Hellowe!
It's not Easter yet, but still, HAPPY EASTER!
And thanks for all your wonderful reviews! They make us happy! They make us smile! They make us write! They make us update! Just like now! (That was a song by the way. Improvised!)
Enjoy the thirteenth chapter of Heart to Beat!
Chapter 13
Having reached the bar, and being somewhat surprised there actually was one in the castle, Maya noticed it was pretty much deserted. In fact, there wasn't even a bartender, let alone customers.
"Strange, she's not here...", Maya mumbled to herself. She hadn't crossed her in the hallways either.
"We just keep running into each other, don't we?" Maya jumped slightly at the voice behind her. She turned around and smiled at Kaiba, having recognized his voice instantly.
"Well, at least not literally this time.", she answered, laughing a bit. Kaiba chuckled a little, but before either of them could say anything else...
"Mayagirl! Kaibaboy!" Pegasus interrupted, suddenly appearing from behind the bar. Maya thought she was going to have a heart attack for a second and let out a small scream. Kaiba, however, remained unfazed. "This must be fate!", he continued, ignoring Maya's distress.
"Nonsense!", both dragon duelists yelled back in unison. A silence followed, during which Pegasus just looked at them knowingly.
"I... I mean", Maya started, blushing slightly, "it's just a coincidence, is all." She looked away, not daring to look neither Kaiba nor Pegasus in the eye, desperately searching for a change of subject. Then she remembered why she had come here in the first place.
"More importantly, can I have a cup of coffee?", she asked. Pegasus gave her a 'don't-change-the-subject'-look, but said nothing of it.
"How do you like it, Mayagirl?" he asked instead. Maya blinked confused at him, "How do I like what?"
"Your coffee."
"Oh right! Of course, euhm... milk and sugar", she answered, "...please." she added a bit late.
"Do you want some liquor in it?" Pegasus asked, constantly smiling at her. His serious demeanour from before, when he had told everyone about the Terrorking Posseidon, completely gone again.
"NO!" Maya yelled.
"Oh, no wine either...?" he sounded strangely disappointed. "Does he want me to get drunk or something?" Maya thought, but merely grumbled in response, cursing Rose under her breath.
"Oh by the way," she started again while Pegasus was making her coffee. It was a small miracle Croquet wasn't ordered to play bartender as well. He seemed to have to do everything. "Did Rose happen to mention where she was headed next?"
"Rosygirl?" Maya nodded in confirmation. "I haven't seen Rosygirl since dinner, Mayagirl."
"Eh?" she hadn't expected that answer. "She wasn't here then?"
"No, only you and Kaibaboy here." He replied, putting the finished cup of coffee in front of Maya.
"I knew it! I knew something was off! She doesn't even like coffee!" Maya exclaimed, more to herself than anyone else. She couldn't believe she had actually fallen for such an obvious lie. She quickly calmed down again as she absentmindedly sipped her coffee. "She better not do anything stupid..."
"Black, Kaibaboy?" Maya's thoughts were interrupted by Kaiba's order. She noted he hadn't said anything in a while. He seemed a lot less talkative around more people. Kaiba nodded to Pegasus, and then walked off to a table with sofa-like long chairs as seats. He put down a laptop and started it up. Intrigued, Maya forgot all about her worry and walked over.
"You brought your laptop?" "Talk about stating the obvious." Maya thought almost simultaneously with her words.
"Well observed." Kaiba replied.
"Why? Do you plan to work even here and now?" She asked incredulously.
"Business doesn't take a break." Maya spotted a bit of bitterness in his serious tone. Tiredness showed in his blue eyes, even if just momentarily, but he quickly hid it again and went to the bar to grab his coffee.
"Isn't Mokuba in charge now?" Maya asked when he had returned.
"Yes, and he does a good job too, but..." Once again, Kaiba found himself explaining something he normally wouldn't. He didn't finish and merely sat down behind his laptop.
