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 Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:59 pm
Everyone knew that if you were up past one in the morning, it was a requirement to eat mediocre diner food. The perfect place was only a few blocks from her uncle's house [Her house, but in the two years since he'd died and passed it to her, she'd neglected to make the mental adjustment], and she enjoyed the walk. The night air was refreshing, with a slight breeze that tickled her bare forearms. Today had been a button-up and tie sort of day, and even now she stayed in 'uniform', hands slipped into the back pockets of her jeans.
One foot pushed open the swinging glass door, and hardly glanced around before heading for her usual booth, sliding into it and resting with her back against the wall, lanky legs outstretched along the seat. Other than a trucker sitting at the counter, a few drunk college guys in the corner, and a tearful, quietly breaking up couple four booths down, the place was empty.
That's right. K was a regular.
Of course, the diner was lacking a certain aura of utter loathing and despair, somehow mingled with resignation. That could only mean one thing.
A stricken look briefly crossed her freckled face as she looked up from table to run her gaze behind the front counter. Nope. No grumpy, green eye-shadowed Bernice anywhere in sight.
Had the woman finally given up on life? Had she retired and run off to the bahamas with a poolboy? Did she win the lottery? The place was still standing, so she hadn't blown it up...
Kess wondered if she'd even be able to maintain her voracious appetite without those mud-brown eyes glaring at her from across the diner.
She was so consumed with her thoughts on Bernice's possible escapades beyond the confines of the diner, that she didn't notice who actually was on duty that night. Morning. Whatever.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:21 pm
Ashley was on autopilot, kind of.
This wasn't her usual hours, but when Bitchy Bernice called in sick, she'd jumped on the hours. Anything, anything that would keep her mind off what had happened last night. Anything to make the images go away, if only for a moment.
She'd known this would happen eventually, but she hadn't expected it to be like that. She hadn't expected to feel like this afterward.
Shouldn't she be happy, a little voice said in her mind. Shouldn't she be proud of herself ? She'd killed a senshi. She'd killed her first. One less alien to worry with.
There was guilt, but her corruption was slowly rationalizing it. Was slowly convincing her that this was right.
Was telling her to do it again.
The sailor crystal was still in her room, hidden very carefully, until she gathered the courage to turn it in. She had to - having a senshi starseed in her room was a very, very bad idea.
Her co-workers hadn't seemed to take special notice, beyond quick whispers, questions as to why the usually bright and cheery Ashley was looking so down. But it came with a convinent answer - she'd been at work when Matthew had gone in the hospital, and all but dashed out to get there once she was told.
Noah had thankfully seemed to understand, through the rumor mill was going that it was a terrorist that had gotten Matthew.
It... wasn't a complete lie.
She looked up when she heard the bell ring, and was surprised. This wasn't Kess' hours.. or maybe they were, she had no idea. This was her first time working this shift.
Nonetheless, she slid from behind the counter and went to the table. "Hey, Kess." She smiled, but something was missing. Her eyes didn't have the sparkle they usually had. "The usual ?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:33 pm
Blink.
Kess was snapped from her mental image of Bernice hang-gliding in the south-pacific to the sight of a much younger, much prettier waitress. Dark eyes instantly dropped to the girl's chest as she grinned, instinctively, in response, automatically answering the order while her mind shot off elsewhere.
"Uh, yeah. That'd be good. I always order the bacon super soft, though, because Bernice will do the opposite and make it crispy, so ask for crispy, yeah?" Kess hated soft bacon.
Ashley, read the nametag. Not that Kess didn't already know that, but they weren't more than friendly acquaintances, really, and it was good to double-check before making a stupid mistake. Ashley was a few years younger, and had only turned up on the party scene that Kess dropped in on in the past year or two. In fact, if Kess remembered right, she wasn't quite legal yet, either. Not that it particularly bothered the blonde, or anything. She would deal to anyone high school age or above, provided they had a head on their shoulders.
The grin faded within seconds, though, into a more easy-going, relaxed smile. Her tone was friendly, and she dropped her legs from the seat, sitting up to reach out and touch the edge of the younger girl's skirt as she began to walk away.
