Una Bella Pizza Parlor
Una Bella is a very large, open and sparkling place. Corrugated metal decorates the walls, the rounded edges jutting out about an inch or so to make it look as though one is standing inside a large package of boxed food. The floor is likewise made up of metal tiles, furthering the atmosphere. A few small chrome tables are set about the pizzeria with a tall counter and stools lining the walls.
A large counter spans the length of one wall, behind the glass one can find a variety of different luncheon meats, as well as vegetables, salads and hot foods for easy boxed lunches. A large pizza oven and a grill can also be found here, to create pizzas and grilled sandwiches.
A full menu is listed on a sign above the counter.
Today is one of those days.
Too hot to do much of anything. Definitely too hot to bother wanting to cook. Restaurants across the city that have air conditioning are inundated with patrons. The heat has made quite a few people irritable. At the pizza parlor this means pushing and shoving in line to get to the takeout counter, as well as seeing about getting a table.
Fiona is no different except for the fact that she seems generally good-natured. Even letting people cut in front of her. She's only a single table and those that come in with families can eat first. Waiting near the door she twists her head to the side every few minutes, hand pressing against her ear. The noise is beginning to reach an unbearable pitch.
The heat has definitely taken effect on the residents of Dallas. The late June air does nothing for Allison except for make her both hungry and thirsty, most of her irritability shelved at the moment. She can be spotted a mile away, wearing a neon pink tank top, black athletic shorts, and a pair of pumpkin orange sneakers. Her hair is pulled up neatly in a ponytail and there's a bit of sweat beading down her brow. The line in the pizza parlor does little to intimidate her, but her stomach does rumble fiercely. Seeing that Fiona is also non-surplussed by the heat or the irritable customers, she moves over toward the other woman to wait with her. "Hi! Kind of crowded today, huh? But I can't help it. They make the best meat lovers in the whole city, I think." She pauses, and takes her voice down. "Or at least the general area."
Out of all the senses effected by her powers, sight is not one of them. Fiona openly stares at the woman with the rainbow colored clothing that just screams loud. "It's the air conditioning," the shifter admits, giving her ear a little rub before dropping her hand. Before being asked if it's a headache she quickly tilt-jerks her head to the side. "Bit of swimmer's ear." Prone to happen when you spend the majority of your time in the water.
"Ohhh." Allison says with understanding before she reaches into her pocket to tightly clasp a twenty dollar bill in her hand. It's amazing she can fit anything in her pockets at all given how small the shorts are. "Y'know I heard about this thing that they do with candles. It's s'posed to get all the fluid and wax outta yer ears, but I haven't had the heart to try it yet. Sounds a bit strange… and uncomfortable. Then again, swimmer's ear is just annoying enough that you'd probably try it. I know I would if it got that bad. Need me t'blow in your ear?" Allison asks, looking at the other girl as if completely serious about the offer. She glances briefly toward the front of the pizza parlor with some trepidation.
"Ear candles?" Fiona makes a face at the thought of hot wax being dripped anywhere near her face. "It'll go away in a bit. Part and parcel of working as a lifeguard is what it is." Except that it's her hypersensitive hearing as opposed to actual swimmer's ear. "Uh, no. I don't think you need to blow in my ear." For a second it looks like she might get up and run off. Cheeks flare up and she looks down at her hands. "It's honestly not bad just a twinge. Is something wrong?"
Allison shakes her head a little bit. "Nah. At this point I'm just hopin' the place don't fill up more. It's already pretty crowded in here, and people get kinda stupid when it's this hot out and things aren't goin' faster than this, y'know." Allison reaches up to wipe a bead of sweat off of her brow. She doesn't seem to notice Fiona's reaction to her offer about blowing in her ear though she does smile and shrug her shoulders. "A lifeguard? That sounds nice. Really nice right now in fact. Do you have to wear the white stuff on your nose?"
"Zinc? I guess I would if it were outdoors. I just work over at the Fitness World. I teach some classes as well, but only for the kids really." The pool would be great right now. Temperature controlled air, heated pool. The perfect location for a happy-go-lucky dolphin to be at. "I keep hoping it'll die down in here soon. I've been waiting a while but I don't want to take a table that a family with kids can use, being as I'm here on my own."
"Oh. Fitness World. I go there every now and then, but I haven't had the time lately." Allison pauses as she glances at the woman, moving up in line and making a motion that says Fiona should join her. "You seem kind of familiar, actually. I've probably seen you around." Either that or she's familiar in /another/ way. "Well, we can sit together and then we don't have to wait so long. So, what's your name, anyway? I don't think it'd be very fitting to call you Miss Lifeguard if we're gonna be sharing a table." Seems that Allison has long since made the decision that they are in fact sitting together for sure.