"But you just want to check up on him, just in case?" Maya guessed. Kaiba chuckled at how spot on she was. "Yes, he's still my little brother after all." Maya smiled at the softness in Kaiba's eyes when he spoke of his brother, briefly wondering what her own brother was doing right now.
"In that case, though, wasn't a cell phone enough to bring?" she wondered out loud as she sat down next to Kaiba.
"Cell phones don't have any reception here." Maya blinked, they didn't? She took out hers, realizing she hadn't had the chance to contact home yet, and checked it. Zero bars.
"Huh, you're right." She said as she put it away again. If she had known, she wouldn't have brought it with her. It was just deadweight now. Then again, she'd have no way of telling the time in that case.
"Spyro?" Maya looked up and saw Kaiba looking at her, almost curiously. There was a certain spark in his eyes when he spoke. It made his blue eyes resemble the ocean under a bright sun. It took every bit of Maya's willpower not to drown in them; they were just so beautiful... "Oh right, he asked me something, Spyro? Oh, of course!"
"Yep, my childhood hero!", she exclaimed enthusiastically when she realized Kaiba must've seen her screensaver. The smile she received at these simple words nearly melted her. For a moment, she'd forgotten how to breathe. He looked so happy, it practically radiated off him.
"Which one is your favourite?" He asked whilst opening a few files on his computer.
"Euhm... difficult choice...", she put a hand to her chin in a thinking position, "I love all three of them!" Kaiba chuckled at this.
"Only counting the Insomniac ones?"
"Of course! I refuse to acknowledge anything else as Spyro!" Maya replied defiantly. Kaiba nodded in approval, took a sip of his coffee and rapidly typed something. Maya looked at the screen, seeing nothing but numbers and complicated kanji. She recognized those for economy and didn't even bother with the rest. If there was one thing she abhorred and was really bad at, it was economy.
"So, euhm, which one is your favourite?" Maya asked, assuming from his reaction that he had played them as well.
"The first one." He answered without a doubt.
"Ah, going for the classic! You know, my brother knows that one so well, he knows the location of practically every single GEM." Maya happily told him, emphasising the last word. Kaiba turned to her, disbelief evident on his face.
"It's true! It's amazing!" she praised, knowing that if her brother could hear it, she wouldn't hear the end of it. "Now if only he used that memory of his for something useful." She laughed. For every bit of praise, there had to be some teasing even if he wasn't actually there to hear it.
"Is he older or younger than you?"
"Older, by five years. But I always refer to him as if he's my younger brother. Well, in Dutch I mean."
"Is he that childish?"
Maya laughed, "Sometimes, but I mainly do it cause it sounds cuter." Kaiba shook his head. "And he doesn't mind. I mean, he calls me stranger things...", she trailed off, not really wanting to actually say what exactly. Despite that, she felt strangely disappointed when Kaiba didn't ask.
"Is he a duelist as well?", he asked instead, still working all the while. It took Maya a moment to answer. "Euhm, well, sorta...", she chose her words carefully, "You see, in Belgium, he and Rose were the only two people I had to duel with. The game isn't too popular where I live." It was an understatement. She remembered people mocking her and Rose for just owning Duel Monsters cards. They never cared about it, but it was a pity that they couldn't face other opponents. For Rose it was even worse, she could only duel against Maya. It was no wonder they knew each other's deck inside out. The little tournament had been their first time dueling anyone else and they immediately wanted to do it again.
"Rafael duels from time to time and in my opinion is really good at it. Most likely better than I am.", she explained further. "But don't tell him I said that!", she quickly added.
"Really? Then why didn't he enter instead?", Kaiba asked, assuming that Rafael was her brother's name.
"Well, for one, he didn't want to meet you like I did.", Maya thought, brushing aside the fact that Kaiba had said 'instead' and not 'as well'. She knew better than to take it the wrong way.
