Catboy

08: kyala

If there was one place Kyala hadn't expected to be on Valentine's Day, it was in a café, helping a boy plot to win over a guy she'd slept with.

But, somehow, that was where she was. It had been four days since she woke up in Lloyd's bed, confused and half-asleep. It had been four days since she had seen something akin to World War Three go down. It had been one day since she last slept.

"You look exhausted," Julian commented, sliding into the booth, sitting across from her. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Uh, probably... probably not," she groaned, resting her head on top of her hands. "I had to work a double shift, since some dumb fuck went and cut himself on broken glass. You'd think the bar'd close, but nope! 'Ky, you do it!'"

"You don't like your name, huh?"

Kyala glanced up, cocked one perfectly-shaped eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You refer to yourself as Ky all the time, not your full name."

"You've known me for four days. Maybe I've just been feeling lazy," she laughed, and he shot her a grin in return. "What's up with the hat?"

Julian reached up and touched the soft grey fabric of his beanie. "Just felt like wearing it."

"It matches your hair."

"Yeah," he smiled. "I think Lloyd gave it to me."

A silence settled over the table, not awkward but not quite comfortable either. Ky busied herself with a menu, flipping through it as if it thoroughly interested her. Luckily, she didn't have to wait for long, because a waitress showed up soon after, pen in hand.

"Hello! May I take your order?"

"Uh yeah, a muffin and a double shot of espresso," Ky said, trying her best to offer the waitress a smile. "Thanks."

"Just some pancakes is good with me," Julian said. "Thanks."

The waitress nodded. "Are you two together?"

"Uh, no-" Ky started, but Julian nodded.

"Uh, I hope so, at least," he said, and the waitress laughed. "Yeah, we're together." He reached out, placed a hand on the table.

Reluctantly, trying to conceal her anger and confusion, Ky took it.

The waitress scribbled something down in her notebook. "Noted!" With that, she turned away and left, leaving a smiling Julian and a bright red Ky.

"What the hell'd you do that for?" Ky yanked her hand away from his and wiped it against her black sweater.

"They give you free shit if you're a couple on Valentine's Day," Julian replied calmly. "I know what I'm doing."

"I don't need your handouts."

"Maybe you don't," he told her, taking a sip from the glass of water he'd been given, "but I'm a teenager living in an apartment building with three roommates. I need all the handouts I can get."

Ky rolled her eyes. "Whatever, dude. Just... let me know before you do that again."

"Whatever." Julian reached up, lazily twirled some of his hair between his fingers.

"How'd you even know that there're discounts for couples?"

"Well, for one, one of my roommates works here, and he hasn't stopped trying to get us to find him a pretend girlfriend so he can get free food after his shift." Ky laughed. "Yeah, Lawrence might look sweet, but he's a crafty bastard when he wants to be."