"I can't argue with any of that, honestly," she said with another laugh, her face turning pink again at the word 'adorable.' She was really going to have to get used to hearing compliments like that again in any capacity without blushing. Nonetheless, it made her feel good. Made her happy.

"Okay, maybe you got me there," she admitted with a small shrug. "I mean the shirts are this hideous florescent yellow. But the black shorts..." She blushed again as she shook her head. "Anyway, I promise, promise I only suggested that place for the food. I kinda missed the wings, ya know?" It was the truth, but Skye highly doubted that it would be seen that way. Besides, that kind of thing wasn't remotely on her mind.

"Haven't done that in awhile either. Not since my uncle found and confiscated my fake ID," she said with a laugh as the pair turned a corner. "Well, the Missing Link is right here, and the Pizza place is about a block up. "Your choice~"

Emily usually liked harassing her friends. Playfully, it was mostly teasing or affectionate abuse, but there was something about teasing Skye that was much more appealing. She liked seeing her blush, and she liked the adorable mixture of happiness and awkwardness it caused. "Of course you can't, I'm always right remember?" 

Smirking she turned and looked right at Skye, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?" She snorted. "I can tell when you're lying remember, even if you don't think so~" That actually wasn't true. Emily wasn't a lie detector. She could sometimes tell if somebody was based on guilt or sudden, conflicting feelings rising to the surface when a person told one... But not everybody was like that. She had this suspicion that she would never be able to read a sociopath, or a trained liar. She also had no idea who she'd react to somebody loopy on painkillers or alcohol, things got muddled in those situations. 

She coughed a little. "There are ways around that." Parties for one. Or Emily's totally legitimate ID that she kept in her room hidden between papers in her drawer. Or bribing an older student. That worked too. "Well considering you are sooooo interested in going to the wings place, lets go there?" She was actually starting to feel hungry now. She was also sort of curious to see how Skye would react in that sort of environment, both because she wanted to see how she dealt with attraction if Emily was going to wing-girl her, and also because she used to work there. 

An experiment. For science. 

"Well so far you seem to know what you're talking about," she replied with a smirk.

"Well, I'm actually being honest," she answered with a shrug. "Actually haven't been in that kind of mood since....well you know." Another shrug.

"True. I'l just have to stick to parties and other off the radar sources of alcohol I guess. At least until next December."

With a teasing sigh, Skye took Emily's hand and led her into the place where they were met by the Hostess. "Hey, Tiff," she said with a bright smile. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, new look? I dig it,[/color]" the redhead said with a smile, still wearing the same uniforms Skye described. "Table for two?"
"Yeah." They were led to a booth next to the window; the place wasn't particularly busy at the moment, and Skye sat down as she glanced over the menu.

"Like I said, avoid the pizza," she said with a smile, possibly letting her eyes linger at one of the other waitresses who went by, followed by a male in a tight yellow shirt and black pants.

"Heeeey....that's new," she murmured, the lights on her hands flickering orange as she looked back at Emily. "The wings and the burgers. Can't go wrong," she said with a nervous smile.

Emily's most definitely not fake ego enjoyed the playful replies. Banter was a really simple and effective way for her to communicate. "Well I'm glad you understand." She agreed. 

She didn't quite get the response she was hoping for, but that was okay. She aimed to make Skye feel more embarrassment and joy than she had in her last few weeks or months or whatever of brooding combined. It'd been pretty easy so far, so she was going to maintain the vibe! "Hey, you're the one that implied you wanted me to help you find a hookup." She winked. 

Emily really didn't mind being led by the hand into a bar or restaurant, and several patrons seemed made assumptions when they noticed, she wasn't wholly sure as it was mostly just background noise at this point, not that she really cared either. It seemed like the sort of place where college students would hang out. She was cool with that, as long as there weren't loads of kids or teenagers in here she was perfectly happy to hang out. It wasn't all that busy either as they were taken to a booth and she slide into it across from Skye taking a cursory glance at the menu. 

Shrugging she said "I guess I'll go for the wings" Mostly to herself. She wasn't that hungry truth be told, just a little peckish right now, she definitely didn't want to eat much before she was in the mall, or out for hours on end. As Skye was momentarily distracted by the bodies walking past them Emily's lips arranged themselves into a teasing smile. "I guess I'll take your recommendation." 

"What?!" she sputtered, her hair turning purple as her face turned redder than the other woman had ever made it. "I didn't-I mean....I haven't been thinking about--I'm not even up for--I...I don't need help," she finally said as she recovered, ducking behind her menu to hide the even deeper blush as the light from her hands illuminated her side of the booth.

"Really though...hookups aren't really on the cards right now, but it's good to know you'd be a willing wing-woman," she teased, once she was slightly over her embarrassment. "They just...never hired dudes before," she murmured.

"Y-yeah. The wings are great. I'm going with those too," she said with a nod, her hair becoming a more content indigo as she returned the smile, though this was more sincere and less teasing. Maybe Emily was right. Maybe Skye couldn't hope to win this.

