#inchar.

     the look angela fixes khanna with is …   odd,  studying her face with a cold,  clinical curiosity that rarely does she ever reserve for the librarians,  let alone show.

     even if she tells herself that she harbors little interest in the goings - on of her subordinates,  she is still damned to recall every little detail about them that she's observed in her time here,  and the same is no less true for khanna.   there's that same,  unmistakable smile split across her expression,  and though she knows khanna well enough at this point not to doubt her intentions,  she's still thrown for a loop by how earnest it is.   not a trace of malice in her grin,  no undercurrent of hateful intentions lining the edge of her words.   most of the library's residents have,  at best,  complicated feelings towards the head librarian,  and angela somehow finds herself more equipped to handle antagonism than sincerity.

     subconsciously,  her gloved hands reach up to smooth her fingers along a tuft of her hair,  blue as the daytime sky and fluffy as a cloud,  though she cannot actually feel the texture of it and she has never seen the sky for herself.   she clears her throat.     “ yes,  i suppose my change in appearance must have taken many of you by surprise, ”     she concedes,  golden eyes meeting khanna's green ones before flitting away to a detail on the wall,     “ but i felt it was appropriate.   symbolic,  for the end of a long,  long era.   and i like it better this way. ”

“  what are we ?  ”     reika echoes  —  not quite mocking,  but neither is it quite as sober as she should be.   though her cheeky smile doesn't belie the sudden storm of conflict she feels,  the question makes something in the pit of her heart twist painfully.   she takes note of it,  but pushes it down.   something for future reika to worry about.

she comfortably sidles herself next to mello,  who was absently plucking the strings to his guitar when he first interrupted the comfortable silence between the two with his quiet words.   it's just the two of them right now,  the rest of the band having gone out for ice cream in an effort to beat the summer heat,  leaving the vocalist and guitarist to their own devices in the meantime.   she offers him a lop - sided grin.     “  don't say it like that.   you make it sound like there's some sort of tension between us !  ”     she laughs,  lightly nudging him with her elbow.

but he wouldn't be wrong,  she thinks.   she feels it,  too.   the way her heartbeat picks up in speed when he even spares an appraising glance her way …   the way she feels her eyes lingering on his form,  even when there's no reason to look …   she likes him as a friend,  obviously,  but she also  —

shut up.   you know he doesn't like you like that.   he's just trying to make a joke,  even if it's not funny.   don't even let yourself pretend.

swallowing down the lump in her throat,  reika leans her head against mello's shoulder for a brief,  fleeting moment before jumping back to her feet and wagging a finger in his face.     “  anyway,  nice try at distracting me,  but i gotta finish what i'm writing before i can goof around with you too much.  ”

a thoughtful hum,  before reika breaks out in a grin.     “  if you think you can keep up,  then by all means,  ”     is her cheery reply,  nudging minako in the side before she goes to take a seat at the piano.

“  …  ”     muted surprise,  if it can even be called that.   kanao's expression remains still,  unaffected by yan qing's sudden appearance …   but maybe she should humor him and pretend to be startled ?

“  ah !  ”     somewhere between a loud gasp and an exclamation of surprise,  still too quiet to be considered a raised voice.   she smiles back.     “  you scared me.  ”