Sit Down, It's Just a Talk

[Tim Tawfeek]

"It's not creepy, right?" Tim asked, turning to the barrista he'd pulled. Tim had become something of a semi-regular customer, so the guy, who was apparently normal human, more or less, had recognized him. Seeing as Tim figured he needed a sounding board, and the guy was there, he, well, he asked the guy to be his sounding board. He'd then jacked into Cool Beans' internet and pulled up his blog. There it was, Clean Laundry in all its glory, with the recent Vlogs on prom right there waiting to be viewed.

Tim had pulled up the prom ones, letting the guy watch them, and now was leaning back. He wasn't entirely certain that Lux had, like, actually seen them or anything. He also couldn't guarantee that his efforts had been what caused Lux to win princess over Frank Cox (which still surprised Tim). He just felt like, well, like this should be shared. Not just because it would make Tim look super awesome and all, but because, well, he kinda felt like she should know. For reasons. But first Tim wanted to check and see if this was, like, creepy or something.

The barrista nodded, then opened his mouth to say something. At that time, the bell rang and Tim flailed, telling the barrista to get the hell outta there so he could pop up and wave like an idiot to get Lux's attention. About three waves in, he realized that he was, in fact, waving like an idiot and stopped, though his arm sort of kept going for a bit before more or less falling to his side. He waved for the barrista to bring over the coffee he'd preordered, because, well, coffee shop but you didn't want it to be cold or anything (monthly special; Tim had reasons, give it a bit). Then Tim went back to grinning at Lux, till he realized that he was grinning like an idiot, so he stopped, then he realized that he probably shouldn't look all stonefaced, so he tried a grin somewhere in between.

[Luxanna Viera]

Prom. Ah yes. That had been an extremely shocking and dreadful experience for the adaptor. The second her name had been called up, she was one hundred percent sure her heart had stopped. She had died there, standing on the floor in the middle of the crowd of students. It was the least favorable thing she could ever have imagined to happen and she still wasn't quite over the shock. No, Lux still felt the need to run and hide whenever someone stared at her.

How it had happened, she didn't know. In fact, the details about the evening was still a little blurry, and she wasn't entirely sure whether or not she wanted to know why she had been elected. Had it been someone's cruel attempt for a joke? No, she didn't really think that, she just tried wrapping her mind around how exactly it could be that someone as low key as herself had won prom princess. Barely anyone even knew who she was! How could they have possibly voted for her?

With a sigh, Luxanna opened the door to Cool Beans and was met with the sight of the usually energetic Tim who somehow, always made her grin from ear to ear. His bubbly personality completely washed all of her dark and broody thoughts away.

Incapable of keeping the chuckle from escaping her lips, Luxanna made her way over to the the table, "Hi there," she chuckled, "I don't think it's safe for you to drink more coffee," she added with a smile. Not that she minded either way; Tim was amusing, whether he was jumping up and down or sitting still. Then again, she wasn't sure if she had ever seen the boy sit completely still. Was it even possible? No, she couldn't picture it.

"What's up?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

"What? I haven't had any yet, honest,' said Tim, chuckling. He put his hands into his pockets, figuring that was as good a place to put them as any. He even wiggled a bit to get them further inside for a bit, until realizing that the wiggling might look like something else. Then he stopped, telling himself to remain perfectly still.

"Thanks for coming," he said. Then Tim realized he should, like, pull a chair out for her or something, so he moved to do precisely that, pulling it out and gesturing for Lux to take a seat. "I, uh, already ordered a coffee for you too. It'll be coming soon. I always order the monthly special, since trying new stuff is kinda cool, and there's something for stuff that's only going to be around a bit, you know? It's like, it's almost better because you know you only get to enjoy it for this little bit of time and stuff," Tim nodded. It was as he did that he realized that despite having just babbled, he hadn't really answered the question.

idiot. Just be thankful this wasn't, like, a real date or something. Then she'd be running for the door already; no she wouldn't, this was Lux, she was too awesome.

"Everything's fine with me, princess," he said, adding a little bow. There, totally recover, and girls dug the whole bowing thing and who didn't want to be called a princess, really?

[Luxanna Viera]

"Could have fooled me," Luxanna said, chuckling a little. Then again, she wasn't one to speak. Maybe she wasn't the most energetic being on the planet, but she sure as heck could compete with the publicly bubbliness. Or, that's what she liked to think anyways.