It was gradual this time, as she caught on to what Emily had said. She did actually, maybe, possibly... In fact burst into giggles this time. If she'd been drinking she would without a doubt be choking on it, or it would have gone up her nose or something equally nasty and comical. "You know- Even if you weren't a cute glowstick- I'd still be able to sense your embarrassment" She sputtered between fits of giggles.

Shaking her head with a wide grin, still recovering. Wheezing even. "If it'll stop you turning into a mopey disco ball, I'll do it." She admitted. "In fact I'm pretty sure I'm a kickass wing-woman, I cheat." She snorted. "You don't seem to mind. Neither do they." She pointed at a table of giggly girls that kept asking the waiter questions whenever he walked past, engaging him as much as humanly possible so they could watch him walk away.

"You don't need me to tell you what they're feeling." She snorted.

The waitress brought over a pitcher of water with a smile and Emily grinned at her, quite uncharacteristically. She was having fun. She helped herself to a glass of water to re-compose herself and ordered a small portion of wings, ordering Skye's as well. "You helped me with the hair, I've got this."

"So you're saying this would be exactly the same if I was an ugly glowstick?" she quipped, peeking over her menu just long enough to stick her tongue out then she retreated back to her menu fort. Emily was giggling. That was somewhat new, but Skye had to admit, she liked it. This oddly-formed friendship seemed to be working wonders for the both of them.

"I'll be sure to remember that. Again, not that I need it but I'd be dumb to turn down free help~" She lay the menu down, still content as she flashed a smile and looked around the restaurant. "I mean, I don't mind. It just came as a surprise. Kinda jealous that he gets to wear pants..." she said with a smirk. "I think anyone can tell what's going on there," Skye added with a shrug. "For me, flirting just sort of eases the tension, even if I'm not looking to get anything out of it." In the case of Emily, it was a show of trust. Usually it was to make her feel better or to try to get farther, but platonic, joking flirting was a sign of trust for Skye, and Skye felt very secure with Emily.

"After the shit you've put me through today, you're damn straight you got this," she retorted as her eyes narrowed and her lips pulled back into a tight smirk, her eyes twinkling a little.

She nodded in response to the quip. "That is how it works, yes." Giggling more as Skye immediately retreated. Emily narrowed her eyes for a moment and then gently pulled Skye's menu down. "See, if you can make yourself laugh like this, and more importantly if you can make me laugh like this, you don't need anybody for your own happiness. Just learn to enjoy yourself you dumb idiot~" It was nice how social interaction sometimes demonstrated the point for her. 

"Judging by the conversation we've had you might. If you ran into a tease that wasn't pathologically allergic to romance, you'd flail." She winked. 

"Is it really flirting if you don't mean it?" She asked seriously. "I view it more like teasing. Flirting is the thing that people do when they are into each other. Like those two." A couple of young college students that were definitely on a date a few tables down, a pair of guys one of which had been laughing a suspicious amount since the two of them had been sitting there. 

Who brought their date to a place like this? Well, alright she wasn't the best judge of what made a good date, but it didn't seem like this was it. 

Eyes were rolled, wings were bought. 

When the menu came down and Emily got serious, Skye met her eyes, her gaze also getting serious. "I...yeah. Gotcha. I think I normally just ran to the nearest lay," she admitted, lowering her eyes. "Then I found someone that I honestly could see myself happy with, and staying with, but...that didn't exactly work out. I...I will. Yeah. I'm done moping, anyway." She flashed a smile as her hair changed to that determined red orange before settling at the basic happy orange.

"I feel like there's levels to it. Sometimes it's just platonic complimenting, other times it's much deeper than that, and still others it's platonic and teasing, but it makes both sides happy. Kinda like what we've been doing," she explained. "Though, I do see where you're coming from, definitely."

She smiled again as the wings were brought, and she just gazed at Emily for a moment. Skye was realizing her own feelings, and that they were hers and not dependent on another person. They would be for someone else to cherish, but all in all her feelings were just that: Hers.

"God, some people are so clueless." She shook her head. "It's a good thing you have awesome empaths to come and explain to you how feelings work." She winked. Emily actually tried to imagine coping with issues by fleeing into sex with a nameless stranger... She couldn't actually understand it. Obviously she believed Skye, even if she wasn't this close to her she felt like she had a good understanding of when she was telling the truth.

And she was well aware that people did do that, she just couldn't understand the cognition behind it. It couldn't have been that fufilling for those people, could it? She pushed such thoughts to one side and tried to focus on the here and now nodding gravely. "Good."

Emily arched an eyebrow. "Is that what we've been doing?" She wondered for a few moments before she realised the question could be misleading. "I don't know, I feel like I've just been teasing you."

"Well, I may have spent most of my life trying to sit on my feelings instead of understanding them," she admitted, her eyes averting for a moment. "I mean, I still don't halfway understand them, I just wear them for the world to see," she said with a giggle. "For me, that was just a brief moment of acceptance, really. But...maybe I don't need that...Also you empaths are kinda confusing. I thought I had this **** figured out until you came along," she gave another giggle.

