The Way You Are Now (Elyse)

[Elyse Blackburn]

The positive reception from the older girl was enough to urge the small smile to remain on Elyse's lips, something which actually surprised her considering how silly the dream sequence she just explained was. It was a peculiar feeling having someone focus on her, especially when she wasn't naked and panting. Ella seemed different, seemed genuinely interested in her. How strange.

The subsequent explanation of her dream forced the waitress to purse her lips, furrowing her brow as she thought it over. Well at least now she knew the book had little to no merit. Good luck? Success? If Ella wasn't present Elyse would've rolled her eyes and trotted off, the dream theories were clearly stupid. And 'security in love'? Elyse scoffed at the idea, shaking her head lightly before gazing back at Ella.

"Right...well, I do have a goldfish and I'm pretty sure he loves me. So there's that..." Elyse mumbled, glancing away to the rolling clouds that swept over the town.

Soon enough she was handed the book and Ella gave her own recount of a dream, something which sounded surprisingly similar to the nightmares Elyse suffered during the nights alone. "Oh uhh...that doesn't sound like a fun dream. Apparently all these linked symbols have something to do with your subconscious...apparently you're questioning certian issues about yourself. Wow okay, this is deep...I guess it's just a standard nightmare..." Elyse fumbled, not wanting to make Ella uncomfortable with mention of personal woes and the like.

"I guess I'll keep this for the coffee table then..." She shrugged, tapping her fingernails against the spine before shuffling in her place. She had read the descriptions for the dream sequence, but there wasn't much point describing the whole thing...especially since she had just sat down with Ella! But alas, her curiosity took the better of her...urged by the silly explanations of the dream manual.

"So umm...I guess you have all the boys chasing after you in the school huh?" Oh yes. Teenage boys were the worst.

[Ella Robbinson]

"I hate to break it to you, but he probably doesn't remember you." Ella replied with a small smile. Ah, goldfish and their memories. What she wouldn't give to meet a memory manipulator who'd help her out from time to time. "That makes for a terribly short love story."

Ella shook her head a few times. No, she supposed it wasn't a fun dream. Perhaps it was something of a nightmare, but she didn't exactly want to divulge how bad those were for herself. That wasn't catch-up conversation. Her lips twisted into something of a frown as she heard the verdict - she knew most of it was ridiculous banter, but at heart she had to wonder if it made any sense to her situation. What was she questioning about herself? Ha, that was a stupid question. What wasn't she questioning about herself.

"Or the shelf, even." Ella shrugged back. Yeah, it was definitely stupid. Totally.

Wait, what? Boys chasing after her? If Ella had the capacity to blush, she might have in that moment. "What? No. At least, I don't think so." She admitted, looking up as if searching the air for a kind of answer. "If they are, they're keeping a pretty good distance from me. Which isn't a comforting thought at all." She added. That was definitely a strange thought to ponder on for very long.

"Judging by your choice in books," Ella started, feeling herself practically plunge into deep water, "Your... Chased by a bunch of girls who are in love with you. Abusively in love, even," Her lips pressed into a slightly amused smile as she tried to make light of the harsher titles, "Am I close?"

[Elyse Blackburn]

It came as a surprise, how normal this all felt. Making conversation wasn't Elyse's strong point and yet she discovered that it truly did have its perks, good thing Ella was being receptive to it all. It did take some seconds of mental fumbling to retain some facade of social skills, because really, the closest she had gotten to a conversation recently was having to talk dirty with a rather elderly client of hers. Elyse shuddered from the thought.

It was thoughts like those that made the young woman wish she had the memory of a goldfish. Sure, he had been relatively nice and gentle but that's where it all halted at the fumbling fingers and wrinkly smooches. It took several rounds of teeth brushing to rid her mouth of the taste.

Ella's reply caught the slightly disgusted brunette off guard, the response ushering another small simper to cross over the waitress' lips.

"Well, you know what they say. Fear equals respect, so maybe you're just way out of their league and they know it." Elyse smirked, nodding lightly in agreement. Ella was gorgeous, no doubt boys would go crazy over her...girls as well maybe. Flickering her gaze away the young woman sighed, gazing at the clouds that rumbled overhead.

"Judging by your choice in books...You're chased by a bunch of girls who are in love with you. Abusively in love, even"

The statement sent a jolt across Elyse's skin, forcing her cheeks to redden and her body to tense like steel. A sharp breath caught in the back of her throat and before she could even manage a proper response she let out a weak laugh, awkward and forced. "Uhh...yeah, I guess you could say that." She murmured, clamping her teeth on her lower lip in an attempt to burn away the clamouring warning bells in her head. How on earth do normal people deal with this level of awkwardness.

Clearing her throat, Elyse quickly stacked the books in a pile and gingerly looked back at Ella. "I...I uhhh, well. We do have a lot of lesbians visit the diner...I maybe just wanted to scope out some stuff..." She lied, horribly as well. In truth Elyse simply wanted to understand the growing attentiveness she was having towards the fairer sex, she'd only ever had one female client and that experience in itself was both peculiar and satisfying. "You wouldn't happen to have any tips would you...? I mean, avoiding crazy females!?" She blurted out, digging her thumbs into the palms of her hands.

Now this is why she was never good at conversation.

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella exhaled on a sharp laugh. Out of their league? That was actually funny to her. But she tried to dial that down as best she could. It was weird to laugh at herself in such a way, wasn't it?

Elyse's response made Ella glad she physically couldn't blush. She might have, had she not mastered that aspect of her powers such a long time ago. Her eyebrows raised when Elyse spoke though. Could she say that? Ella was just producing a sentence for the hell of it, she didn't actually think she'd strike a nerve. So a singular sound dropped from her mouth; "Wow."

And her explanation didn't exactly do wonders for her. She really didn't mean to make this a topic of sexuality. Was that what it was now? She tilted her head to one side slightly, looking a little perplexed. And her eyes widened at the posed question.

"What?" She breathed, glancing away and pressing her fingertips to her mouth, sealing away the laughter that threatened to follow. "I'm not followed by crazy people of any genders." She retorted, again oblivious to the way in which she talked down about herself, "I'm afraid your on your own. I mean, why would I even have a problem like that?"

[Elyse Blackburn]

Halfway through this conversation Elyse could already feel herself cringing, the perpetual tugging sensation furrowing her eyebrows together. Her own voice irked her, which seemed stupid and trivial but she did want to impress Ella! If that was possible anyway.

"uhh...I'm sorry. That was weird wasn't it?" Elyse mumbled, brushing her hair out of her face before flitting her gaze back down to her nails. The polish was chipped and her fingers naturally found themselves slowly scratching what was left of it. "You know... that's good if you aren't...you know followed by people. Bad, awkward people I mean! I'm sure you're a great person to follow, in a good way!" Elyse rambled, catching her tongue just in time before she made an even bigger fool of herself. She was definitely going to kick herself over that one later.

But the verbal failure did enlighten her in some regards. Ella was totally downplaying herself, which was ridiculous. Maybe the older girl didn't want Elyse to feel so bad for still working at the diner.

"Well...it's nice to know that everything has been smooth sailing." Elyse simpered, tracing her lower lip before glancing back up at Ella. She wasn't sure why she said it, maybe it was a quick attempt at saving what was left of her failed conversation skills.