capeandcowllogs | i'd like to make myself believe

WHO: Billy Kaplan (

cantyouhearmy) and Tommy Shepherd (

quicktothepoint)
WHERE: Joe's Shanghai Restaurant, Midtown
WHEN: BACKDATED. November 16th, early evening prior to the Joker's zaniness.
WARNINGS: ---
SUMMARY: Everybody's gotta eat. The twins meet to have dinner (and talk about girls?).
FORMAT: Paragraph to start but then quicklog? Or quickpara. Or whatever Noodles likes best.

The restaurant didn't look like too much from the outside: a big grey building with worn green awnings and posters covering up the main window. Inside was nicer, cleaner at least, with pale peach walls and those strict, high-backed black chairs that seemed to be a universal constant in Chinese restaurants, even here in a different universe.

Billy is sitting in one of these chairs, one leg crossed under him on the seat and the other swinging back and forth. He's playing with his chopsticks and trying hard not to think about pork fried dumplings and scallion pancakes since he's already kind of starving and thinking about it won't help at all..

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tommy has both his arms set on the table, one of them resting on the elbow, his other hand tucked under. He's toying around with the chopsticks (he can't work with them and has no plans to change in the near future), occasionally taking a look at the other tables and the decoration, inhaling quickly before rubbing his nose. He's been keeping a generally distant disposition since his talk with Rikki.

Setting back against the chair, he drops one hand onto his lap before his eyes lock on his brother across the table, arching one eyebrow.

"So how'd you find this place?"

It's kind of a long story, honestly, which Billy decides is better to summarize rather than explain in full. Tommy's patience can be unpredictable sometimes, in his experience, and as a rule, Billy tries not to strain it too much.

"Ted and I have been working on trying to find a decent Chinese take-out place for months," he says, finally putting his chopsticks down and fiddling with the condensation on his water glass instead. "It was that or actually learn to cook. Which isn't happening anytime soon. They've got good noodles, but they put green peppers in every second dish, so that kind of sucks."

There's an amused exhale from his nose after Billy mentions the word 'cooking'. The only person in their team who dares to give it a try is Kate, and she isn't exactly famous for making the best dishes around the block. "Yeah? I think Ted's just wasting your time. He's probably dying to see you in an apron." He says that with a small grin, but it fades shortly after.

Tommy then starts shaking his leg - not necessarily from impatience, it's just the habit getting the best of him at this point, added to not having had the best of days - and removes his bangs from his face with a quick movement of his head.

"Yeah, well, they might wanna handpick mine out of the plate." He looks at the chopsticks, tipping his chin in their direction. "They've even got those sticks- that should make their job easier."

Billy tilts his head to one side and half-smiles. It's always weird when it turns out he and Tommy actually have something in common, even when it's something dumb like not liking green peppers. Most of the time they're so different; it makes the times they aren't stand out more.

"I think we'll manage to survive. Somehow." The smile fades again into a thoughtful look, eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity as a thought that's occurred to him a couple of times occurs to him again. "You okay, man?" he asks casually. "You've been kind of different ever since you got back. Which I guess might just be 'cause you're definitely the older brother now, but. You know. Thought I'd ask."

Tommy is looking over his shoulder, checking whether there's any sign of progress in his and Billy's order. Returning his attention to his brother, his picks up his drink while the other asks the question, taking a sip. A small hiss follows - the soda is too cold - when he knits his eyebrows into a slight frown.

"No, man." He tries to sound like he isn't preoccupied, but tone suggests the opposite. There's a pause to consider taking that back, lowering his gaze to his hand. He drums his fingers on the table. Thinking whether or not he wants to have this conversation is a little weird, though not as weird as it would have been before he was Ported out. "Just."

An exhale, then he waves dismissively. "Just got some things to figure out. But don't worry, I'll take care of it." Another beat, and a slight change in his expression. Tommy finally presses his lips to the side, in a sort of 'who am I kidding' that doesn't want to admit itself.

"... I talked to Rikki today."

Billy winces his sympathy. But for a moment, that's all he does. He keeps drawing with his thumbnail in the condensation that's gathered around the base of his glass. His doodle kind of looks like a deformed bird at this point, but he keeps at it anyway. At least from where he sits, he and Tommy have never really had the kind of relationship that can take a lot of over-concern and over-involvement. Billy doesn't want to muscle his way into this until he knows for sure that that's what Tommy wants.

"I'm sure it had to happen sooner or later. Probably better to get it out of the way now?" He raises his eyebrows, in a silent request for confirmation. "But I guess you wouldn't be left with stuff to figure out if it was actually out of the way."

Tommy stares at Billy with a slightly arched eyebrow for a moment, though his expression remains mostly neutral. He relaxes, but his leg goes back to shaking. Curling his fingers around his glass, he drums his nails on it with a frown - something similar to someone who doesn't quite know how to share what's on his mind - not when it affects him the way this does, anyway.

"You know Coat and me were hitting it off back home, right? Even with the whole mess." He gestures slightly as he speaks.

"Well - suddenly they threw me back in here. I mean, I like Rikki, and I remember what was going on between us, but -" A pause. "It just isn't the same thing, you know?"

Billy nods slowly, eyebrows furrowing like they usually do when he's thinking about something in abstract terms. "I get what you mean" is what he says eventually, but the truth is he only gets it theoretically. He's never really been in the kind of situation Tommy's in now.

Leaning forward, he plants his elbow on the table and then his chin in the palm of his hand. "I kinda want to say amnesia would be a blessing in this situation, but it'd probably make things worse. Does Coat -- and for the record, calling her that will always be weird for me -- know about any of this? Have you asked?"

"It'd be pretty hard for her to not know about me and Rikki," He begins with a slightly brusque tone, but it softens as he keeps going. "But I haven't really talked to her about anything else." He lifts one hand to rub the back of his neck for a moment, before sliding it back down onto the table. "I kinda left out the part about me and Coat back home when I talked to Rikki, though. Told her I needed some time." She'd obviously be more upset with that particular piece of knowledge.

Raising his glass, he speaks before taking another drink. "Now I just have to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with it."

"That's always the part that sucks about having time," Billy agrees. He's trying hard to think of something to say that won't sound like it came out of a Disney movie, but he's bought a few more moments when the kitchen doors swing open and their waiter comes out with their orders.

Billy keeps his mouth shut as the plates are arranged on the table and waits until the man is way out of ear shot before he even thinks about saying anything again. "You've gotta do whatever's going to make you happiest, I guess," he says eventually, stabbing at a plate of noodles with his chopsticks. "If you choose something that's not going to make you happy for some other reason, that's not going to be fair to anyone, you know?"

Tommy leans back as the waiter places the plates down, glancing at their soon to be meal before his eyes slide up to the waiter again, a silent 'thank you' in his quick, unsmiling nod.

"Yeah, well - problem is I have no idea what that is." He grabs the fork and spoon on the dish with fried shrimps to drop them on his place. His other hand goes for the soy sauce.

"First I can't get myself a girlfriend, now I can't decide which one I want." He almost laughs at that, when he gives it a thought. Who wouldn't want to be in this situation? (considering the mess it's making in his head - probably not that many.)

"Anyway, like I said." He waved his hand dismissively again. "I'll take care of it." No idea how, but it's better than admitting it. "Topic change in two."

i'd like to make myself believe

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