#no YOU want to be adopted by a brassy but concerned waitress who hooks you up with free 2am pancakes

[yourheartonfire]

Oh here's a fun prompt! A person who has a super power to move super quick (mentally and physically though if surprised could zoom half a mile before blinking wondering what that was about) and the cook (waiter or fast food employee) at a local restaurant who starts to like them but also wonders 'how the heck do they eat so much??' (Could be a super hero, a stop motion animator or some person just really cramming for college finals at top speed but the dynamic seems fun!)

Thank you for the prompt- it was fun!

"So are you an athlete or what?" asked the waitress as she slid a fifth plate onto the counter in front of the hero.

The hero froze, fork halfway to her mouth. Typically there were more people in here, even at 2 in the morning. There weren't that many all-night diners in the city and this place was walking distance to the nightclubs. But it was Tuesday night and all the club kids must've gone somewhere else for their bottomless pancake specials. Other than the TV crackling late night reruns in the corner, the hero had the waitress's undivided attention.

"Uh..." the hero said, glancing down at the sweats pulled on over her costume. "...yes?"

"I knew it!" The waitress banged down her coffee pot in triumph, leaned back towards the kitchen window. "YOU HEAR THAT, EDGAR? I TOLD YOU THAT GIRL IS CARB LOADING!" The waitress leaned in with a knowing smile. "We figured it was that or something glandular."

"GEEZ, MARIE, YOU DON'T JUST ACTUALLY SAY THAT TO PEOPLE!" came a muffled yell from the kitchen.

"DON'T BE SO PRIM, SHE'S FINE," Marie hollered back, before glancing over the hero and narrowing her eyes. "Something wrong with the pancakes?"

The hero hastily shoved the forgotten bite into her mouth. Marie beamed. "So whadaya do, hon? Swimming, right?" the waitress went on without pause. "You're always all bundled up, and you got those wide shoulders and long arms like that weird fish guy with all the gold medals. Not that you look like a fish, hon. It looks gorgeous on you."

"MARIE WHAT IN THE BABY JESUS'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR TRYIN' TO BOND," Marie screamed back. "SHE'S BEEN COMING IN HERE FOR WEEKS AFTER HER SWIMMING PRACTICES, ALL ALONE LIKE SHE HASN'T GOT A FRIEND IN THE WORLD, AND I'M SUPPOSED TO IGNORE A LOYAL CUSTOMER?"

"Distance running, actually," the hero said softly, and immediately wondered why the hell she'd felt compelled to share that.

"HA!" yelled Edgar. Marie stuck out her tongue towards the kitchen window and grabbed the orange juice from the counter fridge.

"That woulda been my second guess," she said breezily, topping off the hero's glass. "I knew it had to be some kinda endurance thing, keeping you up late, getting you so hungry. You're my only lady regular who goes for the Bottomless Pancakes - and don't tell them, but you could eat those boys under the table!"

She cackled and the hero smiled woozily. This was way more social interaction than she was used to. Stupid overblown metabolism. She would finish this last plate and get out of here, before Marie started guessing at her name, age, astrological sign, who knew.

"So, we're gonna need a picture for our celebrity wall!" Marie asked with a grin. The hero almost choked on her drink. Yep, this was getting worse. "Come on! We're practically sponsoring you in calories-"

A blare of frantic music out of the TV blessedly derailed the conversation. Marie and the hero both glanced up as a hastily dressed news anchor flashed onto the screen in front of the reddish glow of live footage. "We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news. A high rise apartment fire has broken out downtown. Our chopper is on the scene..."

"Yikes," said Marie with a head shake. "EDGAR, ARE YOU SEEING THIS? That's not too far from here -"

Marie turned and the hero was gone, a few crumpled bills beside her plate. She stared at the empty stool a moment, looked back thoughtfully to the TV.

---

It was weeks before the hero slunk back to the diner counter, muttered an order for eggs and hashbrowns to the distracted waitress. The place was jammed, but it was only a minute before a plate of pancakes piled with strawberries and whipped cream slid onto the counter in front of her.

"I didn't order-" the hero started to say. The waitress waved her off.

"On the house, hon," Marie said with a wink and bustled off. From the kitchen, the order bell dinged dinged merrily.

Behind the counter, right over the coffee maker, hung a new neatly framed newspaper clipping: "Speedster Stops Fire, Saves Tenants."

The hero considered the frame for a long minute as the waitress rushed plates back and forth. And then she shrugged and took a bite with a tiny smile.