The Best Of Friends Who: Aiden and Eddie Where: Joe's Auto Repair, then Misty's Diner When: Monday Afternoon
Aiden pulled into Joe's Auto with a slam of her palm on the horn of her green Jeep Rubicon, twice. She had taken her lunch break from the hotel, and rather then eat alone, the werewolf had driven from her family's hotel to the auto repair place to ask Eddie to lunch with her. Aiden's asking, though, tended to turn out to be more of an insistence, with 'no' being nowhere near an acceptable answer.
Eddie recognized the sound of the horn almost immediately. He'd been working underneath a VW Beetle and at least had sense enough not to hit his head on anything. He let out a puff of breath and couldn't help it but smile. He tossed the wrench that he'd been working with aside and wormed his way out from underneath the car, grabbing a cloth to wipe his hands with as he made his way over to Aiden's car. "You know, I could seriously hurt myself one day..." He playfully told her.
"Dude," Aiden grinned as she hopped out of her jeep, "it's a miracle you haven't done just that already. Especially working at a garage with all those power tools around you." The dark haired were teased as she moved toward the guy to hug him. "So, come have lunch with me and save yourself from having a major accident." Aiden added with a flash of a grin when she stepped back from her best friend.
Eddie laughed and wrapped his arms around Aiden, giving her a good squeeze but careful not to set his hands on her - he had grease all over them. Inhaling her scent out of habit, he nodded against her. "I don't think I'd get any work done with you here," he admitted, pulling away from her and smiling, making eye contact. "Give me a minute to clean up and I'm all yours."
"Okay, one minute," she said lifting a hand to hold up one finger in emphasis, "but that's all you're getting." She returned with a smile.
Eddie chuckled, muttering 'you're a hard woman to please' before walking off to clean himself up and telling his boss that he was taking his lunch break. More often than not he tended to do forget unless someone came along and told him to take one. After washing his hands, he pulled on a shirt (he was just in a white wife-beater and jeans a moment before) and walked back over to Aiden. "Happy now?"
"Ecstatic." She grinned back. "And since I'm dragging you away from work, and taking you to lunch, you choose the place." Aiden said as she turned away from her friend to climb back into her vehicle. She was pretty much famished at that moment, so anywhere Eddie suggested would be fine and dandy with her.
Eddie seemed to think on that for a moment as he hopped into the passenger side and buckled up. "Well... how about Misty's then? I've been craving a burger all morning," he admitted, his stomach growling as if to prove that. He smiled sheepishly and looked away, embarrassed.
"You're always craving something," Aiden remarked back, putting the vehicle in gear to pull out of the lot, "I swear if you were a girl I'd start thinking you were pregnant." She grinned. Aiden then pulled the jeep out onto the street, heading for the diner.
Eddie chuckled, his bright blue eyes watching the street as they drove, hair stirring with the wind. "I'm still growing," he told her. "Have to keep the engine running somehow." He let a comfortable silence settle between them for a moment before remembering to ask: "How have you been?"
"Filling up on burgers will definitely do that." Aiden said with a light chuckle. Eddie had eaten meals with her family often enough that her mother often remarked that the guy ate enough food that would feed a platoon of soldiers. " I've been good, with most my days being sucked up working at The Lodge." Not that that was an actual complaint, cause Aiden liked working at the family owned hotel/resort.
"We should go for a run soon," he said abruptly. While they liked to chase each other around barefoot and giggling - that wasn't what he meant and she knew that. They were both WereSomething's, both animals underneath. He glanced over at Aiden and added teasingly: "if you think you can beat me this time."
Aiden let go a half laugh then. "Dude, I can run circles around you and not break a sweat. Just let me know which morning you'd be available for me to beat your ass." They used to catch a run at least once a week, but lately that seemed to have become a neglected thing. Aiden was glad Eddie had brought it up as she missed her running time with the guy.
"I'd say let's do it now if I wasn't so hungry," he replied, giving her one of his big, cheeky grins. Oh, he knew that she could keep up with him well enough - hell, she beat him on her good days, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to tease her when the situation presented itself.
"Well, that's a lame excuse if I ever heard one." Aiden teased back, reaching over to give a quick pinch to his cheek then. "Oh, and before I forget, mother said to ask you to come over for Sunday dinner." Aiden, it seems, wasn't the only one who considered Eddie part of their pack.
He laughed and squirmed away from her playfully after she'd pinched his cheek. "You know I can't say 'no' to your mom. Or her cooking. It's a shame you don't have the same talent," he teased, pinching her arm.
"Hey! Watch it there, bud, I bruise easily." She teased with a grin. It wasn't that Aiden had the worst culinary skills ever, she just didn't excel in the kitchen like her mother did. It was kind of a running joke between her parents that her father married her mother solely because of her culinary talent. A moment later, Aiden was guiding the jeep into the lot of the diner.
Eddie smirked and unbuckled his seat belt, chancing a glance at Aiden before hopping out of the car and walking up to the diner, opening the front door and letting her enter first. "How about tomorrow, then? The run?" He asked, watching her as she entered the building. "Promise I won't take it easy on you."
"You've got yourself a date, dude." Aiden replied, glancing back over her shoulder with a flash of a smile to the guy as she entered the eatery. "So, booth or table?" To her it didn't really matter as long as she was able to sit and enjoy her lunch.
"Booth," he replied without hesitation, pointing to a secluded booth. He'd rather have her all to himself, thank you very much. He barely resisted the urge to nip at her shoulder playfully. He'd had to be reminded more than once in his youth that 'norms' wouldn't quite understand that kind of thing. So he'd be on his best behavior - for now.
