The Muse — Roleplayer Guild

Sophia, Elliot & James

10:30am

Collab with @Snagglepuss89 & @Saint Girralo

Compared to the walk across town, the walk to the diner was quick and easy. Still drained from the encounter that had just taken place, Elliot opted to walk in silence, and Sophi didn’t seem inclined to change the atmosphere either. Truthfully, he was in a good mood, not that he would ever let that show, and he was looking forward to actually getting some job hunting today. Hopefully it wouldn’t turn into a debacle like the day before. Then again, yesterday hasn’t been all bad. He made a note to try and swing by Nana’s place again to return her belongings, wondering when it was that she’d be home. 

He also made damn sure to keep those thoughts to himself, glancing over at Sophi beside him. The last thing he needed was her hearing he was planning to visit a woman sometime. In highschool she had been downright possessive of him for whatever reason, and he really didn’t need his mood ruined by her jealous streak. Still, it was nice to just be… almost normal again between the two of them. The last couple days had been stressful, let alone the last five years. Maybe their relationship wasn’t repaired yet, but he had his best friend back.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were in front of the Orchid, and all the hesitation Elliot had felt yesterday was gone. He could face the other Reese's if he knew Sophia had his back, eventually smooth things over with them too. He looked over at her with a smirk as he held the door open for her, saying as she walked passed him:

“Okay, fair’s fair. I’ve done my part of the work, you can do the cooking for us.”

“Oh, please. Ron can do the cooking.” She laughed and walked inside, spotting only one customer in the back corner by himself and working on his laptop. At least it wasn’t too busy so far this morning - she didn’t have to feel guilty for not arriving earlier. 

“James is probably in the back somewhere.” She grabbed a menu as she passed the hostess stand and gestured for him to follow her. “Let’s sit here.” She walked toward the back of the diner, finding a booth. “Comfiest booth in town if I do say so myself.” She smiled and slid the menu over to his side of the booth. She had the menu memorized like the back of her hand, but Elliot probably needed some refreshing. 

As she waited for Elliot to finish looking over the menu she leaned back into the booth, her eyes studying his face. He seemed tired, rightly so, and a lot older than she remembered him. Not in the way that he appeared older, but the naivety of childhood had been erased throughout the years. Until a few hours ago she hadn't really gotten to look at him. Last night had just been a blur, and the previous morning she had been seeing red.  "I can't imagine the stress he was under..." Images of the bruises that traced his body flashed in her memory, pinging another feeling of sympathy and guilt. 

A gentle smile lifted her lips as she looked at him, watching his hazel eyes scan the menu items. "I think you should get every item on the menu, you're too skinny." She grinned, curious if he knew that she was referencing her mother who always use to try to shove baked goods down his throat when they were younger. 

"Yeah well you're too fat, so let's split the difference and just get two meals."

Elliot dove in the booth the second he spoke for protection, in case any projectiles came his way and proceeded to keep reading the menu lying down. Truthfully, he wasn't much of a breakfast food person, but he had caught the reference to her mother and was beginning to crave something sweet. Besides, he'd taken her comments a bit personally. He couldn't exactly help that he couldn't eat and work out like he used to.

Cautiously, he peeked his head up over the table, sliding the menu over towards her. It hadn't exactly changed much since he left, and he assumed it would probably taste about the same. She had mentioned James being here... Was he going to be the one cooking? Should Elliot pop back and say 'hi'? Maybe not, James was not the kind of person you wanted to interrupt while he was working. He'd always been so focused as a child.

Fortunately James was coming out of the kitchen and brought a carafe and mug a over to the man working on his laptop, and spotted the two. Oh this was getting interesting. After pouring the man some coffee, he walked over with the half empty carafe in hand. ”Hi Sophi.”  he said addressing his sister for a moment before turning his attention to the man sitting across from her. He noticed a slight bruise on his fade and just had to do a double take. ”You okay Elliot? I didn't think she actually went and hit you that hard yesterday.” 

Speak of the Devil...

