Luke's Diner, Wednesday Afternoon

[outofherdepths]

"The sign is wrong."

"Wait, huh?" The busboy looked up at Larceny, confused. Then glanced at the sign in the window. "No it isn't."

"Yes it is," Larceny insisted. "It has an L. It should have a D."

The busboy's brow furrowed, then cleared. "Oh! You mean it should be Duke's?" he asked.

"Yes!" Larceny nodded once. "Because it is his."

"But the name is Luke's," he explained. "The diner's I mean."

"But it shouldn't be," Larceny said, folding her arms over her chest. "It should be Duke's."

The busboy just facepalmed. "I'll, uh. Make that suggestion," he said, escorting her over to a booth. "What can I get you to eat instead?"

"Noodles!" Larceny exclaimed. "And cake!"

The busboy also bit down on asking Again? Because arguing with his boss's weird roommate about her food sounded even less fun than arguing with her about the sign.

Today's Specials
Cajun Shrimp Spaghetti
Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake

[OCD free]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't tend to come to the diner much when it wasn't Duke's day to be there. But she'd been passing by, and a familiar form had caught her eye through the window, so...

Here she was, making her way in.

"Hey, Larceny."

[outofherdepths]

"Hello Octavia," Larceny said, proud that she'd waited until after she'd chewed and swallowed to return the greeting. "Are you here for the cake?"

[okteiviakom]

"... No," Octavia replied, after a beat. Still, her eyes were drawn towards the specials board. "Though I guess I could be."

[outofherdepths]

"They keep making me noodles and cake when I ask for them!" Larceny said, pleased as punch.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia snorted, but it was pretty good-natured. How could it not be, when Larceny was that pleased?

"I think that's kinda what they do here."

[outofherdepths]

"Even Duke makes me have other things," she confided.

She didn't really mind, of course. It was how she got to try new things. But she really loved noodles and cake the best. There were so many different kinds!

"You should tell them to change the sign," she added. "They don't believe me, but maybe that's because they don't think I can read still. Except I can."

And knew the sign was wrong.

[okteiviakom]

"You think it should say 'Duke's, too?" Octavia guessed, then shrugged. "It's not really up to them. I don't think Duke wants to call this place that."

She'd already had that conversation with him a couple of times, yes.

[outofherdepths]

"But Luke is not his name. And the apostrophe s means possession." Someone had been studying grammar. "It belongs to Duke."

[okteiviakom]

"I know."

Sort of. It'd been a while since Octavia had been subjected to grammar terms last.

"I think it's kind of dumb, too," she admitted. "But this place has been here for way longer than he has."

[outofherdepths]

"Was there a Luke, onceuponatime?" Larceny asked, saying it all as one word.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was not going to correct her on that. But she did maybe just barely raise her eyebrows at it.

"I don't know. Probably? I mean, I don't see why they'd name it that if there wasn't."

[outofherdepths]

"People here use lots of words to say things that make no sense," Larceny reminded. "There are no rocks at Chilly Boulder."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's lopsided smile was wry and faint.

"I think that's just how naming things works. It's weird, I know."

[outofherdepths]

"They name them lies and then laugh when you are confused," Larceny grumbled.

[okteiviakom]

"They name them things that sound good," Octavia countered mildly, "and they don't know you're going to be confused." She shrugged again. "This world's not exactly designed for people like... us."

Because God knew Octavia was still confused by things all the time.