Luke's Diner, Thursday

[geniuswithasmartphone]

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.]

Comments

[uncertain_dume]

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.

[what_the_shock]

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

[uncertain_dume]

"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."

[what_the_shock]

"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."

[uncertain_dume]

"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.

[what_the_shock]

"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."

[uncertain_dume]

"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.

[what_the_shock]

"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?

[uncertain_dume]

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

That had been in his grown-up pants.

[what_the_shock]

"I'll pay for you," Miguel said. He wasn't sure whose card this was, but it was his now. Besides, this little weirdly dressed nerd reminded him a bit of Gabe, and he wasn't about to let him go hungry.

"Come on." He tugged him toward a booth, put the card down prominently, and dared the staff with a glare to try to make them work.

[uncertain_dume]

"Wait, what?" And here was Caleb, being tugged along, blinking. "You don't have to--"

Nope. There went the card, being put down, and they had a booth now. Okay. This was unexpected.

"I mean, um. Thank you?"

[what_the_shock]

"Don't worry about it." Miguel shrugged a little awkwardly. He met the waitress's eyes squarely, daring her to try to make them work. "We'll both have the shrimp fajitas and Cokes. And a large fries."

[uncertain_dume]

"... What he said," Caleb agreed, still looking puzzled, mostly.

He knew what fries were?

[geniuswithasmartphone]

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!"

[uncertain_dume]

"... Shifts?"

Caleb squinted a little at the busboy, and then at the other boy that had been singled out, and then just kind of tilted his head.

"I don't work in a diner."

He didn't really have a job.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Do you like pancakes" the busboy asked, while Alec just shook his head.

This whole place was weird.

[uncertain_dume]

"... If they're anything like flatcakes, sure?"

Caleb had no idea why, but he had the weird feeling as though he was being mocked.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Then show up on Sunday," the busboy said and flounced off.

Alec looked at Caleb and shrugged. "I don't get it."

[uncertain_dume]

"I still have no idea what that has to do with eating today," Caleb agreed, watching the busboy flounce before looking back at the other boy, utterly baffled. "I'm going to move this right up to the top of my 'weirdest things to have happen today' list, which is impressive, because I had to teach a class at the school already today."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Pretty sure half this island is filled with jerks," Alec declared. He'd know, he'd woken up with the biggest one there was yesterday.

[uncertain_dume]

Well, that one caught Caleb's attention, anyway.

"... Has someone been giving you trouble?"

Hello, Alec. There was now a puny little warrior-monk who was immediately honing in on any possible need to totally wipe the floor with a bully.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Just this guy," Alec mumbled, looking away. He didn't need anybody fighting his battles for him. Except for how he very much did. "We woke up in the same--house."

Same bed, no clothes on. Details. There'd been a girl there, too. It had all been very weird.

"He freaked out and started yelling. Calling names. You know, stupid bully stuff."

And was going to come back in and kick Alec's ass in...you know, a few minutes.

[uncertain_dume]

Whelp. Caleb was going to have to be a little disapproving Jedi at some stupid bully, wasn't he?

Once he realized that he'd come back. And started calling this other kid names. And doing stupid bully stuff.

"In the same house...?" He frowned a little. "Look, um. If you don't want to go back there, I woke up in an apartment? It isn't very big, but at least Hera seems pretty nice. And there's a... dog?"

The hesitation there was more because the dog looked nothing like the dogs he was used to than because of the rainbow spots, honestly.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

There had been a dog at their place, too, but she'd just taken one look at these shenanigans and slunk off.

"Nah, I'm not gonna let him kick me out like that," Alec declared because he certainly didn't get bad feelings about things. "But thanks for the offer. It's really nice of you to make."

[uncertain_dume]

Caleb tilted his head a little bit, and then lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

"Okay," he replied. "It sounds like you have just as much right to be there as anybody. But if you even just need a break from it, it's the MCA, in the apartment with the three on the door, alright? If I'm not the one to answer, just tell her you're a friend of Caleb."

It didn't even occur to him that he should possibly also warn Alec that 'she' was a green alien with head-tails.