Not all that shines is gold. [Anthy]

[Lucas Blacke]

She drew a smile from the boy mutliple times, but they were not out of joy. He blankly stared at the ground between his legs as he smiled out of realization. She made some good points, including the one of her having some issues as well. Luke had picked up on that and, had hoped more than once that he could trade how he acted with her, it'd draw her out of her shell and make him more timid.

He smiled at the mention of his goals, and realized that he did not know what his goals were exactly. He wanted to not push people away, be able to talk with tact instead of trying, in the best example he could think of, trying to sex up every girl he'd ever seen. In a way he figured that was the only thing he was really good at in the end, though he'd only done it once. No matter what happened, it made both him and his partner feel good.

He knew what he wanted in the end, but had no idea how to get there. It angered him to no end, how was he supposed to know what to do when you had no idea where it would end you up? Time after time he thought that the lack of control scared him, and time after time he had resorted to just putting up a major act. And most of the time people fell for it. Not many people knew that he was depressed as he knew how to cover it up convincingly.

''It..'' He got up to his feet slowly and turned to the dummy beside him, placing his hand on the wood surface. ''It angers me, you know?'' His jaw clenched as his hand turned into a fist and planted itself onto the dummy with a good amount of force. If it wasn't for the strong exterior of the dummy he'd have broken it. His fist lingered on the dummy a few seconds as Luke slightly lowered his head, releasing a soft sigh, bordering on a sob. ''Why is this shit so hard?''

He took his hand from the dummy and revealed busted open skin and turned around to face Anthy. ''And music..'' He started. Music was his everything.. He was able to put his emotion into it where everything else failed, music didn't question him. Music was there when he needed it. Music didn't end up leaving him. Music told a story without needing a reply. He liked that.

''Music..'' He murmured. ''Music is..'' He shook his head, quickly wiping something from his eye with his thumb. ''Yeah..'' He shook his head.

''I just have to find mine..'' He looked at an interesting blade of grass as he plopped himself down on it, folding his legs underneath him. ''And.. I am trying to.. change..'' He hesitated. ''But..''

He threw a smile at the ground as he supressed a sob.
''It's hard.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He had started to speak, but then stopped before getting up and putting his hand on that wooden construct nearby. She didn't interrupt him though. No, she just continue to lay there and watch him, continued to listen to him. He needed patience right now. At least, she believed so. Maybe there was more truth to that than she currently realized. Or even he realized. He might have needed someone to just take a minute, and let him get out what he had bottled up inside.

He spoke about his anger, punctuating it with a hard strong punch against the construct he was facing. The loud clack could be heard and the dummy shook briefly from the force of the blow. He stayed in that position after the punch before asking with pain in a fragile cracked and fractured container, why things had to be so hard.

She bit her lip a little, concern coming to her eyes as she sat up from the position she had earlier been in. He was turning to face her and her eyes went from his face to his hand. As he began to speak, she looked up to his eyes again, showing him that she was paying attention. That she was actually there rather than pretending to be and being in her own little world in her head. And, she continued to listen to him, to watch and wait for him.

Those flakes of paint seemed to be falling away to show more of the real him underneath it all. There had been cracks before, but now it was actually showing something that could be seen with the naked eye. She didn't bring any attention to his eye-wiping, or to how vulnerable he seemed to be right then. He knew what was going on with him, she didn't need to throw it in his face.

She did, however, smile when he spoke about having to find his music, or his rhythm, even if he was looking at a very interesting blade of grass as he let himself do an intentional drop into a sit on the ground. Patience. It was something that kept repeating in her mind, but only because it was needed like that right then. It wasn't a chore for her or anything. Not in the least. He needed it, and she would give as much as she could.

Lucas spoke about trying to change, then nearly broke down when he admitted it was hard with an attempt of a smile in between. Anthy was moving, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. Yes, it might have been a little odd to carry one around, but she'd gotten into the habit from her first school.

But yes, she pulled it out and crawled forward a bit before sitting close in front of him. Close enough to hold out the handkerchief. She wasn't sure on if words were needed right then. maybe the action would be enough, she didn't know. After a brief moment though, she did end up speaking.

