Luke's Diner, August 30 (Monday)

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

Lacey was expecting something to go awry today -- attitude from the soda fountain or some kind of battle of attrition in the crisper drawer. Something.

So far, nothing untoward had happened.

She'd take that as a good sign . . . but she'd spend most of the day with a spatula within reach, just in case.

Today's Specials
Tuna Sandwich
Grilled Vegetable and Mozzarella Panini
Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Pudding

NOW HIRING - See Manager for Details

Luke's is open, back-to-school themed, and very wary.

[OOC: Also OCD-free.]

Comments

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

When Angua came into the diner as usual for lunch, she looked a little shell shocked. She didn't even say anything at first when she came in; she just plopped down on her usual stool and blinked blankly at the special's board.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"Afternoon, Sergeant," Lacey greeted her, before catching sight of the blank expression. "I had a --"

And reaching surreptitiously -- by Lacey standards, which was to say obviously -- for the spatula. "Angua? Is everything okay?"

Did it look okay, Lacey?

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Angua blinked and turned her attention toward Lacey. "You had a unexplainable folder of unsettling news left at your desk today?" she guessed.

Hey, if she wasn't the only one, she wouldn't feel so bad. Especially if she consider how Lacey would be in front of a class full of children.

...with a vampire as her TA, no less.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"Just a memo about my radio audition for the term being today?" Which had been slightly unsettling in that it'd involved trying to decipher squirrel paw-gestures, but not the same kind of unsettling!

. . . Lacey would be utterly hopeless in that situation, vampire TA or not.

"I have cheesecake today," she offered, gesturing to the dessert case. "That has to help somewhat, doesn't it?"

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

"Oh, good," Angua said. "You can then tactfully avoid mentioning my utter surprise at said unsettling news. But, yes, the prospect of cheesecake is at least a much more positive bit of news."

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

Lacey beamed, pathetically gleeful that the cheesecake was good for something today.

"What utter surprise?" she asked, failing completely at feigning innocence. "I have no idea whatsoever why you'd be utterly surprised about anything today."

Tactful. Ha.

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Angua figured she could tell Lacey. Because then if Lacey said it on radio, she had a right to be bitchy about it.

As if people wouldn't know...

Angua sighed, clearly needing a moment to get together the composure to say it.

"I," she said, "am a teacher."

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

. . . but Lacey had to report on classes anyway! How fair was that?

Don't answer that.

Also. Blink.

"Are you?" Dangerous close-to-squee aural territory here. "Ohmygosh congratulations!"

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Angua stared at Lacey for a moment, before just shaking her head. She didn't say anything. She figured she'd give her friend a second chance to give the right response.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"Oh, gosh," Lacey went on, exuberantly oblivious to any hopes-dashing she might be doing here. "How exciting is that? Not only do you get to help uphold the law in Fandom, you get to help shape young minds too?"

Sorry, Angua. So, so sorry.

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

"I don't want to help shape young minds," Angua said, far more petulantly than she would have liked.

"I shouldn't shape young minds!"

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"Aw, come on," Lacey wheedled. "You'll be great at it! Don't sell yourself short yet! Think of it as an amazing opportunity."

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

"An amazing opportunity for what, exactly?" asked Angua, although she was a little worried of the answer Lacey might give.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"Well, for you!" There might as well have been sappy music playing in the background. "Someday you'll be able to look back on this and think, 'Wow, look at what those kids made of themselves! And I got to have a hand in it.'"

. . . not nearly as encouraging as she thought it sounded, was it?

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Maybe for some, sure. Angua could see Carrot, for example, being very moved by it. Angua, however, was a bit more...

"That's assuming that what those kids make of themselves is something good."

...well, cynical.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

Lacey's optimism was, sad to say, a fragile thing. "You know, you have a point there," she admitted, her face falling a little.

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

See, and that was why Angua actually felt bad when she managed to accomplish that fall in Lacey's face. It would be an accomplishment if she was harder to disappoint, but, alas...

"Although," she offered, "you're just as right. It could go either way, right?"

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

Fragile, but oddly resilient. Like one of those freaky inflatable clown dolls with the weighted bottoms, that popped right back up when you knocked them over.

"Exactly!" Lacey snapped her fingers and mustered up a bright, if not entirely convincing, smile. "And why hold out for the half-empty option, huh? It'll be fun!"

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

That analogy was frightening in both concept and accuracy.

And now Angua was feeling a bit more of the pull of that optimism. "It...might be. For some classes. I don't actually know hardly any of the students, but at least one of them should be promising in that respect."

If he wasn't, Angua would smack the baby werewolf upside the head. She didn't care if he was even more giant than Carrot.

...And she was not even going to talk about the TA.

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

"They can't all be bad," Lacey assured her with more blind naivete than actual knowledge. "And if you find that one who's really promising, that makes it worth it."

. . . Lacey might pay to see that head-smacking if it came to that.

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Angua would likely do it gladly even without the money.

"It'll be...interesting, to say the least. I'm sure I'll grow as a person somewhere deep inside, even."