lovemykilt | Beach City Grill, Santa Cruz, Tuesday evening

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Beach City Grill, Santa Cruz, Tuesday evening

If Trucker hadn't wanted his young staff giving a chorus of "awwwwww"s and fluttering their lashes at him when he came in, he shouldn't have paused to kiss Zo goodbye in front of the windows.

Okay, so Priestly might be the only one who did the eyelash flutter. But everyone else definitely joined in the "awwwwww"ing.

"Alright, alright," Trucker said, lifting his hands. "And thank you. Now, what did I miss?"

As usual, Jen took on the post of shop reporter. "Well. Tish got a clean bill of health --"

"Except the lovely bruises," Tish noted, rubbing her cheek.

"-- Priestly's trying to get people to sign his wrist brace --"

"Why should casts get all the fun?" Priestly asked.

"-- And Piper has managed to make peace with Noah and Julia, despite their entire relationship being based on a lie."

"Hey!" Piper pouted. "Okay, yeah, it wasn't the best plan. But we agreed, from now on, all honesty."

"So, wait," Priestly asked. "I'm missing a step. Is Julia yours or not?"

"Not biologically," Piper said. "But I love her, anyway."

"Right on."

"And as for me and Dinah, we've been working on our tans at the beach," Jen finished. "That's everything, right guys?"

[ooc: for one, or for phone calls. We are so very near through canon, woo!]

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"Tans are awesome," Dinah confirmed. "Also, awwww for the loving Julia thing too." She grinned at Trucker. "And I'm really happy for you and Zo."

"So she totally already knew your dirty secrets, huh?" Priestly said. Trucker nodded, looking faintly amazed.

"She already knew." He shrugged. "Turns out? She even had the hots for me in high school."

Dinah's "Eeeeee!" might have been echoed with more "awwww's" there, and she beamed at him. "That is so cool. Kind of like fate, or something, that you wind up back with each other!" She had grabbed a pen and was trying to decide what to draw on Priestly's wrist brace, now edging toward a heart in celebration. "So, romantic dates planned? Yes?"

"We might be a bit too mature for dating," Trucker said -- only to get cut off by a chorus of scoffs. "Alright, alright, we've mostly just been talking about dinner, maybe spending time down at the beach. I might teach her to surf."

Priestly frowned. "Yeah, dude, I cannot picture Zo on a surf board. Maybe riding a dolphin. . . ."

Piper whacked him on the arm. "I think it's sweet. Maybe I'll add it to our mural."

"Or I can add it to my graffiti!" Priestly said.

"Oh! I have yet to see the graffiti," Dinah pointed out, putting an arrow through the heart, then capping the pen. "I left the boots back at your place, though. Have to dig those out if the art delivers."

"The thigh high red ones?" Priestly asked with a grin. Tish's brows went up.

"You have thigh-high red boots? This I may have to see."

"See? Even Tish approves! And she doesn't approve of anything."

"Correction: I don't approve of anything from Priestly."

Dinah's face was red, but she grinned. "Yes, those, and we still have our deal, dude. Depending on the level of awesome, a skirt may or may not be worn with those." She rolled her eyes. "The rest of you may not think it's a big deal, but I do not usually dress like that."

"There was that one time with fishnets," Priestly noted, "but those were exceptional circumstances."

Very exceptional. We-can't-get-into-that-in-mixed-company exceptional.

"Aw, I bet you'll look super-cute," Piper said.

"Or sexy, which is even better," Tish added.

Jen raised a hand. "As the other 'I don't dress that way' person here, I support your decision to not wear them, if you want."

Dinah poked Priestly and said in a loud whisper, "Which we do not speak of!" Then snickered. To the other and Jen she said, "Thanks. I appreciate that. Momoko said they looked good, Karla's eyes would fall out of her head, so... mixed feelings." She cocked a thumb at Priestly. "Just not, you know, from him. Thus, deal."

"What?" Priestly asked with a grin. "I encourage you to express yourself in fun and different ways." He shrugged. "It probably helped that I was in a New Year's dress when this deal was struck."

Tish's mouth fell open. "Okay, now that I think I need to see."

Dinah grinned and pulled out her phone. "I have pictures! He looks awesome! It did great things for his shoulders."

"Dinah," Priestly grumbled. "You're ruining my mystique!"

