Aura POV
We sat at a table in the back, hungrily eating our food. Tegan had paid with the reasoning that Sara bought breakfast, and I was their 'accidental chauffer', as she put it. Sara had not said anything about the fact that I was still wearing the same clothes. I was thankful for this but still waiting. Tegan had made it sound like Sara was going to be unrelenting in her mockery.
"How have I not heard of this place before?" Tegan gushed. "This is amazing." She shoved another bite of her burrito in her mouth.
"I have no clue. To me, it's one of those things in life where you don't realize that you hadn't really lived until you try it," I said between bites. Sara simply nodded in agreement, too busy eating to stop to chat. We all managed to finish our food, which is quite the feat for Chipotle. I wondered to myself how these two tiny people could pack away so much. Nowhere near a giant myself, I still had a few inches on them both. I gathered the garbage and baskets onto the metal tray and disposed of everything.
"Thanks, Aura. What are you? Our waitress?" Sara joked. I paused, taken aback by her comment.
"Uh. Old habits die hard, I guess. I've waited my fair share of tables," I confessed. My nerves tensed a bit as my mind reminded me of our differences. I sat back in my chair next to Tegan, and I could feel four eyes on me.
"Ah. Is that what you do?" Sara calmly asked. If I didn't know better, it would have seemed like she didn't care if I were still a server.
"No. I- um, I do some bookkeeping and accounting, type…of…stuff," I stuttered, uncomfortable with where the conversation was possibly going to go. I feared their potential reactions to my mediocre job with an even more mediocre income.
"So you just waitressed while in college?" Tegan asked nonchalantly and took a sip of her soda.
"Not exactly. I don't have a degree," I could tell my tone was getting weaker.
"Neither do we," Sara shrugged and smiled.
"Yeah," I returned a half smile. Sara was trying to make me feel better, and I hated that she could tell I was unnerved.
"You know, we're not going to judge you based on your job title," Sara blatantly called me out on my behavior. She continued, "But only if you don't judge us on ours." I stared at her completely abashed. I mentally kicked myself. The whole time that I had been worried about how they would treat me if they found out what I did, I had been doing it to them. I straightened in my chair.
"Sure. I'm sorry if I caused any discomfort. The awkward shall now cease and desist," I stated. Tegan snorted and started to snicker, and Sara joined in. "What? What did I do?" I asked with full confusion lacing through my words.
"Nothing! Nothing. You just- I like the way you word things," Tegan cracked. Their laughter was infectious, and I found myself giggling along with them.
"Well, I'm quirky. That's how it goes. Take me or leave me," I quipped.
"Oh, I'll take you," Tegan raised one eyebrow and smirked.
"Gag me! If we're done here, can we move on? Quit trying to out-cute each other," Sara teased. The mockery has begun. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to do something other than read in my room alone. That is, if you two are able to keep your hands off of each other long enough to get in a decent game of Scrabble or cards." The mockery has continued.
"Hey, I'm down. Both sound like fun!" I agreed.
"To the hotel!" Tegan shot her hand in the air, index finger out.
"You seriously like this dork?" Sara immediately asked me, deriding Tegan.
"Eh. You don't judge my quirks; I don't judge yours," I shrugged, alluding to her previous statement about our respective job titles.
"Fair enough," Sara nodded and stood from her chair.
We drove back to the hotel, and Sara only made a few more jokes at the expense of Tegan and me. The sun had set, but that wasn't much indication of the lateness. Being January, the sun set fairly early. We piled into Sara's hotel room this time, and we moved the cheap pine desk to the foot of the bed. Sara sat on the bed, with the desk in front of her, Tegan pulled up the desk's chair to one side, and I sat across from Sara in the faded armchair that had been in the corner.
"So, Scrabble or cards?" Sara asked, since we still hadn't decided on what to play.
"Like I said, I'm down for either. I do give fair warning, though. I count cards. I can't help it," I offered my two cents.
"Do you mean Rainman-style 'can't help it'?" Tegan looked at me bewildered.
"I don't know. I've played a lot of cards. You just…pick up on it," I meekly confessed.
"Cards it is!" Sara had a sly smile. "I want to test your skills."
"Oh god. Now I'm going to lose just because you jinxed me," I groaned. Sara and Tegan chuckled at me.
"What's the game?" Sara questioned me.
"That I know or that I'm good at?" I queried.
"That you're good at," she returned, without missing a beat.
"Um. Rummy, I guess. Vegas rules. No wilds. Ace is high or low, but not both, so no wrap-arounds. Seven cards each to start and flip the top one of the deck. I can keep score, too, to make it easier," I called the game as Sara shuffled and dealt. I had always found Rummy to be the game with the most 'house rules' out of all card games. I played the first round very simplistically. We all laid out our cards and played off of each other, as the game was intended. Sara was in the lead with 45 points, I was in second with 40, and Tegan pulled in third with 30.
"I thought you said you were good at this game," Tegan teased.
"First off, I don't think last place has any place to talk," I started. Tegan raised her eyebrows, and Sara laughed. "Secondly, I was trying to be nice. If you'd like, I can actually play to win. I just didn't know what your skill levels were."
"Sure, that's what they all say. 'Playing nice'. But look who's in first place," Sara heckled.
"Alright. If you want me to play, I'll play," I gathered the cards for my turn to shuffle. Into the second round, Tegan had laid out the 2, 3, and 4 of hearts, but still had nine cards in her hand, and Sara had put down three of the 9s. They both had smug looks on their faces, so I knew it was time to set the record straight. Picking up the fifth card in from the pile, and as such all the cards on top of it, I arranged my hand a bit. Then I set down four different runs and sets, and I laid my last card face down on the pile to end the round.
