Luke's Diner, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

After her conversation with Anders at the dance, Kathy had contacted Eliot to see if he'd mind her co-opting the diner on Sunday for a delicious Valentine's Day brunch. She'd had to argue with the busboy over the decorations (namely, he'd wanted to decorate everything in shades of pink and red, while Kathy thought a few accents as a nod to the holiday would be plenty), but after the dishwasher and cook had both sided with her, the busboy'd acceded with ill-grace, sulking off into a corner.

That was fine. They had more important things to worry about anyway. Like the very important question of what should be on the menu?

Valentine's Day Brunch
Belgian Waffles with Topping Bar
Choose Your Own Omelette Adventure
Mini-BLTs
Nutella-stuffed French Toast
Mimosa Bar
Whether you're lucky in love or enjoying the single life, come enjoy a delicious brunch

Looking at her plate, Kathy was clearly sampling her way through the entire menu. For quality control. Obviously.

Comments

[vdistinctive]

Eliot swung by to check in on things. Definitely not because he had no idea who to handle Valentine's Day when in an actual committed relationship (much less two), and was running away.

Val was wearing a jaunty Valentine's Day sweater, at least. She was named 'Valentine' for a reason, after all.

"Quite the menu you got goin'. Suspect I'm probably supposed to disapprove of the mimosa bar, though."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would respond to his criticism in a moment; Val needed to be squeed over and petted and properly appreciated in her tiny little sweater. "Who's the most adorable girl in the diner?" she cooed. "Who is it? Who is it? Is it me? No, it's you! Yes you are, Val! You are!"

Look, it was hard to have an intelligent conversation when a dog was that cute, okay?

Finally, enough attention was paid to the puppy, Kathy grinned up from where she was kneeling next to Val. "C'mon, Eliot. My mom drinks mimosas. You'd have to chug like three of those bottles to even get a buzz."

[vdistinctive]

Val did not care what words were actually said. Val only cared that the attention was being paid. She jogged around in a circle, head craned back to look up at Kathy and make sure she was still being properly adoring.

"Then you're makin' 'em wrong," Eliot said. He belonged to the "enough juice to add color" school of mimosa making. "And I just said I was s'posed to disapprove. Didn't actually say I did. 'Sa nice spread you got goin'."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I knew I should have gone to that mixology class," Kathy teased. "And thank you! I can't take all the credit though; your cook was the one who thought of the BLTs and the Belgian waffles. I was thinking tapas, mostly."

She raised her eyebrow at Eliot. "Wait. Why are you down here instead of upstairs? Aren't you supposed to be doing something all...Valentine-y?"

[vdistinctive]

"I'm just -- checkin' on things." Yup. Definitely what he was doing. "Got all day for the, uh. Valentine-y stuff." He was really good at romantic gestures normally. But this was his first Valentine's Day since Aimee that he was in a relationship that was more than just a fun way to pass the time. It was a lot of pressure! "Besides, Hardison and Parker probably have their own thing they been doin' the last couple years. Gotta give 'em time for that."

Sure. That sounded vaguely plausible.

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, Kathy had absolutely zero romantic experience to her name, but even she felt like that was kind of...odd. "Well, since you're here, you can take up the Valentines gifts I made for you three." She'd been planning to leave it at the top of the stairs outside the apartment door, but if Eliot were here, so much the better.

Reaching into a booth, she pulled up a large basket of mini strawberry tarts. These were less perfect than the ones she'd given out to her friends this morning; some of them had cracked crusts, others had fruit patterns that looked a little lop-sided, but hey! They were still delicious!

...Yeah, Kathy had been quality-control sampling those, too. "Happy Valentines Day!"

[vdistinctive]

"Aw, darlin', you didn't have to do anything for us. Those are some fine looking irregular tarts."

[spin_kick_snap]

Pfft, she wasn't even going to acknowledge that protest. Don't be silly, mentor-figure.

"You got the leftovers," she admitted. "I was feeling fancy and ended up making way too many to make sure I had a bunch of perfect ones." She dimpled up at him. "I promise I stuffed myself on broken ones before I decided to make you all a basket."

[vdistinctive]

"Tart crusts are tough. Most folks don't even bother tryin'. I'm impressed."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm an overachiever," Kathy said cheerfully, to no one's great surprise. "And it made a good excuse for me not to patrol Baltimore in the single-digit weather."

A thin excuse, but still an excuse!

[vdistinctive]

"The criminals ain't likely to be out in weather like that either," Eliot pointed out. "You don't actually need an excuse."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Someone could still have needed help," Kathy pointed out. "It's killing weather out there. If someone's car broke down or they ran out of gas or someone passed out in an alleyway..."

Kathy had stopped reading the paper after nights she chose not to go out. Reading about things she might have been able to prevent just made her feel guilty.

Upstairs above the diner....

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker was currently playing Dance Dance Revolution and winning, of course. It was the Robot.

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[spin_kick_snap]

There was a grumpy set of footsteps coming up towards the apartment. Very, very stompy in fact, followed by a loud banging on the door. "Parker! Mr. Hardison? I have something that belongs to you!"

Specifically, their boyfriend, in wolverine form, wrapped in a towel and gnawing on a stock bone.

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker frowned, and paused the game, hopping over to the door. "Kathy?" She opened the door, and stared at what was in the towel. "We don't want it."

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[vdistinctive]

Eliot looked up at Parker and licked his chops. Val squeezed around them, Eliot's clothes still in her mouth, and wagged her tail.

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison came out from the bedroom, wearing a completely ridiculous fly-fishing hat, a khaki vest, and pair of waders. "Yo, is that Eliot?" Hardison called. "Surprise, babe! We goin' fishin'! Happy Val--" He stopped short, looking at Kathy and the critter she was carrying. "TA? Whatcha got there?"

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[spin_kick_snap]

"Uhh," Kathy held up her towel. "Eliot? And, umm, I brought some strawberry tarts, but they're still downstairs. Because I couldn't carry the basket up here and this guy."

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"What? No," Parker said, then frowned, looking at the fuzzy thing. "Okay, it does kind of have Eliot's wanna-kill-you expression on, and he's really fond of meat too, but. Plans!" She pointed at Hardison. "Tell her! We had romantic considerate thinking-of-him plans!"

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[vdistinctive]

Eliot paused in gnawing on the bone and blinked up at her. Could wolverines look apologetic? Because this one -- didn't.

He had a bone! And there were people he knew all around him! If it were just freezing and snowy up here, he'd be in paradise!

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"We was gonna go fishin'," Hardison said, shoulders slumping. He'd been working himself up to this whole trip for a week! "One of Eliot's favorite things, yo. But--you serious, Kathy? It's definitely Eliot?"

He knew it was. "Okay, we are clearly just cursed around holidays. You were a ferret for Christmas, now Eliot's a--what the heck is he?"

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[spin_kick_snap]

"A wolverine," Kathy said, face palming. "He's a wolverine. That's what the busboy says."

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"He's kinda cute. And murderous looking." Parker tentatively put out her fingers for him to smell, then said, "If you bite me, Eliot, you are so going to be in trouble when you're human again." She frowned. "Are they the ones that 'don't care' from that meme you showed me?"

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[vdistinctive]

Eliot sniffed her finger, then started wriggling in the towel and Kathy's grip, the bone clutched in his mouth. He stretched out his front paws, claws showing. Time to get down!

Re: Upstairs above the diner....

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Nah, mama, those are honey badgers," Hardison said absently. "Hey girl, let him down. Why dontcha bring up that basket and we'll corral Eliot up here."