#nex.start

“Listen here buddy, you’re drunk. You’re three minutes away from puking.” Holding up her fingers, she pointed at them with her other hand. “Do you see this? Three fucking fingers and if you dare to puke all over my counter, my boss will get mad and probably fire me and if he fires me I will crush you. So eat up, and drink this whole bottle of water and once you feel better I might even hand some some sort of dessert. Deal?”

            Priscilla was groggy, actually, groggy wasn’t even the right word. she was exhausted. two twelve hour shifts later and she found herself here, at the Swann Diner staring quietly into a mug of coffee. she traced her finger slowly around the rim of the off white mug, captivated by the swirls of cream mixing with dark coffee within. she was barely present in the moment, only aware that there was now someone standing by the end of her table. ❛ I’ll have two eggs, sunny side up, ham and home fries. -- please. ❜ at least she remembered to be polite. all she needed was a bit of food and a couple more cups of coffee and she’d be right as rain, ready to climb back into the saddle... or the police car rather.

               he sat perched upon a stool behind the counter, aimlessly thumbing through a new catalog he had collected from the mail. maybe it was time he brought in some new inventory... climbing ropes? bear mace? more guns? the ringing of a bell pulled him out of his trance and he glanced up eyeing the person that stepped into the store. ❛ what can I do you for? ❜ his voice was gruff, heavy from the weight of not being used yet this morning. Abel placed the catalog down and pushed himself to stand, large hands coming to rest on the glass counter top as he leaned forward patiently waiting.