[ your grace is wasted in your face ] [ OPEN ]

[yousonofabat]

WHO: yousonofabat and YOU
WHAT: Holy short orders, Batman!
WHERE: The diner in TorC
WHEN: anytime this week
WARNINGS: overwhelming optimism
SUMMARY: Steph serves up fresh quips and artery-clogging diner fare. Come and be her friend and give her tips.

Comments

[ifhebeworthy]

[ Don and Oklahoma are two reasons to blame Thor's reason for being here-- that and diner food wasn't terrible at all. Kind of like Kraft mac and cheese when you were a kid, it's one of those pleasures that comforts you with familiar things than anything having to do with the quality of the food itself. When Thor walks in, he definitely stands out in a crowd, all 6'4" 640 pounds of armor-clad Viking. He takes a seat as though everything is completely ordinary, and drops Mjolnir onto the table with a considerable thud. ]

[yousonofabat]

[ she's seen some big guys come into the diner, but this guy redefines big guy. He's just...massive. A life full of weird saves Steph from staring or freezing up, but she still appreciates the sheer size and grandeur of him. She chews on the end of her pen before she walks up to his table. ]

Normally, I'd ask you to leave your weapons at the coat rack, but I'll make an exception for you and your awesome hammer of smackdown.

[ifhebeworthy]

[ He looks up. He's not exactly worried about anybody taking it, considering he can summon it with a whim, and only he can lift it. ]

If it should make the others more comfortable, I can do this for you.

[yousonofabat]

Eh, screw what the others think. I wouldn't dare part a man from his mighty tool.

[ did she mean that in an innuendo? PROBABLY NOT. She's smiling widely. ]

What can I do for you, Thor?

[mayhavepeace]

[ Rikki has been skulking around, not coping very well at all since her little chat with Pat. But she's run out of food at her place, so to the diner it is. Enjoy the glum redhead with the burned and blistered fingers, Steph. ]

[yousonofabat]

[ The flash of bobbed red hair out of the corner of her eye needles Steph with a rare sense of déjà vu. For one irrational second, she swears it's Holly and almost yells her name. It's brief, but disappointing. She hadn't been able to help the joy and relief that had bubbled up at the idea of a familiar face not of the bat variety.

But no, it's not Holly. She kicks herself for thinking it in the first place, then plasters on a smile. ]

Ouch. You want something for that?

[mayhavepeace]

[ Rikki makes herself smile back. Normal people are able to smile. She is totally normal and fine. ] I'm okay. That's what I get for playing with fire, right? [ she flexes her fingers and winces a little. ]

[yousonofabat]

[ Steph eyes the long scar over the bridge of her nose. Wearing a tank top herself, her scars are also visible. She knows that normal girls don't have scars like the two of them do. ]

You know what's great for burns? Eggwhites. I can bring some out to you with your order, if you'd like. [ she takes out her pad and pen ] What can I get for you?

[new_frontier]

[ A flash of green enters, brow slightly sweaty but kept out of his face by the green headband around his head. He's wearing a baggy green t-shirt to match, backpack slung over his shoulder, and looks like he just got finished with... what else? Training at the local community center. ]

[yousonofabat]

[ she sees him enter from around the corner to the kitchen. She leans around the corner like some kind of stalker, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline as she stares.

No way.

No freaking way.

She's having a crazy spell---has to be. There is no way that the Green Ranger just walked in.

Play it cool, Steph, she tells herself.

Cool as a green cucumber. ]

Hi! Welcome. Just one?

[new_frontier]

Yeah! [ An exasperated smile. ] That'd be great, thanks.

[crotcharrow]

Tommy needed to get out. With the memories of the seven years of hell still fresh and Billy and Teddy not helping, he decided to go somewhere he'd not been in a while. Truth or Consequences. Maybe there he'd be able to drink himself into a bit more denial that he and Tammy were ever in love and that he was almost a broken man now she was gone. Of course he wasn't. Tommy didn't have feelings.

Tommy drifted toward the diner, peering through the windows before wandering in. He'd never been in here before, but he was hungry, and he'd stolen money from older Teddy's wallet, and he fucking wanted a burger. Tommy sunk into one of the booths, and peered lazily at the menu, running a hand through his white hair. He almost dared someone to have a problem with him for being an import. He could use a good fight.

[yousonofabat]

The flash of white hair caught her attention. The diner had slowed down considerably after the lunch rush, so Steph had been standing behind the cash register and writing to-do lists in crayon. She could have used her pen, but it was the principle of the thing. It pissed Damian off whenever she presented him with lists and important notes written in crayon and illustrated with stick figures. Most of the things she did, she did with the express purpose of annoying him. Most children grew out of the hair-pulling-the-girl-you-like-stage, but Steph hadn't fully left it. Not when Damian was so much fun to mess with.

Steph neatly folded the list she'd been writing, sticking it in her apron pocket. She gave the kid her broadest, brightest smile.

"Howdy, howdy, howdy," she chirped in her best Sheriff Woody voice. "I'm Steph, and I'll be your waitress this fine day. What can I get for you?"

[crotcharrow]

The menu lost his interest pretty quickly and by the time Steph came over he had taken to boredly checking his communicator for any updates. He glanced up when she perkily greeted him, his face not all impressed with her impression. In fact he raised an eyebrow, and looked around the restaurant.

"Oh god, I didn't walk into a themed place, did I?" He snorted, putting his comm away and looking up at her. She was cute. If not perky as fuck. But Tommy could put up with that if something else was on the table. He grinned at her, looking her up and down. "I dunno. What are you offering?"

[yousonofabat]

Unsurprisingly, he's not the first teenage boy to give her a thorough look-down. Steph has long gotten used to boys who think that every curvy blond was put on God's green earth to worship at their feet; she generally coped by being nothing like any perky blond that those boys had ever met. For better or worse, she was one of a kind.

"I've got menus, I've got crayons, and I've got sparkling wit and stunning conversation. I've also got the special of the day, which is 'Too Snooty to Even Look at You' French Toast. Emphasis mine, of course."

[batdamned]

[Damian arrives at the same time he has every night since Steph's been on the job, and takes the same seat he always does. And starts immediately scanning the room for suspicious people. Like always. And planning escape routes and the easiest way to make the diner explode.

Like always.

He has to find some way to keep from recoiling at the sight of this place - or even worse, admit that he's starting to get used to it.]

[yousonofabat]

[ Sometimes, it feels like she knows his habits better than he does. Damian is habit-driven, so he's always there at exactly the same time. She keeps track of the hour with frequent glances at her watch, just so she'll have his tea for him when he shows up. It's a small thing, but most gestures between them are. Damian takes black tea with two sugars and milk. Milk, not creamer, because apparently that's how they roll in England and his habits were instilled globally.

His tea is on his table before he gets there. ]

[batdamned]

[He can't help but allow himself a little bit of a smile as he sips at the tea - at least he can help it as long as it takes to make sure she's not looking to notice the grin. The tea is better than adequate, which would have been the word he would have said if she asked him how it was.

It made him more comfortable, and a little less angry about having Stephanie doing all the work.]

[yousonofabat]

[ she's shockingly okay with having to do all the work. She's always been an independent person, so spending the last year mooching off of Wayne money hasn't been good for her pride. She's spent too many years getting by on her own to feel 100% comfortable with getting everything handed to her for free. Feeling like an integral part of the team is...nice, if exhausting.

Steph has a few minutes for a break---and he knows that, which is why he showed up---so she slides into the booth with him. ]

And how has your day been?