Mal chuckled and raised a shoulder in a half shrug, finally taking a sip of her cocoa and looking at Bast with a smile. “I’m sure, as the oldest, you know this, but being youngest has its advantages. You get away with a lot more,” she smirked wryly. “The ‘only girl’ thing helped with that. As frustrating as it was, those advantages never got old.” A bit of a grin crossed her face, then turned innocent, “Not that I ever used that particular scenario to my advantage or anything…” she gave her best innocent face, the same one that always worked on her father when she was a kid. “Is this the face of a bratty youngest child?”
Yet again, Mal laughed when he mentioned his current security system. “Or if they step on her tail and she yowls and wakes you up. I promise, I’m far more effective than that,” she pointed out, “but the point still stands. I like cats.” She had been considering getting one, before fund-type desperation hit her. Things like that never worked out. “I always had a cat growing up. It’ll be nice living under the same roof as one again.”
She nodded again when he asked her if she could manage half. “Yep, I’m pretty sure I can.” She made decent tips at the restaurant, and even so, she’d been working there since she was seventeen, so she made enough to be able to do it even if she had a rough couple of weeks. “Three years now, since I was seventeen. I can give you my manager’s number and you can call if you want,” she offered. She’d never really had any complaints, and never had any particular incidents, except for the night that Ed had brought Lexie in for their date, but who wouldn’t feel a little awkward at that moment? She was pretty sure she’d get a rave review.