fandomtownies | Luke's, Thursday

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priestly

Luke's, Thursday

As was increasingly becoming usual for Priestly, he was spending his day at Luke's with a pile of papers spread out across one end of the counter rather than with a pile of ingredients in the kitchen.

Running a diner was not all it was cracked up to be. For that matter, neither was attempting to be a college student.

He had finals coming up at his classes at the community college, two papers to write for the same, and the largest pile of forms and paperwork he'd ever seen that he couldn't hand off to someone more qualified to fill them out (he missed Karla). There were housing forms and student aid forms and scholarship forms and federal funding forms and out-of-state legal jargon forms and out-of-dimension legal jargon forms, which he was pretty sure didn't even actually come from the school itself -- though with a place like New Gotham, he couldn't rule it out completely. There were class booklets and registration forms and some personality quiz that was supposed to match him up with either a roommate or an advisor, he wasn't 100% sure which.

And then there was the pamphlet about some pre-orientation weekend thing, which shouldn't have been so intimidating, except New Gotham was Dinah's city and they still hadn't completely worked out their weird shit with the whole Rook and Kestrel thing, yet. He considered getting himself a hotel room and just trying to stealth the whole thing -- it wasn't exactly a small city, they could totally avoid each other if they needed to, right? -- but then he'd looked up hotel costs in New Gotham and remembered that, oh yeah, nowhere was as cheap as Fandom.

Which reminded him that he'd need at least a part time job in New Gotham if he wanted to live and go to school there, too.

By the time Cookie came out to ask what the specials should be, Priestly was about ready to give up on the whole school thing and just start making avant garde hats out of the whole mess.

"I dunno, man, whatever the fuck you want to cook."

Today's specials
Dragon Dog
Saffron and black truffle fries
Bread pudding

Luke's was open.

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Help him make paper airplanes out of the math section of the course book.

Someday, that zebra will actually be in the narrative. . . .

It'd been about a week since Dinah's birthday; she'd texted Priestly a gleeful thank-you for the presents, but hadn't talked to him since. Finishing her last Final - possibly ever - was a good enough reason to call.

Right?

*riiiing*

"Would it be too weird if I crashed at the Clocktower while going to pre-orientation orientation for school?"

Hey, he was back to skipping pleasantries. This was a pretty good sign.

Yay! Because pleasantries were for when you had to ease into things!

"It would not!... although I'm wondering when that is, 'cause I'll have to give Barbara and Alfred the head's up." Dinah grinned, though, and bounced on the ledge outside the Tower. "So you're doing it? You're really coming here?"

"Assuming I don't get kidnapped by Question Mark Man the minute I arrive, then yeah. I'm really going to do it."

If Riddler did that, Dinah might straight-up drown him in the bay.

"Yaaaaaaay," she cheered, quietly. "I'm really glad." She started pacing out the length of the balcony. "The orientation's about, what, three or four days? Or is it a week?"

"Long weekend, looks like. I'll have to leave the diner to the tender mercies of Dean."

Oh god. What had he done?

"And maybe that new guy. If he's still doing well?" Dinah checked. "And, uh. My graduation, assuming I didn't tank my last two finals, that's ... a week from this weekend." If you're still coming, she didn't say.

"I know," Priestly said. "It's been on my calender for months."

Assuming she still wanted him there.

"You could stay here for that too, if you want," Dinah said, all in a rush after a slightly awkward silence. "I mean. The hotels are gonna be booked that weekend, probably. And. Uh. They're holding it outside. At the stadium. So. Plenty of room?" She winced at how that came out as a question.

"That'd, uh. That'd be really cool."

TIPTOE HARDER, PRIESTLY.

"You know, if you're cool with it."

"I'm cool with it if you're cool with it!"

Although, maybe he wouldn't be cool with it once he got here?

"And. Uh. I... kinda had an idea. To kind of reassure you. About, uh, me."

Not that she wanted to talk about this, but. Maybe it would help.

"What? I don't need you to reassure me."

He kind of did.

"Well it's-- kind of for me, too." Dinah licked her lips, then swallowed. "Karla made me a bracelet, ages ago. It, uh. Helps block my telepathy." She sat down on the edge of the building, and dangled her legs over about forty stories of nothing. "I didn't have the hang of how to do it myself then. And Jaime-- um."

Okay, that was embarrassing now, to talk about why she'd needed it with Jaime. Because it was the same reason that Kestrel and Rook had been so-- them.

"Anyway. It's come in handy before."

Priestly wasn't sure what to think about that. "Would you feel safer, wearing it?"

