it." Just... just going to make that clear. she didn't do it. She did a lot of things, but not this one. This time.

Oh, hey. There was Adrien! "Hey, Adrien, come here! Crying girls is kind of something you're trained to deal with, right? You take care of... this... and I'll... help your... friend," she said, blinking at Adora a few times. Wow. She was a biggun, wasn't she? She--

"... Wait, what's this about... an Equestrian club?" For the moment... her itch... was ignored. "Like... horses and ponies and stuff?"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"You're quite welcome," Adrien respondsd automatically to Adora before the scene inside just devolves into a far worse one. A worried, sympathetic glance rests on Amy as she begins to stammer apologies while shifting back against the wall with that panicked look.

"Sorry to intrude... It's okay, we were just cleaning up..." He tried. He did try. Distracted by Amy, and by Adora with the large boxes she just dropped outside the door, and with Hinata's request to get the rack, "I'll get it in a moment," he offers glancing over his shoulder her direction.

As he does look at Hinata he risks a glance between her and Adora hoping perhaps he might get some glimpse that either of them might recognize the girl inside crying. If they were friends of hers that would make it so much easier to help her out! Unfortunately such thoughts are dashed when the only one recognized seems to be Hinoiri recognizing him.

"Ah? Deal with...? I'm not--! What do you think it is I do, Hinoiri?" He asks, puzzled and a bit frazzled all at once.

This was getting out of hand.

Lifting a hand up to rub his forehead a moment he wracks his mind quickly. "It's completely all right, we're the ones that are disturbing you, clearly, miss," he finally remarks toward Amy trying to be a bit of calm in her apparent storm. "We were just wrapping up our club practices." A little smile comes as he standds more assured. "I was about to get a drink from the machine. Would you like one? My treat."

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata shakes her heaed at Adrien. She gives Amy a sympathetic look, her face morphing into a genuine expression that lasts for only a few seconds before the 'mask' slips back into place, and she turns wordlessly to retrieve the sword rack herself.

    She returns after locking her equipment away, and resumes being a quiet observer unless directly addressed again.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Hey, hey...it's fine. You're not bothering us," Adora says softly, immediatly switching to comfort mode. "You're safe here, okay?" And then she's asked the question by Honoiri and glances over. "Hmm? Oh! Yes! I'm very excited. Faculty set it up for me. There's this horse ranch outside of Tokyo, and when we get some members we're gonna start field trips out to it. Adopt a horse each, name them, learn to ride them and take care of them! It's going to be amazing! I'm gonna name mine Swiftwind, like my alic-...horse back home!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> She was broken when I got here.
    Amy's been made to *feel* broken, or had it implied by others countless times in the past, but this might be the first time someone else just out and said it.

    "I... I'm not crying." She *wasn't technically crying yet*, but saying words out loud, she totally sounds like she's crying. She wipes her eyes on her sleeve and pulls a tissue from her bag and blows her nose.

    What? Someone named Adrien is trained to deal with crying girls? What, is he a psych major or something? Wait, this is High School, not College...

> We're the ones disturbing you, miss.
    She holds out her hands and rotates them back and forth in a sort of stop gesture. "No, I, I, this is a public storage room, I shouldn't have come here to..." to *what?*

> Hey, want a free drink? My treat.
    She quirks an eyebrow, looking somewhat confused. Obviously this boy is only offering to buy a drink because he thinks she's a girl. Well, she *is* a girl, but still. It's a little weird.

    "I'm gay. And I have a girlfriend. But if you're just being nice, sweet iced tea would be nice. Do they have that in the drink machines? ...Just, cold and sweet is fine. ...Diet if they've got it."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a shrug. "I guess try and look cute and smile a lot? Cheering up crying girls seems like the kind of thing you'd have training with. More than me, at least," she said. Just... wow. "You're doing great, go get her, tiger," she said, giving him a thumbs up. Only one. Cause of the broken hand. Annnd then... Amy just... She blinked.

She then glanced to Hinata and motioned her over. "Here, you should help too. You don't seem very busy. Also, she's... gay? And apparently I guess that means she wants you to get her the drink?" WOW.

Then glanced to Adora, her eyes narrowing. "So... tell me more about this club. What do you mean 'adopt'? Like, you intend to bring them to the academy or something? Away from their families? Rename them? Ride them like some kind of common pack animal? What if they don't want to be ridden?" she asked. Just a small hint of anger in her voice.

