2020-01-19 - No Pancakes :(

There are other diners in this town, and yet people keep coming back to this one, with its really good food (except the omelettes) and really bad service. At least the poor service means that no one has to fight the Sunday crowd for a place to sit. Graham is playing with all the sugar packets at the table right now, zooming them around on the place-mat like they're having a race (he makes noises with his mouth to this end) and glancing up once in a while toward the door, keeping an eye open for a familiar face. "This way, though, nobody has to do the dishes," he's telling Elise like he's had some sort of brainstorm, lifting a finger to tap-tap his temple all brilliant like. "Plus. I don't like having all those people at the house." The tap-tap finger becomes a pew-pew finger; he has lots of guns in the house, Elly. "Anyway, she'll be here in a minute, then we can have pancakes or whatever."

A brightly colorful over the shoulder bag is the first element immediately noticeable as it barrels through the door, the edges squishing a little as the owner attempts to navigate without knocking into people like bowling pins. Saroiya puffs back the strands of black hair that slip free of the messy bun at the crown of her head and sweeps her gaze across the diner. A terrible, chaotic mess and yet somehow, it all coalesces into the essence, the very spirit, of the arts: from paint splatters across leggings that once held dancing cats beneath, to the lime green skirt and dark sweater. "Sorry, I'm late. Am I late? I swear, the world is trying to kill me with the sidewalks reaching out to trip me and trees jumping in the way," she jests, joining Graham and Elise. "Did I hear pancakes?" The bag -- a relic from Disneyland -- drops to the floor unceremoniously, the edge of a large sketchbook peeking out.

Elise is interrupting Graham's race by randomly taking his cars when he's not looking - but really, she needs a couple of sugar packets for the coffee that is almost definitely coming at half past never, so she's just going to keep a few over here. "She's one person, you know," Elise extends a finger of her own, then tilts it to finger gun right back at Graham. "Not 'all the people'. But you're right, at least you don't have to do the dishes. Your hands are looking exceptionally pruney lately, we're going to need to buy the good soap," she smirks over at him, dropping her hand to grab one of the blue packets and 'drive' it into one of Graham's pink packets just as Saroiya comes walking in. She holds up her hand to wave her over, her smile brightening. "Hey, you're not late. Come on, sit," she motions to the empty bench. "There are definitely going to be pancakes. Probably around the same time that I get my coffee."

"See, if we get that dog," that they've been talking about for, like, six months, "then it can lick the dishes before I scrub them." Graham says this earnestly, like he believes that this is a viable solution. And while Elise is supposed to be distracted waving Saroiya over, he attempts to steal back the sugar packets that have been claimed from his stash. He's so unbelievably smooth that he manages to disappear one up the sleeve of his flannel... only to have it come sailing out and land directly in front of Elise when he lifts that hand to add a wave Saroiya's way. Smiling pristinely, he shares, "That was exactly how that was supposed to go. Hey kid, how's tricks?"

HE'S SO PRETTY, SURELY NO ONE WILL NOTICE THE FUMBLE.

"That's gross," Saroiya interjects, glancing at them both while settling in her seat. "The service here is awful. I bet they're milling the grain for the pancakes right now," this is to Elise, "so we'll get it next week, but you might get ground coffee today." An expressive eyeroll follows the heels of that exaggeration, but it's that random sugar packet flying out of nowhere that pulls her attention. "Surrrrre, it was." Yet the grin she flashes at Graham is full of the glimmer of mischief. "Same ol', same ol'. No money, and I gotta get new brake pads, ohhhh and my front tires are bald. But hey! I'm about to be stuffing my face with pancakes." Life will be awesome then. Mmmm, pancakes.

"And unsanitary," Elise agrees with a distasteful wrinkle of her freckled nose. "But I keep telling you that we can go to the pound any time you want. It's not far from the yoga place. Two birds, one stone. You just have to wake up one of these days before noon," there's a cant to her head and a sweet smile that she flashes to Graham. Her focus returns to Saroiya after, which opens her up to having her sugar packets stolen in the first place. As for pancakes and coffee? "They might have to go and pick the beans first, so we could be waiting forever," she puffs out a sigh, startled by the sudden plunk of sugar packets right in front of her. She rolls her eyes and picks one up by the corner, dangling it between her fingertips. "I'm pretty sure Graham knows a guy who does car stuff for cheap," she mentions to Saroiya, while flicking the packet at Graham's face. DOES IT HIT?

BOOM! It smacks him right on the nose.

Having worked through this argument many times in his head, Graham is quick to counter, "Okay, but what's grosser, dirty dishes or clean dishes that the dog - " It's very hard to make a compelling case when getting whacked in the face with a sugar packet, and his fizzles right about then.

But hold on! He has something for this. "Awwwww. Thanks, baby. You know I love it when you gimme sugar." He proceeds to hook an arm around her shoulders and moosh all over her cheeks with irritatingly sloppy smooches. Like, her hair is gonna get all messed up and her makeup smudged and there's not a goddamn thing she can do about it.

