Don't worry about that... Mae couldn't help but worry. She worried about the idea of Seven having been with someone else, she worried she would be a disappointment if things came to that. She worried the idea of her worrying was just stupid...

The contact with her hair broke the chain of thoughts, almost hypnotizing her. She felt herself lean into the touch unwillingly. Damn, that was not a fair trick.

Then the kiss came and Mae melted into the embrace. She felt like they were in a fragile balance and she was terrified to break it. Instead she curled closer and murmured happily against Seven's neck. "So, any other plans on how to spend our day off?" She was giving Seven an out. If not she was more than happy to stay like that.

Seven felt their body relaxing as Mae leaned into the embrace, and a light shiver went up their spine as she murmured into their neck. Without thinking, their head lolled to the side a little, giving Mae more room. They didn't know what would happen, but they were just following their instinct as their hand continued its journey through Mae's hair, the other resting lightly on her shoulder.

"I don't know, but...I don't think I'm opposed to this," they murmured, leaning their head against Mae's as their eyes closed slightly. Lots of thoughts were running through their head, but they weren't worried about any of that. All that mattered, was what was going on right now.

Mae could feel things teetering toward..something. She wasn't quite sure how far that direction it was leaning, but it was there. The chills down her spin, the racing in her heart. It promised to be terrifying, but nice. Good, even. She moved, wanting to kiss Seven on their insanely attractive collarbone, then remembered their face. Their back. She frowned unhappily and curled closer instead.

"You are reminding me why getting hit in the face is a horrible thing," she looked up shyly, unfairly cute when she pouted. She couldn't kiss Seven, not on the neck or the cheek or anywhere, and frankly that was a little maddening. Wasn't that how confessions worked? Being able to actually do something afterwards?

Well, she was hoping this would heal quickly. If she ever saw that guy again, she would have yet another reason to break his nose.

"Maybe...I don't know, we can watch something in your room? This is awful...distracting," she admitted.

Seven shrugged. "Oops." They smirked coyly, and though they'd debated leaning in and kissing Mae's neck, they didn't. That cute face was so unfair though. "Yeah, let's do that..." they said, only seeming slightly disappointed. Though it wasn't bad. Mae had to heal after all.

-----

A few days had passed, and life returned to normal as Mae's injuries were given time to heal. Seven didn't speak much about what they'd talked about, but Seven was spending more time close to Mae, and not just for her silence. The cuddling was nice, and spending time with her made them...happy.

It'd been a basic day for Seven as they walked inside, tossing a pile of mail on the counter without even looking at it; it was always Mae's mail. Today, however, towards the middle of the mail-pile was a piece of junk mail for a credit card application. The envelope was addressed to a "Jessie Seville," but they hadn't noticed. They went straight inside, and went about their post-work ritual, changing clothes and plopping on the couch and propping their feet up.

"Hey, Mae," they called.

Mae had gotten back into routine, and her back healed quickly after the first day of sulking around. Thankfully, bruising didn't last forever. Her boss had made a big deal about her face, listening to the story and promising to kick butt if she needed to. Mae had laughed and appreciated the gesture, but knowing Seven, there wouldn't be much left to handle if the man was ever found.

Being a receptionist meant she didn't have to do much other than sit and help people, and she only had to suffer using the elevator at work to avoid making things worse. She still hiked up one story of stairs to her apartment, dislike of the confined electronic space even stronger than the little twinges of pain it had caused.

Today, she had been able to make that climb without flinching, and felt decent enough to call herself 'better'. Her face even looked normal in the mirror. Proper rest and ice did wonders.

In the kitchen, she was finishing up hamburgers for dinner, and glanced up, smiling as Seven came in. "Dinner's almost done," she answered, and was momentarily distracted by the mail that was set nearby. The last name looked, right, but...

No...Mae was too nosy not to snatch up the envelope, blinking in surprise. Jessie Seville... She already knew what the answer was even before she mentioned it. "You wouldn't happen to know why we have mail to a Jessie Seville, do you?" one mystery solved, the mysterious legal name.

"Cool. Let me know if you need anything, besides me keeping a perimeter so the food doesn't burst into flames or anything," they joked, their smirk a little bigger than usual lately. Seven was starting to open up a little more, bit by bit.

