The Deucalion Restaurant

☕️Chapter 16☕️

Morrigan blinked up at Hawthorne.

"Wha-"

"Aw, man... don't tell me your shift is over already?" The freckled boy said, realisation dawning on his face.

"Uh- yeah, just ended, sorry."

"See, Cady? I told you we needed to leave earlier!"

Cadence huffed. "Yeah, well, it's the holidays, and I deserve to sleep in – catch up on all the sleep I missed 'cuz of school."

"Yet you went to bed at midnight last night," Hawthorne muttered.

"Actually, it was two in the morning," Cadence said. "Anyway, we could still like... I dunno, do something? Together?"

Hawthorne gasped, and Morrigan's eyes widened as they shared a look.

"Are you- are you, Cadence Blackburn, suggesting that we... hang out?"

"Isn't that what we came here to do?" Cadence shrugged, cheeks tinged pink.

"Well, we were gonna spy on Mog, but I guess we could go do something else now, since her shift is over."

"You were gonna what-"

"Oh, Morrigan, dear, dear Morrigan. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't invest ourselves in your love life?"

"True, but-"

"Not buts, oh sweet Mog. We're gonna have a drink and snack from the Deucalion before we go anywhere else – I really wanna see this Jack-waiter-guy again." Hawthorne grinned, ignoring Morrigan's glare, and instead noticing the pink returning to her cheeks.

Cadence rolled her eyes. "As long as he has a shift today, too, stupid. If he doesn't, we don't really have any need to be here."

"Well, the food here is apparently really, really, super good; according to Charlton Charts at least."

Cadence looked at Hawthorne with a horrified expression while Morrigan scrunched up her nose. "Charlton's Charts?? Are you serious??"

Hawthorne slowly nodded, apparently oblivious to the obvious issue.

Cadence scoffed. "Baz Charlton gives the shittiest reviews. No one who works for him actually cares how good or bad a place is – it comes down to how he feels towards them. Mr North seems lucky enough to be on good grounds with Baz, seeing as this place is still up and running," she gestured to the restaurant behind them.

"..wait, there's a guy who runs Charlton Charts?"

"Oh my God, Hawthorne-"

"Alright, you two! How about we just go into the Deucalion and get a drink or something?" Morrigan cut in, knowing her friends well enough to see when their banter was becoming a full-blown argument.

She instantly regretted her decision to accompany them into the restaurant. Morrigan knew friends, and she knew better than to trust their suspicious glances. So, when she heard the unmistakable sound of two hands meeting in a high-five when she turned to walk back into the Deucalion, she was not at all surprised.

Gathering all the confidence she could find, Morrigan pushed open the doors to the restaurant, leading her friends in.

"Wow-ie. This is where you work?!" Hawthorne exclaimed, turning around to get a full view of the large room.

"Yup," Morrigan replied with a growing grin.

"Insane." Cadence said, looking uncommonly impressed.

"Alright, so which one was Jack again?"