Private Finished My Brain's a Mess but My Face Is Calm

Maisie blinked, wondering about the intimacy she felt he was suddenly showing. She felt herself laugh on the inside because that sure was impossible and probably not what was going on at all; for all she knew, he was just really thankful and wanted to show it as best he could. In fact, she cursed at herself for even thinking it was intimacy in the first place--this was a serious situation.

"What do I think of you," she repeated with a thoughtful hum. "You've been my roommate for a while now and we've been pretty darn good friends since day one--you haven't lived up to those 'nightmare psycho roommate' stories I've heard all about, and you're not one of them creepy quiet mysterious people who would probably pull a knife if I got a lil too nosy. I never knew you were this sad, though--I didn't catch any a' the signs that you were being bullied and that you couldn't bring yourself to fight back. I'm sorry."

She sighed and looked at him, a concerned frown on her face. Her hand drew back to pat his shoulder. "I really care about you, Shortcake. You've been through a lot, and I want to help you get better. I know a lot of people try to avoid everything that's to do with their problems and their suffering, and they get all awkward-feeling when someone actually cares, but I just want you to know--and I know you already know, but I'm gonna say it again--I'm here for you. And if you don't want me to be here for you, all you gotta do is say so and I'll forget this ever happened."

Maisie had a strange urge to touch Ash's face whenever he smiled, just push her thumbs into the corners of his lips and mush his face all around. It was a very strange urge and she'd never made good on satisfying it, and she sure as hell wasn't going to satisfy it now.

"You said that day one too, that I'm stuck with you--and I gotta argue that I ain't stuck with you, you're stuck with me. I'm a handful, I am; anyone in my family can tell you that. 'N I don't think I'm that special. There're other girls like me out there, I'm sure, but all I'm doin' is being myself and doing what I want. Mostly what I want."

Maisie's words were silenced by the kiss on her cheek, and her brows furrowed slightly in confusion while she tried to ignore the heat that turned her cheeks pink. "Um...I guess so, sure," she said slowly to make sure she didn't say 'So sure guess I um do it again'. The girl stretched out and headed towards the closet to re-retrieve her coat. "What'd you have in mind, Shortcake?"

Maisie snorted at his elbow nudge and nudged him with her own elbow, totally oblivious that he was partially offering it for her to hold. She nudged him the whole way to their destination, poking and jabbing and pushing him along to keep him distracted and upbeat.

When they arrived at the restaurant, she found herself feeling a bit like an alien when she looked around at everything. "It's fancy," she said simply at first before taking the seat he led her to. "Makes me feel a lil' small and strange, like I'm on some other planet or somethin'. The places I've been are usually pretty down to earth and country-style--being a country girl in a place like this reminds me of when I went to one of them fancy formal parties. Just not used to it, y'know?"

She eyed the bats but didn't say anything, nor did she seem very scared; there were plenty of bats in the barns back home, even in her attic, so she weren't particularly frightened by them. They were one of the things that reminded her of home, actually. She picked up one of the menus on the table and opened it, scanning all they had to offer. "What sort'a food do they serve here?" she said with a small yawn.

"Why'd you bring us to a nocturnal restaurant if you don't wanna be nocturnal?" she said with another yawn, this one bigger than the last. She stretched back in her chair and then relaxed, looking at this wacky magic menu that he'd showed her how to work.

She cautiously tapped the corner of the menu and made a face when it actually changed. "There ain't nothing like this back in Oklahoma..." Her eyes scanned all the choices and started tapping through the magic pages, half just to see how fast she could change the menu and half because nothing on here was appealing to her yet. It happened with a lot of menus--she didn't usually know exactly what she wanted until she was presented with something to choose from. "Y'all got this for closets too? The fridge? This is handy-dandy and spoiling me already. If I didn't like what a diner had when we went, then I weren't getting nothing at all."

Maisie spotted a menu with grilled cheese and gasped, double-tapping right away. Then she started finding the desserts, and she ended up getting fried pies, a slice of pecan pie, peach cobbler, and a small slice of key lime pie. She thought over her order and blanched, laughing a little, "Sorry--I kinda ordered a lot. By a lot I mean four desserts and a grilled cheese." With a sheepish look, she quietly double-tapped a simple water as her choice of drink, not wanting to completely run her roommate's money dry. "I'll pay for some of the desserts if you'll let me...What are you getting?"

"Really? You would'a fooled me with how you're always askin' me to go places," she snorted and set her menu down in front of her. She was heavily considering ordering something else to go with her grilled cheese just so she didn't look like too much of a sugar addict. A small part of her was also hoping Ash wouldn't judge her, but the rest of her flipped that part the bird because, 'if he doesn't like it then he can suck it'.

"An' no, we--actually, yes we prolly do have vampires in Oklahoma, but they ain't opening places like this at every fork in the road. I just had a thought that if they can exist here, they're likely all over the world. Twelve year old me would'a been jumpin for joy right now." Twelve year old her had a strange obsession with vampires--specifically becoming a vampire. She wore all the darkest clothes she owned and hissed whenever she saw the light, and she refused to eat anything with garlic in it. But she wasn't about to start saying any of that to someone who didn't seem to love himself as a vampire.

Maisie flinched slightly with the menu bop and huffed, making a face at her attacker. "A hamburger with onion rings. We got a whole menu of all these foods and desserts and you order somethin' you can get on every block?" she laughed. "I ain't making fun of you, though. If you want hamburgers with onion rings, then that's what you want." She accepted the glass of water delivered to her and took a sip, then leaned back with another yawn as she waited for the rest of their food. Her eyes were drooping slightly, but she was fighting to keep them open. "Sure, we can share. Maybe. I might get a lil greedy but we'll see what happens, and we can take home anything that ain't gone by the time we're finished."