Killa was sick of studying. Just two more finals and she was done. All this
week she'd studied with her study group in the library. The university
changed the library hours to 24 hours the last two weeks of school. She
liked her study group, but sometimes they were a little intense even for
her. Killa sighed.
The sound was faint, but Killa still recognized it. Then she saw heads popping up in study corrals on the far side of the library. They looked pissed. She couldn't see her friends yet, but she could hear them just fine.
"Beer Break! Killa! Time for your Beer Break! Killa!" Everyone at the table turned and glared at her as Killa slunk away to deal with her crazy friends.
There were four of them, Katie, Liz, Toby and Kiko, the rest were probably still at the club. It was 11:30PM and all of them except Kiko looked drunk. Killa held her finger up to her lips but couldn't keep herself from smiling.
"C'mon Killa. If you don't come with us, we're going to start singing One Thousand Bottles of beer on the wall." Toby shouted.
"One thousand bottles of beer on the wall, one thousand bottles of beer.." All of them except Kiko started singing at the top of their lungs. Kiko shrugged and looked embarrassed.
"Look guys, I can't go out like this. I have on sweats, I need to study.." Killa said.
"We have clothes!!!!!" Katie shouted.
"We have makeup. And shoes!!!!!" Liz added.
"Hair gel! Glitter!" They started pulling stuff out of a big bag and tossing it to Killa. The whole time this was happening, Toby kept on singing that hideous song.
Toby paused, "Killa, you have 4.0, you need a break. A BEEEER BREEEAAKKKK!!!!" then launched back into the song.
Killa looked nervously at her study group, which looked back really pissed. "I don't think they'll leave unless I go with them. I don't want them to get in trouble. I'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?" The group still looked ticked. Killa leaned over and touched Edgar on the arm "You guys are the best. I'm sorry they're so loud." Edgar had a huge crush on her so he smiled and said "That's ok Killa. Drink one for me." The rest of the group went back to studying.
"Ok, I'm going with you now shut up!" Her friends got a bit quieter, at least the singing stopped. "Where are we going?" Toby started singing Boogie Fever but stopped when Killa glared at him. "Disco" they all said at the same time.
Later in the library restroom Killa looked at what her friends brought her to wear. Her and Liz wore the same size, even the same shoe size, but they didn't have the same style at all. Liz was a fashion design major and she liked her clothes bright, short, sexy, tight-mostly the opposite of what Killa liked. The only thing they both liked was leather, especially leather pants. Killa could breath in hers though, and they were brown not black. All the clothes they brought her belonged to Liz. Her choices were: A super short hot pink mini skirt--No A purple pleather mini dress-No A pair of skintight black leather pants-Gulp!! A silver mesh see through halter-Hell No! A teeny gray satin cami-Uhhh? One pair of black high-heeled leather boots.-Ok One pair of hot pink stiletto heels-Hell No!
After Killa dressed, Liz braided her hair and did her makeup. Killa didn't even look in the mirror; she knew she'd feel uncomfortable. It was just for a couple of hours, no big deal.
Killa stepped out of the bathroom and Toby's jaw dropped "Whoa." "Shut your trap Toby." Killa said and glared at him. Toby shut up. Killa had a death glare that could dry paint.
Once she got to the club, danced and had a few drinks, Killa began to feel more relaxed. She was ready for her exams. The one tomorrow wasn't until two PM, so she could sleep in. She needed another beer.
By the time the bartender shouted "Last Call!!!" Killa was pretty drunk. Her friends had bought her drink after drink. Kiko and Julio were the designated drivers, so the rest could party as much as they wanted. Killa got a lot louder and a lot more outgoing when she had been drinking.
"I am so huuunggrryy." Toby whined. "Must eat now. No little food. Must have waffles. Need Waffles."
Katie joined in "I'm hungry too. Julio, please take us to the IHOP. Please please please." Julio was her boyfriend and he was a really nice guy. He smiled, then asked "Ihop?" Everybody agreed.