"You don't have to thank me, Tim," Lux pointed out, but didn't say much more as the boy stood to pull out her chair. "Thank you," she added before sitting down. Well, who would have know Tim Tawfeek could be such a gentleman, huh? Nodding slowly at his next line of words, Lux had to admit that she didn't really mind. She wasn't a big fan of coffee, but she had to agree that he did make a lot of sense. And he probably didn't know just how accurate his words was. "That sounds lovely," she mused.

Frowning a little as Tim called her 'princess' and frowned, the brunette reached her hand out to swat at him, "Please don't remind me," she said, incapable of keeping the chuckle out of her voice, "That was the most embarrassing and horrible night I've ever had to be a part of." Which was saying something, considering how easily she got embarrassed and fussed over things she didn't really need to fuss over.

After all, she wasn't exactly a people person. In fact, that was exactly why she could count the amounts of friend she had with one hand - possibly two.

"I'm pretty sure I could have been announced clinically dead when they called my name."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Tim laughed nervously. Nerves, those were the real culprits here. They were what made him into a stupid idiot around Lux. Not that it took much: put Tim into close proximity with a pretty girl and his brain just stopped working properly. Make that girl Lux and it was just game over. Out of continues, lose all your progress game over. No thanks, of course not; they were friends, this was a friendly thing, just two friends heading out for coffee. Sure, they were a boy and a girl friend but they weren't, like, a boy and a girlfriend. Space was important there.

So important.

Just when Tim started to get excited about the prospect of sharing, he heard Lux's... reaction to the princess thing. He felt his heart drop into his stomach, felt it almost like it actually happened. Splush, right into the acid. Embarrassing and horrible. Wow. Tim fought to keep his expression neutral, and, as this was Tim, he mostly failed miserably. Been called clinically dead.

"Well," he said, his voice about five octaves higher than normal and about one and a half higher than any male should manage, "that's... unfortunate then. You'd probably, like, hate anyone who, oh, set up some kind of campaign to get you voted in or something then," he said this with forced casualness, so much of it that it almost hurt him to say each and every word. At least his voice had dipped down a little more, somewhat in the range of "normal" or at least "normal for nervous Tim." That was something.

[Luxanna Viera]

Frowning a little, Luxanna pressed her lips together, "Hate anyone who.." she began and trailed off. Quickly shaking her head, Luxanna smiled, "Why would I hate them for doing that?" After all, it was probably meant as a nice gesture, even as much as it had... Troubled her, and darkened her mood, she didn't think she was capable of hating anyone, regardless of what they did. Sighing, Luxanna put her elbows on the table and rested her chin against the back of her hand.

No, Tim's high pitched voice and change in expressions didn't pass her by, but she didn't give it much thought to actually connect the dots. "I mean, unless it was done as a cruel prank... No, even then I don't think I'd hate them," she mused with a shrug. "Why? Do you know something about it?" she added with a arched eyebrow. But that was as long as Luxanna managed to keep her expression serious. Seconds later, a smile appeared on the brunette's lips, "Don't be so worried, Tim."

And if Tim happened to know something, or had been behind it, he had to know there was no possible chance for her ever hating him, right? They hadn't known each other for that long, but even so, Luxanna enjoyed his company far too much and she often found herself feeling less awkward around him too.

[Tim Tawfeek]

No hate? of course not. Lux had to continue just being freakin' perfect all over the place. Tim nearly kicked himself. How had he even thought that she would? Because he was freakin' paranoid, that was why. Paranoid and stupid and, well, actually, that was pretty much it. He certainly wasn't charming or anything that might redeem himself here. He was actually tempted to ask why Lux kept wanting to spend time with him, since she could obviously have guys that were more put together or something, except that would be pointing out that she could do that and, well, Tim was just a little too selfish for that. He liked that she spent time with him, and he'd do what it took to keep that going.

Don't be so worried. "Worried? Me, nah, I'm totally cool,' he said. He still moved his laptop though, pushing it a little to the side. Maybe he could just... tell her about the blog and let her find that on her own. Yeah, that would totally work, wouldn't it? Be great and all. Yeah, totally work.

"Got your coffees," said the barrista, who had apparently decided to be nice and actually walk them over. Tim was digging out his wallet, ready to pay and tip the guy since, well, he did totally deserve a tip. The barrista had to keep talking though: "Did he show you the vid? Kinda awesome, right? You are Lux, right, because you---"

"Here's your money, my good man," said Tim, holding out the money and practically shoving it at the guy. "Don't spend it all in one place. Lux, coffee?" he held it out to her, pasting a wide, nervous smile on his face as he did so.