That accomplished, he looks concernedly across the table at Saroiya. "Are you broke? 'Cause..." Whatever he's about to pitch, Saroiya would be smart to say no. "...I can get you some work or - yeah. A better car."

"You guyyyyyyssssss," Saroiya drawls, the slow cadence of her words broken by her laughter. "Enough of that. You'll stun the waitress and we'll never get our food." Speaking of... Half-turning in her seat, she looks about for anything that resembles a stack of pancakes. "You encourage him too much, Elise," she adds with a grin. "Ehhhh... I'm always broke. I got a job at the coffee shop, Espresso Yourself, but I also fell prey to a sale at the arts store. I got these badass watercolors for like half off." Not really, but she tells herself that because it feels good to think of a 10 percent discount as fifty! "What kind of work?" Eyes narrow. "And how much is your guy for fixing car stuff. We talking Firestone cheap or that ramshackle Carz Plus at the south edge of town cheap?"

"Graahhhaaam!" Elise flails, pushing fingers into Graham's forehead and cheeks to try and stave him off, but is she really trying? The delighted laughter suggests she could've put a little more effort into it. Either way, she eventually pushes him off, grinning stupidly back to Saroiya. "Sorry. He gets like this, I need to work on his training," there's a glimmer to her eyes as she fusses with her hair, and then reaches out to smack the back of her hand across Graham's upper arm. He can try to deflect, she's still gonna whack him. "No, no." Bad Graham, don't offer jobs to friends. "Don't listen to him, it's not the kind of work you want. I bet I could find you something at the hospital!" she gives Graham a look, and then refocuses back on Saroiya. "What's this about a sale? Did they have any pastels left?"

Just so everyone knows, this scene is going to end with no waitress having ever come over to take their orders or deliver Elise's coffee.

Which is why Graham doesn't seem too concerned about what the PDA is going to seem like to the waitstaff. He just slumps back into his side of the booth, all set to answer back, "Dunno. What kinda work do you want - ow!" A few rabble-noises, peppered by words like 'goddammit' and 'abuse' get muttered under his breath, and he lets Elise say all that stuff about the hospital or whatever. "I mean, we could probably get you a car cheaper than fixing yours." 'Get' is an interesting verb. "But Joey knows a guy. I'll shoot him your number?"

"Tsk, tsk," Saroiya's faux disapproval for Graham's lack of training is given away by the glimmer in her eyes. "I might need a second job," she admits, making a face. "If I ever want to move out of my parents house and out from under their ruling thumb." Her mother is the very definition of the perfectionist, driven helicopter parent. "I'm not above considering selling mine for something better, but I've got no money for a new car. I have a good one fifty until I get my first paycheck from the coffee place." Desperation brings Saroiya closer to the pair of them, the faintly glittery sparkle of her toffee-colored eyeshadow catching the light. "Sure. I'm desperate." One of those tires is gonna pop like a balloon at this rate!

Elise keeps her hand up for another moment longer, side-eyeing Graham. It's definitely a warning that she was prepared to smack again. But abuse? She snorts. "You love it," she mutters at him, drops her hand, and taps her fingers against the table. "Before you get too desperate, let me look at the requisition requests for the hospital. There's got to be a couple of entry-level positions. Maybe a night receptionist, or a file clerk or something," she lifts a shoulder. "If I can't find anything, and that's an extremely big if," she side-eyes Graham again. "Then maybe Joey can find a place for you at the gym. A no strings attached sort of commitment," that last part is spoken to Graham specifically. It's not a request, it's an order god dammit.

"I'm not just gonna throw her to the wolves, El. Relax." Graham is probably telling the truth. Like, 80/20 in favor of this not being bullshit. "But she could tend bar or..." Or what? He frowns, then leaves off that and drums up one of his better smiles, the ones that usually result in him not getting hit or arrested. "Regardless of where you work, kid, Joey knows a guy who owns an auto-shop or something. I dunno the guy well enough to go asking him for favors, but Joey'd get you a good deal on repairs. And, if he won't, well. I'll get you a new ride." Complete with a minimum sentence of 16 months.

"Thanks. I just gotta get it lasting long enough for me to save money and move out." Saroiya looks between the pair of them, and then deeper into the diner. Aside to Graham, "I am a big girl. I can handle it." Only a hint of hesitation underscores that sentence, but hell, no one ever claimed she had good decision making skills. "Good Lord, I swear, we're never going to get our pancakes." And coffee. Wait, to Elise: "Next time you're in the coffee shop, I'll make you one of my new fancy coffees I'm trying out. It'll be better than whatever swill is gonna come out of that kitchen and hop out of your cup on its own legs." Beat.

