brian and olivia

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: Babylon
When: About 2:30 in the afternoon

Finally, Brian had managed to get himself out of the house.... And to Babylon, which was all but deserted, and missing the big mirror behind the bar. But it was someplace to meet Olivia, get a little food-- bad food, he decided, as he made a face at the fries he'd been handed while he waited-- and a drink. Just one drink. Really.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The phone
When: Around noon

After calling Manhattan, taking out another few shadows, and bidding farewell to Domino for the afternoon, Brian got to returning his next call. This time when he called, he was stretched out on his back on the couch-- still glowing, but he was getting used to that, now-- one hand stroking Torziel on the floor beside the couch. The two of them seemed to be getting on a little better these days... though how much of that was because of being too busy to bicker, or because Torziel was still recovering, Brian didn't know. At least petting him was soothing to them both.

So, Olivia. He tried her home phone first, guessing she'd be much more likely to be there than anywhere else.

Who: Olivia to Brian
When: 8:05am
Where: Voicemail

Brian, it's Olivia. I'm calling to make sure you and Domino are safe and all right. Call me back when you can, okay?

Who: Olivia to Mathias
When: 8:15am
Where: Voicemail

It's me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and staying safe. Be careful, okay? I know you always are, but... just be careful.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: Olivia's apartment
When: Morning

Despite the lack of shadows in the mirror, Brian thought it would be a good idea to go to Olivia's, anyway. If she saw the same early-morning shadow leaning over the bed that he did, she'd at least want to talk, if not want the best protection he could get up for her. He'd already upped his own wards to something that would rival protections put on Fort Knox, but he had no idea if it'd do any good. He'd had a lot of protections up already.

Who: Brian and Olivia
When: Morning (9ish)
Where: Mya's

Who: Olivia and Brian
When: Morning
Where: Mya's Diner

The breakfast rush was thankfully almost over, and Olivia snuck out for a cigarette after several of her tables were taken care of, or checked out and gone. It was strange, trying to get back into routine, especially knowing she'd be back at Babylon later that night. She was tired, but not in an exhausted, bone weary way, and after putting out her cigarette, Olivia headed back inside and back toward the restroom to wash her hands. Stepping inside, the door shut with a soft click behind her and she walked up to the sink, turning on the taps and getting some soap from the dispenser. Her mind was full of many things, but what else was new? At this point, Olivia didn't even try to sort through or make sense of them. She was hoping that eventually things would just sort themselves out and she wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. Washing her hands under the running water, Olivia lifted her head to glance at herself in the mirror. The dark shadow behind her immediately caught her eye and she gasped loudly, splashing soapy water about as she rounded to face the thing. Only, it wasn't there. Her chest heaving, Olivia stepped back from the mirror and turned to look into the glass again. It was there, only she couldn't tell what it was... but it was there. And watching her. And goddamn it, she wasn't crazy this time. Heart pounding, Olivia dared staring at it for another moment before her skin began to crawl. Turning, she pushed open the door with slippery hands still not completely rinsed off and ran into the back, away from the bathroom and people out front. She didn't know where she was going until she flew past the office and hit the back delivery door and found herself outside, trying to shake the fear from her bones.

Who: Olivia and Brian
When: About 2pm, shortly before the shift change
Where: Diner

Olivia was back at work. It felt strange after having so many days off, but it was a necessary since she was pretty much broke and rent would be due soon enough. Which meant working - lots and lots of working. She managed it all right, ignoring the customers that pissed her off and chatting up or flirting with the tables that didn't. Anything to get an extra dollar in her tip was worth it. She was relieved not to see Brian - though she wondered how he was against her better judgment. Mya had stayed true to her promise to switch shifts, although Olivia did feel mildly guilty about Brian working night shifts now, unless he had preferred it then perhaps she did him a favor. Wiping down her last table, Olivia returned to the back to pull off her apron and grab her things. Briefly she considered going to see Mathias, but she honestly didn't know if that was entirely a good idea. But when had she been full of good ideas lately? Olivia wrinkled her nose a bit and hung up her apron. At least she had some free time before Babylon. Maybe she would stop by the arts thing happening in town instead. That would give her something to concentrate on... browsing at things she couldn't afford. Always a fun time.

Who: Olivia and Brian
When: Mid-morning
Where: Mya's Diner

After her talk with Domino, Olivia returned back inside the diner, checked on her customers quickly and then headed back to the kitchen to where Brian was. She knew with trying to get the diner open and everything else, they hadn't had much time to actually talk, but now she had a million questions, not to mention she needed to talk to him about taking some time off. Smoothing her hair back into her ponytail, she went into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, her eyes inquisitive. "Why didn't you tell me what happened with Domino?"

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The phone!
When: Mid-morning, around 9AM

For once, Brian had, had no trouble getting to the diner on time. He gave it a thorough inspection, found to his relief that it hadn't been tampered with, and set about opening up shop. It didn't occur to him to worry about the employees until Olivia didn't show up. Maybe Mya would have worried, but Brian's first thought had been for the place itself.