[Luxanna Viera]

Luxanna was about to speak again as their coffees were brought to the table. Offering the guy a smile, Luxanna thanked for the warm beverage. Arching her eyebrow as the guy started talking, and then was interrupted by Tim. Scrunching her eyebrows, Luxanna looked from Tim to the guy and back at Tim again. How did the guy know her name? And what video was he talking about? From the way Tim tried to cover it up, it almost made her think Tim was hiding something extremely creepy. Like a clown dancing over a highway. That counted as creepy, right? Right.

"What video?" Luxanna asked without reached her hand out for the coffee. Instead she remained perfectly still with her gaze locked upon her friend. "And how did he know my name?" Surely, there was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation behind all of this, and Luxanna refused to let her mind wander and make up conclusions that probably didn't match up with reality at all, but even she had to admit that Tim was acting strange.

Well, stranger than usual anyways.

Shifting her position, Luxanna moved her hands so that they were splayed across the table. She moved her eyes to the laptop and back at time again. The confusion was obvious on her face. What was going on, and what wasn't he telling her?

[Tim Tawfeek]

It was times like this when Tim wished that he had the ability to explode minds or do some kinda Jedi mind trick thing or something. But noooo, he had to get stuck with the ability to mimic bats, because that was always useful. Tim fidgeted and looked at Lux as she, well, sort of got nervous about the whole slip thing that the barrista had done. Tim still hesitated though, for at least a few more seconds. Then it occurred to him that her imagination probably coaxed up something that was far worse than it was. Heck, what if she found out about the various cameras and stuff he'd put up? True, none of those were, like, anywhere too private, since Tim still had some morals (barely), but still.

Tim sighed, rubbing at his face. Video, and she was obviously lost. Mumbling, Tim opened his laptop. He flicked through a few screens, pulling it up. A sigh as he stared at his own face for a few moments. Then Tim looked back up at Lux. "Don't hate me?" he managed, before clicking "on" and turning the computer to face Lux. Soon enough, he heard his voice coming back, outlining the various prom candidates and strategies for voting, including very passionate speeches about why Luxanna Viera should be the one winning princess.

Invisibility; that would be another useful power that Tim didn't have. Because then he could just poof and get through all this. heck, he'd settle for melting at this point.

[Luxanna Viera]

Frowning, Luxanna hesitantly turned her attention to the computer as it was pushed with the screen facing her. Her eyes snapped back to Tim again, and she opened her mouth to ask, but figured it was better to simply watch the video instead, and save the questions for later.

First, there was a picture of her being pulled up, and the question that came into mind was how exactly -- well, more like, when said picture had been taken. And then there was this incredibly awkward and embarrassing speech, which somehow still managed to sound incredibly sweet at the same time. Luxanna could already feel the heat that spread over her cheeks, and before allowing the video to finish, the adaptor reached her hand out to close the lid of the computer.

With a frown still on her face, and her cheeks flushed deep red, the brunette's green eyes moved to look at Tim again. "I do not act like a princess," she protested. Princesses were girly and-- okay, so maybe that was incredibly stereotypical, but still. Did she really act that girly? No, she didn't think so.

But how could she possibly hate him for saying something like that?

"You know, next time you do that, please give me a head's up, okay? 'Cause from the way people looked at me, I almost thought I was going crazy-- and speaking of crazy, where did you even get that pic-- no, wait, don't answer that." The last part was added with something similar to that of a chuckle. "I don't hate you. I don't think that's possible. Just don't..." she paused and offered Tim a smile, "--Don't do that, okay? At least ask me next time, okay?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Princess from Game of Thrones, maybe," Tim argued. He was tempted to continue, but, well, he'd already said quite a bit in the vid, arguably too much. He fidgeted, wondering if he should show off the second vid as well, the one with the vote for Lux shirt or whatever. Except it had likely already begun to play, so that was that. Tim smiled nervously at Lux as she continued, next time, heads up, going crazy.

"They hired some British girl to take photos of everyone or something," said Tim, rolling his eyes. That wasn't actually where he'd gotten the picture, but hey, it was a good distracting phrase, right? He didn't want to admit that he'd actually posed for said girl at some point. Cute, but also a lesbian with possibly the scariest girlfriend in Bellefonte, so....

"Right, permission first next time," agreed Tim. He closed the laptop and pulled it toward him, holding up a hand in something like a salute. "Scout's honor." A nod, and then he grinned. "But hey, it totally worked, right? Prom princess. Of course, that just means that Frank Cox will be foaming for queen next year but eh," Tim shrugged. He figured they could worry about when and if they got there. A year was a long ways off. he pulled his coffee toward him, taking a sip. "Hey, the flavor's actually good this month, wonder what it is," he twisted to try and look at the marquee explaining just that, and no, it wasn't just because he was still kinda embarrassed that his totally awesome plan had both worked spectacularly and backfired horribly.

