Fancy parties weren't really his scene, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter. It shocked him already that he was even invited to these functions, being a lowly engineer; then again, Liam was what was considered 'high up' in Mobius's engineering department, so maybe it made a little sense. It was probably just one of those apathetic efforts made by the Administrator's core group of elites to make the rest of the more menial agents feel appreciated.

And hey, he couldn't complain, because this was one of the few times he'd have an excuse to talk to her outside of a work setting. Tonight was the night, in fact. He was going to make a move. He was going to go for it. Now. Right now. Before he had a chance to chicken out.

Look- Liam O'Neal wasn't a brave man by any means. He didn't have a whole lot of higher plans or goals, and more often than not, he was too cowardly to take any kind of risks. But there were moments where all he wanted was to say to himself that he at least tried, and that desire gave him a fortitude that felt strangely courage-like.

He made his way down the dais and jumped in front of her.

"Hey there," he said.

Yukiko Hoffman blinked like she'd been ambushed. Then Liam realized how much of an ambush the maneuver was. Crap. Too late to turn back now.

"Hey," she replied, her voice soft as a breeze before it steadied to an appropriate conversational level. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great," Liam said, nodding. "You?"

"I'm doing okay."

"Good."

He grinned enthusiastically at her. Small talk! Nailed it! Great.

…what now?

Yukiko stared at him the way a cat might stare at a stranger: something like bewilderment, but closer to confusion than surprise. She watched every moment of the panic that crept into his eyes. Somehow, he managed to draw the silence out just long enough to make it awkward. So awkward that waiting for her concern to override her confusion was better than him making any sound at all.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You look flushed."

The system rebooted. Liam inhaled sharply. "Sorry- I, uh," he sputtered faintly. "You look nice."

"Oh," Yukiko nodded. "Thank you. Um… likewise."

"Thank you-" The gears started turning again, "for the uh, for the files you brought to me earlier. The Beacon Incident Report. It was very helpful for technical troubleshooting."

"Oh, you fixed the bug?"

"Yes- or, well, I didn't. One of my team members did the thing. I just found the issue. And I couldn't have done it without you- or the report, I mean. So, uh... thanks."

"Of course," she said, nodding politely, a carefully measured smile on her face. "Happy to be of help."

Yukiko took a small sip of champagne. She pressed her lips together and looked at the floor and Liam stared at the wall next to him. Neither spoke for a long moment. He realized that he was not the only one of them involuntarily behaving awkward as hell, and he took some comfort in that thought.

Her eyes flicked up to him, but almost couldn't decide between his face and the floor. Wasn't she supposed to be an extrovert, or whatever the term was? She was a people-person. That was why Mobius hired her. Boy, she sure picked a great time to not feel like chatting.

Steady, buddy, Liam told himself. Don't cut this short. That's how you keep blowing this; walking away too soon. Just play it smooth… ask something about her.

He sucked in a deep breath. "What… is your favorite… kind of…" Even though he lurched through each part of the sentence like a zombie on broken roller skates, he somehow couldn't think of any better way to end it than, "...dinosaur?"

…Jesus fucking christ…

Yukiko tilted her head. "Interesting question," she said. She stood a little taller while considering it, relaxing just a little. "Hm… Ornithomimus. How about you?"

And just like that, his (frankly well-deserved) embarrassment started to disappear. "Dilophosaurus," he answered.

"Dilophosaurus has the venom and the crest on its head, right?"

He smiled. "That's the one."

She grinned back in approval. It was a different smile, a real smile. "A worthy choice. Alright, my turn. What's your favorite smell?"

Liam pondered and replied, "Gasoline. You?"

"Honeysuckle," she said. "Your turn."

It was quick thinking on her part, making this into a game. It shouldn't have surprised him- she was a psychologist after all. And in so many ways, this awkward banter was much more compelling than graceful, flirtatious small talk. Favorite colors, favorite foods, blah blah blah. Tired. This was all based on inquiries as obscure as they were spectacularly useless.

He picked the first thing that popped into his head. "What's your favorite board game?"

"Scrabble," she said.

"Trivial Pursuit."

Yukiko countered, "Favorite nursery rhyme?"

That one took him a moment. "Goosey Goosey Gander. You?"

"Lavender's Blue."

Over her shoulder, Liam saw one of his department assistants find him in the crowd and give him a thumbs-up. "Interesting. Uh, favorite TV show?"

"Parks and Recreation."

"Really?" he said brightly. "Me too. Such a great show."

"And so underrated," she said, excitement heightening her voice. "All right then, who's your favorite character on Parks and Rec?"

"Ben Wyatt."

"Leslie Knope."

He grinned. "I thought so. New question," Liam said, and it came out before he could stop himself: "Do you want to go get a cup of coffee sometime?"

And Yukiko gave him that knowing and relieved expression. "I'd love to."