2019-07-08 - Breakfast of Champions

Mmm waffles. Waffles and bacon. Waffles, bacon and hash browns. Genevieve can't decide what she wants, and it might mean another huge order of food where half of it has to go home with them. "Want to share breakfast or are we both ordering? I'm pretty hungry. I might go overboard again." Now that Eli has been warned she settles down at a table, opening a menu up. "I have a feeling that there are going to be some very tough decisions made here." She turns to the helpful waitress who steps up, offering her a smile. "Can I have a cup of coffee while we decide?" She glances at Eli to see if he wants something to drink while they argue over menu options.

"Isn't this a situation where you can't really make the wrong choice? We could throw darts at the menu and still come away from this pretty satisfied." Eli replies, easing himself down into the seat opposite of Eve and taking up his own copy of the menu. He also orders a coffee when the chance arises. Caffeine sounds really good right now. Then back to looking more carefully at the menu. "Would could get a few different things and just split them up. That way we get to try more items. The portions here are large and we still want to be able to walk when we're done here. Do you like your bacon crispy?" He asks, looking up as though this is an important question.

"I just don't want to order too much again." Genevieve glances up at Eli and nods, setting the menu down so they can make some joint decisions. "Of course I like my bacon crispy? People who get bacon limp and greasy .. they're probably serial killers." She points at the menu. "How about..belgian waffles, hash browns, bacon and some eggs. Maybe sausage patties?" That's too much. It's probably too much, and at best she's only going to eat a bite or two of most of that. She sneaks a look at Eli to see if he's picking up what she's putting down, trying to look like she can eat at least half of what she named.

"Maybe we should pump the brakes on the eggs?" Eli suggests, looking at the menu while Eve lists off the half dozen items that she wants to eat. "I like eggs, but I'm thinking they're just going to seem out of place with everything else." See. He can make hard decisions. "Though, weren't you saying yesterday that you were craving grits? Might have to add that onto the pile. We can get away with a single waffles too. They're bit, it will be plenty to split it." He seems well aware that the split is likely going to land heavily on his side. Sometimes these are bullets that you have to take.

"But what if I want to make an egg sandwich with my half of the waffle?" Genevieve is prepared to fight for the eggs, or at least argue sweetly in their favor. She rests her cheek on her palm, gazing down at the menu before she sighs. "Okay. Okay. No eggs, we'll get grits instead." She looks a little mutinous at the mention of only getting a single waffle, they do have to-go containers. "Let's get two waffles, that way we don't have to split it and you won't have to sacrifice most of your waffle." The waitress brings back coffee and Eve gives Eli a brief look before she turns to order. There will be no more compromise.

The door opens and swings close. Declan walks inside and waits to be seated, tapping his foot a bit while he does. He has a friendly smile for the host, though. Maybe they know one another. He's eventually seated by Eli and Genevieve, the next table or booth over from theirs. After a final nod, he glances around the place and catches sight of Eli. He's a few years older than Declan, but they probably went to school together, or maybe he's served Eli a drink once upon a time. Declan lifts his hand in a casual and silent greeting.

It is a small victory. Once the food arrived Eli was certain that Eve would agree about eggs not being necessary. He wraps his hands around the coffee mug and waits silently while Genevieve places the order, not making any more comments on the contents of the order, even when the waitress sneaks him a brief 'are you serious' look. He is distracted by the entrance of Declan, turning to face him when he gets seated nearby and offering a quick nod to the man once he's settled. "Good morning, Declan." He offers to the man, his tone polite if somewhat reserved. No doubt after both living in this town for thirty years they've crossed paths. When Eve is done ordering he offers a brief introduction - "Genevieve, this is Declan Hopper. A good number to have if anything breaks around the shop. Or so I'm told." Eli hadn't actually ever hired Declan for any jobs.

Genevieve sees that look at the waitress gives Eli and she ignores it. She just wants her pillowy waffles, meat, potatoes and hominy. She adds sugar and lots of creamer to her coffee, turning when Declan is introduced. "Good afternoon." She gets to her feet, leaning across the divide to offer Declan her hand. "Genevieve Dupuis, it's a pleasure to meet you." She takes her hand back, sitting down and crossing her legs. "Oh, you fix things? It's always good to know someone who can fix things." Her smile is friendly, taking a sip of her coffee before she adds. "Come for waffles and bacon?" Her casual gregarious nature is almost contradictory to Eli, looking excited to meet someone new.

"Hey man." Declan quiets when Eli makes introductions. "How you been?" His local accent is pretty thick, and his voice is deep and somewhat quiet. He turns as Genevieve stands up and moves over. Taking her hand, he gives it one good shake. "Yeah, likewise," is said while looking somewhat surprised. It passes. "Eggs and coffee. About to get back on the road and lay some tile. And yeah, that's what I do. Here." A card is pulled from his wallet and placed on the table beside her. It's for a handyman service. "I'll match prices and work with the hours you have. What kind of shop do you run?"

