The Roadside Diner still looked almost exactly as it did in the 1960s. Capable hadn't really anticipated the level of kitsch when Furiosa had offered her the waitress job, but she's found she actually doesn't mind the retro feel of the place. Furiosa, however, seems to love the place and resent it in turns. But she steadfastly refuses to allow any changes to the diner, shouldering all the upkeep and repairs herself. It had belonged to her mother once, and Furiosa had meticulously restored it in memory of her. She's apparently drawn the line at wearing her mother's uniform though. Capable looks back to where Furiosa has taken over an empty booth with their accounting records, wearing boots and jeans that have seen better days, and tries to imagine her in the little teal dress and white apron the rest of the women wear. This thought nearly has her dropping a plate of eggs and bacon on a customer, shaking with silent laughter at the mental image.
Slightly dated uniforms aside, the real key to maintaining her mother's legacy has been in the running of the place. The Roadside diner has always been owned and staffed exclusively by women, and Furiosa has taken it a step further to become sort of a halfway house for women getting out of bad situations. Only Valkyrie, the woman who used to be a cross-country truck driver and now runs their small kitchen, seems to be an exception. Capable thinks she may be related to Furiosa, but she's never been sure. Furiosa seems to tolerate Valkyrie bossing her around in the way you would for family, but Valkyrie looks after all the girls at the diner. Capable's only been here a few months, but it already feels a little like family. She's even convinced Cheedo to leave their old job and come work here with her. Dag's been here a little longer, and she came with Miss Giddy, the other cook. They had escaped some sort of weird religious group, and they're both a little strange but very sweet. Toast had just shown up one day and no one other Furiosa seems to know her story, but the other girls take to her quickly. One other girl had been working here when Capable came to the diner, but she's now living with one of Vakyrie's sisters halfway across the country. She is dearly missed by all of them, but they knew enough of what had happened to her to know she's safer where she is now.
"Hey Capable, your boyfriend's here again." Cheedo teases, pulling Capable from her thoughts, and she follows the other girl's gaze to where the War Boys are entering the diner. The Roadside has always been biker-friendly, Furiosa having ridden with a group herself before buying the diner, but the gang of War Boys is not the most welcome sight. Their leader has been banned from the premises, but it doesn't stop the rest of the Boys, in their matching leather jackets and skull helmets, from showing up at least once a week. They're not all terrible, however, and Capable's 'boyfriend' - as Cheedo has taken to calling him - is surprisingly polite when he shows up alone. He usually finds himself in Capable's section, and they've exchanged some small pleasantries. But today he's with a group of them, though he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. Some of their regular customers seem to feel the same, cashing out early to avoid the obnoxious chatter already filling the restaurant. She looks over to where Furiosa is still pouring over the accounts. Sometimes she or Valkyrie will step in and take care of the gang's tables, their presence usually enough to intimidate the Boys into behaving, but today they're both too busy doing their actual jobs. And there's only four Boys, rather than a whole gang, so the task falls to Capable. She steels herself before heading over to where they're all shoving into a booth.
"So what can I get you boys today?"
"How about you come sit in my lap while I make up my mind, yeah?" Capable rolls her eyes at the comment, though inwardly she is more than a little creeped out by his scarred grin. But she has learned the best tactic for dealing with guys like this was to show them they couldn't scare you, and carefully maintains her expression of firm indifference.
"Shut it, Slit. No one wants to look at your ugly mug anyway." The younger man across from him jumps in, glancing up at her anxiously. She's a little surprised to hear the normally polite Boy raising his voice, but trading insults seems to be the only way War Boys communicate with each other. "Slit" doesn't seem to be taking it as a joke though, and looks about ready to start a fight. She tries to bring their attention back to their order.
"How about some burgers and a slice of cherry pie? Just made fresh this morning." Capable has found that good pie can solve a lot of problems, and has also recently discovered her own skills at making them. Now she comes in early each day to bake several, and they've quickly become a local favorite. Today she just hopes it'll give the Boys something better to do than run their mouths.
"Sure sweetheart, I'd love some of your sweet cherry…" But the other boy seems to have kicked him under the table while the rest of them just laugh nastily. One of the others finally chimes in with an order for the table and she rushes to hand it off to Miss Giddy, glad to be anywhere else.
"Those boys bothering you?" Valkyrie looks ready to toss them out on their asses already, but then again she always does.
"Nothing I can't handle." She assures the woman, but then takes her sweet time getting their pie from the refrigerated display case. She considers just serving it to them cold, but professional pride won't allow her to do so.