But that might be because, right now? She was also... trying to slide a finger into her cast. And couldn't. Because it was too tight. But that itch was *driving her mad*. And it was making her more annoyed.

"As for Swiftwind... okay, yeah, that's a pretty great name for a pegas-- pon-- horse."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
The remark from Amy honestly catches Adrien off-guard. It's a look of surprise, shock, perhaps even a bit of a puzzled expression until the part about being nice comes up.

A quick look is shot across to Hinoiri when she attempts to encourage him.

Instead he ducks his head politely toward Amy simply remarking, "I wouldn't presume either way." A more amused smile comes as he has to quip, "It's Japan. I'd honestly be shocked if there wasn't *some* type of tea available. If you'll pardon me a moment then."

Turning away from the doors he leaves far more room for Adora and Hinata to approach with a mumble of, "I'll give you all a few," as if he thought perhaps they may have more luck. Surely Adora would at least? It seemed she had the same train of thought he did about trying to reassure Amy.

Quick as he can be, he's gone from sight off to the vending machine he knew was at the front of the sports pavilion.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does seem a bit calmer after the topic change and being told she's safe, at least.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Adiren trots off to get drinks. Hinata feels superfluous to the current situation so sets off wordlessly to go help the blonde boy.

    She reflects on the sheer number of blonde people she's met so far, though these thoughts don't show on her face.

    Catching up, she says simply. "Let me help you."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is certainly caught off-guard by Hinoiri. "N-no. They'd stay at the ranch with the other horses. We...visit them. Brush them. Help feed them. If they don't wanna be ridden we'd never force one. We'd never use, like...horse whips or anything like that..." She trails off, and glances about at the others.

She glances back at Amy and grins softly. "Hey, I'm gay, too. Cool. Someone to talk to about that stuff!" She doesn't get into the complicated situation with her own girlfriend, though. "Yeah, he gave himself the name," she offers in response, not thinking about how weird that sounds.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I... no! I'm not demanding anyone get me drinks! He *offered*! He's either just being nice, or trying to win me over. I-I just thought it only fair to let him know if it was the latter..." She looks between Hinata and Hinoiri. "Look, high school got *weird*, okay?! I don't know what to do about boys calling me cute and stuff, it's w-weird. I've gotten *letters* in my locker. It's weird!" The expression on her face is genuinely that of someone who's not sure how to deal with a problem they are completely unprepared for.

> Horse concerns
    "...They're domesticated animals. Are you from someplace they don't have horses?" After everything, it wouldn't be *that* weird if Hinoiri were from another world, but *man*, Amy would never guess the truth. Also this is a trick question, since she's pretty sure all of developed human civilization knows what a horse is.

    ...Did she just almost say pegasus?

    Oh my god is she actually from another world, *what*.

    As Adrien goes off to get the tea, she nods and smiles a little. "Thank you."

> Hey, I'm gay too.
    "Oh, sweet!" She raises her hand for a fistbump.

    She already knows Adora's not of this Earth, so. This is interesting information, but it's not entirely unexpected.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    ...THAT SWIFTWIND NAMED HIMSELF. NOT THAT SHE'S GAY. I mean, that's interesting too, as, yes, someone else also queer is nice, but that doesn't have to do with other worlds.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a nod. Well, Adora had passed the test at least. "Good. They're not just... things for people to use. but if they don't mind, there's no reason to be annoyed I guess. And I'd hope not, whipping any equinne should be--" And then trailed off.

... And now Adora was gay as well.

Hinoiri just blinked. "Is... is that... just a thing here? Like... I'm still new here. Is it like... 'Name, age, grade, I like ma-- girls'? Cause like. Nobody told me that. Also, still figuring it out. So ummm... congratulations? I... guess?" she said. Yeah, she was even more confused than ever. "Wait. He chose the name himself? How did that work?" she asked, her eyes now narrowed on Adora. That WOULD be the thing she focused on. "And so you're just going to rename another horse that? Or are you hoping one will 'choose' it again?" Okay, she was putting WAY more thought into this than had to be normal...

Annnnd then Amy was having a freak out.

"... Yeah? Listen, Adrien's cool. He's just a nice guy who wants to help people. Bit of a push over, but in a sweet way. He's not like... trying... to... whatever you're worried about. And yeah, the letters thing. You should just toss those in the trash, it's what I do. Who has time for that?" she asked... She uhhhh...