"Things have been good. Really good, actually." Eli says, a brief look toward Genevieve when he makes this declaration, before turning his attention back to Declan. "I don't honestly remember the last time we were talking. Work is steady. Mostly comes to me these days rather than having to go search for it. Makes it easier to just focus on the work rather than the sales." Yup, Eli isn't so great at selling himself. "Hopefully the same for you? Do you get a lot more work during tourist season? I figure if more people are around, likely more things breaking."

The scent of waffles has distracted Genevieve briefly, but when Declan produces a card she picks it up and looks at it as Eli chats. Then there is a question, and her cheeks get pink as she smiles in Declan's direction. "I own a cannabis dispensary." She responds, tucking the card into her sweatpants pocket. "I'll keep you in mind in case something breaks, because honestly? I am not good at repairing things around the house." She shoots a fond look at Eli, before she grins at Declan. "So you are one of those who's lived around here all his life? I've only been in town a little over a month."

Declan smiles a little and looks between Eli and Genevieve. His eyes get a little dreamy before he sobers. "Been a bit, yeah." Nodding, his arm settles on the table before he shrugs. "Been good. Yep, really busy this time of year. I'm going to make most of my profits for 2019 in the next couple of months. On top of that, I'm bartending. Work, work. Work. Come by the Pourhouse sometime, though. I'll pour you one on me." He turns to Eve. "Like I said, I'll match others quotes or give you one for free. I know most of the guys who work around here. All good men, except one or two. Hard to go wrong." He nods. "Yep. Whole life. Never managed to leave. Are you liking it so far?"

"Sometimes I feel like this town has more bartenders than drinkers." Eli says, a bit of amusement in his features. "I sat down at a bar last week and ended up sitting there with three bartenders. Only one of them was working. Anyway - I'll peek in sometime and see if you're working." He says amiably. "Us lifers have to stick together." Any other comments he might have made are interrupted by the first of several plates starting to arrive at the table. Nice thing about breakfast foods is they don't take long to prepare. "Oh, that smells good." He comments, suddenly remembering how hungry he was when they came here.

"I bought an old building, so it always seems like something is going awry, I'll be contacting you." Genevieve promises Declan, turning when the waitress returns with plates. She sets down silverware and gives the pair a look that clearly conveys that they ordered way too much. The dark haired woman doesn't care, she's already picking bits from other plates to pile onto her empty one, grinning over at Eli. "Pass the grits, please." She looks over the food, considering her next course of action. "I've been to the Pourhouse, it's nice, I'll come with Eli when he comes to have a beer, unless it's a boys night." Those do happen. She has made a complicated little sandwich of sausage, bacon and waffle, squeezing some syrup into the nooks. "Do you get any opportunity to relax?" She asks Declan, after hearing about the work he's going to be diving into.

"Yeah, maybe. Lots of people drink down the way. Takes a lot of manpower to pour all that beer." Declan laughs and runs his eye as he says it. He quiets as food arrives and looks away, not wanting to disturb them. He also orders coffee, and those eggs. After meals are split apart, he turns to Eve. "Sure. Come on by. I'll try to guess your drink of choice, and make it how you like it. It's a fun game." Her final question gets a tilt of his head. "Y-yeah," his gaze goes up towards the ceiling. "Yeah, sometimes. Not much." His cheeks blush the tiniest bit.

Eli takes a couple deep breathes as he looks out across the array of food that has arrived, the look of concentration on his features like a man who is preparing to go into battle and fully intends to walk away the victor. He starts to put some of everything on his plate, pushing a piece of bacon into his mouth while he's still gathering other items. He doesn't build any sorta of fraken-breakfast-sandwich like some people, but it's a pretty impressive plate by the time he's finished. He takes up his fork and knife and starts to efficiently consume calories. "Oh, that's good. Very good." He notes between mouthfuls, turning and nodding along with Declan's comments. "And the bars will just get busier in the summer heat." He looks across the table toward Eve, smiling around his current bite. "Been awhile since I did anything that could be considered a boys night."

Genevieve is too involved in her breakfast concoction to pay attention to Eli judging her. She takes a bite, and sticky syrup drips off of the edge of waffle, getting her fingers sticky. She stays leaned over the table so that it doesn't sticky her tank top as well. She watches Declan blush, and looks thoughtful, but she doesn't know him well enough to pry .. yet. "It's a good place to go when it's warm out. Most of them have air, and the beer is cold." She smirks at Eli and shrugs, her eyes shifting over to Declan. "Might be that change could be coming. Maybe you will." She takes another bite, making a noise when more syrup leaks out of her waffle. "Will you make drinks until you get my drink of choice right? I might be drunk before you nail it, but I like trying new things."

While Eli goes to WAR, Declan's coffee is poured. He takes a long sip, then fixes it with an artificial sweetener. "Not sure how much tourist attention it gets, but business will pick up." He looks over to Eve, and by the time he has the blush is gone. "I'll do that once," he replies with a small smile. "Maaaaaybe twice. Maybe. But yeah, once I figure out what you like, I can show you some different drinks you might enjoy. People around here stick to bullets and beer, maybe the odd margarita. Every once in awhile I get to make something fun, and I love that."

