The Nettle Tea Chronicles

Zoe

"So. What's the plan now?" Cass asked as they walked out of the store.

Zoe had successfully, after much debate, picked a coat that was knee length like she had wanted, but in a rather fetching black that Cass had picked out. Her friend had been entirely correct - something about the textured fabric used on the peacoat made the long black jacket look less imperious and severe, which left the impression a little softer. Zoe had avoided full black business suits for that reason - they always made her look too mean.

She was still wearing her old jacket, with the new one in a bag for now. She did, however, also buy fairly simple winter hats for both herself and Cass while they were in the store which they wore as they left. They kinda matched, with the same patterned design but in different colors. Zoe had gone for a grayscale one while Cass had picked one with a mixture of light and dark blues. It really matched her coat. And brought out the blue in her eyes, the same way the jacket did.

"I didn't have anything planned." Zoe shrugged. "We could get lunch if you want. It's a little late, I guess, but -"

"Sure." Cass said, before Zoe could even finish her statement.

"Then…what do you feel like?"

Cass looked around where they were, but didn't seem to find anything. "How about pizza?"

"No complaints from me. As long as we go somewhere good."

"We're in New York, Zoe, that shouldn't be hard."

"You say that, but that one place that we went to -"

"Got closed down for being dirty." Cass said as she picked a random direction and walked. "We're never going back there, because, yes, their pizza was terrible. But that's definitely the exception here."

"As long as you like New York styled pizza." Zoe shrugged, knowing exactly what Cass' reaction to that was going to be.

"As long as you -" Cass snorted derisively. "I suppose people are allowed to prefer deep dish or a thicker crust. But those people are wrong. Real Italian pizzas are good, though."

Zoe giggled. "You're from the mid-west, Cass. How did you end up so viciously opinionated on Pizza?"

"Oh, easy. Growing up on the fast-food equivalent means when you have the real thing it's like being screamed at. And, at least specifically for deep dish pizza - well, that's just not pizza. It's great, but it's a different dish."

"So touchy." Zoe laughed. She absolutely secretly agreed though. She was raised in New York, after all, so she had a strong affinity for NY-style pizza. She did really like deep dish though, as a fan of tomato sauce. She thought of it more like a tomato pie than pizza, though.

Cass slipped up beside Zoe rather close as she pulled out her phone to track down the nearest pizzeria, so that their elbows touched. She said, "Guide me," before fully concentrating on her phone.

And Zoe did. With a gentle nudge, she got Cass' attention long enough to avoid a pole of scaffolding, but other than that, she walked forward perfectly safely.

"Okay, this way." Cass pointed left at the next intersection, and they continued their stroll. As it turned out, the place that Cass had found wasn't a very large place, and the couple tables they had inside were already taken. It did have a window and counter outside for them to order from without needing to go inside though.

Zoe shrugged and pointed to the order window. "I know it's cold out, but it's not so bad that I need to go inside and sit down."

"We were just getting slices anyway, right?" Cass shrugged right back and stepped up to the window.

It didn't take long before both of them had a cheap white paper plate - double layered - with two massive slices of pizza on them with a bunch of napkins shoved underneath. The classic New York pizza experience, as far as Zoe was concerned. She folded the big slice, as was proper, and took a massive bite.

Cass followed suit, but still laughed at the obvious smear of grease around Zoe's mouth. Zoe couldn't be bothered to react to the laugh until Cass accidentally dropped a chunk of cheese onto her coat - then she laughed.

"The dangers of eating while standing, I guess?" Zoe made a mental note to be extra careful to not make a mess herself. She wasn't about to laugh at Cass for it and then do the same thing.

"Man, does pizza sauce stain?" Cass whined while holding the plate and half-eaten pizza away from herself to look at the blotch of red on the blue coat.

"One sec, I gotcha." Zoe had a tendency to get food on her clothes when she was out, so she was prepared. It was a bad habit of hers; whether it was from taking too-large bites or just not being careful enough she wasn't sure, but she was definitely cursed with the ability to always drop at least one bite of food on herself when she ate out. "Can you hold my pizza?"

"Sure?" Cass took Zoe's proffered plate and held it equally away while Zoe rummaged through her tote bag. She had learned what worked best for instant stain remover needs over the years, which left her pulling out a little dropper bottle of dish soap and a wet wipe.

She had learned the hard way to never trust stain remover pens when she ruined a favorite pair of non-jean pants, and had entirely stopped carrying the things. Dish soap, though, was great at removing grease and had never damaged her clothing. The wet wipes were just too convenient not to carry.

The stain was on one of the coat's lapels, which was at least convenient. It gave her a solid place to grip, able to get her fingers behind the layer of cloth without issue so she could give it a solid scrub.

She had basically gotten the entire thing scrubbed out when she heard some kind of snort-giggle come from Cass. She looked up at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing." Cass said quickly. Zoe stood there, still holding her friend's jacket, just waiting for an explanation. Cass eventually gave in and muttered, "You had your tongue out in concentration. It was cute."

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Zoe pointedly ignored the comment and rolled her eyes. With a sigh and a few more quick scrubs, she decided she had taken care of the stain before it ever set in. Without thinking, she patted the coat where she had wiped it off, then took her pizza back. "All good."

"Thanks." Cass said. "You always carry a stain remover?"

"If I've got a bag on me, yeah. You know I have issues staying clean when I eat." Zoe muttered.

"Sure, but I've never seen you use anything more complicated than a napkin to remove it."

"I usually do when we get back to work, in the bathroom." Zoe said, then went for another bite of her pizza, still paying extra attention to avoiding any mess. "I'm not about to pull out dish soap and wipes at a table in a restaurant. Or run to the bathroom to clean up when it's just work clothes I don't even like."

