Ask Night Off - Pho Real!

[Kalique Baize]

A few months had passed and Jon and Kalique had fully gotten settled in their new apartment. They had planned on inviting Guin over for a quite a while, but arranging time tables of an Imperial Commander, an Imperial Agent and a Knight-Captain was quite a challenge.

Finally, a shared free night had come and Kalique was absolutely excited for a fun night off. Guin hadn't seen the new apartment yet and it had also been a while since she had gotten to share some quality with her friend, and knowing Jon and Guin also got along well, the night could only become awesome.

Jon and Kalique had been preparing dinner together as the two of them still enjoying cooking together a lot and while the Pho Bo still simmered, the rest was ready to be served. "So given that we said we'd meet in 10 minutes from now, I'm pretty sure she'll ring any second" Guin loved to be overpunctucal, so Kalique assumed the blonde would be there very soon.

"I think we're all set?" she said to Jon, however implying a question- maybe she had forgotten about something-, stirring the soup one last time before she set down the spoon, walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you" her voice softened before she leaned in for a kiss, her lips curling into a warm, happy smile. She was genuinely happy and excited and definitely ready to go.

@Raydo @Xorism

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Jon had been working on rolling vegetables into a spring roll to go with the Pho as music quietly played in the background. He had been excited when they had finally finished several projects around the apartment and were ready to entertain.

"I am guessing she will be here in...3 minutes and 48 seconds." he threw out the random time with the utmost confidence. Guin and Kali were best friends, but Jon had his fair share of adventure with the woman and considered her a close friend as well.

"I think so." he surveyed their work proudly. Cooking together had been something they had enjoyed doing since the beginning of their relationship, so it had already been a fun afternoon. "Love you." he said as she pulled back from the kiss, hands resting on her hips, slowly swaying her to the music.

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

It felt like this would be the first time the trio would be back together again since their epic beer pong showdown all that time ago. They'd obviously worked separately, but having the gang under one roof seemed to prove problematic with their varied background and conflicting schedules. Still, Guin wouldn't miss this for anything, and she'd arrive 3 minutes and 47 seconds later with an excited knock.

She was in awe of how simply beautiful their new apartment was from the outside. The bonus perks of being in a more centralised location wasn't lost on her, either, which did sort of make it easier to pop over from time to time as well. She couldn't be happier for the pair as she quietly waited, present in hand.

When they finally answered, Guin appeared beaming with delight and offered the gift immediately before then offering hugs as well. "A house-warming gift, just something I put together for you both." As long as there were no sharp objects thrown, she'd probably be quite safe.

@LadyRen @Raydo

 

[Kalique Baize]

"Oddly precise...but maybe you're right" she replied, visibly amused about the random guess. Kalique was certain she'd be earlier than the arranged time, but how early they were about to find out. Maybe she had been waiting in the car for another 20 minutes and she'd hop out the moment she couldn't stand waiting any longer...

In order to keep the odds fair, Kalique refrained from using the Force to check, but she threw in, "I'll say one minute twenty seconds", adding the same shameless confidence he had given her before as he made his guess. Their meal was ready and so they really only had to Guin to arrive before they could start with dinner.

There were plenty of delicious smells in the kitchen and they had actually gotten quite skilled at cooking together, so that while the food looked good, Kalique was confident it would also taste well. "Have you put away the knives? Otherwise I'm afraid we can't let Guin into the kitchen" she teased, obviously knowing all about her clumsiness and the incident she had had after the Victory ceremony.

She hadn't fully baby-, or rather Guin-proven the apartment, but the electric dart game they had bought she had hidden on purpose, not wanting any accidents this time. The minute had already passed and while they finished up and shared a beautiful moment in a kitchen, it suddenly rang, precisely at when Jon had expected her to come.

"How-?!", Kalique shook her head, a little speechless at first. "Somehow it feels like you're developing a sixth sense...maybe my force sensitivity is rubbing off on you". First the lightsaber affinity, now this. She was chuckling, yet throwing him a faked suspicious side-eye.

They went to the door to open it and there was immediately a happy, excited smile on her lips as Guin stood in front of it. "Hey there!" she immediately wrapped an arm around her, however careful not to crush the gift in her hands. "Ohh that's so sweet of you...thanks!" the color scheme was absolutely beautiful and it was a sweet gesture. "Come in!" after letting Jon welcome her as well, she gestured for her to come in.

@Raydo @Xorism

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Most things they did turned into a competition, so obviously, they had to make this one as well. Their times were locked in as they waited.

"I did..." he said, tone growing serious as she asked if the knives were put away. "...and you put the dart board away..." he said, shivering with feigned chills, remembering all too well the night he had spent with Guin in the hospital.

Right on time, Guin showed up, surprising Jon just as much as it did Kali. He gave a casual shrug. "Maybe...." he said with a smirk. "Stick with me, and I'll teach you everything I know, Squire Demici!" he said with a wink as they moved to the door.

"Hey Guin." he said with a smile, giving her a quick hug after Kali had taken the basket.