Dinah took a breath. "Maybe?"

She looked out over New Gotham, and said, "Usually, I know I don't need it. But things aren't-- usual, right now. With us. And I really, really don't want to make a mistake. I don't think I will. But."

"You should do what you need to do. To feel safe."

To be able to trust that they'd keep each other separate.

"It makes me feel safer." Dinah bit her lip, and forced herself to add, "And it'll give you breathing space. Something concrete. So you can trust me again."

"I trust . . . most of you," Priestly said. "I'm not sure I trust us totally, yet."

"Yeah. I don't think that stuff like that will ever happen again, but I don't get why it happened in the first place, so... Better safe. Than sorry again." It was a first step, anyway.

"We were younger," Priestly said. "And stupid." He shrugged. "Did you have this much paperwork when you started school? I feel like if I answer something wrong I'll redirect my entire future."

Dinah grinned in relief, letting the heavier subject drop. "I had it all spread out over months, with the SATs and finding people to say nice things, but, I think once I sent my acceptance letter, it was easy. Barbara was willing to do most of it."

That woman had a paperwork problem, let's face it.

"There's my problem," Priestly said. "I don't have a Barbara. Hey, any reputable diners I should apply to while I'm there? I'm definitely going to need an income stream."

"Hmm! Uhm, lemme think... Wired is always hiring, but they're a coffee shop, so.... There's a fifties theme diner near the campus? And some sandwich shops, too. And a good pancake place." She spun on her heel. "The best place I can think of is in a scummy part of town, or I'd recommend that. But I'm not telling you places where you'll need a Black Canary escort just to be sure you get there safe."

Priestly grimaced. "No fifties. I don't need the beatnik flashbacks." That had been a weird couple of days. "A sandwich shop could be good. Get back to my roots."

"I'll find you some phone numbers," Dinah promised. She bit her lip, wanting to offer family money help, but, hey. She didn't love that option for herself, Priestly wouldn't love it for him, either... "Ooo. I bet Alfred will have some other ideas? He'd have better contacts than me, too."

"Dude. I could be a part time butler."

No.

Dinah paused, blinking. "What, like, at night? Or for somebody whose butler wants a day off?"

"Assistant butler? For parties?"

"Oooo, like that guy on Upton Monastery? Who's training to be a boss butler?" Dinah frowned, then said uncertainly, "They might make you wear a uniform, Priestly."

"But if I'm a part time butler, it'll be like a costume."

Like many of Priestly's arguments, Dinah found it hard to put her finger on where this didn't entirely jibe with logic. But hey, maybe it would work?

"If you do that, I want pix. Also, appetizer samples."

"Duly noted." He couldn't help but smile. "Hey. We're gonna be living in the same city, again."

"We are!" That came out a lot less tentative than it had at the beginning of the conversation. "It's going to be awesome."

"Just think of all the embarrassing stories Gabby and I can swap," Priestly teased.

"What? Noooo!"

Two worlds colliding! Two major sectors of embarrassment interacting! They both knew her in high school --at different, mortifying points.

"Anything she says about my first day at Gotham High is a lie!"

"Yeah, you've basically just guaranteed that I'll believe anything she tells me."

"I am so telling her about the time you turned into a chameleon. And the time you had a raccoon tail and ears... Wait, that was kind of awesome, with the flying with the tail, no, I'm not telling her about that."

"I'll just have to tell her about my weekend as an idiot who got lost in a broom closet. Then nothing you say can touch me."

"Okay, I'm sure that's cheating, but I'm not sure how." She grinned and added, "You realize that after that was the first time we got drunk after awfulness together? Five years, dude."

"Really? Man, that's been forever."

"Yup, I knoooow. Graduated high school. About to graduate college." So weird. "Lots and lots of change."

But at least they were back to bantering without self-consciousness, mostly.

"Also, I only have one chocolate pear-brandy truffle left. Those things are wonderful."

"Chocolatiers astound me," Priestly admitted. "Those things were completely gorgeous."

"When you come to New Gotham," and yay being able to say it as a definite thing going to happen, "maybe, you know. You could make some of those." She said this a little more hesitantly. "Or I could learn how. Fair feeding and all that."

Priestly laughed. "Chocolates aren't quite like sandwiches, you know. I'd barely know where to start."

"Fun thing to find out though, hunh." Dinah grinned and rocked up on her toes. "Nachos when you get here, from me. 'Cause those are easy."

"Nachos," Priestly agreed. "And bad movies."

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Luke's, Thursday

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