Missing Moments

The Second Time Finn Asks Piper Out

Between episodes 6x06 and 6x07

"So I have to get to the other ridge over here, right?"

"Yeah."

"So how do you do that?"

Finn watched as Ozzy tried to lead Commander Plasma from Legions of Lasers across the swamp and disappeared under the murky water. An error message popped up, alerting Ozzy that he had died (again). Huffing, Ozzy exited out of the message, and the game automatically sent him back to the reset point.

"You can't just run across the swamp. There's a secret ledge you have to find to cross it," Finn explained patiently, gesturing to the side of the screen where Ozzy should go.

"A secret ledge? Seriously?" Ozzy said indignantly, "That's not on any of the forums."

"Probably because most people don't die twenty times just trying to cross the Simeon Swamp."

Ozzy grumbled as he followed Finn's advice then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh hey! I found it!" His NPC ran across a small ledge to the other side of the swamp that had been the bane of his existence for the last twenty minutes, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Dude, you're a lifesaver. I've been stuck on that forever."

As a cutscene started playing, Finn glanced around Shakes and Ladders and noticed Piper entering with Amy. He immediately sat up a little straighter and ran a hand over his hair in case there were any stray hairs sticking up. (He'd straightened it that morning as usual, so there shouldn't have been, but he could never be too careful.)

The girls stopped at the counter, and if either of them had noticed him, they didn't acknowledge him. They were mid-conversation, and Finn debated going over to talk to them for half a second before deciding to just do it. There was no better way to get to know a girl than to put himself out there, right? That's what his brother Nate had told him anyway, and Nate had had a lot of girlfriends over the years, so he clearly knew what he was talking about.

"I'll be right back," Finn told Ozzy as he pushed back from their table.

"Whatever," was Ozzy's response.

As Finn approached Piper, he told himself to just play it cool. His attempt to ask her out last week had failed, but she had said herself that she was busy that night. Maybe tonight would be different. He was fascinated by her, and if he ever wanted to get to know her, he had to take every chance he had. What did he have to lose by asking her out anyway? If she said no, she said no, but at least he'll have tried, right?

"It sounds like they're a really great team," Amy was saying as Finn approached them.

"An acro team would be perfect for you," Piper admitted before adding in a lighter tone, "Too bad they can't have you."

Amy rolled her eyes playfully, waving a hand dismissively. "As if I'd ever leave the studio after my mom made me go to Gemini."

Piper grinned at that, but her smile hardened as Finn approached them. "Hey," he greeted them with a grin. Amy returned his greeting cheerfully, but Piper simply gave him a tight smile in response.

Never one to beat around the bush, Finn decided to just get straight to the point. "Piper, I was wondering if you'd want to hang out tonight?"

Amy's eyebrows shot up at this, a grin growing on her lips, as Piper pointedly avoided his gaze and reached for an apple from the bowl sitting on the counter. "I can't. I'm busy," she told him shortly, rolling the apple around in her hands as she reluctantly met his gaze with a hard stare and quirk of the eyebrow that dared him to ask her again.