They finally got to the IHOP at three AM. First Katie needed to fix her shoe, then Liz saw a friend of hers. By the time they arrived, the worst of the bar rush was over but there were still quite a few tables full. Killa's favorite was taken, so they let the waitress seat them wherever.
While they were waiting for their food, the Twins walked in. Betty walked over and seated them next to Killa's table of eight loud mostly drunk college students. One's jaw tightened and Two turned to Betty and asked her if they could sit elsewhere.
"Your friend's in that bunch, that girl you asked about. I thought you might like a look her." Betty said then grinned. Right about this time Killa stood up on her chair and started to sing. "Night fever, night fever. We know how to show it." while the rest of the table whooped and whistled. Killa's chair was a few feet away from One's side of the booth. Both twins stared at her in amazement. Was this the same quiet girl?
Killa was on the last stanza "here I am, prayin' for this moment to last." Killa was shakin' what her momma gave her so hard the chair tipped over and she landed bottom first in One's lap.
"Uh, hi there! I know you. Oooo, nice glasses. I like those way better than those sunglasses you used to wear." One looked a little stunned as Killa took off his new glasses and tried them on herself.
"Hey guys! What do you think?" Killa looked over at her friends who had gotten quiet. She looked over at Two who was making a very scary mad face (kinda of like the one he had right before he phased in Reloaded) and gave him a huge smile and said "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall. Your brother makes a good cushion though!" She then turned to One, put an arm around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you! Oooo, pretty eyes. I love green eyes." One raised his eyebrows at Two and looked smug as hell. Two looked even more ticked.
"Um, Killa, maybe you should, uh, get back to your own seat." Julio said in a shaky voice.
"But I like this one." Killa said with a grin. "Ok, ok." Killa slid off One's lap, walked back to her seat and sat down with a sigh. One looked over at Two and smirked.
"We have pretty eyes. We make a nice cushion. We have good taste in glasses." One thought to Two as he touched his cheek where Killa kissed him. "We got a kiss."
Two's death glare was back and the people at Killa's table who could see it became very, very quiet. Killa couldn't understand what was wrong with her friends.
" It was an accident. If we had sat there, we would have gotten the female's attentions." Two thought back.
"Maybe. But we got a kiss. She didn't have to kiss us." One thought back.
The edges of Two's mouth turned down, the scowl becoming worse. He was now glaring at the back of Killa's head. Killa's friends stopped talking completely. Killa turned around to see what they were staring at. She looked at Two and assumed he was mad at her for disrupting their meal.
"I really am sorry I fell. Can I buy you guys' breakfast? Please don't be mad at me." Two's scowl faded until he was back to his usual expressionless face. He looked at her, she really was a lot prettier than he first thought. On impulse he said "We'll forgive you if you eat with us."
Killa smiled, grabbed her food and sat down next to Two. Her friends looked worried and started to say something to her but stopped when they saw Two glaring at them.
"I see you guys in here pretty often. Why do you work so late? Hey, you're not wearing your uniform. This must be your off day, right? Ooo, I like your shirt, blue looks good on you. Oh, and you're not wearing the same clothes, that's much better." Killa stopped, looked embarrassed, then said "I talk too much when I drink. Sorry." She smiled at Two and he gave a half smirk back to her. It looked like the guy didn't know HOW to smile. If she'd been sober, it might have worried her.
Toby was worried about Killa. They'd been friends since grade school and he thought of her like a little sister. She'd finished her pancakes and now was looking sleepy. Killa could fall asleep anywhere, fell asleep on anybody-he'd seen her do it and had to get her out of a few situations where the guy thought Killa meant more by it than she did. She was smart, she never got drunk unless her friends were around to watch over her and ever since that last boyfriend got her interested in martial arts, Killa religiously worked out at her dojo. She could probably defend herself by now. But those guys were big, looked mean and dangerous. Toby used to street fight for money in high school until he got busted and the judge told him any more offenses would go on his permanent record. He knew what that meant-no college would touch him, at least none of the good ones. While he was fighting he'd learned to separate the ones that acted tough, but cried when they got hit, from the ones that would cut your throat for a nickel. He avoided fighting them, and that was exactly what the guys Killa was sitting with looked like, guys who'd cut your throat for fun. Shit.
