Acumen: Riddling Life

35. Berlin, Germany

Day 36

We sit in a circular booth. Exhausted from walking the distance between this somewhat famous restaurant, and magic museum. Arianna has been forcing us to walk everywhere, from the moment we arrived in Berlin, yesterday.

Apparently she has gotten used to moving around with bicycles. A habit caused by spending days in the Netherlands and Denmark. It was also easier for her to record the streets and life in those two countries. Perfect for photography and her YouTube channel.

Adrien pushes his sunglasses up and sets his elbows on the table. "We are going by train to the Museum Island," he states, his fingers drumming on his upper arm.

"Fine," Arianna grumbles, as she ties her hair in a ponytail. "Did you guys edit the videos of Monster Kabinett and Stasi Museum?" she asks, looking between me and Adrien.

"Weren't we supposed to make it ready on our last day in Berlin?" I answer her with my own question.

"I know," she replies in a pitched voice. Then continues, "But those are pretty cool and I want to upload it sooner. Plus, I figured we should quicken the uploading schedule,"

"No, we shouldn't," Adrien argues.

She leans into her chair, playing with the tip of her pink hair, "Why not? It'll help with the views,"

Adrien groans and she grins at him, "I'm sure Ellie doesn't have any problems with it, right El?" she fixes her round blue eyes on me.

"We can manage up to three times a week," nodding, I speculate.

Adrien's eyebrows raise up, crinkling the skin between them as he opens his mouth to argue. But Dylan's faster, saying, "Dude, you seriously need to learn a thing or two from her. Start with how to not be a nagging pain in the neck." Arianna and Dylan both burst into laughter.

Adrien leans back, facing the other direction, muttering, "Assholes," causing them to high five with each other.

I pick the menu and hold it in front of my face to hide my growing smile. I still haven't learned what are the exact things that irritate and offend him. And I'm not feeling up to explore them anytime soon.

She winks at me, making me giggle, and parts her orange-red lips to speak.

"Don't even think about starting anything new," Adrien warns her. Me, Arianna, and Dylan laugh.

After we quiet down, Dylan and Arianna scroll through their phones. And I focus on the long list of German dishes.

She sighs, drawing my attention to herself.

"I miss being in relationship," she starts and puts her phone away.

"Why would you miss something like that?" Dylan wonders, scrunching up his face. "Being single is the best part of life,"

"That's because you've seen no one worthwhile," she points out, waving her hand.

"And you have?" Dylan mocks. Adrien's head snaps to him. Arianna glares at him for a significant amount of time.

"What?" he defends, throwing his hands in the air. "If any of them were the right one, none of that drama would've happened,"

"Don't be a dickhead," Adrien says in a stern tone. It's hard to tell with Adrien's sunglasses on if he is glaring at him or not. But I'm certain they are having a staring competition.

"Okay guys, movin' on," Arianna starts, breaking whatever that was going on between them. "Ellie, any news from Theodor?" she asks, placing her elbow on the table, and putting her chin on the heel of her hand.