01<@Ardweden> [Day: Tuesday, September 7. Time: 5:45 p.m.] 01<@Ardweden> [After the not-a-fiasco at the library and having to return to the not-a-fiasco to get her totally-a-bag, Tiffany went to the mall. Why? Because the best way to feel better about things is to BUY STUFF. And to get coffee!] 01<@Ardweden> [Which is where Tiffany is, in the Gloria Jean's coffee shop on the first floor. (There's a Starbucks on the second, but she's not there.) It's... a Gloria Jean's. Which is just like Starbucks, or Caribou Coffee, or any other chain, except their coffee's sweeter.] 01<@Ardweden> [Session Start!] 06* Tiffany 's sitting at one of the tables, because she needs to, with her new Hot Topic purse hanging over one of the rims. She has, in her hand, a pretty awesome french vanilla. She lets out a sigh and relaxes, half staring at the wall, half looking out at the mall proper. Her bag is set under her chair for right now. 01<@Ardweden> [It's not a super busy day at the mall, but it's still decent enough for people watching, as school's out and students in Ashgate generally have money to spend. Tiffany can see a trio of thin, blond girls walk out of the salon and day spa across the way, talking animatedly with each other.] 01<@Ardweden> [She probably recognizes them as Delilah, Victoria, and Crystal, as it happens. Victoria glances coffeeward, but they don't head in, wandering off to more of the mall.] 06* Sydney wanders by the coffee shop, a slightly confused expression on her face. She stops when she sees Tiffany sitting outside and waves to her. 06* Tiffany gets a small scowl to her lips, her gaze firmly on Victoria and the group. She doesn't seem to notice Sydney waving at her. 01<@Ardweden> [The popular girls didn't seem to notice Tiffany or her scowl. Yeah, she could've totally taken them.] 03* HankMaybe is now known as Hank 06* Sydney looks sad for a moment, then presses onward. Tiffany must not want to be disturbed. 06* Sydney will totally be back in five minutes, by the way. Just wait. 06* Tiffany sighs and shakes her head and goes back to her coffee. She seems too distracted to notice Sydney. 06* Tiffany finishes up her coffee and stands up, grabbing her purse and chucking her cup in the wastebasket. Two points, yo. She does go back for her bag this time. 06* Sydney is totally back five minutes later, having failed to go to wherever it is she wanted to go. She walks into the coffee shop and emerges a few minutes later with a cup of hot chocolate. She spots Tiffany about to leave and decides to try again. "Hi, Tiffany!" 06* Tiffany looks up at Sydney for a moment, adjusting the strap on her purse. She certainly wasn't expecting someone actually talking to her at this place. She glances at her for a moment before turning aside and brushing through her hair. "Oh. Hey." How's it going? Alright. Um, I suppose. 06* Tiffany pauses for a beat and answers hesitantly. "Did you follow me here?" Nope. I wasn't trying to come here at all. And I'd ask before following you in any case. But I figured since I was here, might as well get something to drink and say hi. 06* Tiffany sighs and responds wistfully. "Yeah. I guess..." I know you were heading out, so don't let me hold you up! 06* Tiffany frowns. "What do you mean by that...?" Oh, just if you had someplace you needed to be, is all. 06* Tiffany frowns more and shakes her head, sighing. "No. Not really." Ah, okay. Well, I'm going to sit for a few minutes and get my bearings and have my drink. You're welcome to join me! 06* Tiffany looks at Sydney for a bit and tilts her head to the side, but doesn't comment on that one. Instead she says, "You're inviting me?" Yep! Well... 06* Tiffany pauses for a moment to think about that. Then responds evenly. "Okay." She makes her way back inside to find a free booth with two seats. Potentially the one she was sitting at before. 06* Sydney sits down, removes the lid from her hot chocolate, and takes a sip. "Mmm, this is nice." 01<@Ardweden> [The booth has very cushy seats.] 06* Tiffany gets herself a water just so she's not just sitting there with nothing in her hands. She glances at Sydney more than her water as she's drinking the hot chocolate. "Why'd you come here, anyway? I thought you guys were researching..." Well, we were, but then things kinda slowed down, so I went off to go to the bathroom, but I think they were remodeling them or something. Eventually I ended up here. I think the guys were leaving anyway. 06* Tiffany sighs and looks at Sydney, eye to eye, or as much as a shorty like her can. "Man, that's a *major* problem, isn't it?" 06* Sydney looks clueless, unfortunately. "What is?" You getting lost. 06* Tiffany frowns. "Sorry for teasing you about that earlier." 06* Sydney half-smiles. "It's okay. I know I'm sorta not all right in the head." 06* Tiffany sighs and plays with her bangs a bit. "That makes two of us..." 06* Sydney chuckles. "We can be not right in the head together, then." 06* Tiffany smiles slightly. "Sure. At least I'll manage to get where I'm going. Even if the destination is a trainwreck." 06* Sydney looks around the coffee shop for a moment, then speaks quietly. "I'm sorry I can't help you with the... thing... you're thinking about doing. I feel bad. Like I'm being a coward. But I don't quite feel comfortable doing it, and I'm not sure I'd be all that helpful. I'm not stealthy and I'd probably show up at the wrong place anyway." 06* Tiffany shakes her head. "That's okay. If anything, it'd probably be best if we didn't all risk getting caught anyway." She frowns more. "Hank really doesn't want me to go through with it, huh..." Yeah. I mean, I think he probably objects partly because of the whole against the law thing, but I think he's worried about you, too. 06* Tiffany sighs and cups her cheek in her hand, leaning on the table. "That's exactly the problem..." Because he's worried about you? 06* Tiffany nods slightly. "Part of it, anyway." What's the other part, if you don't mind my asking? 