A day like any other (OPEN)

[Gabriel Dylan Monroe]

Gabe sat in Danny’s Dinner, a mug of coffee in front of him as he read the morning paper. The spot was pretty iconic as far as River City went, the place had been around for years seemingly unchanged by the passage of time, and good or bad, it was one of those places that any River City native could recognize, and had probably been to on more than one occasion. It was a part of the man’s morning routine. He’d get up, go for his run and head to the gym for an hour, then would stop at the small diner on his way to work for coffee and breakfast. Gabe was a man who was very much ingrained in his routines, and though he could have easily gave himself more time in the mornings by eating at home, he liked the familiarity and predictability of coming into the restaurant each morning. Besides, he was an early riser by nature, and being up at half past four everyday, he didn’t really need the extra time. Like a well oiled machine, he ran on clockwork. Awake and out the door by 4:45, do his normal running circuit which had him back home by 530, grab his bag and at the gym by quarter to 6, back home by 7 for a quick shower, and sitting at his favourite booth with Irma (the waitress who’d been serving him for the better part of the last 8 years), dropping off a steaming mug of black coffee by 7 45. Just enough time to read the paper, eat his eggs, and get to his desk at the PD by 8 30. Some people would probably see that degree of scheduling and order as daunting, maybe a little insane, but Gabe thrived on it.

He flicked the page in his paper, his rich brown eyes scanning the headlines while he brought the hot coffee up to his mouth. He looked up, giving Irma a quick smile as she set the plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him, before bringing his attention back to the paper. He let out a quiet tut, reading about the latest development in Syria, wondering how many of his old buds were gearing themselves up to be deployed there. It was really only a matter of time. As he dug into his breakfast, he was torn, half envious that he would be missing out on it, stuck here, mostly behind a desk, and thankful that he wasn’t going to be taking that risk of never coming home. He looked over when the door opened, his shoulders tensed slightly. It was an ingrained reaction, maybe because he spent too long in the military, or too long with the Police Department, or maybe a little of both, but his initial reaction was always tense suspicion, and this was no different as he watched the new comer entering the diner, a small part of him getting ready to react as necessary.

[elenarizzo]

Elena sighed, walking down the street to Danny's Diner, she pulled open the door and entered the establishment. Today wasn't that unusual of a day, except coming to this diner. She had just moved to the West side of River City and hadn't had a chance to check out any of the places around it. Today by some chance she had a little bit of time before she had to be to the Bershire hotel for work, and she decided to stop and get breakfast instead of making herself something quick. She was greeted by a waitress, Elena smiled and whispered a quick hi before taking a seat in one of the booths.

It had been awhile since El had really gotten out of the house, besides for work, and she was glad for the chance today. Even though she didn't have a car and would end up taking the bus to work now that she had moved to another part of town, she was also glad for the move. One of the men that had lived on her level in the apartment building had started getting really creepy and her older brother requested that she move out. And when Dante requested something, it was an order, not a suggestion. Elena had ended up liking the move anyway, she was now in a small two bedroom house and she felt a lot safer in a building by herself now.

Elena set her purse down and looked up. "Holy shit!" She hadn't realized there was already someone sitting in this booth. "I'm sorry, you scared me. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I should really start paying more attention to where I sit down." She gave him a very awkward smile and started to gather her things again. She began apologizing some more. "I'll just leave you be, I'm sorry." Maybe going out hadn't been the best idea in the world, if she was going to be as absent-minded as she was.

[Gabriel Dylan Monroe]

Gabe watched as a young looking girl came into the restaurant, yeah, pretty much the exact opposite of a threat, she looked like she would break if she got caught in a blast of wind. He turned his attention back to the paper, forking a mouthful of eggs. He was back into his own world, his mind already focused back on the newspaper. He was contentedly taking another bite of eggs when the young girl who'd come into the dinner took the spot across from him. Gabe was a man that wasn't easily flustered or startled, but he sat there for a moment, a surprised look on his face, with his fork halfway to his mouth.

He watched as the girl looked to be settling down, his surprise turning more to confusion. What in god's name would possess someone to just sit across from a complete stranger? It made no sense to him, and though he was far from up to speed on what passes for normal behavior with kids these days, but he highly doubted breakfast with strange older men topped the list. As that thought crossed his min, she looked up, looking every bit as startled at seeing him there as he had been when she sat down. She started rambling off apologies. He placed his fork back on his plate and set his newspaper aside. It seemed she had just been so out of it she hadn't seen him there. Gabe was a hard man to miss, tall and broad he wasn't often overlooked. His first instinct was to start giving the girl a lecture about paying attention to where she was going, and who was there. Sure in a diner wandering into an occupied booth wasn't going to cause much trouble, but not noticing the people around you on the street could be a whole different story. He stopped himself though, as much as Gabe loved a good lecture, it really wasn't his place to do so.

