2019-10-03 - A Slice Of The Pie

Thunder rolls and lightning crashes, the rain not yet having begun to fall as the wind chases down the road. It makes the inside of the pizzeria a rather nice place to stay sheltered. And fed. Dylan and Mae are seated at a booth by the window, with a whole pizza that the artist had ordered of sausage and mushrooms. He's only had half a slice before he's gotten distracted by all the threatening, looming clouds, his sketchpad out and pencil in hand as he idly works on something or another.

Mae hasn't even touched her pizza yet, she's gazing out the window at the wind that is whipping the trees around. "Walking home is going to be a pain in the ass." She notes, gesturing out to where the rain is about to fall. She finally picks up her pizza and nibbles at the end of it. "This isn't so bad." She remarks as she picks the mushrooms off of her pizza, taking a drink of her soda. "What are you working on? Something with dark clouds and lightning, I hope?" She glances up at Dylan's face, grinning for him.

"Live a," And Dylan's hand lifts to make the sign of a little, fingers close by each other as a lopsided, silly smile comes to him, though he doesn't look up. "Shower excuse," He points out about the rain, with just a touch too much innocence there, before the question as to what he's working on has his head bobbing up and down in agreement. "Landscape first," He explains, features scrunching up as he ponders how to distill his next thought down in his process. His lower lip is captured for a moment between teeth, and then he murmurs, "Then fantastical."

"Mmhm." Mae responds, smirking at the innocent expression on Dylan's face. "I think you like landscapes a lot." She leans in to look as he sketches, not touching because she has grease on her hands from the pizza. "Fantastical storms?" She winces as rain starts, and then pebbles of hail start to fall from the sky. "Yikes, not even an umbrella would have helped that out." She turns her attention back to her pizza, picking off the sausage so she can toss each piece into her mouth. She leaves the mushrooms on the wayside. "I have to go to the dance studio tomorrow, might call Cameron to come with me, what do you think? Good idea?"

Dylan lowers that sketchpad, turning it better to face Mae so she can see that landscape. It's the storm clouds all right, but rather than buildings, he's set a scene of rolling hills ending in cliffs and rocky beaches, what the place might have looked like a few centuries ago before it was all developed. Realistic, rather than fantastical yet. "Ideas," He offers up, the end of the pencil tapped against his head as he offers a knowing smile about her thoughts of fantastical storms, before a sigh escapes him when he hears the hail. "Oh. Well..." Even the eternally optimistic Dylan seems to be having second thoughts on that walk home. It's only when she asks that his head bobs up and down, and he explains, "Needs friends." That pencil whips around to point in her direction, "She respects."

Mae takes a bite of her pizza, ruined of most of its toppings. She gazes at the picture for a few long moments, finishing off her first piece of pizza. "She does? I figure she has lots of friends, I'm going to teach her how to dance, if we make friends during that, fine." She quirks a brow at Dylan. "Aren't you her friend?" She reaches for her soda, almost knocks it off the table, but manages to save it as she huffs out a soft swear word. "You could come with us, if you wanted. Need someone to give me an honest perspective on the thing I want to perform for Saints and Sinners.

Dylan's brow furrows up at the thought of Cam having a lot of friends, and there is clearly something on his mind about the whole thing. It's a slow form, as he starts, "No family," His hand lifts to gesture to Mae, remembering well some of their past conversations. "Cabaret? Loners," He muses from his obersvations, at least in passing, but that thought isn't judgement or negative. "Cabaret? Family." Comes the conclusion, one eye narrowing, the other going wider, hoping that this makes sense to the woman. At the mention of going with, he puts his sketch pad down, reaching out for his half eaten piece to pluck it up. "Sure. Evening." He points out about his classes. "Her? Friend?" His head wobbles back and fourth, as if this was something he hadn't considered, either for or against.

Mae nods in agreement, swinging her crossed legs back and forth slowly. "Well now you're family too, doesn't that make you lucky? Cam can be your distant cousin or something." She winks in his direction and nods about the evening. "So she's just your Wiccan connection?" She leans back in the booth and takes another bite of her pizza, leaving the crust on her plate. "I went grocery shopping last night, did you notice? Cereal and a bunch of other things. Things that don't require cooking." She smirks at that, moving to pick the ingredients off her second piece of pizza. "Figured I should contribute a little bit."

It's a rather perplexed and horrified look when she starts giving familiar relations to things, and his head just shakes before an amused smile touches on those expressive features of the man. "Ok. Friend." He concludes about Cam, even if she might be the sort of friend that makes him panic now and then. His head nods, completed with a look of thankfulness when she mentions groceries, and he pauses long enough to tear off a bite of pizza before that slice is put back down. "Yeah." A beat of a pause, and a touch of concern creases his features before he asks, "Others? 23rd?" He asks, and given the look down the road and in the general direction of her duplex, hopefully that question makes sense.