"Wait. What did you just do?" Tegan looked at my cards, baffled by my actions.
"Well, what I just did was win the hand. You see, I made 125 points with all those royals and aces. Sara lost at least 35 with the two kings and the other ace in her hand. And you lost at least 25 points with the two tens and the eight of hearts in your hand," I informed her. Sara's eyes grew wide, and Tegan's jaw dropped. They laid out their hands to check if I was right about what they had been holding.
"H-how did you…" Sara tried to make sense of what I had said.
"I told you. I count cards," I airily stated as I checked their cards and wrote down the score. Tegan blinked and managed to raise her jaw shut. She took the cards and shuffled.
"So. When can I take you to Vegas, Rainman?" Tegan chaffed.
"Ha! They don't take too kindly to my kind in those parts," I laughed. Sara and Tegan laughed at my joke, or maybe my wording. I wasn't too sure, but it didn't matter to me. I've always been told that I word things in a peculiar way. We continued our game, and I won by a landslide. They stopped heckling me about my initial second place and started making mock plans about a trip to Las Vegas.
Sara yawned, "Well, you two may have not have moved until after noon, but I, for one, was up early. I'm kicking you out."
"Fine. Be a spoil sport. We'll just find something else to do!" Tegan teased.
"Yeah. Each other," Sara quipped with a roll of her eyes. I lowered my face into my hand and shook my head. Sara snickered at my embarrassment, but she gave me a pat on my shoulder. "Don't be so shy. Let me have my fun. It's not everyone that I get to tease for hooking up with Tegan."
"I should hope not, or Tegan and I need to talk!" I chuckled, willing away the redness on my cheeks.
"Hey!" Tegan exclaimed. She feigned a pout and crossed her arms, and I ruffled her hair. After our 'goodnight's, Tegan and I wandered back to her room. We decided the night was young and made the trip down to the bar in the hotel.
"I'm not much of a drinker," I warned.
"Well, that just means we won't be blowing a ton of cash here, then," Tegan smiled. She linked her arm in mine and led us to a table. She ordered a beer, and I ordered a coffee with Frangelico and Disaronno. "Fancy drink, eh?" she noted.
"I told you I don't really drink. When I do, I'd rather not waste my money on something that tastes like ass. I hate beer. Plus, mine has a lot more alcohol in it than yours," I stuck my tongue out.
"Ah, well. More for me then!" she took a big gulp of her beer and smacked her lips. We grinned at each other and chatted through a couple more rounds.
"I should probably get going home sometime," I said slowly. I didn't want the night to end. Tegan looked at me with something in her eyes. Was it disappointment? I stood from my chair. It was a high table, so getting off the chair was actually a step down. I stumbled a bit, but Tegan caught it.
"I don't think you should be going anywhere right now. How much did you have?" Tegan got up from her chair to help me steady.
"I had three. Two shots each. In," I checked my watch," an hour and a half. Six shots total. I rarely drink. I'm sufficiently sloshed," I rambled. I giggled and smiled at Tegan.
"Right. You're not driving. I have some pajamas you can wear, if you're worried about that," Tegan started to lead me away from the table.
"Wait!" I nearly yelled. "We have to pay! The waitress needs a big tip. She was a good waitress. And hot. She was a hot, good waitress." Tegan laughed at my drunken speech and nodded.
"I charged it to the room. Don't worry," she assured me.
"Well I still need to tip her! Hold on!" I spoke. I grabbed my wallet and pulled out a $20. The waitress was passing by to clean the table Tegan and I just left, so I went up to her and slid it in the pocket of her apron. With a wink, I turned and walked back to Tegan. Her eyebrows were nearly in her hair. "What?" I asked nonchalantly and continued walking to the elevator. She joined me quickly. I made a speedy decision to play up my drunkenness to get her to help me walk again. I tripped slightly on the carpet. Tegan promptly put her arm around my waist and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. I smirked to myself. "Win."
"Win what?" Tegan asked as she pushed the button for the elevator. My eyes grew wide. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Apparently I had enough to drink to make my thoughts verbal.
"Well this is awkward," I smiled at her, praising the liquid confidence coursing through my veins. "I tripped on purpose to have you hold me. It worked. Therefore: win." Tegan raised her left eyebrow and chuckled.
She shook her head and said, "You don't have to do that to get me to hold you." As the elevator rose, she wrapped her other arm around my waist and gave me a soft peck on the lips. We arrived back in her room, and she immediately pulled a t-shirt and pajama pants from her bag.
"Yeah. Before all that. Are we going to have drunk sex?" I asked her. I didn't see the point in changing into something I would shortly remove. Tegan blinked at me.
"I- I don't know. I wasn't planning for or against it. I- just- hmm," she stammered and stopped mid-sentence. "You're a bit more forward when you've been drinking, aren't you?"
"It happens. Drunk words are sober thoughts. I just don't know you that well yet. If we get closer, the filter will die," I nodded, sure of my statement.
"If? Don't you mean 'when'?" she wrapped her arms around my waist again. Her lips curled slyly.
"Nope. Pred- predic- guessing the future is too hard. But I'll be rooting for the 'when'," I stumbled over my slurred tongue. Tegan was amused by my Elmer Fudd impression.
"Well then leave the guessing to me. We will get closer," Tegan flirted.
"Oh yeah?" I flirted back.
"Yeah. And we're going to start now," she tightened her arms around my waist and leaned in for a kiss. I smiled into her lips.
"Is that so?" I teased against her mouth. Tegan didn't answer, instead she lead me to the bed.
