“So like… you would sell your flavor ideas and recipes to them for money? Is that how it works?” She asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. Ideas could make money?! Who knew?! She supposed that made sense because all products had to come from ideas. And people had to come with those ideas and so on and so forth. Victoria didn’t think her career would be ideas, though. She wasn’t any good at them.

Someone special.

Something special for someone special.

Victoria’s ears perked. “Who is special to you? Who deserves the honor?” She smiled easily as she spoke, but her eyes were sharp, and she was wondering who she would want to fight after this conversation were over. Schoolgirl crush or not, she HAD to have beef with whoever this SPECIAL person was, right? Jealousy ran rampant in her blood, and she could already feel it flaring in her stomach. “A ploy to get people to not be mad at you, eh? Smart,” she tapped her head before grabbing a bag of beans. After all, they had just been speaking out them so much that she wanted a box now.

But they were still on this empathy conversation, and Victoria was having a hard time wrapping her head about it. “I….sometimes my smile isn’t real, Benjee,” she said softly, her beaming smile from his compliment fading slightly. “But I think that’s true of everyone. And I can’t tell when people’s smiles are fake. And don’t empathetic people know that kind of thing? I’m not good at that, or caring. I don’t think I think of others enough to be empathetic or whatever.” Her cheeks stayed red. “And I do care about you. You’re…my friend — right?” Her tone sudden, her eyes narrowed in at him.

Uuuhhhh. “I actually came in so I wouldn’t have to walk past my friend Lisa,” she said with a sigh. “But since I’m here, I’ll get candy. And you don’t have to buy it for me!” She shook her head quickly.