"Good. Because it's not girly. It just happens to be purple with flowers."

"Mhm. Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Wallflower."

Darren snorts. "Don't know why you keep calling me that, nerd fits better."

"Because you are a special snowflake so you get lots of words to describe you and I find it funny."

"He was perfectly friendly to me. Did he glue himself to a wall at a dance once and you've refused to let him forget it?"

"He's actually really shy. Let me guess. Was his version of friendly 'Here have some notes now we shall work in silence for the rest of the class'?"

"Well, yes, but I kind of welcomed that. And he got chattier at roughly the rate I wanted him to."

Darren grins. "Ha," he says.

"... Huh. Okay, I stand corrected, Darren, your wallflower status is rescinded. You made one school friend without help. I'm proud."

"Today is the happiest day of my life," drawls Darren.

"Usually Savannah brings home the friendly prey to your den?"

"Yes, where he circles for ages, then finally awkwardly shuffles towards them in lieu of actual pouncing."

"It's called being polite. You should try it sometimes, it's nice."

"Aw, but then what would you have to do?"

"Take over the world, obviously," he says dryly.

"It is actually possible for multiple people to be polite."

"Oh, no, half of my brotherly duties are 'translate for Savannah because she has no filter.' So I'd have a lot more free time if she were polite."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, so obviously I have to keep not having a filter or Darren would move on to saving kittens full-time and I would never see him."

"Nonsense. We have art together."

Bella giggles. "Also maybe if he got very good at kitten-saving he'd run out of endangered kittens."

"He would then move on to puppies, I have no doubt. Maybe endangered gerbils, after that."

"No, no, after puppies are lizards. I don't discriminate based on fluffiness."

"How very forward-thinking of you."

"I try," he snickers.