(no subject)

[tragic_mask]

Melpomene slept deeply without dreaming, and only woke up when the light between the curtains fell across her eyes.

It was a nice way to wake up. So now, as she opens her eyes, she stirs only slightly, and then settles back into a comfortable position.

Comments

[mechanicalswans]

"Canada," he says with a smile. "My sense of direction is much better in the woods, but I sense food... over that way."

[tragic_mask]

She looks in the direction he's pointing.

"Well, that's a start."

[mechanicalswans]

"Hopefully it'll lead us to a restaurant, and not some rabbits in the underbrush," he says. "I haven't cooked rabbits in quite a while."

...well, not to eat.

[tragic_mask]

She quirks a brow.

"I don't think I'm quite ready for that level of toughing it, anyway."

[mechanicalswans]

"Not on vacation," he says. "Maybe if we go camping sometime, but this isn't a camping vacation. This is a no-room-service vacation."

[tragic_mask]

"Which is only a step away," she says.

[mechanicalswans]

"We'll have to balance it with a spa vacation," he grins. "We won't even have to walk anywhere--we'll have litter-bearers."

[tragic_mask]

"Yes, for the very minimal moving we'll do," she says with a grin.

[mechanicalswans]

"I'd say we've earned that sort of laziness," he says. "It'd be strange for me--I'm never idle for that long. I wouldn't want to make a habit of it, but it'd be something to try sometime."

[tragic_mask]

"I don't think we're supposed to ever be restful," she says. "I think we're just built for industry."

[mechanicalswans]

"We'd drive each other mad if we tried, wouldn't we," he murmurs with a smile. "We should try it. It would be much more exciting than it seems at first."

[tragic_mask]

"Okay," she say, agreeably.

[mechanicalswans]

"And there is our target at last," he says, nodding toward the nearby diner.

[tragic_mask]

"Ah, good, because I'm starving," she says, playing the ordinary traveler once again.

[mechanicalswans]

"So am I," he says, opening the door as he reaches it. "I hope their coffee is adequate."

[tragic_mask]

"Only one way to find out," she says, stepping into the restaurant and looking around.

[mechanicalswans]

Standard 'family' restaurant in a tourist area, doing a decent business among tourists, particularly those who are there with their families. No one, it seems, can resist the lure of pancakes and waffles and bacon and hot, if not particularly good, coffee.

He smiles amiably as he steps up to the 'Wait here to be seated' sign. "I'm feeling confident."

[tragic_mask]

"Well, I'm glad," she says, looking a little skeptical.

[mechanicalswans]

"You just need to have the standards of a college student," he says. "Sanitary food, lots of it, and hot--and not expensive. And you don't have to wash dishes afterward."

[tragic_mask]

She thinks about it.

"I never actually went to college... but I'll do my best."

[mechanicalswans]

"You'll do fine," he says, as a waitress appears, to confirm that there are just two of them, and to lead them, with menus and silverware-containing rolled-up napkins in hand, to a booth by the window with an excellent view of the parking lot.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" she asks. "Start you off with some coffee?"

[tragic_mask]

"I'll take some hot chocolate, actually," says Melpomene. "With whipped cream."

[mechanicalswans]

"Coffee, for me," Weyland says, unwrapping his silverware. "Regular, thank you."

He inspects his menu. It is sticky when he tries to open it. Apparently children cannot be trusted with maple syrup.

[tragic_mask]

The waitress nods, and goes off.

Melpomene makes a face at the sticky noises, then opens her own menu, looking over it with a dispassionate eye.

[mechanicalswans]

"Excellent," he says, scanning the menu. "We're too late for the early bird specials, but their presence on the menu is a good sign. This will be exactly what we need."