bakerstreet | Dennys

[ She's been out par-tay-ing! On the table before her is plate of strawberry and banana pancakes with enough whipped cream to drown someone in. Also, coffee. ]

[Nikol's at a corner booth on his own, looking over a borrowed manual for various machinery and has an open notebook beside it full of past notes. His order of blueberry pancakes and milk are not even half finished, the fork still currently in his mouth as he reads. What is he doing here at this ungodly hour? Mostly because it's so quiet and he's not going to bother anyone with his work.

He makes a small surprised noise as he realizes something and slides his notebook closer, starting to make notes and sketches for an improvement he's trying to figure out, occasionally checking things in the manual. And he keeps at it for a minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. His food and his surroundings are completely forgotten at this point now that he's back in his element.]

[Space Denny's?]

[He's lost control of his life, typically as one does when they end up in a Denny's in the first place.]

[Ignore the lawyer in a nice enough suit sitting in the back of the restaurant with a pot of coffee, a split lip, bloody knuckles and a plate of Moons Over My Hammy.]

[Tonight he's sitting with a long padded bag. What's inside? A bat? An instrument? A gun? Who knows! Either way his attention is on who is coming into the diner while he sips his eternally refilled coffee.]

[Does she smell a little like dirt and have bits of hay or wheat in her hair (even if she's in the middle of a city with no farms in a 25 mile radius)? Yes. Is she putting down a Lumberjack Slam plus a side of french toast all by herself? Also yes. But she looks up whenever the front door opens, head tilted slightly like she's waiting for something or someone in particular.]

[ you ever seen a man dressed like this get served at a denny's. with no shoes on. well, sotha sil is here against all odds to eat the saddest looking pancake stack this side of cyrodiil. and, every so often, glancing over at the woman opposite him. ]

Is aught the matter?

Dunno yet. Vibes are off, you know? Got the feeling something's gonna happen tonight, and I'm not much in the habit of ignoring feelings like that.

[He's grey. That's unusual in her book--usually, you'd see grey skin on something like a deathknight, or maybe a Liminal Exalted without an anchoring bond. But she doesn't think he's sick. Probably not. Maybe.

...]

Are you supposed to be grey?

...yes, I am.

[ he's heard worse, honestly. last time he was in here he got asked about the prosthetics. ]

Do you think anything specific is going to happen, or is it just a feeling? [ gut feelings are good. sometimes. still best to overcalculate though, can never be too sure. ]

Is it ever 'just' a feeling? My gut's usually good at telling me what's what.

[She picks up her plates, bringing them to Sotha Sil's table, rather than conversing across the space like this, since clearly they're in open conversation now. There's something of her that calls to mind Mara's aspect as a goddess of fertility and agriculture, especially close like this.]

[ that type of confidence is admirable. almost archetypical of the prisoner, but he should probably spare her that seven minute long monologue. ]

And what will you do should you be correct?

Whatever's called for. Whatever the community needs.

[Said that way, she almost seems to be conflating those two things.]

[Like some weird flannel cryptid, Jon intermittently haunts the same Denny's location between the hours of "too late to bother sleeping" and "too damn early to be awake". It's clear he's a regular, that the staff have a pretty good idea who he is, and that they just don't give a fuck - he's quiet, polite, and generally tips well enough to be left alone.

Tonight, he's at his usual table (back to the wall and close to the emergency exit), nursing a cup of black coffee and a stack of (pumpkin) pancakes with the grim determination of a man who hasn't slept in thirty-two hours. There may or may not be bits of straw in his hair.

At least he didn't show up in costume?]

[Somehow, he's not the only person here with straw in their hair. Janest sort of just...manifests it, even when she hasn't been out in a field for weeks. It's a part of her nature. When she sees Jon with it, there's a look of curiosity on her face.]

What, are you a Strawmaiden, too?

[If it takes Jon a few moments to respond, it's because he's not used to being asked anything other than if he'd like another refill. Generally, his reputation is enough to keep people from bothering him, but when he looks up, he finds that the comment actually was addressed to him. Curious.]

...the hell is a strawmaiden?

[His accent is completely at odds with the locals', a distinct southern drawl that he's too tired to bother hiding.]

The chosen of a harvest god.

[Her accent is completely foreign, though it's really hard to place, mostly because she's not from an Earth. But somehow, somehow, she still sounds really rural. Either way, that might explain why his reputation isn't protecting his solitude here.]

[ Peter got the breakfast sampler so he has a little bit of everything. He also has a stack of strawberry covered pancakes that are dripping with syrup. It's really early in the morning and he looks a little beat up. Like maybe he got mugged or got into a back alley fight.

But he's fine. He's eating happily. ]

[ There's a lot of French toast slices on her plate. Like... a lot. Maybe she'll share if you ask nicely or something. Who know, she's more preoccupied scrolling on her flip phone. ]

[Dex is wearing an unbuttoned coat under which a curious ensemble can be seen. He's busy devouring a Grand Slamwich with extra sides of bacon, sausage, and hash browns on the side. He's had way too many cups of coffee and is getting a bit twitchy now. Best to take the steak knife away from the other place setting before he gets any ideas in his head...]

[She slides in the seat across from him, chin on hands.]

You look like you need less caffeine. Better start chugging that water.

