"Oh, of course" she said, and ran back upstairs, pausing only to confirm that Billy was following more slowly after her.
Billy had been in Rose's bedroom many times in his life, but he never stopped being surprised by how much stuff she managed to cram in such a small place. The walls were covered in posters of anime and comic characters. A mound of stuffed animals covered the bed and slowly trickled onto the floor. These escapees were kept company by the various manga, dirty laundry, and discarded food containers that Rose had recently forgotten about. Billy found a relatively clean corner of the bed and sat down.
Rose was sitting in her desk chair, knees up to her chest so her feet could rest on the seat. Behind her her computer showed a paused game of whatever MMORPG she was currently involved in. That was the kind of thing Billy tried not to talk to Rose about. Once she got going about her characters it was very difficult to get her to stop.
"So what's the big secret?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. That was a habit she had picked up from one of her anime shows that particularly annoyed Billy, but he stifled the feeling.
"Have you been watching the news at all?"
"No not really. Life of Spellcraft has been taking a lot of time lately. Did you know that a level 40 mage can-"
"Very interesting." He interrupted, "But anyway, what I was trying to ask was had you heard about the mermaid?"
She did the thing where she tilted her head again.
"Please stop doing that!" Billy snapped.
"Doing what?" Rose asked, tilting her head.
"Arrggh!"
"Well I can't stop doing it if you won't tell me." Rose complained, crossing her arms angrily.
"Never mind. It's not important." Billy rubbed his eyes, collecting himself, then tried again, "They said on the news that they found a mermaid or something. There's supposed to be an exhibition this weekend."
"Why are they exhibiting a mermaid?"
He couldn't believe she had asked the question. It didn't make any sense at all. For a moment he just gaped at her, but that just made her tilt her head again.
Billy had been in Rose's bedroom many times in his life, but he never stopped being surprised by how much stuff she managed to cram in such a small place. The walls were covered in posters of anime and comic characters. A mound of stuffed animals covered the bed and slowly trickled onto the floor. These escapees were kept company by the various manga, dirty laundry, and discarded food containers that Rose had recently forgotten about. Billy found a relatively clean corner of the bed and sat down.
Rose was sitting in her desk chair, knees up to her chest so her feet could rest on the seat. Behind her her computer showed a paused game of whatever MMORPG she was currently involved in. That was the kind of thing Billy tried not to talk to Rose about. Once she got going about her characters it was very difficult to get her to stop.
"So what's the big secret?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. That was a habit she had picked up from one of her anime shows that particularly annoyed Billy, but he stifled the feeling.
"Have you been watching the news at all?"
"No not really. Life of Spellcraft has been taking a lot of time lately. Did you know that a level 40 mage can-"
"Very interesting." He interrupted, "But anyway, what I was trying to ask was had you heard about the mermaid?"
She did the thing where she tilted her head again.
"Please stop doing that!" Billy snapped.
"Doing what?" Rose asked, tilting her head.
"Arrggh!"
"Well I can't stop doing it if you won't tell me." Rose complained, crossing her arms angrily.
"Never mind. It's not important." Billy rubbed his eyes, collecting himself, then tried again, "They said on the news that they found a mermaid or something. There's supposed to be an exhibition this weekend."
"Why are they exhibiting a mermaid?"
He couldn't believe she had asked the question. It didn't make any sense at all. For a moment he just gaped at her, but that just made her tilt her head again.
