a new circle

Who: Mickey, Eily and Elle
Where: Nighthawks
When: lunch time

Mickey had tried, but wasn’t very successful at getting any more than the worst of the grease off his hands and his clothes were beyond hope. At least they’d chose a place that he could mostly blend in in work boots and overalls. He was a mess, but he tried to straighten his hair at least a little as he walked through the door of the diner, looking for Eily.

Eily was a little better put together than her lunch date, though that was to be expected. She wasn't coming off of any shifts, she had had all morning to find something she wanted to wear, and generally speaking, she'd put effort into her appearance. She always did, though she was happier today because the bruises on her face weren't puffy anymore at all, and her make up properly covered the discoloration on her skin. So, she was looking good, and she'd arrived slightly early, so she could choose a booth in the back. Normally she would have arrived late, so that he'd have to wait for her and there would be anticipation, but she hadn't been up for subtle manipulations of the situation today. She wanted to meet him here, and have lunch, and hopefully it would be a nice time. When she spotted him, she smiled, and waved, a sort of wiggle of her fingers in his direction.

As soon as he saw her, Mickey almost wanted to leave again. Of course she looked fantastic and he looked like he always did. Like he didn’t even belong to fix her sink let alone have lunch with her. he couldn’t help the grin that spread on his face though when she waved, or how quickly he managed to make his way over to her despite his handicap. “Hey there,” he greeted, taking a seat across from her. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was running late.”

"You aren't." Eily said, smiling back at him. "I just showed up a little early. So unless you were expected to be psychic--which you aren't--then you're free and clear." she promised. She liked the grin. It was very cute. But then he was in general, it was part of what she liked about him. He had a cute vibe.

“Oh well then, I don’t feel so bad.” He couldn’t help but keep the smile, rubbing at his chin a little, which had some stubble on it. Seriously he should have shaved this morning, but he’d forgotten. “Glad you could come, been looking forward to it.”

"Me too." she said, genuine with the sentiment. She had come to a conclusion. She needed someone like him in her life, even if it was just for a lunch date here or there. She'd been surrounded by death and destruction, there'd been a war started in her name that was in full swing, and she still had a crappy life. She had faith it would get better, but it wasn't yet, and so she needed someone around who would be a little fluffier by way of presence. And Mickey was definitely that. "So are you going to recommend things for me?" she asked.

Mickey was already glancing over a menu that hadn’t changed in fifty years, looking up surprised when she asked. “Um, a recommendation for here?” he asked, glancing around for a moment. “Um. Well everything is good. And...” he leaned back glancing at the counter before he smiled again. “The pie is excellent, and from here it looks like apple, which is the best they serve. Though that’s not really lunch.”

Eily smirked at that, and she leaned forward, arms crossed on the table in front of her. "Want to know a secret?" she asked. Then continued without waiting for him to answer. "Lunch is whatever you say it is." she told him. "That's pretty much how the upper class does things. Those littler rules, those are for redefining and not apologizing for it. Then there are all the made up rules they use themselves."

He couldn’t help leaning forward himself, elbows on the table to mimic her stance. “Are you suggesting that we skip lunch and go right to dessert?” he asked tone conspiratorial in an almost hushed whisper.

"Just saying we could." Eily told him with a little impish grin and a light laugh. "I mean, that pie does look pretty good, and how long will it last?" she posed. "It could be gone within the next few minutes, if we don't act now."

After her talk with Marian, Elle decided to head for Nighthawk’s. The other girl’s sandwich had looked pretty good, and she hadn’t eaten yet. May as well treat herself to something at the diner. Something good. Upon entering, Elle scanned the place for an empty seat. When she saw Mickey, she paused. Normally she would have marched on over and sat with him but he wasn’t alone. The girl with him was someone she recognised from school. Eily. It made for kind of an interesting sight. In case either of them had caught her quite blatantly looking at them, she gave a meek wave in their direction.

“Well I won’t tell if you don’t,” Mickey said, grinning at the smile on her features. In the back of his mind he wondered what on earth someone as cute as she was was doing with him, having lunch and making little jokes. It seemed a little too good to be true. He looked up to flag down their waitress only to spot Elle staring at him. For a moment he met her stare with one of his own, not sure how to explain his lunch date, but when she waved he wound up waving back. “Do you know Elle?” he asked Eily, nodding towards his friend.

Eily looked over, taking a moment before she recognized her. She wouldn't have been able to remember the girl's name if Mickey hadn't helpfully provided it, but he had so she didn't have to worry about trying to skate around that. That was nice. She waved, wondering if that was encouraging, and if their lunch date was abruptly going to be crashed. "I sort of remember she was in school with us?" she suggested.

