1964-07-29 - Saturday at Katz's Deli
Summary: In which Quinn and Kellan meet at the Deli and narrowly avoid gravity induced disaster.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
quinn kellan 


The Deli is hopping on a warm Saturday afternoon. Folks are flocking in and out to get their sandwiches and find a seat at one of the tables, or taking them to go in a constant press of humanity. Seated by the windows, Kellan has a sandwich in front of him with a pickle spear and a glass bottle of coke that has condensation running down the sides, still cold even in the heat.


One more person in this ever shifting miasma of humanity might go unnoticed, except for the fact that on her way towards the counter there is a bit of a jostle and Quinn is knocked to the side, bumping into the edge of a table.


Kellan's table jostles and he quickly reaches out to grab his drink from spilling all over the place. Glancing up and seeing Quinn, he grins a little bit and says, "Kinda crowded in here today, huh?" It's friendly enough, the kid looking like he just got out of prep school right down to the white shirt and blue tie. At least he isn't wearing the jacket.


"Yeah…I wish that I could say that I was surprised." Quinn replies, and although her English is near on to perfect, there's still a bit of a strange way that she forms the words, an accent that has refused to go away. "Sorry." She adds, not as an afterthought, but simply as a follow-up, "You think they'll get less busy if I stand here and not move for a little while?"


Kellan glances around and says, "On a Saturday? Probably not. But if you want a seat," he nods to the three empty ones at his table. "You're more than welcome to join me." Since most of the other tables are pretty full. He grins though at the apology and shakes his head, not seeming to mind. It's crowded. Jostling happens.


Quinn glances around as well, noting the bustling crowd, the state of the tables, and the fact that it is, in fact, Saturday. Armed with that knowledge she nods, moving around to one of the free chairs to settle out of the main stream of movement happening. "Thank you." She points towards the pickle, "You going to eat that?"


Kellan glances down at the pickle. He was going to eat that, but he grins a little and says, "Want it? Go for it." He can, after all, get another pickle if he wants one. He lifts up his sandwich and takes another bite out of it, chewing thoughtfully. When he finishes, he says, "I'm Kellan, by the way. Nice to meet you."


The invitation to help herself is accepted, a hand darting out to snag the pickle before he can change his mind. "Quinn." She replies, offering a quick smile before she takes a bite off the pickle, swallowing before she continues, "Good sandwich?"


Kellan doesn't change his mind, and he grins at the speed with which the pickle is acquired. He then pushes the plate in her direction as well, offering the other half of the sandwich he hasn't eaten yet. "Turkey club. Bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo." He seems content enough to share, picking up the half he had been eating and continuing to take a few more bites out of it.


"Mmm." Quinn replies, pondering this largesse for a few second before she reaches for the half of the sandwich that is offered, picking it up. "Thank you, again." She sets the pickle on the edge of the plate, balancing it there for a moment before she takes a bite off the sandwich, content to spend a few moments in silence, eating, before she continues, "You always this generous, or was today just my lucky day?"


Kellan seems content to eat in quiet and just watch people come and go for a few minutes. Navigating his sandwich as best he can so that parts to slide out one side or the other, turning it this way and that to try and keep it from getting all over the table. "Welcome," he grins over at her between bites. He laughs a little and says, "Always. I've actually.. met some of my best friends just by sharing some food or some ice cream. I figure it's working thus far. Why mess with a good thing?"


"I suppose that if it is working, I wouldn't mess with it either." Quinn replies after a little bit of thought, one corner of her mouth kicking upwards a bit, "I will be honest, however…I don't normally deal with much above and beyond generousity."


When the server rushes by their table quickly to get any additional items, Kellan notes Quinn so that she can put in an order for whatever else she might want and a drink if she likes. "Just put it on my tab," he tells the server, and requests another coke for himself. Then he settles back and tilts his head curiously. "What do you mean?"


Another Coke and another turkey club are requested before the server gets the chance to leave again. Then Quinn turns her attention back to Kellan, her look turning dubious for a second before she laughs, "Nothing, I don't mean anything." She brushes it off easily, shifting subjects after a moment, "So you come here often?"


Kellan looks a little confused, not entirely sure what she's talking about, but he shrugs his shoulders and seems okay with letting that topic slide by the wayside. "Sometimes. I like the sandwiches, and I like the people watching. I do a lot of people watching," he admits with a grin. "Besides, everyone is off doing things today and the apartment is just hot to sit around in. And I've gotten tired of reading textbooks." He smiles. "What do you do?"