“ It's quite alright, these things happen” he said simply with a little nod of his head. He watched a she grabbed her purse, seemingly still a little flustered. Gabe wasn't all that keen on interruptions to his routine, and for the most part, he rarely liked the whole small talk with strangers thing. Hell, he wasn't so fond of small talk with anyone. But the girl seemed flustered and embarrassed, and the gentleman in him didn't like to see that either. It wouldn't be that bad having someone join him for breakfast, and if it made her feel less like a fool, well his mother would be proud of his chivalry. He held up his hand as she gathered her bag “ There's no need to run off, you're more than welcome to stay.” he said with a small smile. There, that wasn't so bad, was it. Though of course now there was the need to actually maintain some kind of conversation and or interaction. He resisted the urge to look at his newspaper.

[elenarizzo]

Elena was still trying to collect her things, rather clumsy in her embarrassment, when the man told her she could stay. She relaxed, but just barely. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. Apologizing was something she did a lot nowadays, and she didn't really know why. She was sure she probably seemed like an idiot right now. And she definitely wasn't one to just sit and have breakfast without complete strangers, but she didn't feel like trying to mumble some excuse and make herself seem more like an idiot so she set her things back down. That, and the man didn't really look like he was gonna try to kill her or anything.

Elena wasn't much for going out and trying to meet random people. She wasn't totally against it, but since her sister's death she had been a very different person. Slowly, she was starting to become more of herself, but she was hardly there. She wasn't going to be rude if someone tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she wasn't going to be the going seeking conversation with strangers. Though she would feel rude leaving now, seeing as she was the one who sat down and interrupted his breakfast. At least he was alone, and it wasn't a group of people; she would have felt even more ridiculous.

Maybe it was the fact that she was so damn tired, from work the previous night, but she just wasn't really with it today. She had gotten off work early last night because she had to take the day manager's shift today and work her shift tonight, it was going to be a long day. When the waitress appeared, Elena was poured some coffee and she thanked the lady. "I guess I'm just really out of it this morning. It's going to be a really long day and night." She tried to explain, but gave up. She didn't really have an explanation as to what caused her to completely miss this man. She would have never missed him any other time. "My name's Elena."

[Gabriel Dylan Monroe]

Gabe watched the girl as she fumbled to get her things in order.  Another round of apologizing and her shoulders seemed to relax some.  There was still an edge of tension there, though for what reason, he wasn’t sure, and nor was he too concerned about figuring out why.  His years serving as a Marine had honed his observation skills to a point that bordered on ridiculous, add the years after his discharge working for the River City PD, and it was a wonder that his sharp gaze missed anything.  But slight tension aside, he wasn’t interrogating the kid, so he really wasn’t too bothered with the ‘whys’.  There were a million and one reasonable explanations, and he wasting his time trying to figure out which one it was.  Had he realized it was his invitation for her to stay that had her on edge, he would have felt a little bad, considering he’d offered as much to make sure she wouldn’t be.
 
There was a few moment of silence after her last apology.  Gabe wasn’t opposed to silence, really, it tended to be how he operated most of the time.  There were few people who got to see him loosen up, even if the past 8 years of civilian life had gotten the naturally serious man to let his hair down a little, he was still by no means a friendly chatter box.  So while silence was all well and good for him, the  unmistakable awkwardness of the girl across from him tainted what he would normally find a peaceful quiet with that awkwardness.  His eyes darted back to his paper for a quick second, but though he would have been more than happy to pick it up and start reading again, he knew that would be considered rude, something his mother would never approve of.   So instead, he picked up his mug, taking a long slurp of coffee.
 
