THE MOMENT
"Surprise surprise, Lydia's going to be late too," Emma sighed then changed her voice to a mocking tone. "You guys should go ahead and order without me," she repeated her friend's advice. Grover chuckled at her from the other side of the round wooden table.
"Well, I guess we should order," Grover said. Emma tilted her head slightly at him.
"You want to go through with this obvious setup?" she asked. Grover shrugged.
"There's a reason they keep trying," he said. "I'm already here; I trust my friends and I like pizza," he took a moment to flag down a waitress, then turned back to Emma. "I'm going to order food. You can leave, but...,": he smiled. "...you can also stay."
"Isn't there a bank you could be robbing?" Emma replied with a slight smirk. Grover's laughter surprised Emma. It sounded more sincere than she expected and it somehow put her at ease. The waitress interrupted their conversation to take their orders. A large pizza for the table, drinks, and salads.
"Banks close at five," he said once the waitress left.
"What?" Emma giggled. "You don't break into places when they're closed?"
"Meh, at that point it's just vandalism," Grover said. "Not my thing." Emma lowered her voice in an exaggerated way.
"Gravitron: The Pickiest of Villains," she replied and they both shared a laugh.
"So tell me about you, Ms. Meteor Maiden," Grover said. "What are you working toward when you're not being heroic?"
"Wow, Gravitron: the curious villain," Emma said. She paused for a moment when she spotted the waitress returning with their drinks. Then, she started speaking again once the waitress left.
"Ever since the accident," Emma said. Grover interrupted before she could finish her thought.
"The meteor that hit you?" he asked. Emma paused and narrowed her eyes at him.
"It's pretty safe to say that's the most relevant accident," she said sarcastically. Grover nodded.
"Ever since then I've just always felt that there's more out there, you know? More to experience. I'm studying communications to try and discover those experiences by listening to what's out there."
"Hey, that sounds pretty cool. I hope you do find what you want out there," Grover said. Emma smiled.
"Gravitron: The supportive villain," she said. This time Grover joined in.
"Meteor Maiden: Experiencer of the Unknown," he said. But suddenly, Emma stopped laughing.
"Hey," she said quickly. "We should do this for real some time. Okay?"
"Huh?" Grover asked. He jumped in his seat when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Hey guys! Sorry we're late!" Grover and Emma's table was suddenly filled with twice as many people.
"How're you two getting along?" Lydia asked as she sat down next to Emma. Grover locked eyes with Emma and nodded with a smile.
"Okay," he answered.
(*note: they did)