"Hold up, Ashley," The same hand patted the table, quietly, her eyes flicking over the others in the diner. Nope. No one gave a s**t about anything outside their personal bubble, here. "Why don't you sit down for a minute?" A wider grin then, as she cajoled, "I'll buy you a drink."
Not that she didn't get free meals.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:28 pm
Ashley didn't notice that Kess hadn't been looking at her face for a moment there, else she might have said that, yes, she had damn nice boobs, thank you.
But tonight wasn't that kinda night. "Crispy bacon, gotcha." And as she turned to leave, the skirt-grap stopped her.
Had it been one of the old perverts, they'd have gone flying out the window right about now. Ashley looked around the restaurant, and upon seeing that no one else seemed to need her and that there was no one new in the place, she did sit down.
"If it's about the cow, im sorry to say she's sick, not gone." Yes, Ashley liked Bernice about as much as Kess did. She just couldn't be as vocal about it in the old hag's - or their boss' - presence.
But neither of them were here.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:15 pm
Of course, if Ashley had noticed, the two would have had that awkward moment, where the the blonde would have had to inform her that she was actually reading her nametag, and not checking her out. The entire situation, was avoided by the younger girl's depression, which was, strangely, worse.
Instead, the blonde settled back, her dark eyes not straying as the waitress glanced around before sitting.
"I always thought she was immune to the ailments of mortals." Kess' grin didn't falter as she continued. "It's not her. It's you. You're usually more," What was the word... "Sassy."
The blonde took a drink of the coffee that had been brought to her automatically. "So what is it?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:33 pm
"I guess even hell spawns get a cold every now and then."
...That was kinda harsh, really. Ashley didn't seem to care too much about it.
Perky ? Well, she figured that was the case, through she was definitively lacking in the perky department tonight.
"My brother got his rib broken by some a*****e. I can't even find the a*****e to kick him in the balls." That was the quick and dirty version. "I think it was one of those terrorist dudes. The one with bows and all that crap."
While there was still leftover guilt on the killing front, there was no shame howsoever in running the senshi name through the mud some. "He was just on his way coming home from work when BAM ******** came out of nowhere and beat him up. He looks like hell, through I expected worse when I got the call."
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:23 pm
"Mmn." Kess nodding, as if agreeing that yes, that might explain Ashley's lack of smiles. However, she didn't express the typical over-sympathetic response. There were so 'I'm so sorry!' or 'Your poor brother!'. s**t happened, and those kind of half-assed comments rarely actually helped.
"Terrorist?" She grinned at the term, her nose wrinkling slightly as she ran over the news stories and murmurs she heard delivering mail and packages, and also drugs, since those super high liked to tell stories about what they saw in town. "You buy all that, eh?" It wasn't exactly a question, one shoulder lifting in a shrug, as if she didn't care either way.
Setting the coffee mug back on the table, she settled back further into the booth, relaxed. After a moment of quiet, her dark eyes found Ashley's, and her lopsided grin grew wider. "I think you know exactly who did it."
Another pause, her brows raised as she spoke, casually. "Maybe I can help."
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:44 am
"I've seen them." She said, looking completely serious. Of course, she believed in terrorists... She fought them every night.
Actually, the lack of usual sympathy comment didn't seem to bother Ashley too much. Actually, she found she preferred it to the pity-party the rest of her co-workers had thrown at her.
"I know what he looks like." Oh, Kess darling, if she knew who had done it, she wouldn't be wasting time trying to drag him out night after night. "What you've got in mind ?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:49 am
That wolfish grin didn't fade, the blonde leaning forward conspiratorially as she considered what Ashley had to say. "Your brother helped me out once, fixed my laptop for free, and I'd like to return the favor." It'd been awhile ago, during her last stint with DCU classes, but still. He was a good guy.
"I get around a lot, I see a lot." A slight shrug, as if it was no big deal, really, that Kess was probably owed favors by a large part of the city. "People talk, people see things." A yawn, as she shifted back again.
"What does he look like? He might talk to me, where he wouldn't talk to you."
