an invitation

Who: Alec and Marian
Where: Nighthawks' Diner
When: late

It was a slow night at the diner, and while that also meant a slow night for tips, Marian had decided two hours into her shift that it was for the best. She'd had three tables so far, and she'd done a great job catering to them, but for once her head was in the clouds. At the moment her section was empty and she was leaning against the counter, idly day dreaming while she refilled salt shakers at the end of the counter. Her conversation with Angelo had given her things to think about, abstract things that never would have crossed her mind prior to being told about them. How the stars were only as far away as you needed them to be at the time, how the world could be seen different ways, just because of a different light. While she didn't think she was doing terribly well at the train of thought it still managed to consume her.

Alec's leg was bothering him. It didn't always, but lately it had started getting worse and so when he entered Nighthawk's, it was with a shuffle to his step as he leaned against a cane and made his way to his regular seat. He slid in slow and propped his leg up on the bench across from him and rubbed his eyes. A new contract had come in and he was starting a new hiring process at the mill, and with the 'downfall' of the O'Malley family, the process was taking longer than expected. Who could be trusted, who couldn't...

Alec hadn't caught Marian's daydreaming eyes because of the limp and cane. The part of her brain that was paying attention just registered that and it didn't click with Alec. It wasn't until one of the other waitresses was making googly eyes at him that Marian actually turned and noticed her customer. Scrambling a little she grabbed a mug and the pot of coffee making her way over to him. "Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, setting down the mug and pouring. She smiled at him for a moment, then noticed the cane and his leg and everything fell into place. "Oh, are you okay?" The smile had faded to concern, brown eyes wide with it.

Alec, on the other hand, had noticed Marian, but it was such a rare thing to see her not bustling about, that he hadn't had the heart to bother her. While she hadn't dominated his thoughts over the past few days, she'd certainly crept up when he least expected it. Their last encounter had left him feeling hopeful. As shady as it might seem from the outside, Alec's intentions towards Marian weren't unkind or looking to use her. And it looked like maybe that was starting to sink in. "Injury's been acting up," he said with a shrug and a little smile. "Doctor wants me to take it easy but I'm going to take advantage of the nice weather while we have it. How've you been, Marian?" He didn't like seeing her look so concerned, especially when there had been something even more genuine about her bubbly greeting.

Marian frowned a little, looking down at his leg and chewing on her lip. "I'm sorry you're hurting." She rubbed her thumb along the edge of the table, taking a moment before she brought her eyes back to his. "I'm alright. I got invited to an art show tomorrow."

"I consider myself lucky that all it is is an ache," he said with a shrug. He considered himself lucky he still had his leg and if the occasional crop up of discomfort was the price to pay, he was going to do pay it gladly. "An art show? Are you going to go?" She seemed hesitant to share it and he wondered what could be the matter.

Marian nodded a little. "An art show, I was wandering around one of the nicer parts of town," the part of town Alec probably lived in, "And I thought someone was talking to me but he was just talking. Turns out he was an artist and he's having a show tomorrow night. He said anyone's invited, though he let me in to look at some of his paintings first." Marian realized she was babbling a touch and she flushed lightly. "I'm not sure if I'm going yet. I don't think I'll fit in." People were going to buy things, they were getting dressed up, it would be neat, but she guessed she'd stand out like a sore thumb.

Art show over there? Alec frowned a bit and tried to remember because honestly? He didn't keep up on those things. "I think... I have tickets for that." He was pretty positive he did, that his mother or sister had sent them. He glanced at Marian. "I'll go if you go. We can be bored and awkward together." He wasn't stupid and he wasn't naive. Marian wouldn't have the opportunity to go to something like this and he had a feeling she really did want to go.

"You'd...you'd go with me?" Hadn't she just thought about the same thing when Angelo mentioned her bringing a guy with her? It was almost too much to think that he'd actually offer to take her like that. She felt another blush coloring her cheeks and she dropped her eyes from his trying to hide behind her hair. She really did want to go, but at the same time, going with Alec seemed like something more.

"I think that should be what I'm supposed to say," Alec pointed out, the little grin back. "You don't want to go by yourself, do you? I figure if I'm going to go, I'd at least like to have a friendly face there." He approached it all very casually because he saw the blush, he heard the nervous note in her voice and everything in what he was saying was clearly 'two friends hanging out at an art gallery to look at the paintings'. "Besides, I think you might be the only person who I could take that won't ditch me halfway in because I'm boring and impatient to go."

"You're not boring," she reassured Alec, feeling like that was the easiest thing from what he'd suggested to latch on to. It was easier to deal with than the raging indecision inside her. She wanted to go, and part of her wanted to go with Alec, but another part of her was entirely unsure of the whole thing. This was letting him in, this was getting close. Roy's warnings were still there, even though she'd gone against them. Why had she gone against them anyway? Because Alec listened, and he was just as worried he'd let her down as she was that she'd let him down. She let the turmoil rage for a little longer then finally nodded. They were friends. Friends spent time together. "I'd really like to go."

It was nice to know that she didn't find him boring, although Alec wasn't sure if she was just trying to be nice or if it was sincere. But it was reassuring nonetheless and he smiled up at her, reassured. "It's nice to know that there's at least one person who doesn't find me insufferable," he chuckled. He tried not to think of the implications of going to the gallery would have with Marian. What people would say. What would be in the paper. But when had that sort of thing had stopped him? "Do you want me to pick you up or would you like to meet at the gallery?"

"People find you insufferable?" Marian asked with a curious smile. At the offer she dropped her eyes from his again, thinking about what to do. Meeting him there put in that awkward situation where she was on her own until she found him, but then again if he picked her up it would come with a whole slew of implications. "Whatever is easiest for you," she finally said softly.

"I can pick you up that way you don't have to walk by yourself," he said because, complications aside, he didn't like the idea of her walking around the city after dark on her own, and he was in no position to walk her himself. At least for now. "Do you have a break soon?" he asked suddenly.

Marian nodded, hair bouncing a little. It was probably best that she didn't walk that far by herself anyway. She found herself chewing on her lip a little, nervous but trying to ignore that so she could stay smiling and happy. At his comment though she couldn't help but look up, lip still caught in her teeth. "Um, I think." She glanced around towards the clock over the door out of diner. "It's been kind of a slow night so I've lost track. But yeah," she told him turning back. "In about ten. Why?"

Alec shrugged and reached up to scratch the back of his head. The diner was slow, and their only audience was her co-workers really, but they were friends. Friends spent time together. "I was thinking that if you didn't have anything you needed to get done, you could join me. How things have been with you, what's been up with me, so we're not bored." She still had the nervous look about her, but maybe she'd feel better if they were in a familiar place and had other people around.

Marian's fingers traced little designs on the top of the table for a moment while she thought about that. "I could do that I suppose," she said with a glance to one of the other waitresses. They wouldn't tell, though she rarely spent her breaks doing that sort of thing. Most of them were spent in the back just resting her feet, which she figured she could do here with Alec. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Just some vanilla ice cream and coffee?" he asked. It felt a little awkward after inviting her to sit that she would take his order, but she was still working and he was still a customer in her section.

Nodding she made a note of his order on her little notepad. "I can do that," she told him smiling and tucking the pad back into her apron. It gave her something to focus on, something that made sense. "I'll be back with that in a few minutes." She moved away from the table with another smile, ducking behind the counter to get his order.