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RESPITE GENERATOR - EARLY EVENING
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Louma drifts slowly through the streets, preoccupied with a sad look on her face. She had stopped at her home, scrubbing herself up and dressing in a comfortable cotton shirt that hung down below where her feathers ended, cinched with a polished belt around approximately where her waist would be. The oily circles under her eyes are mostly gone, though her eyes still show some exhaustion. The swan turns a corner and sees the generator building, sighing to herself and putting on a weak smile, and barely puffing upright as she approaches the building and knocks on the residence door.
Maybelline opens the door with a pretty cheerful look on her face. She's just in some casual lounging clothes, having shed her work suit and cleaned off. She blinks at the sight of Louma, but quickly brightens up, "Oh! Louma! I wasn't expecting you or I'd have... I don't actually know, really. But it would have been something!"
Louma feels a wash of warmth over her as she sees May's smile, her own reflecting the feeling. She gives May a bow, hand over her chest, though she can't help but keep her eyes on May's. "I apologize if this is improper of me, I was wandering about and just... Well, I wanted to see you again, no excuses for it."
Maybelline blinks again slowly as her brain processes this request, her cheeks warming at the words. "Well... no excuse needed, as far as I'm concerned. You want to come in? I've got water boiling for tea."
Louma nods, grinning. "I would love to, thank you. It's alright that I didn't bring any cookies this time, though?"
Maybelline steps back to let Louma inside, watching for her tail before she closes it behind her. "Lucky you, I have cake. Brun and I had a slice earlier but... I could eat another, err, you know, so you don't have to eat alone. If you wanted cake, that is."
Louma giggles, looking around the relatively small home as she searches for a spot that she can coil up. "I would love a piece, and yes I would insist you join me. You got cake to celebrate the generator running, correct? So let's celebrate!"
Maybelline nods, following after to hop up on steps added around the edge of the kitchen counters. The house is built for larger beings, though it's definitely not huge by any means, consistening of a small living area with attached kitchen, and a small hall in the back with two rooms, a bedroom and bathroom, attached. May sets about getting two (generous) slices of cake, as well as two ceramic mugs filled with hot tea, and bringing them over to the table in the center of the living room. "We sure did. Just got it running this afternoon. You can hear the low hum from here if you listen closely. So yeah, celebration!"
Louma nods, rubbing a hand over the feathers on her head. "Oh yes, I know. My lights aren't on, but the water pump was mercifully working. I greatly appreciate not having to pay at the bathhouse to clean up." She follows May's lead, coiling up next to the table with a soft hum. "So these are the quarters provided, hm? I've never had a reason to come in here before."
Maybelline climbs up onto her own seat, a small booster already in place. She grins wide, "Good! I'm glad it's already seeing results in town! And yeah, this place came with the job. 'Room and board included', they said. It's nothing special, but I never needed much room or anything."
Louma chuckles, looking aside. "Well... The water is on. The heat on the other hand... It was a very cold shower. It's fine though, I deserved... Er, needed it."
Maybelline takes a bite of her cake, catching Louma's words. "You know... Brun said something about you being upset lately... Is everything alright?"
Louma pauses as she goes to pick up her cake plate, her smile slipping slightly. "Did she now?" She picks up her slice of cake and fork, the utensil hovering an inch away from her food as she thinks. "Yes, there was an issue that came up and... I am ashamed to admit that my emotions got ahead of me."
Maybelline nods slowly. "I won't pry..." She pauses, then gives Louma a small smile. "But I'm here if you want to talk about it. Or if you don't. I mean... ugh. Sorry. But... yeah. It's fine by me, whatever you want to talk about." She sighs. "Sorry. I'm bad at this still."
Louma thinks for a second again, looking to May and feeling better just being here. "I... I really appreciate that. The quickest way to put it is some vague information pointed at someone as a threat to a friend of mine, and I confronted them based on this information. Thankfully, the information was incorrect, and I got the opportunity to make a fool of myself in front of Brunilda." She holds on this for a moment. "Yes, that's roughly the story in short."
