Accidental Absentee

[Il Tebryn]

Tebryn hooked his thumbs into his pockets and eyed the menu for a long moment before eyeing the staff behind the counter.  Sam had pulled him into the infirmary and clung to his arm until he promised to go the the Magic Bean and speak to Ineo-- all while Ellie was aligning the broken bones in her arm.

Tebryn wanted coffee anyway.  Also he hated to see how worried Sam was.  Not for her broken arm, but for missing her promised meeting with the barista.

He caught Ineo's eye and gave her a little bow of greeting from his spot a few patrons back in line.

[Ineo Minn]

Ineo had gone to the pet shop with Sam's drink, only too find that she had never shown up for her shift. Concerned, and having missed her chance to actually get something to eat that wasn't made of pure sugar, Ineo had made it back to the Magic Bean with just enough time to pick at the glass slipper she'd meant to bring to Sam. She hated to let it go to waste.

She hated to let the hot chocolate go to waste as well, but there wasn't much to be done about it. The steamed milk had long since cooled off, and the whipped cream had all but dissolved into the liquid.

By the time Tebryn showed up, Ineo's break had long since ended, and Ineo was busy making coffee as Peace took orders. She looked up at him when she noticed him in line and her eyebrows lifted slightly in response. Tebryn was Sam's brother, so surely he would know what happened to her.

[Il Tebryn]

Tebryn waved to her and held up a brightly colored piece of paper-- one of Sam's origami flowers. His sister had slipped it into his pocket when he agreed to go to the coffee shop.

When he got to the registers, he ordered a chai latte and stepped along the counter to where Ineo was working.

"Sam says hi," he offered. He passed her the flower. "She's in the infirmary at school. Ellie's working on her arm."

[Ineo Minn]

Ineo's eyes widened when she saw the flower. It was unmistakably from Sam — it was the very same origami flower that she'd made with the five dollar bill.

She was quiet as she plucked the flower from Tebryn's hand, her fingers gentle on the paper. "She's... in the infirmary?" Ineo repeated. "What happened? Is she okay?"

[Il Tebryn]

Tebryn shrugged. "She was roughhousing with the Baratoges during lunch. Kazuo-hyung stepped on her arm on accident." His brow furrowed. "It's broken in three places."

He looked her over and bit his lip. "She said to tell you that she was sorry, and please don't hate her, and that she was using the extra time to come up with a worthy way to ask you out because Ellie won't let her leave the infirmary until she has the bones fused back together."

Okay, so that last bit wasn't exactly verbatim. Or anything resembling what Sam had said. But Tebryn figured his sister could use a nudge.

[Ineo Minn]

"Kazou — oh! Poor Sam!" Ineo gasped, her hand immediately flying to cover her mouth.

Ineo gave a small smile at the mention of Sam wanting to ask her out. "She doesn't need to come up with anything that elaborate, you know."

[Il Tebryn]

"Sam's an overachiever." Tebryn shrugged. "She gets this big goofy smile on her face whenever anyone mentions you. If she doesn't ask you out soon, I'm going to put her in a box with a big bow on top and just leave her in front of your dorm room."

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Ellie says the breaks were pretty clean. Her arm will be in a sling for the next day or two, but noona should be fine otherwise."

[Ineo Minn]

Ineo felt a light blush creep onto her cheeks. Though really, Ineo couldn't say that she would mind seeing Sam tied up with a ribbon in front of her dorm room. Her roommate might mind, granted, but certainly not Ineo.

"Kazuo-yah and I are going to have a long talk next time I see him," Ineo replied. "Thank you for relaying the message."

Then, with a mischievous grin, she added, "And if you do decide to wrap her up outside my bedroom door, I'd advise making sure my roommate is occupied elsewhere."

[Il Tebryn]

Tebryn dropped his gaze to the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sure we can figure out a schedule," he mumbled.

When Peace handed him his chai, he gave a shadow of a smile. "I'll let Sam know you're eagerly awaiting her attempts to woo you, noona." He flicked his hair out of his eyes and took a step back.

[Ineo Minn]

Ineo smirked at Tebryn's embarrassed reaction. "Thank you for the heads up, Tebryn-ah. Let Sam know I'll be waiting for her speedy recovery."

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