[OPEN] An Escape from Claustrophobia

Oh, awkward.

She hadn't exactly meant that they find somewhere to go together, just that they left together. Nothing against him, of course! She had just thought... well... she knew she had come outside alone for a reason. She thought he had sought out isolation on purpose, as she had, and that she was solving both of their problems. They'd be able to leave Julian and seek seclusion elsewhere.

But now that he had it in his head, she couldn't very well correct him. That would be embarrassing, and he would surely think it had something to do with his earlier comment, which would be making that an even bigger deal that it should have been. But would it be more embarrassing than sitting alone with a stranger who had just called her pretty and might have some sort of concussion from falling down the bleachers? Technically, she was already doing that anyway.

Her nose crinkled at his suggestion that she join him in his common room, and a small, confused but certainly amused, "No," slipped out as a response to his question, her lips rolling inwardly to fight back the bemused smile. What an odd boy. Odd was sort of nice.

"The Great Hall could work," she said, nodding. She tucked her book back into her bag and glanced towards Julian. He had just flown to the far end of the pitch so she stood. "We should go now."

She seemed hesitant, and Lloyd was just now realizing why. He had assumed-- wrongfully, of course, it seemed-- that she suggested they should escape together. Saying that in his head now seemed absolutely ridiculous and fantastical. Really, it was something that made him almost feel like bursting out in half-amusement half-shame at his own obliviousness. Well, nobody ever did claim that Rhys Juves was the the most common-sense or subtle person they'd met.

And then she was laughing at him as she replied very simply, "No," and he felt even more awkward. Of course, being nice and all, she didn't outwardly giggle or anything. Honestly, though, he could catch it in the way her lips curled to prevent themselves from breaking out into a smile at his expense. Finn was nice, but Lloyd really had to stop dwelling on that fact.

"...Right," he muttered as she stuffed her textbook in her bag and checked Kapur's position. The boy had almost expecting her to just completely leave, especially now that he understood that she had been planning to until he mentioned possible escape routes. Oh, how embarrassing. Leastways, he wasn't blushing-- wait, was he? Oh God, he hoped not.

Lloyd was about to jump down from the bleachers when the awkwardness got to him. Shaking his head slightly, the boy spoke up, "It's really fine for you to just leave by yourself if you'd like. I uh, I want to stay outside." He didn't want to, say, kick her out, but Finn seemed to desire to leave anyhow. Really, he only did because Kapur had come crashing in here. It was quiet enough with him in the sky.

Plus, he really didn't want to study, and she seemed to have originally been searching for a place to do just that.

(( He wouldn't follow her indoors, probably. Even if he was the one to suggest it, oddly enough. ))

But then he was backpedaling and Finn was blinking in confusion. It was nice of him to offer her an out, especially considering what must have been her apparent anxiety - which was something she would kick herself about later, when she was left to consider just how rude it was to be so overt with her discomfort. And in another situation, she would almost certainly take him up on the offer and leave while she could.

But that defeated the whole purpose of her plan... Her absence would be so much louder if he returned.

She shifted her feet, one of her hips jutting out as she caught her lip nervously under her teeth. "Right," she said, gnawing on her lip a moment before finally sharing her struggle. "Right, but if only I go, then he'll be able to ask you... and that... well, that defeats sort of the purpose of the plan altogether."

Her cheeks flushed again, but she tried to force the color down. It was ridiculous, after all, that at seventeen years old, that she was so embarrassed so easily. Especially about something as minor as this. So she set her jaw. "I mean, we don't have to study together, or whatever. It's just an escape plan. A second escape." She offered what she hoped was a bracing smile.