"You DO like me!" "I don't think 'like' is the right word." "You tolerate me." "Maybe." one on one

"That's true. There are just so many things that I can't understand, you know? It's sort of frustrating."

"Mhmm. I've kinda just accepted that I don't understand a lot of things and it's okay. I dunno. I'm not too concerned with knowing everything, since that's impossible."

"Yes. Yeah. I suppose that's true. Lin, for saying that you're unfamiliar with everything, you're a very wise person."

"Wise?" Lin looked over at Orion, confused. "I wouldn't say I'm wise… I just don't see the sense in setting goals for myself that are literally unachievable."

"Which is wise," she insisted. "I'm just the opposite."

Lin shrugged a bit. "I dunno. You seem pretty smart to me. You just gotta know your limits."

"Yeah, but because I'm smart I feel like I have to know everything."

"But you don't. That's not a reasonable goal." Lin said simply. "You may want to know a lot, but it is impossible to know everything."

“I know. I think I feel like that’s my only source of validation.”

"Well, you're good at all sorts of things. You're pretty good at magic too, and you can always tell me things when I'm confused."

Orion blushed. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Lin nodded a bit. "Mhmm. You're good at other stuff too. Being smart isn't the only thing that defines you."

"Thanks, Munchkin." She offered him a slight smile. "Do you want to apply for this pancake house?"

Lin rolled his eyes at the nickname and glanced over to the pancake house. "Sure, if you want to."

"Come on then." She got out of the car, squinting at the restaurant.

Lin got out of the car as well and followed Orion inside, asking for a couple of applications once they were in.

Orion offered Lin a pen and sat at one of the tables, ordering an iced tea. "Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm alright… thanks, though." Lin continued quietly filling out his application, humming softly to himself as he worked.

She ordered him water and told him, "You should stay hydrated, though. Do you like lemon with your water?"

"Lemon? Uh… I don't think I've ever tried it with lemon? It's just water." He seemed a bit confused.

“Huh. Really. It’s like unsweetened lemonade. I think it’s really good.” When the waiter set her tea down she pulled the lemon off the rim of the cup and offered it to Lin.

Lin hesitantly accepted the lemon and dropped it into his water, seeming pretty confused. "I'm not sure how much flavor this is supposed to add."

"Stir it up with your straw. I mean, it's not supposed to add a whole lot of flavor, just like a little bit."

"Okay…" Lin did as he was told and sipped at the water, shrugging a bit. "Doesn't taste all that different."

Orion shrugged, mixing creamer and Splenda into her tea. "Each to their own."

"Mm." Lin drank a bit more water and finished up his application with a soft sigh. "Where are we heading next?"

"I don't know. Wherever you want." She finished her iced tea.

"Well, I dunno. I figured we'd probably just drive around and stop when the inclination hits us."

“Sounds good to me. We have to stay in this area though.”

"Sure." Lin turned in his application and sighed, returning to the table.