2019-11-05 - Beary Busy Morning

It's five in the morning, we're feeling kind of-- empty, really. There's still a good hour or two till the morning rush really hits, but the employees are preparing for it earnestly. By which we mean there are three of them playing some sort of card game using a "pot" of M&Ms as the gambling funds, basically ignoring the quartet of drunk, giggling woman in a corner loudly squealing about their night out in a forced, desperate attempt to grab back their 20s, the jogger on their tablet and bluetooth phone drinking fresh juice and a salad, and the little old lady eating incredibly slowly with old, rheumetic, shaky hands. In the kitchen the sound of pots and pans moving around can be heard, and at the counter is Gina-- on the customer side of things, sitting on a stool with her legs on the stool next to her, dressed in a purple skirt, black-and-grey patterned leggings, boots, and a heavy-knit black sweater with slashed shoulders making two gaping skull 'mouths.' She is - oddly- smoky-eye-less, but her lips are painted bright, bright red, and she's currently bopping along to the exciting zither soundtrack that makes it sound like there should be a dramatic battle scene of mounted warriors somewhere.

The door opens. Alexander enters. His eyes are bloodshot, and he looks weary down to his bones. At least he doesn't look particularly injured, and his clothes don't seem like he's been through any disasters, of late. Except the fashion disaster that he normally is. He makes his way to the counter with barely a glance towards the booth and the giggling women there. Instead, he takes a seat beside Gina, moving like an older man. "Miss Castro," he greets, without really looking at her. He rests his arms on the counter, and then his head on his arms. "Coffee?" It's mumbled into his shirt, probably pretty easy to miss, as a request.

Joey should have the decency to not drive a motorcycle at 5 am, but Joey is kinda an asshole. Not so much he won't hold teh door for Nicole, or fail to greet Alexander as he comes in. "Clayton. Gina." Keys flick into the pocket of his well worn leather jacket." This woman is still talking to Joey. Suspiscious. Very suspiscious.

Nicole walks in with Joey, smiling as he holds the door open for her. She's dressed for work. Black boots, black trousers, black leather jacket over a black scoop necked blouse. Her hair, for the moment, is just in a ponytail though, she usually does her hair and makeup at work (better lighting). She, the cheerier of the two, usually, smiles and waves at Alexander and Gina, following Joey to wherever he chooses to sit. "Good morning, everyone."

There's a bell over the door that gives a little jingle every time someone walks in or out. It's a useful thing for diner doors to have!

Except, of course, if the diner is the Grizzly, where the waitstaff look up... and then continue their game. And Gina? Gina just plain continues to look at her phone without even the decency to acknowledge the Bell. Or Alexander when he sits and says his name. OR when Joey greets them both, though her brows pinch together juuust the slightest bit. But then there's Nicole with her cheerful greeting as well and Gina finally sets her phone down, giving a deep, exasperated sigh as she does, before she kicks her feet off the nearby stool and straightens, tucking her phone away. "What do you all want?" It's not PRECISELY hostile, but not welcome-- as if they're interrupting her in the middle of her dinner at home, and not in the middle of a DINER, where this is business. Still, though, she's strolling to the business side of the counter, before finally choosing to look over who, precisely, it was that walked in. "Oh, Stein." Slightly less... irritated, since that purple hair of Gina's requires upkeep, guys. "And Keller." Alexander is ignored, except Gina does seem to be pouring two cups of coffee, sliding one in front of his and adding caramel sauce to the second, for herself to sip.

Alexander makes a resigned grunting sound when he recognizes Joey's voice. Bright side? It does get him to stop laying his head on his arms and taking up more counter space than he really should. He sits up, to give the two coming in a bleary eyed once over. "Kelly. Nicole. Hello." He doesn't say good morning, because he's not very interested in lying. He rubs at his face with one hand, and says, "Coffee, Miss--ah. Thank you." The hand goes out to grab the mug and drag it closer. "And bacon, eggs, toast. Please." A glance back towards the other two. "It's very early. What are you two up to?"

Joey doesn't miss a beat and answer's Gina in deadpan, "Blood of my enemies in a handy collector's skull. Regular, not decaf." He slides his coat off and onto the back of the chair before looking to Alexander, "Eh, Gym opens in an hour. Thought I'd grab breakfast before hand." Becuase it's 5 am doens't mean the man isn't up and going. Of all the damn people to be a morning person, seriously.

Taking a deep breath two fingers gesture to Nicole and then Gina. That's either an introduction or a order what you want, I got it. To Alexander he considers, "You heard from B abotu that box thing we found? I ain't texted him yet to see how that panned out."

With an (un)surprising casualness, Gina reaches for another mug, "You'll just have to deal with plain coffee. Everybody knows a kind-hearted, gentle guy like you has no enemies." Gina is very, very good at keeping a straight face. The coffee is put before Joey. It's... surprisingly good coffee, like the food is surprisingly good. It's not the BEST coffee, but it certainly isn't instant and might even have been freshly ground and brewed less than an hour ago. "How do you want your eggs, Clay? Omelet?" Gina asks mildly, writing down the order. She looks as well-rested as anyone gets-- but her diner runs 24/7, and she can be spotted at nearly any time of day. One wonders what sort of crazy sleep schedule she keeps. Or just never question it, which may be safer.

