Not all that shines is gold. [Anthy]

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She bit her lip when Lucas asked her what kind of compromise he could make, though not in those exact words. Hopefully he hadn't thought she was making fun of the situation or something... She fidgeted with the keys a little, looking down at them for a moment before she remembered her manners and went back to keeping eye contact even if it was a bit hard at the moment.

"W-w-well.. there's..... there's these... these keyboards that..."

She bit her lip again while internally telling herself not to be so skittish. He was just passionate, that's all. He hadn't been really yelling at her or anything like that.

"Well, there's these keyboards that make sounds like the other instruments, so maybe you could rent one of those or something? Not you personally but the band. That way, you wouldn't have to worry about being accused of cheating and you can also get the sound that you want?" She suggested.

They did rent those, right? She knew they were for sale, and things that were for sale could be found for rent, right? She hoped so?

When Lucas spoke about his concerns about breaking up the band over something small and commenting about how he didn't know why he spoke to her about his problems, she moved to place a hand on his shoulder.

"You.... you're not burdening me, Lucas. You're my friend. Friends talk to each other." She told him, offering him a smile before gently bringing her hand back again.

"As far as talking about your interests, you decide on if you want to talk about them or not. There's a lot of people in Hammel, you can't be the only one out of everyone here who likes something, right? Just like I'm not the only one here who likes peanut butter cookies." She commented.

[Lucas Blacke]

She was trying to help him around what he thought was the problem, and maybe she thought so too as she suggested a keyboard that made him sound like he played other instruments.

''Well yeah, that could work. But there's one problem with that seeing as I don't know how to play something like that I'd need some kind of crash course. I'd like it if I could stick to the actual instruments, give it a chance to make it my own instead of something my ability does.'' He told her with a bit of a smile. ''Like, I know what I want, but if it irks one of my band-members..'' He added. Even if they weren't a band yet he'd keep in mind they eventually would even if it ended up being not true. He had to work towards, or simply try and help them towards becoming a real band. Music, though not the type they spoke about, was his life.

''And no one is accusing me of cheatin', doll. I'm the one seeing it as cheatin'. It kind of is, right? The way I can do nearly everything at a single glance?'' He was trying to find something he could do to show her, but flipping upside down right then and there seemed a bit odd to him. He didn't want to look like he was boasting, even if he would be.

Even if it would end up getting a ''fun'' reaction out of her.

He looked at Anthy when she spoke about interests again. She had a point and he knew she did. But offering advice was a bit more easy than actually fixing it, for him at least. He might have not been showing it but he was an insecure bastard and wouldn't comment on anything unless he knew the person. So what she said.. maybe he could fix that at a later gathering?

He shrugged lightly as he, no doubt not all that subtly, tried changing the subject. ''So who're ya gonna pick? Need to know who I'll be beatin' up.'' He said with a smile as he bumped her slightly in the shoulder.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

With how touchy the topic was, she wondered if he was just putting a smile on for her. She didn't know how much it meant to him, sure, but it did seem to get a reaction out of him. She listened to him as he spoke, trying to take in everything as she did have a bad habit of wither misunderstanding or having others misunderstand her it seemed. When he spoke about making the instrument his own instead of having his instrument do it, she thought for a moment.

"What if you played with it? As in... you had it by yourself and just played around with it until it started feeling natural to you? No videos or anything? " She asked him.

That way he could try to learn the different instruments in between the times he used his ability to play them and eventually balance out the two maybe?

"Well... I don't really see it as cheating. I mean, it's just something you have. I hardly call it cheating when you have such side effects that come with using it too." She commented.

Lucas just shrugged when she spoke about his interests so she let that alone for now. Instead, she went to answering his question about who she was going to pick.

"Oh, I'm picking Ivy." She told him before giggling.

"Try not to beat her up too hard, it's not her fault that I'm not really all too good with her."