The best things, are hard to get to." She finally said while still holding the cloth out for him.

Her glowing had dimmed down a while ago, and she hadn't noticed that until just now. But her attention wasn't really on that either.

[Lucas Blacke]

When he had suppressed his last sob Anthy began pulling something from her pocket, a handkerchief. Luke looked at it quite bewildered, did she want him to give her a show or something? What was he supposed to do with it? Dry his eyes? Why would he do that? Clean his knuckles? Why would he dirty her handkerchief with what he had done? Why was she offering what was hers to someone she didn't even know all that well?

The fact she carried a handkerchief eluded him at the moment, he was thinking of reactions. He ended up taking it from her as she moved closer a bit and held it out. He threw her a smile and offered her a small ''thank you.'' as he finally just dapped at his eyes with it. She already knew he was sobbing, maybe even crying, so what was the point in hiding it further? Real men didn't cry, he was sure she begun seeing him as less than a real man some time ago.

He drew the handkerchief away from his eyes and looked at it as if it held the secret to eternal life. He wrapped it around his slightly hurt hand, knowing, or hoping, that it would do something to clean his wounds. He did care about the state of Anthy's property, but it'd be stupid to not take her up on an offer. Moreso if that offer was helping him. He let the handkerchief rest on his knuckles and held the ends of it with his own hand, trying not to knot it to keep it in place. He hoped she would see this as a sign that he'd give it back sooner or later.

''Yeah..'' He finally said with a smile, this time with more joy on his face than before as he rubbed at his eyes once more with the handkerchief. ''The best things are hard to get to..''

''Yet here you are..''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He thanks her as he accepted the handkerchief then went to dabbing his eyes. Yeah, she should have been more clear on her intentions but she supposed leaving the options open for him was good too. She had actually thought he might want to wrap his hand up or something. With them bleeding and all. Anthy offered a small smile at the thanks, as if telling him it wasn't a problem without saying it in actual words.

Silent moments, you know? Sometimes they were needed in a conversation. Sometimes things could be expressed through them better than if someone spoke out their thoughts. It did a heart good to have some quiet sometimes. Time to think, time to calm down, time to feel the moment rather than worrying about if you were understanding something that was being said or not.

He looked at the handkerchief for a couple of seconds after he was done drying his eyes, then it was being wrapped around his hand. It seemed she'd been right in not giving it an assignment. It had given him a chance to do what came naturally, she supposed. Though, she wasn't the best analyst out there, or even striving to be one.

He was smiling now, it actually reaching his eyes as he did so even if he went to wiping his eyes again soon after. Then, when he indicated that she was a best thing, she blushed a little in embarrassment of the compliment and smiled shyly. Of course, she took what he said in the most platonic way possible, being the way that she was. She then chuckled softly before shaking her head.

"Now... Now, I don't know about being the best." She stammered out softly, a hand coming up to partially cover her face from the shyness of having been given such a big compliment.

"That was nice of you to say though. Thank you." She added.

[Lucas Blacke]

He should've seen it coming that Anthy wouldn't get it. Luke knew that about her by now, but before he would've found it annoying, but wasn't he trying to teach her something about those types of guys? Was he one? Was he one of those guys?

He meant it sexually, if anything. He didn't want to, but most of his jokes were sexual. But she did chuckle at it softly, did she get the joke but just didn't respond on it? If she had, it'd mean she'd picked up on what he had told her, only this time the roles would be reversed. In any way, he enjoyed being able to make other people smile, even if he was having a hard time.

''Nice?'' It wasn't nice of him to say, the truth wasn't nice. Not to him at least. ''I'm not being nice. Just telling you what I see.'' He wasn't lying. It wasn't as fast as him falling for Marnie or Karalie or Sawyer, but she was there for him when it counted, and the fact that she failed to pick up on his jokes was a plus, never had he seen someone endure his jokes and keep a straight face. She'd only backed up when he touched her, something the other girls would do if he said something a bit off.

