fandomtownies | Luke's Diner

Current Mood: anxious

Entry tags:

Luke's Diner | Friday

Bod's second week of work was a little quieter than his first. He'd had a rather difficult week and while he'd gone about greeting every single member of the staff, he hadn't done much else. They'd started cooking and he'd started making sure the diner was ready to be opened and patronized.

Earlier in the day, he'd called Jacob and then, just because he'd felt productive, sent a message to Ariel and Puck. He hadn't had a single thought to that the voicemails wouldn't be received properly.

Today's Specials
Hash Brown Casserole
Baked Shrimp Scampi
Chicken Chili

Luke's was open and Bod was there to help as needed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bod's around if you need anything!

Somewhere between her own store managing and having a disconcerting -but all the way entertaining- class, Charlie had gotten hungry.

"Chicken Chili..." Should she go for it, she would perhaps stop staring at the name and actually ask the guy that was apparently in charge about it.

"Hullo," Bod said, smiling as best he could considering his overall mood. "Were you interested in the chicken chili?"

Looking up, Charlie shrugged a little. Now she felt somewhat forced to buy. "Eh, perhaps? Got any insight on the chef's skills? I'm the sort that would eat anything, but good food is always a plus."

"I've had a few meals here and always come away satisfied," shared Bod, smiling at the cooking staff that was busily working in the kitchen. "It's excellent food, I assure you. They cook it with care and make sure it's made to the specifications of the customer."

"Oh well, then I guess I have no excuse now", added with a sigh and tiny, tiny, momentary smile. She had had her fair share of smiles earlier, and it wasn't as if she wanted to get used or something.

"I'll have one of those, then. And the name's Charlie McGee." Because introducing herself was important, somehow.

Bod wrote the order down and handed it to the cook before coming back and giving Charlie a light smile of his own.

"Nobody Owens," he introduced, nodding. "Bod for short though so as to prevent confusion. Pleasure to meet you, Charlie. Have you just arrived recently to town?"

"...And here I thought Charlie was odd enough for a girl, although that's short for Charlene..." And here she would facepalm. "Please don't share that with anyone?" It wasn't that she didn't like her name, but she just...didn't like it, alright.

"With the last wave", and excuse her if she started to laugh out of the blue. "Oh man...my life is so screwed up."

"Well, I can assure you that I won't tell anyone and that you're one of the many with a life that is complicated," Bod said, easily. "My own life isn't doing too well these days but I try to find the silver linings when I can."

They were just few and far between lately.

That was more or less reassuring. "Anyone older than ten and younger than twenty has a complicated life, at least in their own perception of reality." Watch her speak like an adult. "There are...different shades of complication, though? Not that I'm saying your troubles are less...troublesome than mine."

"Unless of course you want to compare."

"I'd rather not, no." He shook his head lightly. "I'm sure your life is complicated and being competitive over that seems silly. Have things not gotten any better since you've arrived here?"

Charlie nodded, and even smiled again. "Yeah, it would probably get a little bit too awkward anyway. And..." She took a moment to think of her first five days on Fandom. "It's perhaps more confusing than before, but I think I was lucky enough to fall her and not...somewhere else?"

"Where are you from, if I can ask?" Bod queried, wiping the counter idly while he talked to her. "This island seems to pull in people from some rather odd places sometimes."

"Somewhere that is exactly like this world, of the same year, and only without the island." She frowned. "Okay, that's a lie, but it enters in the 'issues' territory we aren't touching. I'll just add it makes this place a million times better."

Her right hand's fingers were messing with her left hand ones, as if her fingernails itched. The itch was on her head, though, but she ignored it. Hunger, probably, but Charlie felt she was forgetting something.

"And you?"

"England, actually. I think I'm from the same time period roughly but I was raised in a graveyard," he shared easily. "The spirits of those that were buried there raised me from the time I was a baby to when I turned fifteen."

"Oh."

She would need a second to think about that. "Sounds...calm. Living on a graveyard. There is one here, you knew? Oddly enough, it's a good place to think. And to have a quiet time." She released her left hand from the evil-doings of her right one, and started messing with a loose strand of hair.

"Although it probably sounds weird? Spending time on a graveyard just for the sake of wanting peace." Charlie supposed Bod was some sort of expert on that field.

"I do know," Bod said, nodding. "I visit there quite often when I can. It's one of my favorite places to be. I haven't been there in a few days and you've reminded me to correct that when I can."

He smiled lightly again. "It was calm, at times. There is a rather different kind of energy to graveyards. The ghosts, they weren't always idle. They cleaned, visited, chatted, danced, studied, almost anything any human could do. It was like a community albeit one that only I could see."

"That's...interesting; I've been there often since I arrived. Damn, I even slept there a couple of times."

It was weird to hear about ghosts and what-not, but she was interested anyway. "So they could...touch? And only you saw them? It's quite the coincidence the one guy that could see them was raised by them." Or maybe it wasn't?

"What makes you think it was a coincidence?" Bod asked curiously. "They allowed me to see them. It's a right they grant to certain people."

