I'm the cook at Granny's Diner. Either eat up, or shut up.
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Boy, you’d better not
[Hitching up her shoulders at the blare in her ear, she batted him away before letting it fall towards her half empty glass as she watched Toby clean.] I don’t work for you, remember? I’m just here finishing my drink, last call and all that shit.{Kyle perked up as Ruby slung her arm around his shoulders, eyes bright and grin wide he tugged her into a faux ballroom dance, twirling her around the room and ignoring Toby’s death glare.} Ignore them, we’ll have enough fun for all of us combined.
My Lord. [Throwing her head back with a laugh she barely had time to take another sip of her drink and set it down before getting swept off her feet. Swinging her around the room by his arms, she shot Toby a quick grin before kicking up her feet and launching some of the loose balloons on the floor in his direction.] I like this plan.
Last call was three drinks ago. {Toby sent Meg a flat look, continuing to push the debris into a corner before a sudden mess of balloons appeared before him. Toby had to stop and pinch the bridge of his nose as he grumbled a multitude of cursewords under his breath} I’m two seconds away from leaving all of your asses to deal with this.
What. Not feeling in the mood to celebrate?
C’mon, you guys’re thinking about this in the wrong way. Learn to live a little! {He picked up a kazoo he found on the floor and moved towards Meg, deliberately blowing it in her ear before moving away, laughter following in his wake.}
Seriously, it won’t kill either of you. [Swinging an arm over Kyle’s neck, she laughed a bit out of breath as a cup hung from her other hand. Squinting a little at their frowns, she raised her cup to her lips and quirked a smile.] Okay maybe just a little.
{Toby raised his brow at their antics, grabbing the brush and moving it across the debris on the floor} Less yappin’, more workin’.
And not cleanin’ up after themselves.
{Glancing up from the table he’d gotten stuck wiping down, he gestured with his head towards the counter.}
Menu’s are at the bar.
{Turning back to the table he finished wiping it down, knowing Ruby was somewhere in the back and would be by to get the girl’s order. He shouldn’t even be out here, and he was currently muttering under his breath how much work he still had to do, without Ruby taking a break every time a nail seemed to break.}
It should be here but.. I [Looking up into the face, her eyes searching for some glimmer of hope that he recognized the spot on some level. Anything that would prove the trip anything but worthless but seeing nothing of her old friend in the one she had.] I don’t know why it’s not. Maybe I got mixed up. [Trying to smile and brush off the loss she felt in her heart at the failed attempt to find some connection to the two lives she now lived, it never reached her dark eyes.]
{The more she talked about the place as if she knew it, the more confused he became. Giving it another once over, he tried to figure out what was so special about it and coming up with nothing. Turning back to her, he simply frowned at the smile she gave him, knowing it was one of her fake ones that she gave to everyone she didn’t want knowing how she really felt.} Ruby. What’s really going on. Why’d you bring me here, and don’t say it was for nothing, because you were obviously expecting something different than what you got. Now what was it.
[She walked the path that burned in recognition, just below the surface of her memory of every trip she had ever taken with him by her side, making sure no one else got hurt when she lost control. Rattling off all the numbers of how many steps it took, how many logs on each wall, and even the seconds before the curse took her were all there just not the cabin, the place that held all those memories.] It’s not here… [Running a hand over the side of the tree, usually just to the side of the cabin, the one that gave her shade in the summer moons but here it stood alone.] I thought.. maybe.
{Sighing softly under his breath he moved further into the clearing, a faint twinge of…something at the back of his mind that he quickly brushed off as he crossed next to her.} Am I missing something here, Rubes, or you finally fall off the deep end. {Standing next to her, he looked around, his light flashing across the trees and leaves and trying to figure out just what was so special about this place.}
Not flowers.. [She said absentmindedly, her eyes pouring over the map she had drawn, knowing that she had followed it exactly. The air ever smelled the same and the trees, looking up, it was the right place but it was missing the reason for them coming. The one thing that was going to help him remember because everything up till now hadn’t been working and she was already working on her second set of nails in aggravation.] I don’t understand.. [She set off down the rest of the path, leaving him behind as she stared in wide eyed wonder tinged with a bit of sadness as the cabin he had built for her, the one that she spent every full moon in wasn’t here. It was the same forest, she thought maybe it would still be here.]
Not flowers, she says. {Muttering the words softly under his breath, he let his light slide across the clearing she’d lead him to, trying to figure out what was so special about it. When he really couldn’t find anything of importance, he turned his light back onto her, brow furrowing at the look in her eyes.} So….what’m I supposed to be lookin’ at here, exactly?
[She chewed on her lip, trying to think up some way to break up the silence that had fallen over them even though she heard ever mutter from under his breath, wishing she knew what to say to get him to have a bit more faith in her. It had taken all she had to get him to follow her out that far, nothing like how she remembered he used to be but even that man had his own shadows that kept him guarded at night. Still, once she had thought up a way to help get him to remember, she couldn’t stop herself from jumping at the chance of getting her friend back, once and for all. Then maybe she wouldn’t feel so alone.] It’s right.. [Pulling up quickly, her voice fell flat on the last word as she took in the empty clearing in front of her that wasn’t supposed to be empty at all.] here.
{Toby wasn’t sure just how far they’d gone into the woods, but he knew it would be a walk to get back to town, even if they did turn back now. Focusing on the brush beneath his feet, he didn’t realize that she’d stopped until he’d nearly run into her from behind. Stopping himself just short, he let out a huff of annoyance and looked at her, brow raised.} Give a guy a little warning next time you stop to smell the flowers, alright?
It won’t be that long, I promise. Just a bit further up here and
[glancing back down at her scrawling handwriting before back up and turning left sharply she tried to carry herself confident in where she was going.] left! [Not at all almost dropping them off into the river. The smell was a bit overpowering her nose, blocking out other smells that were a bit older, a bit softer which was exactly where she wanted them to go.] We’ll be there before you know it, watch your step over that root. [Flashing her own light down to the right side of her before flicking it back in front, not that she needed it for anything more than appearances.]
{Toby took to muttering under his breath as they continued, glaring down at the ground as much as he was glaring at her back. He stepped easily over the roots she suggested, and even ignored the ravine they almost fell into, the action all too easy. He felt like he’d done this before, a strange sense of dejavu coming over him, but he ignored it. He’d been in these woods plenty of times, mostly in walks with Glitch, so he figured that must be what it was, although, he couldn’t remember being in this part of the woods. Counting down the seconds until he dragged her back to town, he tried not to think about how comfortable his bed seemed in that moment.}
