Fucking CJ, Aidan thought, recognizing her best friend’s signature pencil-scrawled handwriting on the gram even in the low-light of Retro. I’ve been so afraid to tell you how I feel, but I’m not afraid anymore. I like you.  She looks at Zena with a guilty grin. “Um…as true as the message in that one really is,” Aidan starts, gesturing towards it. “I didn’t write that. CJ loves to meddle when I like someone. I’m really sorry, on her behalf,” she says with a chuckle and subconsciously steps closer to Zena when she takes in the sight of her biting her lip. With everything on the table between them, and the way the other brunette is looking at her, she’s ready to make a move whenever the time feels right. “But that beautiful poem was all me.” A soft smile spreads across Aidan’s face at both of Zena’s questions and she’s quick to take her hand in hers. “Never too busy for you.” Tugging her gently forward, Aidan drops Zena’s hand in favor of draping her arm around her shoulders and tucking her close to her side. “Especially not on Valentine’s Day.” She finishes the beer in her hand and sets the empty can down on the bar before guiding the two of them onto the dance floor. The bartender’s hands rest comfortably on the small of Zena’s back once they make a spot for themselves amongst the crowd, and there’s less than an inch separating them now. “I can’t really dance, just a warning,” Aidan jokes into Zena’s ear as she starts swaying as best as she can to the song booming through the speakers. “Maybe you should take the lead with that.”

“ - - thought there was inconsistencies in the writing.” she winked, voice joking - but it was more-so to hide her own embarrassment. “no need to apologize,” zena mused, reaching out a hand to cup aidan’s cheek for a brief second, “ it was so beautiful i thought it was plagiarized, a la ...that guy from the to all the boys movie.” there was nothing that could have made zena’s heart melt more than the words that left the brunette’s mouth next - - never too busy for you - - zena would have been a puddle if it weren’t for aidan’s grasp on her now. she leaned into the other, moving her hand to rest in aidan’s back pocket. ( was it obvious at this point that she just so happened to binge watch both tatbilb movies this week? ) as they got to the dance floor, zena’s stomach churned with butterflies, just knowing what would come from the recipe going on: one part club music, one part aidan and five shots vodka. . . all on the plate of that certain party devil on her shoulder.

 laughing at aidan’s comment, she was pulled from the thoughts in her head, “it might be a good time to tell you, i did competitive dance back home for like, sixteen years. i have enough for the both of us.” she smirked, wrapping her arms around aidan’s shoulder’s holding her impossibly close, just vibing for a few minutes before the song changed and a devilish smirk took over her face - the mix that echoed though the bar was one that was entrancing and she found her hips immediately swaying to each beat - her hands fell to rest on aidan’s chest as she danced, biting down on her lower lip once more before turning around, her back pressed against aidan’s front as the before-mentioned history of dance experience came out to play. lost in the beat and the rush of all of it - the way she moved against the woman was nearly automatic. her body felt unexceptionally warm, with each pop of the hip, slowing and speeding to the beat - - and in that moment, she was glad she stuck with those belly-dancing courses no matter how ridiculous she felt then. 

Aidan never really felt strongly one way or the other about Valentine’s Day. Most years, it was just another day to her. At most, she used it as an excuse to give her friends little gifts to show her appreciation for them, and obviously if she had a special someone to share it with she would go above and beyond for them too. The bartender had to admit, though, that this year the holiday had her buzzing with nervous excitement at the prospect of seeing Zena. She only shifted her outfit slightly from her daytime Valentine’s delivery look, and showed up to work at Retro wearing belted black jeans, Doc Marten’s, her one and only pink t-shirt, and her favorite black leather jacket. And soon after she arrived, she was surprised with a handful of Valentines addressed to her, one in particular standing out among the rest.  Zena’s card and the words written within it were in the back of her mind the whole night as she worked, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t constantly scanning the crowd for the other brunette between taking orders behind the bar. Life is too short, Aidey echoed through her thoughts, and she had to agree–with everything out in the open between them now through their grams, tonight had to be the night where one of them made a real move. 

Aidan’s employees insisted that they had everything under control as the night got later and made their boss take a break to enjoy the night herself, so she stood somewhat on the outskirts of the crowd with a raspberry sour beer in hand. Suddenly, she felt arms twine around her body from behind and a warm body pressed against her back. An excited smile spread across Aidan’s face when she heard the familiar accent and nickname only one person used for her, and she spun around to face Zena once she pulled back. “I got yours too. Of course I meant it, Z,” she started while running her free hand nervously through her hair. But her brows furrowed slightly as the other brunette’s words fully sunk in. “Wait, both grams? I think I only sent you one…unless I got too stoned and forgot about one.” She chuckled, but was suddenly anxious at the thought because if that was the case, she could’ve written anything. 

