Logic and Dreaming

Who: Alec and Marian
Where: Nighthawks
When: night

Marian had done just as Roy suggested. After talking to her brother and spending some time with him she'd gone straight back to the diner, leaving the jacket with one of the line cooks, saying she found it in a booth and it belonged to Mr. Ravenwood. If he came in he'd get his jacket back and Marian wouldn't have to see him or go through that herself. She'd had a rare morning off after not working the night shift, and had spent the day organizing the new things Zhen had given her and spending some time finishing up some things here and there, cleaning around her apartment.

Once she was headed into work, she was in a good mood. The entire incident with Alec was completely ignored, well from the forefront of her mind. She'd gone the rounds with her first few tables with a bright smile, grinning as she went about, handing out food and drinks.

Alec's day had revolved primarily around the upheaval that was the corruption in the Eidolon City Police Department. While the corruption had long been known, this was certainly sending ripples. There would no doubt be repercussions in various other parts of the city government, which then carried over to private business and the deals he was trying to make with a few out-of-town agencies. Contracts could be lost because of this, which is why Alec was, once again, up much too late trying to work on a statement to be released to the press, and to make the morning edition, he didn't have much time left.

Which meant that coffee was called for and Nighthawks had the best in town. Alec ducked in, dressed in his usual black suit, tie loosened and shirt untucked. He headed to his booth, pre-occupied with the pad of paper in his hand with a few sentences scribbled.

Marian was humming happily to herself, some song that was playing lightly over the loudspeakers that always made her feel like the cooks should be getting up and dancing along with it. She didn't even notice Alec walk in as she hummed, waiting on the order for one of her other tables to come up. Once the order was there she grabbed it, navigating with ease towards the table, calling to the figure settling into the booth in the corner that she'd be there in a moment before darting off to hand off food.

When she wandered back towards Alec she was still humming, preoccupied with pulling out her pad to jot his order on and sorting through the other notes on the pad to look up at the new customer properly. "What can I get you to drink?" she asked cheerily before she actually saw who she was speaking too.

"Coffee. Black, please," Alec said distractedly, running a hand through his short hair before crossing out a line on his paper and scribbling in something else. It wasn't that he was meaning to ignore Marian, or to be unkind. It was the fact that this needed to be done and it took his entire focus. There was an intensity on his face that he hadn't shown before, his focus at that moment completely on the work in front of him.

At his voice she actually looked up, recognizing it right away. Just the sight of Alec, there, in her section made her go pale. Thankfully he hadn't looked up either, and for some reason seemed to be ignoring her. Being ignored was a little embarrassing but as far as she was concerned she was relieved. He might not have noticed it was her which meant she could switch the table with someone, at least until he was gone. Shuffling quickly she made a dash behind the counter and into the kitchen, looking for anyone to take the table.

It was then that the line cook who'd been working the night before spotted her. "Hey! Is that Mister Ravenwood out there? You gave me his jacket to give back but he wasn't here. Now you can give it to him!" Before she could stop him the man was already pulling the jacket out of it's hiding spot and handing it back to her. Marian gulped hard against the sinking feeling in her stomach, taking the jacket and going to get Alec's coffee. Maybe he wouldn't eat.

Setting the mug down in front of him, she laid the jacket on the table across from it. "Here you are." Her voice was quiet, almost scared sounding.

The combination of the jacket in his eyesight and the frightened tone to the voice managed to startle Alec out of his own little world long enough for him to register the fact that Marian was standing there. He looked up at her apologetically, wondering if he had offended her or something along those lines. "Hi," he said, just as quiet as her, but unlike her fright, his was gentle and apologetic. He couldn't for the life of him remember if she was the one who had taken his order of coffee or not. Honestly, he didn't remember asking for coffee. That tended to happen when he was zoned.

She couldn't look at him. She wanted to look at him, give him that friendly smile that she gave so many others, but she couldn't do it. Roy was right, this was hardly a good thing, even if Alec's voice was quiet, almost nice. Swallowing hard she reached for her pad again. "Do you want something else?" She wouldn't need to write it down, she'd hear whatever he said and have it seared on her memory, but if she held the pad and paper she had an excuse to not look at him.

Alec didn't know what he did wrong, so he had no idea what to say. Marian wouldn't look at him, and she was tense. It didn't take a genius to see the way her posture had changed when he spoke. That and the fact that she wouldn't look at him. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice still gentle, like if he spoke too loudly she'd skitter away.

Marian offered him the briefest of glances. "Yes," she said softly. "Did you want something else or just the coffee tonight, sir?" She hadn't meant to add it there, the sir, on the end, but it slipped out. Biting her lower lip a little she scribbled a small circle on the notepad, waiting for him to answer.

She didn't look alright, but clearly she just didn't want to talk about it and Alec wasn't going to press her about it. She didn't owe him any sorts of explanations. But at her addressing him as 'sir', got a slight wince out of him, like she'd slapped him or something. "I'm fine with coffee," he answered her finally. He wondered if she had been uncomfortable more than she had let on the other night. If he'd encroached on boundaries more than permitted. "Did I do something wrong the other night?" he asked before she could say anything or move away. "If I did, I'm truly sorry."

She'd taken a step away when he started talking again. She could feel them, the tears brimming in her eyes. How could he talk like that? That just didn't seem right, not if Roy was right as well. "I'm not one of those girls. Just because you're nice, it doesn't mean I owe you something." Her voice was strained but firm for a girl like her. Moving away from the table she looked over at the head cook. "Vinny, I'm gonna take my break." Without looking back she pushed her way out the front door without a coat, shivering against the cool breeze.

