Change in Routine

[diced_tartan]

Nicholas and Travis stood outside the Winchester, laughing with one another at a girl across the street. They'd had an early start on the night, having each already had a pint of cider while waiting for Dave to finally show up.

"What the hell is she wearing?" Travis asked, trying to whisper. He sounded more like he was being strangled.

"I think I saw something like that in a movie once," Nicholas responded. "Only I don't think she was wearing a tutu in the film."

A sudden wind picked up, catching the large cardboard wings of the girl across the street. Leaning against one another, Nicholas and Travis howled with laughter. "Should we help her?" Nicholas asked. "I feel like we should do something, but I don't think we have jurisdiction over the fashion police's area."

Travis buried his face in Nicholas' neck, shaking with laughter.

"What the hell are you two queers doing?" a familiar voice demanded. Nicholas and Travis looked up at Dave, being trailed by two women, and laughed even harder for a few moments before trying to sober up. "What the hell is that?" Dave exclaimed loudly, pointing across the street. Nicholas and Travis lost their composure again. "You lot are already pissed," Dave said in disgust. "You couldn't wait for us?"

Nicholas straightened up and cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said, a hint of a laugh around the edges of his voice. "You said seven."

Dave frowned and shook his head. "All this one's fault," he said nodding his head toward his new girlfriend, Denise. "Wouldn't leave unless..." he turned round to second girl with him. "What's your name, love?"

"Janine," she answered in a way that suggested she'd answered the same question several times already.

"Right," Dave said. "Wouldn't leave unless Janine agreed to come with. Women, eh?"

Travis and Nicholas both chuckled slightly, leading the way back into the pub, and to the corner booth they had already reserved. Nicholas and Travis slid in first, Janine confidently sitting next to Nicholas while Dave spent several long moments convincing Denise to just please sit the fuck down already. Several moments after getting settled, a waiter came round with three pints of cider, pausing for a moment at the inclusion of two new faces.

"Oh," he said, slightly confused. "What can I get you ladies?"

"Guiness," Janine said simply.

The waiter nodded. "And you?" he asked Denise.

"Oh, I don't know," she said slowly. "Uhm... Maybe just a spritzer."

The waiter smiled lightly and disappeared.

"What do you do?" Nicholas asked, moving a napkin underneath his cider.

"I'm in forensics," Janine answered.

"Really?" Nicholas couldn't figure out why he hadn't seen her before. "Here in London?"

The waiter returned with the drinks, setting each in front of the girls. Janine took a drink of her Guiness and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I just transferred in from another precinct earlier this month. You're all cops, right?"

Nicholas smiled. "Yeah," he said, taking a drink of his cider. "We go out a few times a week like this. You should come more often."

Janine gave him a sideways glance as she reached for a computer-printed menu from the rack behind Nicholas' head. "We'll see how good the food is first."

Nicholas laughed. "Try the chicken," he suggested. "I think that's what I'm having tonight."

"We'll see."

They leaned over the menu together, Nicholas boldly moving closer to her, a move not missed by the rest of their group. "What's the matter, Travis?" Dave asked quietly, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Mad that your boyfriend's trying to get laid without you?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Travis insisted.

"I'm not his boyfriend," Nicholas confirmed, his face turning a fair shade of red.

"No, that's right," Dave said. "You'd be official then, and that's against regulations."

Travis and Nicholas both reached for the bowl of twiglets on the table, each throwing a handful at Dave. "Fuckers!" Dave said loudly. They each threw another handful at him, Janine joining in on the sport
as well.