"... Sorry. Sorry. Normally I'm a little less... tense... but I'll be honest. My hand has been itching under this cast for the last thirty minutes and I am about ten seconds from *killing all of you* if it would mean the itching would just stop so... I'm going to see if I can find something thin and scratchy before I actually have to make good on that threat," she said, as good naturedly as she could before quickly starting to look through the shelves.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste glances over toward Hinata as she joins him in going to get the drinks. A quick smile is offered as he works to gather his thoughts a bit. "Thanks. I'm going to get everyone a drink, it's only fair, so feel free to get what you'd like too," he offers before letting out a slow, deep sigh.

"I'm not sure what happened but she seems really upset. If I knew her better I'd suggest ... I'm not sure." He rakes his fingers through the hair at the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess getting a drink is the best I can do right now."

At least the machine wasn't too far. It made sense to keep drinks within easy reach of those participating in sports in case anyone became dehydrated. He pauses at the machine glancing over the options while fishing out a card from the pocket of his fencing garb. Thankfully Japan took cards on machines. That was a small blessing in this case as he swipes it over the reader a few times to load it up before punching in at least three drinks. Iced tea (not sweet unfortunately), an electrolyte drink, a diet soda... Options were always good.

The drinks are tucked into the crook of his arm to carry back. "Do you think we should get more? In case everyone talks awhile."

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata chooses a very basic option. Bottle of water. It's flavoured at least. She shrugs a bit. "I have no strong opinion either way." she remarks, then seems to remember her manners. "Ah. Hinata Muramasa, Grade 7." She offers, bowing slightly so as not to dislodge the drinks she's carrying.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"No, I was...she said she was gay so I was comforting her and telling her I was too...," Adora replies to Hinoiri. "I didn't mean, 'Oh, I ride horses AND I'm a lesbian!' That'd be weird to say..." And then come the questions about Switfwind, and she has no idea how to answer. She can't just tell her that Swiftwind is a sentient, talking alicorn, can she? She'd sound -crazy-. "I...um..." She just kind of trails off and hopes the girl gets distracted with everything going on around them.

She then smiles softly and nods to Amy. "Where I'm from there were a -lot- of problems, but at leasy people hating gay people didn't...exist. Just wasn't a thing."

Then she glances at the wall clock and acks. "I need to study for a test! Um...bye all!" She turns and sprints out, actually forgetting the box of boxing equipment. She isn't the brightest cookie in the closet.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    > Is that just a thing here?
    Amy shrugs. "It's different in every culture. Here people sometimes share *blood type* of all things, although it's because of superstition about how it affects your personality, not out of an expectation that blood transfusion could be necessary at any moment. But... in the past, people weren't as open about it, and that meant, anyone who wasn't into the opposite gender was made to feel alienated. So, this is better."

    Amy continues "...We're hormone-soaked teens and a lot of people are *looking* for relationships. Why do you think adults wear wedding and engagement rings?" She holds her hand up to show her lack of a ring. "It's so people can tell at a glance who's taken. It stands to reason that if culture had developed a little differently, there would be similar indicators for sexual preference as well, rather than just assuming everyone's straight." She's only known she's queer for a few weeks now, forgive her for not knowing that yes there have absolutely been codes for that.

> I am ten seconds from *killing all of you* if it would mean the itching would just stop.
    A problem is stated. The eye of an Engineer (software counts!) looks at the cast, and then up to Hinoiri after a second. "Like a pipe cleaner? They've *gotta* have them in some craft supplies room somewhere, right?"

    A world with no homophobia? Amy quirks an eyebrow. She's lived a long time, and *seen* what the world was like decades ago. As far as Earth still has to go, she's seen worse... and it's a warm fuzzy thought, that there's a world where people don't hate for no reason. "What about t--" she starts to ask, but then Adora's gona and *damn* can she run fast.

    "Uh, bye..." Amy says, though Adora's already out of earshot.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara couldn't help but notice Adora just VAMOOSHED! She gave a shrug. "I don't... think they hated people for something dumb like that where I'm from? But I didn't really check. I wasn't really interested in anyone so it didn't seem like a big deal at the time," she said before glancing to Amy. And... wow...

"How does anyone get any of their studies done with all those hormones flying about?" she asked, cocking an eye. "Seems very distracting." Says the girl who's been systematically been trying to figure out the mathematical equation for 'hotness'.

But then. Then Amy came up with a solution. "Yes! That! One of those. Tell you what, find me a pipe cleaner and I'll even be gay for you for like, ten seconds or something, okay? Because this itch is driving me crazy and ARGH!" she yelled. "I can't even shake my hand angrily because that will JUST make it hurt more!"

