CHAPTER TWO
A/N: Loads of dialogue in this chapter, hope it seems realistic... I'm not really sure if Nick's a good cook, but I'm pretending he is, because it crops up later on in the story. I also don't know if he paints, but let's pretend he does, just for the hell of it...
>('') Welly XXX
!"£&()
"Hey," beamed Greg. "You done?"
"Uh huh," said Nick.
"Cool," said Greg. "Let's go."
"So where are we going exactly?" said Nick, as the two of them walked out of the lab.
"Small place at the end of the street," said Greg. "Great fry ups, better coffee. It's quiet."
"How quiet?" asked Nick.
"Oh, just right," said Greg. "It's not so quiet that we'll be the only two people in there, but quiet enough that we'll be able to have a good chat."
"Right," said Nick.
"Don't worry," smiled Greg. "It's just breakfast, and we're just going to talk. okay?"
"Okay," said Nick. "I'm fine."
"Then why do you look like your petrified of me?" asked Greg, frowning slightly.
"I'm not petrified," said Nick.
"Then don't look so intimidated," said Greg. "I just want to get to know you better, and you should get to know me better. I'm not just the puck kid from the DNA lab, y'know. Mostly, but not entirely. You never know, you may even like me."
"I do like you," said Nick.
"Yeah, but do you know me?" said Greg.
"I guess not," said Nick.
"And I don't really know you either," said Greg. "I mean, to me, you're just this CSI guy from Texas, and you don't like my music, and you're always really happy. And you're so clever as well."
Nick smiled. "Thanks."
The two of them walked to the end of the street, and Greg led Nick into the bar.
"Hey Greg!" smiled the waitress. She recognised Greg, because he went into that restaurant every morning after his shift to get some coffee and a baguette. "Table for one?"
"No, two," said Greg.
"Wow, so you actually have a friend?" said the woman sarcastically, but not nastily.
"Yeah," smiled Greg.
"Right," said the waitress. "Table for two." She led the two men over to a table in the corner of the room. "What are you having?"
"Can I get a coffee and a full english?" asked Greg, smiling.
"Sure," beamed the waitress. "And you sir?" She asked, turning to Nick.
"Same," replied Nick.
"Sure," smiled the woman. "Won't be long."
"Thanks," said Greg. He watched the waitress leave, and then turned to Nick.
"So-?"
"I've never been here before," said Nick.
"Oh, so we're going to talk about the restaurant?" said Greg.
"What would you rather talk about?" asked Nick.
"Well, to be honest, I'd rather talk about you," said Greg. "What are you into?"
"In terms of what?" said Nick.
"Anything and everything," said Greg.
"Give me something," said Nick.
"Okay," said Greg. "What's your favourite food?"
"I love italian food," said Nick.
"Cool," said Greg.
"And I really like cooking," said Nick.
"Are you a good cook?" asked Greg.
"I haven't had any complaints," said Nick.
Greg giggled. "You'll have to cook for me some time."
"You're on!" said Nick.
"But I should warn you, I'm quite fussy," said Greg. "And I'm allergic to sea food."
"I did not know that," said Nick.
"Well, you do now," said Greg.
"So what do you like to do when you're not at the lab?" asked Nick, trying to turn the conversation away from himself.
"Well, um, apart from playing on the PS2 and going to gigs," said Greg. "I collect coins, and I like to go to the cinema."
"What was the last film you saw?" asked Nick.
"Shark Tale," giggled Greg. "I know, it's shocking, but I really wanted to see it."
"No, no, I saw it too," said Nick.
"And did you like it?" asked Greg.
"Yes," said Nick.
"What was the last film you saw?" asked Greg.
"Creep," said Nick.
"Oh, man, I really want to see that," said Greg.
"I'll take you some time," said Nick.
"I'd like that," said Greg. "I'm going to hold you to that though."
"Fair enough," said Nick. "I don't mind."
"So what do you like doing?" asked Greg.
"Apart from cooking?" said Nick.
"Uh huh," said Greg.
"Well, I like to paint," said Nick.
"You paint?" said Greg. "As in watercolour?"
Nick shook his head. "No, I hate watercolours."
"Oh," said Greg. "So what do you use?"
"I experiment," said Nick. "It depends."
"Can I see some of your art sometime?" asked Greg.
"I don't really show it to anyone," said Nick. "It's more something I do for myself, y'know?"
"Uh huh," said Greg. "I wish I had something like that."
"You should find something," said Nick. "It's a good release."
"I suppose it gets you away from the stress of the lab," said Greg.
"That's so true," said Nick. "And it's really relaxing and therapeutic."
"Sounds like acupuncture," said Greg.
"You go to an acupuncturist?" said Nick. "How come?"
"Mixture between back pain and stress," said Greg.
"I didn't think working DNA would be that stressful," said Nick.
"Are you kidding me!" said Greg. "It's one of the most stressful jobs out there."
"Why?" asked Nick.
Greg sighed. "Because for the sixteen hours that I work in that lab, I'm under constant pressure the whole time. I get two one hour breaks, but usually I'm too swamped to take any time off. We don't have the budget to get a second DNA tech, so it's just me, and sometimes it just gets too much for one person. I do my best, but I can't stop the backlog all the time."
"Wow," said Nick. "I didn't think it was that complicated."
"Oh, it's way complicated," said Greg. "But I cope with it, it's okay."
"Uh huh," said Nick.
The waitress came over with two plates, and two big mugs of coffee. She set them down on the table.
"Thank you," smiled Greg.
"Alright?" asked the woman.
"Yes," said Greg.
"Holler if you want anything else," said the waitress, walking off.
Greg picked up his mug, and sipped the coffee. "I love this coffee."
Nick sipped from his mug. "It's not bad."
"It's not bad!" said Greg. "Man, I can see I've got some things to teach you."
"Maybe I don't take my coffee that seriously," said Nick.
"Well then that's fair enough," said Greg. "But I still have to teach you the difference between good coffee, bad coffee, and great coffee."
"Okay," said Nick.
!"£&()
A/N: Tada, as I said, Nick and Greg went to the diner.
Next time out, Nick sees Greg without his top on...
>('') Welly XXX