“Hi, Gina. Long time no see. How’ve you been?” Despite Gina’s not overly friendly demeanor, Nicole is a bit chipper today, When Joey sits and gestures for her to place an order, she takes up the seat beside him. “JUst a coffee for now. Cream and sugar, thanks.” Looking to Alexander and Joey, she nods. “Been curious about that too.”

"Scrambled." It's very firm. Alexander is no where near sleep deprived enough to order the omelet. "Thanks." He gives her a wary look, before turning back to Byron. "Nah. I think he's gotten distracted with the Masquerade." A grimace, and he rubs at his face. "Miss Winslow is missing, and Isabella was...assaulted. In a fashion. It's been an eventful festival." He takes a sip of his coffee. "I do wonder what was in the box, though."

Joey blinks and the second eyebrow matches the firs tone. "Lil's missin? Shiiiit. I'll have to call him later. Everything, um... with..." Isabella alright. Words. Bad. Coffee, good. Heblinks at Nicole and says "You just gonna pick off my plate aren't you?" Not that he's complaining. "Farmer's omelett. Wheat toast. Sausage, please." Gina gets a fucking please cause she's doing them a fucking favor. The coffee gets a nod. No regular cup of spite,, jsut a cup of joe.

Alexander looks at Joey with wide-eyed horror. "Kelly." His voice is blank. "Joseph, not the omelet. You're too young and pretty to die that badly."

Five-thirty is early for some people, late for others. Hailey looks like she fits into the latter category, coming in with her hair in a now-tattered tail, dressed in that 'business casual' that manages to keep Burlington Coat Factory running strong. At least she doesn't full-on stumble through the door, but there's a weary heaviness to her steps when she heads toward the counter or whatever, though not without one quick, "Oh! Geez. Excuse me, sorry," to one of the grizzly-decorations that catches her completely by surprise. Getting terrorized by sculpture is good for the appetite?

Gina finishes the order, a small smirk on her lips, and sends it off to the kitchen, before grabbing another mug, filling it with coffee and setting it in front of Nicole. And-- shock of shocks, for ANYBODY who has ordered coffee here before-- instead of pointing to the creamer down the row, Gina actually calls out, "New Guy. Cream and sugar. Here." And points down the counter where the cream and sugar are, before pointing to Nicole. Apparently, the owner of Gina's hair salon gets special treatment, instead of just being told to get the cream her own damn self. Gasp.

And then... and then Joey orders, and Gina's smirk widens, "Farmer's omelet?" She asks with...deceptive, inquisitive mildness. "Sure. We can make you one of those. If you're -sure- you don't want a farmer's scramble instead." Gina waits, curious. As for Hailey? She's glanced at with that excuse-me, but since she doesn't look ready to order-- is promptly ignored by all the waitstaff. Ahh, that Grizzly customer service.

Joey blinks. SLOOOOOWLY at Alexander and with an amazing deadpan, "You're married Clayton. You can't just care now about this fine mug. Naw. It's too late. This? This is what you've driven me to." He stares at the face staing back at him staring. All that said, however, he murmurs to Gina and relents, "Yeaaaaah , gimme the scramble." He sighs and looks to Nicole, "Soooo I meant it. Turkey day. You want me to come by at eleven whent eh gym closes Wednesday or pick you up in teh mornin? I was thinkin of getting all Jesse's toys and lining them up wout of her room to the TV so she can have a parade to watch teh parade. Gotta mess with kids while they're young."

"I'm not married," Alexander says, with a roll of his eyes. He makes a satisfied noise when Joey changes his order, though - can't have the guy dying of food poisoning on him. He goes back to hunching over as Thanksgiving is discussed, although he rouses briefly when Hailey comes in. "Doctor." A quick once over, noting the shattered remains of her hairstyle. "You just got off shift?" Then a smile. "They don't talk back. Not usually, at least. One does hear rumors, though."

That's okay. Hailey will just sit herself down at the counter, side-eyeing that bear that scared her, until someone notices her. Or she dies of hunger. She fiddles with things while she waits, pushing around salt shakers and silverware and generally just touching all the things that are close enough to her to touch. She seems quite content like this, despite the wilted air, so it takes her till the end of all the things Alexander is saying to realize that he's saying them to her. "Yes," she answers with a sudden nod. That is, yes, she just got off her shift. Not a comment on the talkativeness of the bric-a-brac. "I'm not worried." All evidence to the contrary. "It will take ages to work through the Q through Zs before it's back around to the Bs. How are you, Mister Clayton?"