Mickey looked back at Eily smiling at her for a moment. “She’s essentially one of my best friends,” he told her about Elle. “I guess we should...” Talk to Elle, because otherwise it was going to be rude even if Mickey was enjoying having Eily to himself.

Elle didn’t want to continue gawping at the pair of them or ignore them after acknowledging them but didn’t want to interrupt either. Eventually she decided on the latter option and went over to where they sat. She made sure to smile one of her pleasant, bright smiles to cover up the awkwardness that she felt. “I’m just going to say hello. So. Hi. And, you know, enjoy your food.” Great thing to have said, Elle thought wryly.

"Well we haven't ordered yet, so If you wanted to join us, you could." Eily said, having been raised with better manners than to not offer such a thing. She was a little sad that her time with Mickey would be with a third party, but if she remembered correctly, Elle was a nice girl. She didn't remember anything bad being said about her at any rate, and she would have recalled vicious types of gossip. So, in keeping with the idea that she needed lighter presences in her life than a drunken raging bull of a brother...

Mickey made a little face at Elle, reaching out to touch her arm lightly. It was a brotherly sort of touch, just trying to be reassuring. “You sound like you just delivered it Elle,” he told her with a smile. “She’s right though, you could join us if you want.” He hated admitting to that, wanting to stick with Eily instead, but maybe she’d let him make it up to her at another point.

Elle gave them both an appreciative smile. “It’s very nice of you to offer but I don’t want to interrupt you.” Even if the curious part of her did kind of want to to find out what the situation was all about. But she could ask Mickey about it another time just as easily.

Eily noticed the touch Mickey gave to Elle, and wondered if they were together. It was an unnecessary sort of motion, as far as she could tell. People didn't reach out and touch each other for no reason. Especially not men with women. Where she came from a move like that was suggestive, it held weight. Silent cues, as it were. She had no way of being able to judge it from anything from her own experience, so she leaned in that direction. In Eily's head, she had a comment for Elle's statement--which was if she hadn't wanted to interrupt, why had she? But she really didn't want to be rude, and was still of a mind that she needed more fluffy people around. Elle looked pretty darn fluffy. "You're not interrupting." she assured her. "Go ahead, take a seat." she invited. "We just got here, haven't even ordered yet. There's room for one more."

Eily’s comments left Mickey in a bit of a conundrum as he felt where Elle sat, if she decided to stay of course, was going to lie with him. Normally he would have just shifted in the booth, giving her space to sit with him, but that might mean something different Eily across from them now wouldn’t it? He couldn’t very well get up and move to sit with Eily either, at least not without being invited first and making Elle sit with Eily seemed unfair since they didn’t know each other. He frowned lightly for a brief moment, then slid over a little. “Plenty of room.”

Figuring that if she was going to invade the least she could was help Mickey out a little, Elle opted to sit next to Eily in a ‘she offered first’ kind of way. She wasn’t completely certain if Mickey and Eily’s meeting was actually a date but it seemed better to assume that was the nature of it until it became clear otherwise. “I know you’re a gentleman, Mickey, and it’s sweet of you to offer a seat but girls should really stick together,” she said as both a gentle tease and kind of a compliment. Turning to Eily she added, “I hope he’s been as polite to you.”

Eily was a little unprepared for Elle to sit with her, so she was a bit surprised. "He's been polite." she said, nodding to confirm the fact. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a rude bone in his body." she added, because it seemed like the case. She absently shifted to make more room for Elle, and self consciously tugged her sleeve down a little farther on her casted wrist, dropping the evidence of the fight at the gallery beneath the table so it wasn't intrusive to things.

“You haven’t seen me drunk,” Mickey commented, then winced a little at his own brazenness. This was lunch with Eily who even with her cast looked proper and Elle who was pretty put together as well. Not lunch about back with the guys at the shop. “What I mean is that I’m sure it’s there, I just try to keep it in check around pretty girls.”

Elle shot Mickey a bit of a look because that wasn’t really the best way to make a good impression of himself. Not that it mattered too much because Elle was bound to compensate for it. “As someone who knows you reasonably well, I’m going to have to side with Eily on this one. You’ll just have to accept the fact you’re a nice guy,” she said lightly and picked up a menu, thinking it might give them a chance to talk while she looked intently at the various items on offer.

Eily noticed the look Elle sent in Mickey's direction, and that to her said 'reproachful girlfriend' as well. She hadn't fully decided if they were together or anything yet, but she wasn't unconvinced either. She imagined the statement to be a 'dear, stop that' tone. "Well, that's settled then." she said, feeling self conscious to a degree she hadn't since she was in grade school. Normally she was much more confident, but at current she felt it ebbing away.

