"I'll have a coffee as well," she said, narrowing her eyes at the menu, "and the pulled pork sandwich, please." She was never over concerned with whether or not she was being rude. The lady nodded at them with a large grin and headed into the kitchen.
Unusual Partners // Buddy Cop One-On-One // Open
"Play nice." Alex whispered to her, drumming his fingers gently on the table. The diner was quiet, as they were quite early for dinner. A few teens were sitting in a corner table, talking quietly among themselves.
"I'm being perfectly civil," she replied, glancing around the room. She realized suddenly how long it had been since the two of them had had a case together in which they had to travel. She wasn't quite sure whether or not she missed it yet.
"Alright, then be polite." He kept talking in hushed tones, not wanting to interrupt the atmosphere of the place. He watched her for a moment before realizing what he was doing, and quickly looked away.
Nyir unashamedly stared at him. She was trying to read him. She was usually quite good at reading people, but she'd never been able to see through whatever mask he constantly kept up. Calm, cool, and collected. That's all she ever knew him as. "Hey," she said, knowing full well she might come off as crazy, "how have you been? This is me being polite, by the way," she added.
Alex raised an eyebrow. So she'd taken him literally… "I've been doing pretty well. How about you?" He shifted towards her, resting an elbow on the table and his chin on his hand. He met her eyes, trying to see into them and figure out the puzzle behind them.
She consciously mirrored his body language, hoping to encourage him to let his guard down. "I'm alright," she said, studying his face. "You know," she began rather abruptly, "I don't know much about you. You could have a secret wife for all I know."
Alex laughed, turning down to the table and leaning both elbows onto it. "Hardly. I keep my home life pretty quiet, nothing real happens there." He looked back at her, wondering how much she would tell him. "Besides, the same thing goes for you. You aren't exactly an open book either."
"There's not much to say about me," she said nonchalantly. "I think you know all the important stuff. Not many people get the privilege of knowing my first name." A touch of a smile came to her mouth to show she was joking.
Alex chuckled, still watching her. "And I'm truly honored." Their food came out, and the woman set their plates down in front of them, smiling at them both.
"So, is this like an anniversary trip for you two?"
Nyir snorted lightly. "Do people often come here for their anniversaries?" Realizing just how cruel that sounded, she amended, "You know, most people go to grand places, not lovely underrated diners like these."
Alex cleared his throat and nudged her again. "But if this were our anniversary, we would probably come here. We just aren't having an anniversary, just a business trip. We work together we aren't…" He was turning red, he could feel it and it bothered him. He decided to trail off with a cup of coffee, the warmth of the coffee taking the blame for the warmth of his face. "Good coffee, isn't it?"
"Oh, he's blushing," Nyir said with an airy laugh. "Yeah, no, it's strictly professional here." She decided to sample some of her own coffee, ignoring the raised eyebrows and the teasing smile from the waitress. "And yes, it is good coffee."
Alex coughed. "We're really very professional." He hid his face behind his hand and focused on the steak, trying not to laugh and concede defeat. He was used to being poked fun at, but he wasn't sure how Nyir would react if he started doing it back.
The lady continued to grin at them. "Well, ain't y'all just the cutest!"
"Oh, yes, we're adorable," Nyir agreed, still largely unperturbed. Slight sensations of embarrassment were trying to inch their way into her consciousness. "Just not together."
"Now, give Nyir a puppy, and that's when she's adorable." Alex commented, eager now that seemed at least slightly embarrassed.
Nyir lifted an eyebrow, finally glancing away for a moment. "Then I'm probably most adorable right now. Alex is the human equivalent of a puppy." He really wasn't, but she didn't want to seem like she had no comebacks. Even though she definitely didn't.
Alex looked over at her. "That explains why you come by my office so often." He mouthed the word irresistible to the woman, winking at her before turning back to Nyir.
Nyir's lips twisted, but by this time she was as embarrassed as she could possibly get. It wasn't excessively, and she certainly wasn't blushing, but anyone who knew her would be able to tell she was flustered. "Are we encouraging or discouraging our matron here?"
"I'd say encouraging!" Alex grinned at both of them before returning to his steak. He took another gulp of the coffee as well, the caffeine waking him up and giving him the courage to mess with Nyir.
The waitress laughed, "By the way we do things down South, y'all would be married within a year!"
"Good thing I'm from the North," Nyir responded with a wry smile. "What about you, Alex? Are you from the South? Should I be concerned with you falling in love with me?"
Alex nearly choked on his steak. He started coughing violently, taking a few minutes before he could eventually clear his throat. "I'm almost Canadian. No southerness here."
"So, nothing to worry about then," she said, taking a dainy bite of her pulled pork. Somehow the joke hadn't made her feel less embarrassed.
"Exactly. Nothing to worry about." Alex nodded at her, clearing his throat once more before taking a smaller bite of the steak.
"Famous last words," the waitress giggled. "Can I get y'all anything else?"
"Nope, I think we're good," Nyir said in a syrupy voice to match the waitress's. The moment the waitress was mostly out of sight, she mumbled, "But you could always strike up an unwarranted conversation."
Alex gave her a slight frown. "I said to be polite. You can be rude once we're out in the car." He hissed, taking a last drink of coffee.
"Alright, alright," she conceded. "I'm just naturally biased towards the south. My bad."
Alex shook his head at her with a rough smile. "Just don't do that again."
(It's me with a new account, just trying to recover my rps)
(oh ok)
"Fine, I'll be good for the rest of the trip," she lied.
Alex raised a suspicious eyebrow, but decided to let it drop. "Ready to go?"