At first, their journey around the mall was relatively quiet. In Farron's case, it was because she was eating half of the time, and for the moments when she wasn't, she was pointing out interesting items in storefronts or amusing advertisements. In Cora's case, she was busy trying to stick food in her mouth so her foot wouldn't fit.

"That movie sounds cool," Farron said, pointing to another poster of the sequel Cora hadn't heard about. "Have you seen the first one?"

Cora took a bite of the wrap just before Farron turned to her, then shook her head as she chewed.

"There's a theater nearby that's showing it, and they have discounts on Tuesdays, if you're interested."

Cora shrugged with a head tilt, still chewing.

"What kind of movies do you normally like? Or TV shows, if that's what you prefer. Or books."

Cora narrowed her eyes in feigned thought, then took another bite of the wrap.

"You must really like that wrap."

Cora froze mid-chew. While it was delicious, she couldn't tell Farron that she was mainly engrossed with it to avoid talking. At the same time, she couldn't stay silent, especially since Farron went through the trouble of making her lunch.

"I do," Cora said, her voice rougher than she expected. She cleared her throat. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Farron grinned. "Not at all. I had to make my own anyway, and most of the ingredients were things I was trying to use up. The chicken was from my parents again. They bought another rotisserie chicken for some reason. I swear, if it's not because they think I'm starving, it's because they just want an excuse to visit me."

Cora chuckled, then noticed how forced it sounded. "That's...sweet of them."

"They're pretty cool," Farron said, nodding. "They've always been supportive of my sexuality, and they try hard to remember my pronouns too. They forget occasionally, but they also forget their own birthdays, and they always apologize after, so I'm not too bothered. It's also only been a few months since I told them, and they've been getting better."

When Cora swallowed her next bite, it struggled to move around the lump in her throat. "They sound awesome."

"Yeah." Farron paused. "You don't have to answer, but...what's your family like?"

Cora had to resist taking another bite of her quickly dwindling wrap. She expected the question would come up eventually, but she hadn't gotten around to preparing an answer yet—or she had hoped the discussion would never happen. As much as Cora wanted to take the out Farron offered, she couldn't, not when she had avoided too many questions already.

"They're...alright," Cora muttered.

Farron was silent for a moment. "So when you're not dedicating your life to the coffee bean overlord, what do you like to do?"

While that line of conversation was more bearable, it wasn't by much. "Um...nothing much, really. I just...hang around. I'm kind of boring, actually."

"I don't think you're boring."

When Cora met Farron's eyes, Farron smiled. "You're sweet, funny, passionate... I like that."

If Cora had been eating something, she would've choked on it. Instead, the only thing she choked on was her words. There was no way she imagined that, right?

"Thanks. Um..." Cora had to switch topics, fast. "What do you like to do? Cooking?"

Farron shrugged as she removed some of the foil from her wrap. "Cooking can be fun, but it's also something I kind of have to do to, you know, survive. It's also not that fun when my weirder creations don't turn out that great."

Cora nodded. "Like cheese and peanut butter ramen?"

As soon as Farron turned to her with a confused expression, Cora wondered why she kept trying to participate in a civilized conversation.

"The... That's what you had in your basket that one time," Cora said, recalling the night nearly three weeks ago as if it was just yesterday. "At the grocery store. With instant noodles." Shoot, would Farron think it was weird that Cora remembered their first race for bread that clearly? "It was..." why was she still talking, "mozzarella...and..." please stop, "organic."

After a beat, Cora stuffed the rest of her wrap into her mouth. She wasn't sure what she could occupy herself with for the remaining twenty minutes of lunch, but if she didn't stop herself then, she wouldn't survive that long anyway.

"You remembered," Farron said. She didn't sound creeped out, at least. "Cheesy peanut butter ramen does sound like something I would try, but that stuff wasn't actually for me." She nodded to an advertisement ahead of them. "That's what it was for."

Cora followed her gaze to an ad for an animal adoption service. Photos of a smiling dog and a sleeping cat stared back at her. "You make noodles for dogs?"

Why was she like this?

Farron chuckled. "Not quite. I do pet photography. Those are my photos. And some of my subjects are more cooperative when food is involved."

When the information finally processed in Cora's head, her mouth dropped open before she turned to the advertisement, then back to Farron. "You took those?"

"Yup."

"You're like...a professional?"

Farron grinned. "I wouldn't say that. It's something I like doing, and I'm decent enough for some people to pay me for it."

Cora's mouth was still ajar. "A real business paid you for your work."

"Well, this one was actually voluntary. They're a non-profit, and it was for a good cause."

They stopped in front of the vibrant advertisement, and Farron pointed to the black and white dog. "This is an Australian Shepherd mix named Dolly." Then, to the brown cat. "And this is Augustus the Third, a tabby."

"There were two other Augustuses?"

"Apparently." Farron stared at the photo with a wistful gaze. "His last owner had recently passed, and none of their family members could take him. He's an older cat too, so it's been tough getting him adopted."

Cora frowned at the photo. "That's too bad. He looks sweet."

"He really is." Farron chuckled. "He wasn't very food-motivated, though. All he wanted to do was sleep. But I guess they liked the photo enough to use it. Dolly on the other hand, she went wild for the peanut butter."

"I can understand that. Peanut butter is delicious." Cora paused in thought. "Is that what you have on the back of your phone? Pet photos, I mean, not peanut butter."