"I took them groceries too." Mae murmurs, leaning back in her seat. her eyes on Dylan. "Yeah, I knew you'd name her friend then." She takes a bite of her pizza once she's picked all of the sausage and mushrooms off, setting them aside. She folds the pizza into two and takes another bite. "I think one of my roommates might show up soon, you should.. uhm.. be prepared for that." She hunches her shoulders and sighs. "I haven't told them that I've been staying with you. I've gone home a few times for a few hours, but everyone has been so busy." She shrugs, glancing outside where the weather has taken a downturn. It looks pretty nasty outside. "Yuck."

"Lotsa money," His brow furrows at this, concern still etched on those features with uncertainty. It's her process of picking those toppings off that has his head tipping, "Don't like?" It's one of those things he could have sworn he remembered, a small breath of frustration at himself pushed out. His eyes drift back down to his sketchpad, those fingers of his right hand curling about as he looks at what he's done so far, before flipping to a new page. "Prepared? For?" He murmurs, before another beat of a pause, his question coming out, "They ask?" About where she's been, that is.

"I make pretty good money at the club." Mae quietly reassures Dylan, reaching out to let her fingers touch his knuckles briefly. "No, I just like eating them seprate sometimes, I dunno. There are days when it tastes good on the pizza and days when it tastes better on the side." She leans forward when he starts a new page, grinning. "Prepared for the rain or for the show? I'm clearly not prepared for rain. I only wore a hoodie." She tilts her head and grins. "For the show? I'm prepared." She shakes her head at Dylan. "Just hung out for a bit, went about their business." "

Dylan doesn't really seem convinced, but he doesn't push the point either about it all when her fingers brush against his knuckles. Instead, the artist reaches out, starting to pick off those toppings for her on the next slice as he listens. "Me prepared," He counters with delight and warmth at that misunderstanding. "Roommate visit?" He repeats what she'd said, a finger flicking from her to him before it returns to picking off the toppings and putting them in the pile she'd started. "Show good," His head bobs up and down at that, before a 'hmmm' of consideration comes about what their response was. That sketch is still empty, really, nothing put down to pad as he casts his attention out to the rain that pummels down. "Over soon." He muses, sounding more hopeful than certain about the storm.

"You mean, are they coming over to your place? Probably." Mae grimaces and she shrugs a shoulder. "If they come while I'm at work, uh, just don't piss them off. They're pretty harmless, but they've both got tempers." She glances outside and nods her agreement. "Yes, I this will pass quickly." She leans against the table, raising a hand toward the waitress to get her attention. She needs more soda. "Or was I going over to visit? Either way, I think they're going to eventually ask me if I mean to stay or if I mean to go, I'm still paying most of the bills there." She shrugs and rolls her eyes. "You'd think they'd be okay with that."

Up Dylan's brows lift when she mentions the potential encounter, and he murmurs, "Both?" This causes a series of blinks from the man, trying to puzzle together just what she means, and unable to do so, he just states, "Elaborate." He does start to sketch them, right up and until she gets to the point of stateing they'd be okay with that, and up those blue eyes lift to look at her, a finger pointing her way, "shouldn't be," knowing full well how much the fact she pays for most of the stuff gets under her skin. A soft scoff comes, and a foot slides beneath the table to rest against her own, toying gently as he returns to drawing.

"Well I do have two roommates. Lex and Blake." Mae shrugs and lets out a soft laugh, one that she stifles as the waitress approaches to refill their drinks. "Elaborate, well.. " She waits until the woman moves off and she smiles. "They might miss me, they probably don't. If they do, they'll stop by to see how I'm doing or if I plan on going home, that's all. She rests her chin on her palm and smiles across the table. "If I don't, they'll have issues. I .. care about my roommates, so I'd like the lights to stay on for them." She glances under the table before she aims a look over at Dylan. "I could help you out as well, likely. Have some savings now."

"Maybe visit," He clarifies, looking a little relaxed at that, or at least that's what he takes from her answer as he slinks back into the booth, a low 'hmmm' of consideration as he starts to draw and listens, though when her smile comes his way? He gets easily distracted, his own smile flashed back towards her with warmth. A small puff of air comes from him when she offers to help, a peer cast her way. "Two rents," A hand lifts, waggling back and fourth, not prepared to let her do that. "Groceries enough." He assures. His foot plays against her ankle, a deep breath drawn in before he inquiries, "Savings, plan?" A hopeful look that she'll make sense out of that particular curiosity.

