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The raccoon was adding insult to injury, and Amaravati was not impressed. At all. She made a face, flipping the $#@$ thing off. "We really should just run that little beast over. ... Except that would mess up my baby, and I'm sure I'd feel bad about the raccoon eventually." Evil, evil little raccoon. It knew what it was doing, she swore. With a purely internal sigh, she drove toward the tucked away restaurant that she had in mind, deciding that she wouldn't tell Tony where they were going until they got to it.

Of course, by that point he might already figure it out. "Steak is absolutely a breakfast food, Tony. You just have to have it with eggs, you know. It can be fabulous if made properly." Mmm, steak. She definitely wanted some steak. Or possibly Eggs Benedict. She liked that, too. "This place serves excellent muffins, too. We ought to try at least one, each." Hmmn, hmmn. So many choices in breakfast food! It was hard to pick just one, really.

"I can't remember if they have a sampler plate, but maybe we could get a breakfast platter to split? That way we can have some of everything." Now that sounded like a good idea. Surely Anthony would want to see what he was missing! Hospital food, after all, was quite substandard. She didn't approve in the least bit! Making a sharp turn, she heading down a one way street that she knew would take her where she meant to be going, her handling of the steering wheel practiced and easy.

Quirking an eyebrow at the Librarian, she grinned. "So, coffee with breakfast, then? I have no idea how that goes with painkillers-- and I hope you don't run out of them. I have some, but I think it's illegal for me to give you medication. Isn't it?" So long as it was over the counter it was okay, but Vicodin or Codeine was out of the question. Shame on her for thinking of it, really. Who knew what he was taking? Had been taking, at least. "I'm sure you know better than me what you can have while on those drugs," she added, just to be safe.

Blame safely shifted, she took another sharp turn, and pulled into the little parking lot of the Breakfast Nook, amused as always by how bluntly named it was. "Now, do you think you'll need the wheelchair to make it inside?" Hmmn. Well, he might. He looked like hell, really, and Amaravati didn't want to push it. She didn't want to risk him getting more injured than before. "Since you can't lean on me, I'd better get the wheelchair out," she said, her tone faintly worried. Anthony had been hurt awful badly, hadn't he?

It was habit to take turns like that, though had Amaravati realized that it bothered Anthony, she would have been more careful. She'd long since developed the habit of rounding corners swiftly in a (rather vain) effort to discourage her mother from riding with her. The woman had an incredibly irritating desire to sit in on every trip Amara took. However, since she'd developed that technique, she'd been able to cut down on it quite a bit.

"Hey, I asked you to go to breakfast with me, Tony. Don't you get all fussed over this. If it bothers you, you can pay for my food some time. That's what friends are for, right?" She was pretty sure that at this point, Tony qualified as her friend. If he didn't, she didn't know what they were doing together in a sports car, sneaking away from the hospital.

Giving him a sharp look, she pulled the wheelchair out of the backseat, and set it down for him. "I'll cover this, okay?" It was no big deal. Why he insisted on treating it like one, she didn't know. Still, that blush from before had been rather darling. She smiled, and offered him a hand out of the car. "So, we'll not worry about your medication, then." Even though she probably could've called home about it, realistically.

Calling home was not high on her list of things she wanted to do, however. Not at all. "They should be open now, so we can go right in." Just as soon as he was out of the car, and into the chair, of course. Her purse was slung casually over her shoulder, her keys in her hand. She'd lock up when they were ready to go, and everything. It was kind of a relief that he didn't expect her to know about the meds, because she really didn't think that she should give hers to him, and she had no idea what happened when you mixed coffee with strong painkillers.

"That is the general idea," Amaravati informed Anthony, glad that they were finally seated. She had had some difficulty with the idea of him wheeling him around; her natural inclination was to assist him wherever possible, and she couldn't do that now. He was trying to be self sufficient, and while she couldn't blame him, she worried about what might happen if the wheelchair got out of control. ... Out of his control, anyway. The sidewalk here wasn't the best for that sort of thing, but he had managed.

She'd been secretly a little impressed by his show of independence, there. Personally, she would not have enjoyed having someone show her around everywhere. It was easy to understand why he might want to do things for himself, but... but she wanted to be helpful. Why a $%#$ing Librarian stirred that urge in her, she didn't know. Maybe this was what it was like to have friends. To have someone to keep you from being lonely. She'd had a taste of it before, but now it was building up to something new.

Something like companionship. Not partnership, of course. She was, she realized, too young for him. It wasn't a fun realization, and not one that she intended to make clear to him (she would just as soon he didn't know she'd ever entertained the thought, after all) anytime soon. With a quiet sigh, she forced herself to focus, glancing down at the menu for a moment. It wasn't as much fun teasing him when she was worried about his health.

"So, do you have any idea what you'd like?" she asked, looking up from the menu when she had made her own selection. Her own preliminary selection, at any rate. There would be room for some variation later on, of course. Besides, she might change her mind at a moment's notice-- young woman did tend to do that, after all. "The steak really is good here, and I recommend their Belgium waffles. They serve them with strawberries or blueberries, and it is to die for."

"Yes, can we get the breakfast platter, please?" There. Something of everything for Tony, and really it was cheaper to get the platter than to get everything individually. Not that she was horribly worried about 'cheap', but sometimes it did her good to consider saving money. The waitress duly noted that down, and Amaravati felt inclined to add to it just a little. "Oh, and a basket of the little muffins, please? We'd like to sample those as well." There. They were set for now. ... Bloody Tony and his adorableness. It just wasn't fair. Worse yet, when he made looks at her like that, she was reminded that he was hurt, and she felt a tad guilty.