“Lucky me then,” Mickey said, somewhat hating the fact that he was just that again, ‘the nice guy.’ Hadn’t that not worked out for him last time he was with Eily? Shaking his head he looked back at Eily when Elle picked up her menu. “Are we keeping with the original plan?” he asked her, thinking about the pie and giving her a teasing smile.

They’d had a plan. At that moment Elle was glad for the menu in front of her face because she could duck behind it. A slight sinking feeling told her that she should have just waved and left them to it. “If you had something in mind, I’ll go along with that. If that’s alright.” Make as little of an obstruction as possible.

"We were just going to get pie for lunch." Eily said, not really wanting Elle to feel discluded. "I have it on good authority that the apple pie is the best, so I wanted to try it." she explained. It was probably an odd thought, but she was thinking high society was easier than this was. She knew the rules there. She knew what all the social cues were, what they meant, and everyone else was on the same page, so...but she felt out of her depth at the moment. So she hoped she wasn't screwing things up.

Mickey’s idea which was really good earlier now sounded a little childish and suddenly he wished he hadn’t brought it up. What was he thinking in the first place? Reaching up he ran a hand through his hair, wanting to look at Elle for help but wound up just looking at the menu in front of him instead. “Maybe just a burger would make more sense.” This was awkward.

Lowering the menu, Elle gave a nod of approval. “Pie sounds like a good idea. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve come here and ordered nothing else. Believe me, you’ll enjoy it.” Which wasn’t only said for their benefit. Elle didn’t see anything wrong in forgoing the rest and going straight for dessert.

Eily laughed a little. "Oh who cares about making sense." she said. "It's overrated." Or it was in the circles she traveled in. A whole hell of a lot of things high society did didn't really make sense, they just liked to pretend it did. And because they were high society no one was going to argue with them. "So I'm definitely having pie. I've got a craving now. Will you two excuse me for a moment, though? I need to run to the powder room. If the waitress comes, order pie for me? And ice cream." she said, thinking maybe just a little time to regroup for herself would help. Then she could be less awkward.

“Pie it is then,” Mickey agreed, setting his menu aside and getting up as she did out of some sort of antiquated manners he wasn’t even sure he still had. “Don’t take too long,” he told her, hoping that she wasn’t just going to dash on him completely. That’d be embarrassing.

Elle flashed Eily a grin, deciding from her comment about things not needing to make sense that girl was someone she was definitely going to like. She moved out of the way to let Eily get by then took her seat again. While she didn’t want to think that she was somehow scaring Eily away, the thought crept in regardless and so she gave Mickey and apologetic look. Once the food was finished, Elle would make her excuses and let them be.

Eily gave a mildly awkward wave then disappeared for the women's room, hoping it helped her to get herself together properly. It had to do something.

Mickey took his seat again, looking at Elle only after Eily was out of sight. He wished he knew what he was doing, it would make things easier. “How are you?” he asked Elle instead, trying to focus on her crossing his arms on the table.

Resting her elbows on the table, Elle propped her chin up on her hands. “Oh, I’m fine,” she replied breezily. “How are you?” The question was asked with a little smile, one that was curious about what was, and had been, going on.

“I’m alright,” Mickey started then made a face. “You might as well just ask what’s on your mind. You know full well I’m no good at guessing what your little smiles mean.” He could tell she was implying something, but he was horrid at guessing what specifically it was she was thinking about.

For an instant Elle wondered if he was annoyed with her. Probably best not to ask. “Just, you know, you and Eily. Having lunch. That’s new.” She paused for beat then added, “Is it new?” She thought that he might have told her if something was going on but then again, he might not.

Mickey caught himself looking up towards the bathroom again, waiting for Eily to come back. “It’s new,” he confirmed. “I don’t know. We re-met at the gallery? And...she told me I looked good.” He looked just as surprised now by the comment as he had when she said it. “I was bleeding in three places and yet she still told me that. I saw her again the other day and she wanted to spend time together so now...lunch. I think I’m in over my head.” But it wasn’t like he’d stopped. Over his head was nice when Eily was concerned.

“What makes you say that?” she asked. On the surface of things it didn’t seem like such a bad position to be in, having a pretty girl giving out compliments and wanting to be in his company.

He looked up again once more to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted. “Have you seen her Elle? She’s way out of my league, completely and properly put together. I can barely get the dirt off my hands to have a meal. Plus she’s an O’Malley which means I’m running the risk of getting tangled up with her brother who I’m guessing won’t like his sister dating some mechanic.” Mickey forced himself to stop and take a breath. Was he dating Eily? This was just lunch, just two friends. “I just feel way out of my element here.”

