2019-05-26 - Cricket Cookies

As usual, there are a handful of people scattered about the diner - and at least one guy in the second to last booth, sleeping. Good thing there's a two-hour limit on naps inside the place! He's only been there about an hour, it's fine. Gina is currently leaning against the counter by the register, flipping through one of those magazines that follow the trend of Nordic Alien fashion or the latest love-child of presumed-dead presidents who just ascended to other plains of existence or what have you. And the music choice tonight?

Chanting. In quite an assortment of languages. It may be slightly creepy. Gina's outfit today, however, is as simple as the "music" choice, as she's wearing a simple one piece black sheath dress, completely unadorned, with a black ribbon choker on her neck bearing a golden bell. So apparently she's in a contemplative mood tonight.

A blonde is sitting nearby at a table, half draped in a chair like she's ready to pop up at a moment's notice. She's worked here for a while, at least long enough to know the fact her bedazzled apron probably makes Gina's eye twitch. Bennie is wearing a pair of cut off denim shorts despite the weather and a pink and purple flannel that she's dressed up with just the right accessories and carefully applied make up.

Bennie's head bobs to the chanting, finding some rhythm in the unintelligible syllables as she doodles a mustache on one of the bears on a menu and blows bubbles in her bright pink gum.

Is it possible Gina's found a music Aidan doesn't like, this time? He pauses to listen on stepping inside, head tilting and brow furrowing. He's dressed more fall than spring right now -- a brown sweater covered in a pattern of running foxes, one line one direction and one the next, over a forest green shirt with off-white pinstripes that peeks out at the collar and hangs, untucked, from under the sweater's hem and over a pair of slightly-worn chocolate-brown corduroy pants. They've got a bit of a bell-bottom thing going on, but it's not quite to '70s costume night levels. Possibly actual '70s, though. And the biker jacket and Docs. The little plugs in his ears are polished wood, today.

...nope, chanting has been accepted. He nods once, as if having just received important information, ad heads broadly toward the counter, aiming a brilliant smile toward Gina, and sharing it with Bennie when he sees her, as well. The apron gets Noticed. "Hey!" he greets them both, keeping it at don't-wake-napping-dude levels. Luckily for people who can sleep in diners, those are usually pretty high levels. "Anything really interesting on the menu tonight?"

Gina, of course, doesn't look up at all at the sound of someone arriving. Nope. She just flips a page and snickers at something about a man losing a treasure map to an ancient crocodile in the swamps of Louisiana. It's only at the 'Hey' that her eyes flick up, tonight's make-up actually an impressive gold-and-black smoky eye. "Sup. Hardy Boy convention I didn't know about stop through town?" She asks, closing her magazine and stretching, by linking her fingers and pushing forward. "How interesting are you talking?"

"We got a live one!" Bennie is on her feet in an instant, but instead of overwhelming the newly arrived Aidan with her bubbly presence - she might have been warned about that in the past - she's edging around the counter to stand next to Gina. "He kinda looks like Jughead from that show about the Archie comic." She says as an aside to the boss lady, even though she's still eyeing Aidan with a 1000 watt smile.

"Why, got a mystery that needs solving?" Aidan asks cheerfully, "And how interesting have you got? I mean, definitely still edible. Recognizable as food. Tasty would be good? So I guess somewhere in that diagram where those circles all overlap." He beams back at Bennie, apparently fine with this comparison, although he does say, "I haven't seen that. I like your apron, though." His pocket makes a soft 'ding!' as he picks a seat to sit at, and he pulls his phone out without looking, adding, "I'm Aidan, by the way, hi." There's a couple very quick texts, maybe half his attention on that and the rest on them, before he asks, "What're we listening to?"

"Riverdale? Not as good as I was hoping." Gina remarks, finally pushing herself into a full standing position. "Bennie, Aidan Kinney. He was born here as a kid. Hardy, this is Bennie. Proof that I'm an equal opportunity employer." Gina says, with a gesture between the two of them. "We've got some cricket flour cookies if you wanna try those. They're kind of gross but Tal and I got bored a few hours ago. Also there's chili. And whatever's on the menu." Gina says, gesturing towards one of the menus. "You want a coffee or something? Bennie can get you coffee."

