geniuswithasmartphone | Luke's Diner, Thursday

Ugh. That jerky white kid was back at the house again this morning. After the...issue...that had arisen when Alec, Jerkface, and Weird Girl had woken up sharing a bed, Alec had been more than happy to spend all of yesterday avoiding them, even if that had meant participating in the paintball thing. But he hadn't had any of his fake credit cards or IDs on him, so he'd ended up going back to the house last night.

To find Jerkface also there. Ugh. And he thought Weird Girl might have been around, too, but she was fast and kinda creepy, so it wasn't like he'd gone looking.

So Alec was out of the house as soon as he was up (at the crack of noon!), casually swiping one of the expensive laptops that had been lying around. Maybe if he could hack into that (maybe? HA!), he could get himself an ID and a cash stream and away from the house. Before Jerkface could decide to beat him up for, like, existing or whatever.

The sign on the restaurant's window caught his eye:

Today's Specials
Yeah, we know you don't have money. Come in and get a meal and pay us back next week. Unless you're Eliot, Hardison, Miguel, or ~~Kanan~~ Caleb. You gotta work.
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Shrimp Fajitas (You're welcome, adults)

Free food? Ish? Alec was going to worry about why he was singled out later. He was going in to peel some potatoes and get a huge helping of spaghetti and meatballs.

[Content Warning for a physical fight in the Eliot/Hardison thread with underlying homophobic tones. Please practice good self-care when deciding whether to read, my dears.]

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"Did you try to run away without paying?" Parker asked, suddenly popping up in his field of vision. "I mean, did you at least try?"

Parker was going to try to sneak into the fridge. Again. Jock Boy wasn't there, and it wasn't like Nerd Guy could stop her.

Don't underestimate the abilities of Nerd Boy! Err, that was, Hardiman! Wait no--Alec! Yeah! Don't underestimate the abilities of Alec!

Granted, he still wouldn't stop her. Mostly because he didn't see a point to it.

"Nah," Alec said, peeling carrots for more soup. "I don't mind helpin' out 'round the kitchen. I do it at my Nana's all the time."

Beat.

"Why're you here?" If that came out as an accusation, that was because it was meant to be one.

Nerd Boy had a Nana. Jock Boy had a Mama. Well, Parker had an Archie, so there. He was just harder to explain. And he didn't expect Parker to cook or anything. Mostly they ordered take-out.

She pointed solemnly at the freezer in answer to his question, and then picked up a peeled potato to sniff it. Then started nibbling. "Jock Boy isn't around, right?"

"Ugh, Jerkface," Alec said, wrinkling his nose. "Better not be."

He wasn't sure what he'd do--probably nothing, at least until he got that computer unlocked--but still. Ugh. "You don't wanna eat that. Raw potato's gross. Why do you wanna get into the freezer?"

Parker licked the potato, then shrugged and put it down.

"Promise not to try to stop me? I don't wanna have to hurt you." Parker's squirrelly look was pretty much composed of side-eyeing and a weird little smile, and Alec was getting the full benefit of it now.

Yeah, that was a weird smile, and Alec was taking a step back. "Ain't my freezer," was all he said, possibly while gripping the peeler like a weapon. For reasons.

Entirely relating to that grin, even more than the threat.

You are a very smart Nerd Boy, Alec.

Parker tip-toed over to the freezer, looked around, then opened it with a flourish.

A couple snowflakes fell on the kitchen floor.

"This."

'Smart' usually came with the nerd territory!

Alec's eyes first fell to the snowflakes. "So? It needs a good defrost--whoa!"

Guess who had finally realized he should look up?

Parker nearly danced around in a circle at Alec's reaction. "See? See? I am going in here, and I am going to find out how far it goes, and if I see a polar bear again I am going to follow it home."

"What do you mean, again?!" Alec yelped. "What do you mean polar bear?!"

One day, this dynamic would feel very familiar.

It so would. Including:

"Come see!" Parker reached in and pulled out a bag of ... frozen french fries? Why not. "I did this before, but the Jock hung onto me until the polar bear left."

"Why'd he wanna hang all over you?" Alec asked, making a face. "Trying to hide behind you from the polar bear?"

Alec, you would do the exact same thing if you saw one, don't even front.

So, Caleb had more than enough time between that class he'd... sort of taught... and the terrible life choices he was going to make this afternoon with ~~Rosa~~ Emily, some pink hair dye, and his Padawan braid, and he figured he probably shouldn't expect Hera to prepare every meal for him as long as he was here, so he made his way into one of the restaurants in town. The one that looked fairly approachable, in fact.

And then he stopped and kind of squinted at the specials board. Not just because it was written in High Galactic, but... at least partly because of that.

"Wait, why am I being singled out?"

He wasn't afraid of working to earn his food, but that... that was weird.

"Me too." Miguel had ended up here for much the same reason. "What gives?"

"I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to make anybody here angry," Caleb noted, glancing at the other boy. "I mean... I don't mind working for food, but it seems weird to single out a bunch of kids at random."

"I can't have done anything; I just got here!" Miguel protested. "And I'm not working for food if other people don't have to." He scowled and crossed his arms, glowering at the staff. "That's just not fair."

"Everybody else gets to start a tab," Caleb mumbled, shaking his head. "I'm willing to pay! I just need... some of the local currency..."

They didn't seem to take Republic credits in most shops on the island, not that Caleb had any of those anyway.

"Man, why you gotta call me out like that?" Eliot said as he walked into the diner. (What? That burger yesterday was good!) "You know I'm good for --"

He stopped dead when he saw the black kid from the house was there (jesus, did this guy have to be everywhere?) and pondered running. Just -- bolting right back out through the door. Kind of feeling chivalrous towards dudes at a paintball game wasn't a big deal, they were his team. This guy. . . .

He hated this guy's stupid face.

"The hell are you doing here?"

"I think he was maybe trying to protect me." Which was mystifying, but whatever. "Or he just had a weak stomach, 'cause he thought it would eat me. But I don't think Santa would let that happen."

"I have a credit thing!" Miguel said. He pulled it out. "They use cards instead of sticks here; I recognized it from old holos." He eyed the staff askance. "If they don't try to make us work, we can buy our food."

"I just want to know what about me is so untrustworthy that I have to work for it up-front instead of paying it later like everyone else," Caleb sighed.

Sulked.

Sighed.

"I think they're just losers," Miguel said with a sniff. "Come on. We'll get whatever we want, and they can't make us work if we have money." Right?

"Okay," Caleb agreed. And then hesitated. "But I really don't have money."

That had been in his grown-up pants.

"...Where's Santa coming from?" Why was Santa even involved? Alec was definitely losing the thread of this story here.

About a bear in a freezer.

"Oh shit!" He couldn't help the automatic glance around to make sure his Nana hadn't heard him and was reaching for the soap. "Is the freezer Narnia?"

Alec looked up from where he was peeling more carrots and sighed. "I dunno, I'm starting to think it might be racist."

The busboy popped up. "Nope!" he said, sounding a little panicky. "Just making sure everyone shows up for their shifts!"

Edited 2018-06-07 20:41 (UTC)

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Luke's Diner, Thursday

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