@Xorism @LadyRen

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

After embracing the love-birds and hellos, the astute agent glanced around the first room she could peer into. "Oh gosh, this room is bigger than my apartment, it's massive!" Of course, that wouldn't always be true, especially in light of the news that she was about to share.

Walking into the spacious room and looking around, she could almost see the individual touches that each had laid upon the various spaces. "Before the tour, there is something that I wanted you to be the first to know!" Guin could barely contain her excitement, as the fresh news wouldn't have been public yet, though Kali had known she had applied. "The Director has approved my promotion! I start Monday as an Overseer!!"

The new responsibilities would be tremendous, but the blonde was cautiously optimistic that she could hit the ground running, or at least wing it long enough to pick up the pieces needed to do well. Another aspect that she had only recently realised was that now all three of them would be relative equals, each manifested in a separate division of the empire. But said differences were not a negative but a strength, one that could be forged and borne of their mutual friendship which may later blossom into something more as their influence grew.

@LadyRen @Raydo which

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique noticed how Guin was already busy taking in the first impressions of their new place, the blonde's eyes widened just like Kalique's from the excitement, but she suddenly stopped. Guin's excitement was suddenly spiking and given the sheer positivity of it, Kalique's smile widened already.

"Oooh Guin! Those are wonderful news! Congratulations!" she immediately put the basket back down and eagerly wrapped her arms around her friend. The hard-working blonde had recently accomplished a lot, so perhaps she wasn't too surprised they had granted her the promotion, but it was still absolutely great to hear she had been approved.

"This just calls for a celebration tonight!". What a wonderful coincidence that they had the night off and already planned anyway. She waited for Guin to follow them inside, past the dining table niche in the open living room with the connected kitchen. "Are you hungry?" she threw in, almost having forgotten about the warm and readied dinner.

@Xorism @Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He closed the door behind her as they moved inside. Guin said she had an announcement, Jon turned to face her again. His face lit up at the good news. "Hey! Congrats!" he said, slapping her back.

"I told you they weren't going to let slack off as agent much longer!" he said with a smile. "You're going to do great! I'm sure it will be just like your old job, but without all of the fun and twice the headaches." he joked.

This news only added to the jovial atmosphere. He was sure she was going to do the best job. She was one of the most dedicated people in the Empire.

Kali turned the conversation to food. "Kali wouldn't let me add any interesting ingredients...." he said, leaning over to Guin and rolling his eyes as they moved into the living room.

@Xorism @LadyRen

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The night was well on its way to being a memorable one, for good reasons this time and hopefully with less feinting. Guin embraced Kali once more with glee, they'd been through some mighty lows, and it was an amazing feeling to be celebrating this momentous occasion with perhaps the two closest people she knew. Jon's affirmation drew smiles and giggles from the soon-to-be Overseer, with a slight eye roll at his almost-a-joke-but-its-probably-right remark.

Guin's fondness for food was something that hadn't particularly come up before in previous conversations, although she had heard some funny stories about Jon's cooking. Keeping up as they transitioned into the tour part of the evening, she nodded with a mock smile. "Aww really Kali, can't Jon spice it up even a little?"

Though, from the delicious smell waffling through the house, Guin couldn't hide the fact that she was indeed hungry. "Perhaps another time, Jon. Let's eat! And finish the tour after if that's okay!!" She smiled with a hint of playfulness. It made more sense to eat while it was still hot, since after all, the house wasn't going anywhere and would leave more time for small talk before eating. "So, um, who decorated? I like the style."

@LadyRen @Raydo

 

[Kalique Baize]

Guin seemed thrilled, and so was Kalique. She nudged Jon playfully as he shared his rather pessimistic thoughts about the workload, but it was not like Kalique could deny it.

They had both experienced what it meant to gain much more responsibility and the paperwork that came with it and knowing Guin would stay with the ISB, it wouldn't be any different for her (perhaps even a little worse, but she didn't need to be told that right now). Instead, Kalique kept leading her onwards with a wide, warm smile, focusing on the very positive parts of this achievement.

"No...no no no" she threw in, crossing her arms in front of her chest and giving Jon a side-eye. "He's not talking about spice. The food is seasoned well and spicy enough, but what I said was referring to how he couldn't do was adding the super exotic, weird ingredients with the confusing textures" she corrected Guin with a chuckle.

"You know the frog story...I'm not letting him add amphibian spawn or whatever" she was surely overdramatizing things here and the chuckling gave it away. Actually, Jon had found some 'interesting' ingredients that had proven to be good, but Kalique still preferred to keep it classic, especially for guests.

"So thank me later" she playfully whispered to Guin, still amused before she grinned back at Jon. "Alright, then dinner first". The delicious smells made it easy to be hungry and so Kalique wasn't complaining. The table was already set up and so she headed into the kitchen to bring out the food, leaving Jon to answer the question. Guin would notice how next to the relatively modern style, there were certain souvenirs from their shared missions that did give the apartment a unique style.

@Xorism @Raydo