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She seems to pause for a moment and glance between us before holding out her pad of paper and pen, “You said you wanted good food and drinks? Pick your poison!” Her genuinely cheerful tone rings out.
Darian glances at me and then to the waitress, “I’ll take the usual for myself. Get a glass of it for Lara as well, and whatever else she would like.”
I blink at him and bite my lip, “I’ll take whatever tequila you have, please.”
The waitress glances at Darian, and he nods once prompting her to note something down before tilting her head back up, “Any idea what you’d like to start with?”
“Calamari for the table for sure. Does John still make those egg rolls off the menu?”
Ilana giggles, “Does he? He makes them nearly every day. We are voting to add them to the menu this week with how often they’re requested.”
Darian laughs and nods his head, “Well, we can’tnothave them then, as long as he’s up to making us some.”
She notes it down and tilts her head, “Sounds great. I’ll get these in and be back shortly.”
Within a few minutes, Ilana brings us each a glass of whiskey and a couple shots of tequila. She places them between us respectively and hurries off to the kitchen.
My eyes find Darian’s and I lift my shot into the air, “Should we ‘cheers’ to something?”
Darian is thoughtful for a moment and raises his glass to mine, “To the hope for a better future than the past we leave behind.”
I smile and bump our glasses together lightly before tossing the liquor back, surprise rifles through me when it goes down smooth.
“Oh, this stuff is dangerous, and I’m assuming it’s incredibly top shelf.”
Darian laughs, “Another cheers, your turn this time.”
I’m quiet for a moment as I hold the second shot up, “To the version of ourselves we became... and the version of ourselves we’ve yet to become.”
Darian gives me a slight incline of his head as he lifts his glass to mine before we down the tequila.
Plopping the glasses to the table, it’s quiet for a moment when I finally speak, “Alright big man, hit me with some little known facts.” My voice comes out with more heat than expected, and I internally wince.
Darian chokes on his whiskey and barks a laugh, “Fine. But only if you do the same.”
It’s a conscious effort to stop staring at his mouth, “Fine.”
I’m quiet for a moment while my mind battles with questions to ask.
“So you have brothers still in the realm you were banished from, but what about sisters or extended family? Were you not romantically interested in anyone before your banishment?”
Real, real smooth Lara.
His eyes flick to mine and I take a soothing sip of whiskey in an effort to mask the burning in my cheeks.
“No, I no longer have any blood relatives outside of Caspian and my life was complicated when I was growing up. I didn’t have time to pay attention to anyone for any romantic interest when I was learning about my powers and how to fight with and without them. So to answer your questions, no to both.”
I nod and take another sip of my whiskey, avoiding his burning gaze as my fingers fiddle with the tablecloth.
“Why did you decide to pursue studying the lake?” He asks leaning back in his chair.
I pause for a moment to think through his question. “I don’t know if I have a good answer to that, or at least one that doesn’t sound like a cop out.” I smirk at him and add, “When I first graduated, I took random jobs to try to build on the research I had been compiling about global warming and environmental impacts humans are having on important ecosystems. It seems the more I researched, the less people wanted to listen to my theories, so I decided to take a different approach.”
“If I could find ways to improve our agriculture or heal the land of the toxins or wastes dumped into them, perhaps we could leave this world better than how we found it. When I was offered to research the phenomenon at the lake, it just seemed like it was the only right option. It just felt like that’s where I needed to be.”
Darian’s face holds some type of emotion that I can’t put my finger on, and he nods thoughtfully.
Ilana approaches with four more shots, and places two in front of each of us. A waiter comes up behind her with a tray of egg rolls and calamari, setting them on the table along with two fresh glasses of water.
