Petrichor

Bathroom Breaks are Uncomfortable for Everybody

December 6th, 2040; it's 01:06 PM.
Both Gavin and Tina were openly trying to decide what take out they should get for lunch.

"But Mexican food just sounds so good right now." She groaned.

"Yeah sure, but I could really go for a bowl of chowmein right now. I've been craving it since Tuesday. Well— actually, you know what else I've been craving?" Gavin rambled on, the asshole attitude was nothing but a memory.

Tina looked up from her arms hopefully, "What?"

"Tamales. Like good old fashioned corn and pork tamales." He sighed.

Tina squealed, "EE! Mexican food it is!" She exclaimed, already dialing the number into her phone to order in advance.

Whilst on the phone, trying to pronounce the food names correctly, she glanced behind her.

Conan noticed the set of eyes immediately; it's not like she was being discreet. He definitely wasn't listening, so he definitely shouldn't look up.
As she hung up the phone, she made a face towards Gavin and nudged her head in Conan's direction. He could hear the detective's displeased objections, but after a few moments of silent arguing, Tina huffed and darted towards him.

"Hello Conan! Gavin and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for lunch! We're getting Mexican food." She added brightly.

Conan pretended to think a bit before answering, "I'd love to go, Officer Chen." He smiled genuinely.

"Please, call me Tina!" She skipped back over to Gavin and smirked playfully.

Gavin groaned and begrudgingly peeled himself off of his chair.

Conan took that as a signal that it was lunch time. Being an android, he doesn't need to eat food, just to drink thirium to replenish his body's supply.

So, before Conan could even begin to think about what he'd order when he got there, he had to figure out how to make it seem like he was actually eating and enjoying the food. He wouldn't want his cover as human to be blown, not when this could give him an advantage.
The detective hated androids after all.

▵

Gavin and Tina had decided to take Gavin's car. It wasn't self driving but it got the job done.
Conan refused to invade the detective's personal space, telling Tina he'd prefer it if he took his own car.

He'd take this time alone to figure out how to make eating feasible.

First, how would he eat?
He was equipped with a synthetic stomach, (really it was just a compartment that collected and filtered out anything that did not belong inside of him). He could easily clean it out afterwards. He'd just have to not drink any liquids, that would make the cleaning process harder for him. Not to mention uncomfortable.
Conan didn't have taste buds, but he sure had a lot of pressure points. Anything liquid other than thirium made his systems feel funny and he'd glitch out at just a few sips.

Now, what to eat?
He remembers Gavin exclaiming he was craving tamales.

> What are Tamales?
> Ordering from "Hugo's"

Maybe that could be a conversation starter.

> Precontructing [FAVORITE FOOD] Path...
> End Result: [⇧] DT. GAVIN REED (Neutral)

Conan smiled with satisfaction.

▵

Gavin, of course, chose a window seat in a booth near the corner, Tina sat next to him, and Conan sat across from both of them.
As they waited for their food to be brought to them, the detective scrolled on his phone and once in a while would show Tina something that made them both laugh.
Tina too was on her phone, more so texting someone than scrolling.
Conan felt awkward not having a cellphone of his own, he was an android after all. He didn't need a physical phone when he had one already built into his brain.
He twirled the pepper packet in between his tense fingers, he didn't know if it was the right moment to start small talking or if he should stay quiet until the food was ready.