@ElderGod-kirky group
Ronan shrugged and looked to Tessa. They seemed to have some sort of silent conversation before standing up and heading over to Nik and Simon's table, carrying their drinks with them.
(how should seating be?)
Ronan shrugged and looked to Tessa. They seemed to have some sort of silent conversation before standing up and heading over to Nik and Simon's table, carrying their drinks with them.
(how should seating be?)
(simon would want to sit near nik, but what kind of table were you thinking?)
(One of those tables with individual seats, maybe?)
(nice! maybe like a round table?)
(Yeah, that works! So maybe Nik is sitting next to Simon, and Tessa sits next to Simon with Ronan between her and Nik?)
(yeee that works)
"welcome to the table, you're officially part of the cult." nik deadpanned. "you're now obligated by law to be twinks in the journalism industry."
Tessa and Ronan snorted in unison, though Tess was the first to speak. "I just came for the food, not to be dragged into some journalism cult."
Ronan said, "Yeah, well, I'm leaving in two weeks, so I have an excuse to decline." Tessa scowled at him and punched his shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder and wined in protest.
"too bad, you're automatically inducted." simon carried the joke on, ending with "i thought this nerd looked lonely one day and now i'm his editor and gay lover."
nik rolled his eyes at that "you overestimate yourself."
Tessa huffed a laugh and propped her head on her hand. "Usually what happens to us street rats. We look lonely as shit and get adopted by a gay lover." She raised her other hand. "Can honestly say–same."
Ronan rolled his eyes. "You've screwed, like, half the city and pissed off about three-quarters of it."
She punched him again. "Fuck off! Did not."
"Did too," he said, nursing his bruised shoulder.
"pfft, at least not this city. i have to side with ronan on any others, though." nik teased, hoping he could still get away with joking on her like he used to.
simon raised an eyebrow, suppressing a snicker.
"Oh hush, you. How dare you take his side over mine." She stuck her tongue out at Nik, and Ronan flicked her tongue in revenge for his shoulder. She glared at him instead.
both of the journalist squad laughed at that. apparently nik's lungs had repaired themselves some, or he got himself fixed up by a doctor with more time on their hands. just sounded raspy, less of a death hack.
"aww, is someone being ganged up on?" simon cooed, leaning forward on his elbows.
a waiter approached their table with a cheerful "you guys ready to order?" and both men looked at tessa and ronan questioningly.
The two nodded in sync, and Ronan was the one to speak before Tessa could even open her mouth. "I'd like the spaghetti alle vongole, and she'd like the spicy tomato cream pasta." Tessa was about to scowl and object to him ordering for her, but shut up when she realized he remembered her love for spice and pasta–and put it together.
the others ordered afterwards, turning back towards the other pair. "good choices," nik mentioned, not really knowing what else to say.
Tessa smacked Ronan's chest once the waiter had walked away, which caused him to yelp in surprise. "I can order for myself, thank you very much," she hissed.
"Oh, shut it. I got you spicy pasta. What more do you want from me, woman?"
"independence, apparently. can't relate. i make nik order for me at every restaurant except this one," simon nudged simon with his elbow, causing nik to roll his eyes.
Tessa huffed and rolled her eyes as well. "You and your seafood," she muttered to Ronan. He defended himself with an 'I'm Hawaiian.' She leaned on her elbows and said to Simon, "So how bad was Nik at writing when you first became his editor?"
"quite spectacular actually. only when edited by himself, though. he's an editing nightmare because nobody except himself can understand the side notes and self directions. it's better though, he's improved a lot."
nik flushed at the praise, muttering an "aw, gee si'."
Tessa flicked her brows up at Nik, her lips curling up to a slight smile. "I can only imagine." She then turned to Nik. "But I'm glad you're doing great here, and even making improvements."
"yeah, so am i. oh i forgot to congratulate you further on that job! maybe we could all get together while ronan's still in town and have some sort of celebration for ya?"
simon nodded warily, knowing that this might mean some sort of alcohol.
Tessa snorted and swirled her drink, ducking her head some. "It's not that big of a deal. It's not like it's all that special–I'm just a teacher."
Ronan gave her an appalled look. "You never told me you're teaching! I thought you were just helping out part-time again. How dare you hold out on me!"
"yeah, so am i, but it's still one of the best-paying i've ever had. not that i've had many, but you know. sometimes i was well endorsed for my troubles." he sent a wink at tessa, she knew what he meant. "anyway, i am happy for you! you aren't working in a fast food place, that's for one."
simon shuddered. "never work in fast food. but yeah, any sort of instructor requires a level of expertise not many people have."
"I have, unfortunately, worked in fast food. Do not recommend. But, it was a McDonald's, so that was a slight plus." She shrugged and smiled at Nik's wink. "I guess, if you really want to be super happy for me, then you can throw some sort of celebration. You, are throwing it though. I'm not going to have any hand in the planning. Being the guest of honor is hard enough work."
Ronan snorted. "Oh, please. You love being the center of attention at any event, even if you're crashing the party."
nik snorted, bringing his bag around to the front and yanking a notepad and pen from the depths.
"here, i'm not inviting anyone else as i don't know anyone, and tess already knows my address and can just bring ronan along, here's a copy of the time." he scribbled 3pm, wednesday on the bottom of a sheet of paper, quickly ripping a strip off and handing the note to tessa.
"that work for everyone?"
Ronan leaned over to look at the paper as Tessa took it. They both nodded. "Yeah, that works for me," she said, "And Ronan is free for the entirety of his vacation here." He stuck his tongue out at the way she said vacation. She batted him away with a halfhearted scowl.
simon snorted into his drink. "you guys really do remind me of us. same dynamic. seems like we hate each other to most." he finished the sip, looking up and briefly studying them.
"you're a cute couple, how do you make the long distance work?"
nik choked on his own drink, and simon almost batted his eyelashes in an 'innocent' fashion.
Ronan blinked, his lips twitching up slightly as he lifted his drink nonchalantly to his lips. "What?" he asked, more amused than anything.
Tessa actually snorted and played with the knife the restaurant had set out. She picked it up and pointed it at Simon. "We're not a couple," she said with a small laugh.
nik furiously cleaned up the alcohol he had spilled, determined to pretend like nothing had happened before anyone noticed his lapse in drinking ability.
simon tilted his head. "huh. good to know. also, watch the knife. i don't have my full fucking set of metal armor on today, miss."
it was almost a surprise to hear him swear like that.
She grinned innocently and twirled it between her fingers. "Ronan's my brother. Half, to be precise," she informed them. Ronan just laughed silently as he drank his own alcoholic beverage. His eyes flicked over to Nik and he arched a knowing brow.
The following keyboard controls are supported across Notebook.ai. All keyboard controls are disabled when editing a document or notebook page.