Dinner Date

Popular for both its ambience and food, the Around the Clock Diner is open twenty-four hours a day to feed the hungry masses. The restored stainless steel paneled exterior and buzzing neon signs transports back to the early 1950s thanks to the retro décor. Black-and-white tile floors, red vinyl booths that line the front wall and the ends of the restaurant, white Formica tables, and a chrome trimmed counter that runs the length of the service space give off authentic diner vibes. Matt Osterhaus, chef and proprietor, takes pride in his classic diner recipes but likes to ‘class the joint up’ on weekends and evenings by offering a limited ‘gourmet diner’ menu.
Solitair*
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 4:47 am

#16

Post by Solitair* »

"Hey! Fancy meeting you here!"

Rose Matheson, the third member of the track team, had just entered the diner and turned the corner to see two of her teammates sitting next to each other at the bar. She wiped her forehead with her hand, for all the good that did against the sheen of sweat she'd accumulated on her body, and accidentally yanked out her earbuds, which clattered to the floor. Just as someone else was about to step on them, her hand darted to the cord and yanked them back up, whipping her in the thigh as the earbuds wrapped themselves around her arm.

For the last hour, Rose had been running around the streets of Seattle, extending a jogging session far beyond her initial plans for it. Just when she was shaping up to go back home, she discovered that she'd gotten lost, taken a left instead of a right, or maybe she shouldn't have turned at all. And so she kept up the pace and worked her body long past the point where she was used to running. After all, she was supposed to be a sprinter, not a marathon runner!

So she continued, alternating between jogging and walking while sightseeing strange new streets with the heart-pounding sound of Eminem in her ears, until she found something that jogged her memory: The Around the Clock Diner. For some reason she recognized it, but she couldn't figure out why until her rumbling stomach made her check in and see the reason for herself. It was Ryan Banks who mentioned that he liked to come here for lunch every Saturday. How did she remember that little tidbit but forget to bring her cell phone? Oh well, at least she brought money for food.

"Ryan. Brian. Good to see ya." She walked up to the counter and clapped Brian on the back before planting herself on the stool next to his. "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"
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Fiori
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:40 am

#17

Post by Fiori »

Then, in the blink of an eye, things suddenly turned awkward.

Whilst he didn't immediately notice it, as his fellow teammate replied to Brian's query the young Russian couldn't help but notice a sudden change in his tone of voice. It wasn't particularly overt, but it was enough for Brian to realise that something was clearly wrong. That one way or another, Brian had either said or done something that didn't sit well with Ryan. And worst of all, Brian hadn't the slightest idea what it was he'd done to offend him. Well, he assumed it was something to do with going pro, but what exactly was something he couldn't quite put his mind on.

Oh... Shit. Why the hell do I always keep doing this?

This was hardly the first time Brian had done or said something that had indadvertedly offended someone. Hell, he could name countless times when perfectly good relationships had ended just because he said the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. It wasn't as if he ever meant to offend anyone. Heck, Brian felt bad even when he offended people he didn't particularly liked. It's just that, like with many things with life, Brian had a tendency to not think things through whenever he opened his big mouth. And ever so often, he'd say something without even thinking about how it could possibly offend the person he's speaking to, only to the be confused when he gets funny looks from everyone in the vicinity. In this particular case, as much as Ryan tried to hide his true feelings, even someone like Brian could tell that something he did wasn't sitting well with him.

"Um... Yeah, I'll definitely do that" he said, reaching out and helping himself to one of Ryan's chips as he offered him one.

For the next minute or so, nothing was said between the two of them as they continued eating their meals, neither of the boys having any real idea as to where to take the conversation from there. For the first time, the usually talkative found himself practically speechless. The longer the awkward silence went on, the harder it became for Brian to come up with anything to say.

Crap... Damn, I could really use a good excuse right now to...

"Hey! Fancy meeting you here!"

A smile finally returned to Brian's face as none other than Rose Matheson patted him on the back and sat down beside him. Like Ryan, she too was on the track team, and from the looks of things she had just finished her own saturday afternoon jogging session. As much as Brian usually disliked people interrupting his conversations, Rose's sudden appearance was a thankful distraction from the awkward turn his conversation with Ryan went.

The fact that she happened to be pretty cute herself didn't hurt either.

