please, nobody dies from a scar

He was quick to file her away mentally. Definitely not one of the regulars. In fact, he was almost certain he’d never seen her before. Her face told him very little, but her body language spoke volumes.

“Take all the time you need,” Todd said, handing the coffee pot off to the nearest waitress. He even took a step back, giving her a little more space to settle in comfortably.

His own assessment wasn’t over yet. Strong posture. Defined frame. Sportswear. This early in the day, a stop at the diner almost certainly meant she’d come from some kind of workout. Maybe the gym.

“Hmm, well…” He glanced back toward the menu board. “We’ve got some great protein shakes. Classic vanilla or chocolate, and a Reese’s-inspired one made with powdered peanut butter.”

“There’s also a high-protein breakfast plate that’s popular after a workout. Lots of construction workers and trainers swear by it. Comes with sausage, a Spanish egg-white omelet, beans for fiber, and you can add carbs depending on whether you’re bulking or cutting.”

She skimmed through the menu as he spoke, but the options he mentioned frankly sounded the best right now. “I’ll do a shake and the breakfast plate, then. Vanilla shake.”

(Omelet, beans, sausage. You can do that. Hunter-owned— probably hunter-owned. That’s what you’ve heard. The food will be fine.)

“I’ll skip on the carbs.” She set the menu down. “And I’ll take a water, too. With ice. Please.” The diner might be American style, but from all the different dining defaults she’d heard of in Europe, she just wanted to be sure she was getting what she was used to.

The smell of coffee and bacon wrapped around every customer walking through the main doors, 500 Miles playing softly through the speakers while the waitresses made sure everyone’s cup of joe stayed full.

It was a usual early morning: busy booths, the bell from the kitchen ringing, and Todd at the grill flipping pancakes, a towel over his shoulder and his flannel tugged up to his elbows. He added extra blueberries when he noticed the usual 8 a.m. customer sitting at the bar. One of the regulars — and he already knew they needed an extra bit of pancake goodness before heading off to work.

The customer had barely sat down before Todd was there with a fresh cup of black coffee and a plate of pancakes in front of them.

“The usual this morning?” His smile was faint, but already there, welcoming anyone in with carbs and caffeine.

Even while stacking dirty dishes and wiping down the counter, Todd’s eyes drifted for a second whenever the door rang with someone new walking in.

“Morning. Know what you wanna order?” Todd asked as they sat down, menu in hand, while he came over with a fresh pot of coffee.

Myah knew that moving wouldn’t fix her problems, but she hadn’t counted on how badly homesickness would hit this quickly. A week in to her new life overseas, and already the worry that this had been too hasty was itching at the back of her mind. Finding something even slightly American was a relief, then, and from what she’d heard, the place was hunter-owned too.

(You don’t know — not safe — can’t be sure — )

She took a deep breath and pushed through the door.

Immediately, she zeroed in on a corner booth with a solid view of the room and entryways. She took a seat, and as the man approach, reluctantly slipped her sunglasses off.

(You’ve heard reliably that this is a hunter-owned spot. This is an occupied place. The windows are open and the sun is up.)

“I… need a minute,” she said, eyes flicking down to the menu for a moment. It didn’t look particularly complicated, but she’d have to pour over the options and pick them apart in her mind before she’d be able to decide what she could stomach this morning. Her morning workout had left her hungry, but that couldn’t compete with the incessant need to check and double check options and ingredients and risks and choices.

(Try to sound friendlier.)

➳❥ 𝗡𝗘𝗢𝗡 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦 + 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦

I'm actually pretty happy with how these turned out lol. Here you go!

as requested by @katesharmaa​ | request half completed

through THIS LINK  or the source link you will be redirected to 234 gifs of  KIKI LAYNE in her role of nile freeman in THE OLD GUARD (2020).  all gifs found here were created from scratch by me (kaetastrophe gifs) so please  like or reblog if you’ve found these gifs useful.

you may not repost and host your own or claim as your own. do not use in other gif hunts (feel free to link to it tho!).  not for use on social media.  feel free to use in crackships and edit/crop until your hearts content. lastly, give credit where credit is due

credit not needed. recoloring welcomed. feel free to edit as you need!