Rose had been sitting there, drinking a cup of mediocre coffee, for the past twenty minutes. He was late.
A bell rung as the door of the Waffle House was thrust open. Eridan waltzed in, and sat down next to Rose, the only other person in the Waffle House besides a lone waitress.
"What took you so long?" she asked, frenzied.
"I had to w-work late," he said. "You know how it is at Femboy Hooters!"
Rose rolled her eyes.
"Anyw-way, w-why did you w-want to meet up? At... 9 PM on a Friday?"
She sighed. "Eridan. You still do magic?"
"I never stopped."
"Great," she said, and paused. "Eridan. Let's run away."
"...W-what?"
"The lives that we're living, Eridan? They suck. We've hit rock bottom and the only way left is up. What do we have to lose?" she laughed a hollow, sad laugh. "Can't you see it? The two of us, a vaudevillian act, full of magic and lights and spectacle... We'd be in the showbiz. People from far and wide would come to see us, and they would shower us with fame and fortune. If we fail, what's the worst that can happen? You end up working at a different Femboy Hooters?"
"I-" Eridan stared at the tile floor.
This is crazy, he thought. Rose Lalonde and Eridan Ampora, showbiz partners. It's a joke.
And yet...
He looked up, his catlike eyes staring deep into Rose's lilac ones. "I'll pack my things."