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Despite the obvious farce concerning a scooter and four old men, when Maebe skipped down to meet up with her boyfriend for the first time in days, she did actually have a long bandage down her arm. She looked unhindered by it, nor did she look like she was trying to hide it. Really, it wasn't much of a surprise to see her injured, with their job as it was. So she hopped up to the half pipe, and the boy standing beside it, and slowed to give it a good, long look.

"When did you even have time to use it this much?" She asked him, honest surprise in her voice. "You're riding skateboards when you should be riding me." She turned to him, and landed an innocent kiss on his cheek. "I'll forgive you, if you show me what you've been doing on it. And then you have to try and teach me to do a trick. That's probably going to end up with one of us back in the infirmary." She grinned, all teeth and shine. "So we should definitely do that."

"It's just a scratch. I'm sure I'll be fine." She assured him, her arm reaching out to brush tender fingers against his face. "I've seen you with worse. We're resilient. So teach me how to be as cool as you." Her hands fell away, and she smirked smugly. "But first, show me just how cool you are."

She turned to walk away, sitting several feet from the ramp in order to remain a safe distance. She plopped down on the ground and adjusted her skirt to maintain maximum leg exposure while remaining somehow covered where it counted. Then she leaned back on her hands, and watched her boyfriend like a college girl looking for the hottest guy on the block. By the hungry look in her eyes, she'd found him.

"Wow me. I'm fully prepared for it. I even wore panties today. See? I know what I'm doing."

As much as she had asked him to wow her, she wasn't actually prepared for seeing Otto become airborne, and the small board that held him flip around under his feet. She'd seen skateboarding tricks before, but watching someone you know do it live was a different experience. So she watched, and felt the experience sink into her like a warm thrum in her heart.

"That was pretty cool." She murmured, sounding far less impressed than she actually was. "How long did you say you've been defying gravity? Is that why you're thin even though you eat more chocolate than me?"

As if she'd summoned it by the power of speech alone, Maebe pulled out a Snickers, unwrapped the tip, and bit off the tip. She chewed on it thoughtfully as she imagined herself on that board, trying to pull away from it long enough to fly the way he did. Her imagination did not project that well.

"How do you do it? Do you jump off the board, or is there a force at work I'm not seeing?"

She remembered a time when Otto was never bashful around her. In fact, he was nothing but pent up anger and aggression. Now, she'd won that smile over, and she collected it carefully. She knew exactly how precious it was.

"So you need strong legs to do something like that, right?" She mused, leaning forward to pat her own legs critically. "I guess tricks like that aren't meant for me. I'm glad you have strong legs though. For lots of reasons."

A moment later, the Snickers bar, half-eaten, was thrown at his chest. He should have known she only carried around chocolate to make him happy. "Show me something else."

"I try not to keep count of how many reasons you've given me for being thankful for your strong legs, Otto." She informed him curtly, though the sight of him with the Snickers made her want to smile. He was so easy to please.

Her expression melted into something bordering on awed when he hopped off of the ramp and started to use the stairs, grinding down them as if he were magnetically attached. She did not understand the physics of skateboarding, and that made it just a little more magical, and a little more impressive. He launched into the air, and her lips parted in a breathy exhale.

He'd done it. She was visibly impressed.

"Does being a hunter make any of that easier, or are you just that good?" She laid back on her hands again, and eyed him from head to toe. "Watching you do that is exhilarating."

Maebe did not have impressive skill in strength, speed, or timing. Her skills were few, and specific. She grinned and hopped up to her feet, padding over to him with that patented predatory walk she'd come to master. When she reached him, her fingers curled very gently around the edge of the board, right beside where he held it.

"Okay. I'll never be as good as you, but I still want you to teach me how to ride it well enough to, oh, I don't know. Let's say our goal is that I can jump while I'm on it. And kiss my booboos when I fall. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"

Her fingers reached out and brushed against his cheek, before wrapping around his chin and gently pulling it up to look at her. Those eyes, clever and sharp, caught his. And all she could think about was how beautiful he was, and how funny it was that she was both enraptured, and jealous.

Perhaps it had been the echoing desire of how Otto made her feel that had kept her in the dark until that moment. She'd missed him, and wanted him, and for the first time in her life she would have been satisfied with just spending time together instead of vigorous, violent amounts of sexual activity. And she had been, until then. Normally so clever and quick to catch the signs of deceit, Maebe had convinced herself that nothing was wrong, until it was.

She took the board, and stared at it for a moment, eyes narrowed dangerously. Several ideas began to pass through her mind, but they all narrowed into focus when she took the rose colored glasses off and viewed the day, and its interactions, with a harsher light. There was only one clear answer.

Otto wasn't in love with her anymore.

He couldn't look at her. He wouldn't touch her. And all of her teasing was generally disregarded. What else was there left to love? The answer was nothing. There was nothing left of her to love.

"Hey." She murmured, her voice completely unchanged from where it was a moment ago. She smiled, and there was no sign of the boiling undertone heating her blood. "Remember when I stole this from you? Do you think it's funny yet, or too soon?" She settled the board down on the floor, stood on it, and jiggled as she tried to keep her balance. A moment later she was moving, but only just barely.

"Maybe I could skate away right now, and you'd never see us again. Which one of us would you miss more?"