Friendship

"Let me make this clear," he said to her.
"I am no longer looking for a gratis room from you. Our friendship has moved beyond that; or at least that's how I feel."

She bobbed her head left to right
in a vain effort to part her shortish blunt bangs,
eyes dropping from a direct gaze to a distracted wander,
a wander borne not of boredom or disinterest,
but of a crackling energy that must
absorb and process all available stimuli
every nanosecond.

Her eyes lifted from the table,
darted to the cat, or at least the ghost of the cat,
and took in the entirety of that offered by
visible light, as well as by the other known senses --
and some yet unknown, I'm sure.

And then her eyes met mine again. 

I noted that her bangs had merely swished back and forth
with no appreciable difference from their starting point.

Cassie is an amazing woman. Strong of character, strong of will, steadfast in resistance yet vulnerable enough to invite and accept uncertainty.