"I can get you coffee!" Bennie echoes like a caffeinated parrot on crack, but the only thing she's running on is sugarless gum and lack of sleep because of some lousy chickens. She's almost bounding to the pot to do just that, but ends up turning around and walking half backwards by bouncing on her toes with a bobble of her ponytail. "If you wanted coffee. Soda? Water? And I'm pretty sure it's Icelandic funeral chants. Either that, or Happy Birthday sung backwards in Vulcan."

"So... flour made out of crickets? Did you guys make it yourself or buy that somewhere?" Aidan asks, intrigued, even as he taps a quick something into the phone. "I'll try one, sure." Either way, apparently... "Chili sounds good though. Is there cornbread? 'cause with that, if there is. Otherwise toast. And a milkshake, um... coffee/chocolate/raspberry? And definitely actual coffee, thanks." Another grin for both of them, and the answer on the, er, music gets a quiet huh and an immediate quick text sent. "What's it prove you're equally employing?" he asks Gina. It sounds genuinely curious.

Gina just...shrugs at the questions, "I didn't make it. Tal brought in the cricket flour. Not sure where they got it." But she reaches down beneath the counter and from somewhere pulls out a baggie. There's some cookies in it. Which she sliiiiides over to Aidan. And then looks to energetic Bennie, then looks at Aidan, then just...sighs. "I'm open to wait staff of all cultural beliefs and modes of service, as long as they follow the diner rules." Which apparently... don't ACTUALLY include 'see all people as a chore'? Even some regulars might be shocked. "Anyway, yeah I've got a playlist, that one was the Icelandic funeral chant. It's got all kinds of stuff. I think there's actually a klingon prayer at some point."

"A man with an appetite, I appreciate that." Bennie actually pulls out a pad of paper and a pen and writes all this down, god forbid! "She hasn't outlawed smiling yet, but that's coming any day now." She pauses in her chewing to blow a ridiculously large bubble that pops and she has to lip off of the tip of her nose before she goes right on chewing. "Coffee, cookies, chili, cornbread, and one chocolate, one coffee and one raspberry shake. Coming right up!" Because if he doesn't correct her, he's getting three frosty dessert beverages.

Aidan sets his phone down on the counter -- there's a conversation going on there, of course -- and reaches over to accept the baggie. "Oh," he says, glancing up again, "Baylee says hi, diner people. And it's good to know you're open to the differently-dispositioned. Though I kinda think maybe you're doing it mostly to confuse people." Not that he looks that confused himself, or disappointed by having his order taken in a bright and efficient manner. "Wait, hold up, I meant just one shake, but coffee/chocolate/raspberry flavour. Though--" He glances at the phone as it dings, for some reason stifles a grin, and taps something short before looking back up. "Actually, can I get that stuff to go, instead? What I said, and a burger and fries and a chocolate/raspberry shake?"

He takes out one of those cookies, eyes it briefly, and takes a bite. Which is arguably brave, since he doesn't actually have a drink yet if it turns out they really are terrible. Or dumb. Brave or dumb.

If you've never had cricket cookies, the flavor is...okay. It's the texture that gets to you, really. Because cricket chitin just doesn't absorb like a flora-based flour does. It's...crumbly. A little dry. Even with extra things to make it moist, at best it's mealy, with a unique sort of aftertaste. Either way, At the accusation that Gina just hired Bennie to confuse people, he gets a shrug, "She had good references." Is the only excuse she gives. "Anyway, Baylee was that chick hanging on you last time? Let her know--"

Whatever it was Gina wanted her to know will become a mystery, because just then comes the sound of a woman screaming - but it's the classic Wilhelm scream, at a muted volume. Gina sighs, reaching for her phone kept atop the safe, and checks it-- "Oh, hey, my shit's ready. Percoset," Apparently a nickname for Bennie, for whatever reason, "I'm outtie." As is boss's privilege. "Take care, Hardy. Catch you around next time." And as simple as that, she heads for the kitchens, where she will probably head outside and away, at least until like, four Am or something when she returns.