"Booth it is." Aiden agreeing with her BFFs choice, she then moved to walk over toward the suggested booth and plop herself down with a reach for one of the menus.
Eddie sat down opposite Aiden and smiled. Ever since he was a child it was obvious to his family that he had trouble associating with people. Talking to them, maintaining eye contact - that kind of thing. So it really took a special kind of person to hold his attention so thoroughly, like Aiden did. He smiled to himself, thinking that he'd enjoy beating her at their run tomorrow.
"I don't know if I want a bacon burger or steak." Aiden commented casually as she glanced over the menu now opened up in front of her on the table. She had been friends with Eddie since the first grade, and while most found the friendship a bit on the odd side, with some thinking there was more going on between the two, Aiden seemed to accept all Eddie's little quirks unconditionally. They were the epitome of what best friends should be.
It helped that she accepted him for who he was, as well. Sometimes he couldn't hold back his more... animal traits. Then again, it wasn't like he wanted to, either. He glanced at the menu and let out a small grunt. "Order the steak. If you like the look of my burger, then we can swap," he suggested, glancing up to meet her eyes to see if that met her approval.
"Sure." She smiled over to him, then. It wouldn't be the first time they 'shared' meals, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "Guess it's settled then, I'll get the steak with a baked potato." She stated as she closed up her menu and set it back in the metal holder.
He smiled and closed his menu as well, flagging down one of the waitresses to let her know that they were ready to order. He let Aiden order first before ordering his own meal, barely making eye-contact with the waitress as he did so. She was still new to him, so it would take him some time to show the trust of meeting her eyes. Once she left, he returned his attention to Aiden. "Should I bring desert? Sunday?"
"Only if you want to." Aiden told him. "The only thing that's a requirement Sunday is your presence." Now that he agreed to come for dinner, there was no way Aiden was going to let him snake out of the Sunday dinner, not that she thought Eddie would try to do just that.
Not at all. He was a man of his word. If he said that he'd be somewhere or do something, it was with a certainty that he'd do as he said. "I'll stop by the bakery before I get there," he promised with a smile, letting his eyes linger on hers longer than he would with anyone else. "I promise that you'll see me so much this week that you'll be sick of me."
"Like I would mind that in the slightest." Aiden said with a smile and roll of her eyes. In her opinion she hadn't seen enough of the guy over the past couple of weeks, so his becoming her 'shadow' for this week would just be compensation for their lack of time together in the past.
"Well, I'd hope not, anyway," Eddie laughed, leaning over so he could playfully poke one of Aiden's arms. He smiled and leaned back in his seat again, just as the waitress reappeared with their lunches, setting them down on the table in front of them. "So, how does it look?" He asked of her meal.
"Everything looks good enough to eat." Aiden grinned in response after the waitress' departure. "You wanna go halves on things?" She asked then cause she was really wanting to sink her teeth in Eddie's burger as well as her own steak. She was a meat eater, that was a fact, and mostly due to her wolf side. Aiden probably would have ordered her own burger, but the young woman was wanting to save room in her belly for dessert.
Eddie had observed Aiden's eating habits over the years, so it wouldn't surprise him in the slightest when she ordered desert. He occasionally ate sweets but much preferred the taste of fish and meat himself. He worked on cutting his burger in half in answer to her, telling her it was hers when she was ready before lifting his own half and taking a huge hungry bite. "Next time I'll make you dinner," he promised. "Or breakfast, after our run."
If Aiden would ever actually think about it, she'd find it kind of scary just how well Eddie knew her. He probably knew more about her then her own family did. Slicing her steak in half, well almost in half as her portion was a bit larger then the one she set onto Eddie's plate before he started in on his half of the burger. "You owe me a movie night, so I'm thinking that you can cook me dinner AND breakfast following our run." Aiden grinned happily as she cut her steak into pieces small enough to eat.
Eddie raised an eyebrow at her as he continued munching on his burger, letting out a content groan at the taste. He really wasn't aware of how hungry he was until he started eating. Go figure. "Alright," he agreed. He really had difficulty saying 'no' to her, she had to have known that. "But you have to pick the movies."
"You sure you wanna leave that to me?" She asked with a playful grin, after chewing down a couple pieces of steak. If left completely up to Aiden, she'd show up on the designated night with a handful of Disney movies. While she could enjoy just about any movie, the dark haired were had a preference for Disney movies and would choose from her vast collection if it were left up to her.
"As long as it's not too depressing I think I can handle it," he replied with a smirk, setting down his burger for the moment to take a sip of his drink of water, looking at her over the rim of his glass. "So no 'Up'," he added, knowing her tastes enough by now.
"Fine." She grumbled cutely. There were plenty others she could choose from her Disney DVD collection. "I promise to bring only those movies that are fun and uplifting." She informed her BFF, collecting up the half burger Eddie had set on her plate and then taking a good sized bit out of it.
"That's all I ask," he replied, picking up a knife and fork so he could start working on his half of her steak. While he didn't mind dramatic or romantic movies, he had to be in a certain mood to watch them. He had to be content. If not, he tended to get upset - although very few people knew that about him. Of course, action movies had the opposite effect and got him all riled up, but again, he had to be in a mood for them. He was perhaps a little strange like that. "Mm, this is good," he said after swallowing a bite of steak.
Aiden sipped her drink as Eddie spoke. "Almost as good as your burger." She found herself agreeing with the guy's assessment of the steak. Both were good, and between the two they wouldn't go to waste.