"I asked that once as well. He told me he didn't want to duel anyone besides me. He said that it was fun when he dueled me, but he doubted it would be the same if it were anyone else. To be honest, I think he does it to do me a favour most of the time.", Maya explained. Kaiba smiled slightly, gaze never leaving the screen and still typing.
"...Besides, in a way he is...", Maya mumbled in her cup as she took a gulp of coffee. Kaiba knew he wasn't supposed to actually hear those words so he didn't inquire after their meaning. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what she meant. He shook off the thought and looked over his files again. Mokuba had done a good job, as expected. Kaiba Corp. was in good hands for the time being. Glancing at the clock, he noticed his work had gone by surprisingly fast. Talking to Maya had made it that much more enjoyable as well. Though, it was strange, you'd expect things to take longer if you're working and talking(well, he mostly listened) at the same time.
Kaiba frowned. It all felt very strange to him and he wasn't really sure he could explain it. But he knew one thing; it wasn't a bad feeling, not at all. Suddenly, he stood up abruptly, startling Maya a little. Kaiba noted how easy it was to do that to her.
"Watch my laptop.", he said as he walked away, not waiting for Maya's answer.
"Sure." She said anyway and shifted in the seat until she was in front of the laptop. She stared at the screen. No matter how good she is- or used to be- at math, she couldn't make head or tails out of the numbers.
"I wonder if he has any games on it... He seems to somewhat like them." She nearly giggled at the memory of Kaiba's smile at the mention of Spyro. "Wait, does he even have time to play them?" She thought a bit sadly, "Does he give himself the time...?" For some reason, Maya suddenly understood why he took Duel Monsters so serious, why it obsessed him so. At least, she understood a little. It frustrated her; she wanted to understand completely, not just a little. She sighed; it would do her no good to get upset about it. But she couldn't help it. Even if she told herself to just enjoy and appreciate the time she could spent with Seto, which was more than she could've hoped for, she couldn't erase the desire to know more about him.
"NII-SAMA!"
"Aaaah!" Maya screamed at the top of her lungs, instinctively backing away from the laptop, nearly knocking it over in her panic. She stared wide-eyed at the screen, where a young raven-haired boy had appeared in a newly opened screen. The boy, whom Maya recognized as Mokuba Kaiba, stared back in surprise for a moment before his expression changed to one of anger.
"Who are you? And what are you doing there?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to come across intimidating. Maya's attempt not to laugh ended in a snort, which seemed to annoy the young Kaiba even more.
"I'm Maya and I'm watching this laptop.", she replied, trying to keep a straight face.
"Why?", Mokuba asked somewhat suspicious.
"Because Seto asked...", she paused, "well, told me to."
"Seto?"
"Yes."
"Seto?"
"..."
"Who are you that you address my brother so casually?" Even though Maya didn't really know Mokuba, the question and the way it was demanded, seemed very uncharacteristic of the boy to her.
"My name is Maya De Wolf and I'm a duelist. One of the legendary two who defeated the 20 snummeltjes of Aarschot. Nice to meet you.", she politely introduced herself again, a hint of pride in her voice.
"Never heard of you."
"Well, yes, probably not no...", Maya sweat-dropped.
"Do you make a habit out of talking to inanimate objects?"
"Seto!" Maya jumped, looking up from the screen to see an amused Kaiba look at her. "I'm not... I mean, that's no way to talk about your brother.", she smirked and shuffled to the side again so Kaiba could sit down again.
"Mokuba.", he said when he had done so.
"Nii-sama! How are you?"
"Just fine, how is everything over there? No-one giving you trouble?" His tone was soft as he spoke to his little brother.
"Heh, nothing I can't handle!" Mokuba rubbed under his nose confidently and proud.
Thinking the brothers would like to talk to each other alone, Maya began shuffling away. However, she stopped at Mokuba's next words.
"Congratulations on making it to the finals, nii-sama!"
