#anywhere

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Thistle is the first at the pizza place, yellow-pink spirals setting off her vibrant voile. Hair hair is split in the middle - holly red and green, gathered into high pigtails.

She is NOT nervous. Why would she be?

Gwen enters in and looks around

A wave from her booth.

Gwen joins her, "Hey." She sits down to join her "how is it going?"

"I checked showtimes, so we should be good to eat. They got fancy pizzas, too - like, taco pizza or mac-burger or sushi, which I am not sold on..."

"I'm down with basic pepperoni and extra cheese myself normally" She admits, then frowns "Not sure if Chuck will make the movie or not. Apparently theres a football meeting I didn't know about."

"Well, we could do basic. Not sure if Art has HAD pizza yet..."

She tries not to look too sullen. After all she co captains the lacrosse team so she has similiar training and meetings too. She works hard at it. But she IS still a teenager girl, and it can wound the pride that her guy can't drop everything for her. It's a shallow side she doesn't like in herself and she pushes it down

"To be fair, we didn't give him a lot of warning."

And she perks at the offer, "Maybe there's a deal on a medium or small to start with? " Then nods "yeah. I know up here" She blushes and taps her head. "But my inner brat is fussing"

The front door chimes with a bell as it's pushed open, and Art comes in. Despite the cool air, there's a bit of sweat on his brow, his dark hair sticking to his forehead.

He looks around for the others, and waves when he sees them. A grin, and he moves over. "I hope I am not late?" Sliding into the booth next to Trina.

"Maybe two? A small basic AND a small fancy-ass pie."

"Hey Art!" A shark-toothed grin framed by pinky-orange spirals.

"You redid your hair!" Art remarks. "It's festive." He grins. Apparently in a better mood than his earlier.

"Thanks, yeah. Merry Festivus, Cool Yule, whole shebang."

"It does look good" A smile "Hi, Art. Ah, not sure if Chuck can make it so you know" She puts a smile up

He doesn't look disappointed, but at least it's honest. "Other plans?"

Art picks up the menu and starts looking over it. "Does everything here have cheese on it?" Not upset, just... impressed?

"I think... uh... um... I think the wings, maybe?"

"Art, have you had pizza yet?"

"Football emergency meeting of some sort" She says "Probably to do with the Field Goal Kicker now out of play and that game coming up."

"We've ordered from Checkers? When they have the deals for buying one and receiving one as a bonus. This looks better, though."

Thinking of the congealed, lukewarm circles half-adhered to cardboard rounds...

"Oh, Checkers is gross. It's, like, somebody waved a piece of cardboard at a faded polaroid of a pizza..."

"Ok, I vote taco pizza and pepperoni? Gwen?"

"Fish... and pineapple?" He looks at one of the specials. "With cheese?" Looking up. "Who actually desires this combination?"

"Crazy people" Gwen answers art first, then says "Pepperoni and Cheese is my go to but I'll try anything once"

"I trust your judgement. And the chicken wings. Are they spicy? I would try the 'Buffalo'."

"I've enjoyed the bison stew that Marigold shared leftover from Thanksgiving. This should also be good."

"Buffallo' is more of an honorific... in this case"

He looks baffled. "Honorary flavors?"

"Buffalo is an upstate classic, good choice."

"Ah, Buffalo is also a city."

"They invented the sauce there, so it's named after the town, not the bison. Which means you could, perhaps, have Buffalo-flavored buffalo."

"Okay, that I didn't know. Cool" She says

"You think we get snow, you should head up by the Lake."

"I spent a lot of years in Oklahoma, this is wet enough" she jokes

"Feh! Oklahoma doesn't have real winter!"

"Hey, it's all about windchill factor there" she smirks "By the way, WEIRD thing to pull the proud north easterner card on"

A grin!

"Annyway, I'm part iraquois so at least half north eastern"

"So you should be genetically prepared for winter!"

"I wonder.. huh... you think Krampus and all that... with Christmas?"

"Half prepared and..." She blinks at the mention "Shhh... careful what you say aloud this time of year. I already had to take down a frreaky mask and a shot of schnaps , out of a circle of birch rods meant to summon the guy... Briar says it wasn't her, but I know better."

"If the Krampus mythos is to punish those who earned punishment, perhaps it's not the worst to perpetuate?" He considers.

"Welcome to Antoni...ohs..." The teenage waitress isn't someone they know from school, but she pauses at their table, to take their order, but now is blushing a little as she discretely eyes Art.

Gwen is about to tell Art that he might feel differently if he were a childling. But then the waitress shows up

He looks up from the menu, a bit of hair falling across his forehead in a manner that is half messy, half rakish. The waitress, her tag says 'Becky'? Sighs a bit.

"Hey! Yeah, we're ready to order." Her cheeks flush of their own accord.