Buffet de l'Anquitaire, Québec City, Québec, Tuesday Evening

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden had stupidly had the jitters all day Tuesday, thinking of the plan with Cal to have one last paintball dinner while here in Québec. Did it mean something? Something more than friends? Surely he wasn't trying to drop a hint or anything...right?

Which meant that she couldn't help but inwardly (and ruefully) laugh at herself when they ended up deciding to end up at the Buffet de l'Anquitaire. The food looked amazing, don't get her wrong, but the chill diner atmosphere didn't really give off 'confessions of a secret crush' vibes. She was definitely glad she'd stuck with a cute but nothing fancy outfit. This was firmly 'two friends having dinner post-paintball' territory.

Once again proving that the only one harboring a secret crush was Arden. She really needed to stomp that out. She'd been making good progress, but Parents' Weekend had derailed that. But hey, if she could kill a crush during a trip where there was only one bed, then there was probably no bringing it back, right? Of course right. She was just gonna...get on doing that, then.

"Let me guess," she teased, snagging a seat in one of the bright red booths, "you wanna get the hot dog and sausage poutine. And, hey! We'll have to try some of these pies so I can report back to Graham."

Comments

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Suuuuure. The great nation of Narrationstan totally believes that Calsberg's reasoning for supporting Finchtopia's use of the Southern accent was because of the the French. #SureJan

"Hmmm, the proud people of Finchtopia see the wisdom in Calsberg's counsel," she said with another laugh. "And, I mean, we did agree to split everything, which I believe includes milkshakes." Not that Arden's head was full of any cute notions of 50s era milkshake dates. Because that went against her vow to get over Cal as quickly as possible. "Though if we get two, that is two different flavors to share."

[moreofaponchoguy]

Hey, Narrationstan should remember that the French were always fair game for blame, it was what they got for being French.

"If we're going to share two meals, sharing two milkshakes makes just as much sense," Cal agreed. "For as much exploration as possible for our two nations." He didn't need to know the 50s to know that sharing a drink with Arden was a pleasant idea. "This is turning into an even better idea than I planned."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Narrationstan concedes the point.

"You're just excited you get to try double the food," she teased, reaching over to poke him in the forearm. You know. Friendly-like.

Her smile softened slightly. "Planned, huh?"

[moreofaponchoguy]

Oops, there he went saying too much too quickly. "Well, yeah. I mean, I know we only actually scheduled this yesterday, but I've been hoping we'd have a chance to do this for a little while now, since, you know, everything." He didn't want to say since you almost died out loud, because neither of them had to acknowledge that, but he hoped it still came across. "We haven't had much of a chance to hang out as just the two of us. Which is totally fine," he added quickly. "You have a lot of friends and a lot of people looking out for you but... I kind of wanted to have some time away from the rest of our friends, if that makes sense."

It was fine if it didn't make sense, because he was getting a little rambley there.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"No, no, I completely understand," Arden assured him. "Things got...really crazy..." You know, what with the almost dying and all "...and sometimes it's nice just to have a few hours of quiet after all that. Where we don't have to yell to be heard or fight for conversation, right?"

Her finger stopped poking him, slid down to his hand and squeezed. Again, friendly-like. "I'm honestly grateful that you want to hang out more one-on-one. After spending two weeks trapped up on a roof with me, you'd have every reason to want to escape me."

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal gave Arden's hand a squeeze, trying to figure out how to say he wouldn't want to escape her without making it sound weird. Thankfully, he was interrupted by the waiter coming over to take their orders, and the attempt to order his food and a vanilla milkshake was probably enough to knock Arden's crush down at least one level. He was so hot stumbling over words and pointing to the menu!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Well, from the mischievous glance she was giving him, it seemed like she'd taken it as a challenge. Because she was absolutely playing up her drawl a bit while ordering, too. She did get points for not pronouncing the 'g' in champignons, but that was entirely thanks to familiarity with Creole cooking.

Also, Cal, if the argument about wearing clothing to bed hadn't killed it off properly, failing to order from a menu probably wasn't going to either.

(But also, goddess, no outside clothes in the bed. Just like no shoes on the bed. How was this confusing for people?)