"Huh? Have they already announced the results up and till now?", Maya asked confused. If they had, then Mokuba should've known she was a finalist. More importantly, so would her family!
"No, but it's a given that my brother would make it to the finals."
Maya laughed, "I guess that's true."
"Nii-sama, who is she?", Mokuba asked, having acknowledged Maya's presence again.
"...Again? I already told you twice!"
"She's a finalist just like me.", Kaiba told him.
"Really? What kind of deck do you use?", he asked, suddenly very interested.
"Oh, dr...d... th... that's a secret." She caught herself in time. Wouldn't want to make the same mistake she's warned Rose about numerous times herself. Mokuba looked disappointed.
"It's not a secret to me.", Kaiba stated.
"...I guess it wouldn't be, no."
Mokuba looked confused at them. "What do you mean?" Maya looked at Kaiba to see what he would tell his brother. It wasn't really her place to respond.
"I just saw her duel in the first round." Technically, it wasn't really a lie and Mokuba accepted it easily, once again impressed by his brother's deductive abilities.
"Who's your next opponent?" Mokuba switched subjects again, much to both Maya and Kaiba's relief.
"Johnny."
...
"...That really doesn't sound impressive, does it?", Maya noted. Mokuba nodded in agreement.
"Another piece of cake then, huh?", he commented.
"Most likely."
"And you, Maya?" Said girl was a bit taken aback by the change in attitude Mokuba had towards her. "Perhaps he was just worried about his brother. Understandable, even though I don't think I look that dangerous..."
"Yugi.", she stated calmly.
...
"...That's...", Mokuba started, but soon trailed off.
"A whole lot more impressive?"
"Yeah, to say the least."
"You don't think I stand even the littlest bit of a chance, do you?"
"Hrmm..." Mokuba diplomatically answered.
"Well", Kaiba intervened, "if this had been the Yugi of two years ago, then no. But seeing as he is now, it could very well go either way." Maya blushed a little and smiled happily. Seto actually thought she stood a chance!
Mokuba stared a bit dumbfounded at his brother. He sure was acting relaxed around this girl. It was strange, but in a good way. He even smiled and laughed honestly. It made him happy just to see it.
"Now that you mention it, I have seen him lose a couple of times on TV recently. I wonder what happened...", Maya mused, unaware of all that had happened to Yugi and his friends nor of the Kaiba brothers' involvement in it. "He hasn't used the godcards since Battle City either. Well, I suppose it would be boring if he did."
Mokuba laughed nervously, not really knowing how to respond.
"If you manage to win, you're up against me.", Kaiba said, steering the subject away from that magic-filled past of Yugi. Not that the present was that much better, thanks to Pegasus.
Maya's eyes widened, she hadn't realized that! They began to sparkle with determination and excitement. Now she was looking forward to tomorrow even more!
"I have to win! Then if...", she stopped as she realized Kaiba had already proclaimed his own victory. Maya laughed at this, leaving the rest of her sentence unfinished.
"Nii-sama, don't you want to duel Yugi?"
"Oh right...", Maya looked down at her almost empty cup of coffee.
Kaiba shrugged a little, "Either I get to duel Yugi or else a duelist who managed to beat him. I'd say it's win-win for me." Maya immediately perked up again at those words.
"You better have a good strategy ready though.", Mokuba advised Maya. He was beginning to want to cheer for her more and more.
"Don't worry! I have a purrrfect defence! AND I also have...", Maya stopped as realization dawned on her, "MY DECK!"
"Of course you do."
"No, I mean, I still have to prepare it for tomorrow!"
"You just said you had it covered."
"Well, I have a plan, yes, but I still have to arrange my deck and add the right cards and... and...", she ended with a deep sigh. "I'm still so tired..."
"You seem hyper enough to me.", Kaiba remarked. Maya chuckled a little, "It's because I'm so happy to be here." She sighed, she really had to get back and finish her preparations, but she was enjoying talking to the Kaiba brothers. Still, it was for the sake of getting a chance to duel Seto! And so she reluctantly got up.