“If she likes you, I doubt she cares about the dirt on your hands or anything else. So you shouldn’t either. And just for the record, no one’s out of your league, okay?” There was no need for him to be putting himself down all the time. She couldn’t understand where he was coming from, true, but still. Frowning a little, Elle didn’t address the second issue straight away. That one was less simple. “Eily can make her own choices. I’m sure she could get him to come round. Besides, you don’t even know if he would care.” Though Elle suspected him not caring might have been a long shot.

Mickey didn’t counter what she said, but he knew Eily was out of his league. She was society, even if not as much these days, she’d been there and she wanted to go back. He was Sprawl and on a good day Little Haven. “He’ll care. I’d care if it was you and we’re not related.”

“Then I imagine he’ll care because she’s dating someone, not the fact that someone happens to be a mechanic. Like I said, he’ll probably just need to come around to the idea. As long as you behave yourself.” The last statement was clearly teasing, the intention being to bring a little levity into a matter that wasn’t altogether comfortable. Stories and rumors floated around about the O’Malleys and so Elle wasn’t sure how much she bought into what she was saying herself.

Mickey was having a hard time with it, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck which ruffled his hair as well. “I don’t know. I mean...it’s just lunch. It’s probably not going to be more than lunch.” It was only ever just chatting, some harmless flirting and even the flirting was less now that Elle was here.

“Do you want it to be more than lunch?” Elle asked. That was the crux of it, really. That and if Eily wanted it to be more too. “Before you worry about her brother and how he might react, make sure you and Eily are on the same page.” The last thing Elle wanted was to see Mickey hurt in any form.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve not let myself think about it too much.” It would do no good to get his hopes up about something like that. “I’m not exactly the kind of guy girls want to marry so I usually leave dating well out of it.” He shrugged a little then looked down at the table for a moment. “I don’t think we’re in the same book, but she showed up today. So maybe not. I tried talking about it before and she wound up suggesting we get together again. I have no idea.”

“She can’t think you’re so bad if she wants to spend time with you.” Elle sat back in her seat, thinking on it some more. “Well, you’ve got a few choices. Firstly, you could let things run their course and see what happens. Secondly, you could ask her directly what she wants. Thirdly, you could get some helpful person to try and find that out for you.” Elle made no indication if any option was preferable over another because it wasn’t her place to do so.

“Well that is something I guess,” Mickey said shrugging his shoulders a little. “I’m guessing my helpful person in option three is you?” he asked, giving her a bit of a look. “I’m not sure I want to know yet. Not sure I need to hear it even though I already know it.” It was hard enough thinking he didn’t have a chance, he didn’t need her telling him that.

Eily had been busy in the bathroom touching up her make up, spritzing herself with a touch of perfume, and generally giving herself time to freak out, calm down, then reestablish herself as a confident, non-awkward woman who was used to social shark pits that far exceeded this one. She should really not be flustered right now, she shouldn't be anything but fine. She just wished she knew if this girl was his girlfriend or not. Or special friend, or whatever. They certainly seemed close, and she spoke to him as if they were together. Or, that was her assessment. She then tried to use logic elsewhere, trying to decide if she thought Mickey was the type to be a two-timer. And in the end, she didn't know that she knew him well enough to properly determine that, though her instincts said 'no'.

After recognizing that she couldn't stay in the ladie's room all damn day, she drew herself up, stood straight, shoulders back and headed back to the table. She smiled when she got there. "And I've returned. Have I missed anything?" she asked.

Elle scooted over in the seat to make room for Eily once again. With a casual shake of her head she said, “No, not really. I think Mickey’s been saving his most interesting conversation for when you came back.”

Because talking about what was going on between himself and Eily wasn’t interesting at all. “I think that’s her way of saying I’m boring,” Mickey said with a smile towards Eily. “I was explaining to Elle how we met. Or re-met I guess is more appropriate. Elle’s roommate runs the gallery.” It wasn’t the best of memories to bring up, but for the brief instant with Eily, it had almost been enjoyable. Mickey would have preferred not to have fought off goons that night and maybe just chatted with her normally, but it had still been more enjoyable than the average brawl. Plus, looking back it was easier to pick out the better moments from the whole thing. “Elle and I have been friends since school,” he added, finishing off his belated introductions.

Eily sat down again, feeling better as she did so. She felt a lot less awkward now, more stable. Her smile was genuine, at Elle's comment. "Oh yeah?" she asked, arching a brow in his direction. "You're not boring." she informed him. "You see, I know boring. Boring is a seventy year old high society woman who stands around all night commenting on the young men's backsides, and telling me all about her gout. At length." she said. "I dare you to bore me more than that." Then she looked between them. "So we've all known each other from school at least somewhat?"

