Luke's, Sunday

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan walked into Luke's, bracing himself for some sort of unusual behavior from the kitchen staff, today.

The kitchen staff all nodded in greeting, and went back to doing their jobs. There were a couple of times when Kanan had to tell the busboy to stop playing games on his phone where the customers could see, but besides that, everything was normal. Too normal, for this place?

Kanan couldn't even tell, anymore.

Today's Specials:
Sour Cream Waffles with Fresh Peaches and Toasted Pecan Praline Sauce
Jalapeño ’n’ Cheese Cornbread Waffle Burgers
Chocolate Chip Cookie Waffles

...

"Wait a minute."

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Something feels....different, here," Summer remarked, eyes narrowed about two seconds after she stepped into the diner. Maybe it was all in her head, maybe she was paranoid, but.... "Something feels...off."

It took her until she sat down and looked at the special's board for a good few seconds before it clicked. "Ugh! Waffles?"

She actually didn't have anything against waffles. She actually loved waffles. But they weren't pancakes.

"..that middle one sounds particularly..." What's the word she was looking for? "...interesting."

Yeah, that'll work.

[uncertain_dume]

"I have half a mind to try it, except for the hot peppers," Kanan admitted, smiling sheepishly. "I can probably bully the cook into making Pancakes anyway, if you've got your heart set on it."

He'd do it. Don't think he wouldn't.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"I could yell at them, too!" Summer offered brightly, since it was one of her favorite pasttimes by now. "Or we both could. I mean, by now, they should know that if it's Sunday, there's probably at least an 87 percent chance they're gonna be making pancakes.

"And what's wrong with jalapeño?" she asked. "Can't handle the heat?"

Even though they were 100 percent of the reason she would definitely not be ordering it.

[uncertain_dume]

"I'm not too proud to admit I'm not a fan," Kanan confirmed. "Eliot pulled a stunt on me once involving ghost pepper. I've never quite recovered."

Meanwhile, Hera adored it.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Oh, man," said Summer, wincing slightly. "Yeah, I've heard those ones can be pretty intense. I've never tried them...and I'm okay with that. I bet jalapeño would look great in some jello molds, though."

Hey, it wasn't like she actually ate those things personally...

[uncertain_dume]

"I bet Hera would enjoy it," Kanan offered. "She and Jacen were both devouring that ghost pepper salsa over the weekend. Something about Twi'lek tastebuds, I guess."

Kanan, on the other hand, would probably steer clear.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Definitely'll have to put together a crazy spicy jello for her," Summer said. There was a silent before I go at the end of it that she wasn't quite ready to actually let out of her mouth yet.

Besides, if Kanan couldn't tell by the way she cleared her throat, folded her arms in front of her on the counter and leaned slightly forward, she had a different important topic to broach first. "Speaking of Jacen," she said, "and other kid-shaped elephants in the room...Do we want to talk about it, or are we just going to brush it off and move right on past it?"

She...still wasn't sure what she would prefer, so she figured she'd field the question to him. She was certainly more used to the latter, but...she had...so many questions that she wasn't about to ask in front of the kid himself.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan opened his mouth for a moment.

And then paused.

And then shut his mouth.

And then sighed.

"If you want to talk about it," he said, finally, "sure. Let's talk about it. What's on your mind, Summer?"

Look, being a Jedi meant he could compartmentalize with the best of them. Especially being a Jedi who had survived this long. But maybe talking was healthy. Or something.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer lifted her hands. "We don't have to," she said. "Believe me, I come from a very big Let's Never Talk About This Again sort of family. Not Talking about Things is, like, a religion for us, so it's totally cool if you don't want to."

After all, fair was fair, and if he talked, she might have to talk about why she married a dude named Hemorrhage that wore a bucket...and very little else...

