Highmauve: The Quad

Noelle's eyes quickly flick to Tobi "Oh! Yeah. My mom and sister had breakfast before they left for Maine. I haven't really come back if I'm honest... I don't really eat that much."

The last bit of tension leaves her chest. She gives an easy smile to Tobi and Agnes. Friends. She got the appeal. "So, how long are you staying Agnes?"

Tobi smiles quietly behind his mug. Agnes gives up her glare at him to turn her attention to Noelle.

"Ah, prob'ly not too long. Was kind'a a surprise visit anyway. Might stay the night, head back tommorrah after the rain lets up." She looks towards the front window where the rain is coming down harder now. Not a downpour quite yet, but not the light drizzle it was a few minutes ago. It doesn't appear to be letting up. "I'll be back down anyway for Homecomin' week. Gotta watch this one embarrass himself dancin'."

Tobi rolls his eyes at the mention of Homecoming. "Jus' bury me." he sighs. "Homecomin's gonna be the death'a me."

Noelle smiled at the thought. It was hard to imagine him moving in any other way besides lumbering around. But she was just assuming. For all she knew, Tobi could be a wonderful dancer. Unlike Noelle. She had a way to make any dance the funky chicken. She wasn't proud of it.

"Do you have to go? Since you're an RA?" She wasn't planning on going. Unless someone asked her. Fat chance. And even then, it would be a lot of preparing and pampering, which she did was not used to in the slightest. She even missed her own senior prom in favor of a night in with a used an early edition of the Great Gatsby. Reading about parties was better than the real thing. There wasn't any confusion or noise. Just the glamour and romanticism that came with the written words.

"He sure does." Agnes answers. Her smile is sly. "Rented him a suit and e'erything." Tobi groans.

"Thanks, I hate it." he sets his mug down. "It's too tight an' so expensive. I'm gonna spill somethin' on it jus' to spite you." Agnes shrugs.

"You won't." she says simply and turns her eyes on Noelle. "What 'bout you, string bean? You goin' to my brother's personal hell?"

"Oh, no." She says quickly "I mean, no has asked me. And I don't really like dances. Never really been to one. Except for freshman year. And when I was really little. I'm rambling, I'm sorry."

She turns bright red again, looking away "I'm sure it'll be fine, Tobi."

"Y'all should come, make it a little more bearable at least." Tobi says and drains his mug dry. He sets it down just as Julie comes back with a platter full of food and plates.

"Alright, I got some goodies for you!" she says brightly and sets the platter on a nearby table to better distribute the plates. A large plate of blueberry pancakes goes to Agnes, along with a small jug of syrup and a little cup of individually wrapped butter packets. Agnes thanks her and begins to unwrap her silverware. To Tobi, she passes a veritable mountain of food. Three eggs, sunny side up, a massive pile of hashbrowns with onions cooked in with them, and a few slices of bacon rest on one plate. She passes over another smaller dish that holds two slices of toast and a few more of the individually wrapped butter packets. Finally, she passes Noelle her pancakes and bacon, the bacon resting on a little plate similar to the one holding Tobi's toast. She leaves extra butter, jam, and syrup on the table.

"I'll get'cha a refill too." she says as she notices the twins' empty mugs. "Anything else while I'm up?"

Noelle blinks at Tobi's invitation. Maybe she would go. At least he would be there. And he would understand if she had to leave..., She pondered this until her food slid in front of her. The scent of warm pancakes and bacon snapped her to her senses.

"No thank you." She gives Julie a small smile. The rest of the food looked great too. She was almost aghast at the amount that Tobi was eating. She wasn't surprised, but it was a lot.

"We good too, thanks Jules." Agnes says. Julie nods and walks away with a 'just hollar if you need me!' yelled brightly over her shoulder. Agnes cuts into her pancakes as Tobias starts shoveling hash browns onto on of the slices of toast and folds the result in half to eat it.

