3 AM and Thirsty (Monroe)

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak had finally managed to find a job. And, thankfully, it was one she so far didn't mind too much. It wasn't as fun as her entertaining gig at the House, but she liked interacting with the various people that passed through and stopped at the little diner. Tak was definitely a people-person, and she'd started to become a sort of night-owl too, with the late shifts she was starting to get. It'd only been about a week, but she was determined to keep the job for a while, at least until she started college in the fall.

She was fortunate enough tonight to be working with a very fine boy that had just graduated from Hammel too. Monroe, he went by. He was a natural night owl, she'd soon discovered. Even though it was three in the morning and the diner was currently empty, he seemed to be anything but falling asleep.

"Sooo... What's a cutie like you do in your free time, anyway?" Tak asked casually, leaning forward against the counter with a smile. "I'm sad we never got to know each other at Hammel. At least it seems like we'll have plenty of free time in these late shifts." And they were still getting paid, which was awesome!

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

The diner had emptied out a little bit ago and Monroe had just finished cleaning up the last table of three men who were surely drunk who hadn't left more than a few quarters for a tip. Yet they spent 30 dollars on pancakes. He wasn't complaining...that much. After all, this job gave him something to do at night when everyone else was asleep and while Monroe felt that perhaps he could finally get some shut eye at night since having his own place....with Eloise anyway, he was too accustomed to the insomnia and when he laid down and tried to sleep, it didn't come. He could just channel all of his energy into a night shift now. Besides, he didn't want to dream walk in Eloise's mind.

While Tak and him had graduated together, he'd never known who she was, of course, the boy really hadn't known very many people anyway. She was a little heavy on pet names and what Monroe assumed was flirting, but she was nice. He walked over and slid the few quarters across the counter to her that he'd collected from the table. "You're just swimming in tips," he told her sarcastically, before tossing the rag over his shoulder. "Free time? I draw and drink a lot of coffee," he told her.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak still preferred working during the day when she could, just because she typically liked having her nights for... Other things... But hey, she had a handsome guy to talk to while she worked, so it was just fine. For all she knew, maybe she could get him to come over sometime after a shift... Heh. She hadn't had too many visitors to her and Gryph's apartment yet, but Tak hoped to change that. She got lonely.

It was always nice, though, to meet someone who didn't know or care about her history at Hammel. All that was behind her anyway. "Oh, wow, they really were quite generous, weren't they?" she replied sarcastically with a smirk, pocketing the change for now. Tak eyed a slice of pie behind the counter as Monroe spoke, and glanced over at him. "Coffee drinking is a hobby?" she teased. "I'm more of a tea gal myself." She bent over to study the desserts more, showing off a fair amount of cleavage in her low-cut top (hey, it got more tips, usually, and no one had told her not to). "Hey, wanna split a piece of pie together? There's like, a whole half an apple one left, and I doubt it'll all sell before it goes bad."

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"I don't know. Not sleeping? That's my other hobby. Honestly, I do crossword puzzles and look up witty coffee mugs on Amazon. When you're me, that's about as exciting as it gets." Maybe coffee drinking couldn't be considered a hobby and at one point he didn't enjoy drinking it, but he'd become accustomed to it and he wasn't sure if he actually liked the taste or if it was just the caffeine factor. "Tea is good," he said with a shrug. He still liked tea. "Has caffeine as well." Addie loved tea. Earl grey specifically.

She was bent over the counter, studying a piece of pie. "True, but only if I can have a cup of coffee with it." He did love apple pie, although he was sure his mom's was better than the diner's.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak raised an eyebrow as Monroe went on. Honestly, she'd thought he was more... Exciting than that? Or, at least, had more exciting hobbies, like... Oh, even sports or something. "Well, I suppose crossword puzzles can be fun," she replied with a slightly amused grin. "And... Coffee mugs. How... Enrapturing." Tak tilted her head and pouted a bit. "It just sounds like you need someone exciting in your life," she told him, and winked. "You should get out, go hiking, or something. When you're not stuck here working with little old me, of course." She chuckled and put away some stray menus.

"I can get you some coffee," she replied with a smile and a roll of her eyes. Tak pulled out the pie and sat it on the table before going back to pour some of the brew she'd had for any late-night customers that needed a pick-me-up. She handed Monroe a mug and went to work cutting out a couple small pieces for each of them, and put them on separate plates. "Cheers," she smirked, clinking her own glass of water against Monroe's. "To the late-night duo."

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Hiking?" Monroe asked incredulously, as if the idea were insane. "I'd probably drop dead. I know it doesn't look like it, but I am incredibly out of shape." He was sure one of Eloise's girly magazines had called it something to the effect of 'skinny fat.' Skinny, but so out of shape. That was him. "Trust me, I know I don't sound exciting, but my life would probably be more exciting if I hadn't manifested with dreamwalking when I was barely a teenager." He decided to admit that much. It might make him seem like less of a freak to this girl, if that.

