The Nettle Tea Chronicles

Zoe

When Zoe finally hung up on her last call at 5:58 p.m. she let out a heavy sigh and slid down the back of her chair feeling like jelly. She was simultaneously exhausted by the day, but also energetic and looking forward to getting out of the building. Work was just always draining like that.

She let herself remain collapsed in her chair for almost a full minute before gathering up the energy to get up and leave. Thankfully it didn't take long to throw on her jacket, stuff all of her things into her pockets, and start moving to the door.

If absolutely nothing else, she did have some things to look forward to tonight. A fun dinner with Cass, then back into the raid grind to hopefully kick that stupid Fae's teeth in.

When she took the elevators down to the lobby and didn't see Cassandra already waiting somewhere, she took a seat in one of the rather comfy looking chairs that no one ever used. It was only a few minutes of scrolling through her online feeds before Cassandra appeared, standing over her.

The other woman stared down at Zoe with a raised eyebrow and her hands on her hips.

"...Yeah?" Zoe asked, shuffling her phone back into her pocket. Cass was standing right in front of her to the point where she couldn't stand up without potentially crashing into her friend.

"Something interesting on your phone?"

"Not particularly?"

Cass shifted a bit and pointed to a nearby chair. "I was sitting there for like a full five minutes. And you were so enamored with whatever was on your screen, you didn't even notice."

Zoe felt herself blush. "Sorry. I'm not very easily distracted. Once I'm doing something, I'm pretty locked in. Evidently, even if it's just scrolling through mindless social media posts."

Cass snorted, stepped back to give Zoe room to stand, and even offered her a hand up. Zoe took it and was promptly pulled to her feet.

"So. Feelings on dinner?" Cass spun on a heel and started moving toward the door to leave their work building. Zoe fell in step behind her, following the clacking of Cass's shoes on the floor.

"Can't say I've got any, other than something nice and sit down." Zoe said, thinking. "I guess we can't do something that requires a reservation, but there's gotta be something nice nearby."

Cass laughed. "I didn't realize you were thinking that nice. But I'm not opposed."

"You'd think a New York native would know a few nice places around here, but I've honestly got nothing." Zoe lamented as they started walking down the street.

"Well, we are in the financial district. Most places around here are pretty business lunch focused. And just not that nice." Cass stretched her neck, looking up. "We should probably hit the subway."

"Yeah. Although, I meant in the city in general. I don't exactly do fine dining very often. Or ever, really." Zoe said, tugging her jacket a little tighter against the chilly air. She was jealous that Cass didn't seem bothered by it, but she had said she was a transplant from somewhere colder, though Zoe couldn't remember where, exactly.

She thought Minnesota at first, but was worried she was mixing it up with where Caoimhe lived.

"No? And here I thought New York natives went to big fancy restaurants all the time." Cass giggled.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"I thought it was…"

The two made their way to the nearest subway station, hoping to travel a little more toward the center of the city, hoping there may be more accessible but still upscale places to eat. Or at least something that wasn't a cafe, pizza, deli, or bar. Places too similar to where they regularly ate lunch.

Once they were on the subway car they tried to discuss potential destinations quietly. The train was crowded, as expected during after-work hours, so Zoe and Cass were stuck huddled together, standing in the middle of the car.

As Zoe thumbed around on her phone trying to find a place to eat, she quietly lamented her just shorter than average height to herself. Cass, in contrast, was tall - just a couple inches shy of 6' - and was struggling not to laugh at Zoe, who was stuck holding onto Cass' arm for balance in the crowd.

Cass was doing an admirable job, only letting a smirk slip through as she also searched for a dinner destination. The two kept glancing at each other, and Zoe watched as Cass' face grew more red every time they met eyes as she struggled harder against a laugh.

Zoe narrowed her eyes at her phone, considering shoving up against Cass, and looking up at her with the best doe eyes she could muster. At this point, she wanted to see Cass' composure break more than she cared about her dignity.

"How about this place?" Cass asked, lowering her phone at an angle for Zoe to see. She had a nice restaurant displayed on the screen; it looked to be a more upscale option, but not what Zoe would classify as 'fancy', which suited her perfectly. When she tapped on the screen to flip over to the menu, the prices seemed reasonable, too. More than their normal food outings, sure, but in line with what she was willing to pay for a nice dinner. And the reviews looked generally positive, too.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

She honestly appreciated that the place was rated just under 4 stars. It seemed like an honest rating, as opposed to some other ones she found with nothing but 5s. Those felt too dishonest.

Satisfied, Zoe nodded. "Yeah this looks good. Which stop do we need?"

Cass craned her neck to look at the map on the subway car's side, then glanced at the little display showing the upcoming stop. "Three more, looks like."

"'Kay, sounds good." Zoe said. She fumbled around, trying to get her phone back in her pocket in the crowd. It wasn't too difficult, but she was careful, having lost a phone by missing her pocket without realizing it once a few years previous. That had been embarrassing to tell her parents, and she had been extra careful ever since.