Before Cora could be embarrassed over remembering another specific detail about Farron, Farron grinned, fishing out her phone with her free hand. "Yup. They're some of the funnier ones I've taken. I like looking at them if I'm having a bad day."

There were three photos arranged in a collage under Farron's clear case. One had a husky wide-eyed and open-mouthed as they tried to catch a flying treat. Another had a beagle dragging a tree branch that was clearly too big for them. The last had a calico cat sleeping soundly on a couch; beneath their paws was a black cat's unamused face.

"These are adorable," Cora said, smiling. "I don't know much about photography, but you're really good at capturing their personalities."

Farron beamed as she stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "Thanks."

Then, there was silence. Cora wasn't sure what else to say, and she had depleted the remainder of her food. Farron still had most of hers, but she seemed more focused on staring at it rather than consuming it.

"I—I have a question," Farron said, her eyes still on her wrap.

She didn't ask it. Was Cora supposed to say something?

"Uh...sure." That was too indifferent. "Go ahead." Slightly better.

Farron hesitated. "Would you want to go out with me?"

Cora blinked. She felt her expression shift, but she wasn't sure what emotion it conveyed. She wasn't even sure what emotions she felt. For all she knew, her eyes and mouth were just as wide as the treat-catching husky's had been, but definitely not as cute. There was no way she heard that correctly. And even if she did, she was probably misinterpreting Farron's words entirely.

"You can say no, if you want," Farron added with a chuckle. Her attention was still on her food as she fidgeted with the loose foil. "I'll be fine."

That was not what Cora wanted. "What? No!" She paused—shoot. "I mean, 'no' to saying no, not to...you know..."

There was no way this was really happening. There was no way Farron, her rival from across the food court, was actually interested in Cora...that way. After two years of giving each other dirty looks over crowds of customers, then less than two weeks of being some semblance of friends, there was no way Farron was considering...something more.

There was no way that was possible. Still, no matter how many times she told herself that, Cora hoped it was.

"Like...a date?"

Farron nodded, still not meeting Cora's eyes. "Yeah. A date."

"Are you sure?"

Farrow finally raised her gaze with a frown. "Of course I'm sure. You're fun to be around, and I want to get to know you better."

Cora wouldn't call herself "fun"—that was Farron. It was Farron that made things entertaining, and it was Farron—with her dragon tattoo and motorcycle, plus her penchant for cooking and taking pet photos—that was interesting. And maybe Cora—with her dead-end job and barely furnished apartment and lack of hobbies—could learn something from her.

Assuming Farron wouldn't leave before then.

But Cora knew Farron was better than that. Even if she learned Cora was the most boring and...inexperienced twenty-eight-year-old to exist, she wouldn't dump Cora as soon as she got tired of her...right?

Cora took a deep breath. There was only one way to find out.

"Okay," she said, the single word mixing in with her pent-up exhale. "I'd be happy to...you know. Go...out with you. On a date. Yeah."

Despite Cora's lack of eloquence, Farron grinned. "Okay. Sweet."

At the sight of Farron's smile, Cora felt herself become strangely giddy. Farron was smiling because of her.

Wait, she should probably tell Farron the truth first. Or some of it, at least.

"There's...actually something you should know first," Cora said, her voice steadier than she felt. "Something about me."

As Farron patiently waited for Cora to continue, Cora hesitated. She didn't want to lose this. Not when it hadn't even begun.

So she lowered her gaze. On the off-chance that her confession was a dealbreaker, hearing the rejection was bad enough. She didn't need to see it too.

"This is going to be embarrassing, but..." Cora took another deep breath. "I've...never actually been on a date before. I've always been busy, and I've never really had the time to spare for...that stuff. So I'm not really sure what to expect. I don't really have much experience in...anything. And...I understand if you'd rather not deal with that."

Cora would understand. She would also be devastated.

"Cora," Farron whispered, and from the sound alone—with the tone of compassion and the notes of warmth—Cora knew she had nothing to worry about.

So she looked up to see Farron's soft gaze for herself.

Farron smiled. "It's okay. We'll take it slow, okay? We won't do anything you're not comfortable with. I just...I just want you to be happy."

For a moment, Cora stopped breathing, and she quickly buried her head again as soon as she felt her eyes begin to burn. The last thing she needed was to start crying in the middle of a crowded mall immediately after being asked out on a date. Was there a record for the fastest date cancellation?

"Thank you," Cora muttered, her voice rough.

Farron chuckled. "Thank you. And I can't wait for this." She nudged Cora's arm with her elbow. "Is there anything you'd like to do? Or not do, for that matter?"

Cora, whose mind short-circuited at the feeling of Farron's skin brushing against her own, could only chuckle nervously at first. "Uh...not really. I'm fine with whatever. As long as it's legal. And safe. And you're there, of course."

Before Cora could feel embarrassed about her overly honest choice of words, her downcast eyes spotted Farron doing a giddy half-skip.

"Really?" Farron exclaimed.

When Cora looked up at Farron's wide smile and bright eyes, she was almost willing to blurt out all of the embarrassing confessions she could think of just to prolong that moment. Almost.

Instead, she settled on grinning along with Farron. "Really."

"This is going to be so exciting!" Farron said, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. It's time to get planning."

And as Farron began rambling off a list of ideas, waving around her partially eaten wrap for emphasis, Cora was content with smiling and nodding along. Maybe this was what lunch breaks were supposed to be like.