Gina shrugs as she writes down the order, but is that... the faintest trace of disappointment? Well, we all love schadenfreude. She turns to put the orders in, giving the "new guy" who looks awkward and uncertain, space to set the cream and sugar in front of Nicole with a shy, nervous smile. Poor lamb. Employment at the Grizzly will be a growing experience. Ignoring Alexander's assertions that he isn't married, Gina leans over the counter, propped up by her elbows with her coffee mug in both hands. "Is it really a lie, Clayton? Are you single? Or are you married, and never brought Mrs. Research over?" One hand uncurls from the mug to snap, a Eureka moment, "Is it the Waffle Shoppe?" Gina asks solemnly, "Are we the other Diner? The one you never let your wife see?" Gina asks, deadpan throughout the accusations, one brow rising... before she turns to look at Hailey. One glance, from head to toe and back up again, "Is that Doctor Clayton?" She asks mildly, her smile a little toothy.

"I mean... I might just pick off your plate," Nicole smiles to Joey. "Thoughhhh... on second thought, Gina, if you have a seasonal fruit plate, I'd go for that too. Sorry to be a bother." She frowns but that is quickly replaced with a smile as 'New Guy' brings the cream and sugar. "Thanks!" She then echoes Joey. "Wait, what? Who is missing?" She looks over to Alexander then. Apparently she is slow to wake this morning. But when Joey reminds her about Thanksgiving, even picking her up the day before, she smiles and gives a nod. "Yes, totally! I am looking forward to it and I LOVE the parade idea to the parade!"

"Terrible. Thanks for asking," Alexander says to Hailey, deadpan. "I apologize for not meeting you for tea thus far. Soon?" A sidelong look at her. "Or are you going to work yourself into some sort of medical collapse in a soonish timeline?" He frowns in concern at her.

Although that's pretty quickly diverted by Gina leaning in and starting in on the marriage stuff. He scowls. Pokes a finger at Joey. "See if I ever try to warn you about omelets again, Kelly." And then a poke at Gina. "Don't you start. I'm single. There is no Mrs. of any sort." Then the whole conversation just goes off the rails, and he lets out a soft groan. Pushing the coffee aside, he just lays his head on the counter, nose pressed against it. "You're all terrible people." A thoughtful pause. "Not you, Nicole. You seem fine. Parades are nice." A longer pause. "Possibly not Dr. Stevenson, either. Seems okay. Mostly just Miss Castro and Kelly. Terrible people."

Like that was a totally serious question, Hailey tells Gina, "No, Doctor Stevenson. I have my badge here somewhere." She pats her pockets, like it's important that she proves that she's not giving a fake name, here. The badge does materialize, but she doesn't do anything with it except to let it dangle from her fingers by the little lanyard clippy thingie. "Is there a Doctor Clayton? I haven't met them yet." She's not firing on all six cylinders right now, obviously. She might have answered Alexander's whole tea-thing, but then he puts his head down on the counter, and she winds up asking what any (mostly) normal human would when confronted with this: "Are there any little packets of jelly over by you? Grape, please?"

Joey mumbles to Alexander in agreement, "Yeaaaah that one's on me. You got me for a beer later." Looking back to Nicole he gives her a look that reads Really, I'd never guess but the words come out, "well... cool. That's... a plan then." Plans. The man is making plans now. Looking back to Hailey he agrees, "I am a terrible person, but I also have the jelly." And wit that he slides it to Alexander to convey over if he deosn't pull one out and thwap him with it.

Gina just... gives that amused little smirk, as Alexander and Hailey both respond. But when she turns to look back at Alexander, her expression is back to looking serious, and she reaches out to give Alexander a light punch on the shoulder. "See you're still working on it. You get 'em, slugger." She says sympathetically. Mockingly? Sarcastically? Gina's tone carries that usual ambiguousness to it that makes it infuriatingly difficult to decode.

Of course, by the time she pushes herself up and turns around, she's snickering to herself as she has another sip of coffee. From the fridge comes a fresh fruit bowl, from a container a packet of jelly (one of those GOOD brands, too. Does that actually say 'organic' on it??) and doesn't bring it over so much as slide it down towards Hailey. It swishes down the counter, dinking into a salt shaker and spinning-- but still managing to stop just in front of Hailey. While Gina just has another sip of coffee.

With his face down on the counter, Alexander doesn't see the gentle punch coming. He jumps in a total overreaction when it does land on his shoulder, though, nearly startling back off the bar stool as his head comes up and he frowns. "Don't touch." With that, he slides off the stool, gets out enough money to pay for the meal and coffee in ragged little bills of cash, and grunts at Joey. Is that a yes? Is that a no? He doesn't elaborate. Just slinks his way out of the diner, blearily.

Nicole is busy mixing in cream and sugar into her coffee, stirring it as she watches and listens. Smiling to Alexander she grins. "Thank you. I think I seem fine too." She gives him a wink then looks over to Hailey, giving her a finger wave before her eyes shift up to Joey's. "Not so terrible. Ooh. I could maybe even get her a couple balloons, like those balloons in parades? Would she like that? Man, I wish someone had thought of this when I was a kid.... " Nodding with a quirk of her lips, she agrees, "a plan." When Alexander gets up to leave, she waves to him, but lets him go in peace.

