This one's dedicated to Amy & Tam, without whom, this humorous interlude would not have been possible. These characterizations are my own personal adaptation of how they are played in the Spellbinder RPG. Sure, there are inside jokes, but most of them should be funny enough to laugh anyway. Feel free to read this chapter or skip to the next one... it is not necessary to the plot.
Rating for this chapter: PG-15, minor homosexuality and swearing
Nick and Diana approached the Diner, happy with anticipation. The anticipation turned to trepidation, though, as they got closer, looking curiously through the windows. The place seemed to be filled with the most random assortment of people ever to have the displeasure of knowing one another. Diana felt a very Star Wars moment come over her and she said, "There has never been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy... we must be cautious." Nick burst out in laughter and entered the Diner, holding the door for Diana behind him.
The first thing that caught them off guard was the inhuman quality, the beauty, that radiated from nearly every person in the room. But then, Nick noticed just how strange things were. They stood, gaping in the doorway, taking in all the things that were happening.
In a far corner sat four redheads at the same booth. Fades into their conversation...
"Louise, you're being ridiculous," Kait said with some ferocity. "There is no good reason why one person would need two naked portraits. I wouldn't paint another one, even if he asked me to."
"Fred," Bonnie, looked at Kait feeling exasperated, "I didn't say he wanted one done, I said I wanted you to redo it so I could have one!" Kait laughed so hard that her face nearly matched her hair with its flaming redness.
"You live with me and I refuse to have it in my apartment."
Garnet watched in amused silence, swirling the straw around a glass of ice water, the cubes tinkling on the sides. Poppy, on the other hand, could not stay silent. "Who?! Who did Kait paint naked? And why does Bonnie want one?!"
Kait smirked, "Who did I paint naked which time?"
Poppy openly gaped at her, "More than one person? Okay, who does Bonnie want the painting of?"
Bonnie glared at Kait, daring her to answer Poppy, and to her absolute horror, she did. "Kierlan."
Poppy dissolved into giggles and Garnet even snickered a little. Bonnie threw the entire napkin brigade at Kaitlyn, hoping for a hostile takeover, but Kait was still sitting upright when all the napkins had fallen to the ground having lost the battle. Even with the scattered napkins lying on her lap, she had the sudden urge to turn to look at the door. She felt eyes on the back of her neck and felt an overwhelming need to tar and feather someone...
Nick's gaze shifted around the room and landed on another booth, this one housing one completely beautiful platinum blond boy and a dark haired person in his lap... yes, a dark haired boy. Fades to the booth...
"Cranapple," Gabriel said with a stubborn edge in his voice.
"Crancherry," Julian replied, with much the same vehemence.
"Fine, cake," Gabriel began anew.
"No, pie," Julian sent back, not missing a beat.
Gabriel wrapped his arms around Julian's neck and mock glared at him. "You are so fucking difficult."
A smirk appeared on Julian's face, "That's odd; people usually accuse me of being easy," staunchly remaining as contrary as possible.
Gabe tilts over him and plants a kiss firmly on his lips. "Hardly."
Julian pushes him off his lap and Gabe slides onto the seat of the booth with a sharp smacking sound as his too-tight leather pants contact the vinyl of the seat. He wrinkles his nose at him. "Pie."
Gabe grabs Julian's hands and looks him in the eye, "Oh, let's go... cake."
And with that, they poof out of existence, leaving an empty booth behind them.
Nick blinked at the disappearing act and shook his head, eyes roaming around the Diner once more, and he found himself looking at a coed booth. Of course, it's one guy and two other girls; an entirely different situation in itself. Fades to the booth...
Caroline pouted, unashamed, "Please, Kier."
Kierlan looked at her, not the least bit affected by the pout, "Absolutely not."
"Oh, come on," Gisele chipped in.
"No, neither of you can drive my car. No," Kier crossed his arms in steadfast resolution.
Smiling, Caroline leaned over and gave him a quick, chaste kiss on the cheek, "Pretty please with a chocolate-covered cherry on top?"
"No."
Gisele thought she'd try one last time, "Umm, pretty please with a chocolate-covered me on top?"
"N... Oh? Hmm..." Kierlan paused in thought, intrigued by the last proposition.
Both rolling their eyes, Caroline and Gisele stood and moved to the side of the booth, looking down at him. They looked at one another, nodded, then back at him, saying, "Manwhore," in perfect unison. They left him sitting there, dumbfounded and alone in his booth.
In the final occupied booth sat a dark haired, dark eyed, brooding person. Nick wondered if that's how he often looked to people when he was sitting deep in thought. An equally dark haired woman was sitting across from him, looking bored to tears; that is, if she ever cried. Her golden honey eyes passed over them for just a moment before returning to the guy opposite her. Fades to the booth...
Damon sighed heavily, "Bored."
Lily mimicked his sigh, "I'm more bored."
"You couldn't possibly be more bored than me," Damon glared at her.
"Why couldn't I?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Because I'm older than you and have had more time to get bored with watching the events of the Night World unfold."
"That's no reason to say my boredom couldn't match up to yours," she sighed heavily once more, showing just how bored she actually was.
Damon accepted the challenge and sighed just a little more deeply than she, not conceding the status of "most bored." She glared at him this time and looked around the Diner, agitated. "I'm bored and hungry. This place bites," she smirked at her own joke, "Let's go find someone worth sinking our teeth into."
He nodded, agreeing, though still looking bored. "Fine, Lily." They stood and exited the Diner, walking past Nick and Diana as they did.
Nick and Diana had both seen enough to be frightened, not only of what may happen should they stay any longer, but of the people here in general. This seemed to be a gathering place for people with various mental problems. Little did they know this was a calm evening at the Diner. As they were turning to exit, Diana's shoe crunched and she looked down, finding she had effectively crushed one of the largest cockroaches ever seen in the city of Boston. She shrieked and bolted out the door, Nick following close behind her looking at the dead insect with disgust.
"Nick, McDonald's sounds pretty good right about now."
"I couldn't agree more. Let's go; I think I saw golden arches down the street," they headed away from the Diner quickly, feeling a little more than disturbed.
