*I guess I'm not done with NITW just yet, and this is in Mae's POV*
"Hey, what's up?" I asked Bea as I approached. She was sitting on the porch looking miserable and instantly I felt kind of guilty for destroying an old lady's furnace and quite possibly making my old friend hate me even more.
Bea actually blushed but tried to hide it as she looked down at her feet. "Nothing, just tired.....working all day," she answered, not sounding very tired but I might as well play along.
"I'M ALL HYPER!" I shouted into the night. She let out a snort which also sounded like a laugh.
"Good for you," Bea said in a bored tone.
"Urgh, you are zero fun," I grumbled, suddenly annoyed.
"Yep," she answered, very pleased with herself.
"You need like some magical shit," I suggested. She gave me a confused look but I stopped paying any attention whatsoever when I saw one of them.
"Wait right here," I said before walking off. Bea tried calling me back but I was so gone.
A little later I returned with more than a dozen fireflies coming around us both. "Wow!" Bea said with a smile and a giggle.
"Interesting," I said with a shrug. It had happened so many times I wasn't really impressed but she needed cheering up and it had clearly worked.
"Are you a firefly whisperer or something?" Bea asked me with a slight blush, still smiling. I could feel a blush on my own cheeks beneath my fur as I sat beside her on the porch.
"They just like me, I guess," I answered as one landed on my head.
Bea smiled at me. "You're an interesting person, Mae Borowski," she declared.
"Granddad said being interesting is all you can hope to be," I answered, trying not to be sad as I thought of how great a person he was to me and my family.
Bea put her hand on my shoulder. "Well, mission accomplished. You know, I have to say this would've been a much less exciting evening if you weren't around," she said.
"See? I'm good to have around," I shot back with a smirk.
"I mean, you can certainly beat the shit out of a furnace," Bea added, smirking right back at me. Already I could feel a blush coming.
"I can beat the shit out of anything!" I concluded, and she laughed.
"Then come out to dinner with me and let's see if you can't for one evening," Bea said suddenly and just like that we were both blushing but she was also smiling.
I thought about it for a moment as the fireflies formed a love heart above our heads. "I'm up for that," I answered with a smile.