"I'd better go prepare. Bye, Mokuba! See you tomorrow, Seto!", she said as she shuffled out of the seat.
"Hopefully till next time!", Mokuba yelled back, surprising Maya a bit, but she smiled warmly at him, before disappearing out of his view.
"Good night, Maya.", Maya quickly turned her back to Kaiba in order to hide her blush. "Aaah, why does it affect me so just to hear him say my name? Seriously, it's just my name!" She walked off to her room, pondering these strange feelings. Sure, she liked Seto, but this was just ridiculous. She told herself to focus on the duel ahead, but just then the image of Kaiba's smile flashed before her eyes again. Her blush deepened and she groaned. "This is going to be another long night..."
Maya was so deep in thought, or the attempt not to, that she nearly ran into Weevil. "Whoah! Look out!", he yelled as he narrowly dodged her. Maya jumped up in surprise and stared with wide eyes at him, like he was some sort of wild animal that could attack at any moment. It took her a moment to notice Weevil had the exact same expression on his face.
"Ha, you must have a guilty conscience or something. Jumping like that.", Weevil accused, being the first to recover.
"What? No, of course not!", Maya defended herself, failing to notice the dodgy way in which Weevil spoke.
"You look really red too.", he pointed out. Maya blushed deeper again, making Weevil raise an eyebrow at her as if he were saying 'see?'. "Arg, just great!"
"Well, euhm what about you, you jumped as well!", she retorted, "Maybe you're the one with a guilty conscience!" Attack is the best defence they say. Surely that counted in these kinds of situations as well, right?
"W-What? Me?"
"Yes, you." Maya felt like she had regained control of the situation rather well.
"You're just saying that to divert my attention." Weevil composed himself quickly and went back on the attack. "Makes me wonder what exactly you were thinking about.", Weevil smirked satisfied.
"I wasn't thinking of someone!", Maya blurted out.
"Someone?"
"I didn't say that." Maya said flatly, mentally smacking her head for letting that slip.
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Were you thinking about me?"
"...what.", Maya stared at him as if he had gone insane. What in the name of Albert II made him think that? Really now, she wasn't the one who called him cute.
"Rose is the one calling you cute, not me!" Perhaps that wasn't the best retort, but still. What's been said has been said.
"I AM NOT CUTE!", Weevil burst out.
"I know!" Maya yelled back. Well, at least they were in agreement about one thing.
"..." Weevil flinched!
"...Don't tell me... deep down, you want people to call you cute?", Maya said when she saw Weevil's slightly hurt expression at her fast reply.
"O-of course not!"
"Then everything's fine, isn't it?" Maya said, taking note of Weevil's doubt. She was pretty sure her deduction had been spot on now.
Weevil's eyes went open as if he just realized something, "No, it isn't!" Maya refrained from smiling in an 'I-knew-it'-way and merely blinked as if curious to what he meant.
"You're just changing the subject again! Just tell me!"
"That I was changing the subject?"
"No, who you were thinking about!"
"Why do you want to know anyway?" She hadn't expected him to go back to that. Though on the other hand, she should have seen it coming. He seemed desperate to keep the spotlight away from him. Maya found herself strangely intrigued all of a sudden. This behaviour, she felt like she understood it in a way. It felt familiar.
"AHA! So you were thinking of someone!" Maya's eyes widened as she realized her mistake, a bit too late. She had let her guard down!
She was about to tell him he was wrong, but stopped as she realized that he was just going to say the opposite again. If this kept up, they'd just go around in circles and she didn't have time for that. Usually she'd just consent and agree, but she felt like winning this argument for once and had a different idea. Time for a change of tactic!
"Yes, you're right. Just now, I was thinking about you.", she stated calmly and as serious as she could. Weevil's eyes went as wide as humanly possible.