[Lucas Blacke]

She asked him if he could use that bleeding through thing he had told her about. And despite not really having thought about that himself he did think it was a good suggestion and nodded. ''I suppose I can do that. And seeing as I'd be teachin' myself ya could join in too, maybe ya'd get something out of it.'' He offered. ''Besides, playing guitar or another instrument on my own isn't as fun.''

Then she went along with his attempt to change the subject as she said who she would be playing as, not to his surprise she'd be playing as Ivy as she had told him she wasn't all that bad with her. But she had also asked him not to beat her up too much because it wasn't her fault she wasn't all that good, and that comment made him chuckle because, well, he was 18 and a guy and he instantly thought of the word beating in a different context as it involved a jiggly woman.

''Gee, gonna use my one guy weakness against me?'' He joked. ''All that jiggly flesh and the ability to break armor and..'' He stopped there momentarily and just smiled. ''I think I won't be able to take that fight all too serious. Maybe Tira can make it a fun fight.''

Nothing wrong with a guy wanting to see two women fighting each other with jiggly physics, right? And playing it together with Anthy was just a plus. Maybe it'd get something else going. But that was a small maybe as it was still a fighting game.

''And I'm kind of forced to tell ya that ye can tell me how to play. I have many playstyles in here.'' He told her as he tapped at his temple. ''I have.. certain buttons...'' He told her with a grin as he bumped her in the shoulder once more.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When he seemed agreeable to her suggestion about him teaching himself, Anthy smiled brightly as she was happy that it might have been a good one. It wasn't so much that she was happy that she thought of a good idea but more of that fact that she was able to help in some way. It meant a lot to her to be able to help a friend even if it was freshly budded. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

He mentioned her joining in too and she smile again. Well, that could be fun.

"I think I'd like that, Lucas." She told him happily and honestly, tipping her head slightly to the side with a cheery expression on her face.

Though, it turned to one of curiosity when he went to commenting about her using his one guy weakness against him with the jiggly flesh and the ability to break armour. Yes, she knew he was talking about the game but it didn't quite click in her head. Did Ivy break people's armour? She couldn't remember for certain, it had been a while. She had been about to tell him that she could use another character but he was speaking again so she held that thought.

"I could play someone else if you want. I just would play even worse than I do already." Anthy said with a giggle.

"As far as me telling you how to play, well, I don't think I'm the best one to give advice seeing how I mainly push buttons and wish for luck."

She paused in the walking and gave a breath as she leaned against the wall.

"One sec.... I just need a moment..." She said, hanging her head slightly from tiredness.

She had managed to push herself this far without showing it but it had caught up right then and she needed a minute to gather herself.

[Lucas Blacke]

He smiled at all the things she said, about her being able to play someone else if he wanted for one. Well, Luke wasn't a childish person who'd force people to do what he wanted to do. He knew that he used to be one of those kids and it irked the shit out of him. She wanted Ivy, she played Ivy. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't want her to play a busty jiggly skimpily clad woman. Although, when he thought about it it might just give him improper thoughts about the girl playing the game with him.

Remember Luke, it's a game. He tried to repeat mentally as she went on to talk about she likely wouldn't tell him how to play seeing as she wasn't all that good, according to herself. But the beginning of that comment was all he had really caught. She could tell him how to play. Luke smiled, though deep down he knew she didn't, and couldn't mean it like that. Not yet anyway, if ever.

But then she yanked the boy out of his train of thought as she stopped walking and leaned against the wall, stating she needed a moment. Well, Luke assumed she was tired from before. She had done some glowing and played emotional support, truth was that he wasn't feeling 100% either but he had his ability that helped him not show it.

He leaned against the wall beside her and smiled. ''If I didn't know any better I'd start thinkin' yer doin' this to get out of leadin' me to my room. Naughty girl.'' He joked as he wagged his index finger at her.

