Shaking her head, she refocused herself, forcing herself to stare at Lily and Lily alone. They cocked their head slightly, taking in Mio’s temporary distraction. “Good!” Mio repeated, with too much breath to her statement. “My name’s starting to turn heads. The thing about Massachusetts is that it has a lot of history. Everyone has some family heirloom portrait, or something or other, that they want me to touch up and take care of. Some of those paintings are disgusting- look at this one.”

Mio took out her phone, and Lily leaned forward in interest. She tilted her phone up to hide her password from Lily as she typed it in, though she wasn’t sure why. She felt some sort of underlying paranoia, maybe leftover from Lily’s relentless stare. Even so, Mio showed Lily the before and after pictures of one of her latest works. Lily’s eyes widened slightly in interest, and they leaned their cheek on one hand so they could idly zoom in with the other hand, whistling softly.

“Damn. What did they do, smear honey on that thing.”

“It’s the varnish. The old types are susceptible to UV light, and get discolored over time. I clean it off- along with the other dirt from tobacco and, you know, being in contact with humans for ages- and give it some fresh varnish, among other things.”

“That’s pretty cool, Mio.” They looked up at her through their lashes, almost angelic.

Mio nearly dropped her phone taking it back, laughing nervously, feeling pink rise to her face. “Oh- thank you. Enough about me though- what have you been keeping busy with?”

Lily finally looked down, worrying out a crease in their napkin with their index finger. “I don’t really have a job. I’ve been researching colleges, but nothing is really appealing. I’m not exactly… Great, with people. As you know. But uh… I’ve been making custom dolls to sell?” Their voice raised at the end, as if asking a question of even themself.

Mio barely held back a snort, brows knitting in confusion. “Wait, what kind of dolls?”

Lily’s eyes widened, and they blinked a couple times, sitting up straight. “Not that kind. Like, ball jointed dolls. There’s a whole online community for making pretty dolls, like little models… I was picking up those pastels because I got a new idea that uses a skin tone I’ve never tried to achieve before.”

“Huh. Custom made dolls… You must get good money for that.”

A sly smile slid across Lily’s face, and they twirled one of their pigtails. “Oh, I do.”

Mio couldn’t help but grin back at them. “Can I see some of them?”

Out came Lily’s phone, and Mio was introduced to the wonderful world of Lily’s nigh photo realistic dolls. They were utterly otherworldly, with skin of iridescent purples, blues, and pinks. A few were more human, with skins of peach and deep, midnight brown. Even so, they were decorated with extra eyes or limbs, or gore so life-like that Mio had to quickly skip past the image. Lily didn’t give background to each piece. Instead, Mio was simply left to observe these strange beings, and couldn’t help but feel like she was meeting real people, one by one, that she would never learn a thing about.

“Wow,” Mio said softly as she set Lily’s phone back down.

“Thank you,” Lily said coyly, despite the fact that there wasn’t really a compliment said, sliding their phone back into their purse.

They propped their chin up on their hands, and looked at Mio smugly, while Mio digested the intricate art of her friend. There was a nut at the base of her thought that she worried at. She worked it back and forth, trying to get it free, while Lily picked up their drink and opened their mouth to speak again.

“I mean, the supplies and shipping can be pretty expensive, but my prices are always worth my-”

“Can I order a commission?” The nut was free.

Lily blinked. “I don’t really… Do commissions.” Mio deflated slightly. “But, I guess I can. I might as well give it a try. Uh… Just send me a sketch of what you’d like the doll to look like, then we can discuss models and colors.”

“Thank you so much, Lily. I’m excited to see what you do.” Her gaze trailed away again. “Hey, look at those two.”

Lily’s attention was drawn to a pair of women around their age, if a little bit older. They were brightly colored and gaudy, with an undertone of the forest after it rains. One had a pair of clearly drawn on fuschia eyebrows. The other was boldly curvaceous, with one hip jutted out and her arms crossed. They both wore sour expressions, lips stained plum-brown and pouting. Lily laughed softly, leaning forward so they could whisper to Mio without being overhead.

“Pinkie-brows over there is definitely a film major thinking she could score it with a sugar daddy straight out of Hollywood and not have to work a day in her life. Her shadow has… Four sisters, but she was one of the middle children so she never really mattered in her parent’s eyes, so she does everything to stand out, including picking bad friends.”

Mio looked at Lily, bewildered by their frank analysis. “You don’t actually know all of those horrible things,” Mio said, scoffing.

“Of course I don’t,” Lily said, eyes glittering like spring, “but it’s fun to guess, isn’t it?”

Mio laughed like a punch knocked the wind out of her. Lily was certainly something. They were impossible to pin down; stalwartly moral at times, downright crude at others. Mio knew she didn’t have the greatest frame of reference with her limited pool of contacts, but she’d certainly never met someone quite as unique as Lily.