norahphobia:
“Good, i’ve been looking for a fight.” Norah quips back quickly, out of breath. She knew that wasn’t quite what he meant, but she didn’t want to dwell on worrying him. Easier to crack a joke in return. She shuffles off her black winter coat, brushing off snow from her clothing. She’d been through hell to get there, and briefly considered moving out of Brooklyn once and for all. She had to cross the bridge almost every day lately. “I tried to take the subway,” she begins, settling down into the booth across from him. “And my connecting train just - didn’t fucking come.” The subway system was notoriously fickle, delays and cancellations were basically guaranteed, especially in this weather. “So I had to get a taxi, and the cabbie couldn’t drive for shit in traffic.”
Pausing to take a sip of water from one of the glasses on the table, she sets it back down with a slow teasing smile. “Or maybe I just thought about standing you up. You may never know.” Truly, she felt bad keeping him waiting. But she wasn’t the type to apologize for worrying someone, it happened so often she hardly registered it anymore. “I love this place.” Norah commented, her voice suddenly softer, amber eyes finally taking a moment to really look at him.
-
Leo’s rigrid posture relaxed instantouesly at her quip. Noted by his crossed arms leaning on the table now. He even laughed. This was something impossible for him not to do around Norah. She intriguied him from the very first moment she opened her mouth. She was one of those people that made him feel cool by proxy. He listened to her tale of traveling between the bouroughs. A classic tale to his native New Yorker ears. And a complete valid reason to be late. It was the teacher in him that deemed punctuality important. But he was happy to see her either way.
“Oh, really?” He responded to her teasing by blinking multiple times to feign a sense of shock. He head dipped back, eyeing the ceiling of the train car when she expressed her admiration for it. “Yeah, same, I use to work in one.” He said, turning his head back to look her again as he spoke. “Not this one though. This one was closed when I was doing that. No, this one, this one’s quite famous.” His arms uncrossed and a hand tapped the table as he spoke, his voice getting quieter as if the details were a secret. “You see, this one was in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.” He nodded, sharing the stupid movie fact as if were impressive. He laughed though knowing the whole thing was ridiculous. And he should probably move on to something more important. “Okay now that I’ve already said one movie fact, how about we look at the menu?”
starter for: @norahphobia where: empire diner in chelsea
leo had to admit that he was a sucker for train styled diners. historic and rare were two attributes he’ll always admire. he had fond memories of diners such as this. once he was old enough to legally work, leo would bus tables and wash dishes. he admired the blue, silver chromium diner as he sat in a booth, waiting for his dinner date. and eventually, he shifted his gaze to the street outside. and then he had been sitting there long enough for the waitress to give the table two glasses of water.
“You’re late,” Leo said immediately as Norah had came into view. “I’ve already called the cops.” He said, crossing his arms in front of him. He looked at her accusingly as if he was blaming her for something he obviously didn’t do. He was masking his bit of worry with a joke.