Welcome to Gaia! ::

Maebe had managed a spectacular display of not tripping all over herself while Dawson made promises she was relatively sure he could not keep, all over the site and their DMs. She was all for a good joke, but she'd been clear before about her thoughts on the matter of them - well - chilling, if they were going to continue to use that stupid internet term. It was very much on her Christmas list.

She did not do things often. But she had gotten out of her room, gone to the bar and bought a giant bucket of popcorn. She'd done a thing. She didn't know why she was going through all the effort just to hear 'oh, I was just joking', but she really hoped that maybe, just once, he might be okay with it.

That hope was worth getting off her a** for once. Maybe.

She was finding some rare ability to hope for things lately. She didn't know how long it would last, but she was enjoying it while it did.

She opened the door, with a few kernels of popcorn in her hands. It was immediately flung in his face. She waited for the inevitable complaint that she was wasting it, before he realized just how big of a tub she'd bought.

"Nothing." She just let him clean it up, because like hell was she doing that.

She paused thoughtfully, and then pulled him inside so she could close the door, while haphazardly finishing her thought. "Yet."

The door was closed, and she was hopped over to sit on her bed, cross-legged in front of the popcorn tub. It was big enough for her to reach, so she did. This time, she actually ate what she took out of it.

"I bought you popcorn." She murmured, with a voice that silently added said so help me God.

"I wasn't planning on finishing it on my own." She reminded him, popping another kernel in her mouth. "And butter's delicious. I love butter. Why would I be turned off by butter? I'm totally turned on by butter."

That might have been a little bit of a nervous ramble. She put an entire handful of popcorn in her mouth instead, to shut herself up.

He was taking his sweet time to get to the popcorn. She knew this was a bad sign. Her lips pursed, and she pulled Taym's laptop out from under her bed to boot it up beside her. "So what are we fake watching tonight?"

"That's not true. It totally matters." Jesus Christ, did he really just say that? Maebe masterfully played it off as if he wasn't making her heart race like a hummingbird. "Personally, I'm feeling something quiet. Like, is Pocahontas quiet? I can't remember. I think it is. Indians, and s**t."

She could not, for the life of her, remember anything about Pocahontas in that moment. She hoped to God that there weren't any loud ridiculous parts - she needed something to calm her down.

"I almost bought nachos at the bar." She was rambling again. "But, you said popcorn, and I didn't want to disappoint."

From Maebe's point of view, Dawson had just choked on popcorn and turned blushing red because he was thinking about nachos. And that wasn't completely out of line for him, so she just patted his back fondly, and let it go.

"Okay, Poke the hontas it is." She snorted just a little too loud, trying not to shake as she opened up the Disney folder and attempted to put on the movie. It was difficult. That was an extremely bad joke.

She flipped the movie on full screen and settled it at the foot of the bed, then immediately turned around and slammed her face into his chest. It was a safe place to get those giggles out, while there was still time.

A few more giggles left her before they dried up at the slow realization that Dawson was trying to offer suggestions to stop her from giggling. She figured that he'd been open enough about his intentions for her to stop assuming the worst, and that managed to sober her up. She shook her head, which was just an excuse to rub her face against his chest, and then lifted it up to look at him.

"No, it's okay." One side of her lips lifted in a half smile. "I'm done making bad jokes tonight."

She leaned back from her position, which had naturally, instinctively curled up against him as she always managed to do. This was to reach back and grab a handful of popcorn, before bringing back into the warm fold of his body. Three kernels went past her lips, before she decided to hold one between two fingers for him.

She was adamant about him getting his popcorn.

The look on his face reminded her that Dawson had no idea what he was doing, and she bit her lip to keep her smile from getting too wide.

Then he clamped down on her arm, and she rose an eyebrow as she stared at his attempt to keep her from teasing him. He was right to, of course - he knew her well - but she still acting like that had never been her intention, and let him take the kernel without incident. It was a little more difficult to put another one between her fingers, but she managed with a little awkward shuffling.

"Yeah. You make enough bad jokes for the both of us. I guess I can take a rest for one night."

She felt something drip down her wrist, and turned to check on it. Holding the handful of popcorn had butter dripping down it in one single line, and she brought her wrist to her mouth to lick it off. Mid-lick, she looked up at his face, and realized that she could have made that a lot sexier, if she'd been thinking about it.

And it was weird, that she hadn't been thinking about it. She wanted Dawson, more than anything - but something about her normal methods of seduction felt so wrong around him. Her tongue disappeared, and she rubbed it away with her other hand instead.