Luke's, Thursday

[betterthanaplan]

Duke had wandered into the diner hoping he could snake some leftover french fries off someone's plate. Or maybe charm a frumpy middle-aged server into comping him a burger. And then, instead of getting glared at or being told the lunch counter was for paying customers only, the cook had called him "boss" and asked him what he thought the special should be for the day.

This was probably a trap. But it was a trap that meant he got free food, so he wasn't complaining. He wandered the space while the kitchen staff whipped him up a chili cheese dog and some curly fries, and paused when he found a couple photos of a dude who looked. . . .

Well. He looked like Duke might, if he lived long enough to get gray hairs.

"Oh goody," he muttered, turning away with a sigh and giving the diner another scrutinizing look. "Another Crocker brother. Dad really got around."

Hey, at least that made more sense than the idiot angel boy from this morning did.

Today's specials
Half-smoke
This weekend only: Teens eat free!

Luke's was open. And totally not a trap. . . .

Comments

[died8yearsago]

Rosa was about to just slap a fiver on the counter and demand food until she saw the specials' board.

"Thursday counts as the weekend, right?" she asked.

It was a day off of school, anyway! Or she was just skipping for funsies, she wasn't sure. It didn't really matter, if she could get some free grub out of it.

[betterthanaplan]

"Sure," Duke said, grinning at the hot chick. "Weekends are a social construct anyway."

What? He spent a lot of time at the library back home. It was warm in there and he didn't have to spend any money to get in.

[died8yearsago]

"Heh."

Okay, that? Was a good answer. Enough so that she didn't even mind too much admitting as much.

"Exactly," she agreed. "So, yeah. I'm totally getting a burger. And fries. And a milkshake. Chicken tenders. Oh, god, cake..."

She'd already woken up in a super nice apartment with some guy and a dog she didn't even know, this was clearly going to be an interesting weekend, she might as well go all out, right?

And now that the important stuff was out of the way, she was giving Weekends are a Social Construct over here a closer look, because, okay, yeah. Hi.

[betterthanaplan]

"Girl after my own heart," Duke said, and tilted his head. "Or, you know, stomach." He bit his lower lip and tilted his chin up a fraction. "Nice hair. Very punk rock."

[died8yearsago]

"Thanks," Rosa lifted her own chin a bit more than a fraction, preening, almost, as she ran her hand through her hair and gave it a good shake. "It's my natural color and everything."

She looked over his hair, too, as if she was thinking of returning the compliment, but didn't.

Instead, she asked, "You come here often?"

Did she mean here as in some random diner? Here as in some random tiny island? Either or!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke turned to lean against the counter, his elbows propped behind him, his legs crossed at the ankles. The very picture of casual indifference.

"Oh yeah, totally," he lied. He nodded to one of the photos of the eerily familiar older dude. "My brother owns the place. It's like a side hobby, you know, when he's not directing."

[died8yearsago]

Rosa followed the nod toward the photo, squinting at a little. Back to the guy.

The resemblance really was uncanny. And she felt she could easily trace a series of events where the person in front of her right now could absolutely end up exactly the copy of the person in that picture.

"Directing?" she asked, a little skeptically. "Like movies?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Music videos," Duke said. Because the key to a good lie was to not make it too over the top. And who even knew who directed music videos anyway? "He's getting ready to do one for Sonic Youth right now."

[died8yearsago]

"That's pretty cool," said Rosa, "I guess."

It was actually very cool, if it was true, which was still doubting, especially the more she looked at the pictures. But she was at the same time tempted to ask if he knew if his brother would need any dancers for any of those videos...

"So, what?" she asked. "Your brother gets to go off and make cool music videos, and you get stuck here watching his dumb hobby diner?"

Which she was scoping out a little closer now. Wondering if it was difficult to break into a diner. She'd never tried a diner before, it didn't seem like it would be that hard, especially if the owner wasn't even around...

[betterthanaplan]

Duke shrugged, like it didn't matter either way to him. (Which, since it was all a lie, it didn't.) "It's a living. Why, what do you do?"

[died8yearsago]

"I'm a ballerina."

Not actually a lie! It just sounded like one!

[betterthanaplan]

"Really." Duke wasn't laughing. He just looked like he wanted to. "I hear you guys are really . . . bendy."

[died8yearsago]

Rosa wasn't rolling her eyes.

Oh, wait. Yes, she was. A roll of her eyes that landed right dead on the guy before she said, "Only the good ones."

[hatesparadise]

Well, free food for a growing teenager was nothing to sneeze at. Which was why Danny was gonna press his luck on seeing if today counted for it.

"Hey." Danny was, of course, still short and still basically just all broad shoulders and fluffy hair.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke looked up from his second half-smoke (they just gave him food, he might never leave this place), his eyes lighting up. Hello tiny hunk of boy. Duke didn't normally go for the short ones, but he could definitely appreciate a guy who looked like he knew his way around a weight room.

"Hey buddy. 'Sup?"

[hatesparadise]

Was it because he looked hungry and the owner was a bleeding heart? Was that it? Because it was true.

"That deal apply for today?" Danny asked, nodding at the specials sign. "'Cause I'd think you'd have a line out the door if that was true."

He didn't think he'd seen more than just a handful of adults somehow.

[betterthanaplan]

". . . If it doesn't, I'm screwed," Duke said, shrugging. "No one's handed me a check yet, though."

[hatesparadise]

"Five dogs here," Danny said, waving over at the cooks and grinning over free food.

[betterthanaplan]

"Five," Duke said, with a little whistle. "That's quite the, uh. Appetite."

[hatesparadise]

"I mean, ya gotta take what you can get, right?" Also, he didn't want to cook tonight and there was cash in his wallet that he was pretty sure wasn't his to spend. Because Jesus, he did not that kind of walking around money, you know?

[betterthanaplan]

Duke didn't have any kind of money at all. (Because it was stashed away on a boat he didn't currently know he owned.)

"Can't argue with that," he said, popping a fry in his mouth. "I'm Duke."

[hatesparadise]

"Danny," he replied with a little chin jerk that was just pure Jersey. Just absolutely pure Jersey. "You from around here?"

[betterthanaplan]

"Nah," Duke said, shrugging. ". . . Not entirely sure where 'around here' is," he admitted. "You?"

[hatesparadise]

Danny let out a little huff and made a face, head wobbling back and forth as he had to agree with also having not a freakin' clue where they were either. "West Orange. Uh, Newark."

For people who didn't, you know, literally know everything about New Jersey.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke laughed. "That's why you sound like you're from a mafia movie. Gotcha."

People from Maine maybe shouldn't be casting any stones.