Assumptions are amusing things. Sometimes they're correct, sometimes they're wrong. Fiona is somewhere between the two when the mention of sitting together is brought up. "Uh, sure. I guess that's okay. Name's Fiona, and you are?" Turnabout is fair play. "It's a nice enough gym, but I miss the ocean." She would, being who she is. "Might head back to Corpus Christi when school is done. There's really nothing like swimming in the ocean."
Allison nods a little bit. "I'm Allison. You can call me Al if you want. Most do. Just not Allie or somethin'." She takes in a deep breath and reaches up to muss her ponytail before wrapping her arms around her hips loosely. "I've never been to the ocean. Been across the Bible belt a few times, but never been to the ocean. Is the water clear out there?" Allison asks with interest, keeping her focus on Fiona. Sometimes she glances back towards the slowly diminishing service line, moving a step forward when she can.
"Nice to meet you officially, Allison." Fiona has no fondness for shortening names. This could stem from being teased as Fi early on. "Clear and gorgeous. The aquatic life is really something too. If you're really lucky and out far enough you can come across all sorts of things. We've got a place not far from Corpus Christi where you can ride out and swim with the dolphins. It's really majestic." Unlike her new table buddy, she doesn't seem too concerned with the movement of the line.
"Hmm. I've always liked the idea of the ocean. Of course, that conflicts with me being a fisher… but I think that the things in the sea are probably much more interesting than crawdads or carp. I might have to go on a road trip there someday with…" Should Allison say her 'brother'? Or Jesse? Or…? It's something she hasn't thought too much about since meeting him, at least it's something that she hasn't come to a complete resolution about. Eventually she sighs. "I guess I might have to go there with my brother sometime. I bet he'd like that. You from around there, then? I'm from North Dakota personally."
"There's plenty of things to fish for in the ocean. Marlin for starters, but I don't suggest going out on your own. Go with someone that knows what they're doing." Fiona never suggests people head out on the ocean alone. That's silly, and dangerous. "Guys do tend to like that kind of thing, I've noticed." Stepping forward she nods. "Born and raised. My dad's a Marine Biologist, so that's where he's been doing a lot of his work."
Allison pauses and listens to Fiona for a moment before nodding, reaching up to errant brush a wisp of loose hair away from her face. "Really, I think I'd feel pretty bad about fishing up the pretty ocean creatures. But if I ever do get the hankerin', I'll make sure to do what you said." The line is still trickling slowly up to the front. A few people have entered since Allison has come in and the aroma of the sandwiches and pizza are making the woman's stomach growl audibly. It's definitely an embarrassing rumbling noise by most people's standards, but Allison doesn't seem too concerned about it. "Marine biologist? That sounds neat! Sometimes I wish I'd gone to college for something like that, but I'd miss my work too much."
Fiona twitches a second and squeezes her eyes shut. Somewhere in the restaurant a child is wailing in one of those unbelievably high pitched squeals that almost sounds too high for human ears. "I think as long as you don't take more than you'll eat, the ocean doesn't mind." The ocean creatures might though. "It's what I'm studying too." Marine biology. "You're really hungry, aren't you? There's just a few more tables in front of us then maybe they can seat us or at least take the order at the counter." Maybe a bit more hopeful than she should be. "What did you go to school for then?"
The high pitched squealing makes Allison wince and reach up to hold her ears with the slightest amount of tears welling in her eyes. She blinks them away quickly and looks over to the child with a stern look on her face before turning back to Fiona. "Yeah, hadn't eaten all day and went biking up at the lake. May have been a mistake… gotta plan better next time." She nods to the other woman a bit. "Me? I went to school to become a nanny, more or less. I work at a daycare center."
The sound that hurts Allison is nearly killing Fiona. The red head is very careful to keep smiling though she feels like tearing her ears off. "White Rock Lake? Pity they don't let people swim in it. I know they do it to keep it from being polluted, but it's a nice area." A frown develops on her face. Hand reaching into her bag she comes out with a few pieces of salt water taffy. "I know that's not really food but the sugar might help." The child stops screaming and there's a distinct look of relief on Fiona's face. "Really? That's great. You should bring them by the pool sometime. We've got day camp programs set up for other daycare centers. We still have Wednesdays and Fridays free if you're interested."
Allison nods with some sympathy for various reasons, looking much less bothered when the child stops screaming. "I agree. That lake looks so inviting, who could resist? Except for law-abiding citzens, of course." She reaches up to scratch at her nose briefly and takes one of the pieces of taffy from Fiona. "Thanks, just what the doctor probably ordered." She unwraps and pops the piece into her mouth, chewing on it. She takes her time and listens to Fiona before answering, her face brightening. "We're a pretty big daycare, so we'd most likely have to split up our groups on those two days. Maybe younger kids Wednesdays so that we can pay attention to them a little better, older ones on Fridays. You guys have a baby pool?" Allison asks as she steps up in line. Just two more tables. She takes in a deep breath and shakes out her limbs, shifting her weight from foot to foot with some anxiousness.