"Oh hey Rose. Nah, it's cool, Ryan was just talking to me about his plans on going pro."
Coming soon to a V9 near you
Marcia "Marcy" Valerio: The Dancer
Koa Tagaloa: The Wrestler
Johnny Benowitz: The Jock
Florida Riley: The Saint

[+] V8
Cassie Chao: The Wallflower Thank you... For talking to me, when nobody else even knew I was there.
Shawn Bellamy: The Bastard "We're the only decent people left on this island, Matt. Way I see it, as long as one of us survives this... I'd say that's a win, wouldn't you?""
Lillian "Lily" Larsen: The Satanist "Don't think explanations will be necessary. Neither of us are exactly innocent anymore."
Mitch McDuffy: The Gamer Jobtown. Baby.
[+] V5
Brian Zhdanovich "Just... Just stay safe Ruby. Don't take any unnecessary risks, or accept candy from strangers. But most of all, don't you ever..."
Ruby Forrester "Do you seriously think you're the only person on this island whose had a shitty week?"
Jenna Rhodes"Of course, assuming that all goes as planned, we'd have to do something about the whole 24-hours-no-kill limit. Maybe draw straws, or take a vote, something along those lines... Either way, the longer we put this off, the more likely it is that we'll all get rescued and taken away from this hellhole."
[+] V4
Marty J. Lovett ""Well... Here we are buddy. To be totally honest with you, I didn't think either of us would make it this far. Who'd of thought, huh? I was SURE that I'd be dead within the first couple of days."
Joshua Krakowsk "...I'm tellin' you Marty, somewhere out there is a picture of Danya and George Bush on a boat with the biggest damn catfish you've EVER seen!"
Maxwell Lombardi "Now then, I'm afraid I must bid you all adieu. I look forward to meeting the rest of your children, siblings, lovers, friends and what not. And I'm sure they're looking forward to meeting me as well..."
Vera Osborne"Now then... Tell me why I shouldn't just snuff out your existence and get it all over and done with?"
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Slam
Posts: 1139
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:07 pm

#18

Post by Slam »

...


...


...


...This was really awkward.

Yeah, Brian had annoyed him when he'd made going pro sound so simple, but he didn't mean to make him shut up like this. That's why he'd offered him some chips: no hard feelings, I took it too far, forget about it. Brian apparently did not get that that was the message, and the two were left in an uncomfortable silence that could only occur when words were substituted by french fries.

Ryan was sulking about how they wouldn't be in this mess if Brian hadn't brought it up, when a sweat covered girl from a generous god finally came to their rescue.

"Hey Rose." Ryan said, breaking out into a small smile, more of relief than anything. Rose was an interesting case on the track team, someone Ryan had already taken an interest in even if he'd only spoken to her on occasion. She was another person on the team intending to go pro, though in a different branch of track, and her efforts paid off. She was a great sprinter, even better than him, and her passion and dedication for the sport made her very respectable.

"Yeah, that." he said from behind Brian, as he summed up their previous conversation. He couldn't remember if he'd ever mentioned those plans to Rose, but she knew about them now regardless, and unlike Brian she'd understand just how hard it was to go pro. Brian had been friendly, he hadn't forgotten him, but in this situation Rose had the common interest, so as it went she got Ryan's.
"Smile. The world's not ending just yet."
Solitair*
Posts: 381
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 4:47 am

#19

Post by Solitair* »

All it took was the topic of going pro to get Rose going. She leaned forward and looked around Brian to give Ryan a grin. "Whoa, no shit?" she asked. "Good for you! You've got a good hustle, man. Nice to see you putting it to good use."

She reached for the napkin dispenser and started using it to wipe off her face. Jesus Christ, she smelled like something awful. And if she was going to jog back home after getting directions, it would only end up getting worse. So there wasn't much point in using every last napkin in the dispenser to clean off like some kind of workout hobo, was there? After only using two to wipe herself down, she just crumbled them in a moist little ball and set them down on the counter.

With her other hand, she plugged in one of her earbuds and fiddled with her music player, just in time to hear Lil Wayne rapping about growing wildflowers. She left the other bud out, so she could hear the conversation between her track buddies.