Hailey stubbornly manages to hang around till someone - anyone! - will take an order. For a club sandwich. To go. Please. She puts jelly in the to-go-container, just so that wasn't an empty request on her part. Then off she goes, to eat her club sandwich and become unconscious.

Slipping through the doors, after holding for any folk going out, Thewlis works his way in, heading for the counter as he shrugs out of a gray fleece lined flannel jacket, revealing more flannel beneath. Avoiding heavy foot traffic areas until he can get to one of the padded stools, settling in and hunching up, eyes flicking from person to person while he waits for a server of any kind. The local Cemetery guy... alive, in person.

Joey wasn't glared at so thereby cannot be in trouble and takes Alexander's murmur as a sure, sounds good. He offers to Nicole, "Damn fine and ," the boxer shifts in his seat and squints at her maybe like she's from another planet or it's an idea. For a man who looks perpetually pissed and anyone talking is wasting his time and a candidate to get hit the tone comes contrary. Hostile resting face is a thing. Maybe it's why he doesn't take Gian personally though there is the hint of a grin when she encourages Clayton on. "Yeah make a list. Maybe we'll get her a couple she can make her own parade." He tells Gina, "She's four." The door dings and Devlin's there that wins an eyebrow and a nod. "Take the seat, he ain't coming back." in reference to Alexander's vacated spot.

It's very likely New Guy will take pity on someone and take Nicole's order, but the Grizzly isn't exactly well known for its customer service. After a little wiggle of her fingers towards the departing Alexander and Hailey, she smirks again, clearly entertained, before there is a ding! and Joey's plate comes out. As usual, the toast is perfectly toasted, the sausage juicy and plump, the omelet wonderfully seasoned, the butter whipped and in a little dish. That is set in front of him, as the fruit bowl was left in front of Nicole. There's a little shudder as she overhears the age of the spawnling - /children/, gross - before Gina looks towards Thewlis, "Just here to remind yourself what a pulse is, or you actually want something?" Gina asks, with her usual "good cheer."

There is a subtle wiggle of her brow towards Joey as he agrees that she is not only fine but, 'damn fine'. Though Nicole tilts her head curiously at the look he is giving her. "What?" Then he mentions the list. "Oh.. yeah. I can. Whenever I get to spend time with her its like a redo for my own childhood. I live vicariously through her." She smiles at New Guy when he sees to her request for fruit. Thankfully, she's overly blessed with patience, so she's not in a hurry, but the fruit and Joey's food comes fairly soon. She lifts her fork to stab one of those fruity pieces and plops it in her mouth as she looks towards Thewlis and the newly arrived Devlin.

Devlin enters the diner pausing for a moment as he takes things in. A shrug on his part after a moment followed by his moving to a table. He nods to Thewlis and greets, "Afternoon." as he removes his hat to shake the drizzle off it.

When addressed, Thewlis looks to Gina as if she was jabbing a stick at him, flinching and hunching a little more. "Coffee... turkey bac-ba-..." he frowns, looking about the diner, and when he looks back to Gina it's not very long at all before his eyes are on the counter. "Turkey bacon club... beef vegetable soup, if it's available." brow knitting, eyes back to scanning the diner in snap sweeps

Gina looks both unrepentant and unbothered by Thewlis's shyness, writing up the order and sending it off to the kitchen. Maybe that's why she doesn't so much as glance at Devlin. Maybe it's also why two waiters over there are playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to clean up after a group of drunk women stumbling out of the diner and into a cab, who glance at Devlin and don't even so much as smile. Or maybe the GRizzly just lives up to its reputation as having 1-star customer service. Did we mention the music currently playing seems to be chinese harp/orchestral music? Zithers abound, guys.

What is true is that the nervous Thewlis, when he isn't looking, earns a smile from Gina-- it's not a /nice/ smile that bodes happiness and puppies kisses, though. It's more like a cat who has just spotted a bird fluttering about on the patio.

Once he grabs a seat, Devlin takes a look at the menu and is pretty quick to order, "Pork tenderloin, drag it through the garden. No mayo or ketchup.. just mustard. Fries and ice tea." He sets his hat on the table to one side. "Oh and if you have them.. small order of wings.. hot." He shakes his head a bit with a smile and comments to himself, "Reminds me of that joint down the road from Lost in the Woods gate.."

One of Nicole's favorite things to do is People Watch, and so, that is what she does as she eats her fruit and sips from her coffee. On occasion, her fork sneaks over to steal a bite of Joey's breakfast, the sausage, really. Her eyes settle on Devlin after a moment, staring even, as if she is trying to place him.

Head on a swivel, though he can't keep his attention everywhere, Thewlis notes that he is being looked at, and as he flits his attention from point to point he nods to Devlin, whom he's at least had some interaction, "Hu-hey. Devlin, or Deven was it?" eyes going back to his hands for a few moments, "Sorry, I ah, I'm." he takes a long breath, blowing it out slowly before his features sink into a turtle beak frown, considering his words. "I'm bad at... names. Names, I'm bad at names... Guh-good day?" another visual sweep of the room before he looks back to the soldier.

