fandomtownies | Luke's Diner, December 30 (Thursday)

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Luke's Diner, December 30 (Thursday)

It wasn't usual for Lacey to spend all day at the diner on a Thursday, but with the end of the year (ack! How did that happen?) looming she'd been struck by the compulsive need to take thorough inventory, evaluate what new supplies and equipment she might need, and make sure everything was in as neat and well-documented a state as she could get it.

The idea of starting a fresh new year on that kind of footing appealed to her. What could she say?

The staff was a little bummed about her constant presence today; that wasn't likely to change as part of turning over a new (hydroponically grown right here, as fresh and local as it could get) leaf for a new year. Hey, some things had to stay constant.

Today's Specials

Seared Steak and Mushrooms on Mixed Greens with Ginger Dressing
Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, and Greens
Eggplant Parmigiana

NOW HIRING - See Manager for Details

Luke's is open. Mind the OCD.

[OOC: Although the post actually has none. Open, with the usual daytime SP warning.]

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Bod was fairly certain he'd never been in the diner before so he had to stop upon entering to look around. The smells hit him first and he closed his eyes, trying to place the scents before opening them again.

He'd decided to take the advice of several people and push forward in his attempt to make a few changes in his life. So, he was there, still hiding his hair under a stupid hat and looking somewhat nervous as he approached the counter.

Lacey, who'd been kneeling behind the counter counting napkins (by the pack, not individually -- really now), popped up from behind it like a too-cheerful but hopefully not terribly ominous jack-in-the-box when she heard the door open. As quiet as it was this week, it was easier to take notice of that door.

"Hey there," she said to the boy, accent on the friendly tone to hopefully put him at ease. "What can I get for you?"

[OOC: Ahaha, yeah, my paid time ran out and I had nothing but AU/OOC icons so I had to pay up before I could tag . . .]

"Hullo," Bod greeted, giving her a nod as he wandered closer. "I've never actually been in here before so I'm not quite sure yet. A friend recommended the place a few weeks ago and this is the first chance I've had. It's very nice."

Lacey perked up at that, like she would at . . . any compliment ever, really. (Plus, squee, recommendations?)

"Aw, thanks." She patted the counter almost affectionately. "Well, the specials of the day are up on the board here, and everything else -- we do have a wide selection of food, all of which is pretty good, if I do say so myself -- would be on the menu."

. . . one of which she offered him, yes.

Bod took the menu and said, "Thank you, ma'am." The menu got opened and he looked through it quietly for a few moments.

"I'm not used to so much food," he said idly. "I grew up on pizza and stew. I don't know how I remained healthy."

"A friend of mine subsists almost entirely on chili cheese dogs," Lacey confided, "so -- no, wait. I don't know if you'd exactly call him healthy, but he's still around. Does anything ~~entirely moddable~~ look good to you, or do you want a recommendation?"

"If you could recommend something, I'd be most appreciative," he said, nodding. "I feel rather like I've missed something important by not coming here before."

Just keep inadvertently complimenting her, Bod!

Lacey beamed. "I like to think a good diner is a staple of any town," she told him. "And a good pot roast plate with mashed potatoes is . . . well, unless you're a vegetarian, I don't think you can go wrong with that."

"I'm not a vegetarian so that sounds good to me," he decided, nodding. "A friend of mine spoke highly of your diner when I was talking to her about possibly applying for a job. I'm taking her recommendation right now."

"Really?" It might not be possible for Lacey to perk up any more than she already had, but she seemed to be trying, if the way she scribbled his order down and handed it back to the cook with a flourish was any indication. "I do happen to have a few openings as it is. Do you have any previous experience?"

"That's where..." He paused and blushed. "I actually don't. I grew up in some rather unusual circumstances where I had no access to things like employment and proper training."

His blush deepened, turning his cheeks almost crimson.

"I wanted to try something different though, something that could allow me an opportunity learn."

Lacey might have visibly flinched at that once; several years in Fandom had taught her better than that, and besides, the opportunity to help out one of the kids from the school appealed to her sense of civic duty too much.

"It's not a really intimidating job," she assured him. "You're more than welcome to try your hand in the kitchen if you want to, but mostly the cook takes care of the food and we have a busboy who clears the dishes. Mainly, you'd be looking after the customers, making sure they get their orders, keeping an eye out to make sure everything's tidy out here. Are you up for that?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said diligently, nodding. "I've been tutored and practiced in mathematics, etiquette and manners. I grew up around a very diverse crowd that I had to get along with so I do know how to deal with all types of people."

He was one up on most of Dog River that way.

"That's one of the most important skills in a job like this," Lacey said, wondering if she should ask more; that seemed like a bit much for a first meeting, though she was curious. "I think you'll be fine. Let's see, I've got Thursdays through Sundays free; what works for you?"

[OOC: OMG and I am fleeing for the next couple of hours but SP = shiny?]

"I think I've have classes during the beginning of the week so possibly Friday?" he asked hopefully. "It'll give me something to look forward to after my classes are said and done."

[Totally works, of course of course!]

"Friday is perfect, and employees get free food, by the way." Lacey paused. "Within reason, I mean. I'm fine with you getting meals on your shift and taking something home, as long as you're not trying to feed a whole common room with it or anything like that."

"Oh, of course not," he assured her, shaking his head. "There's plenty of food in the common room areas without me bringing more. I'll keep it within reason. I'm not that big an eater anyway."