"Y'know, I just realized that it's been a long time since I met you guys outside the track. If ever. How the fuck does that happen? Honestly." Oftentimes she got their names confused, they sounded so alike. But she didn't need to remind them about that, since it happened with such regularity during practice. "It's like you guys don't want to be my friends or something. Nah, I'm kidding." She smiled wide at a joke that likely only amused her. "I'm not interrupting anything important, am I? Just barging in here like a Terminator tryin' to start shit? No?"
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Fiori
Posts: 769
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:40 am

#20

Post by Fiori »

Brian couldn't help but help himself to a couple more of Ryan's chips as Rose continued to speak, occasionally glancing at Ryan to see how he was feeling about their fellow teammate's sudden arrival.

Now that she mentioned it, Brian couldn't remember the last time he hung out with Rose outside of track, or if he'd ever hung out with her at all for that matter. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he didn't particularly know most of his teammates all that well outside of track. Sure, whenever they were all in the changing room he'd exchange quips and chat with them as he would with any of his friends, but outside of school he didn't know any of them as well as some of his other friends. It wasn't as if he didn't want to associate himself with his fellow track teammates or anything, although admittedly there were one or two he wasn't entirely fond of. It just never really occurred to him to hang out with them outside of school.

In Rose's case, Brian was especially confused as to why he hadn't spent more time with her outside of school. After all, whenever he spoke to her she always struck him as being a pretty cool girl. Upbeat, outgoing, decent sense of humour. Sure, she could be a little blunt sometimes, but that's never stopped Brian from liking people like that before. For the most part, she was always a fun person to have around. The only reason that Brian could come up with for why they didn't hang out more was that he didn't get to see her as often as his male teammates, and Brian was always way more talkative when he was in the changing room than when he was on the field. Well, I guess now's my chance to make up for that...

"No, not really..." was his reply when she asked whether or not she was interrupting anything. Quite the opposite actually...

"So what've you been up to? You look like you've just finished taking part in a marathon or something..."

As he listened to her reply, his phone suddenly buzzed, indicating that he'd just received a text message. Huh, wonder who it could be from...

Still listening to Rose, he took out his phone and read through the message, his smile slowly declining as he read the contents. Turns out his father had awoken somewhat earlier than usual, and from the looks of things was in need of some assistance...

"Ah... Shit. My dad's just messaged me saying he needs me to come straight home to help him out with the tv. Fuck, i'm sorry about this." he said, shortly before getting off his chair and putting his leather jacket back on. "If you guys want to, we could always hang out later or something. I'm planning on going for a run in the park later if either of you wanna come with. If not, I'm pretty much free all day tomorrow."
Coming soon to a V9 near you
Marcia "Marcy" Valerio: The Dancer
Koa Tagaloa: The Wrestler
Johnny Benowitz: The Jock
Florida Riley: The Saint

[+] V8
Cassie Chao: The Wallflower Thank you... For talking to me, when nobody else even knew I was there.
Shawn Bellamy: The Bastard "We're the only decent people left on this island, Matt. Way I see it, as long as one of us survives this... I'd say that's a win, wouldn't you?""
Lillian "Lily" Larsen: The Satanist "Don't think explanations will be necessary. Neither of us are exactly innocent anymore."
Mitch McDuffy: The Gamer Jobtown. Baby.
[+] V5
Brian Zhdanovich "Just... Just stay safe Ruby. Don't take any unnecessary risks, or accept candy from strangers. But most of all, don't you ever..."
Ruby Forrester "Do you seriously think you're the only person on this island whose had a shitty week?"
Jenna Rhodes"Of course, assuming that all goes as planned, we'd have to do something about the whole 24-hours-no-kill limit. Maybe draw straws, or take a vote, something along those lines... Either way, the longer we put this off, the more likely it is that we'll all get rescued and taken away from this hellhole."
[+] V4
Marty J. Lovett ""Well... Here we are buddy. To be totally honest with you, I didn't think either of us would make it this far. Who'd of thought, huh? I was SURE that I'd be dead within the first couple of days."
Joshua Krakowsk "...I'm tellin' you Marty, somewhere out there is a picture of Danya and George Bush on a boat with the biggest damn catfish you've EVER seen!"
Maxwell Lombardi "Now then, I'm afraid I must bid you all adieu. I look forward to meeting the rest of your children, siblings, lovers, friends and what not. And I'm sure they're looking forward to meeting me as well..."
Vera Osborne"Now then... Tell me why I shouldn't just snuff out your existence and get it all over and done with?"
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Slam
Posts: 1139
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:07 pm

#21

Post by Slam »

As quickly as Rose had grabbed Ryan's interest, she managed to brush it off again. The compliment was appreciated, but that was all she offered before wiping off her sweaty self and plugging back in her ear buds. As far as Ryan could tell, that was the sign that she was no longer interested in the topic, and so he had no more reason to pay her much attention.