At first Brian tried not to worry too much. Maybe she was just late. After all, she had been exhausted lately. When eight rolled by with still no Olivia, he placed a call to her cell phone and left a message. That made him worry a little more. The call had gone straight to voice mail, as if the phone was off. But he had a brief and rather smaller than usual breakfast rush to handle, mostly full of people who wanted to gossip about the events of the night before-- far more than just a fire at a church-- so it wasn't until nine that he finally had a chance to make another call.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The Wooden Nickel
When: 8PM

Brian was right on time for the hookup with Olivia, looking forward to getting completely trashed-- for the last damn time in a long time. He was kicking this alcohol habit once and for all. After the promised contest where he would prove he could out-drink a twenty-something. Like hell, he could.

He was prepared for it, at least. He'd had a good, long nap to recover from the horrible early morning and long day at work, a big dinner to start the evening off with, and had walked-- cane and all-- rather than drove, because he knew he'd wind up too drunk to drive that evening. Given the cloudy day, it was a little less than comfortable, but hey, at least it wasn't raining.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The diner
When: Late morning

This time, Brian had planned a little better than the day before. He wasn't working until ten, and by then he'd been awake long enough, and guzzled enough water and devoured enough breakfast, that his hangover had dulled a bit and he was just left with the impression that he'd had a good time, once they'd gotten past the serious and depressing start of the night, and was justly paying for it. He could put up with a little paying for it; he was going to be in a good mood, dammit. Or, well, he was going to try.

He came into the diner with a smile, at least, and a wave for the servers, including Olivia, and a clap on the back for the current cook before heading for his apron. The morning before the front had been short-staffed, so he couldn't drag her back into the kitchen with him, but the morning he was definitely asking her help. He wanted someone to chat with and someone to share the load, at least until he felt a bit more human.

Who: Olivia and Brian
Where: Mya's Diner
When: Early morning

It'd taken an immense amount of willpower to drag herself out of bed that morning for work. The night before with Mathias had placed what felt to be a fifty pound weight upon her shoulders, and the drinks she had stopped in to have on her way home after they'd parted had done nothing to help, other than give her a headache and a slightly nauseous stomach. The shower hadn't helped much either, and she'd pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail, dressed for work and headed out with a lit cigarette in her hand. Even with the diner being so close to her apartment, she'd still ended up arriving five minutes past her shift. Which annoyed her, as lately she'd made it a point to be on time. It was the first time in four years she actually enjoyed a job and didn't want to lose it like so many others.

Tossing her cigarette away in the parking lot, Olivia entered the diner, clocked in and grabbed an apron, feeling slightly dizzy in her head and on her feet. She needed a cup of coffee and some Tylenol before she could even consider serving a bunch of cranky or overly perky customers. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes, and went into the back room to search for the first aid kit that she was pretty sure had aspirin inside of it. She needed about six of them to get rid of the hangover. Or at least make it tolerable enough to work.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: Mya's Diner
When: Late morning

When the morning had proved to be rainless and the news proclaimed sun by afternoon, Brian was prepared for a much better day than the last two. He got up and out the door in time to not be late for work, he had some of the bread from the night before for a quick but tasty breakfast, and he knew Domino wasn't going to be at the diner until later in his shift, so he'd have at least a few hours of freedom before the horrible, gorgeous flirt showed up.

So when he came wandering into the diner a little before eleven, it was with a smile and a greeting for the servers and regular customers already there before he headed for his kitchen to relieve the current cook.

Olivia saw Brian come in, kept the smirk to herself, waved, and went back to finishing up with her current table. It wasn't as if she had been dying to tease him about Domino's text, but after her initial shock, the urge to poke a bit had definitely been there. After ringing the table out, she wandered to the back where he was preparing for his shift.

Who: Olivia and Brian
When: Noonish
Where: Mya's Diner

The day had started out pretty decently after having stayed over at Judiel's the night before. Dinner hadn't been a complete disaster and she found that even if she couldn't sleep, she enjoyed having someone there, sleeping beside her. It relaxed her some, especially after having the conversation with Herbert on her mind for most of the evening. The beginning of her shift followed the trend of a good day. Her regulars came in, tipped well and refrained from being overly demanding. But as the morning wore on, the familiar sense of restlessness began to coil in her stomach and her patience began to dwindle. Everything seemed to take a downward swing after that.

The diner got busier, the people more irritable and the tips weren't sufficient enough for the crap she was putting up with, in her opinion. It left her exhausted and grouchy and she barely looked up with more than a nod when Brian came in midway through her shift. She might have at least given him a smile had the old man at her table not been berating her for not putting a pickle on his plate with his sandwich. Which had her biting her tongue painfully hard to keep from telling him to bend over so she could show him where he could put his damn pickle.

Who: Olivia and Brian
Where: Olivia's apartment
When: Afternoon

It had been an eventful afternoon for Olivia, after leaving her shift at Mya's. She'd agreed to using her apartment for Brian to show her some basics of cooking, which meant she'd rushed home, cleaned, and then rushed out again to buy some actual food that didn't require a microwave or can opener. She was still sparse on a lot of things, but she'd been picking up things here and there as money allowed, including more pots, silverware and such. Eventually she'd be able to afford a decent bed. Someday. It was a nice day, so she had the window open and was trying to finish cleaning up the kitchen enough so that it would be acceptable. Brian would be the first company she'd had inside since Judiel. Who she hadn't seen for a couple of days, but that was probably for the best, even if she was slightly disappointed in it. No matter. Maybe next time she found the courage to knock on his door, she'd have something delicious smelling that he couldn't turn down the company. Who knew? She just hoped Brian would be patient enough to answer her questions. Because, as usual, she had plenty of them.