THE MOMENT
"Careful, it's hot," Greg smiled as he delivered the pizza to their table. It was a couple of kids, a girl with purple hair and matching eyes sitting across from a boy with brown hair. Greg's default assumption was that they were on a date, and their matching school uniforms helped that along. But, in the few times he'd been to the table to get their order and deliver their drinks, he quickly changed his mind. There was not even a hint of romantic chemistry between them, and he even thought he sensed growing antagonism between them the longer they were there.
"Thank you," the girl smiled at Greg; then, she glared at the boy.
"Thanks," the boy quickly added his own polite appreciation.
"Give a holler if you need anything," Greg nodded, as he gestured at the otherwise empty restaurant. "Literally, it's kind of hard to hear back there, but I'll be back to check on you," he added as he walked away with a wave.
"So... why are we waiting?" Kirk asked as soon as Petunia reached for a slice. He half expected her to ask for a to-go box as soon as the pizza arrived. At least, that was the outcome he hoped for the most; they'd already shared that neither of them wanted to be there.
"Molly asked us to wait," Petunia shrugged.
"But she said we didn't have to...," Kirk added. Petunia nodded.
"YOU don't, I wanted pizza," she smirked as she finally took her first bite.
"Yeah, okay...," Kirk sighed and reached for a slice too. It wasn't that he disliked her; but, he never felt at ease when he was alone with her. She intimidated him, and he was pretty sure she knew it. As he looked around for something to focus on other than her, his eyes landed on the TV. It was impossible to know what was going on with his limited knowledge, but it was certainly a spectacle. Blocks of flowers were shown, people in all manner of formal, colorful robes were seated as someone obviously important spoke to them. Fortunately, the news crawl at the bottom explained what he couldn't hear.
"They're announcing a new grandmaster sage," he said said as he nodded at the TV.
"Oh yeah?" Petunia was curious enough to turn around and watch the TV while she ate. They had no real interest in the proceedings, but magic as a general subject interested each of them. It was one of the very few things they had in common. They ate and watched in comfortable silence for several minutes, and then Greg came back when the pizza was more than half gone.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"This is really good!" Kirk wanted to be sure to compliment him. It was easily one of the better pizzas he'd tried, and he'd tasted a lot of them.
"Yeah, it's great," Petunia nodded. "It's the middle of the afternoon, and this is delicious... why is it so empty?" Greg smiled as he noticed Kirk's attention on the TV. He turned and pointed at it.
"The new Grandmaster Sage is assuming his post today, everyone went to that instead. It'll be packed later I'm sure," he smiled.
"Why are they showing your picture?" Kirk asked as he pointed at the screen showing a photograph of Greg dressed in an elegant suit that was a far cry from the flour-dusted apron he wore.
"I was in the running," Greg smiled.
"You know magic?" Petunia asked.
"Most people do, I thought...," Greg nodded with a confused smile as he appraised his two guests again. He was a local celebrity in the neighborhood, but it wasn't unusual for someone now to know him. But, a stranger asking another if they knew magic was like asking someone if they knew how to breathe. "I guess I've got a decent reputation, I was the frontrunner there for a bit."
"So what happened?" Kirk asked as he looked around the empty restaurant. In his mind, Greg probably lost out.
"Meh, I never cared for that whole lofty title and formalities and stuff," Greg chuckled. "I was only there to vote, but by the time I left I was nominated. That was fine for a bit, but then I started winning. I had to step down when it looked like I might win."
"That's it? You were about to become a Grandmaster Sage, and you didn't want to?" Kirk asked.
"Is that it?" Greg shrugged and chuckled. "Does it need to be more complicated than that?"