"Well, that's sorta what it seems like, but no use in arguing semantics, really," she gave a laugh as she took a sip of her drink. "This isn't some therapist trick where in a week or so you send me a bill for a million dollars, is it?" she teased, adding on a wink for good measure. "Because I'm not gonna lie, you've helped me a great deal already."

"Hah. Tell me about it, It's SO much worse when you think you have it figured out, and then realise you've read half of the people you know absolutely wrong." She admitted with a mixture of self pity and scorn. She did smile a little at the amusement radiating from Skye dragging her back from her irritation and scornful thoughts. "I'm not confusing, you're just bad at reading me." I know you are, but what am I. 

Emily vividly remembered what it was like to think some people liked her, and some people hated her for based on their actions before suddenly getting true insight into emotions and working out that it was often the reverse of what was on display and feeling very sick for days at a time. She'd always been a bit of an asshole, but on reflection she wasn't nearly the cynic that she'd developed into over the last few years. She knew she was the edgier woman. 

She playfully whined "But arguing semantics and sass make up my entire social repertoire! It's what makes me so cute and endearing." 

"Hah. As if. Therapists don't fix your problems and then run away for the bill, they make you think you're working through them and then charge you for a hundred years." She shot sarcastically before adding sagely. "I'm helping you work **** out for yourself, and occasionally calling you a moron when you're being a moron. Much more helpful, very big difference see?" 

Skye nodded, listening intently to Emily's words. And then it went right back to teasing. "We're both confusing. That's why we work so well together," she said matter-of-factly, finally starting to eat her food.

"I don't think that's it. You are cute and endearing, but that's not how this whole friendship-thing started, if I remember correctly," she corrected politely and sincerely.

She laughed and gave another nod as she relaxed in her chair, looking down at her now empty plate of wings. Whoa. Maybe she was the hungry one. Granted she hadn't eaten today either before this, but she wasn't about to tell Emily that. No way.

"Big difference. Got it. Though I hope you didn't just imply you were going to run away later," she said, her voice only half teasing. Her hands turned blue, as did what part of her hair peeked out from under the beanie as she dwelled on her own words. After all, running away seemed to be what everyone else did. NO. Don't do that. No.

She smirked, though it was forced, and her mind darted back to the situation, once again finding it's calm place. "I'm getting better at that," she murmured to herself as the smile became more genuine. "You know, I got kicked out of public school. Popular kids were picking on my color changing hair and I flash-banged the whole lot of 'em. First time I'd ever done it. At first I felt guilty, but now?" her grin became a little more mischievous. "I'd do it all over again~"

Snorting again between nibbling a chicken wing gently she added. "Bitch please, I'm a misunderstood genius, you're just confusing." she shot back with a smirk from behind a wing. Skye was right, they were good wings. Emily was glad she'd not ordered a large portion though... Sometimes when she ate out in the US she found the standard portion size was just a bit too big for her.

"I you want to get technical about it the whole thing started with you being a bundle of confusion and me ignoring you and hoping my migraine went to sleep so that I could." She muttered a little incoherently.

"I-" she cut off, quickly picking up on the flash within Skye and put down her food, gently cleaning her hand with a napkin before taking a breath and bracing herself. Emily didn't say no to hugs from people she liked, she didn't mind Skye dragging her along or leading her to a table by a hand. She tolerated it, but she wasn't the person to initiate physical contact. Well, apart from kicking people. She'd done that before, but it was different.

That being said she reached across the table, around the plates and very gently took Skye's hand and held it gently. A reassuring smile on her face. "Hey look here, you big dumb moron..." She gave a visible intake of air before rapid firing. "You don't need me, you don't need anyone for your own happiness. No matter what you think, all of your adorable orange and yellow and that lovely red-orange comes from you. Inside, nobody else. Just you. And again, I am the authority so shush and listen to me."

Before she took an actual follow up breath and let Skye interject she leaned forwards towards her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze "And I'm not going anywhere." She soothed sincerely before blinking a few times, letting go of Skye and muttering to herself more than Skye "Not that it matters anyway."

"I got taken out of public school in the UK. Yours sounds more fun though." She admitted.

Very few people in Skye's life had called her a bitch, and even fewer of those meant it endearingly, but Skye couldn't help but smile. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, hun," she said with a wink. "Okay, maybe that's true. And ever since, you won't let me mope," she fake-pouted.

She listened as Emily gave her another lecture. These were actually quite helpful and she didn't mind them in the least. Just a friendly reminder that she could do this on her own. "I know I don't need anyone, I guess. But...I like having people around..." she said sadly as she just idly stared at the pile of chicken bones on her plate. "I understand. I just need to learn not to look for my validation in others."

Skye gave the hand a squeeze, giving a soft smile. "Thank you. Now, if you're done, I think we got some malls to cruise and possible shenanigans to cause." Her smile turned much more mischievous.