Every Friday night. Like clockwork, as Metis would say.
The GYAXA cafeteria would close at 9 pm every Friday, and every Friday they would have dinner together.
Hell, most of them always bought the same things too. Athena bought a tofu burger, Metis would have a small bowl of rice and curry, Simon had ramen and Aura usually had a salad of some sort. Solomon, long dreading the jokes his name would cause, intentionally had anything but Starbucks (although Simon had sometimes seen him sneaking there to grab a coffee). Director Cosmos was usually too busy working on some project or another.
They told jokes and stories; Simon told them about the strange masked man at the Prosecutor’s Office, Solomon shared tidbits from training, Taka would peck at people’s food and Metis and Aura talked about the software they were developing together.
(Sometimes, their gaze would hold a second too long, their hands brushed together slowly and their smiles would suddenly turn shy. When Simon asked Aura about it, she turned red and said to pay it no mind.)
It was like a dream, really. The smiles, the stories—no matter how trivial, Simon would’ve given anything to have it back.
“Prosecutor Blackquill?”
Ah. Fantasizing wouldn’t do much good at the moment. He lifted his head to face the guard and managed his worst glare. Seeing him shiver gave him a sliver of satisfaction, despite himself.
“What is it, Guard-dono?”
“W-well, um, sir, as you know tomorrow you’ll be… um.”
He must be new to this.
“I am well aware that I am to be executed tomorrow.” Simon looked him in the eyes, feeling somewhat proud that he said it with a steady voice. The guard flinched.
“Well, uh… We’re giving you a choice for dinner today. Anything you’d like.”
A pause, then a smile.
“What day is it today, Guard-dono?”
“I-It’s Friday.”
Simon exhaled, slow and steady.
“How about ramen?"