Taco Tuesday. It seemed like such an ordinary mundane thing. Even after everything they'd gone through, the world wasn't perfect. The changes he and his friends had brought about didn't magically fix the world and the idea of going to a restaurant, mingling with people from all over, it was new. Not being a part of any faction, sticking to just one part of the city, for the most part, was new. Atlantis was like no place Tobias had ever seen before, not that he'd seen a lot of the world. For most of his life, he hadn't even realized how much there was outside of his city. The world was still far larger than he knew, even now.
He'd used the tablet he'd been given to do a little research, to figure out that there were no names or faces he recognized on this network of theirs and to get a little more info on this war they wanted him to fight. This was a real war, different from the fighting he'd done at home. It was different from the resistance he and his friends had put up again a regime they knew was wrong. Somehow, this seemed even more important than any other fight he'd been involved in. There wasn't much of a question of whether he'd stay and fight or not.
He'd walked into Cinders and quickly found a table off to the side, adjacent to the crowd more than being right in the middle of it. Tobias ordered a beer to start off with before taking a moment to study the menu. Who knew there could be so many different kinds of tacos? The food in Dauntless had never been boring, by any means, but there was a kind of variety to what was offered here that it gave him pause and he studied the menu carefully, trying to decide which kind he should try first.
There was a lot of shitty things happening in Atlantis lately with all the people leaving and all the shit. Taisia was sitting at the bar with her sister sipping a margarita while catching up. Taisia filled Alex in on how while she still liked Peter it didn’t really work out, or it fizzled out, or something, Tai wasn’t really sure but she did tell Alex she was pretty sure it was because she herself was shitty at dating and had the worst luck with it. As they chatted a new guy walked in, Taisia noticed him first, her eyes carefully tracking his moves to the table by himself. He had to be new, she was pretty sure she’d remember him.
Before she knew it Alex was challenging her to go speak with him, Taisia told Alex to but somehow it turned into how Taisia needed to pick up her game, the challenge alone spurred Taisia to move. As she got up she looked back at her sister with a small glare before heading straight over to the guy’s table and without even asking if she could sit down sat down across from him.
“You’re new,” she stated. “Welcome, I’m Taisia. We’re going to talk, laugh some and look back at my sister over there to make her think I’m managing to flirt with you well.”
Tobias Eaton wasn't exactly the friendliest guy in the world. If this had been one of his initiates back in Dauntless, he probably would have greeted them with a grunt and a hard glare, but he couldn't help laughing at Taisia’a statement, whether it was the boldness or something else.
“Most people just call me Four,” he said. He didn't know about pretending to flirt and have a good time - he wasn't really that guy, even if he had mostly moved on with life after Tris, by this point at least - but he was amused enough to humor her, at least for a moment.
“Help me figure out this menu and you might have a deal,” he suggested. It wasn't a promise, but it was obvious that she was not new and he wouldn't mind a recommendation on what to order.
“Oh,” Taisia said the name ringing a bell from things she’d heard and other places she’d been. He looked different from the other ones but she decided not to say something. “Nice to meet you Four.” She also wasn’t going to tell him his actual name wasn’t so bad either.
“Deal,” she said leaning up on her arms to look over the menu. “Well, first question, is there anything you refuse to eat?”
Tobias shook his head. “I was Dauntless. There’s not much I won’t try at least once.” The world was factionless now, no one cared about genetic purity or admitted it if they did, but Tobias had spent years of his life first in Abnegation and then in Dauntless. Some habits would die hard, some traits were a part of him even without an official faction to define him. The willingness to take a risk was one of those things.
“Ah,” Taisia had been right. “I’ve been to your world, although the team I was on was stationed in Candor,” she tilted her hand waving it. “But, that’s a story for a different time, if you live up to your end of the deal.” She challenged. “Anyways, in that case, I’d try, Pork Verde Tacos with Jalapeño Sauce, Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Cilantro Ranch, Asian Chicken Tacos with a Mango Slaw, Spicy Lamb Tacos with Mojito Cole Slaw and Cucumber Salsa and Pulled Pork Waffle Tacos with Pineapple Slaw.” Nodding she confirmed her choices for him. “But you’ll also want to get a side of chips with guac and the salsa trio.” Looking back up she added matter of fact. “To start, at least.”
Tobias raised an eyebrow at that, but let it go for now. Food first, stories later, he supposed. He did want to hear more about how she'd supposedly been on a mission to his worth, though.
“That sounds like a lot of food,” he commented, laughing at all the options she rattled off. “You going to help me eat it?” Large meals weren't really something he'd ever been used to.