"But," with extra emphasis, "there was one thing you said last week that's kind of lodged in my brain and I can't really shake. And I would have asked then, but, I mean...I've been in the room when my parents've discussed alternate universes where I never existed before, and it suuucks, hard. I wasn't going to do that to Jacen, but...you said...there were...two...versions...of you...that...you know..."

She was trying to be respectful here. And decided just to cut to the point.

"Did you guys have another kid show up from a completely different timeline before this one at some point?"

[uncertain_dume]

"Last year," Kanan confirmed, blinking. "A little girl, she took after her mother more than Jacen did."

In that she actually looked part Twi'lek.

"Her name was Anan."

Emphasis on the second syllable. She wasn't actually named after her father but missing a letter. Probably.

She had handled Kanan being around better than Jacen had. It helped that her father was, you know, still going strong.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"That's..." Summer frowned. "...interesting."

She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment. "You didn't seem to thrilled about it, either," she added. Definitely not anything like she'd picture he would be around kids, especially not what she experienced when she was a kid, and this was his own, with Hera. "Kind of annoyed, actually."

And she tried to watch his face carefully as she said this next part. "Something...happened in that reality, didn't it?"

[uncertain_dume]

So far as watching what his face did in a rough situation went, Kanan had been schooling himself to not let the worst show for years. But there was something in his eye. Not quite a wince.

"Jacen never knew his father," he said, his voice even, as though nothing bothered him at all. No sense in letting it get to him now. What could he do about it...? "Talking about realities that people don't exist in."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Usually, when Summer nailed a hunch like that, it was Gloat City. She definitely didn't feel like gloating now.

"I'm so sorry, Kanan," she said, biting her lip again before asking, "What about the other one?"

[throughaphase]

“Hello,” Kitty greeted him as she took a seat. “I would like to order the Kitty, please.”

Okay, it was kind of fun to say that.

[uncertain_dume]

"The peanut butter did it for you, huh?" Kanan grinned as he gave her a little nod in greeting. "The cook seems to have waffles on the brain today, but I'm sure I can negotiate something a little flatter for you. How're you doing, Kitty?"

[throughaphase]

“Can’t complain.” Yes, she could, but she was used to the things she had to complain about. “The island’s been weird, but not in a bad way? How’re you doing?”

Not that she’d been curious how things had gone, or anything.

[uncertain_dume]

"Better than Tuesday," Kanan replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I owe you one for that, Kitty. I went home, had a talk with Hera..."

He smiled wryly.

"I don't know if I'd call it a fun talk. But it was an important one."

[throughaphase]

“Was it a good talk?” she asked.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan paused for a moment.

"It was heavy," he said, at length. "But I'd say it was good. We each know where we stand. She knows I'm not backing off just because of one future where I just happen to not be around."

[throughaphase]

“Good. Sometimes it helps just to clear the air about that sort of thing,” she said. “Do you feel better?”

[uncertain_dume]

"I'm working on my compartmentalizing skills," Kanan admitted. "But I've been working on those for a while now, and they seem to be holding up. It's good to know where we stand, either way. Hera doesn't want to have to choose between me and the galaxy. I... Well. I told her that wasn't really a choice she would get to make."

[throughaphase]

Kitty smiled a little. “Ah, the fun that comes with hanging out with hero types.”

[uncertain_dume]

"I spent years doing my damnedest to not be a hero type, and here we are," Kanan sighed. "One pretty voice coming from one pretty girl who has an impossible goal in mind was enough to do me in, and now I get to tell her all about how I actually have terrible priorities and they aren't her fault, honest."

[throughaphase]

“Really, something probably would have gotten you anyway. I don’t know what it would be, but you see something you just can’t stand for and there you are.” She paused. “Which is also what you can tell her if it bothers her.”

[uncertain_dume]

"That's how we met, you know," Kanan noted, lifting his shoulders, sighing. "Well, we met in an alleyway because she had to meet a contact and I had to kick the poodoo out of a Chagrian with an attitude problem, but she let me stick around because I saw something I couldn't stand for, and there I was."