"I enjoy a Manhattan." Eli says around his latest bite of food, the pile on his plate has diminished, but he's also slowing down. The serving plates still have plenty on them as well. They likely should have tried to feed it to Declan before he ordered his own. "I know that's not all that complex either, but they taste delicious. I like them to be a bit on the sweet side, personally." Eli looks across toward Eve, brow furrowing. "I don't think I know what your favorite drink is. I mean, unless it's the obvious. But, just because you have something with regularity doesn't make it the favorite. Maybe Declan and I will both have to guess."

Genevieve is a mess, not literally, she's just gonna have to wash her hands before she touches anything. Or Eli. "I haven't tried a Manhattan, and yes, you're both welcome to guess as long as I get to taste the wrong guesses too." She winks at Eli before she nods at Declan. "Mmm well, I'm from out of town and I like neither of those things. I never could acclimate my mouth to beer, but I think it's because it tastes yeasty to me." She sets down her waffle-wich and opens it, picking out the bacon to crunch into it. "Does the Pourhouse serve food?" The fact that she can even consider food right now is a minor miracle.

"I would have pegged you for a mojito or light Belgium guy, Eli. I wasn't too far off." Wasn't he? Declan grins. He sips more of his coffee and looks over at Eve. "Beer hits a lot of bitter receptors for people and it can be too much." Declan shrugs. "Margaritas... hm. They're pretty acidic and usually too sweet. Straight shots really aren't good unless you're going top shelf, but it can be a lot. Anyway, swing by sometime. I'll take a crack at it." Declan tells her whether or not they serve food. They probably have appetizers.

Eli's plate is greatly diminished and he looks around at the remaining items skeptically. Reaching out he adds a couple more things to his plate, but he and Eve are certainly going to be hauling a bunch of this home with them. It will all get eaten eventually. "You need to try a Manhattan. I have the things to make them at my apartment. I should bring my bottles over. Just need to get some maraschino cherries." He gestures with his fork toward Declan. "Or we can just go out and have someone make a good one for us, but you already have several drink guesses coming your way." He takes up a napkin for his fingers and face and nudges the remainder of the stack toward Eve in case she's in need of one. Or six. "Straight shots have their place." He says, smiling.

"Mmm I'll try anything once." Eve mumbles, glancing down at her fingers with a sigh. "I'm going to go wash my hands, actually. I don't want paper pieces clinging to me for the rest of the day." She nods in agreement as she gets to her feet. "We'll be down to the Pourhouse though Declan, make a game out of it, maybe put down a bet or two." She aims a sly look at Eli when he mentions shots, her cheeks turning pink. "The man isn't wrong." She murmurs as she heads toward the bathroom. She might touch a finger to the seat she saw the waitress in earlier, a little revenge for that look earlier.

"You bet," Declan replies to the suggestion of hitting up the bar sometime. He does grin pretty wide at Eli offering to make his date the drink himself. Super romantic. "Yeah. They do. And no, he isn't." His eggs arrive and Declan begins to eat, quiet for several minutes. While checking the time, he asks, "How long have you two been together?"

"It's a pretty recent thing. I guess it has been almost a month now. Genevieve only came back to Grey Harbor a little bit before that. Honestly, hard to believe it has only been a month. It feels like it has been a lot longer. I mean - in a good way." Eli adds with a quiet laugh, realizing that sometimes that could be taken as the opposite. "Makes some of the challenges of living around here seem a bit less heavy when you have someone to share them with." He notes, somewhat ambiguously. He takes one last piece of bacon and then waves down the waitress so they can get the rest of the items packed up. "You, ah, seeing anyone?" The words stumble a bit - seems like the right thing to ask, but his delivery is awkward.

Genevieve returns, clean hands and a bright smile on her face. She settles into her seat and reaches for her purse, digging around inside. "Did you ask for boxes, Eli?" She asks, giving him a look before she pulls out her phone to tap out a text. She tosses the phone back in and then pulls out her wallet. She's gonna help pay for this huge mess that she's ordered for them both. She squints at the plates and reaches in to snag one of the sausage patties, destroying it in two bites.

"First three months are the best part," Declan says with a grin. "Everything's still so shiny. I love that feeling. And hey, I'm happy for you guys, that's..." he trails off, chuckles, and concludes, while looking between the two of them, "it's great to see people happy." Eli's question makes Declan turn back to him. "Not consistently. Here and there." His phone rings. "Never lasts more than a few dates." He checks his phone. "Damn. Client. Hey, it was nice meeting you," he nods to Genevieve, "and don't be strangers. I work nights." He tells them his schedule. "Talk to you guys soon." Declan stands up, answers the call, and goes to pay at the front even if that isn't a think you do here. He does it anyway, because someone's pip is spewing horrible-something everywhere, and he doesn't have more time to be polite.

"I did indeed ask for boxes." Eli says, and then Declan is leaving and he's waving to the man when the phone drags him away. He works on getting everything boxed and adds some cash to the pile to cover the breakfast. "Oh, I feel very heavy." He comments, standing up and taking some of the boxes before leading the way back outside.