“Ha!” Taisia laughed shaking her head. “Are you kidding me? That’s just the start, there are dessert tacos, and other tacos.” Sometimes it was easy to forget that not everyone ate as much as she did, but she was used to being around people who didn’t eat as much, she just didn’t think about it much.
Tobias shook his head. “No one could possibly eat all that,” he challenged. He suspected she had a bigger appetite than him. Maybe eating a ton of food was her superpower or something.
Laughing she shrugged. “Are you sure that’s a challenge you want to push?” She leaned forward on her arms looking over at him. “Because I can tell you right now it is one you will not win.”
“Maybe it is.” Tobias wasn’t sure if he believed she could really do it or not, but he wasn’t going to back down from a challenge he’d issued, win or lose. Either way, he had a feeling it could be fun to watch her try and there was no way he could eat all the food she wanted him to order.
“Well, get ready to pay up.” Taisia grinned as the waitress came by she ordered everything she said he should order for himself and nodded to him to order for himself, she’d given him her ideas and she was looking forward to the food. Sure, she’d already had a few tacos, but he didn’t need to know that.
Tobias just laughed as he ordered a couple of the tacos she’d suggested. He went for the Asian Chicken and Pork Verde tacos she’d suggested, silently wondering if she could really eat everything she’d just ordered. “What are we drinking with these, Taco Expert?” he asked Tai a little teasingly. He assumed she’d have some opinions on that, too.
“Margaritas,” Taisia said as if that were the only thing one could drink. “Or I guess you could go with one of the Mexican beers but personally, I always go for a classic margarita, they’ve have all kinds of different flavors though.” She shrugged. She was pretty sure Alex was watching them sipping on a berry flavored one of some sort. “Stay away from the ghost pepper one though, unless you like having your mouth on fire.”
“What, are you afraid of the fire? I thought you seemed like someone who liked to live dangerously,” Tobias teased her before taking her advice and ordering a couple of classic margaritas to go with their massive pile of tacos. He didn’t actually want his mouth to be on fire, but he couldn’t help giving her a hard time.
“I like being able to taste the rest of my food,” Taisia shrugged. “Nothing to do with being afraid. Besides, it does sort of take a while for your mouth to get back to normal. Last time I tried it… we’ll, let’s just say I needed to drink a lot of milk.”
Tobias’ laugh came out as a snort that time. “How long is a while?” he wondered aloud. It sounded like something that probably would have been funny to witness.
“Eh,” Taisia paused before sharing. “6 to 12 hours, depending on your spice intake.” Shrugging she leaned back. “Why considering trying it?”
“Maybe not on my first day,” Tobias admitted, laughing at the question. “Sounds like it would be a good prank if any of my friends ever show up, though,” he added, thinking of Zeke and Christina in particular.
“Oh, it would be,” Taisia didn’t agree. “So, go for a traditional one, get the whole traditional thing going for you.” She nodded her head as if that was the best choice.
That was the plan. Tobias nodded his head. “I can try the other flavors next week,” he said without thinking about it. They’d given him a week to decide if he was staying; maybe that statement meant a part of him had decided to stick around.
“It might be Taco Tuesday, but margaritas can be an any day of the week kind of thing,” she wasn’t sure what she was getting at with that but it came out anyways.
Tobias wrinkled his nose. “I’m not sure I’d want to wash down a pizza with one,” he commented. He’d always been more of a beer person, maybe partly from the lack of variety at home, but he did like a good beer.
Taisia raised eyebrow deciding that did not go how she might have hoped but didn’t show. “What if it is a taco pizza?”
“Touché.” Tobias had to grin at her rebuttal. “Alright, you’ve got me there.” He hesitated just a second before adding, “are margaritas the only thing you drink?”
“Ha!” Taisia let out. “No, if you are talking drink drinks, I lean to vodka and gummy worms, otherwise I’m a water kind of girl.”
“Gummy worms.” he repeated. Vodka existed in his time, but gummy worms erect something he’d even had or even heard of. He assumed it was some kind of food and not that she was talking about actual worms.
“Never had a gummy worm?” She asked leaning forward eyes wide.
“Never even heard of them,” he admitted. “What are they like?”
“Okay.” Taisia said leaning back. “Friday night, you, me, and whoever else are going to have gummy worms and vodka, and you can’t say no.”
Tobias pretended to think about it for a moment. “Well, if I can’t say no...” he said in a tone of mock resignation.
“Smart move,” not taking to bait. “Now, let’s eat these tacos.” She said as their food came out.