It's 21.47 on the first day of the year, and I've had a good day.
It was pretty tense, I'll admit, because of some dodgy parental permission stuff. But Dad dropped me to the train station at 9.30, my train left at 9.45 and off I went.
I got to Dublin around 10.47 and went past the ticket barrier, downstairs, and waited. I was supposed to meet the boys at 11, but that time passed, and then half an hour did, and by the time an hour had passed I was seething. I was sure they had stood me up, and I was cursing my stupidity for getting myself in trouble for people who weren't even going to turn up.
And then they arrived.
I had rehearsed a speech by that point (it started with "And what time do you call this? I've been waiting for an hour.") but to be honest I was so shocked to see them I just kinda mumbled it. They explained that Seán had slept in (Ciarán insisted he was up on time but had to wait for Seán), and apart from flailing at Seán a bit I went with it.
Apparently when they saw me sitting down against the wall reading (The Dying of the Light), they thought I was homeless. Oops.
Ciarán's hair is now long and magnificent, like a lion.
So we started walking. We followed Seán, I guess because he's the most authoritative/sensible one (he's also the oldest), and as almost all the shops were closed because it's New Year's Day, there wasn't much to do. I sent Ciarán to get me a Fanta because I was thirsty (don't worry, I paid for it). We went to Dealz, where Seán told us to support his work (he makes sandwiches). I had a pink scarf that I kept looping over Ciarán, and then when I went into a bookshop Ciarán started choking me with it.
Which was interesting.
It's a bit of a blur where we went next, but we definitely had a lot of banter and it was great fun. We went to Subway (I got nachos with cheese, not great) and went up to the top floor where there are cosy semi-private armchairs. While relaxing and eating Ciarán played Pokémon on his DS (3DS? I don't know), Seán played on his PS Vita (Persona, I think) and I finished reading The Dying of the Light. I audibly gasped/cried as I read it (my review of it may be quite disjointed, I fear, but then so was the book itself), and Seán lived in fear of me spoiling the book (I didn't too much. I did tell him about one stupid Darquesse-related dream sequence that was just too stupid to be true). I'm unhappy with the ending of the series, but that's for another blog post. (Speaking of which, I've just had an epiphany about why the Danny chapters were in present tense.)
We went to CeX, a used tech store, where Ciarán and Seán informed me that Nintendo is actually a brand name and that me saying "my Nintendo" is stupid. I have been living a lie. We also saw a secondhand Google Glass set, which was weird because according to Ciarán they're still in beta testing. George's St. Arcade was closed, I think.
Seán is excellent at navigating around Dublin, which makes sense because he lives there. We then went to Gino's so Ciarán could get a waffle with ice cream and chocolate sauce or whatever in it, and while he was in the queue (which took FOREVER), Seán and I talked. Mainly about video games and pretentiousness. It was a really interesting conversation and Seán is witty and awesome. I like the way he thinks, even if he's lacking in the affection department.
We went to the Disney store and found a dress that, in all fairness, would probably fit me. It's a replica of Anna's from Frozen. Ciarán said I should wear it for his Debs. Unlikey. Also, we went to Penneys in the morning, which was unpleasant. They told some cool stories. And Ciarán gave me a piggyback out, though I got down pretty fast because it looked embarrassing.
After Gino's we went to The Sweetest Thing. Seán ordered a milkshake with Terry's Chocolate Orange and was given two straws. I got a Cadbury's hot chocolate.When paying, the cashier asked him if we were going to pay together. So yep, because Ciarán was sitting outside and the two of us were standing together, she thought we were on a date. Seán said it's not even the first time it's happened to him in that shop; he was in there with his friend Kevin before and it happened. Shipping there is non-discriminatory, it seems.
We went back out and rejoined Ciarán, who attached my lid and straw professionally as he is "trained to do this" from working in McDonald's. In fairness, it was very well done. Then I didn't think and sucked up some hot chocolate. Because of the pressure in the straw I had to drink it even though it was scalding hot, and I ended up spitting it all over the street. Oh God. Reminder: hot chocolate is hot.
I got a demibaguette for 37c in some shop (great bargain). Then we thought Stephen's Green might be closed and needed somewhere to sit so we went to McDonald's (even though Ciarán appears traumatised by that place). I bought an Apple Pie for €1 to gain us entry and then we just relaxed there for ages.
Seán talked about some game maker who is apparently shitty (David someone), then they pretended I was a Pokémon (I think I was like Charimander and then a fox thing. Please don't kill me, Pokémon fans). Ciarán taught me about Dungeons & Dragons and Seán talked about Persona a bit. It was lovely. I leaned against Ciarán in that particular way and maybe held hands shh. Seán "went to the bathroom" after that, which was unnecessary.
We left around twenty to seven and walked to Pearse, where they sat with me for about three minutes before I had to go. Ciarán picked me up and spun me around by way of a hug, and Seán's hug was lovely too.
In conclusion, it was a really great way to spend my one day off from Young Scientist and I really need to see those guys more often.
I then went home and got grounded for three months.
Worth it.
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