<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>Paul Raike</strong> (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=84632.msg3727041#msg3727041) - <strong>10AM at the Waffle House</strong> - <em>Seated in a booth with Lulu, Ronin, and whoever else wishes to join</em></div><br/>The warm crush of the staff of Waxing Rhapsodic on the walk back to the Waffle House had held off the chill of the morning air, and had dulled the gut reaction he'd had. He'd even managed to joke a little with Ronin and Lulu, returning some of the easy interplay they'd had the previous night, when things had seemed so simple and straightforward. Now, seated back in those mustard yellow booths with nothing to his name beyond the clothes on his back, he felt incredibly alone, even surrounded as he was by folks in similar straits. He'd already given notice on his old apartment, and the landlady had been quick to replace him; now his new home was gone as well, and he didn't even have transportation to get back to school. He glanced dully at the others, many of whom seemed to be in better spirits. Obviously some of them were worse off; after all, many were dressed in pajamas, if that, and it seemed that a few owned nothing more than whatever blankets and scrubs the EMTs had been able to scrounge up. Paul recognized that he should be grateful, if not for being fully dressed (albeit in full 70's flashback garb), then for at least health, life, and limb.<br/><br/>Somehow, though, his mood refused to improve, and he found himself looking across the table, where Lulu and Ronin sat pressed against each other in the overpacked booth, the table sagging under the weight of empty dishes and still steaming cups of coffee. He smiled absently at the two of them; behind the mask of affable affection, however, he analyzed his feelings with dispassionate distance, trying to figure out where that cold blade of jealousy had come from. After all, it wasn't as if Lulu had expressed any preference<em>at all</em>; the girl seemed to possess a vexing mix of bright curiosity and dull obtuseness. It was like she was smart but not observant; intelligent, yet dense as lead, and Paul wondered why the hell he found her attractive. Well, besides the obvious. His gaze flicked to Ronin, and Paul wondered about him, as well. The expression on Ronin's face when Lulu had hugged him had suggested he'd seen the emotion in Paul's; the wonderment of it, however, suggested an innocence of motive and action. Paul wondered if he'd even had reason to be jealous in the first place. After all, they're all just friends, right?<br/><br/>He sighed, and smiled again, genuinely this time, even if it was tinged with sadness. Emotion was a funny thing, and Paul wasn't quite sure which way the wind was blowing through his yet; however, even if he'd lost all of his stuff, he still had friends, and that alone was worth a better mood.