Gabe took that moment to observe the girl, she looked young, early 20’s, 22 at the very oldest.  Pretty, in an innocent way, but tired.  It struck him as odd that someone so young could look haggard.  Perhaps she was one of those kids who were out partying until all hours of the morning.  Well, while it was something he’d never done, what with joining basic training the day he turned 18, he at least had to give the kid some credit.  The only thing he could assume would have someone out and about this time of day was work, whatever else she may be doing, he could always appreciate a good work ethic.  He listened as she started speaking again, waiting for her to finish.  “ Gabriel” he said simply, waving the waitress over, and ignoring the confused look she gave the two of them.  In all the years that he’d been stopping here for breakfast, he was pretty sure this was the only time anyone had been sitting with him.  Seemed the break in the routine through the woman off as well.  “ Janet, you want to get Elena here a coffee, she looks like she needs it” he said with a little smile as the waitress bustled off.  He did that often, just took charge of a situation, even in the most trivial things.  It wasn’t meant to be rude, but it was a force of habit.  It drove his partner nuts sometimes.  

[elenarizzo]

Elena studied the man, or tried to. He wasn't putting much of a signal off and it had thrown her off a little. She tried to imagine what she appeared like to others, and she assumed she probably seemed a little off. She was always on the edge and always acting as if there was something that was going to jump out and get her. She relaxed a little more, feeling strangely safe around this man, for reasons she didn't really understand. She had never really been like this before, so tense and so afraid of most of what surrounded her. Part of her wished that things could go back to the way they had been before Alexis, but the other part of her refused to acknowledge that those feelings even existed within her.

Elena had never been very good at reading people. Most of the people she dealt with at the hotel either told her straight out what they wanted, or they had it plastered all over their smug rich faces. He didn't look very old, but he was older than her for sure. At least ten years older than her, probably a couple more after that. She was only twenty-one, and with the way she assumed she looked this morning, he probably assumed she was hungover. It didn't bug her, she liked people assuming she had more of a life than she actually does. "Well, it's nice to meet you Gabriel. Even under such strange circumstances. And it was strange, she definitely wouldn't have randomly sat down with a stranger on purpose, she wasn't that type of girl. Though honestly, she didn't really know what type of girl she was.

He took control of the situation, she could feel it. It didn't bother her though, because she wasn't that type of person either. At least not in social situations. A small smiled appeared on El's lips at the confused look of the waitress. This must be a usual spot for Gabriel, even the waitress seemed a little confused as to who El was and why she was sitting with him. She thanked Janet quietly and waited on her coffee. When it appeared, she wrapped her hands around the mug and brought it to her lips. Taking a sip she smiled. "Thank you. I'm going to need a lot of this to get me through today and tonight." It was a good thing she was going to be able to get off work earlier tonight than she normally wold. It would still be a really long day, and it would be well over twelve hours of work. But she knew it had to be done if she wanted to move up more at the hotel. The fact that she has tomorrow off would probably be her saving grace.

[Gabriel Dylan Monroe]

Gabe offered a small smile “ Nice to meet you as well Elena, though they certainly are odd circumstances” he said, lifting his mug back to his lips. She seemed to relax more, which served to both calm Gabe, and oddly enough, irritate him slightly. As far as random strangers this girl could find herself involved with, Gabriel was probably one of the best. Sure, the man could be a little gruff and a tad stiff at times, and he probably was never going to be a fountain of small talk. But he was one of the good guys, without a doubt about that. In a city that was plagued with all manners of crime and hooligans, it seemed unwise for a young girl to be relaxed around any men that she didn’t know. Certainly if Gabe ever had a daughter he would damn well make sure she wasn’t getting friendly with any random men.

He thanked Janet when she brought over the girl’s coffee and Gabe watched as she wrapped her hands around it and took a sip. Skinny little thing she was. She probably needed to eat something too. He pushed the menu towards her silently. The whole ‘mother hen’ side of Gabriel didn’t come out too often, or at least most people didn’t see it. He was far too solitary to ever really have someone else around in everyday life. Certainly Eva got her fair share of it, another trait that he was sure drove his partner nuts. Though if she ate more and got enough sleep, he wouldn’t need to nag her about it, now would he? Kids these days, they just didn’t take care of themselves the way they should. That was his story and he was sticking to it. “ I know the feeling. You’d better get yourself something to eat. Coffee can perk you up, but it’s not going to keep you going” he said with a nod.

Speaking of perking up, the waitress came by, topping off his coffee. He glanced down quickly at his watch, checking quickly to see how he was doing on time. He may have been raised to be polite and a gentleman, but he was also a punctual man, almost to a fault, and he would rather risk offending than risk being late. He was still good on time though, so he settled back in the booth, taking a leisurely sip of his coffee. “ Long day ahead at work I presume? What is it that you do?” he asked.