"Y-you were...?" He looked absolutely shell-shocked. Maya nodded. "You weren't!"
"First you ask me whether I'm thinking about you and when I say I was you don't believe me?" Weevil didn't reply. He just looked to the side.
"Despite what you yourself might think, Rose thinks you're cute and so does Pegasus, do you understand Weeviboy?", she changed her voice a little in an attempt to sound like said man when she said the last word. Weevil visibly paled at her question and involuntarily shuddered.
"I... Ugh, that was low." Critical hit! Yet in contrast to his words and reaction, his eyes shone gratefully.
"I know. Shall we call it a draw?", Maya asked smiling, crossing her arms as she waited for his answer. She had completely forgotten why they were arguing to begin with really. All she knew was that both she and Weevil wanted to avoid any serious conversation.
"Agreed. This ends in a draw then.", Weevil nodded his consent, suddenly more than happy to drop the subject.
"Yes, whatever this was.", Maya answered. They nodded at each other before going their own way.
As Maya made her way back to her room, she suddenly realised that was the first real conversation she had had with Weevil. If you could call that a conversation. She thought it amusing, seeing as she had met him more than once, but they'd never really spoken eye to eye. She paused a moment at the thought, eye to eye, and came to the realization that Weevil was slightly taller than she was. Somehow, that somewhat annoyed her.
Not much later she arrived back at her room and entered. Rose was sitting on her bed, her cards spread out in front of her. Maya closed the door behind her and stood, arms crossed, next to Rose's bed.
"Well?", she demanded. Rose looked up from her cards and up at Maya. Seeing her standing there like that, towering above her was a sight Rose wasn't used to. It kind of scared her. She instinctively backed away a little. The action went by unnoticed by Maya, which, Rose figured, was probably for the best.
"Well what?", she asked back, slightly confused even if she could guess as to what her friend meant.
"You know what. You weren't at the bar and never went there, did you?"
Rose froze and tensed, "No, I wasn't. I suddenly had heavy cramps." Maya looked sceptically, but said nothing of it. She merely stared Rose in the eye for a few more seconds. Her friend's eyes almost pleaded Maya to keep it at that.
"...Are you okay now?", Maya asked eventually, obeying Rose's silent wish. Even if she didn't believe it, there was a slight chance Rose was speaking the truth. Rose relaxed again at the question, "Yes, I'm fine now."
"Yeah right, you don't look it though." Maya thought. "If you say so.", she said instead and sat down on her own bed. It was clear that whatever Rose had been up to, she wasn't going to tell her. So, instead of probing further, Maya decided to drop the subject. But she couldn't help but be bothered by the redness of Rose's eyes. "Did she go to the toilet to cry?" Maya searched for something to say, but just didn't know how to put it. Feeling defeated and more tired than ever, she decided to distract herself.
Rose went back to organising her deck, grateful that Maya had taken the hint and didn't ask any more questions. She knew that if Maya found out about the deal, she'd personally cancel it and make sure that Rose could never make another one. Rose's full attention was back on her cards. She had to focus, for there was no room for mistakes tomorrow. That thought filled her with doubt, but she did her best to ignore it. She looked over her cards, her gaze lingering a bit longer when she saw Frostosaurus.
On the other bed, Maya had taken out her cards as well. All of them. She searched through the lot she hadn't used yet. There was one specific combo she had prepared just for Yugi, based on all the duels she had seen him in. Taking out two cards, she put them together and sought out the rest she would use.
"Attention, my dear duelists! Your host Pegasus, that would be me, has a wonderful surprise for all of you!", Pegasus' voice suddenly echoed throughout the room. Looking around puzzled, Maya noticed speakers in every corner of the room. "In the west wing of my castle, there's a splendid bar with free drinks for all of you! I repeat, free drinks! Croquboy will be your waiter!" Thus, the broadcast ended.
