THE WORLD: PSL LIFE

[insinning]

[Here be all the psl threads]

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[insinning]

[Sinclair leans into Oria a little, laughing softly]

It helps it's unlikely I'll say anything that will start a fight.

[Looks at his other coworkers]

...Rodion would have been better, but she says she's not good with stuffy suit types.

[dissimulative]

[ Rodya!! Please!! He wanted to believe in you!! ]

And you are, presumably.

[ As long as they don't mention Sinclair's triggers, but still. ]

I won't have it if they're pushing you around just because you're the youngest. You know how I feel about that in particular.

[insinning]

[Sinclair pulls a face. He doesn't think he's suited for business meetings at all</> but his patience tended to take him further than the others]

I know. I don't think they are. There's too much on the line for their usual antics.

[He squeezes Oria's hand. And he's gotten better at holding his ground]

1/3

[dissimulative]

[ Adults who can't keep themselves in line. Oria should have figured. He's a little pouty regardless. It also means Sinclair is just better than them at doing things! This is a win that Oria will take, even though it really has nothing to do with himself at all.

But he laces their fingers together. ]

You've grown.

[dissimulative]

... not vertically, but...

[dissimulative]

Anyway, I'm still proud of you. You changed a lot for what I think is for the better. If you've been doubling down on things that you know is right, then you should hold it.

1/2

[insinning]

[ Sinclair pouts a little when he's reminded he hasn't grown even a centimetre since turning nineteen]

You just had to mention my height too.

2/2

[insinning]

[But he leans into Oria with a soft laugh]

...I did work some things out in Fragment.

[He'll steal a quick cheek kiss]

I'll hold the line better with them.

[If he thought it was wrong, he'd push back. He's gotten better about it]

[dissimulative]

[ He knows that Sinclair worked out so many things while in Fragment. It was painful, but he got through it. Oria would like to believe that it made Sinclair stronger. Then there was a point to the pain. ]

This is why I love you so much~

[ Hehehe.

But they have now arrived at the restaurant. When the receptionist greets them, they cut themselves off mid-speech and then has a very tight smile on their face. ]

Yo. Table for two, please.

[ Pointedly ignoring the negative expression. The waiter comes to lead them to a table. ]

[insinning]

[? ??? ????? Sinclair would have flustered, but he gets distracted by the receptionist freezing on the spot]

Um. They didn't look very happy...

[dissimulative]

Hm? Oh, they're probably lamenting how much work will pile up because I'm here, or something.

[ He shrugs. It's not his problem.

He gets seated with Sinclair. ]

Let's see, I'll take a sprite.

[insinning]

Ah. [All the washing up. That explains it] Mm, I'll grab a cola.

[Then looking through the menu. Some pasta would be good...]

[dissimulative]

Oh, and I think they take my visit akin to like a random health inspection. Quality checking or something.

[ The bane of all restaurants everywhere.

The waiter goes to get their drinks and Oria looks through the menu. He doesn't take very long. Underneath that calm facade, he must be panicking about Oria's visit too. ]

For appetizer, I'll get calamari. Then I want a family-pan chicken and shrimp carbonara.

[ ... ]

Yes, I'm aware it feeds 4 to 6 people. I also want a slice of black tie mousse cake.

[insinning]

[Sinclair is completely unfazed as he smiles reassuringly at the waiter. Don't worry his wont be that ridiculous]

Um. Could I get cavatelli pasta with the pork ragú? Oh, and um, your seasonal gelato for dessert.

[dissimulative]

[ The waiter nods and scurries to the kitchen. Oria watches as he grins a little. ]

I just remembered why they treat me that way. I accidentally shut down a restaurant by exposing their health concerns. I think it was that asbestos was chipping off and it was circulating through the vents or something.

[insinning]

... that definitely explains it more than you eating a lot.

[ He's proud of his boyfriend though...fighting restaurants with terrible health practices ]

[dissimulative]

Yeah. I personally don't think you should be worried about the risks of getting lung cancer when you're in a restaurant, but that might just be me.

[ The absolute cheekiness of this kid. ]

Honestly, it could be for any reason why they don't like me being here. I'm not particularly liked in a business nor political perspective.

[insinning]

[Oria, please. He doesn't disagree but]

Even in a place like this?

[ It's a small, seemingly family run restaurant? Not a major chain...]

[dissimulative]

My family is kinda famous...

[ Does speaking the truth confirm it? ]

That time when I got shot... it was by a regular person who just liked gambling a lot. Funny how that ended up, because there was an actual person there to carry a hit, but this random guy just beats him to the punch.

[ It's like being angry with the Amazon CEO's kid for all the employee pains in working there. Oria doesn't think much about it, because in the end-- ]

Sometimes people don't know things, and they're mad because of the information they received. I can't help with that.

[insinning]

[ Sinclair frowns a little; it's all so normal and matter of fact now. But he doesn't like it, knowing Oria would always have some sort of target on him.]

... you can't but... it'd be better if people faced these things themselves rather than jump on things they've heard.

[dissimulative]

It would be.

[ But whether they'll do it... Oria wouldn't bet on that. He's not very optimistic for the intelligence of the average human being. ]

Tell me if the paparazzi come to bother you though. Now that we basically publicly admitted that we're dating.

[insinning]

Ah. [He looks surprised. He had forgotten they hadn't been together in public since...well their very first date, really] I forgot those people bothered you.

[Since Oria owned so many news stations and all. Sinclair attracted a different kind of unethical journalist]

[dissimulative]

Yeah, because they usually don't. Not nowadays, anyway. The family has bodyguards, so they were all chased out when they heard that I was "sick".

[ Sick for two months or something. ]

But seriously. If any one of those come to you for whatever reason, let me know. I'll handle them.

[insinning]

Ugh. [ Sinclair remembers the days in hospitals, the reporters sneaking around trying to get a good scoop on CCCorp. It would definitely have been worse for Oria, who was already famous to begin with. But at the reminder, Sinclair smiles and reaches over to take Oria's hand, a brief squeeze of acknowledgement]

It's hard to imagine them bothering with me, but if it happens, I will.

[dissimulative]

[ Oria thinks back to when people tried to hassle Sinclair again when his family graves were dug up. He did what he could to quell them online, but there's really only so much he can do. Technology is really making it more difficult to prevent something from spreading nowadays. ]

Good. I'll protect you.

[ Especially if it's because he's connected to himself.

Their food arrive all at once and the waiter has to put down the tray on a vacant table to place the food on the boys' table. It's a lot... ]