White box

Is it ok to like you?

No, really-- "Is it ok to like him?"

"Who?"

"Purple."

Only when she saw Carl looking amazed, Stephanie realized she had spoken those words out aloud and turned bright red. Agh--- but it kept bothering her so much she did not even recall what she did in her exams? And it wasn't like she could blame Purple for failing something if she had failed something--

"Your tastes are even more amazing than August's," Carl commented.

Stephanie didn't even want to ask why-- But by the same token-- "Tiamat's shape as a dragon is as much her accurate form as that of a seventeen-year-old looking girl with long green hair and bright green eyes. One is battle efficient other is fuel-efficient."

Carl was even more amazed-- "Is that so?" He asked.

"Purple explained it that way when I asked about it," Stephanie replied, surprised that Carl didn't know. He used himself as an example, but the idea was like that.

"In what kind of context?" Carl asked.

"He was pointing at his guests and told me who they were, Tiamat was sitting with Frida and there was Roy somewhere nearby, and then he skipped some guy saying 'that was not his accurate form', so-- I asked," Stephanie said.

"You've been going places," Carl said, looking impressed.

Stephanie wasn't sure if she had said a bit too much-- Carl looking impressed probably meant that... it actually was outrageous to be in a bar event with those people, but-- would it really change anything if she said she had been invited to perform rather than hang out?

But, what she wanted to say is - "He's attractive, looks like a teen a bit older than me, my tastes are not weird."

"Looks like you think it is OK to like him," Carl said with a faint shrug and an amused smile.

Damn it.

"I'll be away on a personal matter from Friday to Monday-ish," Stephanie said then.

"Thanks for the notice," Carl said.

That's how easy it rolled over and when she woke up there had also been two tickets for the romantic cruise trip for her parents, so she passed those over and the two agreed to go with no issues.

Marcus was-- crafting artifacts day and night exactly how Timothy had done when his summer vacation rolled around-- looked like he was drowning his craving for Bill into making artifacts--

Even if it was awkward, Stephanie tried to calm her heart as she summoned a wisp, Marcus had made three artifacts she could pass over, so she had to pass those over, and--

Purple appeared smiling like usual and that calmed Stephanie. She passed the three timepieces over and Purple had them disappear. "I'd say four more to go," he said.

The question of 'is it ok to like you?' stuck in her throat and instead she asked. "Will you stay to listen to me play."

"Of course," he said with a smile. And that too calmed her heart.

That night she tried to look for a new song, letting her fingers dance over the keys, as they did, she smiled recalling the atmosphere in that bar and tried to replicate in sound that classy feeling and while she wasn't clear on the lyrics, she had made a melody up and drank the mug of hot chocolate with a satisfied look.

"I didn't think Boundary Cafe would get an original soundtrack," Purple said with a smile, surprising Stephanie that he could read in the sound what she had in her mind. And that's how she learned the name of that place--