Two looked down at Killa. She leaned against his shoulder and looked like she was falling asleep. He shifted in the booth until his back was sort of to the wall to give her some room, but instead of waking up she sighed and fell asleep on his chest. So he put his arm around her and looked over at One feeling very self-satisfied indeed.
"She has fallen asleep on our chest. Clearly she trusts us. It is not so hard." He thought to Two.
"That's what we say now, let's see what we say after she wakes up." One thought back.
Two remembered waking up next to women who looked scared. He'd not hurt them, much. They went to the chateau with him willingly and he didn't force them to do anything they didn't want to do, he couldn't figure out why they suddenly became scared. He looked down at Killa again. He didn't like to think of her looking scared of him. It didn't seem like much scared her.
"Her friends do not like us." One said as well.
"Should we get rid of them?" Two asked. It wouldn't be hard.
The Twins didn't spend a lot of time examining how their actions affected other people; they wanted something, they took it. Something got in the way; they shot it. They were interested in Killa mainly because she didn't seem afraid of them. That was why they'd started talking to Betty.
One thought for a moment. "We think Killa wouldn't like that."
"Well, she wouldn't have to know, would she? We could make it an accident." Two thought back scowling.
While the Twins were having their thought fight, Killa began to gently snore. At first it was just a quiet sniffle, but then it burst into full snore. It was not a loud snore, but it was definitely a snore. Two looked down at Killa with curiosity on his face. Killa woke herself up a bit, then snuggled in and went back to sleep.
"We could find out their addresses and send them free airline tickets on the same flight then sabotage it." Two thought to One "That would eliminate the whole lot of them."
The friends and the Twins were in a sort of standoff waiting for Killa to wake up. No one had enough guts to ask the Twins for Killa, Two kept glaring at anyone who even looked at them, let alone spoke to them. But they weren't leaving their friend either. So both groups got more and more irritated with each other and just kept on ordering more coffee.
"Don't you think she'd figure that out? It's just the oldest trick in the book." One thought back. "She's not stupid Two."
"What, we think she has a side job as an assassin somewhere. College student by day, assassin by night? She'd think it was an accident." Two looked irritated.
"Let's ask Betty." One suggested. "She gave good advice on clothes. Killa complimented us on our clothes. And OUR glasses." One added smugly.
"How do we do that? They will hear." Two thought, then nodded at the friends.
"We'll get up and ask her." One slid out of the booth and stood up. The friends visibly cringed as he walked by blank faced, staring at them as he passed. Betty was doing sidework over by the register.
"Betty, may we ask you a question?" One asked politely.
"Sure thing sweetie. Looks like you've completely blown your chances with that one." Betty said. "I was going to intervene, but I think it's beyond repair by now."
One blinked, then said, "How do we get rid of Killa's friends? They are not fond of us."
"Well, that's an understatement. What's not to like? You've got a hold of their good friend and scared them all shitless until they figure you're going to either hurt them or their friend. They think that you intend to, umm, take advantage of that girls' drunken foolishness. They're not leaving their friend and you guys are making it worse by refusing to talk to them. Put yourself in their shoes." Betty put her hands on her hips and looked One right in the eye. :"You need to learn to work people instead of just taking what you want and not caring how it makes them feel."
One looked down at her and thought about what she said. The only person he really cared about was his brother. He imagined his brother being held by agents and how he would feel about that. Even if they were not hurting Two and, for some bizarre reason Two wanted to be with them, it would still worry him because he would know that they could hurt Two. He wouldn't want to leave Two with them, and he wouldn't like it one bit. In fact he would be very angry with Two.