He checked his watch: it was almost 2'oclock. Pleasant as the conversation between Brian had started out as, the lingering awkward was putting a strain on his motivation to stay behind, and the growing crowd that had been created by the talkative Rose wasn't really the sort of situation that Ryan would like to stick around for. Three people in the same conversation just wasn't his style.

As Brian received his phone call from his Dad, Ryan had been signalling a nearby waiter for the bill. The three plates of food had left him comfortably full, and now he wanted nothing more than to walk it off with a slow stroll with his dog Jonesy. The run could come later that evening.

"Thanks, but I'll pass." he said to Brian, reaching into his pocket for his cash filled wallet. "I'm pretty full, so I'm just going to walk my dog for a while." He was actually interested in taking Brian up on that offer for a run, as he would be most people in most situations, but even he knew better than to exercise right after his lunch. He'd have to see if Brian was interested some other time, maybe when they next had a track meet or the like.

Paying the bill as the waiter brought it over, Ryan got up from his bar stool and nodded to his two track teammates. "I'll see you around." He said out of habit, and then left for home.

It really had been nice to talk to Brian, and Rose was interesting because she was good at what she did. Getting to know his fellow teammates had turned out to be pretty interesting; he wondered if he should have tried to do it more often.

((Ryan Banks continued somewhere that's not here))
"Smile. The world's not ending just yet."
Solitair*
Posts: 381
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 4:47 am

#22

Post by Solitair* »

Rose's smile slowly slipped off her face when she recognized what was probably going through Ryan's mind right now. This was a man who had identified some unknown slight against him and resolved to act accordingly by giving her the cold shoulder. She knew the reaction well because she'd practiced it herself more than once, sometimes as recently as last week. At least Ryan was being polite about it, and hey, it was entirely possible that he wasn't pulling this emergency text out of his ass.

No wait, that was Brian who got texted. Rose turned her head to him and sighed. "So I guess I'll be eating alone after all?" she asked him, barely missing Ryan's hasty departure. By the time she'd gotten the presence of mind to say goodbye to him, the door outside was already shutting behind him. "Honestly, was it something I did? This shit'll bug me the rest of the day if I-"

She'd gotten to gesticulating as she talked, and in doing so noticed the insistent tug of an earbud cord across her shirt, and the presence of the noise-canceling plastic fold in the depths of her right ear. "What, this?" she asked, pointing a finger at it. "It's only one ear, I was perfectly capable of hearing him anyway. Besides, it's not even turned up that much." A brief moment of shifted attention told her that Eminem's partner in rhyme had switched from Lil Wayne to Rihanna. Awesome.

"But yeah, I'd love to meet you two again sometime tomorrow. Honestly, though, can we do something else besides running?" Rose leaned an elbow on the table and pouted at Brian. "I feel like all we ever do together is run, run, run! Maybe this time the three of us can see a movie together or listen to music or something? You think we have the time for that?"
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Fiori
Posts: 769
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:40 am

#23

Post by Fiori »

"Alright, cool. Have fun..." said Brian as Ryan left the diner.

Admittedly, that moment of awkwardness aside, Brian was feeling glad that he got the chance to hang out with Ryan for a bit. At the very least, it had been interesting to finally get to know one of his quieter team-mates a little better, even if he did end up dominating the conversation more than he had hoped to. Then again, perhaps if Ryan knew him a little better he would have felt less shy about contributing more to the conversation?

In any case, it wasn't as if Brian really minded Ryan being a little introverted. After all, the last introverted track player he knew later became... Well.....

Hmm, best to not dwell too much on that thought. Besides, I'm pretty sure Ryan wouldn't be interested anyway...