He watched her cut the pie and realized he hadn't eaten in a while anyway, so he was kind of hungry. That, and he was majorly craving some coffee, so when she brought back the mug to him, he clinked his own mug against her water glass gratefully. "To the late-night duo," he repeated.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

"Yeah, hiking," Tak retorted, giving Monroe a once-over. "What, you're telling me you don't have the six pack I've totally been imagining under there? Tsk." She gave him a smile and a wink to show she was just kidding... Sort of. "Doesn't matter, you're a hot piece of work anyway, too many muscles would just make it unfair." Everyone had to have some not-perfect qualities, after all, and Monroe's appearance already had plenty of perfect. She looked up again as he mentioned his ability, and she smiled knowingly. "Well, that I'd already picked up," she told him with a coy tilt of her head. "At least, the ability part. Because ESP is mine." She tapped her temple and smirked. "So don't lie to me, or I'll know." Among other things. It was very useful to have sometimes, but also sort of cumbersome when she got overloaded.

Tak took a sip of her water before she sat the mug down and started on the pie. With the first bite, she let out a content,"Mmmm," and sighed. "Angie makes really good desserts. I wish I could bake half as well as she does." Tak glanced back up at Monroe, wondering if she might be able to pick up something about him to surprise him with. "So. Have a girlfriend?" Because she was always interested in hearing about relationships... And if she stood a chance.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"That is exactly what I'm telling you," Monroe said, with a nod and a slight laugh. "I think it's called skinny fat. It was in my roommate's magazine...not that I read them all the time, but I was really bored." With his insomnia, he ran out of things to do. So what? And his insomnia had only been seeming to get worse. "Uh, thanks?" He wasn't quite sure how to accept that compliment, but he agreed with her mostly. Everyone had a great physical attribute, but if someone had too many...it was like they'd cheated in life.

"Oh," he said kind of shortly when she'd said she'd already known what his power was and revealed her own. "How's that?" He wasn't a very big liar anyway, but her power was sort of like Eloise's in a way, right?

First things first, he drank almost half of his cup of coffee and then dug into the pie, nodding in agreement at Tak's sentiment about it. "Yeah, they are good. I don't usually try and mess around in the kitchen. That goes badly. Probably why I'm a bus boy." Her next question came as a shock and he swallowed the bite of the pie before speaking. "Uhm, yeah," he said, and it sounded so strange coming from his mouth. He and Adaryn finally made things official. It might have taken another guy going on an 'undate' with her and him finding out from the guy himself in the student lounge, but he'd finally just went for what he wanted, despite complications. However, he wasn't exactly sure how Adaryn would feel about him talking about her, at least in detail. "I do."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

"Skinny fat?" Tak snorted with a wry smile. "What is that, Seventeen magazine or something? I think it means you just have a high metabolism. Totally not fair." She sighed and looked down at her own figure. She was still a petite girl, but motherhood had given her some curves she just couldn't burn off. "I try to exercise every day, but I'm still stuck with some of this baggage, it seems like." Tak shrugged it off. She'd grown to try to accept it. And she snickered at his thanks, resisting the urge to reach out and pinch his cute cheeks like she'd done to Oliver. Something told her Monroe might not respond the same.

She glanced back up at him from the counter as he asked about her ability. "It's hard to explain," Tak told him honestly. "I just get these sort of... Vague bits of information that I add up into conclusions. It's more clear the closer I am to someone." It wasn't really telepathy, just... Extremely keen observation mixed with unexplained douses of random information.

"Hey, being a good waiter or waitress or whatever takes skill too," she assured him with a shrug. It worked for both of them, at least. Tak pouted when he affirmed that he had a girlfriend. Too bad. "Lucky girl," she told him as she took another bite of pie. "Does she go to Hammel? Maybe I know her." Tak wasn't going to try to steal him or anything, it wasn't worth it even if she could. She'd done enough of that lately anyway, and it wasn't something she tried to do on a regular basis... Or ever, at least on purpose. Tak quickly finished up her pie and went to put her plate in the sink, still within hearing distance of her coworker.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"I don't know. I didn't pay that much attention, but I'm sure Eloise reads something crazier than Seventeen. Probably Elle or something," Monroe mused, trying to remember. "Yeah...I'm sure if I didn't have that I'd be moridly obese and I'm not kidding." His eating habits were in no way healthy and either were his sleeping habits. "I suck at taking care of myself."

"That's odd...so it's not even telepathy...it's just like you get random tidbits?" Monroe asked, trying to understand. He knew what it was like to have a hard time explaining your power. Nobody really understood his either. "And yeah...she does. She's a year younger than me. Her name's Adaryn. She doesn't really make herself known though, so I'm not sure you'd know who she is."

He'd realized she'd finished her piece of pie before him and sped up.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak tried not to roll her eyes. She was... Not into those sorts of magazines, to say the least. "I guess I don't know anything about that stuff," she chuckled. "The only stuff I read all that much are books on fortune-telling and chakra and... Spiritual things," she mused, waving a hand. At his comments about taking care of himself, Tak smiled sympathetically. "Looks like you need someone to take care of you," she told him with a chuckle. Tak would have offered herself, but being the independent person she was, she wasn't all that great of taking care of people anyway. She was better now that motherhood had sort of changed her hormones or whatever, but still isolated herself quite a bit.