" Is there anything we can do to fix it?" One asked and sighed. "We do not mean to hurt them or her."
Betty thought for a second and said, "Buy their breakfasts, that will help. Act like you're sobering up yourself, humans are willing to excuse some bad behavior if you are drunk. Umm, when you get back to the table, lean over and ask them if they are ready to leave. Yes. Tell them that you need to go and that you didn't mind their friend sleeping over, but it's time for her to go home."
Betty paused and looked at One to see of he was getting mad. He was listening intently so she continued. "Offer to carry their friend out to the car for them. Use your British accent; everyone loves that accent. Try to be friendly, if you can. Half their dislike is fear; you haven't really done anything to them. DO NOT ask for or accept the girl's phone number, email or other contact. If she offers it to you, politely refuse otherwise you will never see her in here again. Her friends will see to that. You want to make them think you are not interested her. Then, when she comes back to the IHOP, you can talk to her without the friends' interference. Got it?"
"Got it." One said.
"Oh, and I'll come over in a minute and compliment you guys. I'm going to be lying through my teeth to help you, so don't look surprised, just go along with it, ok?" Betty paused. "You won't hurt that girl, will you? I won't help you hurt anyone."
One looked Betty right in the eye and said, "No, we promise not to hurt her. Or her annoying friends."
One paid for everyone's meal then walked back to the table. As he passed the friends, he tried to smile. It looked a little less like a grimace, but it was still clearly alarming. Two was in a staring match with Toby while he stroked Killa's cheek. This was bad.
Two looked up and scanned the contents of the conversation from One's memory. He didn't look pleased, but he would comply. He looked back at Toby and said softly and politely "We need to leave. Your friend has been interesting company, but it's time for her to go home." He then smiled at Toby and it actually looked something like a smile. Two practiced last night in the mirror until he could do a fair imitation of a smile. It still had smirk-like qualities, but it would pass.
Toby smiled back and said "Yeah, she has a tendency to do that if she's been drinking. She doesn't mean anything by it. She seems to know you guys too?" Toby wanted to find out where Killa met them.
"We come here to eat a few times a week. Sometimes we see her in here studying. We've never spoken to her before, she seems like a good student." Two felt proud. He sounded plausibly harmless.
"We really must be going." One added. "If you are ready, we will carry her out to your car for you?" He paused for a second and added "We apologize if we seemed rude earlier, we had a bit too much to drink and fancied a quiet bite before returning home. Your friend is usually a bit quieter, the IHOP is usually a bit quieter."
The friends looked embarrassed and began to mumble apologies of their own. Maybe these guys weren't so bad. Right then Betty walked up with a to go box. She handed it to Two and said "Here are your pancakes for your mother. I hope she recovers. You are so good to take care of her with your busy schedules." Two nodded. Betty then turned to One, said, "Such good boys" then pinched his cheek. One looked startled.
Two handed Killa to One as he slid out of the booth, then, of course, took her back. One felt less than pleased about that, but took pains not to show it. When they got outside, it was cold. Killa didn't have coat and started to shiver, then woke up.
"I'm cold." She moaned. "I don't feel so good." She looked up at Two, then smiled. "I know you, you're one of the twins that always eats at the IHOP. Why are you carrying me?" She looked around then saw her friends. Toby was right next to her.
"You fell into that guy's lap," he said pointing to One, "then fell asleep on that one's chest." He told her. Killa had the grace to blush.
One handed her his leather jacket. When she protested he simply said "Give it to Betty the next time you're in the IHOP. She'll get it to us." By that time they were at the car; Two put her down and made sure she was ok. Killa looked up at him as she pulled One's leather jacket around her, then got a mischievous look on her face. She wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him briefly on the lips then hopped in the car blushing furiously.