Joey looks to Gina and says, "Well kids are gross. but Jessie's not a child, she's a low XP adult." DId... did Joey jsut make a gaming joke? Huh! He eats his scramble (take safety in teh scramble) and looks to Nicole, "It'll be good practice for when she takes over the city and work for her. Balloons, and a turkey. And maybe... maybe I'll surprise you with somethin of a scavenger hunt because no one knows where the turkey baster winds up. Gets used in too many damn science projects.

"Close, Devlin. I do get it.. having come from the land of name tags myself.." Devlin smiles a bit as one of the waitresses finally takes his order. He then looks over to Thewlis, "Relax.. it's a nice enough place. And at least the food is good from what I have heard. Figured I would give it a try."

Nicole looks at Joey a little horrified. "Uhhhh... Maybe I'll buy you a new one and bring it with... " For some reason, science projects done with turkey basters doesn't sound like a healthy combination for consumption. "But uh. We'll keep her busy, or I will, or... I have ideas. So many ideas." Finally, she says to Devlin, "you look familiar.... have you had a craving for candy lately?" She knows Thewlis, of course. Most townies do. Heck, he probably buried her father. She nods towards him in greeting.

"You're genetically programmed to make excuses for them." Gina drawls I response to Joey, before giving a snort at Devlin's words. She leans on her elbows on the counter directly in front of Thewlis. Is she maybe uncomfortably close? Possibly, but she's not touching him. "I don't require my staff to fake nice bullshit to make people feel better. But if you want food, speak up and you'll get food. Plus side, you won't get some annoying ass waiter bugging you while you eat. Worthy trade off, don't you think?" Again, that little smile-smirk as she waits for an answer... but glances at Nicole at her words, then back towards Thewlis, both brows raised....before she pushes herself away from the counter, to get his coffee.

Anatoly strides right in as if he owns the place, a swagger in his step and a five gallon bucket of honey in his hand whilst in the other is a basket of fruit. He's clad in his typical attire of jeans and a track suit jacket this evening, offering a nod to Gina as he passes her "Privyet." and with that he's heading for the kitchen. About thirty seconds pass between the man entering the kitchen and the pleasant and soothing strains of russian industrial metal come streaming from the workspace.

At the note to relax, it seems to cause the opposite effect and he actually flinches at the words. "Well, not so much nametags for myself... I don't." he takes a breath, "I usually meet people... by their stones." the nod from Nicole, noted on one of his room sweeps he half nods and then looks away, swallowing... because then there's Gina.
Leaning back, hands half raised as if readying to fend off an actual attack. He flinches back, face pinching tighter and tighter until she leans away, and there is actually a little intake of breath, not quite a gasp, but his full body convulses twice, tightening in on itself each time.

Devlin smiles to Gina, "Love these tracks.." and yes, he is serious to. "One of the places I would practice at played this." He takes a moment to look over at Nicole, "Not really.. a few strange dreams though.. figured it was due to all the tricker treating and the bag of hard candies my nephew gave me before coming here. You do look familiar.. may be saw you when I was walking the town to learn the streets or something" He then chuckles a bit looking over to Thewlis, "Old army joke.. First name on the collar, last name over the pocket.. land of nametags." His expression takes on a look of concern, "You ok?"

Joey blinks at Nicole. Then again he's the same guy that might take a box cutter to cut his deli ribs apart. He don't get it. Hell he ate prison food so when she comes in here with her fancy 'maybe get a new one' this earns a blink, but he's not telling her no either apparently. Man, those Kelly boys may need a wrangler before they get tetnus from a PBJ. "Shit, go for it. She digs ya." He looks around and looks back to Devilin tilting his head, "YEah you look a bit familiar." He lets Nicole do introductions. He's not the businessman good with people, that's Rhys and Antonio. Still he looks to Thewlis and asks with some patience, "You want a cup of cup of coffee? Pull up a stool."

"Mmm... Maybe," Nicole says to Devlin with a nod then looks to Joey, smiling in that innocent yet impish way of hers. "Just trust me, Kelly," she says and leans over to give a small kiss to his cheek. "I should be getting to work soon though..."

Looking down, Thewlis blinks, "I..." licking his lips nervously. "Sitting... already." looking to Joey, "Please, coffee... am sitting." shrinking back and then looking to Devlin, "Fi... fihh..." one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm fine... thank you. Fine." head moving, eyes going point to point, as if expecting to be ambushed. The cemetery caretaker hunkers down where he's sitting, trying to be small, trying to be less noticeable than the others present.