Maybelline watches Louma, listening as she takes another bite of cake, then chuckles, "Brun didn't say much, but that all makes sense. Happens to the best of us. If I had a coin for everytime I got drunk and embarrassed myself back in school... I wouldn't have needed a job when I graduated."
Louma looks at May for a moment before laughing along with her. "You're absolutely right! I've been fretting over things, but you... You're right. But now I have to know at least one of those embarrassing things." She gives May a wry grin before finally eating a forkful of the sweet cake with an appreciative 'mm'.
Maybelline starts at the sudden shift, but grins wide, leaning forward as she just listens to Louma laugh. "Well, I mean, I was a pretty heavy drinker, I'm gonna try to emphasize 'was', I'm trying to stay sober now, so I don't remember a lot of them..." She pauses, "Though, I can probably sorta remember one time with a pool..."
Maybelline: "So, I wasn't too terribly popular, but had a uh, reputation at parties. So, I usually found myself with an invite, and was too dense to realize they only wanted me there to make fun of me. But somehow I managed to get into one of the big parties in Upper Glaushire, the rich district. They had this big pool, which was crazy to me. I don't know how many drinks in I was, but I guess I decided I wanted to go swimming. I was dressed up, nothing fancy, but I didn't own a lot of outfits or anything, but you can rest assured that I ruined that outfit swimming without taking off anything. I uh, think I passed out swimming? I just remember I woke up in a net, so I assume the others at the party, or like, the house staff or something fished me out. Spent the rest of the party sopping wet, hung up in a net over the pool."
Louma leans forward to listen to the story while enjoying her cake, but she quickly finds herself not eating at all. By the end she's blushing out of embarrassment for having asked for her to bring up such a memory. "Ah... That would be absolutely mortifying... I'm so sorry that happened to you." Suddenly she gets an image in her head of the stoat lying face down in a wide holed net, arms and legs poking through and flailing. She stifles the unexpected laugh by grabbing her own beak, blushing brightly.
Maybelline sticks her tongue out at Louma, giggling, "Well sure, it was awful! But it's a good story now, isn't it?"
Louma giggles as she tries to trust her own reflex, returning to scooping a piece of cake up. "I admire that you're not hung up on it, honestly. Ah, poor choice of words!"
Maybelline pffts, laughing, "I mean, maybe if I remembered half of it..." She shakes her head. "I'm honestly amazed my grades were so good. I guess I never really needed to study. So I spent that time drinking, hitting on any lady who'd listen, and getting rejected, which lead back to the drinking." She frowns a little, then glances at Louma and smiles. "Sheesh that sounds bleak... sorry."
Louma shakes her head, chuckling with May. "A little bit, but you're still here, now, aren't you? Generator mechanic for an entire frontier town. The boss. It's impressive. And you're working toward improving your life more, not just settling on what you've earned. I like that."
Maybelline straightens up a little proudly, "My parents taught me to never give up on the things that mattered to me. Like this generator, this town, and it's silly but..." She glances away, blushing with a sly smile on her face, "...it was important to me to find someone to be with. Someone who I wouldn't want to give up on either."
Louma smiles, though it falters slightly. "I... Really hope I don't disappoint you in that regard. Honestly, I know we've barely started with this, but after you said you'd try a date with me, this is the consistently happiest I've been in over four years." Her smile returns, full of warmth. "I really do look forward to seeing what lies ahead, for once."
Maybelline sets finishes eating her cake (shockingly fast, despite her telling a story in the meantime) and takes a deep breath. "Well, that's pretty much the same feelings, and the same fears, I've had about it all so far... I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm just kinda being myself, trying to figure this whole dating thing out. I... I really want to go down that road with you and see what's there too."
Louma sets the small remainder of her cake down carefully on the table, her wings quivering slightly as she looks back into May's eyes. While this is going on, however, her tail is busy sliding it's way to the bottom of May's chair, and when she turns back to face May, the chair is dragged close to Louma.
Maybelline settles into her seat and stares back at Louma, smiling happily when suddenly her chair jerks forward. "G-gah!" She looks up at Louma and blushes, "Aheh... sneaky."
Louma chuckles, bending in and hugging May. "Yes, just a little bit, but you were sitting too far away for this."
