'Tis confusion!

Carla's

In the bathroom, I glanced under the sink. Sure enough, a package of toothbrushes. I pulled out a purple one and started brushing my teeth. Q appeared behind me, wearing only his boxer shorts and carrying a t-shirt. "Here, this should work for ya." I held it up and studied the front. It was one of the Joker's 'don't call me clown, mustache' tees. I smiled and nodded. Turning back to spit in the sink, i caught his eye in the mirror. He was watching me, a small smile on his face. I returned the smile in the mirror, finished brushing,  and put the toothbrush down on the counter. "Thanks for the shirt." I pulled off my top and switched into the t-shirt. "you can just leave your clothes in the bedroom" Q suggested. I nodded and followed him down the hall. We got into bed and fell asleep almost immediately. I could feel Q's arms wrapped around me, cuddling me close as I drifted off.

Everyone ended up sleeping in until almost noon. When I finally awoke, I could hear general chatter coming from the living room. I sat up and looked over at Q. He was completely covered in blankets (head included), and I could hear him snoring softly. I giggled softly to myself, making a mental note to mention this to him later. I got out of bed and went into the living room.

"Morning, Sunshine," Barbara teased as I walked in. "Sleep well?" I laughed. "Actually, yeah. Q's bed is more comfortable than anything else I think I've ever slept on." Sal nodded. "His guest bedroom is pretty cozy too. The man likes to be comfortable, I'll give him that." He paused. "Is Q up yet?" I shook my head. "He's still asleep. I can go wake him...?"

"I mean,you could, but it's not really necessary. I was gonna make a coffee run soon, just wanted to know if he wanted anything."

"Gotcha. Have you guys eaten yet?" 

Barbara shook her head. "We all literally just woke up about ten minutes ago. Joe's still asleep, actually." I looked over. Sure enough, Joe was cocooned similar to Q in a bundle of blankets. Bessy was sitting next to him, scrolling through her phone. "He'd probably sleep til dinner if we let him."

"Not me," Emily piped up. "I'm hungry." she turned to Murr. "Could we go grab some food?" 

Murr smiled. "Food does sound like an excellent idea. What do you want?"

Emily paused. "Pancakes. No, no, french toast..No, wait...oh man, I don't know. Everything sounds good right now." Murr laughed. "I know what you mean. I can't decide if I want pancakes or a giant burger. I mean, it's technically lunch time, but I feel..off if I don't eat breakfast, know what I mean?"

Sal glanced at Barbara. They rolled their eyes at each other. Sal told us "This is Murr's normal behavior. So indecisive."  He looked at the rest of the group. "How about we just go to Carla's?"

I grinned. "I love Carla's!" 

"Me too!" Barbara and Bessy echoed. Emily frowned. "I've never been there. What kind of food is it?"

"It's a diner over on Oleander Street," Murr told Emily. "They have burgers, sandwiches, awesome pie, and they serve breakfast all day. I'm in." She smiled. "That does sound good. Ok, I'm in."

I looked over towards Joe. "Bessy, should we wake him?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Won't take much. Watch this." she leaned over and whispered in Joe's ear. "Joey... maple bacon... Western omelette..." Joe shot upright and blurted "Carla's?"

Barbara and I stared at Joe, open-mouthed. "How?" Bessy smiled. "Joe loves Carla's. we eat there about three times a month. Their maple bacon is to die for." Joe nodded. "Last month they announced a new maple bacon doughnut..I'd sell Murr to the circus for a box of them."

Sal smiled wryly. "Are you kidding? I'd sell Murr to the circus for a stale Dorito." Barbara snickered. 

Murr laughed. "Jerks, both of you." He looked at Emily. "I don't know about you, but I think I should probably change clothes before we go out in public." Emily nodded. "I do too."

"Me too," Barbara said. 

I glanced down the hall towards the bedroom. "Guys, I'm gonna wake Q up and fill him in on what's going on. Do you all mind waiting until he's slightly coherent?"

"Q, slightly coherent?" Murr cracked. "That could take years. I can't wait that long." I smiled. "I'm gonna go now." I turned and went into the bedroom.

"Q, wake up." He rolled over and looked up at me, peeking out from under the covers. "Hiya baby. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I poked his shoulder. "Sal and Joe and everyone are still here, and want to go to Carla's for food." Q nodded and yawned. "That sounds great, actually. Carla's has some really good coffee."

"As good as the coffee you made me yesterday?"

"Possibly better than that." He yawned again, then dragged himself out of bed. "I'll be back. Speaking of coffee, if you want to make some here before we head out, that would help me a lot. I need coffee before my coffee, how sad is that?" He yawned once more and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "If you don't know where something is, ask Sal. He's got a pretty good idea of where stuff is in there." He gave me a kiss on the top of the head as he walked by. "Tell the crew I'll be out asap."

"Will do." Q went into the bathroom, and I went to deliver the message to the others.

"What's the story?" Bessy asked me.

"Q is gonna get dressed and have coffee, but he said Carla's sounds great," I told them.

"Cool," Sal said. "So how about we all go home, change, and meet at Carla's in about an hour?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan," Murr said. He and Emily got up and headed towards the door. "We'll see you guys soon." He grabbed Emily's hand. "Ready, Em?" "Ready." They walked outside to wait for Joe, who was close behind. "Bessy's gonna leave her car here and ride back with me to drop off Emily and Murr," Joe said. "Tell Q, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course." I promised. Joe and Bessy left. I looked at Sal. "Q asked me to get coffee started, could you show me where he keeps it?" Sal nodded and followed me into the kitchen. "Top shelf in that cupboard over there. " "Thanks." I grabbed it and started getting things ready. By the time Q came out it was almost done.  I got two mugs from the dishwasher and looked at Sal and Barbara. "You guys want some?" "Please," they both said in one voice. I grabbed two more mugs and poured coffee into all four.Q pulled the creamer out of the fridge and set it down in front of me, then grabbed the milk and set it in front of Sal. "You don't like creamer?" I asked Sal.

"I don't like caramel," Sal corrected me. "Although to be perfectly honest, I normally prefer milk to any flavor creamer."

"I'm the same way!" Barbara exclaimed, turning to Sal. "Creamer just isn't my thing." I laughed at looked at Q. "More for us then, I guess." I pushed the bottle over to him. He poured a splash in his cup, then handed it to me. 

The four of us drank our coffee quickly. Sal and Barbara headed out after theirs was done, promising to meet at Carla's like the rest. Q turned to me. "I guess I should probably take you home to get changed..unless you want to go out wearing nothing but my t-shirt." I laughed. "You got me. I'm actually a part-time exhibitionist." He laughed. "Put your pants on and we'll head out. You can keep the shirt. It looks better on you, anyways." I looked down, then back up at him with raised eyebrows. "Yes, the  't-shirt barely covering my ass' look is sure to be a fashion highlight of the year. But I am gonna keep it. Thank you." "Of course." Q took a last sip of coffee. "Ready to go?"

"Ready."