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It was a good fifteen minutes before Maebe had actually been able to finish up with Ever's picture taking, and come up to Otto. She rose her hand up to knock on the door, but paused before actually doing it. She remembered the first few times she'd come to Otto's room, before she was actually welcome. She'd never knocked, then.

And now he wanted her here, and she felt obliged to knock.

Something about that annoyed her. She grabbed the handle instead, and opened the door, walking in as she used to. As if she owned the place. As if she belonged there. She just didn't feel that way, but refused to let that stop her from acting like it.

His music was loud and obnoxious, just as it had been the first time she'd come up here. There he was, sitting on the couch - but he wasn't wrapped in blankets, surrounded by half-empty bottles of liquor. He was just reading a book. He looked peaceful; a visible contrast to the memory that was knocking around in her head.

She realized she was smiling, and knocked it off as soon as she caught it. "Hey, nerd." She knocked his feet with her own, and then flopped down against him, as intrusively as possible. She was a cat, vying for attention. "How can you read with that music playing? Doesn't your brain get distracted?"

Maebe knew very well how much he liked distractions. One that considered herself his favorite distraction was currently lounging on his lap, distracting him from reading, or listening to music, or doing anything productive. That was her super power, and she was damn proud of it. She went so far as to gently prod his sides, in a half-hearted tickle.

"That's why you like me." She nodded, happy to be of service. "The mystery is solved."

She pulled herself up, still sitting in his lap but sitting up now so she could look at him, and toyed and fussed with his hair.

"I'm even distracting you from Twitter. That's like, a miracle. It's so distracting on its own."

"Oh." She breathed out in mock surprise, bending her body against his hand in an instinctive response. "So there are other reasons." She could think of a few, off the top of her head, but she hadn't come up here for an immediate booty call, so she held her tongue. For now. "That's good to know. You know how much I love to please you."

She could tell, by the way his expression relaxed and that scowl disappeared, that playing with his hair felt good. Her hands slid in deeper, running gentle strokes against his scalp in soft and comforting waves. He looked so much younger, when he was at peace. So beautiful.

"I'd like to market that skill, then." She bit her lip thoughtfully. "I could be an entertainer. All eyes on me. That sounds just fine, except, I can't sing or dance. What will I do to entertain? The only ideas coming up are definitely X-rated."

And she silently hoped, deep down, that that was no longer an option for her.

His question did not receive a very deep, heartfelt response. "You make me feel better." She admitted, which was the truth, but not necessarily helpful in this context.

Otto's sarcastic response was worthy of her time, and she breathed out a laugh, bending closer to curl against his chest. One hand still stayed in his hair, always lightly brushing against the scalp. The other one disappeared underneath her, as she curled against him.

"Otto." She sounded quieter, more genuine. "Does it make you jealous when other men want to have sex with me?"

"Oh." She sighed with obvious relief. This was probably not the reaction Otto had been expecting, since relief was hardly the kind of feeling this answer should have given. "Good. Then tell me. How do you deal with it? Like, obviously you handle it well, since I had to ask you to find this out, which means you don't get all uppity at me about it." She let out a little breath of a chuckle. "This is a good thing, by the way. I just wonder, how do you handle it?"

He reminded himself that he didn't own her. Maebe forgot her own troubles for a moment, and focused on how painfully sweet that was. If anyone on this island could have attempted to make a claim as dangerous as owning Maebe, he might have been the only one capable of getting away with it. He simply didn't, because -

Because he was Otto.

Maebe was starting to realize why she couldn't tear herself away from this one, particular boy.

"Well." She tried to imagine Otto flirting and looking for a cheap fling, and then tried even harder not to laugh. "That's okay. Flirting is over-rated. And if it's escaped your notice somehow, I haven't actually been with anyone other than Cami, ever since you wound me around your finger. But it is nice to know that you're not the jealous type."

She leaned up and kissed his forehead, then bent back down, and resumed her troubling thoughts.

"Because I am, and it's very hypocritical. I was just hoping you had some insight that would help me.. and while 'sleep with someone else' is definitely a path I could take if I was jealous - I'm starting to think there's a certain sense of counterproductivity to that. I'd rather ******** somebody because they attract me, than some ridiculous string of jealousy."

"Just you and Cami," She repeated, bending her head down to try and catch his eyes. She found it harder to read Otto than it had been at first, and she suddenly really wanted to be able to read him, at that very moment. She wanted to know if that knowledge gave him, at the very least, a modicum of satisfaction.

He closed his eyes, but she still felt the burden of his worries on his brow.

"So." The purr in her voice returned, and she brushed the fingers of her free hand down his neck. "I enticed you." That sounded exactly like what she'd done, in fact. "I guess I get to know what the rest of the world is missing out on, by obtaining an enticed Otto Graves." Because she would never consider him shy, after all he'd done. Just picky. And maybe a little stubborn.

Maybe a lot stubborn.

A terrible, self-indulgent thought bubbled up inside of her, and she wished she was better at thinking before speaking. "Does jealousy happen when I'm with Cami?"