Bennie slips a cup of coffee on the counter in short order. Just in case that cookie experiment goes horribly awry for Aidan. "Give me fifteen minutes, I'll have it out in a Jiff." She's scribbling something again on her pad, then slips over the carbon so he has his bill. Of course her name is on it, with the 'i' dotted with a little doodle of a heart.

"I'll hold down the fort and I promise to wait until you're at least fifteen feet from the building before I switch on my play list. I'm thinking...K-Pop?" Bennie kids Gina. Probably. Mostly.

Aidan's brow furrows again as he chews, like he's determined to give it a full and fair appraisal and possibly write some kind of thorough assessment of it afterward. What he actually does afterward, though, is take a drink of the coffee Bennie has so kindly and forward-thinkingly provided, and then say as if he still isn't totally sure, "Kinda not bad? I think it needs frosting, maybe." Gina might, maybe, get some of that as she's leaving, along with a hand-lift and a "Later!"

He watches after her for a moment. "Now I'm really curious what I was supposed to let her know." He looks to Bennie again, picking up the cup again for another sip. "Thanks. How come she calls you Percoset? She kinda doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd think you were a pain-killer, no offense intended. I like upbeat people." He'd better. There's some more typing on the phone (tch, rude), but at least he seems to split attention okay? Could be worse. Plus, it's no more distracting than when he has to pull out his wallet and sort out payment. It's all in cash. Mostly small cash.

"CLC. Hobgoblin." Gina calls out from behind the door, voice fading as she walks away. And disappears. After all, there was even a rumored 'Country Music' shift once, at some point. When it comes to music, Gina has a much wider tolerance than she has for people....

Bennie sends the order to the kitchen before her attention returns to Aidan. Well, at least she's giving him the 'just a minute' finger because she's counting her Mississippi's aloud. "...nine Mississippi...ten Mississippi..." Her smile blooms as she hears Gina's voice pipe in from the distance but she keeps on counting. By the time she gets to twenty, she's hitting a button on the sound system and The Strokes start playing over the speakers.

"Probably because I'm the jelly to her peanut butter. Don't worry, she secretly loves me." Her elbows prop on the counter and she leans over a fold of her fingers. "Is that your giiiiirlfriend?"

The cookies must have passed at least a necessary level of not bad, because after dealing with the money, Aidan closes the baggie back up and moves it to his jacket pocket. Hopefully Gina wasn't too set on inflicting the last few on other people! The counting gets a faintly curious look -- only faintly, though, because he's quick enough he understand the why of it, it's just the what he's waiting for. When it comes, he laughs. "Not sold on funeral chants?" he says, but there's already a hint of a shift along with the beat of the music, now that they've got music that has one. Her teasing makes him laugh again, though it's a smaller and quieter thing, and comes with a brief glance at the phone. No visible blush, but would it be? "Yeah, kinda, I think?" he answers, looking back up. "I mean, it's not exactly a one-and-only thing, but it's-- definitely a thing." Which he seems quietly pleased about. Might be a newish thing, this thing.

"Things are good! Things are fun!" Bennie says reassuringly as she sweeps the money off the counter and goes to the till, making change and returning it next to his coffee cup. "Things. Are promising." Her hands lift up to her ponytail, splitting it in two and giving it a yank to tighten the elastic. "Lemme grab that food for you, and another cup of coffee to go. Things also require energy."

Very little change is necessary. One of the few benefits of carrying mostly ones and change. Another is being able to leave tips properly, though! Which he has, setting that slightly aside from the rest. "Things are all these things," he agrees, giving her that brilliant grin again, "Thanks." He slides the change away into a pocket, and the phone -- after another quick message -- into another, right about in time for her return to load him down with his order. That gets another "Thanks," and also, "I'd stay and be inquisitive at you about things --" a slight pause, "okay, I didn't mean things things, but general things, which I guess could include things -- but food'd get cold and I think that dude in the booth is about to wake up and want coffee and stuff anyhow." If she glances over, said dude is indeed beginning to stir. "So, next time for impertinent questions." Plus, he has an appointment. "Nice meetin' you, Bennie!" It takes a bit of juggling to get out the door with everything, but he manages it, and even succeeds in a quick wave from behind the glass before disappearing into the old van parked outside, and thence into the night.