"I'm in between things, right now." Quinn replies after a moment, reaching for her unfinished pickle, using it to wave a bit in the air, "I should be worried about getting enrolled in school, but I'm not sure that I'm dying to figure out what I want to do in life. What are you studying?"


"Well, I was going to take this year off from school to figure that out, myself," Kellan says with a little bit of a laugh, "But it seems that I may have an opportunity to go to school in the fall. So I'm trying to decide what I want to study. I just graduated. I figure perhaps I can wait until after my first year to decide a major and get started."


"Lucky." Quinn shakes her head, "I keep getting very disappointed looks from my parents because I haven't decided what I want to be, that's been going on for years now." She pops the last of her pickle in her mouth before she dusts her hands off, "Not that I'm sure what they'd want me to be, after all…maybe a great mathmetician."


"I like math," Kellan says, "And statistics and probability." He finishes off the remainder of his half sandwich and picks up his napkin, cleaning off neatly before he settles back. "But I'm not sure exactly what I want to do, or if I want to do anything with that or not. My folks aren't.. really all that concerned. As long as I'm showing up to the school that they are writing a check for, they're not too worried about what I do."


"I like math fine, but I'm not a fan of it…" Quinn shakes her head just a fraction before she pauses as the second sandwich, and the drinks, are delivered. She picks up one half, transfering it back to his plate before she pushes it towards him, "I want to do more than sit there and read books, but not sure what, exactly."


"I've been reading a lot of books," Kellan admits with a grin. "Trying to figure out what exactly I want to do. I figure I need to read a bunch of different topics before I figure out the one that I really want to focus on." He grins when she sets the half of a sandwich into his plate. He takes it up and takes a bite, seeming to have no lack of appetite.


"What have you crossed off your list? I've at least crossed off math…" Quinn prompts, taking a sip off her drink before she reaches for the other half of the sandwich that was delivered, picking it up to take a bite off it.


"Politics," Kellan says with a shake of his head. "I don't have the stomach for it." He grins a little bit lopsidedly. "Mostly I feel like we'd all be better off if we could all just leave one another alone and focus on, I don't know, making the world a safer place."


"I think that most politicians think that they are focusing on making the world a safer place. Maybe not most." Quinn wiggles a hand just a fraction, "But some, at least. Then again, I don't think I'd have to stomach for politics either."


"I'm sure that there are plenty that do, but then, there are people who think that they're doing the best for other people who do terrible things instead, justifying it as thinking it's best," Kellan says, looking a little bit toughtful as he pokes a little at the second half of the sandwich. Finally he lifts it and continues eating, falling silent for a little bit.


"I think that we can all convince ourselves of almost anything if we want it bad enough." Quinn shrugs a bit, taking a few more bites from her sandwich before she sets it down, reaching for a napkin to wipe her mouth, "So math and politics are out. Doctor?"


"I'm not sure how well I can deal with the sight of blood," Kellan admits with a little bit of embarassment, ducking his head. "I almost threw up the first time I saw a car accident. It wasn't pretty. Maybe some science that involves less guts. Maybe electronics."


"Singed fingers?" Quinn suggests, shaking her head a bit, "I can't imagine you being some sort of electrician." Which, evidently, is the only application of electronics that she can think of, wrong as she might be.


"I was thinking more computers. I hear that there's all kinds of cool developments going on there and the possibilities are kind of endless," Kellan says, finding technology and its growth fasicnating. He then says, "Or maybe something else. Physics?" He smiles, "I guess that's what I'm trying to sort out."


"I don't know anything about that." Quinn admits with a shake of her head, "But sure…physics. I bet that there could be quite a lot of things to do with physics." She grins just a bit, "But I see what you mean, a lot of things to have to choose from."


"I've got some time to figure it out," Kellan says as he digs into his sandwich again, making his way through it slowly but steadily. Eventually though, he finishes it off and once more cleans up his face and hands neatly before patting his belly and resting back in his chair. "That was good."


"It was." Quinn agrees, crumbling the napkin in her hand before she tosses it onto the plate, "I suppose that I should say thank you again for your generousity."


Kellan shakes his head and grins, "Nah, it was nothing, really. It was nice to have company. I've gotten used to being surrounded by people all the time all of a sudden." He chuckles. "It was a little weird eating lunch alone. So I'm glad you stopped by. But.. don't let me hold you up if you had things to do."


"I don't have any other plans." Quinn replies with a shake of her head, reaching for the bottle of Coke once more, "This was the extent of my plans for the day, which makes me seem very boring."