Toby sighed, waved to a thoughtful looking Two, then got in on the drivers' side and started the car.
Two turned to One and said "We got a kiss on the lips."
The sound was faint, but Killa still recognized it. Then she saw heads popping up in study corrals on the far side of the library. They looked pissed. She couldn't see her friends yet, but she could hear them just fine.
"Beer Break! Killa! Time for your Beer Break! Killa!" Everyone at the table turned and glared at her as Killa slunk away to deal with her crazy friends.
There were four of them, Katie, Liz, Toby and Kiko, the rest were probably still at the club. It was 11:30PM and all of them except Kiko looked drunk. Killa held her finger up to her lips but couldn't keep herself from smiling.
"C'mon Killa. If you don't come with us, we're going to start singing One Thousand Bottles of beer on the wall." Toby shouted.
"One thousand bottles of beer on the wall, one thousand bottles of beer.." All of them except Kiko started singing at the top of their lungs. Kiko shrugged and looked embarrassed.
"Look guys, I can't go out like this. I have on sweats, I need to study.." Killa said.
"We have clothes!!!!!" Katie shouted.
"We have makeup. And shoes!!!!!" Liz added.
"Hair gel! Glitter!" They started pulling stuff out of a big bag and tossing it to Killa. The whole time this was happening, Toby kept on singing that hideous song.
Toby paused, "Killa, you have 4.0, you need a break. A BEEEER BREEEAAKKKK!!!!" then launched back into the song.
Killa looked nervously at her study group, which looked back really pissed. "I don't think they'll leave unless I go with them. I don't want them to get in trouble. I'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?" The group still looked ticked. Killa leaned over and touched Edgar on the arm "You guys are the best. I'm sorry they're so loud." Edgar had a huge crush on her so he smiled and said "That's ok Killa. Drink one for me." The rest of the group went back to studying.
"Ok, I'm going with you now shut up!" Her friends got a bit quieter, at least the singing stopped. "Where are we going?" Toby started singing Boogie Fever but stopped when Killa glared at him. "Disco" they all said at the same time.
Later in the library restroom Killa looked at what her friends brought her to wear. Her and Liz wore the same size, even the same shoe size, but they didn't have the same style at all. Liz was a fashion design major and she liked her clothes bright, short, sexy, tight-mostly the opposite of what Killa liked. The only thing they both liked was leather, especially leather pants. Killa could breath in hers though, and they were brown not black. All the clothes they brought her belonged to Liz. Her choices were: A super short hot pink mini skirt--No A purple pleather mini dress-No A pair of skintight black leather pants-Gulp!! A silver mesh see through halter-Hell No! A teeny gray satin cami-Uhhh? One pair of black high-heeled leather boots.-Ok One pair of hot pink stiletto heels-Hell No!
After Killa dressed, Liz braided her hair and did her makeup. Killa didn't even look in the mirror; she knew she'd feel uncomfortable. It was just for a couple of hours, no big deal.
Killa stepped out of the bathroom and Toby's jaw dropped "Whoa." "Shut your trap Toby." Killa said and glared at him. Toby shut up. Killa had a death glare that could dry paint.
Once she got to the club, danced and had a few drinks, Killa began to feel more relaxed. She was ready for her exams. The one tomorrow wasn't until two PM, so she could sleep in. She needed another beer.
By the time the bartender shouted "Last Call!!!" Killa was pretty drunk. Her friends had bought her drink after drink. Kiko and Julio were the designated drivers, so the rest could party as much as they wanted. Killa got a lot louder and a lot more outgoing when she had been drinking.
"I am so huuunggrryy." Toby whined. "Must eat now. No little food. Must have waffles. Need Waffles."
Katie joined in "I'm hungry too. Julio, please take us to the IHOP. Please please please." Julio was her boyfriend and he was a really nice guy. He smiled, then asked "Ihop?" Everybody agreed.
