Nolis opens his eyes slowly as the bus rolls to its next stop. He sees someone out of the corner of his eyes that he thinks, for just a moment, he recognizes. It can’t be him, though, he knows it can’t be. There just isn’t any possibility and he decides to chock it up to a tired mind and hungry body. As much as he doesn’t want to try the road food again he knows he must at least make an attempt to keep himself sharp. He stands and exits the bus.
The name of the restaurant they’ve stopped at for breakfast is called Over Easy. As he enters the overwhelming smell of cooking bacon and sausage almost makes him turn back around and leave. Nolis sighs softly and shakes his head to steady himself. He’s gone through worse than this, he can handle being in a restaurant. As he comes to the hostess stand the woman working tilts her head and gives him an odd look. Nolis meets her with a strained smile and starts to tell her he’ll be eating alone when she speaks.
“Um, would you be Dr. Denton?” She asks.
Confused, but more pressingly suspicious, Nolis considers his answer. “Aye. So I am.” He says after a moment.
The hostess smiles and nods, “Follow me, your friend has a table all ready for you!”
Nolis’s heart sinks. There’s really only one person who would be doing this. That spectre entering before him as the bus arrived. How could he be here? How could he have known?
Nolis knows who it is before the hostess can seat him, ignoring her cheerful voice telling him that their server will be right over. His faded blue eyes settle on Jedetta Fortin and he meets Jedetta’s grin with a deep frown of his own.
“Why are you here?” Nolis asks. Jedetta laughs and leans back in his seat.
“To get breakfast.” Jedetta says, picking up the menu the hostess had him with.
“You know that isn’t what was meant.” Nolis snaps back, voice laced with impatience. Jedetta pauses, then winks.
“To get breakfast with you?” He tries, and laughs again when Nolis all but flinches back from his words.
Nolis runs a hand over his face. He’s too old for this. Too old and too tired to be dealing with this. Jedetta’s gaze softens, but only slightly.
“I came to tell you you’re making a mistake.” Jedetta says, peering at Nolis from over the menu. “You think the omelets here are any good?”
Nolis stares at Jedetta in disbelief. How was it that Jedetta always seemed to know where he was and what he was up to? On Creatia it was one thing, but here? How in the world had Jedetta even managed to get to Earth in the first place? Nolis has so many questions but in his anger doesn’t want to ask any of them. All he wants to do is drag Jedetta outside and start throwing his fists until Jedetta stopped smirking at him like that.
“Waitress is coming.” Jedetta warns him.
Orders are put in, enough time to allow Nolis to cool off a little and organize his thoughts while he scans the menu for something edible. In the end he settles with oatmeal and fresh fruit, coffee to go alongside it. Jedetta orders pancakes and hashbrowns with tea. Nolis frowns at him.
“You don’t have to order according to my tastes.” He says, pinching and rubbing at the bridge of his nose.
Jedetta only shrugs. “You won’t eat if I got meat. And besides, omelets are never good at places like these.”
Nolis wants to ask what Jedetta means by places like these, but holds his tongue in favor of a different question. “What mistake?”
Jedetta grins and leans forward, elbows settling on the table and lowers his voice. “Devices off first, then we chat.”
With a sigh, Nolis shuts off his various devices. Phone, watch, everything he has on him, then nods at Jedetta to go ahead and speak.
“Word to the wise, doc. The Official is sick. They say he won’t last another few months with the way it’s headed. Brain issues. You know. The one thing people like you can’t fix with a little operation. You don’t have to complete your assignment.” Jedetta grins at him, pleased with himself. That grin starts to fade when he doesn’t see anything but exhaustion in Nolis’s face.
“Assignment changed.” Nolis murmurs.
“Changed?” Jedetta repeats, incredulous. “When?”
“Yesterday evening. The orders come not from the Official any longer.” Nolis answers dully.
“When who-”
“Who sits above The Official, Jedetta?” Nolis hisses back, his anger starting to bleed back into him. “Who do you think gave the new assignment?”
Jedetta frowns and looks away. Nolis almost feels bad for snapping at him. Almost. After a moment, Jedetta speaks again.
“It’s still a mistake, Nolis. Completing this assignment? We have to think of a way out of it.”
Nolis’s answer is quick and sharp. “There is no we, Jedetta. You know this. Stop acting as if there is.”
Jedetta has the audacity to look slightly hurt by this, but Nolis pays him no mind. They sit in relative silence until the waitress brings them their drinks and their food. That is also eaten with very little commentary. The check comes and Jedetta raises his brow at Nolis who sighs and pulls out his wallet to pay for them both. As Nolis stands to leave, Jedetta does the same. Very lightly he lays a hand on Nolis’s shoulder and looks up at him. Nolis can’t meet his gaze.
“See you around, doc. But times are changing. You might want to start trying to change with them.” Jedetta then heads out the door, hands in his pockets, easy smile on his face. Nolis waits five minutes in the lobby then leaves in turn, climbing his way back onto the bus feeling more miserable than ever.