''Luckily I do know better.'' He told her as an idea that would benefit both of them sprang to mind. ''I could.. y'know, carry ya up to my room? It ain't that far.'' He offered, pointing straight up. ''Ya could like.. sleep it off or something? My bed offers some vintage sunlight.'' He joked, trying to sound like a waiter with that last part. ''I recommend it, miss.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Lucas was leaning against the wall too, not too long after she had told him she needed a moment, and this made her feel like she didn't need to rush as much. Her body had slight tremors going through it, but hopefully he didn't see that. And hopefully he didn't hear the slight weakness in her chuckle when he had kidded with her about if he hadn't known better he'd think she was using this as a way to get out of leading him to his room.

"Oh yes, totally." She kidded, a playful look in her eyes as she looked over at him.

Lucas went to telling her he knew better then caused her to look at him with a bit of surprise when he offered to carry her up to his room, him even saying it wouldn't be that far. Before she could say anything he was continuing by offering to let her sleep it off as his bed had some sunlight.

"Oh I couldn't. Really.. I mean, there's stairs, which makes it a lot longer than it normally would be." She said with a mixture of shyness and embarrassment in her smile.

"But some sunlight might help."

[Lucas Blacke]

''Yeah.'' Luke replied instantly. ''Don't fucking care. We're going up to my room.'' If she needed sunlight she would get it, and she wasn't really in the position to tell him how when or why right now. So even if what he was going to do would burn him he'd go on with it. He knew for damn sure someone at Hammel could fix his burns for him if it did happen. But with how tired she was acting it didn't seem like that big of a chance that she'd glow brightly enough to hurt him, maybe at best it'd feel like holding a lightbulb. A lit lightbulb, and fate would have it that he had held on to lit bulbs as long as he could to see what his ability could do. As long as he could mentally take the pain his body wouldn't pull back out of reflex.

''If we're gonna game we need to go there anyway. And as it looks right now my room is a bit closer than the door outside. Soo..'' He told her as he moved a bit closer and grabbed her arm and proceeded to put it around his neck. ''Just relax, I'm not gonna do anything weird, just gonna help ya.'' He bent down a bit as one of his arms was wrapped underneath her arms and his other arm fit into the back of her knees.

With a simple ''One, two, five!'' He pushed her off of her feet and smiled as he picked her up and went for his room, walking up the stairs they needed to go up to. ''Promise me,'' He told her with a smile as he looked down. ''That yer gonna go take a nap as soon as we hit my room. I have patience, the gaming bit will come later.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

So... it was just how he spoke then? Or wa she irritated by her pointing out that the stairs would make it seem like a longer distance? She blushed some when he showed all signs of helping her up, feeling embarrassed that she showed how tired she was. Really, she needed to get a better hold of herself. But then again, she had originally gone out into the courtyard to get some sun earlier when they had met up again, so there was that factored in. But that wasn't really an excuse for her letting herself get like this. Anthy didn't want to worry anyone.

At first, she had thought he was going to be a human crutch for her or something but a soft gasp came from her as she found him picking her up with his arms not just under hers but scooping her legs up too. She went to grabbing around his neck a little so to not make it harder for him to keep a hold of her. Anthy wasn't used to being picked up, so she wasn't sure on how well this was helping out.

"Are... are you sure I'm not too heavy?" She asked, patches of her glowing dimly from her surprise and nervousness.

The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of them both ending up with broken limbs or something if he ended up falling down the stairs or something.

"I can walk, really." She told him even as he was carrying her up the stairs.

He didn't seem to be having any of it though.

<Well, his arms haven't given out yet.>

She only just barely kept herself from replying.

"I could play and soak up the sun at the same time?"

[Lucas Blacke]

It felt nice holding her, and when she started glowing it wasn't all that pain-inducing. It was a nice warm hue that felt kind of nice, though she only glowed when she was nervous as he had deduced earlier. He would put her down were it any other time but seeing as they were on the stairs he didn't see any use really. Not only would it be extremely difficult to put some down on such a small surface but he kind of liked being able to help her too.

