[PRP] Come Again Another Day [Quinn/Connor]

[Kappawolf]

Quinn had a terrible habit of picking the worst days possible for important events.

So, his hands were spread above his head and his feathers were all clinging to his skin in an attempt to hide from as much rain as possible as he ran across the street from his new shop. He had been painting all day, and there were little flecks all over him of random colors. He figured he'd do two things at once-- get some pancakes and hot chocolate, and scope out their competition. So, his destination was Cherries Jubilee.

When he finally got to the door after what felt like an eternity of street-crossing, he jumped inside and let himself drip for a moment as he took a breath of dry air.

"Hello?" He glanced around.

Cute.

"I'm hungry." He finished, to no one in particular. As if for punctuation, his stomach grumbled.  

[Silverah]

"Well," intoned Connor bemusedly, "This is a restaurant."

He appeared to be leaning on the top of an illuminated, glass-fronted cake display case, balancing a checkbook. There was a smudge of ink on his cheek and his glasses were slightly askew. Connor stood to his full height and straightened his spectacles.

He pointed vaguely at Quinn. "You're that guy," he said, and wracked his brain. He looked familiar from somewhere, and being so distinctive looking, Con was fairly certain it wasn't a case of mistaken identity. He snapped his fingers as if this would make it come back to him faster.

"You're that guy," he repeated. "That guy who bought the storefront across the street. Our across-the-waybors." (It rhymed with neighbors.) He added, "Our competition."

Awkward. Connor flailed for a moment, then smiled toothily. "Can I help you?" he asked, and then followed the question up with, "Towel?"  

[Kappawolf]

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "'Across-the-waybors?' Did you really just say that out loud?" Quinn shook his hair some, and it dripped.

"Yeah, a towel would be nice." His feathers were starting to bristle in an attempt to force the water off, but a towel would be much faster. "And then some food! What do you serve? Pancakes, or whatever?" He eyed the cake display case.

Cake.

"And I want some cake. One of the pretty ones. Like that." He motioned vaguely at the display.

"But yeah, we bought the place. And competition is such a harsh word--"

Cake.

Quinn was finding it very hard to focus on the conversation. His body was aching for sugar.

"But, yes, you cake look at it that way--" he laughed nervously. "Cake. You cake look at it that way." It became an even more nervous giggle. "I did it again! Can. Can. You can look at it that way, if you really cake-- nevermind. You were saying about a towel?"  

[Silverah]

It took Con about twenty seconds to locate a clean dish towel and toss it at the visitor. Another five to lean against the display case and quirk an eyebrow at him. "No pancakes after eleven-thirty," he said offhandedly, pointing to a sign on the register: We stop serving breakfast food half an hour before noon! Make your mother proud and eat a good lunch! "I've got cake, though. And salads, sandwiches - fancy drinks with six flavors of whipped cream?"

Connor indicated the chalkboard over the counter that was colorfully inscribed with different dishes and prices, then slid the display case open and crouched behind it. A pretty piece of cake? Well, they were all pretty, he made sure they were pretty...

"I'm fond of the chocolate strawberry," he said, and pointed to a pink-iced cake topped with small, chocolate-dipped strawberries. "The Cherries Jubilee Supreme is our specialty. Creme brullee? There's pie, too, and the college kids like the chocolate chip cookies-

He decided to let the man make up his mind before trying to sell anything else and stood back up to his full height. "When are you guys looking to open?" he asked.  

[Kappawolf]

"Whipped cream has flavors?" He had never heard of such a thing. His old job only had one kind of whipped cream. He would have to look into that. "I'll take some of all of it!" He had a pocket full of bills Vale had given him to buy fabric and paint, and he would be glad to spend it on food instead.

"Give me one of everything you mentioned!" He paused. "Except the salad, that's a waste of calories." He nodded seriously. "Why waste your time eating something nasty?" He placed his palms on the counter.

"I have been working all day. My life is in your hands. Feed me something to make this day worthwhile."

He paused, and broke out of his dramatic mode for a second.

"Oh, within the next month or so." His face darkened again, and he resumed his dramatic position.

"Your hands."  

[Silverah]

Con's eyebrows were working their way steadily up his forehead as he dutifully plated cakes and bagged pastries and made up a sweet coffee drink with a rainbow of whipped cream around the cup. The flavors were, and he recited them when he placed the huge mug on the counter, "Strawberry, banana, green tea, blueberry, chocolate, and regular."

Pridefully, he added, "We make it ourselves. Our own recipe."

Back to plating slices of cake. The order quickly filled a plastic tray balanced on the top of the display case, and then another. As he placed the last slice precariously into place, Con explained, "Chocolate strawberry, Cherries Jubilee Supreme, French Silk, Birthday-Any-Day, Boysenberry Pie, Mint Chocolate, Creme Brullee, Baked Alaska, chocolate chip cookies in the bag, and a peanut butter and banana sandwich. House specialty."