[Luxanna Viera]

"I see," Luxanna said, nodding. Well, that was a lot less creepy than what she had imagined. Someone hired to take photos, anyways. Not that that wasn't creepy, 'cause Luxanna couldn't remember ever agreeing to getting her photo taken, but she wasn't about to dwell much more on that.

Folding her hands together, Luxanna smiled, "Good," she said. She was glad Tim didn't make more of a fuss about it. She wasn't mad. Not at all. She probably should have been a little weirded out and all, but truth be told, she wasn't. In a school filled with supernatural teenagers, this wasn't nearly as weird or creepy as it possibly could have been. "It did," Luxanna agreed with a grimace, "Though, I wouldn't have minded Frank winning," she added with a sigh. No, Luxanna really didn't enjoy the attention at all. But she had already made that clear, right? Right. Ok, moving on.

Reaching out for her own cup of coffee, Luxanna took a sip before grimacing. "Oh wow," she said, coughing and laughing a little. She had never really been a fan of coffee, and this, well, she wasn't entirely sure what exactly it was she was tasting. "That's... Unique," she added quickly, still laughing.

"Hey, thanks though. I know you meant well, and it's the thought that counts, so thank you, Tim."

[Tim Tawfeek]

Lux clearly hadn't liked the attention, which bummed Tim out more than he cared to admit. The whole point had been to let people see her for a bit, give her some time in the spotlight. It sounded like Lux would've just been happy to be nominated and nudge out of the way as the usual spotlight hog slid out into the floor with her parade and happy music blaring. Though from what Tim had heard, Frank had certainly enjoyed prom regardless.

He heard the wow and looked back. Had he screwed up the coffee too? Well, that was just par for the course, really, and at the rate he was going he might as well count out on any chance for a second date. NOT THAT THIS WAS A DATE, OH GOD WHERE DID THAT THOUGHT COME FROM? DON'T PANIC, DAMMIT, IT'S NOT LIKE SHE'S A FREAKING MIND-READER OR SOMETHING. "Yeah, they do that. Unique coffees," he managed, couching into a fist and shifting again. Meant well, thought.

"Yeah, but, like, I should've asked or something," he said, looking down at his coffee mug, drumming his hands along it for a bit. "Kinda like the coffee too, I guess. But hey, it's just the first cup, new and all that. We could totally get something else if you wanted. No big deal," he shrugged then, looking up, trying to not look, well, as eager and pathetic as he was feeling inside right about now.

[Luxanna Viera]

Remaining silent, Luxanna studied Tim's face for a moment before sighing. She could see that her words had hurt him, or at least disappointed him. After all, she was oblivious to most things, but his facial expression was easy to read. Or at least, she thought she could read it. "Tim," Luxanna said, reaching her hand out to give Tim's a gentle squeeze, "Stop worrying about it. It's okay. Really." she then continued to offer him a smile.

Lux then continued to pull her chair closer; Maybe it was her motherly side, or maybe he just looked like he needed it, but for whatever reason, Luxanna thought that maybe they both needed it. Moving her hands to Tim's shoulders, Luxanna leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his cheek, unless he of course pulled away.

She didn't know why, but it had felt nice. Not because of the kiss or anything, but because of the possibility of possibly making Tim's obvious stressed behavior a little more relaxed. She didn't know exactly what it was that worried him, but if she could prove to him that she wasn't mad, she would. Because truth be told, as much as she had hated it, she did appreciate the gesture.

[Tim Tawfeek]

"It's not, not if I'm making stuff worse for you and--" began Tim, but Lux was scooting closer. Why was she doing that, exactly? Oh God, she was going to smack him or--wait a second, that wasn't a very "Lux" thing to do, now was it? Honestly Tim, you should just start thinking the best and go from there. So the best would be...

Great, now he was thinking of Lux naked, which was so not helping matters at all, because he always did the same thing whenever...

... she kissed him. Okay, it was on the cheek and just this chaste little thing like you might do for a brother or something except they were totally not related and therefore this was not like that exactly. Tim's brain did, well, what it often did when girls were involved: it stopped. It stopped and changed over to the channel of white noise, static, and apparently little wiggling coffee cups because that wasn't creepy at all and definitely was so helping with the fact that Tim's brain just kinda shut off.

At least his face was frozen in a "did that really happen" expression, which was better than a blank stare, since at least it might offer something approaching an explanation for why he'd suddenly stopped doing pretty well anything but breathing.