They finally got to the IHOP at three AM. First Katie needed to fix her shoe, then Liz saw a friend of hers. By the time they arrived, the worst of the bar rush was over but there were still quite a few tables full. Killa's favorite was taken, so they let the waitress seat them wherever.
While they were waiting for their food, the Twins walked in. Betty walked over and seated them next to Killa's table of eight loud mostly drunk college students. One's jaw tightened and Two turned to Betty and asked her if they could sit elsewhere.
"Your friend's in that bunch, that girl you asked about. I thought you might like a look her." Betty said then grinned. Right about this time Killa stood up on her chair and started to sing. "Night fever, night fever. We know how to show it." while the rest of the table whooped and whistled. Killa's chair was a few feet away from One's side of the booth. Both twins stared at her in amazement. Was this the same quiet girl?
Killa was on the last stanza "here I am, prayin' for this moment to last." Killa was shakin' what her momma gave her so hard the chair tipped over and she landed bottom first in One's lap.
"Uh, hi there! I know you. Oooo, nice glasses. I like those way better than those sunglasses you used to wear." One looked a little stunned as Killa took off his new glasses and tried them on herself.
"Hey guys! What do you think?" Killa looked over at her friends who had gotten quiet. She looked over at Two who was making a very scary mad face (kinda of like the one he had right before he phased in Reloaded) and gave him a huge smile and said "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall. Your brother makes a good cushion though!" She then turned to One, put an arm around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you! Oooo, pretty eyes. I love green eyes." One raised his eyebrows at Two and looked smug as hell. Two looked even more ticked.
"Um, Killa, maybe you should, uh, get back to your own seat." Julio said in a shaky voice.
"But I like this one." Killa said with a grin. "Ok, ok." Killa slid off One's lap, walked back to her seat and sat down with a sigh. One looked over at Two and smirked.
"We have pretty eyes. We make a nice cushion. We have good taste in glasses." One thought to Two as he touched his cheek where Killa kissed him. "We got a kiss."
Two's death glare was back and the people at Killa's table who could see it became very, very quiet. Killa couldn't understand what was wrong with her friends.
" It was an accident. If we had sat there, we would have gotten the female's attentions." Two thought back.
"Maybe. But we got a kiss. She didn't have to kiss us." One thought back.
The edges of Two's mouth turned down, the scowl becoming worse. He was now glaring at the back of Killa's head. Killa's friends stopped talking completely. Killa turned around to see what they were staring at. She looked at Two and assumed he was mad at her for disrupting their meal.
"I really am sorry I fell. Can I buy you guys' breakfast? Please don't be mad at me." Two's scowl faded until he was back to his usual expressionless face. He looked at her, she really was a lot prettier than he first thought. On impulse he said "We'll forgive you if you eat with us."
Killa smiled, grabbed her food and sat down next to Two. Her friends looked worried and started to say something to her but stopped when they saw Two glaring at them.
"I see you guys in here pretty often. Why do you work so late? Hey, you're not wearing your uniform. This must be your off day, right? Ooo, I like your shirt, blue looks good on you. Oh, and you're not wearing the same clothes, that's much better." Killa stopped, looked embarrassed, then said "I talk too much when I drink. Sorry." She smiled at Two and he gave a half smirk back to her. It looked like the guy didn't know HOW to smile. If she'd been sober, it might have worried her.
Toby was worried about Killa. They'd been friends since grade school and he thought of her like a little sister. She'd finished her pancakes and now was looking sleepy. Killa could fall asleep anywhere, fell asleep on anybody-he'd seen her do it and had to get her out of a few situations where the guy thought Killa meant more by it than she did. She was smart, she never got drunk unless her friends were around to watch over her and ever since that last boyfriend got her interested in martial arts, Killa religiously worked out at her dojo. She could probably defend herself by now. But those guys were big, looked mean and dangerous. Toby used to street fight for money in high school until he got busted and the judge told him any more offenses would go on his permanent record. He knew what that meant-no college would touch him, at least none of the good ones. While he was fighting he'd learned to separate the ones that acted tough, but cried when they got hit, from the ones that would cut your throat for a nickel. He avoided fighting them, and that was exactly what the guys Killa was sitting with looked like, guys who'd cut your throat for fun. Shit.