Elliot took a moment to look over his old friend. James had been just a teenager the last time the two had seen each other. Now he must have been old enough to drink, or close enough. It was an odd feeling every time he saw someone he used to know all grown up, but he was getting used to the notion. Perhaps if it were yesterday he'd have greeted James with a hug or a handshake. Today though? He was in a good mood. Paradoxically, that always turned Elliot into more of an ass.

"I'm fine, but I wish it'd have been you doing the swinging. Unlike Sophi you always hit like a girl."

Sophia had been glaring at Elliot for the past five minutes, after that comment about her weight. What was with everyone lately?! Normally she would have kicked him in the shin immediately after that comment, but luckily she thought better of that impulse. She was reminded why as James brought up the bruise on his cheek. 

Sheepishly, she looked down at the menu on the table and pretended like she was reading it. It was probably better if she didn’t open her mouth, even if Elliot was making light of the situation with his usual sarcasm. 

James rolled his eyes, and thought, Yeah, and?Is that even news anymore. He pulled out his order pad and a pen and snorted, ”Alright, Scrawny as Helliot, so you're getting one of everything to bulk up yourself, right?”  he shot back jokingly as he lightly shoved his long time friend’s shoulder. Yeah, things were falling right back into place. ”Seriously though. Are you two ready to order or do you need more time?”

Sophia smiled as her brother went along with the joke. Luckily it didn’t seem to awkward between the two. In fact, James barely seemed phased by Elliot being back again. At least on the outside. How was James always so put together and Sophia was always…. Well, Sophia. “One flapjack and a side of scrambled eggs for me, please.” 

Elliot ignored the comeback, while he was in the mood for a verbal sparring it was probably wiser to ease back into things slowly. Thankfully it didn't seem like Sophi had taken his comments too seriously, despite glaring daggers at him. Anyone who thought the woman was anything but fit had to be out of their goddamn minds. He slid his menu towards James before answering;

"I'll take some french toast. No sides, just some syrup- and coffee, please."

James nodded as he wrote down the order from his sister and one of his best friends. He was wondering where the guy had gone off to when he disappeared. But that didn't matter now… He was back where he belonged, with his closest friends, with his family. ”Okay, unless you two have anything else you want to add, I'll go get this order ready.” he said as he took a step back.

After about fifteen minutes or so, James returned with their breakfast. Grinning, she took her plate and began scarfing down her pancake and eggs - having skipped dinner last night and filling up on alcohol had left her absolutely starving.

"Ron never disappoints." She proclaimed when both Elliot and herself were finished, having sparsely talked with each other while shoving food in their faces. "I have to stay here and help with the diner for a while... " She grabbed his empty plate and put it on top of hers, readying it to be taken away. "I know you were just dying for the opportunity to spend all day here, but I assure you it'll be pretty boring." Although if it went anything like yesterday, maybe it wouldn't be. "You have any plans today?"

Ron huh? I need to go back and say hi sometime.

Elliot shoved his french toast down his throat almost immediately, but savored the taste of his morning coffee while Sophi finished. While he had asked for an application the day before, he didn't really have any plans to work at the Orchid. Standing all day wasn't exactly something that would be good for his health. Still, while he had no plans to stick around, he still wouldn't have minded spending more time with Sophi. As much of a pain in the ass as she could be.

"Yeah, I need to go job hunting. Find a bit more income for myself."

He paused, before glancing around for someone he knew. Seeing it was safe, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and added:

"It's, uh, been nice though Soph. I've missed this- you- for a long time. If you need to get away from your crazy family feel free to crash at my place again sometime."

"Don't tempt me with a good time." She winked at him, giggling as she stood up. "Good luck with job hunting. I'm sure you'll find something in no time. Who wouldn't love a face like yours?" She smirked as he stood, immediately grabbing him for a hug. "I missed this too."

In the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if Elliot would disappear on her again after this. She embraced him a little tighter for a few moments before finally letting him go, trying to push the thought away. "See you later?"