The Boys are arguing about something as she heads back over to their table, but they clam up when she arrives. Capable figures it's nothing to do with her at least, because clearly the leader of this little pack has no problems voicing his thoughts on her. But they dig into their food, and the argument seems to be dropped for now.
The Boys actually manage to stay pretty quiet the rest of their meal, much to everyone's relief. Capable decides to enjoy this unexpected moment of peace to sneak in the back room where she can hear Toast and Dag chatting. Their shift ended a couple hours ago, but it's not unusual for any of the girls to hang around small room in their free time. The space should have been Furiosa's office, but she prefers to work out of one of the booths and keep an eye out on her restaurant. Her mother's desk has been moved to her own house, and now the room holds a small table and a couch. The girls are at the table now, having wheedled a free dinner out of Miss Giddy (or possibly had one pushed on them by Valkyrie). They've also apparently taken down one of Capable's sour cherry pies between them. At least she knows where it went now. Capable starts to give them the highlights of today's scene with the War Boys, knowing she'll need to return to their table soon, but Toast is already heading into one of her rants.
"I just don't get it, those guys practically worship that gross old man. It's like a cult or something," She continues. "No offense, Dag."
Dag just shrugs her shoulders. They're mostly all at the point where they've started to make jokes about their pasts. And the fact is the War Boys really are a sort of cult. They all work at Joe's repair shop and seem to do his bidding when they're not out bothering waitresses. Capable has no idea why a bunch of kids would follow the man, though. Joe was once the leader of some infamous biker gang, but now he just owns the local bike shop and can't go anywhere without his respirator. He's not exactly the sort of man that could inspire people to shave their heads and follow his orders. She supposes most of the gang don't have families, and just sort of latched on to the first guy to give them a sense of belonging and purpose. She's pretty sure that's how most cults start.
With this Capable thinks she's probably been back here a little too long by now and goes out to check on her tables. Most of them just need a top up on their drinks, and one couple wants something boxed up, but the War Boys have already wolfed down their food and look thankfully ready to leave. She takes care of the drinks and heads over with their check.
With a forced "whenever you're ready" she drops their tab on the table and turns to leave. But the asshole from before is reaching out to grab her ass, and she swerves around to tell him just where he can put his hands (she'd like to see them run over by his own bike), only to see the other boy slamming his fist into the asshole's face. There's a sickening crack of something breaking, even louder in the sudden silence that overtakes the room.
"You bastard!" The older Boy wheezes, jumping out of his seat with one hand clutching his bloodied nose and the other rearing back to retaliate.
"Get out. All of you." Furiosa is suddenly at the table, her voice steady but all the more threatening for its controlled rage. Furiosa is not above dragging them out herself, and there are stories of her doing worse to men who harass her staff. The Boys are quick to obey her orders though, dropping bills on the table as they leave. It's more than enough to cover their bill - the Roadhouse diner is one of the few places to eat in their very small town and even the War Boys are careful not to wear out their welcome.
After a several long minutes they finally hear several bikes pulling out of the lot out back. The diner remains still frozen in silence until the sounds of their engines fade off in the distance, and then gives way to hushed gossip. Capable supposes it's to be expected, when so little ever happens in this town. They're not even that far from the city, but somehow this place still feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. And it's times like these, with each of her tables taking her gently aside to ask if she's alright, that she both loves and hates this place. She hates being coddled, but appreciates that these people care. She never had any of that at her old job in the city.
But, however much they might care about her, she knows they'll all be heading home to tell their neighbors some wild version of what happened in the diner today. So she brushes off their concern and tries to change the subject, hoping that at least she won't be that "poor little red-haired waitress" in their retellings. Care she can handle, pity she can't stand.
Furiosa doesn't let her off work early, knows she doesn't need to go home and cry over one rude customer or someone else's fight. She also knows that she's better off here, surrounded by friends, than alone in her apartment thinking about all the different ways things could have gone today. Capable's suspects that Furiosa may have also wanted her to stay for her own peace of mind. She's much tougher now than when she first came here, but she also better understands the feeling of worrying about people other than yourself. She doubts she'll ever get Furiosa to admit to worrying about anything.
They're finally finishing up for the night and Capable manages to shoo the rest of them out the door, continuing to close up as scheduled. The others have tried to sneakily take care of her duties for her, but she goes over everything again so she can pretend this is just a normal night. But eventually all that's really left to do is take out the trash and lock up. She manages to maneuver the bags so she can awkwardly carry them all at once, but gives up quickly when faced with the kitchen's door. The bags end up propped outside while she locks the door behind her.
