fandomtownies | Cafe Luke's, Tuesday

For those who enjoy Fat Tuesday without waitresses.

For those that would like some service with their food.

As promised, Raven headed into town that afternoon to visit Hayley at work.

"It is good to see you as you should be," Raven said with a smile as she stepped inside the cafe. And much less disconcerting than when she was wearing Jono's face.

"It's good to be as I'm supposed to be," Hayley said with a little smile. Any lingering headache could be damned. "So shall I show you to a table?"

She was excited to do the waitress thing for a friend.

Raven opened her mouth to tell Hayley she didn't have to worry about serving her, since it felt a little strange for a friend to do so, but she could feel that excitement.

"Of course," she said. "I would love to see you demonstrate your skills, if you do not mind."

"I'd love to show you my skills," Hayley said, her smile broadening. She ushered Raven over to a booth and brought her a menu. "We've got the menu, and the daily specials. It's a big holiday today, so it's kind of a big deal I guess. The cake looks really good."

Raven settled into the booth and took a look at the menu. "What do you recommend?" she asked Hayley. "Aside from the cake, I mean. Something without meat, of course."

"Oh, well the tomato soup is good," Hayley said. "There's no meat in that. And you could get a grilled cheese to go with it, those are pretty good together. It's almost a classic."

Personally, Hayley was a big fan of the burger. But obviously, not a great recommendation, here.

"That sounds delightful," Raven said, closing the menu and handing it back to Hayley. "I would like that, please. And would you be allowed to sit with me while I eat and have lunch yourself, or do you have to keep working?"

Hayley looked around, they weren't too busy at all. "We can say I'm part of your order," she said, writing down Raven's order on her pad. "I'm just gonna put this in and I'll be right back."

She put the order in to the cooks, then came back to sit opposite Raven.

"'Sides, I'll take any chance to get off my feet," she said with a smile.

Soup, sandwich, and a side of Hayley. It totally wasn't dirty.

"How long have you been back?" Raven asked as Hayley sat down. "I apologize for not realizing it sooner. I was away for some time, and I have not kept up with the radio's broadcast of the news of the day."

"Since New Years, actually," Hayley said. "I came here after dealing with that whole universe eating whatever thing. It made stuff back home just... it wasn't any fun anymore, you know?"

A bit of a generalization, but fairly accurate.

"That is understandable," Raven said, fiddling with her napkin. "It was quite terrifying here as well. All the grief and fear and anger were overwhelming, but I am glad we were able to find a solution and restore what was lost to us."

"Yeah, it was really scary," Hayley said, shuddering for a moment as she remembered those street lights going out one after the next.

When she realized Raven was fiddling with her napkin, she smacked her palm against her forehead.

"Can I get you somethin' to drink? I completely forgot."

"Oh, water is fine, thank you," Raven said. "If it is no trouble."

She was still having a little trouble with the whole "being served" idea, even if it was Hayley's job.

Hayley stood up, and came back shortly with two glasses of water and two straws. She sat back down after setting the glasses on the booth table.

"But no one back home even knew something bad happened. Every time I tried to talk about it, I'd just get these looks. Like I was, you know... crazy or something."

And she hated people thinking she was crazy.

"They could not see," Raven said gravely. "Only those who had dwelled in Fnadom for some time could see that parts of their worlds were vanishing. We only began to learn of this when people would visit their homes and return, or messages from those who had left. Then it began to touch Fandom, and with it came people who would make us disappear merely by touching us."

And hadn't that been fun, being wiped out of existence.

"Yeah, so I just... packed up and came back," Hayley said. "It's not like I really had anything tying me to Gotham anymore. Not that I came back to stuff to really tie me here, either."

Way to keep things light and upbeat, Hayley.

"You have friends here," Raven pointed out. "And now you have a job as well. Where are you staying?"

She couldn't help but wonder about how Hayley's leaving of Fandom hadn't been exactly voluntary, but she was trying to think of a way to delicately bring that up.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Hayley agreed. Though most of them seemed so young, now. Raven... Raven didn't, for some reason. "But I'm living over on Griffin Way, in a big house with the lady who owns the stables. She's pretty nice. We're gettin' along just fine."

"Good, I am glad to hear it," Raven said, taking a sip of her water. "I hope things have been relatively calmer here since the Nothing, well, with the exception of walking in a body that was not your own, I mean. Your leave-taking was somewhat distressing."

"Leave-taking?" Hayley asked, not sure what Raven meant. She leaned forward in the booth. "I don't think I follow."

"When you departed from Fandom last year," Raven clarified. "It did not seem to be entirely of your own volition. Your own choice, I mean." The Gotham City PD hadn't exactly dragged Hayley away kicking and screaming as she recalled, but they'd been there and waiting for her.

"Oh, that," Hayley said with a little chuckle, covering her tinge of embarrassment at the subject. "That worked out. It got pretty scary, and Karla can tell you just how scary, but it worked out. I have a clean record now. All absolved now."

At least, legally.

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OOC