"Your fuckin' metab'lism, I swear on His holy name." Agnes mutters between bits of pancake and sips of coffee. She knocks a fork across the table at Tobias. "Least use silverware, it ain't just you and me."

Tobias puts down the toast and hashbrowns and picks up the fork. He looks over at Noelle. "Sorry."

noelle gives a small laugh "No, it's fine. Don't let my presence impede your eating experience."

Noelle takes bird size bites of her food, making sure nothing touches. She wasn't disgusted by Tobi's eating at all, but separating her food was a small compulsion she has carried for a while now. She felt embarrassed by it and immediately stopped shuffling her food. She eats her small bites.

Tobi gives up on his hashbrown/toast combination and instead picks up the fork Agnes slid at him to tear at his eggs. They break and slide into the mess of hashbrowns he has on his plate.

Outside, the rain has started to come down hard. The window is dripping with water while cars kick up waves from puddles formed in the street. Julie watches the downpour near the coffee maker as she absently runs a rag around the inside of one of the mugs. The radio flickers with static every once and so often, loosing reception in the storm.

Noelle watches Tobi, then looks at Agnes "So. You're a park ranger?" Her eyes seem to ask What's that like?. Noelle rubs her eyes, then takes off her glasses to polish them. The indents in her nose are deep, and she rubs the bridge of her nose, carefully. Somehow, her freckles and wide eyes seem even more noticeable now. After a moment, she puts her glasses back on, sighing a little.

Anges and Tobi watch her do so. Agnes puts her two index and middle finger to her chin surreptitiously, then curls them closed. She repeats this gesture, flicking her eyes between Noelle and Tobi. The message is clear, at least to Tobi.

'She's cute.'

Tobi ignores her, or seems to. His hand comes up to his hair to brush it back from his face; the fingertips touch against his forehead in a very deliberate way before he pulls his hand back into his curls. He leans back against the booth and begins to munch on the strips of bacon on his plate.

Agnes grins at him before she turns her attention back to Noelle. "Lot like other jobs, I s'pose. Got into it right outta high school, worked m'way up, went to school online for criminal justice." She spears another bit of pancake on her plate. "I love it. Keeps me outdoors and occupied."

Noelle cuts her small piece and chews it slowly before answering "I think that's amazing. What kind of stuff do you do?"

Her eyes flick to Tobi quickly, then back to Agnes. She knew they were communicating something, but she was unsure. She figured that it was about her, but she didn't want to ask. She hoped it was something nice, and not about her lack of experience in the social arena.

"Well i mostly patrol the parks, keep tou'rists on the trails, keep e'erything safe and cozy." She takes another bite of her pancakes. "Sometimes they have me doin' some promotional stuff. Y'ever hear a the Spirit of Shenandoah?"

Here it comes.

"Yeah... It's um... I'm actually really interested in... um... that kind of stuff. But yeah, I've heard of it." Stammering, Noelle takes another bite of her pancakes. The rain kept pounding outside, and there is suddenly a loud crash of thunder. Noelle jumps but blushes a little, realizing her company probably doesn't get surprised by much. Especially thunderstorms.

Agnes's eyes lock onto Noelle's, lightly luminous against the dark backdrop of the sky outside. The thunder crashes through the building, causing tables to shake and glasses to shiver. The radio flutters silent, crackles back to life, goes to static once more. Agnes's smiles her sharp smile. "Well, y' see..." she starts.

"They put me in charge of all the events around it. It's gettin' pretty pop'lar, and with Hallo'een comin' up, we're tryin' to capitalize on that to bring in more tourists." she shrugs. "Got me makin' posters and stuff like that."

It's hardly noticeable, but Tobi huffs out a small laugh and just barely rolls his eyes.

It might have been subtle, but Noelle caught Tobi's laugh. She thought she figured it out. But she wasn't going to be the one who said it aloud.

"That's really cool. What kind of events?" Noelle knew she was egging Agnes on, but she didn't really care. It was all in good fun, like a game.

