just_cj (just_cj) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2021-09-16 17:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | cj johnson, ronnie milam |
Who: CJ and Ronnie
What: Picking up dinner and touching bases
Where: Somewhere in Vegas
When: Current
Content Warnings: None
The break over summer was something that CJ always liked, being able to get things done around the house during his time off, well that had been what he used to do, this year however was a few different things. He had spent some time working on his hydrokinesis, exciting the molecules enough to get water to boil without a heat source, as well as honing the rest of his skills. But most of the summer he had spent with Steve and Lily, having a great time and even giving Lily some piano lessons.
But it was now September and the routine of the school year was back in swing, the morning coffee run was still there and the nights that involved staying late for practise CJ often got dinner so there was one less thing to worry about when Steve got back.
That was how he often found himself chasing down Rose’s, though it wasn’t that hard when the locations would be posted on social media. If CJ was in a bit of a rush he’d message an order ahead so it was ready to go when he got there but most of the time he’d just show up and use the opportunity to chat with Ronnie if the man wasn’t too busy.
Finding the food truck he parked his car and walked up to the open window. “Good evening my fine man! What delightful treats have you got in store tonight?
Ronnie couldn’t lie and say he didn’t have his regular customers. He had some who dropped by casually, once in a while to pick up a meal or stopped over when they saw his truck in the string of other competing vendors. He also had those who would follow the truck around just to get a sample of something he was working on but had not yet perfected.
By now he knew what ingredients to buy that were going to sell out quickly. A deal with a locally owned grocer allowed for fresh products at a lower cost than one would probably find in a big box chain. Plus he got to brag a little bit that he had the good stuff.
So he wasn’t surprised at the influx of digital orders for pickup, especially from a regular like CJ.
“Hey man!” Ronnie greeted over the sound of his little kitchen radio. He turned the knob so the volume would lower. It was slower just then, so time to talk was precious but available. “Little of this, little of that!” He laughed and wrinkled his nose a bit.
“Usual?”
He had loved Ronnie’s burgers at Terrible’s (honestly it was the best thing about the Denny’s there) and while he was sad to see his friend leave the roadhouse CJ was excited as everyone else when Rose’s debuted and it became a regular haunt of his ever since, a treat at least once a week.
It had more of a home cooked kind of feeling to it than franchised take out chains, not all dripping in oil and grease and clogging up the arteries at an alarming rate.
“Yeah, please.” CJ grinned. “Supposed to be my turn to cook tonight, but you’re much better at it.” While he was pretty good in the kitchen he knew that his burgers were nowhere near as tasty as Ronnie’s, and Lily loved her own ‘special’ one that was made ‘just for her’.
“Got any tasty desserts left?” A little treat for just the adults.
A soft chuckle and Ronnie nodded. “Coming right up.” He suspected that CJ would want this order to go, as usual also. “I have just the thing. Trust me, you’re gonna love it.” Helping people came naturally to Ronnie (and it tended to get him into a world of trouble) but doing stuff for his friends made the day better.
It didn’t take long at all to put together the things CJ was after; he stuck a pink carnation into the bag for Lily, too.
The paper bag would be carried through the side door of the truck and he held it out to CJ. “Here, man! Dinner is served. There’s dessert in there for you, too. Let me know if you like it.”
While he did get most of his orders to go, there was the odd night where he’d find a seat to sit and enjoy his burger and fries, maybe once Ronnie had settled into a routine CJ would bring up the subject of having some live music outside the van, he hated the term ‘busking’ as really, music was played for the love of it, not for money.
“If you made it I’m guaranteed to love it.” CJ said with a wink, taking the bag in one hand and handing over a few notes with the other, enough to cover the cost and a good tip on top of it, Ronnie deserved every penny. The man could make something that Lily didn’t turn her nose up at, which was better than any fancy magazine’s restaurant review in CJ’s mind. “I’ll be sure to express our feelings with a mass of emojis.”
He accepted the cash, slipping it into a pocket for now. Most of the money went to his help and the supplies, he had plenty of income to live comfortably on without necessarily needing the revenue from the truck. Working now was more of a joy than it had ever been at Terrible’s, though sometimes he did miss the place.
“Say hey to Steve and Lily for me, yeah? I hope they’re doing okay.” School was in, and Halloween was vastly approaching. Ronnie was sure that whatever costume Lily had chosen would suit her.
It was clear to CJ that Ronnie enjoyed the food truck more than he had the diner, it would be corny to say that there was more of a spring in his step but CJ could see it, and just how much it meant to him to be able to cook what he wanted and not be limited to a set menu.
“I will, and you look after yourself.” He did worry a bit, especially since hearing that Ronnie and Mikey were having a break, he hoped his friend wasn’t too lonely out there in Searchlight.
“I will man. Things are looking okay right now.” While Ronnie appreciated the concern from his friends, he was far too humble to put his hardships on anyone. Instead he focused that energy on helping others to try to counterbalance the negative vibes. It was better to just let things go and look positivity toward the future.
Maybe he believed in karma, or maybe he just cared too much for everyone else. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t lose sight of that or let anyone go without a good word. “Thanks for coming by! We should hang out sometime, like outside of work.” He twirled his finger around to indicate the truck and the clients.
Hangouts were never obligatory and almost always casual.
CJ was glad that Ronnie was going okay despite everything that had happened, he was glad that the other man had this food truck and a growing base of customers to keep him busy, idle minds were the worst.
They definitely needed to hang out and just chat about things, even if it was only for a short period of time between food truck duties, any time was better than none at all. "Definitely! Catch up on all the gossip. Thanks!" He lifted his bag a bit and smiled before letting Ronnie get back to his other customers. Dinner tonight would be delicious.