Outback Steakhouse, Sunday Evening
PhylaShe had been on the front lines of a war up until a short while ago. Phyla had known that Teddy's home was a little more stable than hers was, but somehow, being stuck (oh, please, you're not stuck, said that little voice in her head that was entirely Heather's fault, try to live a little) in an ordinary Earth restaurant after her past few years seemed a little... weird. Strange. Utterly bizarre. Alien. Take your pick.
She valiantly tried to avoid displaying that feeling by channeling it into poking her fork periodically. "So," she said, then paused, thinking and picking up her fork before continuing, "How have you been, Chad?" It seemed a good opening.
She dropped the fork again.
Chad and Orihime"Good," Chad responded, while very carefully, very subtly, trying to goad Orihime's elbow away to prevent her from continuing to dip her Bloomin' Onion in her coffee. She didn't seem to notice Chad's influence, though, continuing to much happily and possibly making up stories about what one onion was saying to the other before they went into her mouth.
"You?"
PhylaShe had just picked up the fork again to give it a good stare-at. Somehow, Chad's question took Phyla a little by surprise. She dropped it (yet again) with a slight thump. "...Good," she ventured, "Considering everything."
She was going to smack herself for adding that later.
Teddy"Considering everything?" Teddy echoed, frowning at her.
Phyla"Living in a zone of space that is perpetually at war?" she offered. At least it didn't come out tentative. That would've... made this more awkward. She was going to pull confident fine.
OrihimeTo this, Orihime seemed to have something to submit, but her mouth was full of food, so it was a bit difficult to decipher.
ChadWhich was why Chad was there. He nodded, and translated. "She said something about how that's terrible," he said.
"I think."
TeddyOh. "Oh." Teddy focused on that Bloomin' Onion and then Orihime for a moment, realizing how that sounded. "I mean, not like that. I just... got worried something was wrong with you and Heather."
Phyla"No," Phyla replied, straightening out the tablecloth with her hands. And again. She picked up her fork and stabbed a piece of meat on the end of it. "Heather and I are fine." Even if she'd kill to have her around right now. "She's probably mocking me right now."
What was it with her and saying whatever came to mind tonight?
OrihimeOrihime remembered to swallow this time before talking. "Why would she do that?" she wondered, innocently enough as she took a big swig from her coffee cup. Which tasted like onions, and therefor was delicious.
Phyla"Because she's Heather." Phyla caught herself in a smile a few moments afterwards. She was not going to duck her head like a teenager, though. "She wants me to socialize... more." Could they please talk about something else?
Teddy"You mean socialize at all?" Teddy asked, not smirking at all. Really.
Phyla"Hey, I know how to socialize," Phyla said, and now, at least, the fork was useful for something: she pointed it at Teddy. "Sometimes." That wasn't a falter, or anything, for which she was grateful. "Just not as much as you or Heather."
Quickly, she stabbed a piece of meat with her fork and shoved it into her mouth. Maybe that way, the conversation could start being directed some other way.
Chad"To be fair," Chad added, digging into his own meat, "you're here now. Having dinner with us, and that's social."
Orihime"Yay!" Orihime, clearly pleased by this face, lifted her arms up in the air in celebration before putting them down with a very noticeable bounce, especially since parts of her continued bouncing after she had stopped to start putting jam on her steak. "And I'm very glad you are, Phyla-chan; it's so nice to meet Teddy-kun's sister!"
PhylaPhyla would have responded with words, but that amount of... ...busom was a little hard to ignore. And it did look... nice. Very--
She swallowed her bite of meat a little early and shot a furtive look at Teddy, instead. "So what have you been up to, little brother?" It sounded a little desperate.
TeddyTeddy nudged her under the table with his foot. "I started up a fraternity," He said, stealing some of the onion. "And was a Homecoming King."
Chad"Technically," Chad offered, and, unbeknowest of any nudging on Teddy's part, also went to nudge him with his own foot. "You only restarted it. It just kind of disappeared last year."
Teddy"Okay, I re-started a frat," Teddy said, giving Chad a look, that wasn't nearly as annoyed as he was trying for. "And Chad is looking at colleges! And modeling!"
He was far too proud of him there.
Phyla"Sounds like you're really preparing for the job," Phyla said, as encouragingly as she could. She did feel encouraging. A little proud, even. She was also mostly just trying to focus on Teddy's face. "A frat, huh? What's that like?"
