PHOENIX RISING.

“What other evidence do they have?” Elijah continued on, fingers lightly rounding the beer bottle before taking another swig, eyes mindlessly trained on the Jayhawks game on the tv. “A child pointing fingers at her older brother who simply had the affinity for heavy metal music? It just sounds like a reach to me.” He didn’t know Molly, and he barely knew Scott but he knew Mary Ellis. And it didn’t make sense for Scott to murder his sweet mother who would have done anything for her children.

“Not to mention the lack of consistency... Different murder weapons... And no disrespect to him but without a high school education I doubt he’s smart enough to devise multiple methods to murder his family. Usually messy murders have only one weapon because multiple weapons... the user would need a strong sense of organization... Like you get what I’m sayin’ right?”

Yona wriggled free, not keen on being captured and having her energy suppressed. Even if she was somewhat concerned about losing out on supplies, she didn’t think this was the best way to ground herself. “I need the hangers. The sticks are a fun bonus, although I’ve always thought it would be fun to build my, uh, visage in Lincoln Logs. Maybe this is the closest thing to an opportunity I’ll have…” She was starting to get distracted from her path, but that happened even on a good day. “I’ve got a lot of clothes, but I don’t have a lot of hangers. This is me regaining control of my life. And my closet space. Have you ever tried to hang three jackets on one hanger? I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re in the process of a work of performance art demonstrating the permanency of… capitalism or something. I don’t know. Performance art is exhausting. Can we retrace my steps now?”

“I have not tried that...” he mumbled in the middle of her rambling, as he understood that containing Yona’s freak out was a lost cause. Luckily, living in a large city for a decade has prepared himself well for a fast-talker. “If it helps any, I’ve got a box of hangers back at my grandma’s. Ya just gotta tell me what you need hangers for and they’re all yours.”

jas’ eyes narrowed; she wasn’t too worried about the new hot shot, returned prodigal son of town taking over the decrepit diner. rosie’s hadn’t given the grill a real run for it’s money in years, though she ( only very, very begrudgingly ) would admit that rosie had made the best damn banana nut pancakes she’d had in her life. 

“it’s an off night,” she countered, wiping herself off before leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, keeping him from seeing the true damage behind her. “everyone else bailed. there’s a reason i run the front of the house - i’m a charmer, not a cooker.” 

“if you didn’t come for our clearly superior food, whatchya doing here anyways? shouldn’t you be staring at the empty walls of rosie’s? did ya come for tips on how to bring back customers? spoiler, it involves having a cute waitress, and unfortunately your grandma couldn’t pay me more than harry could.” also, she was pretty sure the departed woman kept jas away from her building simply because of this, but she wasn’t about to let elijah know that. he’d been gone since she was a teen. “if you’re here for my milkshake tutorial, i only do that on friday nights - $20 a pop, and you too can make the meanest mudslide this side of the missisissipi.” 

hand over heart, elijah feigned a wounded expression at jasmine’s digs. (although he couldn’t admit yet that it’s possible his absence led to the beginning of rosie’s collapse.) “you really know how to hit it where it hurts, jas.”

“and you don’t think my smile and charm is enough to bring ‘em back? nah, if i remember well, old man griggs always had a thing for waitresses of inappropriate ages. in all honesty, it’s probably best that i don’t ask you to work for me. keep the creeps away.”

open starter / @nohopestarters​

where: outside the donut shop

With an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips Asher was crouched near the alleyway between the trash cans.  He had a chunk of glazed donut between his fingers outstretched like an offering to the alleycat he’s trying to get the attention of.  While he knew he couldn’t snatch up every stray he came across he hadn’t seen this one before.  They were a black cat with a little tuxedo of white across it’s chest.  “C’mere buddy,” he mumbles, his words muffled by the cigarette.  It’s then he looks over his shoulder and sees somebody watching his attempts to lure the cat.  

“Y’know just out here making friends,” he chuckles as he nods towards the cat now perched on one of the dumpsters.  

