Zaid wondered if he had misjudged her age, especially when she said she just finished high school. Honestly, the teenage/adult overlapping years could be the worst to guess at. You assumed someone was a teen and they feel frustrated they look young. You assume they were an adult, they felt frustrated you thought they were too old. Customer service taught him to never assume she when possible. Regardless, she was mature for her age. He felt curious when she mentioned her school though. ”Performing arts sounds fun. I was stuck focusing on the basics. My parents wanted me to pursue math or useful studies. I would have loved to have more time being creative. I like cooking here though.” he admitted.

When she talked about her date and her own self-exploration, Zaid was polite and respectful. He leaned against the counter and felt a little warm at her admission. ”I honestly never had a crush, but I knew I was attracted to guys... so this has been a little nerve wracking. But Jude didn’t seem terribly offended having a bunny interested in him. So, that’s always a good sign? Sometimes it feels like rolling the dice though. People don’t walk around with badges stating who they are attracted to. At least, not normal.” he had seen pride buttons from time to time, but that was an exception, not the norm.

Coming out to people was a challenge on multiple levels. Liking girls was getting more commonplace, but people often confused demisexuality with “being normal, because obviously people like people they were friends with first.” Marisol was still new to all the terminology in the grand scheme of things, but she got cranky at that dismissive, surface-level analysis from people who had no reason not to just shut up.

Zaid, thankfully, was a peach of a person. He passed no judgment, and gave her credit for her career path. Marisol kept the specifics of what she was up to quiet, because she was still worried her frazzled state would cost her that off-Broadway role. For now, her schooling was enough. ”Hey, I am jealous of anyone with great culinary skills. I’m not going to say I’m awful, but I know how to make the same five basic things. I’ll miss having a dining hall.” Come to think of it, that did sound awful! Was she going to live solely off of grilled chicken breasts and salads going forward? Not that it would be a huge deviation, to be fair.

The honesty Marisol offered was returned in kind, and Marisol’s heart fluttered. She had lesbian friends, of course, and knew a few gay guys from school because, you know, performing arts. Still, it was always a moment of solidarity to meet someone who got it. Jude, though. Odd coincidence… it would be a nice name if her one notable encounter with it was Celeste’s jerk boyfriend.

Still, no reason to take those biases here, because Zaid was already nervous. ”Aww, the first crush is terrifying,” she empathized. ”But also kinda… exciting? Reaffirming? And hey, yours seems like he might even be interested, which is already better than I was doing!”

The struggle to find potentially queer members of the dating community was so relatable. ”Rolling the dice, though; what a mood. I’ve been told I don’t ‘look gay,’ which has made me debate just buying like, rainbow shoelaces or something. We need some tell or a handshake. Would a handshake make it too cheesy? I’d dye my hair if my director wouldn’t flip.” brightly colored hair clearly worked for Skye and Alice.

But Zaid’s issue was foreign to her. ”But I don’t know gay boy rules. So tell me about this guy! Any flirting yet? Is he tall? Handsome?” Those were the right things for people who liked men, she was pretty sure.

Zaid blushed a little at her compliment. The color didn’t carry to his floppy ears like it sometimes would with his normal motor control, but he could feel the heat in his face. ”I wouldn’t say what I have is close to being a talent. I’ve learned things here care, and I live alone so I’ve had to learn to make food unless I want noodles for the rest of y life. I’d you ever need advice though, I can help.” he realized how he seemed to offer help more often these days. Being around the girl was much less exciting that being around Jude, though. Not that she wasn’t nice, he just was clearly feeling a preference at this point.

She seemed excited for him as he talked about his crush. Hearing her excited made his stomach do summersaults. ”Err, yeah, I mean, I guess it went well.” he was starting to feel like maybe he hadn’t panicked enough yet. What if he was reading it wrong? What if he was just a friend and they were supposed to just honestly hang out? Stars, he felt anxious.

”F...flirting? I suppose, I mean, I fell out of a tree, he caught me, and we walked for awhile. Uh, hard to tell from most of that. He asked me to walk so he wasn’t shooting me away? And he’s taller by a few inches. Definitely handsome. He’s,,, really well put together. Like, he has a style and confidence?” it was hard not to throw shade st himself but he clearly lacked a little in the style department. Confidence was one thing, sass was another.

Marisol was never the best with social cues, because they followed no script. Being sleepy did not help this problem. She was trying to be enthusiastic and supportive, and perhaps failed to realize she was not respecting personal boundaries.

Maybe she was pressing too hard, because her new bunny friend apprehensively pulled back. The boy was shy, and talking about his crush only enhance that. She wondered if he was worrying about putting all his eggs in one basket without knowing for sure it would work. She could relate to that.

And perhaps she was making things worse in her current stat. ”Hey, it sounds like a promising start. Besides, I’m sure you were a pleasant surprise; cute bunnny guys don’t usually fall out of the sky.”

Finishing up her beverage with one last big, grateful sip, Marisol said her cup down. ”Alright, I’m clearly at loopy levels of sleepy and maybe a nap would fix that. I’ve been in your hair too long, as sweet as you are.” Marisol took out her phone and tapped her way into her contacts, opening up a new page. ”Still, you are sweet. Um, would it be forward to ask if you want to swap phone numbers? I’d love to hear how things go with your Jude. Besides, new friends, right?” Marisol was still struggling at being a good friend, but she did want more practice.

Zaid hated to say he was relieved when she finished her drink, but the social awkwardness was too much to today. The fact they talked this much had crossed a number of personal records, and the fact he did it all while his ears were ridiculously limp and silly looking was another check mark to his boasting. She meant well, and he liked the encouragement, but he also could not handle thinking so much about the boy without feeling flustered.

She finally just asked for his number. Zaid naturally said the numbers before quite realizing that could incite further awkwardness. He retrieved his own phone, its bunny case feeling silly once more as he took her own contact information. He didn’t know many people in the city, after all, and he may have a time when knowing an adapted would be useful. ”Hopefully next time we will have a less stressful encounter. I’m sorry I’m not...great at these types of talks. I mean, you seem nice, I just, I probably wasn’t the friendliest I could be today. So it would be nice to maybe update you sometime.” There, a neutral way to end things. He didn’t do so bad right?

Marisol was ready to collapse for a long overdue nap, but she was still conscious enough to catch Zaid apologizing. He justified their messy encounter while pulling out his phone, which Marisol fought every urge to compliment. She was finally realizing that would make things worse.

Really, it was considerate for him to apologize when one considered most of the problems today had been her fault. As such, the dancer would not be shy about owning that. ”Don’t sweat it, Zaid. I’m not at my most anything today, except maybe awkward. I’m not much of a people person off stage,” she admitted, ”so thank you for bearing with me.”

Ready to give the server and the waking world a reprieve from her, Marisol offered one last friendly handshake. ”See you around, Zaid. And good luck with… well, whatever comes next.” She would leave her well-wishing vague as she bid him farewell and departed.