Socializing! With the family! She was doing well at it. Heather would be proud.
Orihime"What's a frat?" Orihime chirped. "Isn't that sort of like a one-room apartment?"
Chad"Um, I think you're thinking of a flat, Inoue-san," Chad offered. "A frat is a club for guys to do stuff in, in the spirit of brotherhood and stuff."
Phyla"The 'spirit of brotherhood', huh?" Phyla asked, raising one softly mocking eyebrow.
Teddy"We do stuff to help the community!" Teddy insisted. And then, as an afterthought, mumbled, "And to build a satellite fortress to hang out in."
Orihime"Does it have rockets?" Really, Orihime had to ask, her eyes wide and her hands clasped excitedly in front of her, although the gesture seemed to do nothing to keep the excitement out of her bouncing bosom.
PhylaPhyla was trying very hard not to groan. She facepalmed a little, leaning forwards into her palm. "You should be careful with those satellite fortresses," she muttered, "They get a lot of bad people."
Teddy"Not a real one," Teddy replied. "They don't have all the aliens where the other guys are from."
Chad"And I think," Chad offered, "anything that gets on that thing that isn't supposed to be there won't be there long, consider the people who are supposed to be on it."
Phyla"You'd think that," Phyla said, poking at her meat with her fork, "And yet somehow, it always seems to go down the toilet." That wasn't depressing, or anything.
Orihime"But just because it goes down the toilet, doesn't mean it can't come back up!" Orihime said brightly through a forkful of her jam-steak, and then she blinked. Her nose wrinkled, and her shoulders sagged, while her chest seemed to remain obscenely perk to defy the gravity of the action.
"I don't think that worked as well as I thought," she admitted. "What I mean is that even when things look really bad, they can sometimes get better. You just have to keep fighting and fighting and fighting some more, right, Sado-kun?"
ChadChad couldn't help grinning just a bit at that, and nodding, with a grunt. "Right, Inoue-san."
He couldn't wait to see Phyla's face on that one.
PhylaPhyla's forehead was going to get dents from the amount of rubs it was getting. "It usually gets better," she muttered, and stole yet another look at Orihime's chest. It was just very... there. It was a little... Um. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared."
Orihime"And that," Orihime agreed, with a resolute nod that traveled nicely to other parts of her body, "is where there rockets come in."
TeddyTeddy went to give Phyla a reassuring pat on the arm. "This place is like New York back home. We can take on anything."
Phyla"You're careful, right, little brother?"
She'd seen maybe a little too much over the past few years not to want to know. Her mood had turned serious, and now her eyes were set on Teddy more because she needed to know and less because of other things.
Chad"He is," Chad assured her, glancing over to Teddy and hoping he didn't mind him overriding the answer like that but, maybe, from another person, it might be a little more verifiable. "You definitely don't have anything to worry about there."
Phyla"I hope so," she said, dropping her fork on the plate with a clang. "It can get a little dangerous out there..." It was an utterly inadequate description, and she knew it.
TeddyTeddy studied his plate studiously. "I know. I hope I really am too."
Phyla"Hey, you'll do fine," she said, hit squarely in the gut by a bolt of guilt. She reached over for a sisterly shoulderpat that seemed to promise awkward sisterly hugs later.
Chad"I don't see how anyone could even doubt it, Teddy," Chad offered, giving a slight, hard glance over at Phyla across the table. Sure, there was something to be said about behind honest and frank, but she didn't constantly have to be confronted with Teddy's already strong and misplaced doubt in the matter. Last thing he needed was one visit from his sister to undo everything he'd tried to build up. "You've been preparing yourself so much."
TeddyTeddy reached under the table to grab Chad's hand. "And I've got you two around to keep me in line, right?"
ChadChad squeezed Teddy's hand back. "I'm not going anywhere."
PhylaShe hesitated for maybe a fraction of a second. When the answer came, it was definitive. "Of course." When she could. "And I think Heather would be offended if I didn't say you've got her, too."
TeddyTeddy smiled at that, nodding. "Um. How about we get dessert?"
Because that helped!
Orihime"Dessert!" Orihime agreed, feeling that she had little else to contribute to the conversation, but was very touched by it all.
Little else to contribute, anyway, besides a slightly bouncing hum of pleased affection.
[[Preplayed with the lovely senor_chado, thisisnotaplan and sparkly_inoue]]