He surveyed the spread and then tapped a finger thoughtfully against his chin. He adjusted his glasses. "You sure you don't want me to box some of those up? Alright, let me ring you up..."  

[Kappawolf]

Quinn pulled all the bills out of his pocket and through them at Connor. "Yeah. Ring. I'm gonna eat." His eyes glinted madly as he reached for the first one, Chocolate strawberry, and took three huge bites.

Cake.

"Mm. Thish ish--" he swallowed, "Delicious. I'm Quinn, by the way." He didn't bother to hold out his hand, it was reaching for the drink. He began to taste the different flavors of whipped cream.

"I have a new last name or something but I don't remember what it is. Also, I was great at Drama in high school. And Art. But apparently I failed everything else, stupid irish b*****d--" His mouth was then too full to talk anymore, and he wasn't quite grasping the idea of having a fake past, now. He had been mentioning it to everyone, just to make sure he seemed real. It wasn't really working.

"I have a diploma and everything."  

[Silverah]

Connor's eyebrows, having gotten as close to his hairline as they probably felt comfortable going, settled down back over his narrowed eyes. He found all this a bit weird for a moment, but quickly busied himself in counting the bills and calculating change.

"Oh?" he asked, genuinely interested. "Where'd you go?"

He set a handful of bills and coins on the counter - "Change," - and closed the register. "I'm Connor," he said, and watched Quinn eat - usually when people ate that fast they would choke sooner or later.  

[Kappawolf]

Quinn racked his brain for the name of the school. "Eastern...Central...High? Class of something or another." He took a thoughtful chomp. Quinn wasn't most people-- he was accustomed to shoving things down his throat, and choking had long since stopped being a problem.

"I need another one of these coffee things." He had finished it. "And since I am an amazing customer, it should be a free refill." He nodded, and finished off his fourth piece of cake.

"Is there a table where we can sit down? Standing is getting in the way of my cake." It occured to him that he had never actually dried himself off, and he grabbed the towel and ran it over his body quickly.  

[Silverah]

Connor held up a hand. "No free refills, but I can give you ten cents off for using the same cup." He took the mug and started refilling it. "My partner does the finances, he gets tetchy if there's incongruities. It ruins his whole day..."

He trailed off, then grinned devilishly.

"Actually, call it free," he said, putting the refilled mug down, "But only because it'll drive Tully up the wall later. Call it a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift."

He motioned for Quinn to turn around, then gave a taa-daa! gesture in the direction of the seating area. "Tables, voila! Like magic."  

[Kappawolf]

Quinn snorted. "That sounds like Vale. He so caught up on details. Like 'regulations' and 'taxes'. Doesn't he understand you can't suppress creative freedom with money?" He sighed, and finished the slice of boysenberry pie.

He lifted up his trays and balanced them over to one of the tables he mentioned.

"Don't be sarcastic at me just because I'm unobservant." Quinn frowned at Connor and sat down.

Something dawned on him.

"By partner, do you mean you sleep with him, or run the shop with him?"  

[Silverah]

Connor grinned. Then he snorted. Then he laughed. "That is the matter of much speculation around the neighborhood," he said, sitting on the counter. "Some of the college kids have a betting pool - nothing serious, of course, just something they tease the freshmen with."

He sighed dramatically, one hand over his forehead. A swoon. "Alas, alack, no," he declared. "Tully is tragically heterosexual. Straighter than string cheese."

Not that that made much sense, but it sounded good.

"Not that I mind the rumor," he said, kicking his legs a bit. "It drives him crazy. But no, he and I are not making the beast with two backs. I cook, and he makes sure we don't go bankrupt."  

[Kappawolf]

"College," he spat. "It's probably like high school, which I barely survived, apparently, and I don't want to go to it. I don't need any more teaching! My life is all about life or death situations. Important things. I don't need to be taught." He was about halfway through all of his treats now, and his was slowing down. It was a lot of food.

"Eh, string cheese is bendable." Quinn smirked, mischievously. "Everyone is bendable."

He took another bite.

"That's the same with me and Vale! Except I sleep with him, too."  

[Silverah]

"Tully isn't," replied Connor with a shrug. "Trust me, I've tried."

He looked just a little bit lovelorn and hopped off the counter. He was a body always in motion - for a moment he looked at a loss for what to do with his arms, then he drummed his hands awkwardly on the counter.

"What's your deal, you guys see what works, then steal our formula?"

Cherries Jubilee would triumph, though. They had loyal customers.  

[Kappawolf]

"Yes, that's exactly it." Quinn nodded. "I'm basically the hamburgler. But with cake. The Cakeburgler? And I have the amazing ability to know your exact secret formula just by eating it." He rolled his eyes.

"No. I've just been working for an entire two hours, and I needed a coffee break. I should probably get back soon, though." He took the final bite of something in front of him, and stood up wobbily.

"I'll see you later, yeah? You should come by when we open."