Luke's had totally been open all day. Shut up. Priestly was even here the whole time, ready to man the stove if inspiration struck to try out some new dish
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Priestly looked up with a grin. He pulled out a napkin to use as a bookmark and set his book aside. "Hey! You're back from the homefront! Or . . . something!" He tilted his head and looked around the diner. "And, uh. I dunno. Cookie's got something going, probably."
"I would kill for a bacon burger," Dinah admitted, going over for a hug. "And something sugary. There are in no way enough sweet things in Glacia when you're doing a road trip with a couple hundred to a thousand people." She stopped, then then squeezed him harder. "Or hugs. Just hugs are good. I'm just gonna hang onto you a while. No big thing."
Priestly huffed a soft laugh. "Yeah, hugs are good." He hugged back, matching her squeeze for squeeze (hey, there'd been a touch of weight training in his new exercise routine, who knew?). He pulled back to give her a quick once over. "What, I don't get to see you in all your queenly regalia?"
Dinah allowed it, just glad to see him, but yeah, noting that that hug was a little stronger than before. Hmm. "Not until I have to put it back on when I leave, nope. It's chillier in Glacia, even in the summer. I'm here to enjoy the heat and the lack of tension. And the company of people not telling me what to do." He'd probably note some dark circles under her eyes. Sleep had been hit-or-miss this week.
"I would actually-- really like a salad instead of fries, too," Dinah said guiltily, looking amused. "But I swear, I get why everyone's so jumpy and bossy, but it's making me nuts..." Erm. Um. Yeah. Maybe she should've sent Priestly an e-mail about the attack? Hmmmmmmm.
"Well. No." Dinah bit her lip, then said, "And, uh. There was an attack. A few days ago." More than that, Glacia time, but details, and not the point. "Soooo people are kind of-- paranoid."
"I'm okay, and Momoko was okay, and Karla and Raven and everyone else weren't anywhere near it," Dinah said, trying to sound ultra-reliable and responsible. "And, um. We got jumped, when we were on a hunting party with four other people." She swallowed hard. "An ambush. Two of our guys didn't make it back."
Priestly pulled her back into a hug and just held on, at that. Mostly because if he tried to say something, it would probably involve yelling, and that would just make them both feel bad.
"One of them. Mostly an accident." She sighed raggedly into his shoulder. "Momoko hit another one. Tried to save him, but... and our buddy Bob took down the last one when he tried to go after Alba." She whispered, "I swear, if I could've figured out how to save him, or if he'd just given up faster, he wouldn't have died. It was just stupid."
"Thanks." It helped, being hugged by Priestly, with no one to tell her she was scheduled to be somewhere, doing something. It helped a lot. She wrapped her arms around him. "Have you put on muscle, or am I hallucinating?"
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"Well. No." Dinah bit her lip, then said, "And, uh. There was an attack. A few days ago." More than that, Glacia time, but details, and not the point. "Soooo people are kind of-- paranoid."
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Didn't make it any nicer to hear.
"What?! Are you okay?" She'd tell him if she wasn't okay, right? "Is everyone else okay? What happened?!"
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"I'm okay. Just scratches." Details would probably freak them both out. "The guys who jumped us-- well. They didn't make it. No choice."
Her voice maybe sounded a little choked there.
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Not that it would make much of a difference, but -- well, it WOULD make a difference if she was the one who did it. To her, if nothing else.
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He probably shouldn't say that out loud.
He pressed his lips against the side of her head and kept rubbing her back. "I'm sorry."
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