"Uh huh," Elise replies to Graham, in a tone that is positively oozing with disbelief. She leans to touch her shoulder to his own and mumble something in his ear, lips curving into an exaggerated frown and eyes big, before she shakes her head and huffs out a sigh. "Annnyway," she slouches back into her spot, "We'd probably be better off just grabbing a pot for ourselves. I bet it's been sitting on the burner all day," she doesn't sound thrilled about it. Saroiya's offer of fancy coffees gets her perky again though, "Do they come with the little designs in the foam? I've been thinking about getting an espresso machine for the house, but I don't have enough counter space." Probably on account of all the guns Graham leaves everywhere.

Sunnily, Graham bats lashes at Elise and answers her mumble with a cheerful, "It always makes me feel good, how much faith you have in my abilities." He is obviously choosing to ignore the number of rolls he failed in this scene alone, and so should everyone else. They keep talking about coffee, and fine. "Move out the way, woman," while he shoves on Elise (who better move because the only roll he succeeded was the melee one), intending to go and get the damn coffee himself. Also, "I'll ask about the bartending gig if you want. It's an actual job, but the hours suck and the music is - " Now he's gonna have to head-bob to the un-tss un-tss club music in his head, rabble.

"It'll be like tire rubber," Saroiya helpfully observes. "And we can pose it into the coffee man." If she had a physical glimmer, they could totally make a coffee-man argument out of this. "I can make little designs, yes. I've gotten skilled enough to branch out from the standard flower to a little cat." Never mind it's a little lopsided. She's gifted with flavors, but still working on her foam creations. "It'll be good," Saroiya promises. "I bought a small one off Mercari last week. It should be here in a couple of days. Just gotta smuggle it into my room." Her mother doesn't approve of her spending habits, see. "Yeah, better do so. I still gotta save somehow. Besides, liquor can't be too different than coffee, right?" Sure, sure. "I'm used to sucky hours," she confides, leaning closer to Elise with a grin when Graham moves off.

Elise boops Graham on the nose as he flutters his lashes. Boooop. "I have more faith in you than anyone else in this whole world, G," she notes sincerely, and then gives the tip of his nose a little pinch before she's shoved right out of the way. There's a bunch of grumbling, but she moves, waving her hands in a flourish so that he can make his escape. "Bring back the whole pot!" she requests and/or demands, before she plops down onto the bench again and slides into the spot that Graham just vacated. It's warm here. "Ooh, you can do a cat? I should send you a picture of Mews, and you can practice drawing his face," she giggles. "He's the cutest. But getting big. I think G's overfeeding him," there's a shrug. "At least with the bartending gig, you'll get tips! I recommend investing in a good set of ear plugs though."

Graham brings back the whole pot. And three cups. Almost like it's not the first time he's had to serve himself at this particular diner. "First off," cup for Elise, "if you don't like the way I take care of the - " The pause is juuuust long enough to remind everyone that there's more than one word for feline. " - cat, baby, all you gotta do is say so, and I'll switch it up, 'cause that's how much the cat means to me." Cup for Saroiya. "Second off, as long as you can open a bottle of beer, you can tend bar at the club." He puts the third cup down and mashes his way back into the booth. "Third off, are we actually having a conversation about cat pictures? That's funny shit." He giggles a while and pours coffee.

"I have the best ear plugs," Saroiya confides, grinning. "And yes, I can do a foam cat. Give me a picture of your cat, and I'll practice. I'll throw in a miniature, too. I love painting animals." Second only to her love of anime. "Cats deserve a little overfeeding. Once I get my own place, I'm getting a cat." And maybe a dog, despite her earlier disgust, but that's for licking the dishes! "Thanks for the swill," she snatches up the coffee cup and takes a sip. "Exactly as I expected, and we sure are. Next, we'll be talking about the cats we found on the internet or how Graham sounds like a schoolgirl when he giggles." What's a little ribbing between friends? "I think we'll have to abandon our pancakes."

Elise's eyebrows pop up at the slim pause, her grin widening as she looks up to Graham. "I never said I had a problem with it. I love how you take care of the cat, G. You make the cat very happy." Gold star for Graham! Extra gold stars since he brings coffee, even if she peers into the cup suspiciously once hers is full up. Graham's giggles make her giggle, and it's a whole thing as she adds sugar and cream to her swill, "We're talking about cat pictures in coffee foam, which is the next level of cat pictures." She doesn't leap to Graham's defense - in fact, she nods sagely at Saroiya. "You should see him in a pleated skirt," she snickers.

"I will get us some goddamn pancakes," Graham says confidently. Only, he's totally not going to make this happen. He does manage to call attention to their table, but it only serves to get them chastised for pouring their own coffee - "Customers aren't allowed to serve themselves." - which starts to become a huge argument ("First off!") before cooler heads - Elise's, probably Saroiya's, too - prevail, and they all get to skulk out the door, pancakeless.

"This is why the Waffle Shoppe keeps stealing the Grizzly's business," Graham decides firmly before everyone parts ways to their various jobs or whatever they do all day.