A/N: I saw a meme and this was born! The Story Goblins made me do it. I have a few one shots of fun and laughs to post that took hold of my brain, annnnndd Secrets will be back in full swing! Promise! I got hung up on the next chapter, but it's almost done. I've been insanely busy. But I promise more to come!!!

Xoxo!

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Paige stared at her phone screen, barely holding back a laugh.

"Wait. Are you telling me… you… Walter O'Brien, king of the nerds, made a dating app?"

Walter looked almost offended. Almost.

"It's not a dating app, Paige. It's a restaurant-selection interface, specifically designed to streamline the decision-making process. I noticed we spend an average of 47 minutes per outing discussing where to eat, which is both excessive and inefficient."

Paige blinked, half-amused and half-impressed.

"Right… and what's it called?"

He blushed sheepishly, as he tapped away on her phone downloading the application.

"It's um… here. All set." He handed her phone to her with the app loaded, and she laughed, not that soft graceful laugh, no, no, this was the one he likened to a hyena.

"Walter! Chicken Tinder!!!"

"You enjoy word play. I did it for you."

Paige stifled her laugh, knowing full well he meant that. Walter's way of showing love was not conventional by any means, but it was definitely uniquely him, and always thoughtful in his own right.

"Well, I love it. Very creative." He finally met her gaze, nervously. "Alright, how does it work?"

Walter's face lit up with a rare look of pride in his EQ at her sudden acceptance and excitement of his work.

"It's quite simple. We both open the app, look through local restaurant 'profiles,' and swipe left if we're uninterested, right if we are. The first restaurant we both swipe right on is the choice."

Paige burst out laughing.

"Wait, so you really did make a restaurant dating app. Walter O'Brien, romance innovator."

"Efficiency innovator." He corrected, his face coloring slightly. "And it's only based on the mutual-consent model of dating apps."

She grinned.

"Which you know about… how, exactly?"

Walter shifted, clearing his throat.

"I may have researched it… briefly. Purely informational." Paige shook her head with a laugh. "Fine, I downloaded one once. Before you. When I was attempting dating. It was… short-lived."

"Wow. You and algorithms… it's like true love." She winked, and Walter only rolled his eyes, missing the humor. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Let 's see what you've got!"

She opened the app, and they began scrolling. A profile for a place called 'Big Burgers' appeared, featuring a juicy close-up of a burger covered in thick melted cheese. The description underneath read "More than just buns… dive into my beefy layers."

Paige choked back a laugh, glancing at him.

"Did… did… you… write these descriptions?"

"What?!" She held up the phone, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "No! Of course not!" Walter replied, affronted. "The descriptions are pre existing marketing materials from the restaurants themselves. Though, in some cases, they're… unexpectedly suggestive."

"Unexpectedly suggestive? Walter, this burger just asked me to 'dive into its layers.' I don't know whether to laugh or tell him that's not first date material."

Walter frowned, floating right over that comment.

"You're overthinking it. Just swipe left or right based on the menu."

With an exaggerated sigh, Paige swiped left. They continued scrolling, but it quickly became a mix of negotiation, laughter, and Walter trying, and failing, to enforce rules on her 'selection criteria.'

When a cozy Italian spot appeared on her screen, Paige lingered.

"Oh, this place looks nice… uh, 'Bacio's.'"

"I already swiped left." Walter said, eyes glued to his own phone. "It's 38 minutes away without traffic. The commute time outweighs the quality of the experience."

"But look at the pasta. It's practically whispering my name." She teased, holding the phone up. "It's like, 'You. Me. A glass of wine and tiramisu.' I may even get to second base on the first date with that. It's a vibe, Walter."

"The vibe..." He answered, unimpressed, and again, not willing to give that suggestion any thought. "...is an unnecessary variable."

"Fine." Paige sighed, swiping left. They went through a sushi place, a vegetarian cafe, a food truck specializing in spicy tacos, and a couple of local spots with profiles as equally suggestive as Big Burgers.

Finally, a pop-up appeared on both screens. It's a Match! Their faces lit up in the glow of their phones as the winning choice displayed: Pho Place.

"See?" Walter said with smug satisfaction. "One decision, zero arguments, and we're set. Three minutes twenty-six seconds. The algorithm works perfectly."

Paige raised an eyebrow, sliding her phone into her bag.

"Walter, you know this means we'll have more time to argue about what to order and about dessert, right?"

Walter blinked.

"Why would we argue about dessert?"

She stepped closer, smirking.

"Because you're going to suggest splitting one, and I'll insist we each order our own, then you'll remark on potential dessert imbalance when trying to choose just one, and then it will be about the health factors and calories, expense, yada yada yada. I'll tell you that we only live once, and it's date night, you'll say it's illogical, I'll say love is illogical, etcetera, etcetera…"

He squinted at her.

"It… that makes sense."

"Does it?" She chuckled, nudging him playfully. "Or maybe, just maybe, sometimes the whole point of date night is not knowing what you want… until you're sitting there with someone who makes the choice fun."

Walter considered this, looking only mildly defeated but with a small smile tugging at his lips.

"That sounds unnecessarily complicated."

"Welcome to dating." Paige quipped, hooking her arm through his as they headed for the door. "But, I will say hunny, this efficiency does have one major perk…"

"What's that?"

She turned a mischievous grin at him over her shoulder as she walked through the door ahead of him.

"Means I'll have extra time burning off those calories with you after dinner." She winked before slipping into the passenger seat of the car.

"Man do I love technology." Walter muttered with a chuckle before shaking his head and getting into the car.