He liked not getting judgemental stares from her. There was more than enough going in near her face, but nothing that said 'I'm judging you'.

''Thank you for doing this.'' He started as he began drawing circles in the grass and wiped his eyes with the handkerchief wrapped around his knuckles. ''I have been needing this for a long.. long, long time.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He repeated the word "nice" in a questioning manner. Yes, nice. He had been nice when he had told her she was great. Yes, she had been getting more compliments lately, but, that didn't mean that Anthy didn't appreciate them. She did. And she tried to show it too, so not to be seen as being ungrateful or as having a big head.

As Lucas told her that he was just saying what he saw, she smiled again, a bit more shyly this time and went to biting her lip a little as her eyes moved towards the grass between them. Until he spoke again, anyways. Then, as she tried to make a habit of doing, she went to looking him in the eyes. Just because she wasn't being constantly reminded about manners anymore, it didn't mean she couldn't keep them up.

Her smile became a little brighter as he thanked her and went on to telling her about how he had been needing this.

"No thanks needed, Lucas. Everyone needs someone to listen sometimes. And to talk things out." She replied, a friendly tone replacing her usual stammering and stuttering that came with talking with someone she didn't know very well.

But, that had changed, hadn't it? Anthy felt like they actually did end up getting to know each other a little better like he had mentioned wanting to do earlier. He had showed her a bit of his core, a bit of what was under all those confusing layers. She appreciated it and would treat it like the gift that it was. After-all, he didn't seem to be the type to do this with everyone.

"How is your hand?" She asked him.

[Lucas Blacke]

Everyone did need someone every now and again. But finding the right person to do that was hard these days. Surely lots of people were capable of sitting down and listening, offering advice to a certain extent that Anthy couldn't. But those people, as he had experienced, all picked up on his innuendos and reacted to them. And no matter how small the reaction, he knew it was because they had picked up on his jokes. And he'd go on about how they reacted to it, usually resulting in him fucking his shit over.

But not her. She could say what she wanted, but her shell did offer some positive effects, like being oblivious to whatever Luke said as a joke. And while angering at times, he loved her for that, it meant she dragged him back down to the now.

''..Luke.. What did you just think?''

He slapped himself mentally as his eyes widened at the realization. What? How could he..? Why did he..? His mind filled itself with questions lacking answers, and Luke desperately looked for answers, excuses even, to give that particular thought a place.

''M..my hand..?'' He looked at Anthy who had asked something about his hand. What was so special about his.. Oh right. ''A-ah..! My hand! I mean..'' He wrapped his fingers around his hand and gently rubbed his knuckles, he didn't really feel them due to the cloth he had already put on there on forehand. ''My hand, I uh.. Don't really..'' He fidgeted with the handkerchief she had provided. ''Thanks though.''

''Listen.. Anthy..'' He started, disregarding her statement on his hand and trying to change the subject away from both his hand and his thought. ''I don't.. usually.. open up.. so if I act like a dick again, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

His eyes widened and Anthy tipped her head a little to the side as she wondered what had merited that reaction from him. Maybe he'd forgotten about his hand for the moment and her bringing it up had brought his attention to the possible discomfort that was going through it? Hopefully it wasn't hurting too much. It didn't look too bad. At least, not bad enough to bleed through the fabric of the handkerchief, but there was bruising to think about. And, if he had beat the wood hard enough, possibly even some damage to the bones in his hand.

He looked at her as he repeated the question in his own way, then after a second or so, went to almost answering her. Almost, as it hadn't exactly been complete. She couldn't blame him for being a little off. He'd been through a bit of something just now and his emotions and thoughts were probably all over the place at the moment. She smiled as he answered it well enough though and more as he thanked her.

Her smile softened though, when he went to speaking again, him confirming that no, he didn't usually open up to people, and him bringing up the request for her to tell him if he was... well, acting a certain way again.

"Alright, I'll tell you." She told him, giving him a reassuring smile.

She would. Even if she might feel uncomfortable about it. Why? well, because she wanted to help him and that held a place over her own comfort to a degree.