"I didn't have a lot of plans for today either, really, other than going back to the apartment and seeing what everyone else was up to," Kellan says with a shrug of his shoulders, "Which likely makes me very boring as well."


"Then we can be boring together until the time comes that one of us has to continue on to the rest of our non-plans." Quinn suggests, leaning back in her seat only to shift forward again with it becomes clear that leaning back would put her once more in the way.


When Quinn leans back in her seat, one of the servers almost crashes into her and stops short, her tray wobbling, setting the glasses to leaning precariously. Then suddenly Kellan is standing right next to her, helping to catch the tray and set the glasses to rights. And yet, Kellan is also still sitting at the table. The server blinks for a moment in startled surprise, and turns to look over her shoulder for a moment. When she does, the Kellan next to her disappears again, and when she looks back, he lifts his bottle of Coke, taking a swig from it.


The appearance of the second Kellan is enough to make Quinn sit up a bit straighter than before, brows furrowing a moment as she tries to wrap her mind around it, then she just shakes her head. It's a few moments of just brushing it all off, letting it go before she leans forward, "I saw that, right?"


Which is what the other couple of patrons who saw it at all do as well, looking momentarily confused, and then shaking it off as though it were nothing. A couple look around to see if a similarly dressed boy is still in the deli, or slipped outside. Kellan looks entirely innocent as he takes another sip from his Coke, then looks over to Quinn and gives her a little wink. "Maybe."


"Maybe…" Quinn repeats, then she laughs, starting to slouch back once more before she catches herself, and instead remains leaning slightly forward, "Well, if I did happen to see what I think I saw, that seems like a handy trick."


"Well, if you did happen to see what you think you saw, then yes, it would be a pretty handy trick for all kinds of things," Kellan admits, gauging her reaction, and when she laughs, he seems to ease back into his seat comfortably. Fortunately, being by the window it doesn't put him at risk for being crashed into.


Which is, honestly, lucky for him. Only one of them being in danger of having things dumped on them at a time. "I can only imagine the possibilities." Quinn might, just, be imagining the possibilities. She settles her forearms on the table, resting her weight there, "Thank you, again."


Kellan's ears color just slightly, a slight blush creeping up them as he coughs just a little bit, though, at what — it's unclear. Then he just smiles and says, "You're welcome. Didn't want you to wear that whole tray of drinks. Water wouldn't have been so bad, but the soda would get sticky after a while."


"Not to mention the bottles would probably hurt." Quinn nods, once again smiling, the blushing and coughing going unremarked upon for the time being, "I'm going to say thank you once more, but that is the last time today. Even if you keep me from being hit by a taxi."


Kellan laughs out loud at that and says, "Okay. I think that's fair. Really, there's only so much gratitude one can take in a day, after all." His blue eyes sparkle a bit with amusement and then he says, "Please don't get hit by a taxi. Especially if it's on fire." There's likely a story there. "Or try to hide behind one. Turns out, they move while you're doing that."


"A taxi…on fire?" Quinn shakes her head at that, "No, I think that I would most likely avoid trying to hide behind an on fire taxi…and I can't promise not getting hit by one. That might be odd enough to cause a person to stop mid fleeing."


"Well, to be fair, the taxi was not on fire when we were trying to hide behind it," Kellan chuckles. "That came later. All I'm saying is.. if things start to get real weird on the street, just avoid … everything. Go home. Call it a day. This town has some serious weird going on lately."


"Right…go home." Quinn replies, her amusement seeming to grow just a little at that, "I'll be certain to remember that in case things start to get very weird on the street."


"I'm just saying…" Kellan says, trying to be helpful. He likes the girl. She seems nice. And he'd rather she not be eaten by werewolves or blown up. It's a thing. He then says, "I suppose I should head back, see if everyone's back yet. I think my brother met his girlfriend's dad last night. I gotta find out what kind of a disaster that was." He grins, mischievously. "Oh, if you run into a kid who looks a lot like me, but with a little shorter hair, who doesn't recognize you? That's not me. It's my twin, Kaleb."


"Should I also thank him for not letting me get soda dumped on my head?" Which, might just be a joke, or she expects he's pulling her leg on there being a twin. Hard to say, after all. But she grins, getting to her feet, "It was nice to have met you, though, and good luck with finding out about the disaster."


Kellan grins and says, "No, that was all me. He'd probably have let the bottles fall on you… unless he thought it might ruin some particularly fashionable bit of clothing you were wearing." Then he rises up from his seat and takes care of the tab, settling it up for both of them and leaving a generous tip. "Nice to meet you, too. I'll see you around." He grins then, and turns to head out.


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