His first reaction, now that he wasn't an emotional wreck, was to pull away from Sophi, but he fought it this time. She'd seemed really offended when he pulled his hand back earlier that day, and he wasn't in the mood to ruin their good vibes. Instead, he simply squeezed her back and grabbed his cane once she let go.

"Yeah, you'll see me. Who knows, maybe I'll crash by your place at midnight this time?"

Sophi laughed, “Unless you want to be up all night listening to Kylie screaming, I wouldn’t recommend it. See ya, Elliot.” She waved and took the two empty plates from the table as Elliot made his way out of the diner. 

With a sigh she made her way towards the kitchen in the back. Fun time was over and it was time to talk to James about whatever was going on with Kylie. From the looks of breakfast earlier, she was nowhere to be seen which was probably the best thing for the diner even if they were short handed. At least no one was crunching on glass or drinking bleach. 

Immediately she noticed James beside Ron, working the grill. "Hey Ron." She waved, a half hearted smile on her lips. "James, you want to go talk in my office now?" She paused and looked around, "I can go wait some tables." She hadn't really paid attention to whether or not business had picked up during breakfast; Elliot had her attention 110%.... And the food.  

”Yeah, let's talk real quick.”  James said, looking up from the grill. He was glad to see Sophi was alright, and that meant he wouldn't have to yell at Elliot. ”You got this for a few minutes, right Ron?”  he asked the guy, who nodded and said, “I'll be fine for a few minutes.” He walked to the office and opened the door for his sister and held it, waiting for her to walk through and sit down. He hoped this wouldn't go too long since they were short staffed at the moment. 

“Thanks Ron.” She dropped off the dishes in the sink and then followed James to the back office, stepping inside and taking a seat in one of the old tattered lounge chairs. The place still had the original furniture and was in desperate need of a makeover. “So what’s the story on our darling little sister?” Leaning back into the chair, she rested her head in her hand and waited for James to lay the bad news on her. 

As soon as Sophi asked about the situation with Kylie he groaned in annoyance.  “She screwed up and screwed up bad. She wouldn't say how, but she said she owed the IRS something like ten thousand dollars. Riley is helping her go around and apply for jobs, but I told her that if she can't find a job that she'd be working here, regardless of whether or not she has social anxiety. However if it does come to that, I did say that I would make sure she got trained.” James pinched the bridge between his eyes and looked up towards Sophi as he sat down in one of the other chairs. And of course as soon as he sat down he got a text from Olivia asking if they need help at the diner tonight. But the wording was strange, and he knew what Olivia was looking for. ’Yes, I'd rather have you here tonight.’  he texted back, hoping that was what she was looking for. 

“Ten thousand dollars?!” Her eyes practically popped out of her head, suddenly sitting upright in her chair. Shaking her head, Sophia echoed James' groan from earlier. "And of course we have to be dragged into this." She thought outloud, bitterly. Of course, naturally, she wanted to help her sister, but in the moment she would have liked to drop kick her right off a cliff. How in the world did Kylie always manage to get herself into situations like these? 

“I might be able to help but... ” She sighed, sinking back into her chair. “Mom and dad left me access to their savings. I think there’s enough in there… but I doubt this is what they intended on spending it on.” She bit her lower lip as she pondered the thought, staring at the old worn out carpeting. What was the right answer? 

”Before you even touch that, I want to take a look at it all myself. I want to look over her tax form, her paychecks, everything. I think she screwed up somewhere along the line.” James scowled momentarily at the revelation that Sophi had access to the savings account, and would have been willing to use the entire thing on their reckless sister. ”If there is even a chance she owes less that she thinks, I'm going to help, but she's going to have to learn that we aren't going to make all her problems go away. She's going to have to work off what she owes. And if we need to reach into the savings account, she is going to pay it back or I'll take her computer and gaming stuff away until she does.” James replies, frustrated that Kylie was so careless.

Sophia nodded as she listened to him. He was right, Kylie needed to learn some kind of responsibility for once. She always got the "easy way out" handed to her because their mother tended to be much too lenient, especially with the way Kylie could throw a fit. "Alright, that sounds-" She paused, the word paychecks resonating in her mind.

