"Oh god, Oh god."

"Chandra, you don't need to panic. You're just going on a date." Chandra was in some need of support as she got ready and Gideon seemed like the only reasonable choice. He had some sense of fashion and his bedroom with it's grey walls, rigid alignment of furniture and meticulous neatness had a soothing effect. Liliana would be able to offer the same, but now Chandra was apparently in the closet with her and she still wasn't convinced that her sister didn't hate Vivien.

"Exactly! I don't know what I'm doing. I've never done this before." She examined herself in the full-length mirror for the umpteenth time. "And my hair looks keeps doing this annoying thing," she said, cursing tangles that refused to stay out off her face. "How do you get yours to do what you want?"

"A lot of time and patience." Chandra had neither of those so the advice frustrated her, but she appreciated that he was at least trying to be productive. Nissa would have responded to every query with, 'just be comfortable,' and Jace would have blindly approved anything she suggested. "Just sit down on the bed."

"Yes, please save me." In her entire life, Chandra had a total of two different hairstyles – the dorky bowl cut she had as a kid and the style that happens when you let a bowl cut grow out. It had always worked for her, but now she found it lacking. She dropped down onto Gideon's unusually small bed, reminding herself to keep her shoulders slumped as she paid attention to her breathing.

After grabbing a curling brush, Gideon knelt face to face with Chandra and began messing around. It was an uncomfortably intimate moment that was also a little intimidating. Gideon had a natural scowl that was likely forged in prison as much as his body was. He always made an effort to compensate this with a warm smile, but he was too close for her to take in the whole picture.

"Talk to me. Tell me about Jace's new infatuation." His jovial chuckle calmed her the tiniest bit.

"He met her online."

"Oh boy." There was nothing wrong with that idea as far as Chandra was concerned but it likely came with an increasing number of potential obstacles. "Is she at least kinda close by?"

"No, she isn't" He seemed to be delicately applying the finishing touches.

"Let me guess. Suq'Ata?" She only guessed this because not only was it the furthest country from Tolaria, but it's borders were the most scrutinous on all of Dominaria – rarely letting people in our out. It would be fitting given his history.

"No, Ravnica."

"Seriously!?" She jumped, messing up whatever Gideon was doing. He rolled his eyes, pushing her back down and starting over. "She's not even from the same plane? Oh, Jacey. How did he even meet her?"

"Some Ravnican site. I didn't ask if it were a generic social site or a dating site."

"What was he doing on one of those?"

"He said he stumbled on the site while looking for something else. It was a lie but I can't get any sort of truth out of him." His voice was troubled, though Chandra wasn't sure if that was concern for Jace or what implications the lie had for their friendship.

"I wouldn't worry. It's probably a stupid reason and he doesn't want to say it."

"That is probably true, but not knowing the truth is making me uneasy." Gideon stood tall and grunted, "this isn't working. I'm getting a hair straightener."

"A hair straightener? Dude, I need to be there in an hour."

Exhausted with the situation, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Has anyone ever told you that you can be extremely difficult?"

"My mother would tattoo it on my head if she could. He's been getting more reclusive with you lately, right?"

"That seems to be the case," Gideon said firmly while rummaging through drawers, returning with a larger brush in one hand and something else in a closed fist. Now he was fixated on forcing all her hair back but Chandra continued questioning him, "have you asked him about it directly?"

"No, I haven't"

"Gideon," Chandra cried out disapprovingly. "You two need to get over this dumb boy bullshit and be open with each other." She felt a hard tug as her stylist worked which was either him unintentionally taking out his frustration or an attempt at getting her to shut up though she was unphased. "You're both smarter than this."

As he pulled away for the second time, the snugness of his grasp was still there, Chandra realized the object hidden in his right hand was a hair tie and he nodded to himself with approval. "And how would you suggest I be smarter?"

Chandra, in an attempt to mimic Gideon and Jace alternated between a gruff and soft voice that did neither men justice. "Hey, Jace. You seem really distant lately. We should talk about it."

"Don't worry, Gideon. I'm fine."

"I don't think you are and I care about you too much to let this go."

"Well, I guess I've been pretty depressed about," Chandra gestured that the scene was over. "Then you guys hug, or whatever you need to do and everyone feels better."

"That is painfully over simplified but I suppose it might be worth a shot." He bent back down to pull on tiny strands of her hair, looping them over her ears – his soft hands and the whispers of hair tickled her, bringing out a smile. "Go take a look."

Chandra looked in the mirror, pleased with the results. Her hair being tied back wasn't even all that great, but she looked different and that had her feeling invigorated – briefly. She examined the rest of herself – baggy, dark green flannel shirt, unbuttoned down the middle and black skinny jeans. "God, I look like a 16 year old that just came out and desperately needs everyone to know."

"Why are you getting so bent out of shape about your looks? I've never seen you act like this."

That's a good question. Chandra needed time to consider the answer which gave her opportunity to wish she were at home so she could change. "I guess... Everything about Vivien is so impressive. She's talented, strong, charming, beautiful and has had this grand, albeit shitty history and I'm just this boring blank of wood that does nothing but get slightly above average grades, play video games and sleep."

"Are you trying to say that you don't think you're good enough for her."

"No, I wouldn't say that exactly." She gave up trying to justify the way she looked and resigned herself to fate. "It's more like I can't imagine how she could enjoy a date with me. I just assume she's going to get bored ten minutes in."

"Chandra, there have been times where I've wished you were a little more boring and you look beautiful." She appreciated the gesture but she wished in her embarrassment that he had phrased it a little less intensely.

"What are you going to do about Jace?"

"I'll talk to him."

"Actually talk to him?"

"I'll actually talk to him." Chandra could tell Gideon was displeased with the situation as well as his inability to find a good argument against her point. "Now I think it's time for you to get going."

Gideon let the slightly dolled up Chandra show herself out, but the front door creaked open before she got to it. "Hey Jace."

"Yo. Off to your big date?"

"Yeah." His hood was pulled back far enough for Chandra to get a good look at his face and it was consumed with exhaustion. There was no emotion to it, so there was no point in trying to guess the reason. For all she knew, he had just been up all night talking to this woman from Ravnica. "You look dead. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's all good." Gideon was right. He was lying and was too tired to be any good at it. Jace was usually a better liar and more importantly, smart enough to know he wasn't fooling anyone. If he were this willing to flaunt distress while keeping its source hidden, Chandra accepted the possibility that no matter how direct Gideon was, he may not be able to get their friend to open up and she decided she may have to take control of the situation.

"I gotta bounce, but there's something I want to talk to you about. Tomorrow, after class?" He gave her a thumbs up and sent an increasingly nervous Chandra on her way.