But soon enough her order with a chocolate milkshake was in and she was turning back to Cal, clearly trying not to laugh at the server's pained expression through that. "You were saying?" she asked, eyes dancing.

[moreofaponchoguy]

There were many things Cal was learning from Arden--shampoo and conditioner should be separate things, clothes didn't all go in the wash together, for the love of everything you have to wash both the top and bottom parts of your body because the soap running down your body wasn't enough--but the concept of outside clothes and inside clothes was still a little new, so he hadn't had much time to buy new inside clothes on the trip (which might not even count because they hadn't been washed?) but there would be time to argue about that later. For now, he was just going to bask in the accent for a moment.

"These folks are going to be so glad when we're gone," he said, snickering. "But as for escaping you, that was never on my mind. Being around you is never a situation of being trapped." Cal took Arden's hand again and gave it a squeeze. "I always like spending time with you, and I hope you feel the same?"

Cal's backpack started vibrating, and he gave it a nudge to encourage BD to stay cool.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Was it BD vibrating or was it his phone reacting to the sudden barrage of texts that were being sent between him and a certain superhero?

Stay cool, Finch. Stay cool. Stay chilly. Stay Arctic. Stay sub-zero. Stay zero Kelvin. Do not get distracted thinking of how many different ways you can think of to tell yourself to stay cool.

She squeezed his hand back. "I do," she said softly. "You've been one of my very favorite people to hang out with since we met. My life's better because you're in it." Shit. Wait. Was that too much? Maybe that was too much. Be cool, Finch. "I know you've got BD and I've got Kamala, but you're still one of my very best and dearest friends."

[moreofaponchoguy]

Okay, so he wasn't in the same category as Kamala, that was a good start.

"Same. I mean, BD's amazing, but I've never had a friend like you before," Cal said, looking hesitant for a second. "That's why I dropped everything to take care of you, because you mean so much to me. Do you... I mean, did I spend too much time with you lately? Did you wish you could escape me?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Of course not!" Arden said, sounding almost indignant, like how dare he suggest something so ridiculous.

And then suddenly looked worried. "I mean, there were times I wanted to pitch you off the roof, but also Kams, and honestly anybody. It wasn't about you at all, it was just me being grumpy and miserable and in pain."

Her brows came together. "Oh Cal," she said softly. "Is that what this is about? Did you catch one of those times and think it was real?" She squeezed his hand again. "We're good, I swear we are. It was just because I was feeling awful, I swear. You and Kams were both perfect."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"No, it wasn't that," Cal said quickly, wincing inwardly at not being able to communicate clearly. "I know you were uncomfortable and tired of having to rely on us, and it's adorable that you thought you could pitch me anywhere in the state you were in." Yes Cal, that was definitely a wise thing to point out right now. "I've just been thinking. A lot. Since your 'family' was here."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden cut her eyes at him for that little comment, it's true.

"I'm going to start working out more, just so I can throw you off a roof," she grumbled. And then stuck her tongue out at him. Because he deserved it.

But then her face settled slightly. "They're not my family," she said. "Grimm and Duke are kinda kin? Because my mom was a djinn? But I don't think they really knew each other. And Callista is legally my guardian, but that doesn't make her family."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"No, I wouldn't consider them your family either. The people in Fandom, on the other hand... they're better for you than anyone in your family could be." Cal trailed off, giving her hand another squeeze. "That's why I didn't go back with Cere and Greez."

Then, before he could stop himself, he said, "You're why I didn't go back with Cere and Greez."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden looked surprised again. And then softened again, this time looking guilty. "Because you were so worried," she guessed. "You didn't want to leave without knowing if I'd be okay. Oh, Cal, I'm sorry."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Well, yeah, of course I was worried. You almost died, and there was nothing I could do to help," Cal said. "And I couldn't heal you, and I couldn't go after Callista, and--"

He stopped as their waiter awkwardly came over with the milkshakes and then quickly departed, and BD-1 peeked out of the backpack to nudge him. "Keep. Going."

"I've been thinking about things I maybe shouldn't have waited to say until I nearly didn't get a chance to say them."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden had tucked her straw into her glass, and had taken a long sip of her chocolate shake when Cal started talking again. And inhaled wrong, trying not to cough as the mouthful of ice cream went down the wrong pipe.

