Now that he could actually stock his shelves with food, James was grateful to be eating the "real" stuff again.  In college, the pickings were slim and the assignments were stacked high.  Simply no time for it.  Even had Sasha been there to make them food, he mused silently, she wouldn't have wanted to.  There would have been a dozen guys all over her at all times - no, worse, a dozen engineers.  James mentally shivered at the thought.

"Yeah, you!  How many papers did you make me let you proof-read before turning them in?  Almost every one of them was pretty much dipped in a vat of red ink," He chastised, shaking his head, "And then I'd get the same grade as the kid next to me who didn't have this 3-hours-of-editing paper in his hands."  The man grinned, "So it developed to an intrinsic need.  My constant attitude of correction is your fault, ya little perfectionist."

He ran a hand over his head and shook out his hair with a shrug, "I work a lot harder than I used to, can't go walking around like a snotty kid, eh?  Gotta be professional, I represent da at work; I can't let his recommendation go to waste."  He laughed at her small comment about being a better pair, downing the small remainder of his second drink.  "I like to think we looked a lot better at high school's end too.  But I admit, I think we've both kinda 'grown into' ourselves since then.  It's nice," He said, deciding to leave his thoughts at that.  Sure, there was more, but he didn't want to create an awkward situation from nothing.  In fact, it was preferable to just enjoy her company like this again; after all these years, it was amazing that the spontaneous, young gamer had evolved into a writer and editor, and she even taught.  Tutoring wasn't exactly a classroom, but it was a step in the direction of something he always thought she'd be good at.

The sound of a crowd was approaching the door and it seemed that Sasha had the exact same idea as James: get out.  He didn't really have much to grab, so as soon as she was ready he felt her hand grabbing his arm and tugging him though the doors.  "H-hey, what's the rush, Sashie?" He asked teasingly once they were outside.  He didn't pull out of her hand by any means, but his other one dug down into his pocket and pulled out his pack of B&H, expertly opening it and withdrawing one using just the one hand and his pocket.  He pushed the pack back down and brought his lighter up with the cig, letting it rest in the corner of his mouth as the flame clicked on and started to burn the very tip of it.  Once he had replaced the lighter, he took the cigarette between his fingers and blew the smoke away from Sasha, where the breeze caught it and carried it down the street.

"Korean food..?"  He asked, sniffing at the air himself, "Uh, yeah, I guess.  Wai- ah!" He laughed as she excitedly continued to lead him to another pop-up party.  These things were [i]everywhere[/i] nowadays weren't they?  Thankfully, he'd only had to deal with them from time to time, they rarely found their way to Canterbury.  James wasn't much for parties, she knew that, but she also knew he couldn't say no to her.  "Hey, I'm just here to spend the evening with you - let's just have a good time," He replied, smiling lightly as he tilted his head back and released a single, solitary ring of smoke.  He grinned, "Damn, I can [i]never[/i] get those things to come out right.  But that was perfect," He said, blowing the rest out in a cloud behind it.  "One of my mate's showed me that, makes me feel like Gandalf or somethin'." James teased, letting the tails of his blazer hang out in front of his wrists as his hands rested in his pockets.