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Unsurprisingly, Maebe had not taken account to what day it was until she heard the knock on her door, and that telltale voice reminding her that she got free drinks on Tuesdays. It was like a tiny Christmas present, once a week. The only thing that would have made them any better, would be if he'd wrapped them for her to tear into - but she'd need to renegotiate their terms for something like that.

She opened the door after unlocking it, and stretched out her arms dramatically, before letting them whirl back up in front of her with twin birds flipping in his direction.

"You're late." He wasn't. "I almost thought you weren't coming anymore." She hadn't. "It was starting to hurt my feelings." It didn't.

Maebe let out a soft whine of insult before closing and locking the door, only to turn and bound past him - shoulder slamming against him as she walked, for revenge - and grabbing for her cup. "How dare you. I would be torn up if you hurt me. I would cry for days into my pillow, with a picture of you beside it, and several pencils shoved through the picture right into your heart. That is how crushed I would be. Just utterly distraught."

She said all of this with a ridiculous grin that did not match her words at all, after having climbed onto her desk and curled up into herself to enjoy her Tuesday Drink.

"Mmmm. Good. Now my day is made."

In the silence that followed his last words, one could almost imagine the sound of something dropping, breaking, shattering, without it ever happening. Her smile was gone - quicker than a snap - and her lips parted for one single breathy exhale.

Then she looked down into her frappuchino, and felt herself harden around the emotions that Lex's words managed to dredge up out of her. She felt the walls rise up, taking with it any sign that he'd managed to penetrate her heart at all.

"Actually, no." She chuckled out breathlessly. "There won't be any trees for us. Sorry to disappoint." She took another sip of her frappuchino, but the taste had soured.

She did not flinch when his hand rested on her shoulder. Her opposite hand reached up to pat his hand gently, in an understanding gesture. His question was meant to change the tone, and she gripped onto it like a lifesaver, as she was ever ready to keep anything real, and honest, from rising to the surface.

"That's not a fair question." She murmured, her head turning just slightly to give him a sinister side glance. "If you wanted me to say you, you shouldn't have fought someone I have feelings for. Go pick a fight with Rep, maybe. Then I can dutifully sing the praises of your glistening pectorals and rippling abs."

Of course, he'd have to have his shirt off first, and somehow Maebe had the common sense not to mention undressing in a spar around Lex, anymore, so she left that tidbit out of the conversation.

"You sure do have a high opinion of Rep." Maebe teased, her eyes widening as if she'd just discovered something important. Of course, she held her drink out for the flask, quite pleased to be offered as much. "He's more bark than bite. I mean, he's got a lot of bite. But just not so much that you shouldn't think you could take him in a fair fight." Of course, Maebe had little experience with Rep's fighting skill, other than the fact he'd almost killed her best friend. That just meant he was reckless.

She would hold out her drink extra long once he mentioned Dawson, as if to say that comment had just earned her a double shot. "I wouldn't say that. I would say that he's been honest about not having any feelings for me whatsoever. So, this is just about me trying to accept that." Her lips pursed tightly to one side. "Not sure if you knew this about me, Lexi, but I don't accept things easily."

Taking a sip of the drink after it was spiced up made her wince, and she coughed out a laugh at how strong it was now. Frappuchinos were probably not meant to hold that much liquor in them, but then again, neither was she. And Lex was right about one thing; alcohol seemed to be the only answer, lately. It never worked on a permanent basis, but it managed so sweetly to give her that temporary forgetfulness. Most times.

Now that she thought about it, every time she'd been drunk recently had been with Dawson. She hadn't even given herself much of a chance to try and forget. And when she thought about it, she realized she was doing it on purpose. Part of her never wanted to forget. It was stubborn, and willful, and desperate to torture her.

Lex started prattling on about a girl in his past, after lounging on her bed as if it was his. She felt the prickles of territorial envy pluck at the back of her neck, and moved to climb on top of it, curling up with her back against his middle. He wasn't allowed to make himself so comfortable without her say so, even if he had just given her a drink.

"The problem is, I can't pack anything up. Can't hop on a plane to Paris, anymore." She muttered, sucking sourly on the straw of her drink. "We're all stuck here. Forever. We can't move on. We can't move out. And you're right; he's one of my best friends. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him. I don't think even moving to Paris would have changed the way I feel, even if I could have."

Nothing was simple, at Deus.

She took one last, long sip, all but finishing the drink off far too quickly. When it was done, she felt it rush her head too quickly, and it lolled back until it hit his side. "I wasn't even supposed to have feelings." She admitted, a little too honestly for her taste. "This place. It's poisoned me into emotion."

"I thought that's what this was supposed to be." Maebe muttered unhappily, holding out her now empty cup before letting it drop on the floor. "The antidote."

Clearly she'd developed an immunity.