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He was concerned for Syn. Maebe felt less and less comforted by the way he expressed himself. Innocence and naivety were turning into ignorance and close-mindedness.

"The only person who doesn't get something here, is you, Dawson." She gently pointed out, slithering out of her bed and dropping down to the floor. She pulled the Doritos away and set them aside, before crawling into his lap until she could look him dead in the eye. "And the problem is, you don't realize that you don't have to. Listen to me very carefully, because this is important." She pressed a hand to each cheek, keeping his head in her gentle grasp. "There are some things in this world you will never feel. Things you will never experience. And you don't have to try and understand those things. You don't have to try and wrap your mind around it, or try to relate. Because you, Dawson, do not feel the same way. We're not all wired like you. And sometimes, things are going to be out of your reach of comprehension. When they are, it is an insult to try and understand it within your own personal boundaries. Your precious little face of confusion is a slap to mine. So try to remember this, the next time someone tells you something you don't personally understand."

Her body rolled against him, and she inhaled, breathing him in. "I will never understand a human being who goes against its very nature, and refuses to make love when they are aroused by another human being. I will never be able to comprehend the absolute stupidity and fruitless stubbornness involved in saying no. We were made to pleasure one another. Our bodies, our senses, every cell in our blood and DNA responds positively to sex. To deny yourself that for any reason is unfathomable to me - and there are lots of reasons people use, and they're all trite compared to how it feels to press one body against another - but that does not change how pointless it all seems."

She sat back, and her expression turned wry. "But that also doesn't change the fact that you do believe there's a reason to deny yourself. And I respect your choice as best as I can. I don't try to understand you. And - aside from our initial encounter - I no longer try to change you. Sympathy is not the same as empathy, Dawson. If you don't understand why pain makes me feel so good, then accept that you'll never understand it, and move on.."

"I know." She coo'd, patting his chest softly. "You could never mean to insult a fly. And I know that there are some things that aren't safe, and you have every right to worry about them. I'm just trying to stop you from accidentally pissing me off by saying that people who like to inflict pain, are inherently bad. I do not disagree that Jan's got issues. He's already shown me his true colors lately. But I don't regret a minute I spent with him, because those minutes were my choice. And they were my pleasure. What he did with America was her pleasure, at first. And then it wasn't, and the only thing he's wrong for is not respecting that choice."

She reached out, and dragged her fingers gently along the edges of Syn's fangs. She could feel the hot, burning growl of a jealous Thaw bubbling up inside of her, and her eyes fluttered and rolled, before finally closing. Where Dawson pulled away from the discomfort of touching another weapon, Maebe sat there and soaked it in.

"Do you think I wasn't born right, Dawson?" She hadn't called him a name involving the word Grace since the beginning of the conversation. Her eyes opened, searing into his. "Be honest with yourself."

"That is a true statement." She obliged, finally pulling her fingers away from Syn. "But it's contradictory to your judging demeanor. Because it's you who stated he wasn't born right. Nevertheless, I should tell you. I didn't know about any carving when I was with him. I mean, you can check my skin from top to bottom, and I promise you, it's flawless." She grinned, as if inviting him to check. "The only thing I knew was that America had slept with him, and then he showed her some of his true colors, and she was disgusted. I wasn't surprised. She'd probably be disgusted with me, too."

Reluctantly, Maebe climbed off of Dawson's lap, picked up the Dorito bag, and placed it there instead. She climbed childishly back up into her bed, and turned to face him once more. "So that should answer your question. I was with him because you must judge a person based on who he is at the time you are with him, not how he was born. And for me, Jan was perfect." Her lips turned down, pursing tightly. "For a while. Now he's a piece of s**t."

The lazy calm that always seemed to hang off of Maebe cleared like a fog rolling out when he started to pull down his shirt. She sagged a little when she realized he was just tugging it down enough to see the tattoo, and not removing it altogether. But still, she could see what he'd promised to show her, so she climbed back out of the bed and sat on his lap again, innocently enough this time as she just wanted a better view.

Her hands were on it in seconds, though they looked a little too interested in toying with the chest hair as well. She tried to pull down enough to see where the tattoo ended, but her face was inches away from it, giving it a thorough inspection.

"Any particular reason why there are three roses? Or was this a set tattoo already?" She followed the lines of the stems, and curiously prodding each thorn.

It was for a girl. That was so cliche. She was surprised that the girl's name was not tattoo'd somewhere over his body, as well. He seemed the type.

"She was the idiot. Any man who feels strongly enough about a woman to put himself through physical pain and make a permanent mark on his body is worth more than what she offered you. But I'm sure she was pretty, and I can't blame you. Men have done more, for less."

She stopped tracing the rose stems, and played with the chest hair that stuck out at odd angles instead. "You're so testosteroney. Do me a favor, when this job starts to wear your softness down, don't be weird and shave your chest. I know it looks good on some men, but I don't recommend it for you."

She could tell that story was tender for him. She tried to respect it in her own way, but there was only so much Maebe could do. So she smiled regretfully, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for showing me. It's a very nice tattoo, meaning aside."

"Right." She nodded sharply, and stole the bag of Doritos away to grab herself a fistful. She remained where she was, if only because she'd gotten comfortable, and climbing back on her bed felt so far away. So she slumped and ate while seated all crumpled up and awkward on his lap like a child.

"I was going to get a tattoo once." She muttered through a mouth half-full of chips. It was going to be on my stomach. It was going to say 'Up all night to get' and then there would be an arrow pointing down, where you can't see. But if you got a little farther with me, you'd see a four leaf clover, right above my hoohoo." She grinned a cheesey, Dorito crumbed grin. "Get it? Like the song."

Maebe took a handful of Doritos and expertly shoved them right into his mouth.

"I DIDN'T DO IT, because, I know a guy named Lucky. And Mimsy used to date him or something, and that's why she wants to kill me." She picked out another Dorito for herself, but before she ate it, she repeated, in complete deadpan.

"You're a hoohoo."

"I could, but the point of the tattoo was to emulate the song. And to make the double entendre that getting down there was getting lucky." She knew there was little to no originality in the idea. Perhaps that was why she'd actually dumped it before getting it done. But more likely, it was because of how quickly Lucky had gone from a crush, to a horrific nightmarish haunting. She tried not to think about it - because it had never been resolved. For all she knew, he was watching. Right now.

She shuddered.

"I just need to think up a better tattoo. Something meaningful. I was also going to get one that was two suns and a moon, but.. at this point it's clear that my laziness has served me well. Both times, I was too lazy to get out there and get something I would have regretted, done." She wiped Dorito dust off her fingertips. "Apathy wins the war on terror once more."