06* Tiffany frowns. "I'm not exactly sure..." She takes a deep breath. "I was a real bitch to him earlier today, huh?" I wouldn't quite say that. A little, um... there's a word for it, and I can't come up with it, but the word I'm thinking of isn't "bitchy," so. 06* Tiffany puts her head down on the table. "At least you're not browbeating me for it like everyone else..." 06* Sydney looks a bit worried. "That kind of thing isn't useful at all, really. You're either sorry about it or you're not, and having people pile on you about it isn't going to make you feel better either way." 06* Tiffany half-smiles at Sydney. "Most people aren't really all that interested in making me feel better." She sighs a bit and brings herself back upright. "It doesn't matter. If it's something that needs to be done, it needs to be done." 06* Sydney hmmms. "Well, is there something I can do to help you with... the thing you're planning?" 06* Tiffany gives Sydney an odd look. "Not if you can't even mention what it is." 06* Sydney makes a sound that's somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "Okay. That's fair." 06* Tiffany sighs and looks away from Sydney for a moment. "It's alright. I know I'm a horrible person for even suggesting it. And what's worse is I don't even care..." For what it's worth, I don't actually think you're horrible. We're in a very confusing, frustrating, kinda scary situation. Things aren't really turning out how I thought they were going to be. I was thinking more superpowers and rescuing people. Stuff like that. 06* Tiffany takes a stirrer and stirs her water idly as she thinks, not looking at Sydney. "Maybe this is what real superheroes would have to go through then..." There's a reason why fiction is fiction? Well, yeah... 06* Tiffany dips the stirrer in and out of her drink. "Tell me something, Sydney. What do *you* want out of all of this?" Well, when it first started, I was all excited because I thought I was going to be a hero. Now... it's weird. I want to know more about the dream world, like those statues we saw and stuff. And I want to still help people. So I want those things, but I can't say I want them as strongly as I wanted to be all superheroic when we started. 06* Tiffany sighs and turns her head to the side. "Well...I guess there's no reason you can't still be superheroic...we should all focus at what we're good at..." Which, in Hien's case, is hitting things. You tell me what to hit and I'll hit it. Can Tyler be included in that? If he sits on my head again without asking permission or sets us on fire, I may seriously consider it. 06* Tiffany sips her water slowly. "Mmm..." 06* Sydney exhales. "Okay, I'm just going to be rude here and pry. What's his deal, really? I know he's a punk, but why does he have it in for you?" 06* Tiffany sighs. "He thinks I'm an easy target. That's all really." 06* Sydney frowns. "I *could* hit him for you, but I don't think that's the best solution to that problem." 06* Tiffany sighs. "That's what Hank wants to do..." 06* Tiffany looks over at Sydney for a moment. "Tyler's a tool. He only does it because he thinks other people will like him because of it. It's not like he's the *only* one in the school. He's barely even middle tier." So he has his posse and... yeah. I still don't understand why he threw a potato at Hank, though. 06* Tiffany sips her water, slowly. "They're not his posse." And I doubt he was aiming for Hank. 06* Sydney blinks. "Oh. Okay, that makes more sense. That was really confusing me." What? The potato thing? Yes. 06* Tiffany shrugs. "Tyler's not stupid. He's not going to purposely start a fight he thinks he can sleaze his way out of." 06* Tiffany finishes off her water and crumples the plastic cup a bit. "So yeah. Not his posse." Hangers-on, then? Guess you could call 'em that. 06* Tiffany tosses her cup in the bin. "I guess they wouldn't really stand out for someone like you..." I don't think I know their names, but there's lots of people whose names I don't know. I didn't know you or Javy before all this started, for example. 06* Tiffany smiles slightly. "It's fine. As much as I look like this, I don't really stand out..." Whereas I'm a little hard to miss in a crowd, unless the crowd is the guys' basketball team. I guess. Can't say I really noticed you all that much before either. 06* Tiffany frowns. "Though I guess the girls I know are pretty small. I just know you and Christina and now Javy's sister." She then gets a scowl to her face again. "And Delilah." And Rhi, too! I guess...I don't really know her that well though... 06* Sydney smiles. "She's nice, I promise. And-" Sydney is interrupted by the sound of a piano. She pulls her cell phone out of her pocket and looks at it. "Oh, excuse me. It's my mom." 06* Sydney puts the phone to her ear. "Hi, mom! ...at the mall, why? ...yeah, I can do that. Uh-huh. Okay. See you in a few!" 06* Tiffany chuckles slightly at that. "Summoned?" 06* Sydney looks a bit disappointed. "Yeah. Oh, hey, do you want to do this again sometime? The coffee and the talking, I mean. I had fun." I... 06* Tiffany pauses for a moment. "I...I suppose it couldn't hurt. I mean if you want to." She sighs. "I don't know...sometimes I'm really busy..." Just let me know when a good time is for you if you're interested. Okay? Uh...sure...you can give me a call too, you know. Will do! And now I should... uh. Can I ask you a favor? 06* Tiffany looks up at her curiously but doesn't explicitly answer Would you mind walking with me to the east entrance? 03* Lex is now known as May 06* Tiffany looks off to the side, then at Sydney oddly, then stands slowly letting out a breath and shaking her head. "Sure..." Thank you! 01<@Ardweden> [Session End!]