At the question though, Seven jumped in surprise, almost cringing a little. But then, they stood up and made their way to the kitchen and took the envelope. Damn credit card companies. Before they said anything, they shredded the envelope in their hands and tossed the scraps into the trash.

"Yeah, uhm...Jessie is my first name," they said with a shrug, not making eye contact. "I'm still Seven though. Or you can call me Sev again if you want. Jessie's just...my parents called me Jessie. When they decided they were done with me, I stopped using it and changed my middle name to Seven." After they spoke, they gave another shrug, sitting on the counter until the burgers were done, and fixed their own plate, grabbed a beer, and plopped on the sofa, as was their usual routine.

Mae almost regretted mentioning the envelope. The smile had been nice. Not quite the one she wanted to see, but not bad. Collecting her own food and plate, Mae made their way over and sat down, crossing her legs and facing her roommate.

"I mean, I guess I get that. I think if you ever started calling me Madilyn I would feel like I was in trouble or something. It just, it didn't sound like a horrible name so I was wondering. I hope I didn't offend you." She took a bite of her food, looking down at it a little nervously. She swallowed, and then said with a sort of shy smile. "But, I can't always use Seven. And even Sev may not work other times. Jess...I don't know. It still feels like you."

Was she saying too much? It was easy to cross lines with them. Heck, she wasn't even sure there really were lines, it was just sort of a random game of chance hoping they magically stumbled on the correct combination of words to put both of them at ease.

Mae licked her fingers and wiped on her pants, a very unladylike habit she picked up as a kid, and reached for her water. She sort of wished she could drink like Seven did, but already had her fair share of alcohol failures for this month.

"You'll always be Mae to be, or whatever nickname I decide to use with that," they replied, cracking open their beer and looking over at her again. "You didn't offend me, it just caught me off guard. It was just weird is all. Innocent question, really. And...for some reason I don't mind talking to you about this shit." There was a real smile, and there was even a brief flash of teeth.

However, some of what Mae was saying didn't compute. It just went over their head, and they looked back at Mae with a confused look as they took another bite of their burger and a swig of beer. "Why wouldn't you be able to call me Sev or Seven?" they asked, sincerely. "I mean....everyone calls me that." They went back to their food, making fairly quick work of Mae's cooking like they normally did, and then polished off their beer and took the dishes to the sink, with everything finding its correct place in the end. See? They were learning.

Despite the fact neither Seven nor Mae was, uh, very pure, there were times certain conversation topics just went over someone's head. This time, it was Seven's. Mae didn't want to flat out explain saying 'Seven' in bed would be a little odd, but they weren't quite there yet. She hoped maybe eventually. They were getting closer, after all. How close, that was harder to really pinpoint.

When she was done she also took her plate to the kitchen. She finished cleaning from dinner, but lately that felt more like something to do than a chore. She liked being a little domestic sometimes. The cleaning wasn't fun when you weren't appreciated, but now it seemed different.

As she finished she came back into the living room and sat on the edge of the couch. With a laugh she leaned over, and whispered in Seven's ear. "Have you ever considered I want something to call you that no one else uses?" Hmm, maybe that would give the clue. A girl could hope.

Everything about this was lost on Seven, though that was probably true about most things within the past few days or so. There were just some things that Seven wasn't quite familiar with, like the concept of needing a name that wasn't a number. Then again, Mae and Seven were...different. While Mae seemed to know what she was going on about here, Seven was more the rough-and-tumble type who always came home injured and never flinched at the sight of blood. Differing personalities and walks of life and all that.

They were stretched out on the couch as usual when Mae got done cleaning, feet propped up on the table, with plenty of room next to them for Mae. When she did come back, Seven quirked an eyebrow. First of all, why was she whispering? They shrugged, the point once again going completely over their head. "I mean...I guess if you want to call me Jess--around the house--that'd be fine? I mean I'm still not sure when you'd need it, but...I'd let you." They looked over at Mae with a half-cocked smile.

Seven didn't get it. Mae found herself laughing all of a sudden and sat back down, a tiny snort of laughter escaping. The snort made it turn into even worse laughter and she blushed and tried to hide her face. "Sometimes you just like, damn your adorable."

Mae picked up her newest book and snuggled against their side without explaining further. She could sense the confusion coming from the other, but looked knowing and mischievous now. She had asked her question, and technically she had been given permission to use Jess. That was enough. If Seven wanted further answers they would have to do some thinking.