Two looked down at Killa. She leaned against his shoulder and looked like she was falling asleep. He shifted in the booth until his back was sort of to the wall to give her some room, but instead of waking up she sighed and fell asleep on his chest. So he put his arm around her and looked over at One feeling very self-satisfied indeed.
"She has fallen asleep on our chest. Clearly she trusts us. It is not so hard." He thought to Two.
"That's what we say now, let's see what we say after she wakes up." One thought back.
Two remembered waking up next to women who looked scared. He'd not hurt them, much. They went to the chateau with him willingly and he didn't force them to do anything they didn't want to do, he couldn't figure out why they suddenly became scared. He looked down at Killa again. He didn't like to think of her looking scared of him. It didn't seem like much scared her.
"Her friends do not like us." One said as well.
"Should we get rid of them?" Two asked. It wouldn't be hard.
The Twins didn't spend a lot of time examining how their actions affected other people; they wanted something, they took it. Something got in the way; they shot it. They were interested in Killa mainly because she didn't seem afraid of them. That was why they'd started talking to Betty.
One thought for a moment. "We think Killa wouldn't like that."
"Well, she wouldn't have to know, would she? We could make it an accident." Two thought back scowling.
While the Twins were having their thought fight, Killa began to gently snore. At first it was just a quiet sniffle, but then it burst into full snore. It was not a loud snore, but it was definitely a snore. Two looked down at Killa with curiosity on his face. Killa woke herself up a bit, then snuggled in and went back to sleep.
"We could find out their addresses and send them free airline tickets on the same flight then sabotage it." Two thought to One "That would eliminate the whole lot of them."
The friends and the Twins were in a sort of standoff waiting for Killa to wake up. No one had enough guts to ask the Twins for Killa, Two kept glaring at anyone who even looked at them, let alone spoke to them. But they weren't leaving their friend either. So both groups got more and more irritated with each other and just kept on ordering more coffee.
"Don't you think she'd figure that out? It's just the oldest trick in the book." One thought back. "She's not stupid Two."
"What, we think she has a side job as an assassin somewhere. College student by day, assassin by night? She'd think it was an accident." Two looked irritated.
"Let's ask Betty." One suggested. "She gave good advice on clothes. Killa complimented us on our clothes. And OUR glasses." One added smugly.
"How do we do that? They will hear." Two thought, then nodded at the friends.
"We'll get up and ask her." One slid out of the booth and stood up. The friends visibly cringed as he walked by blank faced, staring at them as he passed. Betty was doing sidework over by the register.
"Betty, may we ask you a question?" One asked politely.
"Sure thing sweetie. Looks like you've completely blown your chances with that one." Betty said. "I was going to intervene, but I think it's beyond repair by now."
One blinked, then said, "How do we get rid of Killa's friends? They are not fond of us."
"Well, that's an understatement. What's not to like? You've got a hold of their good friend and scared them all shitless until they figure you're going to either hurt them or their friend. They think that you intend to, umm, take advantage of that girls' drunken foolishness. They're not leaving their friend and you guys are making it worse by refusing to talk to them. Put yourself in their shoes." Betty put her hands on her hips and looked One right in the eye. :"You need to learn to work people instead of just taking what you want and not caring how it makes them feel."
One looked down at her and thought about what she said. The only person he really cared about was his brother. He imagined his brother being held by agents and how he would feel about that. Even if they were not hurting Two and, for some bizarre reason Two wanted to be with them, it would still worry him because he would know that they could hurt Two. He wouldn't want to leave Two with them, and he wouldn't like it one bit. In fact he would be very angry with Two.