Elijah thought that maybe sourcing donuts to serve during breakfast time at the diner can bring it back to life -- it couldn’t hurt to ask if they could have a partnership. The whole town loved his grandmother. Surely they would do anything to help.

He stopped at the sound of the voice hidden in the shadows and peered his head around the corner to see from what he thought was a very messy looking young man. He acknowledges Elijah but really wish he hadn’t. “You just gotta...” He slowly maneuvered around the guy and approached the cat. He lifted his hand to the cat’s nose, gaining trust and building familiarity. 

After a beat, the stray pawed toward him, allowing Elijah to pet the furry being. “Used to get a lot of strays on the fire escape of my apartment. Not here but back in...” He shrugged.

“I keep forgetting that people still smoke actual cigarettes. There truly is nothin’ like the Great Plains.”

@nohopestarters​

“…Frick on a fucking stick. Have you seen a box of popsicle sticks and clothes hangers? Sorry, craft sticks. Popsicle is the name of the company, and I tragically didn’t get to lick all of the popsicle off of these sticks, so craft stick, it is,” Yona said, not quite caring whether the person nearest her actually wanted to listen to her ramble on about her latest problem on top of whatever else came to mind. If she had a problem, it was important not to keep it inside. ‘Conceal, don’t feel’ wasn’t a healthy way of going about life unless you wanted to cover a fantasy land with trolls in snow. Waving her hands around in a manner that did not connect in any particular way to what she was saying, Yona continued: “I need the hangers more than the sticks, but if you find a box without the sticks, then it’s probably not mine. Oh, well, I guess if there’s an unclaimed box of clothes hangers around, I’ll take that too. Hangers are expensive, you know? Agh. Wait, are you thinking about the big, uh, news thing? We can call this a good distraction from that.”

"Whoa whoa whoa!” Elijah held into the shorter girl’s shoulders in hopes to at least qualm her anxious energy. “Let’s start from square one, Greenspan. What do you need these sticks and hangers for?” He had some hangers scattered in a closet at his grandma’s house after donating her clothes to the shelter. He’d been wondering what to do with them. But he didn’t want to give them away blindly to this girl until he knew that her intentions were unharmful. Additionally, were these craft sticks going to be used for good. He needed to get to the bottom of it. “So tell me, before we can retrace your steps -- what are these items for?”

open starter / @nohopestarters​ where / the diner, obviously  what / jas may or may not be allowed near the kitchen for obvious reasons. tagging below, but content warning small kitchen fire ! 

“okay, i can explain - “ she started, even as she tried to figure out how the fuck one was supposed to use a fire extinguisher. there was a reason she was stuck on the floor, taking orders and serving pop instead of in the kitchen, where anyone could accidentally set something on fire. 

( who left a bag of chips that close to the burner? why wasn’t anyone there to pick up after her? this was insane, truly. ) 

the diner had been empty, but of course this would be when someone sauntered in. covered in what could only be described as ‘fire extinguisher juice’ ( did it have a name? ) she finally put the extinguisher down, watching the stovetop warily in case it started again. “okay, i can’t really explain it but like, it could be worse, right? hope you didn’t want a burger right now.” 

elijah stepped back with an amused smirk. initially here to ask jasmine if he could offer her a part time job at rosie’s but as he watched the situation unfold before him, he pondered: despite slow business and being understaffed at his smaller establishment, is he sure that he wants her on his payroll?

“no actually. i mean, how would it look that the the owner of a ‘rival’ diner starts eating his enemy’s food?” he teased.

MEET ELIJAH JAMES BECKETT // BASIC BIOGRAPHY

NAME: elijah beckett BIRTHDATE & ZODIAC. September 13, 1990; virgo sun, cancer moon, virgo rising GENDER & PRONOUNS. cis male, he/him OCCUPATION. Former Junior Associate at Russo & Gideon - specializes in criminal law. Currently runs his late grandmother’s diner, Rosie’s.