Anatoly comes back out from the kitchen, his tracksuit jacket is gone and instead it has been swapped for an apron. Leaning up against the counter he tells one of the waitresses "Coffe, black." and with that he looks back across to the others in the restaurant. Though he's here, it's obvious the man's attention is elsewhere as he seems to be deep in thought

Devlin shrugs as he gets his Ice.. perhaps a small miracle there. Seeing Thewlis is nervous, Devlin just nods. He then greets Joey, "Devlin, future EMT for this town.. once I get past the rat pack of bureaucracy at the state level to get my state certifications."

Jade ambles in through the front, one hand running through the short mop of curls atop her head before pausing in the open area to take a glance around. There's a smile when she sees other people, even a familiar face, leaving her to turn and head towards the group that includes Thewlis. Devlin gets an upnod and a grin as she approaches, "Hey again. Small town, innit?" She grins, then offers a small nudge to Thewlis' shoulder, "Hiya. Mind if I sit?" The others get a basic lift of her hand and a smile, "Hi. Jade, new in town. Here from Seattle. How's it shakin'?"

A thing to note is that the Grizzly Den HAS a bell over the door. Does it ring when someone enters or leaves? Yes, it does. Does Gina, or any of the other waiters and waitresses bother to smile and greet people walking in? Nooooope. Well, the New Guy smiles, but he's a nervous, flustered wreck right now. Gina herself sets the coffee cup down in front of Thewlis, before pointing down the counter, asking, "You want cream or sugar or something?" THere's a ding! then, just as well, and Gina slides towards the window to grab the food, past one of the waiters who's come in to help with the morning rush hour, before setting plates down in front of Devlin and Thewlis both. Jade is glanced at-- but zero attempt is made to get her a menu, ask her what she'd like, or even /smile/. There's a reason why customer service gets 1-star reviews.

She does glance over at Anatoly as the man thinks, asking, "You starting a shift soon?"

Joey leans the scruffy cheek of his angry looking mug to Nicole. He pauses and gives her a wink. "I trust ya." Dark green eyes follow her and a hand drops to give her fingers a squeeze. He answers, "Yeah, I'll give you a holler later." Then he looks to Thewlis and then to Gina with a nod that reads Coffee the man, pelease? Looking to Devlin he asks, "You meet Sutton yet? She's a pistol but she knows her shit. She's a good resource." Looking back to teh man with the stutter, "Joe Kelly." He offers a hand over to him.

Devlin hmms as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. His brow furrows as he looks at a text. He shrugs, and more to himself, "What the hell, may as well." He then taps something into his phone and sends it. The phone returning to his pocket. Seeing his plate, "Thanks.." He then eats a fry before answering Joey, "Yeah.. I like her, real pistol." He smiles, "Seems like someone I could work with."

Actually flinching less when he hears Jade's voice when she nudges him, "Oh! Jade. Hi. Good to see you." when the New Guy comes around he notes, "Sugar please... just leave the bowl. Or the... packets... or" he sighs. "Shakers?" he looks back to Jade and then to the others his eyes on his sandwich and soup as if they were shields.

Devlin extends his hand to Joey, "Good to meet you. Devlin McCloud"

Anatoly shrugs his shoulders in a noncomittal fashion "I'm here." when his coffee is brought to him he fills in "I was trying to figure out if I could make savory candied fruit that was any good. A friend was bragging about his spiced recipe and I thought I could do better." he pauses there to sip his coffee, taking several moments of silence before adding "Oh and I'm making some spiced ones back there now."

Jade upnods towards Gina and calls out, "I'll take a coffee, black, and a big ass stack of waffles with butter, syrup, and bacon. And an extra side of bacon." Turning back to Thewlis, she flashes him a grin and scoots herself in across from where he sits, "You find some real interesting places to eat. So I hear there's a whole Paranormal Society here. They've got a meeting coming up, I'm planning on going. You want me to bring back stories or anything? I can see if they've got any good ones on cryptids." She turns towards Joey and offers, "You're doing better than I did, he gave you a whole name!"

Joey rolls his eyes slightly, "Let's not lump ghosts and goblins together. One eats up bars and the other is eternally bord and refuses to get over their shit. Aint'the same damn thing, Devlin." Says the man who is the cynic. Looking back to the nervous guy he seems to have an abundance of patience for that does not extend to the rest of the world, "Min's a good resource for shit showin up and eatin yoru plants though."

Jade watches Thewlis with Joey, smiling faintly before turning to nod at Devlin. "Totally, one hundred percent serious. Its what Liam and I do. We run a Twitch stream and Youtube channel, I handle most of the social media, though I can sometimes wrangle Liam into throwing up a Twitter post. We do videos of us exploring haunted places and searching for cryptids. The stream is mostly him breaking down a lot of misconceptions and myths revolving around different cryptids. I handle the research and tech, he handles the face time and drawing in the viewers." She shrugs and smiles, "Pays the bills, and we've actually gotten a couple sponsors!"

