#(BUT ALSO ROXIE.EXE HAS STOPPED WORKING)

[miki-files]

And she's floundering.

Slowly, slowly, in a way that she absolutely cannot stop, the heat crawls up her neck to her cheeks, and she's—she's so certain that she's blushing. Yet the touch of his palm against the side of her face has her instinctively leaning into it, and when she looks at him, her eyes are wide, and uncertain, and... and hopeful.

For what, exactly? Even she isn't so sure of it, herself.

"It's... It's, that, I... I... u-um..."

She struggles to find her words in his presence, and she has to realize that she isn't behind the safety of a screen anymore. But it's, at least, enough for her to remember that she's being silly. So with a clear of her throat, she immediately steps back, effectively putting distance between them, and her gaze averts to the floor. The comment about her cardigan makes her want to bury herself into a hole with butterflies, and she can only hope to god that she doesn't look like a tomato, but she knows she has to say something.

"I-it's... not new, I just... I haven't worn it in front of you yet, and, um, I thought... m-maybe it would be nice to wear this time, and... and... i-if you think it's cute, th-then that's... really... nice..."

Her voice gets tinier and tinier as she speaks.

...Nevermind!!!!!

She turns around abruptly and starts walking.

"A- anyway! We should go inside, it's just a couple of steps up, and, um, th- the biscuits are... you know, aha... Inside...!"

🍓 ︴ stroke of serendipity. closed rp with @apple-caleb.

Pacing.

She's been staring at the phone in her hand for the past, maybe, fifteen minutes or so...

And she's pacing.

The familiar, apple-y profile stares her right in the face like a reminder of what she's just too chicken to do—and she should call, probably. Text, even. Something, anything!

But what would she even say, right?! Hey, how you doing?!

The thought of it has her mortified just as her phone dings with a message, and she feels lightheaded—

It's just Tara.

She gives the message a once-over, figures she could totally use some time out with friends, for once...

「 waaaahhh, actually i think it would be Real Great if we met up today T^T need a distraction...!!! 」

And maybe it's because she isn't thinking properly—or thinking too much, rather—but the second the text goes through, she realizes all too late that she hadn't switched to Tara's message.

She was still on Caleb's text profile.

The message had gone to him.

"Augh! No heckin' way! That's even worse than a 'Hey, how you doing'!!!!!!!!!! Unsend, dammit, unsend!!!!! Oh my god. Oh my god. He's going to see it, and he's going to think I'm an idiot because who the hell says THAT after going weeks without talking, and—"