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste dips his head politely in turn back to Hinata. "Ah, my apologies, I didn't even realize I hadn't introduced myself. Adrien Agreste, grade 9, fifteen. Pleased to meet you Muramasa-san."

Looking back the way they came he offers Hinata a bemused grin. "You can probably make an escape from this if you need. It looks like your other friend over there went off, too," he explains gesturing in the direction he saw Adora run. "I can take these back to them. Thank you for the help though."

That's exactly what he does, too, even if Hinata does tag along again. He'd promised drinks! The conversation he comes back in on though?

"Chopstick. It's less likely to bend when you're using it to scratch, and it's probably a bit more hygenic than something with fuzzy edges on it," he suggests helpfully.

The tea is offered out toward Amy with a smile. "Sorry, they actually didn't have sweet tea. Just unsweetened. I did get a diet orange soda though if you'd prefer that."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> How does anyone get their studies done with all these *hormones*?
    "I DON'T KNOW!" Amy throws her hands up in the air. "It wasn't like this the-- I mean, um... it wasn't like this in previous years! ...I'm... a late bloomer I guess..." Smooth.

> Find me a pipe cleaner and I'll be gay for you.
    Amy makes a disgusted face. "That's not how it works, but... appreciated." Okay, yeah, Hinoiri has *definitely* not been around Earth teenagers. "But, like Adrien getting the soda, I'll get a pipe cleaner just to be nice."

    And now he is, indeed, back with the soda. "Nah, pipe cleaner. You can scratch more surface area at once that way. I don't see how it's unhygenic if it's clean, but if you're really worried, clean it first."

    She looks between the two drinks. She should suffer the bitter tea so as not to deprive someone else of the sweet soda. But damn, she'd really like something sweet right now.

    After a few seconds of looking between them and intensely considering this, she decides to be selfish, just this once. "I'll take the soda, then, thanks. Sorry. If you don't like the tea, maybe hold onto it until you can get two or three sweetener packets from the cafeteria?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just cocked an eye at Amy. Again. "You... seem tense. Like. Really tense. What were you even crying about? It seemed to have you pretty upset and, frankly? I'm too annoyed right now to be delicate about it. Let's go find the pipe cleaner," she said before motioning to Adrien. "Also, just a nice guy. Besides, he's already got a girl friend."

"... So, where would the pipe cleaners be? Not... normally a big... sports and recs girl and all that."

If offered a drink, she'd shake her head and... "But seriously. You ask for tea and he gets you tea and a soda just in case. Like I said, real sweet, but kind of a push over. If not a model you'd make an excellent personal assistant." ... that... that was probably a compliment?

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste doesn't hesitate to swap the tea for the orange soda when asked. "I got the drink in case it might help you feel better so you can have whichever you'd like," he assures simply. "I can drink whatever. I'm not very picky." Well not in the case of drinks at least.

"As for the pipe cleaner, I just thought the fuzzy edges might make it easy to get dust inside--" Ah, why was he bothering? He trails off only to turn a little red at Hinoiri's further words. "I do not have a girlfriend, just someone I really care about and admire. Please stop saying that." A little awkward shuffle comes as he turns his own gaze aside to focus on opening up the bottle of electrolyte he'd also brought for himself. The tea remains tucked in the crook of his arm as an extra for now.

A little quiet he mumbles, "No harm in offering help if it doesn't cost you anything to do it."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> What were you even crying about?
    "I wasn't crying!" What *was* she even almost-crying about? She sighs, and slumps. "...I looked... foolish. Sometimes, I misunderstand things, and the misunderstanding doesn't become clear until after awhile, when I do something that no one else understands... and that no one else is willing to understand. Usually I try to explain as a reflex, but that never works. See, I'm even doing it now. Sorry."

> So, where do we get pipe cleaners?
    "No idea, I'm the computer girl. We go find the art club room and ask whoever's there. Failing that, we go to the teachers' offices and ask where the art supplies room is."

    She nods to Adrian, "Thank you, again." She looks at the soda. "...I do feel a little better." Ssssip.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara shuddered. "Oh. Ohhhh I didn't even think about the dust thing... ehh... if it's clean, it should be fine. Just so long as I avoid doing it too much. And really? I thought you liked her. Ohhhh. Wait, is it cause the note thing? Listen, I'm sure she'll toss the threats in the trash too, that stuff's pretty normal. Even this girl gets them. Actually, maybe... don't use her as the example."