Frustrated and more than a little confused, Alec didn't hesitate to follow Marian. However he took his coat with him, ignoring the looks that followed him. He wasn't sure whether he should be angry at her or not. He knew something had scared her and it bothered him that she wouldn't tell him what. "Look, I'm not asking you to owe me anything," he said as he came out. "I thought I already told you that."

Marian jumped when he started talking, eyes turning towards him wide in surprise while the wind whipped her hair about her face. One glimpse back into the diner's windows confirmed what she thought, that he was actually out here talking to her. Looking back at him she did her best to try and not fall apart. "Then what do you want?" He had to want something didn't he?

It was this city. This city that bred the unspoken rule of 'everyone has to have ulterior motives'. It was unfair. Alec hated that. He'd spent his childhood with friends who loved that rule but Alec wasn't one of them. Not any more. "I had thought we were becoming friends," he told her honestly. Her eyes were shining in the light coming from the diner. He'd seen that look before in other faces. He hated that look too. "And I like to do nice things for my friends like driving them home in the pouring rain. The only thing I could ever expect in return would be a 'thank you', whether the other person means it or not."

Marian's jaw dropped a little as she stared at him. Friends? They were becoming friends? "What?" It didn't make sense. It didn't line up with what Roy had said, and Roy had been right. She'd been looking for the good in a bad situation, trying to hide it in flowers and pretty things. "I don't..." Frustrated and confused she turned away, tears that were falling whipped away by the wind in her face as she wrapped her arms around herself against the cold.

Alec had no idea what to do. She had turned away from him, shivering in the cold and he looked down at the jacket in his hand. He could give it to her, but he wasn't entirely sure that would be welcome. "I thought we might be becoming friends. Don't really have many since I came back." His friends were still overseas. He'd sent a letter a few days ago. It'd take ages to hear back. "And you're easy to talk to." It sounded cliched to him, and therefore probably sounded worse to her. He, a thirty-five year old man trying to strike up a friendship with a pretty waitress probably young enough to pass as a daughter. He knew how it looked, but he didn't care.

She still couldn't turn around, not just yet. There was no explaining what was going on, just that her own logic was warring with Roy's logic and she couldn't determine which was right. Roy had told her this was a bad situation, that she'd found herself in a place that wasn't good, yet everything Alec was saying didn't sound bad. It should be easier though shouldn't it? Like Roy had said, if he was the right person she wouldn't be so scared, wouldn't be so worried. She rubbed her hands across her eyes, blotting away whatever tears were left as she pushed it all away, tucked her feelings into a neat little box so she could ignore them.

Turning back towards Alec finally she set her face as best she could, not able to smile, but at least she wasn't crying. "You're not the first guy to be nice to me you know," she pointed out, using Roy's words instead of coming up with her own. "And just because...I'm not like that." She couldn't actually say what that was, because at one point she had been like that and it made her sick to think about. "And I have a boyfriend." It was a lie she'd used before, though typically it wasn't as strained and as lie-sounding as it came out now.

Alec listened, keeping his distance from her so he wasn't invading her personal space. What she said and what she wasn't saying really bothered him. That same anger that he felt the other night when he told her that he was quite ready to demand the identities of the person or persons that made her think that way. "I never expected to get something from you. Never. I'm not that kind of person. I know there are guys my age that are, but I'm not one of them. I don't have a girlfriend because the last girl I dated threw a glass vase at my head after I stood her up the third time for dinner because I have this unhealthily dependent relationship with my work. So believe me when I say the last thing I'm looking from you is to force you to do something, anything that you don't want to do." He took another step back to show that he was willing to do whatever was needed to make her feel comfortable. "And if your boyfriend doesn't like that, well, I don't want to cause trouble for you." Even though it was obvious that she was lying. "Like I said, I thought we might be becoming friends. I thought that you didn't have expectations on me."

The war between what was going on and what might be going on was waging again behind her eyes, but Marian still managed to keep her face passive. It was a shame that someone would give up on someone who seemed so nice and was definitely so handsome after just three dates, but then Marian hadn't ever been on a date, let alone stood up for one so perhaps she wasn't the best judge. How had he done that? How had he turned it around so that she felt bad for not being receptive towards him. "I don't have any expectations," she started looking back through the windows of the diner. "I'm sorry. I just.." Shaking her head she looked back at him. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I should get back to work." She moved around him to get to the door, holding on to the handle before pulling it open. She was still torn between what she should do and what she shouldn't and in the end she didn't even think about it before turning around. "I think we could be friends." It was quiet, but somewhat hopeful, the dream winning out over logic. Zhen's perspective beating Roy's. Marian knew she'd regret it, but there was no going back now.

He moved away from the door to give her room, making sure he wasn't looming over her and making her even more nervous. If she wanted him to stay away, he'd do that. He'd accommodate her because that was the most logical option. Then she said that it was okay and Alec's shoulders sagged a bit in relief. "I'd like that," he said honestly, smiling a little bit in hopes that it might make her feel better. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet, taking out two, five dollar bills and handing them to her. "I'm going to let you work in peace. For the coffee. The rest you can have." They both knew that things would be more difficult for her if he stayed because there had been a scene. Three of her coworkers had been gawking out the window at the two of them, not to mention other regular diner patrons.

Marian flushed a little, giving him a small smile and a nod. When he handed her the money she handed him one of the bills back. "It's too much." The tone was certain. As much as she could use one tip that was more than she'd make all night she couldn't do that, she couldn't stand here and take his money like that. Just the one five was too much anyway. "Goodnight Alec," she said softly before stepping back inside.