Page 151 of Pistols and Plush Toys

Xander laughed. “It’s not like drinking vinegar,” he told Gerard. “Plus, like I said, it’s mixed with the peach. I promise—it’s really really good.”

“I don’t know…” Gerard said, but he was smiling.

“What about the Pair of Pears?” Meredith asked. She was leaning in to Elliot now, looking at the menu on his phone. “It’s got pear and lime—Gerard, you love lime.”

“We’re not even at Blue Snake right now,” Gerard pointed out. “So it sounding good is kind of a moot point.”

Elliot’s head came up, as if realizing he’d gotten absorbed in the menu. “Oh, uh, right well—” He set his phone on the table and picked up the menu again. “I think there was a lime one here too…”

Gerard’s eyes found Nikolai, “Help,” he said in a stage whisper. “They're ganging up on me.”

Nikolai chuckled. “You were wanting fancy drink. They are helping.”

“Yeah! There’s the Limerance,” Xander said, finger tapping on the menu as he showed it to Gerard. “Honeydew, lime, mint and ginger.”

“I think you’d like that Gerard,” Meredith said. “You should get it. I’m glad you tried sparkling water, but don’t suffer.”

“But what if I don’t like it?” Gerard said, hand on his water, swirling around the glass. “I don’t want to waste another drink. Maybe the water was enough adventure for one day.”

“Hey, if you don’t like it, I’ll drink it,” Xander said. “I like lime too.”

“Oh, see? There you go,” Meredith said.

“You do?” Gerard asked him.

“Sure,” Xander said with a smile. “So go ahead and get it. Oh! The waiter’s coming back.”

They all ordered their food and, after a little more nudging from the table at large, Gerard ordered the new drink.

Maybe it was the good food, the friendly banter, or just having all of his favorite people in one place for dinner, but by the end of dinner Nikolai was feeling unaccountably fond.

Elliot was at his side flushed happily from the food and conversation, more animated than Nikolai had ever seen him. Like he’d finally, finally shaken off the weight he’d been carrying, and was letting himself enjoy life again.

Nikolai was glad they’d invited Xander out. He had such a positive history with Elliot, and it was clear that having Xander here helped Elliot to open up more. Made Elliot less self-conscious. More confident.

It was beautiful to see.

“Alright,” Meredith said as she emptied the last of the sparkling water into her glass. They were waiting on desserts even though everyone was stuffed. “Before we wrap this up, let me make a toast to the new Lucky Clover. May it prosper and not get blown to shit, because I’m sick to death of talking to insurance agents.”

Gerard snorted the same time as Xander said, “Your store gotwhat?”

Nikolai picked up his own glass, and he reached over to clink it with Meredith’s. “?? ??? ???????.”

“?? ???,” Gerard said, clinking his second Limerence.

“Oh finally!” Xander cheered as he raised his glass, leaning into Gerard’s side. “Say more, say more!”

Beside him, Elliot laughed and raised his own glass. They clinked.

Gerard grinned and began to rattle off some Mamma Mia lyrics in Russian. It caught Nikolai off guard and he choked on his water with full bellied laughter.

Which was fine, because the glowing smile on Elliot’s face after he recovered made it more than worth it.

Chapter 25: Elliot

Gerard:check your email

Elliot woke up to the text, timestamped 3:46AM.

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