Maybelline leans in against Louma and hums, raising her arms to return the hug a gently. "You could always ask. I'm not... I mean, hugs are kinda weird, right? But... still nice. Real nice."
Louma giggles lightly. "I suppose I could, you're right. I think it's too late this time, though." She releases the hug, smiling at May. "Thank you, Maybelline . This time together... It's helped me a lot. If you'd like, could we perhaps discuss our second date?" She blushes at the question, feeling awkward at asking, but also immediately excited by the prospect.
Maybelline lets go a bit reluctantly, but nods eagerly, "Well a surprise hug now and again isn't bad either. With the generator running, I've got a bit more time and a bit less hurried construction! Honestly I probably shouldn't have gone on the first date but it all worked out timewise and uh, yeah! S-second date... yeah." Her grin speaks volumes.
Louma tries to resist both giggling and hugging the adorable stoat as Louma continues blushing brightly. "Yes, second date." She giggles. It can't be helped, she's clearly excited. "I was thinking, we could take a trip to the waterfall with a picnic basket. It's quite beautiful there."
Maybelline: "Oh! I haven't visited the waterfall yet! I could make... something! Maybe? It sounds wonderful though."
Louma: "Mhm, make whatever you like, I'll bring the drinks and something from the bakery, if you like."
Maybelline unconciously licks her lips. "Yes! Bakery!" She pauses, "You like meat, right? You had stew. Sandwiches. I can manage sandwiches."
Louma nods, grinning. "Yes, I eat meat, I like to try tasting all sorts of things, honestly."
Maybelline nods quickly, fiddling her fingers together quickly as she thinks. "All sorts of things! I can do... something. Yeah, alright! Yes! This is going to be fun! So uh, when?"
Louma is barely hiding her own excitement as the plans are put together, pausing at the final question, putting a hand to her chin. "Well... I am scheduled to have a free day in a couple days on Sunday. Or we could do an evening picnic, if you'd prefer. The waterfall is really beautiful in the afternoon sun, though."
Maybelline sighs happily, or maybe she's just catching her breath, but her smile isn't fading, "I can manage anytime, with enough warning. I mean, so long as nothing goes wrong the generator... the afternoon sounds great."
Louma giggles, her wings twitching in excitement as she breaks down and engulfs May in another hug, the pouff of chest feathers that her shirt doesn't contain at the perfect height for May's face. "Sunday afternoon it is! I can't wait!"
Maybelline mrrphs at the sudden face full of feathers, but hums, nuzzling into the hug, "You're so soft... Ahhh, I can't wait either, Louma."
Louma blushes at the nuzzling, smiling warmly as she hugs May. "Hehe, second date~"
Maybelline glances up at Louma from the hug and nods. "Second date~"
Louma chuckles at the sight of the cute stoat face among a cloud of white feathers. She slowly releases the hug, sighing softly. She feels her face flush and she looks away from the stoat, slightly embarrassed as she realizes how much she's fawning. "I should probably get home... I think I'll actually manage to sleep well tonight, thanks to you."
Maybelline smiles, continuing to look up at Louma. She laughs quietly, "Then I've got two great accomplishments to brag about today. I uh, I don't like to give up on something I care about, Louma. So... anytime."
Louma smiles as she looks at May again, feeling that wave of warmth through her as the stoat comes back into view. "I'll make sure to do everything I can to deserve that, I promise you." She takes May's hands and gives them a gentle squeeze before turning and heading towards the door. With her hand on the knob, she turns to look at the stoat. "Goodnight Maybelline, I'll meet you here on Sunday~"
Maybelline follows just behind Louma's tail, waving a reluctant goodbye. "Goodnight, Louma. I'll be here with bells on. Not actual bells, but I... I said that joke last time. I'll be here with sandwiches. Sunday. Second date~"
Louma can't help but chuckle excitedly with a wink. "Second date!" She opens the door and slither outside, her wings absolutely shuddering in excitement, though she pauses to smile at May through the door as she prepares to take off. "I can't wait~" She struggles to not let out a shout of joy as her wings come down, sending the swansnake into the night sky. She does roll in the air the whole way home, though.