A/N: I've kinda just wanted to write a low-stakes, casual story for a while now without having to make it fit an interplanetary sci-fi war theme, and it was honestly way too convenient that AJ's birthday was right after the day I wanted to do this.
Oh, well. When life gives you lemons...you write some of your own.
;)
(Just kidding, those types of stories don't go in this book. And yes, this is humanized.)
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"Are you sure you want to do this, Match?"
Match looked up from her phone and turned to Ruby, who was leaning on the wall next to her and giving her a concerned look. She shook her head with a nervous smile. "Nah, don't, like, worry. It'll be, like, fine."
"It might be too soon, you know," Ruby cautioned. "We can give you some privacy if you want."
A light blush creeped up on Match's face as she chuckled and looked back down at her phone with a soft smile. Maybe Ruby had a point; her and Pencil's first date had been only a week ago, after all, and it had been at this same restaurant.
But after a moment of thought, she decided that Pencil would probably be fine with their two friends tagging along for this one. "No, it's okay," she replied. "This place? One of our, like, favorites. Trust me, you girls are, like, gonna love it."
Ruby frowned and pushed herself forward with the foot she had on the wall. "Are you sure you don't want to be alone?" she asked, walking up next to Match and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "With...Pencil?"
"Ruby!" Match scoffed lightly and inched away with a grin. "I told you, it'll be fine. You know, if you didn't, like, want to come, you, like, could've just, like, said so."
"No, it's fine with me. I'm just...not sure if this is the best—"
"Hey, guys!" Bubble greeted cheerfully, waving to them as she suddenly rounded the corner at a light jog. She paused in front of them and bent down to rest her hands on her knees, panting. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic was rough."
"Like, hi, Bubble!" Match chimed back as she waved her hand dismissively. "And, like, don't worry about it. We were actually just about to—oh! Hi, Pencil!"
She looked past Bubble and saw Pencil rounding the same corner. "Hey, Match!" she smiled back before glancing at each of them. "Guess I'm the last one here, huh?"
"Guess so. Anyway, I brought, like, Bubble and Ruby along this time. Is that, like, okay with you?"
"Sure! Why not?"
As Match walked up to Pencil and began talking with her, Bubble shoved her hands in her pockets and gave Ruby an uneasy look. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she whispered to Ruby.
Ruby shrugged back. "When I was talking to Match earlier, I suggested that it might be too soon. But she seemed okay with it."
"...Hm. Okay." Bubble paused for a moment. "And...we're paying, right?"
"Of course," Ruby answered, subconsciously feeling around her pocket for her wallet.
Match and Pencil came walking back to the both of them and nodded. "You girls, like, ready?" Match asked. Bubble and Ruby both glanced at each other one more time before hesitantly nodding.
"Great!" Pencil motioned to the restaurant door. "Then let's go!"
Match nodded and opened the door for them. Ruby walked inside first and started talking with the waiter with Bubble following close behind, while Pencil and Match waited behind them. They chatted for a while before Match's eyes landed on the claw machine in the corner.