As she hears the lock click in place, a groan comes from the other side of the nearby dumpster. Capable is immediately on alert, her fingers reaching for the pepper spray on her keychain. She notices there's still a motorcycle on its side in the parking lot, and it's not Furiosa's. She moves to hold the small canister in front of her - if that War Boy is back, she is going to make sure he regrets it. She steps back further into the lot so she can see the entire back of the diner, and make a fast getaway if she needs to. But she's not prepared for the sight that greets her. It's not the asshole from before, but the Boy who hit him. He's crumpled up on the ground, clearly beaten and bloodied. He must have been here for hours! No longer worried for herself, she rushes to his side. He's conscious, but just barely. There's dried blood running all over the bottom half of his face, and she has no idea what injuries are hidden under his clothes. She reaches out a careful hand to hover near his bruised cheek, unsure why she made the gesture. She draws it back to pull out her phone.
"It's going to be ok, I'm going to call an ambulance and get you to the hospital. You're going to be fine." She's rambling, trying to reassure herself as much as him.
"No hospitals." The boy grits out.
"You need a doctor."
"Please." She freezes where she was poised to run inside to the phone. He sounds so broken, she immediately crouches to reach for him again.
"What can I do? You're bleeding out…"
"Not anymore, just need to sleep it off."
"Can I call someone to take you home?"
"Haven't got one."
"A home? Or someone to call for you?"
"Either." Capable feels like all the air has gone out of her lungs. The familiar feeling of his words only amplifies reaction they invoke. Which may explain why her next idea is so utterly foolish.
"Can you walk at all? I don't have a car, but my apartment is only a short walk from here."
"I think…yeah."
Reasonably, she should take him back into the diner and help him get cleaned up, then put him on the couch to sleep for the night. But there's nothing in the diner's first aid kit except tampons and advil, and she has actual supplies back at her place. Which is why she's now helping him slowly up, draping an arm over her shoulder and her own around his waist.
It really is a short walk normally, but at their pace it seems as though it takes an eternity before they limp into her apartment. She leads him to sit on her couch while she grabs some wet washcloths and her kit.
She knows she should start by cataloguing his injuries, but he looks completely worn out so she starts with just cleaning him up a little. He winces slightly as the cool cloth dabs at his face, but at least he doesn't have to move. It's several minutes before the blood starts to come off his nose and chin, leaving the skin below stained pink. Most of the bleeding seems to have some from his nose and a split lip, but his skull is littered in bruises. She worries about a concussion, but he doesn't appear confused or ill. There's not much she can do about it either way. Or for the black eye that's just going to get worse before it gets better. She runs her fingers gently around the edges of the bruise that's beginning to form there.
"Nux."
"Hmm?" The word doesn't make any sense, maybe he does have a concussion…
"My name. It's Nux."
"Oh - I'm Capable."
"I know." He looks down to where she still wears her nametag, a pained smile on his face. She smiles back, the absurdity of the whole situation starting to catch up with her. But she forces herself back into professional mode.
Attempts to remove his shirt and look for further injury prove disastrous. His wrist is certainly sprained, if not broken, and his ribs aren't in much better shape. He's not in any danger of puncturing a lung at least, so she wraps his wrist and brings him some painkillers to make it easier to breath. Finally she dabs some antibiotic cream on all the visible cuts, including his shredded knuckles. She thinks that some of that may have happened when he stood up for her, and feels suddenly guilty.
"I'm sorry if this happened because of me." She can't quite look at his face when she says this.
"It's not you. This was a long time coming. Not really much of a War Boy, I guess." He shrugs, and immediately seems to regret the gesture when it stretches his ribs uncomfortably.
"I think maybe that's a good thing, then." She smiles reassuringly, trying to convey how very glad she is that he's not like the others. But it's his turn to look away, not quite ready to hear this, but still a little comforted that one person doesn't think he's a fuck-up.
Capable realizes this is the most they've ever spoken before, but he's still so exhausted and she doesn't push for more. Just encourages him to lie back on her couch so he can rest. He's stuck in his leather jacket and pants, but she carefully removes his boots and drapes a light blanket over him.
She knows it's completely crazy to let a strange man stay in her house, but he's not a stranger, not really. And right now he can barely move, let alone hurt anyone. Besides, she'll be in a separate room behind a very sturdy lock, and there's nothing in her place worth stealing - not even so much as a crappy tv. Convinced that her plan is completely sane and in no way based on Nux's puppy dog eyes, she says her goodnights and heads to her own bed. Right before she's out of earshot she hears a softly uttered "thank you".