Comments | posthumanslogs: [ all of these ghost towns I keep traveling through ] [ OPEN log ]

ohgollygeewhiz in posthumanslogs

[ all of these ghost towns I keep traveling through ] [ OPEN log ]

Feb 20, 2011 02:28

WHO: Tom Raymond and you
WHAT: Tom. Coffee. Be his friend?
WHERE: A scuzzy diner in TorC
WHEN: ANY MORNING THIS WEEK
WARNINGS: uh. tl;dr?

( all of these traffic signs and lonesome bars blind the view )

bobby drake | ou, molly hayes | au, death| ou, thomas raymond | au

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freakinsweethat February 20 2011, 10:56:54 UTC

Frankly, coming back to Truth or Consequences was uncomfortable, and Molly couldn't say that she has happy at all to be here again. She'd been selfish and left to Manhattan to be with her family for a while, and not even a three days later, Chase just disappeared, and she hadn't even been there for him when she knew that he had felt alone and out of place, that he needed someone to stay with him and keep him from falling into the habits that made Chase, well... Chase. Even though she still had a home here, and Warren and Alison were still around, this place just didn't feel like home anymore. It didn't even feel real. Still, she needed to come back to go through Chase's things, to help Warren, and to check on the people that she did have here.

The fact that she was awake this early in the morning, normally, was a bad sign for all of those that knew her. Molly Hayes was anything but a morning person, and it was never a good idea to get in her way before she had breakfast. However, she'd managed to sleep, albeit uncomfortably, on the train here, and while not the most alert she'd ever been, despite still looking tired, she was up and had stopped at the diner before heading back home to crash for the rest of the day. It was better that she ate something before heading out into this town again... Or she was liable to tear something down.

It was still early, so besides a few truckers and other early risers, the restaurant was pretty much empty. Initially, she'd taken a seat at the bar and, a very rare occurrence, ordered coffee along with some scrambled eggs.

She had been intending to mind her own business, but the smell of smoke permeated through the air from the back corner. She looked over at the man, whose face was obscured by a newspaper. Didn't he know that smoking wasn't allowed inside public places anymore? Well, whether is was just because she was tired, annoyed, or had to get into everybody's business, Molly took it upon herself to go and remind him.

"Smoking will kill you, you know."

ohgollygeewhiz February 20 2011, 11:10:09 UTC

"Oh, just about everyone's been telling me that," Tom said, exhaling away from her and snubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray that the waitress had procured especially for him. If she felt all that strongly about it, he didn't want to upset her by smoking around her. It was strange to him, since back home he knew more people who did smoke than people who didn't, but it was just another peculiarity of the future. "But the way I figure it, there's a whole list of ways to die that are worse by far."

It'd been weeks since he'd seen her face to face, so he couldn't help but smile. She was a doll, even when she looked like she'd just rolled off the wrong side of the bed. He folded his paper neatly and set it aside.

"Imagine seeing you here. S'been a while. How're you holding up?"

freakinsweethat February 20 2011, 11:50:52 UTC

"It's true. They used to show us the lungs of smokers back in school. It wasn't pretty." She stopped once he set down the newspaper and she recognized who she was speaking to, flushing faintly. She only just then realized how inappropriate she had been, if only because Tom was her friend, sort of. She'd been expecting another trucker or some asshole that the owners were too intimidated to mess with. It was stupid for her to have maybe been looking for a fight, just because she was cranky.

"Oh man, that was really rude of me, wasn't it?" Her tone and expression softened almost instantly and she rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry, Tom." She slid into the seat across from him, at least Tom didn't seem too upset over the whole thing, so...

"I didn't expect you... I mean, I wouldn't have said what I did had I-... I don't do that often, just so you know." She smiled sheepishly. "I've been doing as well as anyone can here. I just got back into town this morning. How about you? Were you able to find a job?"

ohgollygeewhiz February 20 2011, 18:38:38 UTC

She was obviously flustered about reprimanding him, which made him feel awkward in turn. He liked that she had it in her to sass him, so he didn't take it too much to heart. There'd been an edge to her tone, sure, but it'd melted just as soon as she'd seen it was him. He took a sip of his coffee, then offered her the crooked edge of a smile.

"Don't apologize, Mol. I know it's a nasty habit. I tried to quit when I first got here," he admitted. "Just on account of how expensive cigarettes are nowadays. But I've been smoking for longer than I'd like to say and I s'pose everyone has to have at least one bad habit. Besides, I don't think I can end up with ruined lungs. I mean, I heal. If I get a cut or somethin', it closes up as soon as I go on fire. It's kinda handy, I guess."

He'd always felt embarrassed of that trick. It hadn't earned him any friends in the various army hospitals he'd ended up in during the war. Men who'd lost hands or arms or legs didn't want to watch young doctors marvel and coo at his ability to knit up his own wounds with minimal scarring. He didn't blame them for being sour about it.

"I haven't roped another one, yet. There aren't many jobs available around here for guys like me. But I'll keep trying."

freakinsweethat February 21 2011, 09:03:39 UTC

She relaxed so much once he smiled at her, relieved that the didn't seem too put out by her moment of abrasive behavior. Molly was always a bit cranky when she hadn't gotten enough sleep, which is why she was relieved when the waitress brought her breakfast and fresh coffee to the back table, which she sipped on slowly, just enough to perk her up a little bit.

"The government taxes the hell out of them to try to discourage people from buying them. Just be glad we're not back home. They're not really mass produced anymore, so people go through a lot to get their hand on them."

She shrugged, she really didn't mind whether he smoked or not, especially if he really could heal like he said that he could. It was something that she'd just grown up knowing it was bad for people, but... She really should have given up on that by now. She couldn't convince Chase to stop his addictions, so...

"I'll be in town for a while, so I could help you find one, if you want. Have you tried talking to Warren yet? I bet he'd hire you in a heartbeat."

ohgollygeewhiz February 21 2011, 21:15:52 UTC

"I haven't talked to him yet, no," Tom said, warming his coffee through his mug. He liked it a whole lot hotter than most people would be able to tolerate. There were some serious perks to being a walking oven---his coffee never, ever got cold. He only ran into trouble with styrofoam cups, which he melted too easily. "I...I dunno, I guess I didn't want him to hire me just 'cause he felt sorry for me. I can't stand that kind of thing. I know that it's prideful of me, but I don't like having things handed to me. Wasn't raised that way, y'know?"

It felt personal and strange to say that aloud, and he wasn't quite sure if he should have. She would probably think he was dumb to choose going hungry over taking needed charity.

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