one more cup of coffee for the road | (coops)

[lucency]

There are certain perks to having someone else's wallet.

Not the money that might be stored in there; in all honestly, Belle hasn't even touched it. It could be three dollars or fifty for all she knows. No, it's more along the lines of identification. Contact information. The telephone number of a certain Special Agent Dale Cooper. That sort of thing.

Truthfully, her father and his connections could have likely had it back to him the same evening that he dropped it, if she'd told him. Or even handed it to one of the other guards working that evening. But Belle had decided to take matters into her own hands regarding this, call him up herself, completely innocuously arrange a meeting.

She hadn't been expecting breakfast, necessarily, but it's not something she's going to complain about. And she waits patiently outside, just as planned, wallet tucked safely into the purse that she has slung over her shoulder. She's not going to be the one to lose it.

Comments

[coops]

"You forgot about the pie?" Well that's gonna be a problem. One must never forget the pie, Miss Belle. It's the most important part of any meal.

When the waitress is nearby, he flags her down. Oh, it's time for pie. He tells her to surprise them, whatever pie she wants to bestow upon them.

And then Cooper folds his hands in front of him, positively beaming while he waits. Because it's almost pie time. And Belle's about to experience some of the best pie she's ever had in her entire lifetime.

[lucency]

Last I heard, they were actually turning the food pyramid into the food pie slice, so he might actually be onto something there.

Belle actually opens her mouth to order - apple's pretty good, okay - but, nope. Okay. Surprises are perfectly fine. And then she mirrors the way he's sitting - not on purpose, but - well. It just seems to be the thing to do when they're anticipating something like this.

But maybe he seems to be anticipating it a little too much. "Are you going to be alright?"

[coops]

"Not until the pie's here."

It's hard to tell if he's joking or not. But knowing him...

He smiles. Yeah, he's joking. He still sits up properly, his hands folded in front of him.

And when the pie's here - surprise! - it's cherry. That's when he deems it the proper time to budge and to dig in.

[lucency]

Well, if Belle comes out of this knowing nothing else, she will be more than completely aware that pie might as well be a life support system. She'll be sure to remember that if, indeed, the proposed adventures on ice lead them to the ER. No medication. Just pie.

She stabs a bite of it with her fork and raises it upward in a gesture similar to a fake toast or even a salute before eating it. And - okay, yeah, she's not even gonna lie: it's pretty important. Doesn't stop her from pretending to mull it over, fork walking across the plate as she doesn't say anything, letting the indecisive expression on her face do all the talking.

[coops]

"So," he says after a few indulgent bites, clearing his throat. He sets his fork down. Just for the moment. "What do you think?"

Take your time formulating an answer. This is a life-or-death situation.

[lucency]

Oh. It looks like things got serious. Exhaling loudly, Belle frowns before taking another bite of it. Just for consideration purposes.

And then she stares at it on her plate. Time. It's being taken.

"It's..." she trails off, expression looking for a moment like she's searching for the words and maybe she just wants to be polite - but then she laughs. "It's perfect. A good decision."

[coops]

Cooper looks ridiculously pleased.

"I'm glad you agree," he says, barely able to contain his grin.

That's all. He'll just go back to eating. He's already destroyed practically the entire slice in record time.

[lucency]

But it was just there a second ago. That's almost like magic, wow.

"That was fast." Maybe she should really stop blurting out things like that. Except that's actually terrifying. The thought crosses her mind that maybe he does the whole professional eating contest thing, but - no. She already knows that's not the case.

She'll just. Methodically eat hers. Or try to. The filling's the most important part, okay, and not everyone can eat half the kitchen supplies at a time.

[coops]

Pie magic.

He stops, fork in mouth. It was fast, wasn't it? Maybe he's enjoying himself too much. He just sort of stares at her for a moment, bewildered by her observation. But then he sets the fork down on the edge of his now-empty plate.

Someone's taking a rather long time to each their slice. Just saying.

[lucency]

You know what? Someone needs to check his privilege. And his name is Dale Cooper. Just saying.

And - yeah. She's trying, okay. But about a moment later, she places her fork down as well. And folds her hands on the table. And maybe pushes her plate toward the edge of the table. And then she takes a sip of iced tea. Because she's pretty sure he's going to judge her and she needs to diffuse the tension somehow.

[coops]

He's not going to judge. He's just going to wordlessly pull her plate over to him and set to finishing her leftovers. Because that's totally the polite thing to do in this sort of situation.

[lucency]

She'll even be nice enough to nudge it along toward him, once she sees that's where it's going. Because honestly, it's kind of a marvel that he hasn't actually exploded yet, but she's not going to comment on it.

"You're welcome."

omg that icon.

[coops]

"Letting pie this good go to waste should be a crime."

It's a little known fact that FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper has the metabolism of a champion.

emilie makes the best faces yw.

[lucency]

"If it were, I'm thankful that you'd be willing to save me from the consequences," Belle says with a very serious nod. But metabolism or not, that's still a lot of food. A lot a lot of food. There's a certain point where it has to go from just hunger to outright worrying, and just to be sure, she adds, "You're sure you won't be sick?"

[coops]

"One-hundred percent."