fandomtownies | Thursday Morning, Luke's

Somewhere, there was bacon cooking.

That was the first, and only, thing Angela was sure of when she poked her head out from under the quilt. There was bacon, and she was someplace she shouldn't be and didn't understand.

But. Bacon. And she would be home soon, right?

Wrinkling her nose a little, she pulled on her clothes from the day before and padded down the back stairs to Luke's Diner.

Luke glanced up in surprise when he heard someone coming down the steps. He'd almost forgotten about the weird phone call from Rory last night and egg white boy bringing the girl over.

"Hey," he said. "You want some coffee or something?" He had no idea why this girl needed to stay in his empty apartment, but he figured it couldn't hurt to be nice to one of Rory's friends.

"I'd love coffee," Angela said. "And -- is the diner open? I think I need a real breakfast today."

"Thanks for putting me up. I hope I'll be out of your hair really soon," she says with a thin smile.

"It's no problem," he said, pouring a cup of coffee and setting it in front of her. "What do you want for breakfast? And, uh, don't worry. You're a friend of Rory's, so I don't mind helping you out."

"So they tell me," Angela shrugs. "She's sweet for asking you to do this, anyhow."

"Just bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, if you can manage that?"

"Not a problem," he said. He started prepping her food and then her words registered. "Wait, you don't remember being friends with Rory? What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Angela says automatically. "No blood or gremlin bites, anyhow. And I remember knowing Rory. It was just ten years ago for me."

She sips at her coffee. "I seem to be a little ... I guess, displaced is the word. I was here as a student, when I was 16, but I went home a long time ago. But something happened yesterday, and now I'm here.
Again."

She squints. "You're Luke, right? I'm Angela. I have no idea if we were friendly or not."

"Oh, yeah, I'm Luke," he said, wiping his hand on a towel and reaching over to shake her hand. "I think we've met. Or at least, I met someone who looked like you that hung out with egg white boy. Probably at
Rory's birthday party.

"Nice to meet you again, Luke," Angela says. "So you're Rory's dad? My dad runs a restaurant too."

"Is egg-white-boy Marty? What's with the nickname?"

"I'm Rory's step dad," he clarified. "My wife, Rory's mom, teaches up at the high school. And, if Marty is the kid that brought you here last night, then yeah, he's egg-white boy. And it's because he orders
omelets that are only egg whites and nothing else which means they aren't really omelets."

He handed her a plate with scrambled eggs and bacon. "Here, you go. Need a coffee refill?"

Angela takes a bite of bacon, chasing it with a swig of coffee. "I'm good for now," she says.

"I have to say, Luke, you're being really calm about the whole alternate-universe thing. But I remember the zombies, so I guess this isn't the weirdest thing you've seen here."

Luke shrugged. "My diner got blown up zombie weekend and we had to rebuild. I've learned not to be surprised by anything that goes on in this town." After a pause he added, "And it's definitely a lot less weird than seeing Kirk run around the town square naked."

"Who's Kirk?" Angela asks. "Or I might not want to know." She sighs. "So is there a bureau of weird shit or anything? Marty and this girl Parker were talking about looking at surveillance tapes from the library, but that could take a while. I want to get home, and I bet the me who belongs here has stuff to do too."

"Kirk is a guy that lives in the town we moved here from. Which just goes to show that there's weirdness everywhere. And I don't know who to tell you to talk to for help." He frowned, trying to think if he'd
met anyone who might be able to help this girl. "There's that superhero guy that teaches at the school," he suggested.

"A superhero at the school?" Angela echoes. "You would think I would remember that."

She plays with her food for a little bit. Somehow, she isn't very hungry. "I think I'll just go walk around town and see if I trip into a portal, or anything. If I'm still here tonight, can I stay in the apartment again? I can pay rent."

"You can stay as long as you need to," he said. "I might have someone moving in next week though. But hopefully you'll be back where you belong by then. And don't worry about rent, it's not costing me anything to have you there. Diner's open until 10 and I'll be here until 11 cleaning up. If you're going to be later than that, stop by and I'll give you a key."

"Thank you so much, Luke," Angela says, genuinely grateful. "I'll be back by 11, if I'm still stuck here. And if I'm not-" she shrugs "Tell the other Angela to thank you."

She pushes her plate to the side. "I asked Marty to get my stuff, just in case I am here for a while. I guess he can bring it by here?" She laughs, a little. "The worst thing about this is that I just feel so helpless."

"You're welcome. And yeah, I'm here all day, so egg-wh, uh, Marty can stop by with your stuff whenever and I'll let him in." He looked awkward. "Um, if there's anything I or my wife can do to help, let me know, okay?"

"Will do," Angela promises. "And thanks again."

Unsure of where to go, she stands and stretches her arms over her head
before heading out the diner door.

[OOC: RP'd via email. Luke may not be here, but Luke's is open. Feel free to use this thread for all your diner needs.]