"How the hell has Kylie even been getting paid? She just plays video games all damn day." She rolled over multiple paying online jobs in her mind for a moment. "Cam Girl" was the one thought that kept coming to mind. "I swear to god, James, I'll kill her if I find out she's selling her body."

James shook his head, more so out of denial than assurance. Certainly there was a chance, given what their sister’s Twitter feed looked like, but he didn't want to even think about it. ”No. There's no way that's the case. There's a better chance she is a hacker… That being said, I doubt that's how she got the money either. I don't know how she expects us to help if she won't tell us what we need to know.” He said, clearly still trying to get the idea that his sister has been showing her body online for money out of his head.

“I’ll see if I can talk to her…” She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today. “So,” It was sad that this was going to be the less stressful part of the conversation. “We obviously need to do some hiring now. We’re all running ourselves so thin… I’ll put some ads out, online and a sign in the window. I can interview, or we both can interview.” She glanced over at the door, “I should probably get out there to wait the tables now, though. Thanks for helping Ron while Riley is out.” 

James smiled as soon as she said that they'd start hiring people. ”That's actually something I was going to bring up myself. I think we should both do interviews, personally, but I can handle them solo if you would rather I did. Also it's no problem me covering for Riley. It's just nice to change things up occasionally. If you're going to work the floor, I'll head back to the kitchen then.” he said as he got up, waiting for an answer as to who is interviewing applicants.

“I’d prefer we both did the interviews too. We can gauge who they are better that way.” She stood up, smiling slightly. “I appreciate all your help, James.” She took a moment to meet eyes with her brother, hoping he knew how much she genuinely appreciated all of his work. Despite James being a pain in the ass sometimes, he at least seemed to be the one sibling who “had it together” most of the time. 

Stepping out of the office again, Sophia grabbed an apron and tied it over her clothes. If it weren’t for what she had just discovered about Elliot earlier this morning she would have offered a job to him, but that wouldn’t have seemed like a very good fit now. Alas, they would have to go through the painful process of interviews. She remembered the stories her parents would tell about horrible interviews; one who seemed like he hadn’t showered in years, one who readily admitted to being a drug addict, one who took a phone call in the middle of the interview.. The list went on. “I can’t wait…” 

12pm

Pushing out of the kitchen and entering the diner once again, Sophia’s eyes immediately landed on a certain purple haired devil entering the diner. Wes Harmon. Not at all who she wanted to see this morning, or for the rest of her life for that matter. Why did he have to come here? 

Although she didn’t exactly have warm feelings for Wes, she did not hesitate to put on a bright heart-warming smile as he greeted her. She knew better than to upset him, she had seen him light off like a firework plenty of times in the past, even over just a simple unpleasant facial expression. 

“Good morning, Wes.” She grabbed a menu and followed him to the seat of his choosing, not bothering to try and stop him. It was only her on the floor anyway. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you around here.” About a year, actually. Ever since she had cut ties with her ex boyfriend, Greyson Reed, who liked to hang around with Wesley’s crowd. 

“Uh.. My parents actually passed away last month.” She frowned, simultaneously because her parents deaths had to brought up once again and because he had decided to refer to her mom with a measure of disrespect. “Thank you for remembering, though. Here’s your menu.” It was better to thank him for even mentioning her parents, lest Wes take it as an insult. “What can I get for you this morning, Wes?” She readied her pen and paper, replacing her frown with another smile just for him. 

James nodded in agreement when Sophi readily accepted the idea of them both doing interviews. When Sophi left the office and went out to the dining area, James grabbed a marker and a piece of paper and wrote the words “Help Wanted. Possible On The Spot Interviews.” He wanted to find competent people, but he also wanted to find people quickly. He just had to hope that they would be one and the same. Walking out to the front door, he quickly taped the sign in the front window, when he noticed Sophi talking to Wes. Yet another thing he was uncomfortable with.

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