Once her phone was away, Zoe had her chance. As the subway car rolled into the next stop, the sudden lurch as it settled against the platform caused the person behind her to knock into her. Nothing unusual given the crowd, but she stumbled into Cass - who held steady and neatly caught her without much movement.

Without thinking about it, Zoe put her earlier idea into action. Still leaning on Cass, she looked up and locked eyes with her. Zoe opened her eyes a little wider than normal, blinked twice dramatically, tightened her grip on Cass' arm right on cue, then smiled and whispered a slightly-higher-than-normal-pitched "Thank you."

Zoe watched in delight as Cassandra's face scrunched up, almost like she was going to sneeze, then she burst out in a fit of laughter that she fought really hard to keep quiet. She mostly succeeded, only drawing a few confused looks from those nearby as Zoe leaned back away again.

"The hell was that?" Cass asked, struggling to get herself under control again. She was mostly succeeding in that too, so long as she didn't meet Zoe's eyes.

Zoe shrugged. "You've been trying not to laugh at me being short the entire time we've been on the subway. I felt like getting retribution."

"Retribution?"

"Retribution." Zoe confirmed. "Now stop judging me for being short and not being able to reach the stupid hand thingies."

"Zoe, I wasn't judging you for being short."

"Uh huh."

"I wasn't!" Cass said, a little more forcefully. "I just thought you were cute, needing to hold onto my jacket."

"Uh huh." Zoe repeated, turning away indignantly. She knew Cass was telling the truth, but was enjoying teasing her anyway.

"So, what do you think you're going to order for dinner? I saw you check out the menu." Cass asked, clearly trying to swap to an easier topic.

"Not sure." Zoe answered, allowing it. "I'm hungry, though. So probably something a little on the hearty side. Something meaty, maybe."

"I wonder if their ribs are any good. I don't usually go to places that have ribs on the menu."

"Yeah, side effect of sticking to cheaper places, I guess." Zoe said.

They continued to chat aimlessly about different foods, especially ones they liked or didn't like, as they made their way to the restaurant. It wasn't too far from the subway station, which was nice. And even better, there wasn't even a wait when they arrived. They were taken to a table as soon as they approached the host.

They continued to joke and talk about food as they looked over the menu and ordered. It was nice conversation, despite the light topic. Though Zoe figured that they had covered most of the typical small talk stuff during their steady lunch outings. They knew each other fairly well when it came to standard stuff, but apparently hadn't covered favorite and least favorite foods before.

What shocked Zoe more was how little they had mentioned any games. Usually the topic of games - mostly Mag Mell, recently - came up pretty quickly as it was a major shared interest and what they had originally bonded over.

Not that it was a problem, though. The conversation still flowed easily.

Cass had ordered a red wine to go with her rack of short ribs. Zoe wasn't a big drinker, and the place had craft lemonades on the menu, so she went with a raspberry one which turned out to be deliciously tart. In the end, she had ended up ordering a cedar plank salmon that had stuck out to her when looking over the menu.

The dinner went by slowly but pleasantly. There were no awkward lulls in conversation or the like, nor did Zoe ever feel hurried. It was fun and relaxed, and once they were finished, Zoe felt comfortably satisfied. She had to admit, the meal's size was just right, which was definitely a point in favor of the restaurant.

Zoe and Cass were both keeping light tabs on the clock as they finished up the meal. With raid time set at 8, they still had almost an hour to get to their homes, and the trips shouldn't have been anywhere near that long for either of them.

Zoe picked up the bill for the credit card points, and Cass sent her the money for her half through an app before they even left the table. Zoe even took the initiative to tear her friend apart for sending a bit extra.

It wasn't long before they had made it back to the subway and had to split up to head to their respective apartments. Zoe rode home with a satisfied smile having thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and the nice break from what had become her standard daily life.

She had a seat on the subway on the way home, and found herself thinking about the last time she had gone out after work. It had been an embarrassingly long time. Long enough that she actually couldn't recall the last dinner or happy hour she had been to.

Once she started working her current job, she didn't usually have any real desire to go out after work. The constant barrage of nonsense she got at work usually left her drained and wanting to head straight home after work. Her habit of playing games to unwind had been taken to another level when she entered the workforce, as she found herself playing more frequently instead of going out with friends like she did during college.

Now, she felt like her definition of a perfect night was more along the lines of ordering a pizza, staying at home, and playing games for the evening. Even better if she could play online with friends.

As she arrived at her stop and shuffled off the subway car, she found herself wondering exactly when the change had occurred. Had it been as soon as she started working, or was it more gradual? She wasn't exactly a party girl during college, but she had still regularly gone out with friends.

Now, she only occasionally went out on the weekends with her friends from college. And even then, she rarely had more than a single drink. Though, to be fair, that was nothing new. Alcohol had always been more likely to upset her stomach than anything else, unless she drank enough to get well and truly drunk. Which she found far less appealing these days.

Zoe laughed at herself as she walked home. She was only 25, and already tired of going out for drinks. But even feeling sheepish about it all now, she didn't really feel like she had any desire to change anything.

Maybe more nice dinners like she had gone out for tonight would be in order though. That, at least, was nice.