"That sounds completely reasonable. I'm Lacey, by the way, and you're hired, um, . . . ?"

Wow, introductions were probably a good idea in the hiring process.

"Oh, I apologize," he said, wincing. "Nobody Owens. I go by Bod since Nobody can either confuse people or give the impression that I have low self esteem."

"That's all right, I should have asked," Lacey said, equally apologetic . . . and a bit of an expert in the realm of low self esteem, but anyway. "Do you ever have to put up with bad jokes about your name -- which I like, by the way," she added quickly. "It's unique."

"Sometimes, yes," he said and laughed lightly. "I don't mind them all that much. Many people ask me if my parents were hippies or just very open minded. They weren't. They were just very...unique."

"The good kind of unique, I hope." If she thought about it, Lacey realized she'd recognized his name from some of the squirrels' notes, but as many of them as she'd read, she couldn't really recall any more details than that. "It makes me think of that Emily Dickinson poem, actually. Well, if the kitchen boys give you any hassle about it, feel free to give them a hard time right back."

"I will, I promise," he said and laughed. "And they were the good kind of unique, yes. Very original in everything they did. Thank you for the opportunity, ma'am."

"And thank you for taking one of these shifts off my hands," Lacey returned, beaming again. "Oh, feel free to close up early tomorrow; I know there's that big party in town, and I wouldn't want you to miss that."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, nodding and making a mental note of that. "I'll do that. I'm not a very big party person but I've promised a friend so I'll probably do that."

"Lacey?"

So sue John, That Week had put him off a bit off of... everything, but he was finally crawling back out of his torpor to come see her. He ducked his head in, glancing politely from one side to the other.

"John, hi!" That Week was not nearly as fully banished from Lacey's memory as she wished it was, but she was pretending like the Little Pretending Engine That Could. Thus the slightly-too-cheerful smile which was, nevertheless, genuine. "It's, uh -- it's been a while. How have you been? Can I get you anything?"

"I've been well, thank you," John said. He was going to keep on smiling, if that was all the same, and make his way into the diner. "Is it very busy at the moment?"

... Sure, he had eyes, but he was polite.

"Only if you count the tumbleweeds, and they don't order anything anyway," Lacey said, laughing. This being Fandom, it might have been a good idea to specify she meant purely metaphorical tumbleweeds -- there wasn't a sign of actual ones anywhere. "Now that I've gotten the bean situation sorted out in the back room, it looks like a light day."

A metaphorical light bulb moment, if you will.

"You're not interrupting anything. Have a seat?"

"I'd be happy to," John said, scuttling over in that direction at a rather sedate pace. "I thought I'd come in for some tea today. And lunch. Tea, lunch, and some company...?"

Oh, you smooth operator.

Let's all be glad Lacey's tiny high-pitched squee was entirely internal.

"We are a full-service diner here," she replied -- oh, was that a completely imaginary smudge on that napkin holder? She'd just have to polish it extra vigorously for a moment, because she didn't mean it like that, the way she thought she might've That Week. "I think we can help you with all of that."

"That would be excellent," John said, flashing her a smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been coping with the long winter months?"

His chatting skills were a little rusty; talking to Sherlock tended to come down to a lot of asking him questions, getting aggravated, and wondering why on god's green Earth there were mice in the fridge.

"I'm from Canada," Lacey said wryly -- no mice in the fridge here, so you were safe on that point, John. "Toronto, originally, so I wouldn't know what to do with myself if winter wasn't . . ."

She waved her hands, vaguely. "Wintery." So eloquent, Lacey. "You've been staying warm, right?"

Such masters of small talk.

John blinked, then laughed a little. "Warm as anything," he assured her. "I haven't had much reason to leave the hotel, I have to admit - that's why I thought today might be as good a day as any to see if you were in. It is almost New Year's Eve, and all."

"It is," Lacey replied, looking a bit stunned. A nice kind of stunned, granted, but stunned nonetheless. "Gosh, where did the year go? It seems like you just blink, sometimes, and there it went, but it's really nice of you to stop by."

"Well, I would be remiss not to show up eventually. But yes, the year really went," John said, smiling a tad. "It's been a decent one, though, hasn't it? Mine, at least, hasn't been terrible."

"Barring the usual upswings of Fandom's strangeness, which I've learned to take more or less in stride, it's been a good one," Lacey agreed. "Any year that I don't temporarily turn into a zombie is a good one, though."

Realizing that might sound like it was a regular occurrence, she quickly continued, "Of course, that only happened the once. Two years ago, I think?"

"I've read about that, I think." John's smile had dimmed a little with concern. "You were a part of it?"

"I was," Lacey confirmed, belatedly realizing what a downer of a conversation topic that could be. "But I think I spent most of my time trying to put together fabulous mud pies, and not eating people, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

She paused, noticing his reaction. "I'm fine now, though, John, honest."

He exhaled a little. "No, of course," John said, attempting to hide any last remaining scraps of concern. "But this place does get quite odd in that regard, doesn't it?"

Only someone as thoroughly British as John could refer to zombification as 'quite odd'.

It was cute, the thorough Britishness.

"It's Fandom," Lacey said, waving a hand. "The standards of 'odd' get skewed so heavily around here. But there are things you just can't say to people back home, you know?"

"I think the amount of things I can't say to my sister has grown rather vast," John admitted, "But that was going on before I got here, to a point."

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Luke's Diner, December 30 (Thursday)

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