Nell was halted in her tracks by his chilling question. Derek smiled, for he always had this effect on the girl. He could say almost anything and it would make her uneasy. His question had clearly jarred her, because she began to stumble verbally. "You, obviously."
He'd known well enough what she had meant, and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Nell, I have plans."
She raised an eyebrow, jaw tense.
"I'm going to... well, no, I don't want to ruin the surprise."
She squirmed in her seat. "I don't like surprises," she told him.
Derek remembered having this conversation with Nell before, and why she hated surprises. After a second of introspection, he could recall why Nell hated them so much. He hazarded, "Is it the Tesla Coil thing?"
The girl offered a subtle facial twitch as she rested her head on the kitchen table. "Yes, that. I can't believe you remembered me telling you that"
Of course I remember it...you told me last winter. It was a funny story."
"It was the single most terrifying experience of my life."
"The two are not mutually exclusive," The Afterdark admonished, smiling his toothy smile. The girl sitting across from him didn't make eye contact and didn't look at him. She was exhausted, and lack of real sleep had caught up with her only just now. Sure she'd been sleeping outside his building, but that had been a light cat nap with no deep rest to it. "She didn't even say goodnight," Derek mused to no one.
Her hair fanned out on the table, and there were knots in it here and there.