"That would require you having any," Tish said, leaning in to the see the pictures. ". . . Wow, it actually really does do good things for his shoulders."

Dinah sent Priestly a smug look of seee? at Tish's comment. "Aww, he has his mystique. Of being totally solid and brave when you need him." Which wasn't really a comment on what happened on Sunday night, but hey. That was a good example.

"That's true," Jen said. "Though not that mysterious."

"Man, now you're all ganging up on me," Priestly whined, though, no, they really weren't.

"How come you never wear a dress for us?" Piper asked teasingly.

"Hey, I wear my kilt all the time!"

"Not the same thing."

"Maybe he needs a special occasion?" Dinah smirked at him. "You should have worn one on Valentine's Day." She considered. "I should have sent you a singing telegram on Valentine's Day too! Okay, things to do later."

"Those really exist?"

Before anyone could answer Priestly, the door opened, and in shuffled a dingy-looking man in an oversized overcoat and a stocking cap pulled low over his scruffy hair. He wandered his way up to the register where Jen was stationed, not making eye contact.

"Hi," Jen said softly. "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head.

Jen looked down at her screen for a moment to close out the window she had open, then looked back up, meeting his eye. "How can I help?"

"You're pretty," the man said. Priestly barely managed to contain the grin that was trying to bust its way out.

Jen blushed and looked away. "I don't know about that."

"I do. You're exactly what I was hoping for." He reached up and pulled off his hat -- and the scruffy hair, revealing a clean cut -- if still dingy -- man underneath. "Ladybugger."

Jen's eyes went huuuuuuge and Priestly couldn't contain himself any more. "I punked you, Jen!" When they looked over. "You should really learn to turn off your computer when you leave."

Dinah gasped, eyes huge, hands going to her mouth. "Oh my god..." Then punched Priestly on the uninjured arm. "You did this? You did this!" Totally in shock. And he hadn't said anything.

Edited 2012-03-07 01:09 (UTC)

Hey, it was all part of his mystique!

"Ow!" he protested softly, still grinning. He looked down, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

Tish nodded approvingly, using one finger to lift his chin. "You did good."

Jen was distracted boggling at Fuzzy, who'd pulled out a white rose to offer her.

"I'm Jeff Kenline, by the way."

"Jen," Jen said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Jeff Kenline."

"Do you want to go somewhere and talk? Face to face, for once?"

"I'd love to."

Priestly's inner cheerleader was doing cartwheels. "You two crazy kids have fun!"

"I'm gonna cry. I'm actually going to cry." You couldn't tell that from the way Dinah was bouncing and beaming though. "So awesome. Go Jen!" Dinah glomped Priestly. "You are the man!"

"Well, someone's gotta be," Priestly said. Jeff nodded to him from near the door and Priestly shot him a thumbs up before Jen dragged him out.

Priestly looked around at the others, who were now all staring at him. Piper with a wide-eyed grin, Tish with a general air of approval, and Trucker with a knowing head-tilt.

"What?" Priestly asked him. "That was totally support. Just . . . the meddle-y kind."

Trucker shook his head with a smile and turned back to his paper work.

Dinah snickered and squeezed him again, then let go, wiping at her eyes. "It's like happy ending central around here. Jeez. I feel like I need ice cream and Kleenex." She grinned at Priestly. "Alfred will be so proud."

"Who's Alfred?" Tish asked.

"A domestic god," Priestly said. "And master of everything."

"Now we just need to set you two up," Piper noted, flashing a quick look at Dinah. "And find Dinah a nice Spring Break fling, and we'll all be set."

"Oooo, yes," Dinah said, returning the look out of Tish and Priestly's eyeshot. "You guys deserve good people. And hey, I told Karla I'd try the fling thing. I've never done that." She grinned at Piper, biting her lip.

"No place better than a beach vacation," Piper said.

"Though as you've already seen, there are some terrible guys around here," Tish said.

"And good ones!" Priestly protested. "Let's not let the douche-twins ruin an entire gender, here."

"Exactly," Dinah said, nodding. "As was just proven twice over, right here... although I wouldn't mind finishing the beat-down Trucker gave if either of those two showed up again." She snorted. "And adding Trucker to the list of good guys." She flashed him a grin. "I want to learn that elbow strike."

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