Better on our own - English

Drill in the Paint Factory

"Good morning team!" Penny greeted us as she came down from above. As always, she had been there first while we arrived one by one. We greeted her back and waited for the usual daily meeting to find out what was going on today. "We have our monthly exercise with Pontypandy today..." she began, but was interrupted by Elliot, who expressed his displeasure very clearly and loudly "Elliot, please!" Penny admonished him. But I saw that she was smiling. "I still have one or two things to clarify about this. In the meantime, please clean up the hall and check the vehicles to make sure everything is complete and ready for use. As usual, I want th... "

"That everything goes perfectly!" Arnold, Trixie and Elliot interrupted her with a grin and Penny also grinned cheekily before she went back upstairs. Apparently that was a standard phrase from Penny.

Elliot immediately went to Arthus, Trixie to Lancelot and Arnold to Merlin, so all that was left for me to do was sweep the hall. Great! But since Penny always attached great importance to ensuring that everything was basically clean and in order, this couldn't take long for any of us.

"How did you end up sitting with those from Pontypandy?" I asked Elliot as I passed him with my broom and I looked up at him. I wanted to have some conversation and it seemed like a sensible question since Elliot had made it pretty clear two weeks ago that the people of Pontypandy weren't really his cup of tea.

"Penny arranged that, but it was okay. They're not that bad," he replied with a shrug, without taking his eyes off the storage compartment where he was checking the equipment for completeness.

"I'd bet that Penny heard how you gave Niall the talk the other week and thought it was time to strengthen cooperation," Arnold said with a grin, who was in the middle of checking the latches for the containers on Merlin.

"She would certainly have done that earlier if she hadn't always stayed away from the city festivals in the evenings," Elliot replied with an annoyed look and pulled the storage compartment closed in order to open the one next to it.

"Really? Why?" I interjected, looking from one to the other.

"Well, because of Cody. She usually goes to them during the day and he has to go to bed early in the evening. There hasn't been an festival on a weekend where he is with his father yet," Arnold answered me as if it were the most logical thing in the world .

"She could have gotten a babysitter," I argued.

"She could have, but I don't think she was ever angry about not doing it. Penny is a person who can be well alone," Trixie interjected as she passed and stopped suddenly before turning to me and grinning cheekily. What was going on now? "What's going on between you and that girl?"

"Which girl?" I asked her perplexedly and saw out of the corner of my eye how Arnold and Elliot were also grinning.

"The nice one you danced with?"

"Nothing at all. She wanted to dance and her boyfriend wasn't interested to do," I answered her with a shrug.

"She has a boyfriend? Niall, we get to know a completely different side of you," Elliot exclaimed and patted me on the shoulder, making me gasp in surprise and almost fall to my knees. He was still grinning, but I had the feeling that his reaction was more complimentary than dismissive.

"What? We just danced!" I replied grumpily. Why did guys always think you had ulterior motives just because you danced with a girl?

"And you're not even good. You had to let the girl guide you," Trixie interjected and laughed quietly. Arnold and Elliot also had a hard time suppressing their laughter.

"I can't do it either. I never learned to dance," I defended myself grumbling and decided to continue sweeping in the hope that the topic would be quickly put to rest.