(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

The Second Time Around - Chapter 2 (End)

Happy Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day, whichever you celebrate.

Have a jelly skelly~

***

"I'll be right back," Rurik announced, sliding out from his side of the booth.

Lotus set down his drink, his sockets creasing in concern, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I just want to ask the waiter something," the taller reassured his partner, "wait right here." Getting a nod from the smaller, the skeleton weaved through the tables and the multitude of people that had gathered in the past hour or so they had been in the restaurant. Spotting a woman at the server podium, he made a beeline for her.

She wasn't their server, but she could fulfill his request just as well as anyone else.

As he approached and they made eye contact, Rurik said, "Hey, do you guys have a dessert menu? I didn't see one on the regular menu."

The woman blinked owlishly, then started apologizing profusely, "I'm so sorry sir, we usually have a menu holder for our desserts set on each table; I'll get one for you right away."

"Cool, thanks," the monster replied with a shrug as she bustled off to find the requested item. Turning back toward the table Lotus was still sitting at, he watched his partner sipping on their drink and watching the room with a mellow expression while they waited; the meal had turned out really good and his companion had given their approval, so he would definitely keep the place in mind if they ever went out again.

"Here you are, sir," the woman's voice drew his attention to the podium once more. As he took the flip folder style menu, she asked, "is there anything else I can help you with?"

Thinking it over as he flipped through each option, he decided, "Actually, yeah; do you guys have any spicy desserts?"

"Spicy?" the woman repeated, getting a nod in response, "I think we have a brownie option that uses cayenne pepper." Gesturing for the menu, Rurik handed it over and watched her flip through before her expression brightened, "Here it is; it's called our Mexican Chocolate Brownie Sundae. You get a chocolate brownie square with cayenne pepper and cinnamon mixed in, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry."

Rurik leaned in, reading the description on the notecard-sized laminated sheet. Liking how it sounded, he stated, "Sounds good, I'd like to get one of those to go... but can I get the stuff on top of the brownie in a separate container? Might be a while before we get home; don't want the ice cream to make the brownie soggy."

"Of course, are you paying here or...?" the woman questioned, trailing off at the end.

Rurik gestured back toward his table, "Just add it to our bill, our table's over-"

He paused mid-sentence as he caught sight of some guy sitting in the booth next to a very disgruntled Lotus. The small skeleton was glaring daggers at the taller man, but the stranger wasn't taking the hint, effectively boxing them into the corner.

"... there. Just bring it over with the bill," Rurik finished flatly, not waiting for the reply as he made his way back through the crowd. He sped up as the guy leaned in, towering over his partner with a greedy smirk.

This was supposed to be their night, but this douchebag just had to start shit! 

Murderous thoughts began to swirl in his mind, only quelled by the small voice in the back of his mind begging him to salvage the date. Right, they were still on their date; he had to keep his cool. 

He couldn't blow up this time; he wouldn't blow up this time, for Lotus' sake.

As he took deep breaths, concocting the various ways he could punish the interloper without causing too much of a scene, the man suddenly stiffened in place. Lotus was saying something, his eye light practically boring a hole through the man, but the noise in the room prevented Rurik from making anything out.