Over Easy, Wednesday

[napking]

Gray still couldn't believe he had a job.

Gray really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at said job. He'd never had a job before, okay? It was weird. And the staff weren't even letting him choose the specials yet. He would never do such a mean thing to a beautiful waffle as put coffee in it.

Will It Waffle? Wednesday Special
Pumpkin Spice Latte Waffle

Over Easy is open!

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[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You know this is weird, right?" Arden asked, strolling into Over Easy. "Because it's weird. Also, since when do you put coffee anywhere, never mind in a waffle?"

[napking]

"Oh, good, you're here!" Gray said, sitting up from where he'd been slumped over at the hostess stand. (He made a great hostess, he thought.) "I thought about bringing you a waffle after my class but it would be cold. And also it would have coffee in it." Blegh. "That wasn't my idea, the staff already had it planned." He realized, "I guess I could have brought you one of the regular menu waffles...but it still would get cold." Sad.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden grimaced. "Ugh, yeah, no, coffee goes in the trash, not my mouth," she agreed. "And of course I came to visit! You've been visiting me at work for a year or something now. Was I going to leave you to wither away and die without company now that you're an upright working man?"

[napking]

"Well," Gray joked as he slumped against the hostess stand once more. "Semi-upright, anyway. And I'll totally still come visit you sometimes," he promised. "When I have better waffles to bring."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah, you bring me coffee waffles and we're fighting," she teased. "How goes being a--" she smiled a bit broader "--semi-upright working man?"

[napking]

"I wonder if they make sweet tea waffles," Gray mused. "Or is that sacrilege?

"I don't know so far," he admitted. "It's not too bad. I'm just napping in a new location. I feel like I should actually try to learn the ropes or something, though. Even though I never pictured myself working in a restaurant."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I would at least be willing to try sweet tea waffles before making a final decision," Arden mused. "And you should! Learn, I mean, I can understand why you'd never picture yourself there. But if working here would help Ray out, why not?"

[napking]

"I'll ask if we can do that next week," Gray decided.

"I've just never, y'know...worked," he admitted. "And it's kind of hard to explain. I'm not used to anybody counting on me for anything. I mean, Sloth, you know. Makes it kinda hard."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Sure, which is probably why you're not in the kitchen," Arden said. "But like..." Arden leaned against the wall, thinking. "I know Sloth gets in the way of a lot of stuff. And I'm sure Ray knows to account for it, too. But I think this means he trusts you to do what you can around Sloth and...I dunno, isn't that kinda cool?"

[napking]

"I know I'm being a hypocrite," Gray admitted. "'Whine whine I don't like being left out of stuff,' 'Whine whine what do you mean I have to be involved in stuff now?'" He rolled his eyes at himself. "But enough about me. Have you looked back at your pictures from the zoo yet?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You can feel several different kinda ways about stuff," Arden said. "No judging here. Not wanting to be left outta stuff doesn't mean you wanna be voluntold for something, either, right?"

His question had her perking right up, though. "I did! I spent most of my shift trying to edit the best ones on my phone. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I don't think I did too bad."

[napking]

"You should send them to the group chat," Gray suggested. "See if we can get Galen to react."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

She had more than just bird photos, Gray!

...They just made up the vast majority of them, truth be told.

"That's a good idea," Arden said with an angelic smile, definitely not thinking of also sending several of the more ridiculous ones she'd snapped of Gray during their trip. "Let me do that right now."

[napking]

Well, no, obviously, she'd taken some of the sloths...what was that smile? Gray didn't trust that smile. (Possibly because he recognized it from his own face.) "Okaaaaay," he said, slow and wary. Why did he feel like this was a trap? You wouldn't betray him, would you, Arden?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Of course she would. Little sisters are meant to be plagues.

"There," she said. "I sent the best dozen or so. I don't want to overwhelm the group chat."

I've got plenty more if there's anything else you want to see more of!

Picture of a bird, picture of a bird, picture of a sloth, picture of a bird, picture of Gray and a sloth, picture of a bird, picture of Gray she was gonna get in trouble for, picture of Gray she was gonna get in trouble for, picture of a bird, selfie of her and Gray, picture of the meal at the zoo (for Raiden), picture of a bird, picture of her and a bird, picture of Gray she was gonna get in trouble for.

[napking]

Gray kept one dubious eye on her as he swiped through the photos. "Ardeeeeen," he complained. "No one needed to see me sleeping there!"

Castor had already commented, This one's my favorite, on one of the pictures of Gray asleep somewhere he absolutely should not have been asleep. They were lucky he hadn't fallen in a gorilla enclosure or something.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Castor clearly did," Arden said immediately. "See?"

She helpfully pointed to Castor's comment, before adding, One of mine, too!

[napking]

Siblings were a mistake.

"Just wait," Gray said. "I will have my revenge." Probably not. Probably he would sleep through his revenge.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

And this one was entirely your fault, Gray. Like, a full one hundred percent.

"For what?" Arden asked. "Sharing important moments with our big brothers?"

Butter, Gray. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

[napking]

"I'm very sneaky, you know," Gray told her.

Did it count if he told her in advance?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You know, I feel like you need this win," she said. "I'll let you have it. Can I buy you a regular waffle to make up for it?"

[napking]

"I'll allow it," Gray decided after pretending to think about it for a moment. "There's a family discount, you know."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh really? How much?"

[napking]

"I dunno," Gray admitted. "How much do you want it to be?"

Raiden shouldn't leave him in charge of things if he didn't want him to make policies.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I mean, if I get half off and you get half off, and I'm buying it for you, that's basically free, right?"

Arden. It was a waffle. It wasn't going to break the bank. Especially your new bank, Bank Nephilim.

[napking]

"That math maths," Gray agreed. "Raiden would confirm it, I'm sure. And I can get you a waffle...or something else, if you want it." And that would also be free, of course.

And somewhere, Castor was having a spontaneous aneurysm not over them getting free stuff but over the fear this was how they really thought math worked.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

There was no way Castor was ever getting an honest answer to that.

"That sounds fair," Arden agreed. Did it, Arden??? "Oooh, do they make stuffed waffles?"

[napking]

Never ever.

"Of course they make stuffed waffles," Gray told her. "You didn't think I was gonna let them not make stuffed waffles, did you?" What kind of low level waffle freak did you think he was, Arden?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Okay, Gray had a valid point there. "Sorry, sorry, what I meant to ask was, 'are they prepared to make stuffed waffles without shoving coffee in it today?'"

[napking]

"They'd better be," Gray said. "I wonder if they can put Nutella in it..."