Inhaling deeply to try to work past the pain that's still causing her ears to ring, Fiona nods. "It does look inviting. It's fresh water though." Much different to swim in than the ocean. "Maybe they'll lift the ban if the summer gets too hot." It would be nice. Easier to shift comfortably in there. Even if it is fresh water. "I think we can swing that. You should come by and"
The conversation cuts off when a waitress comes by. Two menus in hand. Nodding toward a small table in the corner.
Though there's the slightest inclination in Allison to make a rude comment like 'Finally!' she instead smiles politely and moves over toward the table, sitting down at it. A near shudder ripples down the woman's body at the mere premise of food at this point. She pushes out the other woman's chair with her foot and sits up straight while perusing her menu that she has taken from the waitress in the meantime. Upon seeing the various food items, Allison's eye starts to twitch and her stomach to growl even more.
Fiona doesn't bother with the menu. "Small pizza. Anchovies and olives." Most would be grossed out by this prospect but it seems that she's serious. "Water to drink please." There is time given for Allison to order before she picks up the conversation. "You should come by the pool and check it out. We've got a larger pool with diving boards, and a kiddie pool. Both are heated. There's also waterslides, and a lot of toys and equipment to help them swim. The only thing we don't supply are lifejackets."
After browsing for a moment, Allison gives the impatient waitress her order with something of a sheepish smile. "A grilled chicken sandwich with all of the fixings, a small side salad, and a large Coke please." Allison makes no immediate comment about the other woman's dietary choices, though the thought of such a salty taste does make her lick the roof of her mouth. "I think that we could probably scrounge some lifejackets and floaties up for the little tykes. I'll definitely mention it to the supervisors though. Don't see why they'd object. The most we do in the summer is order ice cream." Allison stretches her arms out and a rather large yawn escapes her mouth before she slumps in her chair a bit. "So Fiona, what kinda music you like?"
"We have floaties." Lifejackets are always in short supply though and keeping them intact with hundreds of kids using them every year isn't very cost effective for the gym. "Music? I don't really listen to much. Closest thing would be classical, but mixed with nature sounds. You know, like those Solitudes CDs." Fiona appears to be odd in quite a bit of what she does. She makes no apologies for it.
Allison nods to Fiona's choice in music. "I think a lot of people find that stuff relaxin'." She blushes a bit. "I have one of those CDs, of water noises. It helps me sleep on nights when I'm a bit homesick." She reaches back into her pocket to put her twenty back after all. She had really intended to order and go, but this has turned out rather nice too. "So, do you like movies?" She asks, seeming to be covering all the friendly bases in a straightforward manner.
Fiona was planning on staying put. Her dorm room is minus air conditioning, so being in the restaurant is a nice break. Texas dry heat is nothing new to her. Doesn't mean it's comfortable. "The CDs are great. They have one with rain that is very calming. The ocean sounds are my favorite though. It makes me think of home." Cutlery is adjusted. A napkin lifted and placed haphazardly on her lap. "Some, I guess. I spend most of my free time at the aquarium or pool, and movies seem to cost a lot these days. You?"
Allison reaches into her pocket to take out a vibrating, tiny cell phone. She glances down toward it and lets out a sigh. "Oh, I like most movies. Hey Fiona, could I get your phone number? I think I might have to run." Allison starts to motion toward a waitress for a doggie bag. "But I think you're pretty nice. And Lord knows I need a friend that ain't five years old." Or her apparent long-lost half-brother.
"Huh? Oh sure." Hand dipping once more into the bag that's loaded down with salt water taffy, Fiona pulls out a card that has the number of the pool on it as well as a cell number. "That one's mine," she says pointing to her name at the bottom. "Had them add it since parents sometimes call with questions about the classes and the gym doesn't really know everything about them." Since Allison's leaving, she'll see if she can get a stool at the counter and leave the table for a couple.
The waitress comes back with a doggie bag and some plastic containers, in which Allison quickly packs up her food. The Coke is left behind though as the woman lays down her money and repockets her cell phone. "I forgot that there's a meeting at work tonight — kind of an end of the month thing that we do every last Sunday." Allison sighs and takes the card. "I'll give you a call soon and we can hang out! See you later, Fiona! Nice to meet you!" Allison starts to bolt out the door without really giving poor Fi much warning — or a chance to maybe say, 'Hey I don't want to hang out with you, creeper.'