I got yours too. Of course I meant it, Z. - - the conformation, twined with the rush of knowing that aidan read her gram sent a pounding to her heart. zena had a breathy laugh leave her lips at the mention of the other one, so she retrieved the gram that CJ wrote from her. “ does this ring any bells?” she asked with a soft tone, holding it out to the other. “i’ve been there before. well, obviously - - me being a lightweight and all.” she rolled her eyes jokingly. she bit down on her lower lip, trying too hard not to be too obvious with her heart eye gaze - - figuring it might border on too creepy, but the tone of the night paired with her increasing buzz was all but causing her thoughts to be only on making a move. all those nights, stoned on the couch, snuggling watching cartoon network - sitting in the toon truck, goofing around with the different experiments, playing with the puppy - - all of it. she took a deep breath, and quickly blurted out a “ do you want - - uh, you want to dance?” her eyes widened, almost like she was scared she just said something so offensive . but still, her body urged her to keep on. . . remembering her little mantra she wrote to aidan. so, she took a rather large step forward, holding out her hand... wanting nothing more than to have the courage to kiss the pair of lips belonging to the woman whom kept her thoughts so busy, the woman standing mere inches away from her. her voice dipped shyly, “that is... if you aren’t busy?” 

robbie: i'm robbie — but if you don't remember, i'll just let ya go

robbie: so do you want to talk about it, or do you want to just pretend it never happened?

Aidan finally had a night off from Retrograde, being that it was a weekday and it wasn’t too busy, her staff had it completely handled on their own. With the time to herself, she shifted into full couch potato mode and had only gone between playing her Playstation and taking bong rips for most of the night. So when her Apex match finished and she checked the groupchat to see Zena asking for a taste tester for some new menu items, she became fully aware of her munchies and was quick to jump on the request. The address Zena texted her wasn’t far from her own, so she found herself in front of the food truck in no time. Before she even had time to knock on the door, the woman’s friendly face appeared to call her inside. “Hey!” she called out as she entered the truck, fully embracing and returning the sudden hug. “No need to thank me, for real. I’m so excited to try them, it smells insane in here.” She plopped down into the passenger seat and rested her elbows against her knees and head in her hands as she leaned forward. “Those pictures you sent in the groupchat were adorable, too. You’re so talented!”

“ i guess, then, i’ll just thank your for your presence.” zena grinned, opening up the fridge to check on the jellybean jelly that was placed to set a few hours ago. “ the smell is honestly the best part of the job, if i’m being frank!” she wished she’d waited just a few moments more to text that group chat, because all she wanted to do in that moment was to chill and chat with aidan, yet here she was, having to divide her attention between the food she had to take out of the oven and the woman that her mind was on. maybe though, it was just one of those things that had to play out that way. maybe aidan wouldn’t have seen it if she’d texted a few moments later. . .but needless, she was more than thrilled to have her over. a tiny blush warmed her cheeks at just the words ‘you’re so talented!’ purely due to the fact that the blue eyed woman was never one to be able to take complements, so instead, she’d just smile and look down at her feet then shift her feet back and forth. “ thanks - - i uh, tried.” she offered up a shy smile, yet her features immediately changed as she began to put the ‘scooby snack’ cookies on the cooling rack, changing the subject faster than she should have naturally, “... do you have any allergies that, uh, i should know about? or like... food you don’t like in general?” 

Though she thought it horribly cliche and overused, the phrase “you come here often?” had fallen from Blake’s lips while talking to the brunette next to her, but at least it made sense in this case. When Blake had first engaged with her, she did look familiar and once she had realized who Zena was, aka the owner of her favorite food truck in L.A., Blake was curious if she did in fact come here often. 

An abrupt chuckle, almost a cackle, escapes Blake at the admission and she shakes her head at the other girl. “I know you have a way with food and I’m not about to say no to an invite like that.” Blake leans in to talk over the noise of the bar. “You went through all the trouble of getting it here safely. No sense in letting it go to waste, right?”

zena’s eyes widened, letting out a chuckle at the question, “ i do ! kind of. well, i don’t come as OFTEN as i should, or want to ... but i do manage to come whenever i can - - do ... do you come here often?” she asked, a bit self aware that she began to ramble, she feels like she’s never seen blake outside of when she sees her when she is at the truck and she’s just as curious. 

“ not to like, be way too conceded but, it is REALLY good. i was just experimenting with some stuff ... and BOY did it come out so, so, so good.” she spews out, before finishing off the rest of her water. “right! also, who knows how much of it will hold up and for how long, you know? but just a warning.... it’s kind of, really potent.” she mused, stepping down from her barstool. 

“I said: ‘oh wow you smoke weed, that’s exciting.’” Brandi deadpanned.  Brandi’s moral compass wasn’t necessarily better than others.  Brandi simply was a girl who preferred coke to weed, and was regularly bothered how the musky smell seemed to permeate the very air of the entire state of California since the legalization. Weed was so ubiquitous now, Brandi found it to be downright boring. Not unlike the clearly stoned girl to her side blabbing on about edibles amid the din of the bar.  Brandi, overworked and undersexed, had been in a sour mood for what felt like an eternity (read: about a week), and the last thing the blonde wanted was a stoner interrupting her vodka soda.

“And while I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be impressed that you drove to Retro under the influence, I think I’m gonna pass on the pie.”  

“Does offering women drugs normally work for you here?”

her brows knit together and her jaw drops slightly at the tone in the blonde woman’s voice, she was at a bit of a loss for words ... so just decided to stay quiet and process a way to answer - - but the more she thought about it the more she couldn’t find a way to respond - - instead she bit down on her bottom lip. as the comment regarding driving came up, she couldn’t hold back from protesting out a “ - - you don’t have to be mean.” her voice cracked a little as her words came out, never being one who dealt well with any sort of situation even slightly bordering conflict. “ i ate it after i got here, i wouldn’t drive under the influence.” that was DANGEROUS for more reasons than one in zena’s case.