Despite the fact that it was clearly not her fault he was injured. Not one bit. "I know you said you wanted steak, with bacon and sausages. I figure this way we can split all of that." The platter came with one of each of their main breakfast items, including all of the above, and the waffles as well. "So, that should be lovely, I think." Oh dear. Would he stop making pitiful looks at her now, please? "And I did promise that you could try the muffins."

$#$&#xin;g puppy dog face. It was the most evil weapon in the world! "You can stop being adorable, Tony. Really. I don't want to end up buying half of the restaurant." Or, in fact, the entire restaurant. Hopefully he would be satisfied with her selection, and they could go back to enjoying themselves, and not being slavish admirers. ... Well, in her case, anyway. Augh. The phone in her purse buzzed, informing her that she had a text message, which she blatantly ignored.

"I'm sure that you like vegetables perfectly fine," she said teasingly, reaching across to pat his hand. "Goodness knows, you'll be getting enough in the way of fruit and grains that we can safely take you out of the 'carnivore' category." She gathered up her tea, humming pleasantly when it smelled delicious. They made wonderful tea, here. It was loose leafed and fresh, and she couldn't have asked for more. She rarely ever took coffee with her breakfast, but she assumed that Anthony's selection would be as good as her own.

Amaravati would have grumbled if Tony hadn't been looking all cheerful and everything. Sodding Librarian. "Yes, it's adorable. How it could manage to be anything else when you're making like a four year old who wants a ride on the pony, I don't know. But Tony, not fair. Play nice, and I'll play nice." There was just a touch of threat in her tone, not enough to be serious, but definitely enough to warn him that she meant business.

When Amara issued threats she made good on them. ... Even if they happened to be threats of mischief rather than actual damage. Happily oblivious to the scene they were making, she squeezed his hand in a friendly, supportive way, and smiled at him. "No, I'm not. That's probably my mother calling to ask me how to install some program or another on her system. I wish she'd figure out that I don't know much more than she does about them, but ah well."

Her mother's constant struggle with technology was an on-going thing, made more humorous by the fact that her father's company was in the technology business. Honestly, she didn't see why the woman didn't simply choose to take a course somewhere, or even read the manuals that came with her software. "She had mentioned something about that yesterday-- but truly, my father or one of his employees can handle it." Really, it was no big deal.

Also, Amara knew that if it was a big deal, her mother would either leave some voice-mail or a text message. Idly, she picked at the food, suddenly noticing the way they were being stared at. She hadn't up until now, and while she was not unused to being watched it had never been for this particular reason before. "... So, I take it you like the food?" she inquired, making her way through her own somewhat more moderate portion. There would be muffins to follow, and she was sure as $@#% not going to do without her morning muffin. Not even for Tony.

"Of course you don't," Amaravati returned scathingly. The bite to her tone was entirely in play, however, as she quickly offered him another smile. #$@$ the man for being adorable. She rolled her eyes at him, and fussed with her breakfast, trying to decide what she wanted next. It was ridiculous that Anthony still behaved this way. What was he, twelve? No, four. Definitely four. Well, she was glad that she had missed his terrible twos. If she'd had to put up with an adult man whose favorite word was 'no', she thought she might have had to maim something.

Just a little. She rolled her eyes at him again, and would've shoved him if he'd been sitting next to her. "No, I'm not putting anything off on your account. Believe me when I say that the less enjoyed my parents are, the better." Still, she listened to him when he made his statement, considering his words. "I suppose. I do see quite enough of them, though... even though I don't live at home. They find ways to be a part of my life." And Amaravati didn't fight them too terribly hard.

She went silent for a long moment, focusing on the plate in front of her. She'd mostly picked her way through the bacon, eggs, and sausage, and now had only her smaller portion of steak to worry about. She was much more interested in the muffins they would be having afterwards. ... Well, she'd be having afterwards. She didn't know that Anthony would put that off, himself.

"Hey, it's no problem. You were problem starving, having to put up with all of that dreadful hospital food." Both of them tended to exaggerate how bad the hospital food was, but it was certainly not up to Amara's standards. She didn't know what he got to eat at home, but whatever it was, he was clearly used to a certain level of quality. A quality that the hospital cafeteria simply did not possess.

To be fair, Amaravati was about five. At most. Still, five was older than four, and Tony (were he able to read minds) would do well to remember that! But alas, Anthony could not read minds, and Amara remained happily oblivious to any comparisons that might be drawn between the two of them. "I can't argue with that," she remarked, remembering her brief foray into the hospital. Ugh. No, she definitely did not want to spend extended periods of time there. Not at all.

Right. She had had about enough of the 'real' food, and was ready to move on to dessert. Setting her fork down, she watched Tony eat with some amusement, shaking her head when he grinned at her. He was just ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. The man could have held contests with clowns over his silliness, in her opinion. Held them, and quite probably gone home with the prize.

"You know, you are some kind of something else, Tony. Seriously. I've done very little that can compare to the kind of care that you've given me... that you gave me when you hardly even knew me. You think somehow that's not a big deal, but it is. No one treats me like that outside of my own family. No one else." No one ever had, and Amaravati had the feeling that no one else ever would.

Unless somehow she got lucky a second time. The chances of that were slim to none, really. "So maybe it wasn't so good for me to have the shelf fall. But... having a friend like you? That's good for me. I think it's maybe what I needed." It figured, really. Amara brightened when the muffins arrived, and took one of the little plates to enjoy her muffin on. She'd start with one, but where there was one muffin, there would undoubtedly be more.