forum "You DO like me!" "I don't think 'like' is the right word." "You tolerate me." "Maybe." one on one

Started January 29, 2021 by @cryptic-glitch

tune

Orion blushed. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Lin nodded a bit. "Mhmm. You're good at other stuff too. Being smart isn't the only thing that defines you."

"Thanks, Munchkin." She offered him a slight smile. "Do you want to apply for this pancake house?"

Lin rolled his eyes at the nickname and glanced over to the pancake house. "Sure, if you want to."

"Come on then." She got out of the car, squinting at the restaurant.

Lin got out of the car as well and followed Orion inside, asking for a couple of applications once they were in.

Orion offered Lin a pen and sat at one of the tables, ordering an iced tea. "Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm alright… thanks, though." Lin continued quietly filling out his application, humming softly to himself as he worked.

She ordered him water and told him, "You should stay hydrated, though. Do you like lemon with your water?"

"Lemon? Uh… I don't think I've ever tried it with lemon? It's just water." He seemed a bit confused.

“Huh. Really. It’s like unsweetened lemonade. I think it’s really good.” When the waiter set her tea down she pulled the lemon off the rim of the cup and offered it to Lin.

Lin hesitantly accepted the lemon and dropped it into his water, seeming pretty confused. "I'm not sure how much flavor this is supposed to add."

"Stir it up with your straw. I mean, it's not supposed to add a whole lot of flavor, just like a little bit."

"Okay…" Lin did as he was told and sipped at the water, shrugging a bit. "Doesn't taste all that different."

Orion shrugged, mixing creamer and Splenda into her tea. "Each to their own."

"Mm." Lin drank a bit more water and finished up his application with a soft sigh. "Where are we heading next?"

"I don't know. Wherever you want." She finished her iced tea.

"Well, I dunno. I figured we'd probably just drive around and stop when the inclination hits us."

“Sounds good to me. We have to stay in this area though.”

"Sure." Lin turned in his application and sighed, returning to the table.

“Are you sure you don’t want toast or something?”

"Yeah, I'm not hungry. Are you almost ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah." She stood up and pushed in her chair, dropping a five-dollar bill on the table.

Lin headed outside with Orion and got into the car, buckling himself in with a soft sigh.

She started the car and began driving to the edge of town, just to see what it would look like from the outside.