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Time once again to steel himself and prepare for battle.
Or for the horrors that await at a catered lunch, at the very least.
He checked one last time that he still had his supply of energy bars on him and made his way to where the luncheon was being held.
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Luncheons were the bain of his existence. They were clearly out to get him.
When where and why was it decided that bacon was clearly the best luncheon food ever?
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Brunch, he decided, was just another name for a luncheon, but with the added frustration of alcoholic beverages and people already tipsy at eleven in the morning.
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“Hey, Zayn, we’re going to this barbeque place, want to come with us?” The three members of The New Day were waving him over to them.
Barbeque...unlikely to be halal. “Ah, thanks for the offer but not now, thank you.” He didn’t like turning them down, but he also didn’t really want to explain why he was, either.
“Ugh, you never want to go out and eat with us!” “I promise we don’t bite!” “Don’t you like barbeque, Zayn?” He winced as they flailed about as though this was a mortal wound he had given them for turning them down for lunch.
Aha! “Ah, it’s not a favorite , no.” That might do, not everyone loved barbeque.
“Oh. Well. Maybe something else next time then?” They frowned at him. How did they time that? It was like they actually were related almost.
“Maybe so.” That...that worked. For now. Until next time.
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Damn
The diner was going to be going very long. Too long.
“Hey, Owens?” He was being nice to Zayn currently and therefore might be willing to help him.
“Yea?”
“Do you think you cover for me when I dip to uhmmm…” He made vague handwaving gestures meant to invoke the concept of him praying without it being obvious to anyone else who might be around at the time.
“You clearly need to dip out to the bathroom for a few cause it’s too crowded in here.”
“Yes. That. Thanks.” He wasn’t exactly claustrophobic but he’d certainly lean into it if it meant being able to get away for right now.
“Of course.” He slipped something into Sami’s bag, but he couldn’t look at it right now.
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Oh! It was a travel prayer rug with a note.
‘I figured you might want to have a fresh one. I added extra weights to the corners since you mentioned it being annoying when they’d flip up.’
How sweet of him. Him being friendly was still too new to be comfortable.
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“Zayn, you need to eat lunch.” Argh, even the women’s roster was getting involved now.
“I’ve eaten already.” Energy bars were totally food.
“...one moment.” Becky Lynch vanished with startling quickness (how did she do that?) before reappearing. “I found cantaloupe. It is only cantaloupe.”
“...Yes, I’ll eat that.” She was pretty trustworthy on that front. If she said it was only cantaloupe it was unlikely to be anything other than just the plain fruit straight up.
She nodded like she had finally understood something before handing over the bowl to him. “I watched them cut it. They used a fresh knife. That’s important, yes?”
“Heraerma awhear.” He coughed as he tried to speak around the food. “Somewhat, yes. I don’t know many people who would use a fruit knife on non-fruit foods, mind you. That takes serious dedication towards antagonizing someone just for that.”
“I...oh! I see. Yes, that seems stupid but a lot of people are very stupid.”
“Good point.”
“But not this time.” She waved around her own bowl of cantaloupe. “It’s in season right now.”