Of Strawberries, Bananas, and Sudden Beginnings

[Managrimm]

”You said a month,” Richard said, raising an eyebrow and giving his friend an expectant smile. “It's been a month.”

“Hmm?” Cory mirrored the expression questioningly, raising a lazy eyebrow of his own as he sipped at the straw hanging loose in the corner of his mouth.

The blond had sent Cory his mysterious text only twenty minutes earlier, a simple demand to meet that no amount of question marks or complaints had prompted him to explain. With nothing left to do short of not showing up, he'd lightened his pockets on some strawberry-banana bliss and waited.

It wasn't uncommon for Rich to demand a sudden meeting, but he only ever did it when two very particular conditions were met. One, he was planning something big. Two, he knew Cory wasn't going to like it.

“You said if I still wanted to go in a month, you'd come with me,” he said, eyes bright and golden and much too pleased.

Cory frowned, rolling his straw around in his mouth thoughtfully. When he didn't immediately respond, the victory drained from Richard's face.

“I can't believe you forgot,” he said, looking at him with an expression of pure exasperation.

“I didn't forget,” Cory lied, his eyes trailing up to admire the ceiling.

“You forgot,” he insisted, leaning back and sighing. “I can't believe you forgot.”

“I didn't forget,” he repeated, crossing his arms and meeting Richard's eyes with an exaggerated expression of mock indignation. “I just decided not to remember!”

Richard's mouth twitched up at that and after a moment of Cory holding the face they both broke down and laughed. “You're an idiot and a liar,” Richard said, shaking his head with a smile.

Cory chuckled and leaned back in a contented stretch. “Yeah, yeah. Now that we've established that.” He licked his lips, leaning forward onto the counter. “What did I forget?”

“Well," he said cheerily, "I should probably thank you for making me wait anyway.” A Chesire grin that could mean nothing good spread across his face. “They're doing a promotion now.”

“Who's doing a promotion?” he asked, suddenly wary.

“The Distribution Center.”

They stared at each other for a moment, Cory's confusion grappling with Richard's smug confidence. His mind suddenly found the right memory he grimaced.

“You're not serious,” he said, clenching his eyes shut. "Really?"

“I'm serious,” he said, not a hint of a joke to his voice.

“You do know,” Cory said, slumping down into his arm and finally meeting his friend's gaze with an exasperated smile. “That when I said that I thought you were joking.” Richard's father couldn't have possibly agreed to this.

“Well,” Richard said, his smile suddenly fading and his expression turning serious. “I wasn't. Are you in or out?”

Cory gave a needlessly drawn-out sigh, leaning back in his chair and kicking one heel up on the table. The ceiling was looking particularly paneled today. “Well, I guess I can't let you do this alone and get eaten by a Gyarados off in a puddle somewhere, now can I?”

“That's the spirit!” he said, and when Cory looked down his cocky grin had made a triumphant return. “I already applied so you better hurry up if you don't wanna fall too far behind.”

Cory's lips twitched into a smirk at that. "Heh. You're gonna be eating my dust."

[Kyro]

Good {A}nough.