"Oh, just some themed trick'er treating for kids, crafts and stuff, little party stuff. Nothin' too serious. The real fun's when they let the thrill seekers loose, one nigh' only. We send'em out with a guide and they go huntin' for the Spirit. Had a camera crew year before last, they were fun. Think it were for a show or somethin'." She says.

"Bought the dvd jus' for that. They were loosin' their minds." Tobi nods. Another rumble of thunder rolls through the area. Tobi and Agnes's breakfasts are nearly gone; Tobi only has a single piece of toast left.

Noelle puts her fork down. Her bacon is gone, but she had only eaten half of her pancakes. "That's fascinating... Has anyone found anything?"

She wishes she had the foresight to bring an umbrella or even a thicker jacket. One step outside and she would be soaked to the bone.

"Only when I want'em to." She winks at Noelle.

Julie comes by to pick up the twin's plates. She stacks the dishes and carries them off with promises to come back with more coffee and the check. Right before she leaves, she asks Noelle if she's done, if she'd like a box. The radio has picked up signal again and is twanging out some bluegrass. Someone has plugged in the string lights hanging from the wall to combat the sudden darkness from the lack of sun.

Noelle looks at Agnes, sharing a silent moment of knowledge. Giving her a small smile, it breaks when Julie asks her about her meal. Politely, she shakes her head "I'm all done. Thank you."

Noelle turns her head to the window. It was hard to see anything past the glass. Letting her mind wander, she listened to the music. It was comforting to her, but she was unable to figure out why. Perhaps it reminded her so much of Tobi. That would make sense.

Agnes nods at the Noelle, then glances at her brother. She raises a brow at him. 'Sharp girl. You tell 'er?' her expression asks. Tobi shakes his head, shrugs.

"I ain't tell her." Tobi answers the silent question out loud. The bluegrass twangs softly throughout the space, flickering slightly with static from the storm outside. Tobi and Agnes seem to lean into the easy atmosphere of the small restaurant. Agnes watches the rain outside the window come down in waves while Tobi hums along with the song on the radio.

"I really should'a brought the truck." Agnes grumbles.

She gives Tobi and Agnes a shared smile. She knew but wasn't going to reveal it without asking. It was just polite. She wasn't going to out anyone.

Noelle watches the rain as well, wishing she could be stuck in this moment. No worries, no fears, no anxieties. She shivers a little, realizing how cold the small restaurant was. Folding her arms, she looks at the twins "Do you want to wait it out? I'm fine with whatever."

"Doesn't seem t'be slowin' down. Can you do anythin' bout this?" Agnes looks over at her brother.

"Na' unless I want migranes. I got a test comin' up Ness, I ain't riskin' it." Tobi answers. He wishes he could help, but his grades are worth a little more than being wet for an hour or two. Agnes sighs.

"Guess we're going then. Saddle up, string bean." She says as she stands up from the booth. She goes to the counter to pay and say her goodbyes as Tobi gathers his things and slides out the booth, not yet putting on his jacket. Together, they walk to the door of the restaurant. There's a puddle building up in the street in front of them. Even the cars it looks like have chosen to stay home. Agnes meets them there in the threshold.

"Yer gonna freeze, thin as you are." Tobi says to Noelle. He holds out his jacket to her. The leather is impossibly soft with age and use and the lining is thick and warm.

Following, Noelle looks at the rain. This was going to suck.

When Tobi offered his jacket, she opened her mouth then closed it. She didn't want to take his jacket, but she was freezing already. The autumn rain was going to soak her to the bone. So, she takes the gesture "If you want it back, please just tell me, okay?" The jacket hung on her a dozen sizes too big. She looked like a child who had tried on her father's coat but was also pulled and stretched like taffy. It's quite ridiculous, and Noelle recognizes that. Getting a glance in the window's reflection, she laughs. It's a soft, tinkling bell sound.

She's still laughing when she pulls her hair back into a ponytail.