...Shame though.


Now that Ryan was gone, Brian's turned his thoughts back to Rose, whom he was about to leave in the diner. Alone.

Well, shit. Now I just feel like an asshole...

As much as Brian wanted to stay and keep Rose company, at the same time the fact that his father was currently waiting for him to return meant that he couldn't stay there for much longer. Which sucked, seeing as he really didn't want to just flat out leave Rose here on her own.

That said, her suggestion to go see a movie or something did catch his attention.

"That... Is a great idea, actually. I know this cool place which is kind of a diner-movie theatre down in the central district where you can order and pizza and eat it WHILST you're watching a movie! It's pretty awesome."

He checked his phone again, realising that his father was probably getting more impatient by the second.

"Anyway, I really gotta get going. We'll talk more about it over facebook or something, alright?"

And on that note, Brian walked through the door and made his way home.

One thing he neglected to mention was that the diner also happened to be one of his favourite locations for first dates. Not that he felt it was important enough to point out, though.

((Brian Zhdanovich continued elsewhere))
Coming soon to a V9 near you
Marcia "Marcy" Valerio: The Dancer
Koa Tagaloa: The Wrestler
Johnny Benowitz: The Jock
Florida Riley: The Saint

[+] V8
Cassie Chao: The Wallflower Thank you... For talking to me, when nobody else even knew I was there.
Shawn Bellamy: The Bastard "We're the only decent people left on this island, Matt. Way I see it, as long as one of us survives this... I'd say that's a win, wouldn't you?""
Lillian "Lily" Larsen: The Satanist "Don't think explanations will be necessary. Neither of us are exactly innocent anymore."
Mitch McDuffy: The Gamer Jobtown. Baby.
[+] V5
Brian Zhdanovich "Just... Just stay safe Ruby. Don't take any unnecessary risks, or accept candy from strangers. But most of all, don't you ever..."
Ruby Forrester "Do you seriously think you're the only person on this island whose had a shitty week?"
Jenna Rhodes"Of course, assuming that all goes as planned, we'd have to do something about the whole 24-hours-no-kill limit. Maybe draw straws, or take a vote, something along those lines... Either way, the longer we put this off, the more likely it is that we'll all get rescued and taken away from this hellhole."
[+] V4
Marty J. Lovett ""Well... Here we are buddy. To be totally honest with you, I didn't think either of us would make it this far. Who'd of thought, huh? I was SURE that I'd be dead within the first couple of days."
Joshua Krakowsk "...I'm tellin' you Marty, somewhere out there is a picture of Danya and George Bush on a boat with the biggest damn catfish you've EVER seen!"
Maxwell Lombardi "Now then, I'm afraid I must bid you all adieu. I look forward to meeting the rest of your children, siblings, lovers, friends and what not. And I'm sure they're looking forward to meeting me as well..."
Vera Osborne"Now then... Tell me why I shouldn't just snuff out your existence and get it all over and done with?"
Solitair*
Posts: 381
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 4:47 am

#24

Post by Solitair* »

Rose had to admit, Brian had a pretty good idea for a meetup. She didn't think that he was the kind of guy who'd be into Run-DMC or Nas or anything else like that, let alone both him and Ryan, so movies were probably a better idea for a group activity than music, and he told her about this neat little restaurant place she didn't even know existed! Normally she wouldn't eat pizza – she could already see the unhealthy amounts of grease coating it like a layer of freshly-applied varnish – but for the sake of togetherness she could make an exception just this once, especially if the movie was good enough.

"Sure thing, Bri!" she said, watching him leave. "Talk to you later! Bye!" After he shut the door behind him, Rose got a nagging mental itch, like she'd forgotten something that would save her a lot of trouble later. This time, it didn't take her long to figure out. "Fuck, I don't even have Facebook," she mumbled to herself, leaning on the counter. It always seemed like a huge timesink to her, but she kept hearing about how useful it could be. Why hadn't she signed on before, besides laziness and the vague gossip she heard about the site's privacy issues? Eh, if she kept a lock on her information it couldn't be that bad. She'd have to look into that later, after she had some lunch.

She looked up at the nearest server and asked, "Hey, you guys have paninis, right?"

((Rose Matheson continued in Debates and Discourse))
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