"Do you like peanut butter cookies?"

[Lucas Blacke]

''Peanut... butter.. cookies?'' He repeated. He wiped his eyes once more as he wondered how the fuck that would work. He wasn't really one to snack, though he imagined it couldn't hurt to do every once in a while. But.. didn't people use peanut butter on bread? He'd heard of chocolate paste in cookies, but never peanut butter. He was kind of curious. If it was caffeine free, of course.

He had caffeine a few times before, and it took him a few tries of it to realize caffeine was not his thing. An average cup of coffee was enough to make him drunk, or feel drunk, be a husk. The only problem with that was that his body was in full control, he could think all he wanted, but he was more zobie-like than human with caffeine in his system. And worst of all was that his body did what it wanted, he'd ended up kissing a boy because of it once.

''I don't know..'' He finally replied with a still mildly forced smile. ''Never had one. I'm not much for snacks.'' He added. ''Though..'' It did give him an idea. Or part of it.

''Do you..'' He sighed. ''Do you cook?'' He said hastily, as if afraid Anthy would see it as a dumbfound dick going 'har har women are born for kitchens har'.

''I mean, yea.. I mean, no, not cook.. Do you.. I dunno.. know of a coffee substitute without alcohol or caffeine, perhaps?''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He seemed slightly confuses when she brought up the cookies, repeating the question to her. Well, not all of the question but the topic of it. She supposed it had been a little out of the blue, hadn't it? In his point of view it might have been anyways. For her, she liked to have some peanut butter cookies after a particularly rough experience. Then again, she loved the stuff so there was that. For all she knew, he might use something else to help soothe him. A sport, or music, or games...

When he told her he hadn't ever had a peanut butter cookie before, she was a little surprised. Up until he revealed that he wasn't big on snacks. Yeah, that made it make a little more sense. Well, more than a little.

He went on to asking her about if she cooked and Anthy was about to reply but he was already quickly continuing, asking her if she knew of a coffee substitute without alcohol or caffeine.

"Actually, I do cook. I was going to bake up some peanut-butter cookies if you wanted some. But.. hmmm"

She thought over her actual question for a moment before speaking up again.

"Well, there's hot vanilla. It's kind of like hot chocolate but the vanilla version. There's hot apple cider, but it's further from being coffee than the vanilla is."

She couldn't really think of other coffee substitutes at the moment. But, maybe one of those things she said would be a good answer.

[Lucas Blacke]

''If I wanted some? I'd be crazy to not at least want to try cookies from a cute girl!'' And just like that Luke had his veil up again, but as Anthy had been more than nice to him he found himself overthinking what he had said and adding to it without letting her react to it. ''..sorry.'' He lowered his head slightly. Not being so down was good and all, but all it did was turn him into a regal dick and he knew it. It sucked.

He went on to her next question, see if he could change the subject by talking about something else, maybe he'd get back to the cookies a bit later.

It took time to let the answer she gave sink into his brain, he even had to repeat the question mentally in order for him to make sense of it. Not that it wouldn't make sense to anyone else, but he was just having a weak brain moment. ''It can taste like coffee, as long as it isn't coffee..''

He hesitated to tell her why. ''If I get caffeine in me.. you know the kind of things I say right? And believe me, oh god please believe me that I wouldn't act on anything bad I say.. but caffeine makes my body do what I think, without me being abler to stop it. It's quite terrifying. So that would explain why I want substitutes without caffeine, right?''

He coughed slightly as an indication he wanted to change the subject before letting her ask anything further. He didn't quite want to think of the things that had already happened because of it, it saddened him.

''Maybe I could try each of those drinks while we eat those cookies. You're gonna help me finish them, right? In case I don't like them?''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Anthy giggled a little when she heard and saw his reaction to her having said "if" about the cookies. Though, she got a little confused when he apologized. Why had he apologized? Maybe it was because he had called her cute? It could have been, He could have felt like telling her she was adorable was being too pushy. She could understand that, and she appriated that he was trying to slow it down for her.

