"...Lemon."
"Yeah?"
"You're doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
Sunny folded her hands. "That thing. Where you click your fingernails together when you're trying to think of a way to say something that you know isn't going to come across well in any event."
Lemon Zest looked at her hand. "...That's a thing?"
"Yes."
"That's a thing you noticed?"
"It's a very distinctive clicking pattern, Lemon." The blue-skinned girl quirked an eyebrow. "Frankly, it's more irritating than your usual method of just blurting things out."
"I thought you hated me just blurting things out."
"I would say it's more annoyance than actual hate. But with your fingers, I'm constantly anticipating something world-shaking."
Lemon smirked. "Oh really?"
"Yes."
"My fingers arouse your attention, you say."
Sunny Flare gave her a flat look. "Do not get in an innuendo duel with me, young lady. Not only is it rude, you are thoroughly outclassed."
Lemon quirked a brow. "Really."
"Yes."
"Yeah, I can't buy that. You're too straight-laced."
"The straightest of laces are on the tightest of corsets. Or so the saying goes."
Lemon Zest crossed her arms. "Yeah, never heard that one before."
"I'm sure there are many things that your innocent ears have never heard."
"I wouldn't call my ears innocent. I have a broad and coarse vocabulary."
Sunny Flare sipped her coffee, quirking a brow. "If words are the only sounds you consider depraved, then your ears are truly innocent indeed."
"Oh, haha." Lemon put her hands on the table. "Cute, Flarebear, really cute. You think I don't know what sex sounds like?"
"Yes."
"...well I do."
"Only that which you've heard through actors."
Lemon blinked. "Wait, are you saying I never get any?"
"The fact you need to ask clearly shows the answer." Sunny Flare put her coffee down. "In all honesty, the reason I have not reduced you to a flustering mess is because you are my friend. If it were anyone else trying to get under my skin so very blatantly, I would already have them writhing on the floor and begging me to still my tongue."
The conversation fell dead for a moment or two, as the pink girl stared at the blue.
"...Okay, wow. Wow, that is... wow." Lemon slowly sat down. "Yeah, okay. You win. You have the more perverse mind. I concede defeat."
"It's a family trait," Sunny Flare replied with a small smirk. "Now then, back to the original issue... what are you trying to dance around and not say?"
"Oh, you know, just... stuff."
"Stuff."
"About... things." Lemon wrung her wrists.
"Is this about my hands?"
"...y'sm'm."
"You were going to ask about what cool upgrades I put in my hands."
"Yes, yes, let's go with that, that's totally what I was going to ask."
Sunny cocked an eyebrow at Lemon's broad grin.
"...alright." Lemon sighed, sitting down. "I just, um."
"Just....?"
"...I just, you know... it's foggy out today."
"Yes."
"And fog is made of water vapor, and..."
"And you wanted to know if that affected the use of my cybernetic hands adversely," Sunny finished.
"But, you know, not in like, a pestering sort of way," Lemon clarified. "Like, you probably get that a lot, I know, so I was just going to, uh... is there a problem? With them, in different weather?"
"Not usually. The delicate parts are pretty well protected by the outer mesh. Rain, snow, heat, cold, day or night, they're usually good." Sunny paused. "But I do supplement their batteries with miniature solar panels, and they kind of... wriggle if things get windy."
"Wriggle?"
"They're attached to my wrists pretty firmly, but there has to be some give for them to turn. They haven't ever popped off, mind, but sometimes I can't use them properly until I'm inside."
"Ooooooh. Is that why you always want people to open doors for you on windy days? Cause I thought it was just your hands going stiff from the cold."
"Well, you know, it's an excuse that people will believe that doesn't have them asking annoying questions like 'are your hands okay, did the weather do something to them,' stuff like that."
"Yeah, it must be so completely terrible to have actual friends that care about your issues and want to make sure you're doing alright."
Sunny leveled a flat look on Lemon, who crossed her arms and returned the look just as sternly.
"...I need some accommodations," she pointed out. "I get that. But that doesn't mean I'm an invalid."
"I'm not saying you are. Hell, you're intelligent by effort, which is a lot more impressive than 'genius by instinct'. But..." Lemon sighed. "Look, I just want to know when I should help, alright? So I'm going to ask questions, but I don't want to be a pest about it."
"Really. Not a pest. You."
"I prefer to be annoying in an amusing way. Like singing a song that you secretly like but don't want anyone to know you like so you have to say 'stop it' every once in a while to keep up the illusion. Or debating ridiculous things like the proper... styling of hair..."
She paused.
"...So, um. You had your hair long, before... you know. Have you... ever considered growing it out again?"
Sunny sighed. "No. Too many memories, mom braiding my hair, dad.... getting me stupidly fancy ribbons for it... aaaaand if I'm totally honest there's a paranoid traumatized part of me that doesn't want it getting caught in car doors."
"Fair enough. And the short-hair look does work on you, I admit." Lemon smirked. "See, now this is the part where I say 'but anything would work on you,' and then continually compliment your appearance while denying any romantic overtones to get you flustered. That's the kind of annoying I want to be."
"Well, by explaining that, you just shot yourself in the foot didn't you?"
"Did I? Or perhaps my explanation has left you anticipatory for blatant platonic flirting and by denying you that reward I frustrate you consistently."
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "I think you're trying to play mind games with me, but the thing is, you're the only one caught up in your own mind games."
"Or aaaaaaaam I?"
"Yes."
Lemon shrugged. "Yeah, I probably am. So when do I get to meet your crazy aunt?"
"Absolutely never," Sunny stated with a serious expression. "Either she'll corrupt you, or you'll corrupt her, and I don't know which would be worse."