New York City
United States of America
December 2120
4:56PM
“Do you think we should postpone this?”
“Nah,” Ansel replied. He shifted the gear to neutral and leaned back, “We’re already on our way, Lena. And I don’t think the rain’s going to get any stronger.” At that moment, a flash of lightning hit the sky, making the twosome jump in the seats of Ansel’s car. The movement of it caused Ansel’s glasses to fall onto his lap.
“…you were saying?”
“It can’t get any worse,” Ansel repeated. “It can’t get any worse at all.” the stoplight flashed green and he shifted to drive, then continued on.
It was Elena’s post-birthday dinner. She had invited a couple of their friends to go out, and currently, they were (still) on their way to a place Elena had personally picked. Initially, there was some trouble with reserving for the place, as Elena had experienced, but they were able to book a free slot.
Elena’s phone rang in her hands, and she looked at her screen before answering. “Luke?”
“Hey, we’re already here. And by we, I mean Rayne, Jae-Hwang, and I,” the blonde answered. Elena blinked. “Uh. The place looks full as shit, El. Are you sure we’ll be able to get a table for all of us?”
“I fucking hope so,” the brunette sighed. “Wait — you, Rayne, and Jae?”
“Yeah, the three of us are just here and waiting.”
Elena pursed her lips. “I was only able to book a slot…” she mumbled a quick ‘hold on’ and fished for the paper she had in her bag, “I was able to get the six o’clock slot for us. W31. Do you think you three can watch out just in case Ansel and I get late?”
“We’re not going to be late!” Ansel retorted, still driving. Elena gave a snort.
Luke laughed. “Yeah, I think that’s possible. We’ll see you soon?”
“Definitely,” Elena agreed. “See you.”
* * * * *
7:12PM
“It could have been worse.”
“It could have been worse,” Ansel repeats, sitting back down with two plates of assorted Japanese food. The rest of them give him a large stare and he shrugs, breaking the chopsticks apart and taking a piece of sashimi. “What?”
“That is an awful lot of Japanese food for just the first round,” Marion deadpans. Ansel shrugs and eats anyway, Elena giving her soul mate a shake of the head. “You’re such a fucking glutton, Free.”
“Lena’s paying for it,” he replies. “I’m just making the most out of it so that she won’t regret treating us all out.” Across him, Luke nods in agreement as he takes a drink from the mug of beer that he had managed to take. The rest of them (Kyle, Jae-hwang, and Rayne) merely watch as Ansel eats his entire weight in Japanese food. Elena gives a tsk and breaks her own chopsticks as well.
“If you don’t make the most out of it, you’re paying.” she tells them with a faux-kind voice. Rayne laughs nervously and stands back up, muttering something about har gow and scrambles off, Jae-hwang following quickly. Luke merely smirks and starts eating, Kyle fending Marion off from the pasta he had gotten from the buffet’s Italian section.
“Marion, no. Get your own.”
“But it’s far away,” she complains. The other three watch until Kyle gives in and gives his untouched plate to Marion before standing up to fetch another for himself. Elena gives Marion a look (of contempt) and the shorter girl merely shrugs it off before starting to eat. “What? He gave it.”
“You bullied him into giving it,” Ansel sighed. Marion merely stuck her tongue out before continuing, Elena watching the rest of them with an amused look on her face. Jae-hwang, Rayne, and Kyle eventually came back, though Rayne had a noticeable frown on her face. Jae-hwang was laughing.
“There’s no har gow left for her,” the Korean snorts. Rayne grumbles and sits back down with a plate of kimchi and dim sum, proceeding to eat the two with a pout. The rest of them give Jae-hwang a weird look and the male explains that Rayne had made three rounds around the place, and that each time she checked if there was har gow left, there was always none left.
“Har gow’s the dumpling with shrimp inside, right?”
“That’s one form of it,” she mutters grumpily.
The night passes on. The group of seven eventually engages into a contest judging who could eat the most, and it was voted that Kyle would eat the least. This proves to be true, as he only consumes three plates (including dessert). Rayne and Marion tie for the most plates at six (including dessert).
Ansel is idly poking at his plate of dessert when Elena tugs at his arm. “Free,” she whispers, “you have to go with me.”
“You’re a grown woman, Lena, you can go to the bathroom by yourself.” she smacks his arm and the bespectacled male cringes before laughing. “Okay, okay. What is it?”
“Just come with me,” she insists. He looks back at the group and tells Luke that they’ll be back in ten minutes; the blonde nods idly and listens to Kyle’s sharing about having to complete more post-graduate requirements.
She tugs at his hand and the two are off.
“Lena, what are you looking for?”
“Just this one stall which sells oils for the humidifier,” she eventually admits. Ansel blinks before cracking a smile.
“You’re like an old lady.”
“Shut up,” she groans. He chuckles and ruffles her hair, continuing to walk with her until they reach a stall decked in green. Ansel watches as Elena rushes towards it and can’t help but smile; he reaches for his wallet and takes a ten from his wallet, watching as the blue-eyed girl sniffs around at the different oils and such. The stall owner looks on with mild amusement. “Free, what smells good here?” the male’s eyes scan over the different-colored bottles, idly picking one out and handing it to her. Elena blinks before opening the small bottle and sniffing.
Elena ends up grinning widely and dives into the other shelves. Ansel waits, occasionally sniffing as well as she asks his approval for some. She eventually comes out with four bottles and fishes for her wallet, but Ansel stops her and slides the ten bill into her hand. She blinks. “What…”
“Buy it,” he tells her gently. Elena tries to push it back into his hands but he shakes his head and makes her keep the bill, the woman eventually squealing and kissing his cheek before darting off to the cashier. As soon as she comes out of the stall, Elena puts the small paper bag into her own bag and clings to the taller male’s arm. He presses a kiss on her forehead.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispers. Ansel merely holds her a little tighter and brings her back to the buffet place.
* * * * *
9:32PM
“You’re going to have to smile for the goddamn photo, Elena,” Jae-hwang laughs. Elena groans and flips the Korean male off while the others laugh; Ansel takes pictures.
“I’m in my mid-twenties and I still need to wear a hat?”
“It’s part of the tradition,” Marion sings. Elena makes a face but doesn’t make any move to remove the obnoxious hat, the whole group erupting into a chorus of ‘happy birthday’ while the waitress standing to the side lights the candle on the complimentary cake. Once the singing is over, Elena blows out the candles and Ansel continues taking pictures.
In a flash, both Marion and Jae-hwang reach over, dip their fingers into the cake’s icing, and wipe all over Elena’s face. Elena swears loudly and Marion grins before wiping it across the other’s forehead as well. This makes the others laugh and Ansel shake his head before snapping a few pictures of Elena with her face smeared with icing.
“Fuck you guys,” she complains. Rayne quickly offers her a tissue and she wipes, soon seeing Ansel still taking pictures. She flips him off as well.
Eventually the festivities come to an end; Elena pays the bill while Rayne and Marion finish the beer they had gotten from the beer station. Ansel flicks off remaining flecks of icing from Elena’s hair. Kyle listens as Luke and Jae-hwang converse about traffic on the way back to their own apartments.
Elena soon reverts back to her normal mode, listening. She feels Ansel nudge her arm gently and she looks at him. “You’ve got a little something here,” he tells her, and brushes a stray hair. She sighs in relief.
“I thought it was more icing,” she grumbles.
“Not quite.” he hands her phone back and she scans through the pictures idly, “…did you enjoy the night?”
Elena looks back at the rest of her friends and slowly lets a smile come to her face. “Yeah. I think I did.”
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