"Oh."

Really, if she had to say 'oh' again, she was going to start feeling pretty stupid. "I thought it was something you are either born with or not. Although it makes sense they could decide who can see them and who can't."

Charlie finally got tired of messing with her hair, so she just lowered her hand. "They must have been...good parents, I guess?" Unless he was secretly a psycho.

"They were excellent parents," Bod agreed, nodding. Considering most of them hadn't parented in years or even ever, they'd done better than he'd ever expected.

"They adopted me so I wasn't born to them. My parents and sister were murdered when I was a child and I ended up in the graveyard for my own safety."

Charlie didn't believe it had been done on purpose, but Bod's words had the effect of a rather harsh slap right on her face. A pretty strong slap, at least. For a moment, her surprise was pretty evident, although she quickly looked down, hair falling to cover her face.

He had probably hit her most sensitive nerve there, and the worst part was that in a way, they had that in common.

"Uh..." Words refused to appear as she tried to straighten a bit, giving him a sideways look. "Sorry I...didn't know."

"I didn't assume you did," Bod said easily, shrugging. "It was a long time ago and I didn't know them. I was too young but I appreciate the sentiment there. I grew up happily and safe and really, that's more than enough for me. I'm sure my parents look in on me every once in awhile."

Charlie, for a second, wanted to punch something. Hard. Not only to discharge the sudden wave of rage that was making the edges of her vision become a red blur, but also to feel anything else, even if it was pain.

Instead of that, she just took a deep breath, and leaned a bit over the counter, making her best effort to hide her face from Bod. "My parents got killed, too", said, perhaps too softly. She had grown used to say it, but not when someone went and told her that very same thing. "And well...I wasn't so lucky after that", added with an smile that didn't reach her eyes at any time.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Bod said and meant it. He kept his voice quiet too and crossed his arms. He knew he'd been lucky and he thanked whomever might be listening everyday for that.

"There's always the hope that the future will be better," he added after a moment. "That's the thought I held onto even when things were at their most bleak. It doesn't always appear that way but things do get better and the darkness and shadows do lift."

"That's the idea, right? What keeps getting you up every morning, what makes life have some sense." It had kept her alive all this time, after all.

"Thank you", she added, almost as an afterthought. "For being sorry to hear that. It's easy to get lost in all the bad stuff it happens to one."

"I know what it's like to lose people," Bod said, shrugging a shoulder lightly and turning to check on her food. Almost done. "No one should experience that. I'm sorry things have been bad for you and I hope this is new sort of beginning for you. Believe me, there are worst places than this island to be."

Charlie finally straightened, looking perhaps more collected than before. "New beginnings... I could come to like how it sounds." Waving a hand at him, she just shrugged and leaned back. "This is so not the kind of thing you talk somewhere like this. I'm not even devouring that chiken and I'm already dangerously weepy."

"Your meal's almost done," he said, glancing back at the chef. "He's just putting the finishing touches on it now, I believe. There's nothing wrong with crying but I can understand not wanting to as well."

That reminded him of someone and he frowned briefly.

"Hopefully the food doesn't continue to make you want to cry."

"Crying is a messy business. Terrible business before eating, but hey, ask me later. You might regret it, though." As she hadn't cried since she was still considered a 'little girl', so if she allowed herself that...it might take a while. She wouldn't cry on Bod anyway, that wouldn't be polite.

Once again, she noticed his sudden frown, but ignored it. No sense on poking and prodding, at least when she was trying to move onto better themes.

If Bod had tried to lighten the mood with the food commentary, he certainly managed to, as Charlie got to show another small smile as she gave him something of a 'Oh You' look for a moment. "The only reason Chicken Chili would make me cry is if it weren't salty enough, dude."

The chef got Bod's attention and Bod stepped backwards to retrieve the plate of food. That meant he didn't get a chance to answer anything about crying which was probably for the best. He settled it in front of her and said, "Ta da!"

Smiling lightly, he reached for the salt shaker and passed it towards her as well. "The food is salted but if there's a need for more, there's salt for you. I hope it's good. It's making me hungry, at least."

"Ta da? Really?" She was going to give him something of a tessing smile and shake her head.

Chances were she wouldn't use the extra salt, but she accepted it anyway. "If it's making you hungry, imagine how I feel. You should have asked for an extra one, that way you don't have to suffer seeing me eating every time you turn around." But enough talking, she was going to delight herself with the best meal she had had in days.

"I'll leave an awesome tip, if anything."

"I'm sure I'll eat something on my break," Bod said, shrugging and reaching for his wash cloth again. "I'll leave you to it. Enjoy your meal."

Charlie took a bit, and closed her eyes to enjoy the moment. Yes, good tips. She was just going to eat in silence, now.

If you'd rather avoid Bod, this is the place for you!

I uploaded new icons.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Luke's Diner | Friday

Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Re: Bod [Luke's 01/07]

Mod Your Service [Luke's 01/07]

OOC [Luke's 01/07]