Maya laughed, "So now Croquet has to do it after all?" She looked over at Rose to ask her if she wanted to go drink something, for real this time, and to tell her about her meeting with Seto. However, Rose was just staring at her cards; she hadn't even acknowledged the broadcast.
"I suppose now isn't the best time to tell her...Ugh, stupid Rex, why'd he have to lie like that?"
Knowing that mentally getting angry at the dino duelist wasn't going to accomplish anything, Maya sighed and continued organizing her deck. But it was just so stupid; she knew Rex regretted his actions, it was written all over his face. So why wasn't he just man enough to admit his mistake? If he had just told the truth then Rose wouldn't be so heartbroken right now.
"Well, at least she seems very focused on tomorrow's duel. That'll distract her for now. That's a good thing.", she thought, glancing at Rose who seemed oblivious to everything around her. "I hope..."
After a few more seconds the silence became unbearable for Maya. It was just so uncomfortable; she had to say something, but what? She really couldn't start about Seto or Rex, so... Of course!
"You know, I met Weevil on my way back.", she started as casually as she could.
"Oh?" Much to Maya's surprise Rose reacted, even if she did turn her head away to the other side, as if waiting for Maya to continue.
"Euhm, yeah, he's actually quite tall."
"No, he isn't."
"He is! He's taller than me."
"He isn't tall. He's shorter than me." There was something very unpleasant about this conversation that Maya couldn't quite place. It felt forced, probably because it was. She desperately searched for something else to say.
"You know, I…", she started again. When Rose didn't react again and merely waited, she continued, "I think he wants to be loved." At this Rose looked back at her with apparent interest.
"That's what we all want.", She stated eventually. Was that some bitterness?
"Well, yes, probably, but I mean... I think that deep down Weevil enjoys being called cute by you."
"Enjoys?" Rose raised an eyebrow at Maya's choice of words.
"Yes, well, it makes him happy but he's so not used to it that he reacts the way he does."
"Oh I see, because he doesn't believe that I mean it."
"Exactly!"
"But... how do you know this?"
"Like I said, I met him in the hallway on my way back and we had a little talk.", Maya explained once more. Rose frowned at this.
"Weevil doesn't really seem like the type to have such a deep conversation with someone he's never talked to before though. In the middle of the hallway even, where everybody could overhear you two." Rose reasoned.
"He didn't tell me all of that literally! I just deducted it from his actions and reactions." Maya proceeded to briefly relay her conversation with Weevil. She noticed Rose was listening to her intently. Well, at least she had succeeded in getting her mind off of Rex.
"I mean he keeps denying that he's cute and when I agree he reacts like that? What does he want then anyway?", Maya explained further.
"Like he's been hearing the exact opposite all his life, huh? And now he can't believe that someone might actually think he's cute, let alone like him, but yet he hopes for it?"
"Yep, just like how he couldn't believe I was thinking about him, yet still asked me about it. Well, that's what I think at least."
"I think you're right. Wow, poor Weevil..." Maya nodded in agreement, sorting her cards absentmindedly. All of a sudden...
"WEEVIL!"
Maya nearly dropped the cards she was holding at the outburst and Rose snapped her head at the door and stared at it.
"LET GO OF ME!"
They briefly looked at each other before both getting up and exiting the room. A little down the hall they saw Espa Roba, Johnny and Tea in front of another room. Tea looked angry, as did Espa Roba, whilst Johnny just looked the same as always.
Rose and Maya quickly made their way over to see what was going on.
Maya: Weevil! What did you do?
Rose: Bad boy!
Rex: Bad boys, bad boys, what are you gonna do when they come for you?
Weevil: Defeat them in a duel and take their rare cards.
Maya: Weevil! You can't do that! You wouldn't do that right?
Weevil: … yeah… of course not.
Rose: See. He's a good boy.
Maya: And because he's such a good, honest boy, the next chapter will be about him.
Rose: But first: Rex & Rose!
Rex: Yay!
Maya + Weevil: *Sigh*