Even if she questioned him the entire way there, which wouldn't exactly aid in her sparing her strength though he was probably dramatizing what she was going through. Not much good had come from drama lessons, Luke realized as he looked at her when she asked if she wasn't too heavy. He smiled at her slightly and shook his head. If she was too heavy he wouldn't show it anyway, he could cary her through will alone but this time this wasn't the case. ''Doll, have ya forgotten I work out on a daily basis?'' He lied. It wasn't daily as of late, but he was still pretty much a fitness freak. ''Yer like.. a good workout.'' He finally told her as he walked further up the stairs with ease before making his way down the corridor.

And almost as if she was looking for ways to be less of a pain to him (Luke was convinced she saw herself as being one) she said she could walk. Yea, she probably could, but she was being carried and why refuse help? ''We can all walk.'' He offered her swiftly. ''We just need to know when to stop walkin'.''

Her walked down to his dorm room with the girl in his hands as they reached the door to his room. He smiled once more and put her down, letting her lean against a nearby wall as he retracted his arms from supporting her legs and shoulders. ''Ya can.'' He offered at her suggestion to both play and soak up the sun. He leaned in to her and grabbed the key from her hand before opening the door and wrapping his arm around her again, this time not lifting her but moving her towards his own room.

''But yer not.'' He added as he opened his bedroom and pointed towards his bed as he went over to open the blinds just above it. Before Anthy could sit down he shoved the bed to the opposite side of the room so it'd catch more sunlight before motioning her over. ''Now go rest. Train for our sleepover.'' He told her with a smile.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When he asked her if she forgot he worked out on a daily basis, Anthy realised that she must have forgotten if he had told her, as she didn't remember him telling her that he did. Luckily it was a rhetorical question and she didn't need to answer it as she might have gotten more embarrassed and burned herself out even more so. Even as it was, she was tiring herself out. The plus side to that though, was that she could actually turn her powers off right now due to that fact. Though his telling her that she made a good work out made her give an embarrassed smile.

When he commented about how they could all walk, it being his way of dismissing her statement about her being able to walk, her embarrassed smile turned more into a sheepish one, especially when he got to the part of people needing to know when to stop walking. She... she hadn't thought she was that tired. Did she look that worn out? Maybe. Anthy hadn't meant to worry him. It was really nice of him to try to watch out for her like this though.

He didn't set her down. Not once until he reached the dorm door. Then, with a smile he set her on her feet and leaned her against a wall before re-acquiring the keys so he could unlock the door for them. He didn't lift her again, but he did end up herding her with an arm around her so to make sure she would be going to his room, telling her that though she could soak the sun while she played, she wasn't going to.

But... But she didn't really need a nap. She just needed some sun and she would be good. As long as she didn't do too much more glowing and most certainly if she didn't do any flashing, she should be fine. Before she could tell him that though, he was already sliding his bed over to the wall that the sunlight was coming in most at.

"Thanks Lucas, I appreciate all of this help. I'm not sure on if I'll nap or not but I'll definitely get some sun." She told him with a smile.

[Lucas Blacke]

He pointed at his bed once more to get her to sit on it. Even if she didn't want to nap she would have to take some time to herself and gaming with Luke next to her wasn't going to do that. That and he wasn't all that selfish. He sat down on his own, repositioned bed and looked up at her. ''Y'know, I'm not that bad once ya get ta know me, I look out for people.'' He told her. ''Sometimes. If they make me feel like they're worth it.'' He added with a smile as his eyes locked with hers. ''That and I'm running up favors. I don't think I'll be doing all that well in the next couple of days. I'll need someone to keep me out of the dark.''

''And who is better suited for that than the one who lights up?'' He said with a broad smile as he plopped back on his bed, making sure there was enough room for Anthy to at least sit. ''That and yer pretty much my best friend right now, even if we've only met twice.'' He added, with the sad realization she was pretty much his only friend right now. The rest were acquaintances or enemies. Maybe in due time.

It also saddened her that he was beginning to like her beyond friendship as that would likely break everything they had at that point. He had best keep that to himself.

