St. Louis: The Coffee Shop Across The Street From Francine's Dorm, Wednesday Evening

[thatsamilkshake]

Wow, a red-letter day for Francine: the first time since she'd left Fandom that she actually missed the ability to fume her way over to Caritas and order whatever the heck she wanted without getting carded.

Not that she'd ever done that while she was there and not thinking she was someone else -- she just missed the ability now. Peppermint hot

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[blondecanary]

Bored, bored, bored. Stakeout again. This time, a bank.

Why couldn't that fun cat burglar come back?

*ring!*

[thatsamilkshake]

Oh thank God -- Casey had made her way to the door now, and now that Merlin was off the phone, there was no way Francine could fake one side of a non-existent call in person.

Francine answered the second her phone gave the slightest buzz; no waiting for a ringtone this time. "Hi. Whoever you are, please know that I will love you forever if you stay on the line and protect me from bouncy blonde people being bouncy and blonde in my face."

[blondecanary]

"... Does it help that I'm a thousand miles away, and I'm being vewy quiet 'cause I'm hunting bad guys?" Dinah whispered.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh!" Francine, that was not vewy quiet. "Dinah! I didn't mean you! I meant--" The person standing in front of her table.

"Francine! It's so good to see you! Isn't the weather awful, though? I almost didn't come into work, but then I thought really? Really, Casey, since when have you ever let a little rain keep you away from rocking out at dancercize? People are counting on me, you know?"

"...Casey. Hi." Saaaaave meeeee. "Sorry, this is, um. Kind of an important call?"

[blondecanary]

Dinah managed not to chortle so someone -- someone blond and bubbly and in Francine's face -- could hear her. She did clear her throat, though.

"It is important, Francine," she hissed as loudly as she could. "Life or death. Crime and punishment. Secret lives!"

Drama llama on demand!

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh, is it for a class?"

Francine tried very hard to remember that she liked this girl. "No, it's uh. A friend from high school. She needs to talk about..." How bad a liar Francine was. "It's um. You know. Personal?"

Hint. Hint.

[blondecanary]

Dinah wondered if this was Margy. Or someone else; hmm. "Franciiiine," she said, raising her voice to a level that wouldn't get her caught up on a rooftop, but might be heard by someone standing close-by. "I told Kyle the truth and the whole truth. Pleeeease, I need your help!" She paused, then said even more loudly, "It's private." A sniff. Then a hiccup.

Give her a second to work up some fake sobs, Francine. She never had to cry on-stage.

[thatsamilkshake]

"The whole truth? That always goes well." Oh, did someone sneak a few packets of Cynical & Low into her drink?

Francine gave Casey another look of UM, possibly more awkward than the last, and the ponytailed blonde finally made an O of her lips, nodded, and brought one finger to them, backing away towards the counter.

Safe for the moment, at least.

[blondecanary]

More sniffling, and then gulping wibbling, and finally a whispered, "I can cry really loud now if you need me too?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine snorted at that, though it was only funny in the sense that if Casey had come in ten minutes earlier, Francine could have done that herself, thank you very much.

"No, you're good. She's off ordering coff--- uh, some kind of wheatgrass and whey thingy, actually."

[blondecanary]

"So, do you love me forever now?" Dinah's voice stayed low but sounded more normal now, as she sat back on her heels, keeping her eyes on the street below, watching the approach. "Who was that? And what was that about dancercize?"

Granted, Dinah could talk about parkour and tai chi and kick-boxing with the best of them, but she didn't expect everyone to share her enthusiasm.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Forever and ever and Tuesday," Francine assured her, breathing a sigh of... well, some of it was relief. The rest was just sigh. "That was Casey, the girl we met at ComicCon. She teaches aerobics just down the street."

[blondecanary]

"Wait, the -- bouncy blonde, right. You're not up for dealing with her today?" Dinah tilted her head. "Are you up for talking to me? 'Cause I don't have a crisis, but I won't bug if it's not a good time, you know."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh God, are you kidding? Don't leeeave me!" Which, on reflection, sounded kind of awful if you looked at it from the wrong angle, and Francine was very good at that today. "I mean. You're an exception to all blonde issues." And boy oh boy did she have those.

[blondecanary]

"Awwwww. I love being the exception. And of course I won't leave you. Unless someone robs the bank across the street, and I'm having my doubts," Dinah said, settling in to listen. "What's the trouble, bubble?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Luckily for Dinah, Francine was no longer at the wibble-and-make-no-sense stage. Mostly. Unless you were Arthur.

"Blonde issues. Just not the bouncy kind."