"Ah. That's what it actually is, huh?" Cass said, as if it was some revelation.

"What?"

"If you were wearing a shirt or pants you liked, you'd excuse yourself to go clean up." Cass stated.

Zoe considered it. "Eh, maybe. With you I might just clean myself up at the table unless it was really bad."

"Why does being with me make a difference?" Cass asked curiously.

"I guess I should clarify that I mean with you or alone." Zoe replied. "I'm comfortable with you, and don't care if you see me being dumb, I guess."

"Not sure cleaning a stain on the spot counts as being dumb."

Zoe shrugged. She just responded with an "eh" around a mouthful of pizza. She swallowed the bite before asking, "Where are we going, by the way?"

"Dunno. I was just walking. I guess back to the train station?" Cass offered.

"Wanna drop by Bryant Park? It's not exactly on the way, but the shops they set up for the holiday season are kinda neat."

"Sure, lead the way." Cass motioned Zoe forward, and she moved half a step ahead of her friend to 'lead', as if Cass didn't also know where they were going.

The walk to the so-called park wasn't very long. Bryant Park, despite its name, wasn't very park-like. It was typically a lot of concrete and walkways with a big green lawn surrounded by a ring of trees. It was a nice break from the city streets, but certainly not as impressive as Central Park, which was a good number of blocks away.

However, during the holiday season, Bryant Park was set up with all kinds of small shops and things for the holiday. It felt, admittedly, more like an expanded flea market than anything else. And it was crowded.

When Zoe walked up the short group of steps with all sorts of other people heading to the little stores, Cass took two quick steps forward to slip an arm around one of Zoe's. Zoe chuckled and looked up at her friend who was now right beside her. "Afraid you'll get lost?"

"No, I'm afraid you'll get lost." Cass shot back with a cocky grin. "I can see over most of the crowd. You're liable to get lost in the sea of people if I don't keep a hand on you."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "You could just look for my hat."

"Zoe, you're a solid four inches shorter than most people here, minimum. The hats you picked don't add height."

Zoe sighed dramatically. "Then I could keep an eye out for your hat."

"Or you could just stop complaining and let me hold your arm."

"Fine."

The two of them walked around the little shops, keeping an eye out for anything interesting. There were all kinds of things being sold, but not much caught Zoe's eye. It didn't seem like Cass was particularly interested in anything either, as they slowly meandered through the marketplace.

And then Zoe smelled funnel cakes. She immediately put her head on a swivel, looking for the delicious treats. Cass must have noticed Zoe's sudden change in intent, because she asked what Zoe was looking for.

"I smell funnel cake."

"Ah. Yeah, it's over there." Cass said, pointing toward one of the stalls. Or at least Zoe assumed she was, because she couldn't see it.

"Can you -"

"Yeah, over here." Cass said, slipping her arm back to lead Zoe by the hand to the stall. Zoe figured it was definitely easier to walk holding hands than it was arm in arm.

A few minutes later Zoe was happily seated on one of the many benches around the park with a steaming funnel cake resting carefully on her lap. Cass had her own because Zoe had insisted on getting an entire funnel cake to herself. Cass had laughed at how adamant Zoe had been about not sharing, but she knew what she was. Funnel cakes were one of her favorite desserts, and they weren't exactly common. She knew deep down if she shared one with Cass she'd regret it.

"You really love funnel cake, huh?" Cass said, having watched Zoe already practically inhale half of hers.

Zoe glanced at her friend and nodded while she swallowed her bite. "I do. I think it's the one purely sweet dessert that I really like. I don't have much of a sweet tooth otherwise."

"I get that. I think you're wrong, but I get that." Cass chuckled. "Well. Wrong about the sweet tooth thing. Not about funnel cakes. They're great."

"I don't understand why they aren't more common as desserts on restaurant menus." Zoe lamented, not for the first time. "They aren't hard to make and they have a pretty simple recipe. I'd make them at home if I had a decent deep fryer."

"I bet it's because if they were something restaurants made, they would need an entire fryer dedicated to them. And that's a big ask in a busy kitchen."

Zoe let out a big sigh. "Yeah, I know. At least in the city places have like zeppoles and beignets. Those scratch the itch well enough, I guess."

"We'll have to keep an eye out in the summer for a state fair." Cass said as she picked apart her cake. "I haven't been to one since I moved out here, and I'm sure there must be one near the city somewhere, right?"

"Dunno. I went to a couple Jersey fairs growing up, but we never went to any in New York that I can remember." Zoe said. "But I'm totally willing to try to find one and make a trip of it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, why not? State fair food may be greasy and awful for you, but damn is it delicious. The rest of the stuff…well, we might be a little old for some of the rides and things, but I bet it'd still be fun." Zoe said.

"I used to do pie eating contests when I went. Haven't in a long time, though." Cass said wistfully. Zoe just stared dumbly at her. "What?"

"You did pie eating contests?"

"Yeah?"

Zoe blinked. "I just can't picture it."

"What, you can't imagine me with my hair pulled back shoveling pie into my face like a monster?"

Cass grinned wide when Zoe snorted at the mental image and coughed on the powdered sugar from her cake. While Zoe struggled to regain her breath and composure, Cass lightly smacked her on the back trying to help.

"I can't picture it at all." She managed eventually between hacking coughs. "I'd love to see it though."

"I'm sure we could arrange something." Cass said with a shrug. "I don't think I'd win competitions any more though."

"Did you win before?"

Cass shot Zoe a sidelong glance then daintily tore off a piece of her funnel cake and ate it in an overly proper way. "I don't know, what do you think?"