At his question, Tak nodded slowly. "Yeah... That's pretty much it," she replied. "I asked someone else with the same ability about it once, and they told me it was like... What was his example... Oh, like Sherlock's super-perception or whatever from the BBC version, but even more so?" She shrugged helplessly. "I've never watched it myself except for a few clips, but it seemed sort of accurate." She had no idea if that example helped or not.

"Adaryn... Sounds sort of familiar," she said as she nibbled her dessert. "I don't think I know her, though. I'm a year behind at Hammel anyway, so I don't really know a lot of students that are younger than me." She mostly just knew the ones that had ridiculed and mocked her when she was going through her pregnancy, and the so-called assholes that she somehow seemed to surround herself with. She came back out to the counter to realize Monroe was still eating. "Whoops... Guess I was hungrier than I thought," she chuckled. It was then that the bell at the door rang, signaling a customer, and Tak jerked up to give the incoming person a smile. "Welcome to Bessie's!" she chimed like she was supposed to. "We'll be with you in a moment." Whoops. So much for enjoying a customer-less evening.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Consider that a good thing," Monroe told her when she'd said she didn't read those sorts of magazines. "Fortune telling?" Really? He hadn't pegged her as someone interested in that kind of stuff.

"Yeah...and it should probably be myself." Not just someone. Monroe needed to take care of himself, and even though he'd been trying to develop a sleeping pattern lately, even if it was a weird one, it hadn't been working out. Since he worked overnights, he'd sleep during the day while Eloise was awake. It was perfect for his power, but he hadn't been actually able to sleep no matter how tired he was, it was more frustrating than wanting to sleep but not letting yourself. He hadn't known it could get more frustrating than that.

"Can't say that example helped me at all," Monroe said honestly. He really didn't watch a lot of television. "Sorry it's lost on me." He shrugged his shoulders.

"And Adaryn's quiet. She probably wouldn't make herself known to you...or really anybody else for that matter." But if you did get the pleasure of knowing her, it was amazing, because she was caring and utterly beautiful.

He was just finishing his piece of pie when the door to the diner opened and the familiar ring of the bell filled the air. Monroe quickly picked up his plate and coffee mug and brought them to the back, in the kitchen where he'd wash them. He was just a bus boy, but he could help Tak if she needed anything. It was just the two of them after all.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak thought those magazines were full of nonsense and brainwashing girls into thinking they had to look a certain way anyway, so she was all for not reading them. “Yeah,” she replied with a wink. She was totally into that sort of stuff; it sort of came with her ability, in a way. “I can read Tarot for you sometime, if you’d like. I’m getting better at it.”

Tak rose a brow and nodded in agreement. “That’s a good way to think,” she agreed with a smile. The best person to take care of you was yourself, because that was the only person you could be sure would be around. “I don’t particularly like suggesting drugs, but have you ever tried seeing a doctor to prescribe some medicine to help you sleep?” She thought a moment and added,”Actually, I’ve used herbs before to help me sleep when I used to have restless nights, if you’d be interested. They worked pretty well.” During her pregnancy, she hadn’t slept as well as she would have liked, so she used them (with a doctor’s permission, of course).

“Well, never mind,” she laughed. “It’s just what I’ve heard.” She needed to watch that show to see if she agreed.

“I tend to usually keep to myself anyway, so that isn’t surprising,” she mused. Tak was social enough when she was around people, but that was the thing – she often stayed in her room or somewhere where there weren’t a lot of people. “Maybe I’ll get to meet her someday.” If Monroe ever brought her into the diner, or whatever.

She got to work grabbing a menu and a glass of water to hand to the customer, giving the man a smile and a small peek of her cleavage. It usually granted extra tips. After asking how he was and getting his order, she scooted to the kitchens again and started prepping to cook. Monroe would be fine on his own, she knew; they were both back in working mode, and likely would be until the customer left, so there was little more chance for conversing other than broken bits of information.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

It wasn't that Monroe didn't believe in spirituality or anything. It couldn't be proven, but so couldn't a lot of things. It was just another thing to consider in life. "I'm not so sure there's much in the cards for me. Might be kind of a boring reading. Insomnia, dies early at age thirty." He was joking, even if it was a dark one.

She'd agreed with him that it was a good way to think, but only if he could actually implement his thoughts and take care of himself. When she brought up going to the doctor, he shrugged. "I just feel kind of shitty about it you know? Like, I'd basically be going in there and telling them I have insomnia, but making up a bullshit story about why." He didn't know exactly who knew about metas, but he didn't want to risk meeting anybody hostile. "I just don't know...and my mom wouldn't approve. She's kind of a counselor. She doesn't believe in medicine." Unconventional, yes. That was his mother.

"Maybe," he agreed before Tak went off to take the man's order and he'd went to do dishes.