Anatoly's dry commentary has Gina stifling a laugh, shaking her head. Whatever he says in Russian, though, has her furrowing her brows and responding to him with an impatient gesture of a hand, <<That woman knows what is in the dark. She just doesn't know when to stop. That kind of fascination will destroy her.>> And then, in an exasperated tone (if you can even tell in Russian, "And I still can't believe you haven't forgotten that madness. I do not want to lose a cook. >> A click of her tongue - Gina's showing quite a bit of emotion, for her, isn't she? Well, it is her food-provider. She collects the plates of food, now ready, and sets down Jade's, also collecting near-empty mugs to refill coffee cups.

Joey swives a look to Gina trying to remember with a squint after her Mad Libs moment incredulously asking, "Did we ever date? Are you sure?" Too amusing. Looking back to Thewlis he nods and agrees. "Yeah I'm bad at names too. Is cool." Arching an eyebrow he asks confused, "The fuck is a cryptid? Lieke a big big bug?"

Sugaring his coffee to the point that somewhere Wilford Brimley is begging for mercy, Thewlis, notes. "Bigfoot, Jersey Devil, Moth Men, Chupacapra... Them" his stutter flees for a moment as he goes into a subject he knows, head down. Maybe the last one is said because of all the people currently talking have a certain something about them.

Jade grins broadly when Gina brings over food and coffee, "Awesome, thanks!" Before she touches the food, first the coffee. She takes a healthy slug of it with no mind for how hot it may or may not be, then turns her head to smile at Joey, "Nah. Well, maybe! Cryptids are like.. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Slenderman, fairies, ghosts.. things in general that would fit into the Addams Family theme song." She nods to Thewlis, "Yup, all them too. Don't even get me started on having to go 'undercover' at a Goth club in Seattle because there were supposedly vampires running the place. Not my favorite episode."

Gina sets a refreshed coffee at Joey, and stops to look him dead in the eyes, "Don't you remember junior year, JK? You, me, that emotional night we spent together?" She asks, then shakes her head, "So much TMI that night. Did not need to know about your dreams of owning a daffodil farm or the blow-by-blow account of how you lost your virginity the night before. Cell mates shouldn't be THAT close." Look at Gina's serious face! And how she sips that spare cup of coffee made just for herself! Siiiiiiiiiiip. Her eyes dart toward Thewlis, and she offers blandly, "You don't have to worry about names, Moore. Most people are shitty enough to not be worth remembering." How... comforting.

Joey stares at her. He jsut stares ane very plainly looks slightly annoyed, "First off, Daffodil farms and terribly lucritive, or can be. And for 2? Don't be jealous of Miguel becuase he got me a contraband bithday cake. We jsut need to accept that it was a very weird 7th grade year, okay?" Man those two can deadpan riff. looking back to Jade and Thewlis he nods, "Well if I see any chupathingies I'll holler and you can get a selfie with it if it don't eat me."

Thew's hand stops a moment coffee cup midway to his mouth before he apparently makes a decision, but first a bracing gulp. "So you had to" he blinks, "How did you undercover?" head tipping to the side, "All black clothes and... Teeth. I mean. Black outfit... Fake teeth. " he takes another sip of coffee. "Fangs, fake fangs?" his coffee set down, dunks his sammich in his soup and takes a soggy bite. Now he isn't talking, and he seems quite thankful for that as he looks down, and then around the diner again, shoulders hunching slowly.

"Unless you're a satyr, I think you'll be okay. Chupacabras tend to prefer the blood of goats," Jade responds to Joey in a matter-of-fact tone before leaving him and Gina to their strange banter. She looks back to Thewlis and gives a nod, "The Morticia Adams style dress, fake fingernails, heavy makeup, prosthetic fangs, even contacts. I've never been more uncomfortable in my whole life." She gives a shake of her head before digging into her waffles, slicing some from the stack to pop into her mouth, chewing with a near blissful look on her face. "Mmmmmm, there are few things as tasty as waffles.."

Joey isn't letting the deadpan wear anytime soon but comisserates with Jade, "Yeah that fishtail dress really rides up. Less fun thatn it looks." His wallet comes out and he pulls a ten and a twenty out to drop down for Gina and nods sideways to Thewlis. "I got it. But, speaking of ghosts, I gotta swing by the house and take care of whatever it is they way and go open the gym." Lookng back to the nervous fella withthe stutter he says, "Swing by the gym on Elm sometime. Was a good talk man." And technically unrealized to Joey only one mile down from where the guy lives. "Gina, always a fucking pleasure." She gets a wink. Looking to Jade he only says "Gettum." And withthat, and being in a more awake mode he heads out.

The waffles really ARE good. Crispy, fluffy, with extra syrup on the side! Yum yum. Gina leans on the counter again, sipping her drink and looking as if she's only partially paying attention - checking her phone messages, even!"Still don't know how you got a police officer to to do that for you." Gina does say with a glance towards Joey. Seriously weird year." Her attention leaves her phone, flitting towards Joey as he leaves the cash. "Later, Keller." She knows what his name is. Why bother? The cash is... actually just tucked in her back pocket for now. Isn't there a register over there? Whups. THIEVERY! If she didn't own the place.