Be cool, Finch. Be chilly. It's not what it sounds like. Like how this isn't a date. This is something else. Maybe a friend thing? Like a thank you? Yeah. Probably like a thank you. Be cool.

"O-oh?" she asked, still fighting down the cough. "Like what?"

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal was suddenly terrified that he was going about this all wrong. If she knew what he was going to say and looked nervous, maybe he was going to mess everything up while they still had multiple days together and had to sleep in the same room. Maybe Anakin would let him switch rooms? Maybe he could sleep in the hallway?

Or maybe she had no idea what he was going to say and he was going to take her totally by surprise and she'd hate him for even thinking about liking her as more than a friend and he'd still end up in the hallway.

He'd probably been quiet for too long because BD nudged him again. "Like how much I like you. Which is a lot." Boy, was that milkshake interesting.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

STAY COOL, FINCH.

"You mean like...because we're good friends?" Arden asked, because he couldn't be saying what it sounded like. He couldn't. "Because I like you, too. A lot."

So much. Just so very much.

"More than I should."

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal's shoulders sagged like a huge weight was lifted as he broke into a grin. "I like you more than I should too. I mean, I like you a lot," he said quickly, so it didn't sound like something inherently bad, because he was really hoping it wasn't. Force lightning hadn't struck him yet, at least!

"Like, more than a friend. Which is weird, and new, and I have no idea what I'm doing. But when I thought you might not wake up... I don't want to ruin our friendship, because being friends with you is amazing. But the longer I go not telling you how I feel, the more I feel like I'm lying. Does that make sense?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden was sputtering now, eyes wide. "Wait. What? Wait. What? I thought--you didn't--you like people?! I didn't think you like people--like that. Wait."

She was trying to settle her brain down, but even so she couldn't stop smiling.

"Are you serious? You...like me? Because, like. I've had a crush on you almost from the beginning. And I've been trying to fight it down, because I didn't think that you liked people like that. And I didn't want to ruin our friendship and make you uncomfortable or go against your Code."

A beat.

"Oh no, your Code. Did I...how are you...what do you mean? Like...how do you..."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I wish I had a solid answer for that. I had a talk with Cere and I still need to think about it but... the Order is gone. The Code is guidelines for an Order that doesn't exist anymore, and I don't think following the same rules will help us get an Order back that can withstand the Empire. I don't know how I'm supposed to care about what happens to others without caring about them as people." Cere's words had been ringing in his head for weeks now--what was the point of saving the galaxy if it wasn't filled with people they cared about.

"Like I said, I have no idea what I'm doing. But I know I care about you, a lot, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather figure this stuff out with than you." His own rambling aside, something finally clicked for Cal. "Wait, you've had a crush on me? The whole time?"

It was a good thing he was cute.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden just looked at him for a few heartbeats. And then buried her face in her hands. "Yes," she groaned. "Like. The whole time. It's been very, very obvious, I'm pretty sure. Why do you think I blamed myself when we got the hallucination? Because it was my fault! Why else would we think we were getting married--" Her face flushed again "--except my crush on you?"

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Because the island is mean and keeps making you be attached to me even though we're only friends and you'd never want more than that because I have no experience dating and you could be with someone who knows what they're doing instead?"

It made sense at the time!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Now she was just giving him that look that she gave him sometimes, like when he tried explaining that washcloths weren't important.

"How much experience dating do you think I have?" she asked. "Goddess, Cal! I don't care about any of that! I've been half in love with you from the get-go and stressing out because there was no way to do that without hurting you and forcing you to do something that you don't want, because you don't like people like that, or...didn't like me like that...or...you don't like things like...kissing or...stuff. I mean! Not saying that that's a thing that has to happen! We're not agreeing to anything or anything! But just...I didn't think...you wanted anything like that. Or would allow it. Because of the Code...Anyway, it wasn't because I was saving it for somebody who knew 'what they were doing.'"

She rolled her eyes at him, suddenly realized she'd said the words 'half-in-love-with' and started trying to calculate the distance between the diner and the sea.