dinner (anniversary drabble)

ermmm trigger warning straight couple!!! whatevt!

The two of them stood on a large platform overlooking the sea. For him, the sight was more than familiar, having worked for the organization as an agent for a very long time. To her, however, everything felt strange and unknown- it hadn't been that long since she was first recruited and given a proper purpose and sense of belonging. Truthfully, though, she was doing it all just to get closer to him- the idea of exerting power over those deemed wrongdoers by her higher-ups and going on missions were the least of her priorities. The edgy punk next to her was her primary objective, and she would see through it that she spent as much time as possible near him.

The halfway-burnt cigarette hanging between his lips burned slower than ever, the cloud of smoke barely keeping its shape against the sea breeze. His eyes were staring idly at the horizon, watching the undulating waves and motions of the water; and his hair gently flowed in the direction the wind blew. Aside from the sound of the wind crashing against the large concrete construction and the occasional screaming of the nearby gulls, it was quiet.

That was, until he snapped at her.

"I can feel your stare drilling a hole into the side of my head. Knock it off already." In that dumb, dumb accent of his, he complained about his coworker's intrusion of his privacy. He kept looking straight ahead, but he could tell that he was being stared at just from the feeling in his gut... And probably his peripheral vision.

"Ah. My bad." The response he received was short and lacking any counter-complaints, something that had gradually become more commonplace ever since they'd started working together. "Didn't mean to. It just happens sometimes-"

"It happens all the fucking time. Especially when we go out for smoke breaks. Hell, why do you even come out here anyway!?" He suddenly turned his head towards her with a visibly peeved, yet slightly confused expression. The scar on his face only made his expression more intense. "You don't even fucking smoke! You just steal a puff from me every now and then, complain about how it tastes like shit, ask how I can handle the smell, and then go back to being weird and quiet!"

Her posture suddenly became more relaxed as she spread her arms open and began her counterargument. "Now, now. I'm not ALWAYS like that... Sometimes I DON'T steal your cigarettes-"

"SOMETIMES."

"Yes, sometimes. And be honest with us both here- we often have actual conversations. It's not like we ask each other whether the weather is lovely or not. We actually talk about our missions, about work, about our painfully average, plain-as-bread coworker..."

He intercepted yet again, "Don't even get me started on that guy."

A light chuckle escaped her. "You should quit being so mean to him. He's actually a pretty neat guy, save for some of his more serious quirks and tics. But we all have those, don't weee?" This seemed to be one of the uncommon moments where she'd show her more relaxed, playful side. Her arm slowly extended and reached over towards his left shoulder. "If I were to touch that little s-"

However, he firmly grasped her with his only hand and stared at her dead in the eyes. "Do NOT call it a stub again. I fuckin' warned ya enough, didn't I?"

The two remained locked in an uncomfortable stare for a little while. Some sort of quiet, tense whines came from the woman's throat before she backed off and mumbled an apology. She was still figuring out how and when to prod- sometimes he was fine with his missing limb being referred to as a stub, oftentimes he wasn't.  What to do. 

"Um. I know now's... Not a good time for this, but," she begun, "it's our anniversary today." Having noticed his immediate reaction in the form of a weird grimace, she waved her arms dismissively. "I mean. We've been in the same division and working together for a little while now."

"Ah... Huh. Yeah, that's true. Feels like it's been forever. Times slows down to a crawl when you've got bum ass coworkers, doesn't it?" He replied in a snarky tone and chuckled, being the sarcastic prick he was.

"I mean, yeah... But I'd like to think our missions together went by fast. It's just the job itself that's a bore sometimes. You yourself admitted this just last week, so don't try to be smart with me." She rolled her eyes slightly and turned to face the horizon again. "Pointless quarrel aside I wanted to invite you out for dinner."

As she said that, he put out his long-savored cigarette against the steel railing of the platform before flicking the butt into the water. "Dinner? Like,  actual dinner? You wanna fuckin' take me to some den of lowlives and criminals... For dinner?"

"... Yes?"

They stared at each other now, his nose slightly scrunched and her eyebrows furrowed. 

"Aight, it's a deal. You best believe we're spending your entire paycheck though."

"Ah, great- um! We? Who's we?"

"We have to invite our good ol' third party member, don't weee? Working here wouldn't be the same without 'im, right? He's been here since you started working, not to mention he and I go way back too... What's an anniversary dinner if not everyone is invi-"

"Okay I just wanted an excuse to ask you out for dinner do you have to be such an annoying prick about it."

He flashed a toothy grin towards her, his eyes slightly squinted. She, on the other hand, didn't find this anywhere near as amusing as he did. "You know, whatever. I'll leave your dork ass alone since you're such a cunt about everything today. See you later." Frustrated and defeated, she spun around on her heel and walked off without waiting for a response, leaving her uniformed coworker by himself. 

The remainder of the workday passed, remaining uneventful all the way through. Though, even when not actively working, members were considered on standby and were to show up when summoned by their higher-ups. That did not stop the woman from taking every single possible moment of her time off to just... Not work. As she slowly made way to her designated chambers, she noticed a familiar, scarred face waiting for her right outside her door, leaning against it and with a shoe pressed against the wooden surface. 

"You're getting the door dirty, stop that..."

"Uh-huh. So are we goin' or not?"

"Going where?"

"Dinner."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."