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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Apr 17, 2013 16:34:14 GMT -5
Skye actually smiled in amusement this time, though just briefly. "At least you realize it's freedom. That's better than rushing through your childhood," she pointed out. Youth was a kind of awful thing to waste, because it didn't come back. Skye didn't think she was all that old yet, but kids like Adam did make her feel the age difference sometimes. "A conspiracy theorist would tell you that you're always a slave to something," she told him, tone never reflecting whether she agreed with said conspiracy theorist or not. It was basically true, but the sentiment was pretty miserable, even if realistic. Then again, Skye had never claimed to have a particularly positive outlook on life. "Basically," she affirmed, trying not to smile at his misery or anything like that -- she tried not to consider herself that cold a person.
Much as she would have liked to order everything on the menu, neither her stomach nor her wallet would have liked that very much. She ignored his smile, biting back the urge to tell him to stop being ridiculous or she would abandon him here in a part of the city he didn't know. Skye was not a big fan of pet names, and it was particularly awful coming from a teenage boy, but he reminded her a little too much of an ill-tempered puppy or something for her to even bother. "We can try. They might kick us out when we can't fork over like, five hundred dollars, though." She had no idea how extensive the menu was, so she didn't know if this were even close to a plausible cost. "Don't you watch the Reese cups commercials? Sharing is caring." Now she wanted some peanut butter-chocolate deliciousness, but unfortunately she couldn't just run to the store and buy some to have for dinner. Real food was probably a little bit better. Skye pretended to look him over, gauging his size (seriously, the kid was so tall) and then shaking her head. "Nah, I think you could do that. Ten bucks says you can't eat two." Was it bad to make bets with the students when she worked at the Academy now? Skye didn't know, but it wasn't like she was a teacher -- and really, she didn't even like the job very much. The most irritable part of her said that she wouldn't even care if they fired her over something silly like that.
She smiled in mild amusement as he hunched his shoulders. "Smart kid," she remarked. "You'd definitely survive on the streets." Did she really think he was about to end up running around with gangs or something? No, she didn't really know anything about his life at all, and she didn't really have any burning desire to. His life was his business. Her comment was made in jest, really. The reason he provided was, in the most blunt of terms, bullshit, but she decided not to comment any further, choosing instead to get her food and get them a table. By the time she asked again, though, Skye did wish that he would just answer the question instead of doing... whatever it was that he thought he was doing. Were these supposed to be smooth excuses? She assumed the answer was yes (nobody tried to come up with lousy excuses) but she didn't even bother trying again, just let the subject drop. If he had wanted to talk, then he was now certainly on his own for starting whatever conversation he'd wanted to instigate.
Then he did start, and Skye almost cringed at how jarring and out of nowhere the change in topic was, but she didn't say anything, instead just looked at him with an expression of mild curiosity. She was silent as he spoke, not even really touching her food, feeling that -- despite the ridiculousness that seemed to just come with Adam's presence -- it was actually somewhat important. The first part of his little monologue made no sense, and she had to make an effort to refrain from raising her eyebrows, so that she didn't look like she was being overly skeptical. That wasn't the best way to be friendly to people -- not that Skye ever made a particular effort to be friendly with Adam Rizzo, of all people, but she didn't dislike the Fire as much as she would have perhaps assumed otherwise. When he paused, she finally took the opportunity to bite into her food too, waiting for him to continue again. Luckily, she was a pretty patient person, at least in things like this. Finally he managed to get it out, and Skye actually raised her eyebrows, more in surprise than in any kind of skepticism. It wasn't an unwelcome sentiment -- just unexpected. She tried to figure out the best way to respond to it but was mostly unsuccessful. "Sure," she said finally, her voice a little warmer than usual. "You don't have to thank me for that, you know. But... thank you too." She cast around in her mind for something else to say, but there was nothing that wouldn't come off as hugely condescending and ridiculous. Instead she said, smiling but somewhat ending the overly sentimental moment, "I'm glad to be kind of included in the exclusive few."
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