Over Lunch

"Listen, there are a lot of complications here," Jude insisted. "Like, did you know she's poly? And she's got two boyfriends already. And a raccoon." Did the racoon count as part of this? "Apparently they all have veto rights, only I don't have to date them, and I'm not sure..."

Oh wait a second.

"Wait a second, I think I did meet the third. I'd have to ask to confirm. Iggy seems nice, either way, but I think I, uh, mostly like Alma, and..."

Jude stopped himself, taking a big drink as he glanced over the menu.

"I do feel kind of like I just jumped in feet first to the deep end. We're doing dinner. A nice Italian place. I'm just trying not to screw it up."

He definitely wasn't going to comment on being a catch. No sirree.

"I... don't think so?" It wasn't like he'd had a whole lot of opportunity to check. "I used to get annoyed when Broen was flirting with people, but I don't think that was I don't like when he's with other people, I think that was more I'm jealous he can manage it and I can't work up the nerve to even ask."

Jude paused for a moment to think about it before ordering his own food from the waiter who dropped by. No, he was pretty sure it was that, because he'd felt a lot less jealous after he'd finally managed that nerve.

"He's still sleeping with my boss all the time, and I don't mind that at all, so I don't think I'm really the jealous type?"

So she was the jealous type... probably. He wasn't going to ask. No sirree he was not going to fucking ask that.

"I figure," Jude said carefully. "I can just kind of see how it goes. It's casual now. Maybe I like her, maybe I don't, maybe it works, maybe I don't. I never really thought about poly, only it seems pretty common here and back at home it was... barely a thing, if it was a thing at all. So I guess... play it by ear."

"That's kind of the idea. I wanted to... I mean, I love you guys. I'm never going to move away from you guys or anything." The Defiant were the last slice of home. The last people who knew who he was talking about when he spoke about Requin or Edmund offhand. He wasn't going to lose them. Not if it killed him.

"But I want to expand out. I have a lot of... uh, younger people? Or people who feel younger. Like, Xander and Aren are our age, but they feel younger, and Shale is younger, and I feel like I don't have many people who are really my age. People like Erione."

"Sparring," Jude said with a noise that made it very clear he had absolutely zero interest in such a thing. Jude had no real fighting capabilities beyond a normal human. He didn't super need them, either. Especially with their lack of..

Well, okay maybe not a total lack.

"Speaking of that," Jude said, even though they totally hadn't been speaking about it at all. "How would you feel about like, a protection job? Like, guarding someone."