She was about to tell him that though she didn't think of herself as very adorable, that he hadn't gone too far with the compliment, but Lucas was speaking again. She waited and listened as he went to explaining that it wasn't the taste of coffee but the caffiene that worried him. He was soon telling her about the reason behind his apprehension towards caffiene.

"Well, I'd imagine it is pretty frightening to lose control like that." She replied softly.

He seemed to want to change the topic, so she didn't say any more of that and when back to listening. She did smile though, when he brought up her helping finishing them.

"Well, I'm not sure on how apple cider goes with peanut butter cookies, but I know for sure hot vanilla is nice with it. It's the creaminess that compliments the nuttiness." She said.

"But yeah, I'll definitely help you finish." Anthy told him before giggling a little.

"Peanut butter cookies are one of my biggest weaknesses."

[Lucas Blacke]

The fact he had been slightly working out and talking about hot beverages on top of bawling like a baby (in his eyes) made him both thirsty and hungry. The sooner they ate, the better. Although Luke wasn't necessarily talking about eating cookies, he wouldn't say no to them. He made sure not to say that one out loud though, not that she'd get it anyway. Though maybe she would, but see it as a compliment of her being cute enough to just eat up in an aunt kind of way.

What she did get was his comment about her helping him finish. Luke's stare went blank. ''Help.. me finish?'' He whispered. He loved that she said that, he loved how she said that, he knew he had told her to watch what she said but he didn't care at the moment. Besides, she wouldn't get what she said right then even if Luke told her. But he wasn't about to comment on it either, as giddy as it made him he would let it pass for what he knew Anthy meant.

Wait. Did she giggle? Did she get it? Or did she just laugh at his words instead of her own?

''I'd have to remember that one.'' He replied as she said those were her weakness.
''Also,'' He cocked his head. ''biggest? Ya got my attention.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When he asked her about her helping him finish, she nodded. Oh she would have no problem helping him finish off the cookies. It wasn't like she was one of those girls that starve themselves. And on top of that... Peanut butter cookies. She would never say no to peanut butter cookies. Anthy couldn't remember even a single time she had in her life. Maybe she was an addict, she thought to herself jokingly.

She smiled again when he commented about remembering about her weakness, amusement in every feature. It was nice too, for him to say that. The smile turned a little sheepish though, when he brought focus to the "biggest" part, though there was still a hint of amusement there to show that she hadn't gotten uncomfortable or anything like that.

"Yeah, my biggest.... Like for example, I could be having the worst day ever, but a couple of peanut butter cookies will pick me up some. They're... they're like happiness in a pastry, I guess. But that'd explain why I've got this little jiggle around my middle wouldn't it?"

She giggled a little and shook her head.

"Don't worry, I'm not a carb counter or anything like that. I might know it's there, but it doesn't bother me."

[Lucas Blacke]

''Jiggle is fine, if that is what ya wanna call it.'' Luke replied at her explaining how those cookies could solve world hunger or cure cancer. ''Don't like stickfigures, really.'' He smiled and held up his arms in a shrug.

''And even if it does,'' He flexed his arm. ''start to bother you, or you just need to work off something...'' He threw her a wink as he relaxed his arm and dropped it to the ground. ''Don't hesitate to call on me. Tell ya what, now that we're talking about it.. Ya feed me some of them cookies and give me one of yer drinks, and I'll give ya my number. Just mine, you won't have to give me yours so if you ever want to work out together it'll be entirely your choice. Also so I won't start harassing you.''

He smiled again and looked at her, wondering what she was thinking at that exact moment.

''Also,'' He got up to his feet and got back on the bench, once more tapping on the seat next to him. Comfortable or not, they had been occupying the ground long enough now. ''have I told ya 'boout my power? It allows me to copy movement, which I kinda guess you already picked up on.'' He didn't quite hesitate, but there was a small pause. ''So if I come over to your place, and you show me how to make them cookies, I'll be able to make them in your house just like you like them.''

He looked at Anthy and smiled. ''Penny for yer thoughts..?''