Mae frowns over at Dylan, her eyes narrowed slightly. "I have a savings plan, yes. I also make enough to run two households on Elm if I need to, unless you have bills that are outrageous to the extreme." She quirks a brow at him and frowns, leaning in. "You're not in trouble with someone are you?" She nudges his foot with her own, her voice quiet. "I mean, I can help. I'm not offering to pay everything. Just help." She pulls his hand away from sketching, letting her fingers link with his. "You'll let me help though, won't you Dylan?" She reaches out for her drink, taking a small sip before she pulls at his hand. "I won't really take no for an answer."

An exasperated look comes when she says that yes, she has a savings plan. His eyes lift up, features scrunched, before he tries again, "Saving for..." He lets that trail off with curiosity, before she asks if he's in trouble. "Am I?" He asks back at her, peering her way, before he catches on to her own meaning, and his head shakes rigorously back and fourth in denial. "No trouble." A hand lifts to cross over his heart to emphasize that point, before he reaffirms, "Groceries enough," stubborn enough on his own not to feel comfortable in making her take care of two households, though his hand is readily given over to her.

"Saving because I know that sometimes money is needed. I never settle down for long." Mae chuckles and holds up a hand. "Groceries are enough for now , but hopefully if I continue to stay at your place, you'll allow me to help more. I won't press for now." She shifts on the seat and looks away, gazing at the window to watch the storm outside. "Okay?" She squeezes his hand and then moves to reach for the pizza with the toppings pulled off.

An 'oooh' comes from him at that logical reasoning, his own hand offering a squeeze back, a rake of nails against her wrist before he lets it go. "We'll see," He coos out with a look of sweet innocence, before a twitch of his nose comes as he peers outside of the window. His own slice is picked up and finished off, tongue rolled out along his lips before he shifts a touch. "Staying tonight?" It's a brief glance towards the clock as if he's already considering things, "Mask work." He murmurs, trying to judge how much they still have left to get done.

"We'll see indeed." Mae is as tenacious as Dylan is, sometimes worse. She nods at him when he asks if she's staying tonight, glancing outside to see if the storm is still raging. It's not. "Working on masks? How many more do we have to go? I should help you hmm?" She's not good at the artistic stuff, but she'll give it a shot. "I'll text Love later, see how her work is going."

Dylan casts an uncertain look when she asks how many more, and one might get the impression that Dylan will just remain a mask making machine until that whole basement is filled up if he's not reigned in. "Base coats," He offers up with certainty, a broad smile curling to his mouth as he muses, "Pick additions," The beads, feathers or whatever else that they'll want to add to each mask to help make them a bit more unique. A hand lifts, scratching at his chin, eyes lowering to look at his sketchpad before he murmurs, "Senior project," It's the mention of Love that reminds him of it, and it all draws a frown to his features as he mulls that over. "Oh! Nails," It's all over the place tonight as he bounces from one to another and back again, "Nicole." The same that he'd suggested for the hair. "Contacted Love." So that, at least, is taken care of in theory.

"I'll help you get as much done as you need my help for. We'll get in contact with Love and Nicole and try to get things set up." Mae closes the pizza, obviously deciding that they're done with it. "I could use a salon to go to, my hair needs it, my nails need it. It's been too long since I was at my usual salon in Seattle." She chuckles and finishes off her drink. Her purse is pulled closer, she picks out her phone and starts to tap in a text, sending it off. "I'll see who we can rally, if we work together it shouldn't be difficult to get shit done, right? If we want them done pretty, we'll.. figure that out too."

"Not pretty?" Dylan looks down right horrified that they /wouldn't/ do them all pretty, whatever exactly that means, before a humph of dislike comes from him. It's only the twinkle of those blue eyes that gives him away, and soon enough that lopsided, brilliant smile is touching to his features as he closes his sketch book and stuffs it into his messenger bag. He casts a look out the window as the rain relents for a small bit, down to just a drizzle, though it looks like another band will come in soon enough. "Nicole," His hand lifts to point to his own hair in offering so she can judge for herself if she wants to use her personally, before he chimes out happily, thumb motioning towards the window. "Run?"

"I mean, we'll do what we can Dylan." Mae stares at him with wide eyes, and then she starts to laugh. "Okay okay, we'll do our best to make them amazing, but.. " She pulls her hoodie on, slips her purse under the jacket and takes his arm. "Yeah, let's run home."

The strap of his bag is tossed over his shoulder, and already he's scooching out of the booth, arm offered up to him. It's only a momentary pause to stick his tongue out at the dancer given her coments about do what they can, that sour and grumpy face soon fading as he heads towards the door. A deep breath in is taken, like they are prepared to dive underwater, and then out he goes, letting her set the pace for how quickly they'll dash down the street.