" Is there anything we can do to fix it?" One asked and sighed. "We do not mean to hurt them or her."
Betty thought for a second and said, "Buy their breakfasts, that will help. Act like you're sobering up yourself, humans are willing to excuse some bad behavior if you are drunk. Umm, when you get back to the table, lean over and ask them if they are ready to leave. Yes. Tell them that you need to go and that you didn't mind their friend sleeping over, but it's time for her to go home."
Betty paused and looked at One to see of he was getting mad. He was listening intently so she continued. "Offer to carry their friend out to the car for them. Use your British accent; everyone loves that accent. Try to be friendly, if you can. Half their dislike is fear; you haven't really done anything to them. DO NOT ask for or accept the girl's phone number, email or other contact. If she offers it to you, politely refuse otherwise you will never see her in here again. Her friends will see to that. You want to make them think you are not interested her. Then, when she comes back to the IHOP, you can talk to her without the friends' interference. Got it?"
"Got it." One said.
"Oh, and I'll come over in a minute and compliment you guys. I'm going to be lying through my teeth to help you, so don't look surprised, just go along with it, ok?" Betty paused. "You won't hurt that girl, will you? I won't help you hurt anyone."
One looked Betty right in the eye and said, "No, we promise not to hurt her. Or her annoying friends."
One paid for everyone's meal then walked back to the table. As he passed the friends, he tried to smile. It looked a little less like a grimace, but it was still clearly alarming. Two was in a staring match with Toby while he stroked Killa's cheek. This was bad.
Two looked up and scanned the contents of the conversation from One's memory. He didn't look pleased, but he would comply. He looked back at Toby and said softly and politely "We need to leave. Your friend has been interesting company, but it's time for her to go home." He then smiled at Toby and it actually looked something like a smile. Two practiced last night in the mirror until he could do a fair imitation of a smile. It still had smirk-like qualities, but it would pass.
Toby smiled back and said "Yeah, she has a tendency to do that if she's been drinking. She doesn't mean anything by it. She seems to know you guys too?" Toby wanted to find out where Killa met them.
"We come here to eat a few times a week. Sometimes we see her in here studying. We've never spoken to her before, she seems like a good student." Two felt proud. He sounded plausibly harmless.
"We really must be going." One added. "If you are ready, we will carry her out to your car for you?" He paused for a second and added "We apologize if we seemed rude earlier, we had a bit too much to drink and fancied a quiet bite before returning home. Your friend is usually a bit quieter, the IHOP is usually a bit quieter."
The friends looked embarrassed and began to mumble apologies of their own. Maybe these guys weren't so bad. Right then Betty walked up with a to go box. She handed it to Two and said "Here are your pancakes for your mother. I hope she recovers. You are so good to take care of her with your busy schedules." Two nodded. Betty then turned to One, said, "Such good boys" then pinched his cheek. One looked startled.
Two handed Killa to One as he slid out of the booth, then, of course, took her back. One felt less than pleased about that, but took pains not to show it. When they got outside, it was cold. Killa didn't have coat and started to shiver, then woke up.
"I'm cold." She moaned. "I don't feel so good." She looked up at Two, then smiled. "I know you, you're one of the twins that always eats at the IHOP. Why are you carrying me?" She looked around then saw her friends. Toby was right next to her.
"You fell into that guy's lap," he said pointing to One, "then fell asleep on that one's chest." He told her. Killa had the grace to blush.
One handed her his leather jacket. When she protested he simply said "Give it to Betty the next time you're in the IHOP. She'll get it to us." By that time they were at the car; Two put her down and made sure she was ok. Killa looked up at him as she pulled One's leather jacket around her, then got a mischievous look on her face. She wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him briefly on the lips then hopped in the car blushing furiously.
Toby sighed, waved to a thoughtful looking Two, then got in on the drivers' side and started the car.
Two turned to One and said "We got a kiss on the lips."