Then she found out what Amy was not-crying about and then... she sighed. "I get it. You're just not very confident, huh? Well, here's a secret for you. It doesn't matter what other people think. If they think you're foolish? Oh well, that's their problem. Most people are going to make their decisions about you regardless of what you do. If you spend all your time desperately trying to fit some standard they set, they'll still look down on you and refuse to understand. Because then they'll get upset because how dare you exceed them. So if you screw up? Just own it. Accept you screwed up, learn something from it and just don't do it again. A screw up is only really a waste if you learned nothing from it. And stop trying to explain every little thing. Nobody who matters is going to care that you made a mistake and if they do, they'll at least ask. Everybody who doesn't has already made their choice and it's their loss. As for me? I'm heading to the art club room to mug someone for their pipe cleaners." Pause. "Probably going to do it in a less violent manner, though. Probably." It REALLY itched.

And if only she could apply that line of thinking to her own issues with Sunbreaker...

... Also, how did a nice guy like Adrien get her as a friend?

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste gives Amy a very genuine smile at the thanks even though he still felt a bit red-faced from the prior topic. "You're welcome. And, let me let you in on a little secret," he adds before dropping his voice a bit as if he really *were* sharing a secret. His eyes dart around taking in the area for anyone that might overhear this oh-so-important news.

"A lot of people think I'm really confident because I work as a model, but really? I'm just figuring everything out as I go along, too."

"Everyone has their problems, their worries, their fears. Usually they're too caught up in their own concerns to really notice you as much as you might think." He straightens again with a little clearing of his throat. "Not to say people don't notice you, I just mean... You can't really tell what someone is thinking unless they tell you. The same goes for others. Unless you tell someone, they're not going to know what you're thinking. So go a bit easier on yourself."

"Like right now, I think I should really go and get a shower because I *know* I worked up a sweat during practice and I'm probably not really great to be around right now and I'm going to go do that now." The rest comes out in a quick rush, a bit embarassed, but he was trying to make his point. "Take care okay?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy clenches her fist. "That's just it! How can I learn anything from it if I don't understand what went wrong?!"

    She looks over Hinoiri as they walk towards the art club to NOT MUG ANYONE. "Do you not get... lonely? What if only a few people in the world understand you, and bit by bit, everyone else decides not to?"

    She looks at Adrien. "...Wise beyond your years, that you've figured out that much already."

    At the... example, she sniffs at the air, and at the back of her forearm. "Hm. Take care." She waves.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara did hesitate for a moment. Lonely? Her?

... She passed that threshold a long time ago. They decided they didn't understand her and, frankly, the one person who... was supposed to... who swore she would... always...

...

She didn't need anyone but herself. Everyone else decided long agai and she couldn't care less what they chose now. Not that she said that.

Besides, who cared if nobody here understood her? She wasn't going to stay, anyway...

She didn't answer, though, pretending she didn't hear.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "...I tried to be strong for so long, but... it's hard to handle *this* stuff." Amy comments, obliquely.

    "It's gotta be hard, being all alone in a strange world-- I mean place." She watches Hinoiri as they walk. Should she? Eh, go for it. If Hinoiri really *is* one of them she needs a friend she can talk to. And if she's just a civilian, she can play it of as a misunderstanding, or thoughts for a story she's writing or something. "...Where they don't even have pegasi."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a shrug. Oh gosh, she'd made a mistake, the other girl was following her now. She just wanted her hand to stop itching. "Gotcha. But maybe you should go talk to your girlfriend about this? Sounds like you've got some issues going on and they're realllllly not my concern. I've got an itch to go scratch."

Annnnd... and as she walked away.... the girl's first comment made her eyes narrow. Could the other girl tell? Did the other girl know? Should she...

She held up her hand. Right now, only... a few people knew who she was. And one of those people had already betrayed her, selling her out to Hematite. Yeah... she was done with that. "If you're looking for pegasi, head down to the arcade. They've got some stuffed pegasi in their little crane games. I think my roommate picked one up earlier. Pink little things, but she likes them so what can you do?" she asked with a shrug.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy narrows her eyes. That's really... non-sequitur. Like, how on Earth does a civilian come to the conclusion that's what she wanted, or would be useful information? It sounds more like someone from another world tried to think of the first thing pegasus might refer to locally and then said it.

    ...But then again, what if she's misunderstood something and is wildly off-base. "Mm. I guess you don't need help to get pipe cleaners. Good luck." Yeah, heading back to the dorm sounds nice right now.

    "...And thanks for the advice."