“I did say most interesting conversation,” Elle pointed out teasingly. “Or perhaps I’m just not able to fully appreciate your witty banter. Hopefully Eily can make up for that.” Elle got the impression that the other girl could do exactly that. She smiled both at the humor in Eily’s anecdote and the fact that she was reassuring Mickey. That seemed good. “That seems to be the case. Though I don’t really know that much about you, Eily.” Which was a bit of an apology and a tentative invite to get to know her better all rolled into one.

“See that just makes me wonder how my backside would rate,” Mickey joked, smirking at Eily. It was too easy to just grin in her direction and if he wasn’t careful it was going to be all he did. “You think I’d rate?” It was possibly a little much but he chuckled with it, obviously just joking. “Well we didn’t run in the same circles, but yeah, old classmates. A regular reunion.”

"Seven and a half at least." Eily said to Mickey's first statement. She deadpanned it, a little spark of a smile in her eyes as she said so. Then she moved on to the other stuff. "No, not the same circles. Though I don't see many people I did spend time with much anymore. People seem to have scattered, and I went my own way as well."

Okay, so it was ever so slightly weird to be privy to a conversation about Mickey’s backside. In the spirit of not spoiling their fun, Elle left them to it and joined in once again when it was more appropriate for her to do. “That seems to be how it is with a lot of people,” she commented. “That they drift away, I mean. It’s lucky for me that I’ve managed to stay friends with Mickey.” She smiled sweetly with an almost sisterly affection.

“I’m gonna round that up to an eight if that’s alright by you,” Mickey told Eily, flashing her a grin despite the deadpan comment. It was fun, too much fun and he found himself pulled into it again, only barely looking back at Elle when she said his name. “Well I think that was more you than me,” he told her with a shrug. He’d tried to drop off the face of the planet when he lost his family, but people like Elle had kept him reigned in somewhat, that and a lot of luck. “So what do we do now, start a new circle?”

Friends. Eily caught that straight away. Okay so maybe they weren't together. Maybe they were just good friends. Then she had to wonder if she could handle a man with a good lady friend. Hm. She had a jealous streak in her, that was for sure. It hadn't reared up in a long time, but it existed. "I don't know? Possibly?" she suggested. "I guess it depends on if we plan on spending a lot of time together."

“A new circle could be good. Just knowing there’s a friendly face around,” Elle offered. Even if it might prove to be kind of a loose circle. Or perhaps more of a line. “I’d say we could make these lunches a regular thing but I wouldn’t want to promise I don’t know if it would work out with shifts and everything else.” Elle paused for a moment, purely for effect as she already knew what she was going to say. “But you two could always meet up anyway. Keep things going.”

Mickey made a small face at that, not sure he liked the suggestion that he and Eily might not see more of each other. It was silly, getting somewhat attached to her like this, but he couldn’t help it. She was charming and she seemed to like being around him. Even if he wasn’t sure he stood a snowball’s chance in hell of impressing her, it was enough to just bask in her for a little while. “We could make an effort to, to spend time together.” Elle’s comment pulled his eyes away from both of them, looking at the table instead. That sounded a little too much liked a set up.

Eily looked at the way he averted his gaze, and she reached out and messed his hair a little. "I think it sounds like a good idea." she told him, wanting to give him some confidence, or something. She wasn't sure what. But he did seem to be kind of up down and all over the place here. She wasn't sure if it was her presence, Elle's, or what, really.

Elle chose to interpret that as Eily agreeing with all statements, which was pleasing. Even if Mickey didn’t seem too sure about the whole thing. Something she didn’t quite get. If Eily wasn’t interested in him in some form, whatever that form may have been, Elle figured she wouldn’t have shown up in the first place. “It is a good idea. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith and take a plunge into the unknown.”

Between Eily mussing with his hair and Elle giving some sort of moral support, Mickey wasn’t sure they were still talking about spending time as friends. It felt an awful lot like they both of them were trying to coax Mickey into whatever it was he was doing with Eily. Or maybe he was just reading too much into it. Either way, when Eily’s hand ended up in hit hair he reached for it, grinning a little as he held her hand lightly and pulled it away from his head. “Alright, alright it’s a good idea. We’ll make a plan to spend time together again before we leave today.”

Eily smiled brightly at him as he took her hand, not trying to pull it back. "Sounds like a plan to me." she told him. She was good with it. And she figured she'd find her footing easier next time.