The offer, surprisingly or not, would have been extended toward Fluorite, had the older girl known she existed.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:24 pm
"You know Matty ?" She looked a little surprised, but... well. It made sense - she looked roughly his age, and it wasn't like she knew everyone that her brother knew.
"He told me he had long blonde hair, pulled back in a ponytail." She started. "Was wearing a black coat, black pants, glasses. Tie with piano keys on it. Long ribbony s**t from his waist, huge a** wingbows on his a**."
...It sounded ridiculous, but actually... Actually. Now she was looking at Kess' reaction carefully. If she wasn't on their side... Well.
It had occured to Ashley that she might be useful on theirs.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:42 pm
Another shrug, at the mention of 'Matty'. Matthew and she may have had a class together, but they weren't friends, of course. That didn't mean that the handful of times they'd seen each other, in the library [or when Kess had played a game or two with Sebastian], they hadn't been friendly.
Regardless, it wasn't important.
"I haven't seen him," she replied, honestly. "I've got a run to do, tonight, though, and I'll put out a pulse on him." She didn't seem particularly put off by the description [after all, DC was large, and people wore all kinds of s**t], and instead, raised an eyebrow.
"I guess a name is too much to ask for." That grin, again, as she explained, even though she didn't really need to. "I'm out on these streets awful late, myself. Could've been me, I reckon, that got my ribs broken."
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:44 pm
"Yeah, I have no idea what his name is." If only... God damn, if only she at least had a senshi name ! Then she could possibly ask General Zinkenite if he had any info on the asshat.
Through the lack of reaction had assured her, for the time being, that Kess was not involved with the senshi. There was no way to be completely sure, of course, but...
"I really hope that never happens to you." She said, honestly. Now the idea was lodged in her mind, and it wouldn't go away. Would she even be interested in this kind of thing ?
"Thanks, Kess." She said with a nod. "Through if you want your food sometime tonight, I should probably go put the order in." She said.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:06 pm
"I can handle myself, pretty well, though I won't say I don't appreciate the concern." Five years of kickboxing and self defense were a girl's best friend. Oh, and there was pepper spray.
Tapping the top of the table, she nodded, once. "Ain't no thang, sugarplum." They were purple, weren't they? Yes. As for dinner... A hand fell to her stomach, and she grinned. "That'd be great, thanks. Can I also get a milkshake? Strawberry."
She definitely deserved a milkshake.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:22 pm
Sugarplum ? Okay, somehow that made Ashley smile, if only out of amusement. She really hated when the old farts gave her pet name, but well, Kess wasn't a dirty old man.
It came a little better.
"No problem, honeybun." She grinned, wrote it down with the rest of her order, then went back, ripped the sheet, and slid it back to the cook.
Then she milled about. Slowly, the restaurant emptied, the broken up couple first, the chick leaving the joint order for her ex to pay (shitty, in Ashley's opinion), then the trucker, but then finally the drunks, through one of them grapped Ashley's a** on the way out.
She'd slapped his s**t so hard the handprint might as well be imprinted on his face forever. ******** if he called Noah to b***h, she wasn't in the mood for this s**t.
Another waitress came in, and then Ashley came, at least, with Kess' order. "********." She muttered, then sat back with the blonde. "You're my last, so I hope you don't mind if I eat with you ?" Her lunch was cooking, and well, she hated to eat alone in a corner like some kind of reject. Usually Matthew dropped by at the end of her shifts to keep her ******** senshi.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:55 pm
The blonde's warm, dark eyes had followed Ashley's movements through the diner [as she trailed everyone else, as well, they were simply less interesting], and caught on the drunk as he made his 'move'. She didn't bother to interject, and the waitress handled the situation herself, and responded to the arrival of her 'breakfast' with delight, immediately 'preparing' the plate for consumption with syrup, ketchup, and the like.
"'Course not," Kess grinned, "I never turn down the company of a pretty girl." She began eating with gusto, though it seemed like there was far too much food for one lanky blonde to consume. Didn't stop her from trying.
Fork in mouth, though it was devoid of food, she raised her brows at the younger girl. "You party, right?" A pause. "A buddy of mine is having a thing, Saturday. You might be into it. Probably a lot of familiar faces."
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