Artists Curse

Maddie was so focused on his moving feet and what he was saying, that she didn't even realize the portal until they were already through it.

"I was wrong. I thought I'd only accept one answer, but yours was better than I was expecting. Congratulations."

Being inside Luigi's pizza made Maddie feel like she was back in a magic-free zone. If the place wasn't full of magic and magical beings. Yup, sounds about right.

"We are so getting a booth," she said with childish excitement, quickly jumping into the nearest booth to them as though she were afraid someone would snatch it before she could.

Bandit had followed them, not that Maddie had been paying him much attention right now. He was a little peeved by that and he even gave Laetus the stink eye for it. But he was a dog, and dogs can really only be frustrated by things for so long.

He settled outside because he had been shooed from one too many pizza places with a broom. He finally managed to learn his lesson after the 15th — no wait, 27th time.

"The works! Except Anchovies, bleh!" She made a face of pure disgust. "But seriously, I could eat anything. Being a heap of animals can either make a person tolerant of all flavors, or a vegetarian, sometimes a vegan. I could never give up meat. Meat is love; meat is life. What do you like on your pizza? Are you a picky eater?"

"Coke," Maddie said without hesitation. She was very excitable, that was true.

Maddie, easily impressed and forgetful, had already moved on from her earlier worries. Now she was just excited to stuff her face full of pizza. It reminded her of when she used to eat stuff as an animal. That was much more fun than most people would think.

"When I was a kid," she said, talking city-girl fast, "I used to eat stuff as a coyote or lynx. Once I even did that thing where people shove their whole face in a cake, just to see what it was like. I'll give you a hint; messy." Nearly as soon as the words left her lips, Maddie felt stupid for having said them, and in front of the waitress. Kill her now!

She wished she had something to distract herself with right about then.

Maddie relaxed when she realized Laetus was laughing with her and not at her.

"The better question would be, what kind of cake don't I like? My favorite would either be strawberry shortcake or mud cake. My adoptive mom makes a mean mud cake. She always baked one for my birthday."

Maddie leaned forward conspiratorially, "When you shove your face in a cake, you gotta remember to close your eyes and toss your head around like this." Wildly, Maddie shook her head from side to side, biting as she did so. "Just imagine your a shark. I think one of the other requirements is either doing it alone or not caring that you look hilarious."

It wasn't long before their pizza and drinks were set in front of them. The pizza was newly made and smelled like heavy to Maddie. Because it was polite, and he was paying, Maddie waited for him to start eating before she did.

"Oh!" Maddie said in excitement. "A mud cake is this awesome chocolate--" as the food arrived and he looked at it. "We should have gotten one of those half pizzas with stuff on one side and not the other. Sorry, we can change it if you like, or we could pick some of it off."

She was utterly serious, of course, and one hundred percent feeling guilty for being so selfish.