Plus, it was a little more fun this way. What was that about using a carrot sometimes? Just have to lead and see what follows. Mae just needed to continue being a little flirtatious carrot.

Seven missed....something.

They weren't sure what the hell it was.

But they missed it.

And Mae was laughing her ass off for some reason. Though they themselves cracked a smile at the snort. That was adorable.

"I'm not adorable, there is nothing adorable about me," they said with a shrug as Mae settled against them and they wrapped their arm around, letting their hand rest on her stomach. "You think I'm adorable, then you're as crazy as you are confusing," they teased lightly, leaning their head against Mae as she read, their eyes closing lightly as they tried to make heads or tales of what the hell was going on.

Mae's hair smelled nice.

They nuzzled a little, their cheeks turning warm as breathing slowed and became more steady and relaxed. Their eyes opened slightly, not sleepy, just relaxed.

Mae grinned wider. She tilted her head back to look up at Seven and almost make the grin more visible. "We both know I'm crazy already. I just hide my crazy better than a lot of people." She had always been quirky, an sometimes even a little dark. A lot of that happened when she lost her dad and became more introverted. Then there had been Cora. That rather disastrous relationship that neither of them really mentioned. Sometimes, there were topics you tiptoed around, like lava waiting to bubble up when you least expected. Mae trusted Seven, though. There was comfort in their mutual awkwardness.

Mae nested in, finding her place in her story and enjoying the contact. It was comfortable. Then she felt Seven getting cozier, distracted from what she was reading. She murmured wistfully. That was teasing, it had to be.

"You can be awful distracting sometimes, you know that? In the good ways..." she turned so she could kiss Seven on a spot that wasn't too far down their neck to be seductive, but on their cheek where it would just seem cute.

"What did you do today, anyway? You never really talk about your day. Although, I guess being inside the bubble of silence sort of comes with the expectation of silence," she laughed, feeling lame again. But, somehow she felt Seven would understand it.

"Meanwhile, I let my crazy shine for the whole world to see," they said with a chuckle. Seven was the more...openly chaotic of the two. They just let everything hang out and didn't really think twice about being awkward or being inappropriate. Seven didn't have any 'exes' to speak of, just...people they didn't sleep with--or see, for that matter--anymore. Cora, though...was something that just wasn't spoken of by either of them. It was a subject that obviously caused Mae discomfort, and it made something within Seven want to hunt her down and beat her up.

"Hm? I don't mean to--" there were lips on her neck, right below the jawline, and Seven felt their face turn hot as their lips tugged into an actual, tooth-laden smile. "--be..." They attempted to snuggle in closer, kissing the top of Mae's head because that's all they could really reach from that angle.

Then Mae asked how Seven spent their days and something tugged in their gut. They....wanted to tell her. They sighed, hand slightly moving across Mae's stomach, rubbing it gently in an attempt to keep Mae peaceful as they said words that weren't so peaceful.

"My days aren't really worth talking about, Maebell..." they said, exhaling loudly through their nose. "I'm...not exactly a freelance IT technician," they admitted. "I just...do whatever I need to for some cash. Sometimes it's computers, other times I'm...beating people up. Or signing up for fights and betting on myself..." They then got quiet, not making eye contact, and not really wanting to hear the response to this confession.

Seven was so serious, Mae paused, listening. She waited until the end, then she giggled. The giggle turned into another awkward little snort as she tried not to laugh and she clamped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, it's not funny, but Sev, did you really think I believed that dumbass story about being an IT technician?"

Mae leaned so she could face her roommate, and make it clear how genuine she was being. She was smiling, and it was comforting and non-judgmental. She raised one eyebrow, and held up a hand so she could count on her fingers. "One, you have a switchblade and brass knuckles. Two, you come home covered in marks that definitely didn't come from cutting the wrong wires of wrestling with a computer or something. Three, you looked like you fought a wolverine the other day, and we had to throw out your shirt. Four, you always carry cash. I'm a lot quicker than you think." This time, she pulled her roommate closer and kissed them on the forehead, smiling against their skin.

"I guess I just thought you realized by now it didn't matter. I don't decide who I like because of what they do or look like. I just, I like the person. I like you. Freelance tech or underground cage fighter. Just, don't get hit in the head and cause long term damage, and don't pick a fight you can't win." She settled back, still smiling.