[Dex curls his hand around his cup of coffee and pulls it protectively towards him.]

Mind your own damn business.

[He growls out after he finishes his latest bite.]

Now where would the fun in that be?

[She flags down a server and orders a coffee of her own.]

[Dex looks annoyed when Selina orders a coffee because it clearly means she's deciding to stay here in the table with him, which is the last thing that he wants.]

Do you enjoy poking people you don't know with a stick just to see what will happen?

You have no idea.

Hope you like being used for target practice then.

[He mutters darkly as he glares at Selina.]

[ Kerry’s just gonna slide into the seat opposite Dex with nary a greeting — unless his grunt counts. Tapping his fingers along the table’s edge. ]

You get sick of my food already, or what?

[ “My food,” as in the copious amounts of delivery from an assortment of fast food establishments. And some fancy restaurants, okay? Kerry can splurge. ]

Not even gonna ask about… all that.

[ Gesturing to Dex’s outfit with a flick of his wrist. Assuming Dex has been working. Not his business, per se — just like V’s merc stuff never was.

He eyes the knife, too — they’ve talked about knives enough for that to be on his radar. He’s not afraid, though: more curious to see what Dex might do with it. ]

[There's the smallest twitch where Dex's hand reaches towards the inside of his coat where he keeps six knives at the front of his waist when he sees someone sitting down at the opposite seat of his table. Then his brain registers it as being Kerry and his entire frame relaxes back into just the usual wariness that he has.

He picks up a piece of bacon and starts gnawing on it, shrugging at the mention of the endless pile of fast food that Kerry eats and then leaves to rot. Dex has taken to cleaning up after him, not for Kerry's sake, but for his own. He doesn't need the sight of it screeching loudly in his head.]

Got too hungry on my way back after the job was done to wait till I got your place and then wait even longer for delivery.

[He pushes the plate of bacon towards Kerry.]

I'm surprised to see you even left the house. You know the Japanese have a term for people like you. "Hikikomori". Hermits who never leave their house. It fits you well.

[It's late. Is she up because she's wired from caffeine and studying? Is she up because she was just battling monsters from another dimension? Some other secret third option? Pick your poison. Have seen the finale but please mark spoilers for others!]

(have also seen the finale)

[It's late but sleep won't come. Not for either of them for some time, he thinks. Steve is bone-deep exhausted. The adrenaline is still running, the disbelief that they've actually done it -- despite it all -- and the ache of loss and triumph are keeping him on his feet.

So of course the next logical course of action is pancakes.

Maybe an omelet. Maybe both.

Definitely coffee.

He pours them both a cup from the carafe on the table and slides Robin's over to sit in front of her. ]

Edited 2026-01-02 03:48 (UTC)

[ an innocuous looking girl sits at the booth, leaning over her couple pancakes and scrambled eggs. the pancakes are getting slathered in strawberry syrup, while she waits for her coffee to cool. next to her coffee cup are about four packets of sugar and two creamers, already stirred in.

things seem pretty good here, aside from the bloodstain on the side of her shirt, the dried blood on her bangs, and some scrapes on her elbows.

other than that, seems pretty normal? ]

(( kinda testing her out a bit, info in journal. ))

[The woman sitting at a table seems rather tired - both literally and metaphorically. She's also dressed for another era, in a suit and long skirt that are a suitable if somewhat worn black.]

[She's looking over some scientific papers, and looks up distractedly when the waitress comes by.]

Hmm? Oh, a rare steak, please. With some red wine, if you please, and leave the bottle.

( For a man who never seems to touch the food he orders, Wrench spends an inordinate amount of his time inside these roadside dives. Here he is again, posted up as the single occupant in one of those oversized wraparound booths, back wedged into the join of two corners. He's got a plate of congealed eggs and an untouched cup of black coffee, but every time the waitress makes her rounds to check up on him, he shoos her off.

Alternatively, maybe you've just finished enjoying your meal and exited into the following scene: a tall man in a fringed leather jacket hunched at the side of one of the oldest cars in the parking lot. There's a rubber hose snaked from the open gas tank to his lips. When he tastes gasoline he coughs and spits and transfers the flow of liquid into a large canteen. And then he coughs again. And again. It's pretty fucking disgusting, after all. )

Dennys

Kate Cordello - Original - OTA

Akira Kunimi | HQ

Nikol | Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Delia Battista ✨ Star Trek OC ✨OTA, 21+ for any shipping or smut

Koby | One Piece

Sylvain Jose Gautier | Fire Emblem Three Houses

Matt Murdock | MCU | OTA

Logan | Fable 3 | OTA

Strawmaiden Janest | Exalted 3rd Edition | OTA

denny's has me ip blocked for some reason i want you to know that

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jonathan crane / scarecrow | dc | ota

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Peter Parker | TASM/MCU | ota

chidori yoshino | persona 3

Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter | MCU

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Denny’s is such a Kerry-appropriate meme I’m sorry

No, no, this is great! 😁

Robin Buckley | Stranger Things | OTA

SPOILERS ahead!

bonnie barrett | oc

Mina Harker | League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | OTA

Wrench | Fargo TV | OTA

Matsuno Chifuyu ( Tokyo Revengers )

Marco | One Piece

Crow Hogan ( Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds ) OTA

ruggie bucchi | twisted wonderland