''Is fine.'' He replied at her comment about not being sure if she'd nap or not. ''Just promise me yer gonna rest some, even if we're just going to talk some more ya shouldn't over-exert yerself. Need ya bright and chirpy for when I beat ya.'' He joked as he sllightly patted at the spot beside him, telling her to sit down.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When Lucas took a seat and told her that he wasn't that bad once someone got to know him and that he looked out for people if they made him feel like they were worth it, she looked to him.

"I don't think you're that bad, Lucas." She told him.

He was a bit more impulsive than she was used to, and had a bit stronger of a personality than she was ready to handle just yet at times so far, but she just needed to get used to him a little more, right?

Their eyes met and locked before he told her that he was running up favours. That he didn't think he would be doing well for the next couple of days and he needed someone to keep him out of the dark. When he went to commenting on who better than someone who lit up. At that part, she blushed some in embarrassed shyness and broke eye contact, too shy to look directly at him even if she was doing a mix of lip biting and smiling at the same time.

Then, he went to telling her that she was pretty much his best friend despite them not having known each other for long and her smile grew a little more.

When he patted the bed, Anthy walked over to it, taking it as him having finished moving it to where he wanted it to be and having settled himself where he wanted to be. She shifted some until she found a spot that was directly int he sun then gave a soft pleased sigh before leaning back, propping herself up with her arms.

"I'll rest, but I won't promise I'll be completely beat. I mean, I have gotten lucky before. So there's still a chance for me to win once. More than once though..? Not a chance." She told him with a small giggle.

"I'm glad to be your friend, Lucas. That you feel like you can lean on me. Thank you." She told him a moment after.

[Lucas Blacke]

He looked at her taking a seat on the bed and leaning back a bit to soak up the incoming sunlight, and when she did she let out a pleased sigh. Fuck was that hot. Luckily for her he technically still had a girlfriend and didn't want to fuck that up further because he knew she would be in enough pain as it was. And the position she was in was tempting too, but she proibably didn't even realize that. Just for his own sake he'd tell her soon enough, maybe she'd do something about it. But not right now, their friendship wasn't yet tight enough to talk about stuff like that or even consider the possibillity of being something beyond friends.

''I'm sure yer going to be lucky again when we play. And with the fact yer gonna be Ivy I'm sure ye'll be lucky more than once. I mean.. jiggly..!'' He said. He was laying it on a bit too thick but he wondered if she got it, he wasn't going to outright say he liked jiggly tits but every step taken right now was (for Luke) one in the right direction.

And while thinking about all that he found it getting a bit hard, and also difficult for himself to not throw himself on her with that position she was in and all. He slightly turned his body away from her and used his ability to keep his urges in check as she thanked him for him feeling he could lean on her. Leaning on her right now was pretty tempting.

''W..'' He coughed as he looked down at his bed and then back at her. ''Why are ya thanking me?'' He asked in a confused manner. ''I should be thanking ya instead, I mean, yer the one being there for me.''

''Also don't tempt me.'' He said as he playfully pushed down on her shoulder.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When he mentioned Ivy being jiggly again, Anthy tried to think on it more. She really couldn't think of what he was talking about. When she thought of jiggling, she thought of like how her own middle jiggled. Things like that. Ivy, well, that woman had no such thing. Well, she didn't think so. Unless she had missed something. Well, she supposed the woman may have hid it very well? Well, Anthy knew it wasn't really a woman but a character of a video game but maybe the designer just made the character wear clothes that hid the jiggle well and Lucas had managed to find a way to get costumes that showed the middle jiggle? But still, what would be so distracting about it?

Her thoughts were pulled away from that thoug has Lucas asked her why she had thanked him for feeling like he could lean on her. Then, she listened as he told her that he should be thanking her. Anthy was about to reply but he was pushing down on her shoulder and telling her not to tempt him. Not to tempt him to what? Lean on her? Shaking her head and giggling a little at his silliness she smiled at him.

"Of course I should be thanking you. I mean, the fact that you feel like you can lean on me is a gift. It means you feel like you can trust me, that you're giving me your trust. And in turn, you're giving me a peace of you. So why shouldn't I thank you for that?" She replied.