And then her attention turns to flit between Jade and Thewlis. Considering.

Head canting to the side, at the invite to the gym, and the compliment on the chat, Thewlis's brows knit and it almost seems he can't believe the invite, let along the compliment. How does he handle it? Well he gives a quick bob of the head in farewell. Gina's antics get another look, which is quickly and shamefacedly dropped away with a frown as his eyes go back to his plate.
"Wait the." drinking more of his soup, "Dress. That dress." Thewlis looks to Jade for a moment, probably the longest he's looked at anyone since coming in, blinking several times before he goes back to scouting the diner for... whatever it is he is looking around for, a slight blush on his face. He hunches back down, trying to be very small, hard to notice, more soup, more sandwich.

Tucking right into those deific waffles, Jade is blessendly quiet.. for awhile. She manages to make half the stack disappear in what seems like no time at all, pausing only for a drink of coffee or chomp of bacon. When she finally pauses, she actually manages to wipe her lips with a napkin before glancing sidelong at Thewlis, bobbing her head, apparently not grokking where his mind went, "Oh yeah, it was bad. The dress, the garter belt, the fishnets, the heels. I've never worn so much eye makeup in my life. And I went as Shana Elmsford one year for Halloween." Is she making it worse? Better? Who knows! She looks over towards Gina and calls out, "You have the BEST fucking waffles I've ever tasted."

"Yeah, I know." Gina says, with the easy confidence of someone who knows what they have is worth it. There's even a little smirk for Jade.... that sort of fades. "I wore something like that a few weeks ago to an old ex-step-brother's wedding, actually. Slink black fishtail with a slit, rose-patterned black stockings with a red garter belt, gold claw nails. No contacts or fangs, but it wasn't vampire-themed. The heels were especially cute. Had a great egypt-inspired eye look going, too. It was a themed wedding." She smiles, slightly, politely, and sips more of her coffee. Did we mention the purple hair or the fact that Gina is currently rocking bright red lipstick, and her black knit sweater has slashed sleeves that form the 'mouth' of two skulls? Purple skirt? black and grey leggings?

Blush going darker and darker, Thewlis has become considerably interested in his sandwich. It's fantastic. It's got meeeeaaat, and cheeeeese, and bacon. The beef veggie soup. That's fascinating as all hell that is. Who is he blushing more at?
"Wedding... I. Been. Wedding. Six. Wedding?" Mayday! Mayday! "Years, six. Wedding." He has no mouth, just a flapping thing that words are coming out of. Sort of. He takes a bite of his sandwich, mouth turning into his customary turtle beaked frown.

"You've got more stamina than me, then. I couldn't handle more than a couple hours in that get up. The heels killed my feet and the makeup made my whole face feel heavy, to say nothing of how constricting and tight that dress was. Mad respect for doing it up for a wedding," Jade gives a shake of her head and lifts her coffee cup towards Gina. Taking a sip, she looks sidelong to Thewlis and frowns slightly. Reaching out, she drops a light touch to the back of his hand and murmurs softly, "Hey Thew, you ready to head out? C'mon, lets get you some fresh air, huh? We can talk about the Friday the 13th franchise and how badly they messed it up with Jason Goes to Hell. Then doubled down with Jason Takes Manhattan. And who's the best Jason Voorhees? I'm a big fan of Kane Hodder myself."

"Mears was a good new player though, he could stalk like Hodder. Graham's movement in Jason Lives really sold him though." head still down, Thewlis speaks almost automatically as the thoughts come to him, triggered by Jade. He finishes soup and sandwich in quick order, slugging down his coffee, "I should, yes..." a couple of twenties are drawn and set on the counter, nodding to Gina, "Its... good. Thank you. Sorry I'm." he frowns again, "Thank you for the meal." looking back to jade and... wonders of wonders, he crooks an arm out slightly. "They should've ended it at four though. It was done, it had an ending, then they put the de-fibs on it."
Ok. So he can talk about horror flicks.

"It doesn't help, you know." Gina's voice isn't sympathetic, or angry, or even emphatic. It's sort of a throwaway statement as she collects their plates. "It lives inside you. Sure, it used to be outside. You think it's outside. But it crawled and wriggled and bore inside, and all the distractions in the world can't stop it chewing inside." Gina looks from Thewlis to Jade, shrugs, and brings all the dirty dishes into the kitchen. Just like that, Gina's gone.

Wiping her mouth one last time, she tosses the napkin down, slurps up the last of her coffee. Standing, she sets a couple fives on the counter, handling the tip since Thew seems to be covering the food. Then she turns a smile up to Thewlis and hooks her arm through his. Just beaming. This? This is progress. Big progress, even if it doesn't seem like it. Jade glances towards the doom-saying Gina, then looks back as she disappears, "Don't you mind her. You're doing great, Thew. And I liked Kirzinger for Freddy vs Jason.. but man, they screwed Hodder out of that. It had been something he was really looking forward to." And with that, the pair head out, still chattering away about gory movies and the trivia associated with them.