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As the sunny spring continued on, Dawn was able to set enough money aside to get her beloved cow, an upgrade to her barn, and some leftover to actually buy something from the Garden Grill. She had not been making the rounds there besides making deliveries after the embarrassment of Brad insisting they get a free meal, so Dawn was determined that the next time she approached Brad at the counter, it would be to buy dinner... with money .
When Dawn stepped inside the restaurant, they noticed two things. Carrie and Wayne were carrying on with what seemed to be a very engaging conversation, and Brad remained at the counter, looking troubled. Unsure as to why Brad wasn't joining in, Dawn decided to approach him first, forgetting entirely about ordering dinner. They wandered over, waiting until Brad noticed.
Brad glanced, then actually registered Dawn standing there. " Ah... Dawn. Hey... "
Dawn tilted her head. "You seem out of it..."
" Yeah... " he trailed off. " I guess so. " He gestured his hand towards the other two chatting at the table. " It's just... that. Look at that ."
Dawn glanced to the side to the same thing she noticed when she first entered: Wayne and Brad's wife, Carrie, continued on talking, laughing uproariously over something that must've been pretty funny. Dawn then looked at Brad once more, expecting a response.
Brad sighed. " Geez. "
"What?"
The chef shook his head. " No... I know. Wayne's not at fault here. "
"At fault for what????"
" I mean, the one being aggressive about wanting to chat is clearly my wife. "
Dawn looked exasperated. "Can you please give me some sort of hint as to what the problem is?"
" But man, " Brad added, as if talking to himself, " he's way too good at talking to folks. No matter who he's talking to, before they even notice it, they're knee deep in the conversation. " He shook his head again. " Hell, I have a ton of fun talking to him! "
Dawn, finally getting some sort of response, nodded and crossed her arms. "I see... you must be a bad conversationalist."
"Yeah, it--" Brad then jolted. "What?! No! It's just..." Brad sighed again, Dawn wondering what daytime show he thought he was in. " There really are perfect human beings in the world. He's got great looks, a great personality, and he can talk up a storm... "
Dawn, without thinking, let out an "aww." She almost wanted to reach out to him, but instead said with honest sympathy, "don't put yourself down, Brad."
"Why do you think this has to do with some confidence issue?"
"I can't think of any other reason this would be a problem," Dawn replied just as honestly.
Brad sighed again. Dawn wondered if she should be counting how many times he'd done that in the last two minutes. The thought passed when Brad crossed his arms, musing aloud as he stared at the two talkers. " ...I mean, " he wondered, " does Wayne even have a weakness? "
Dawn raised an eyebrow, wondering where that could be going.
" I've known him for ages now, " he continued, " but I've never seen him show any signs of having one... " The gentle air of this musing suddenly shifted when Brad exclaimed " Ahhh! I know !" Startled, Dawn wasn't sure what to expect when Brad clamped his hands onto their shoulders, as if to plead. " Dawn! You could find his weak point for me! "
"....What?!"
" He'd never tell me, but Wayne might open himself up if it's you! "
Dawn began to sweat visibly. "I-I think you're overestimating me..."
As if on command, Brad's eyes welled up. " Come on... pretty please? "
Dawn couldn't bring herself to verbally agree to the task, but they'd have been lying if they were to say the thought never crossed their mind. Though it was evident from the mishap weeks before that Wayne couldn't always talk himself out of things, talking was, by no means, a weak point for him. Just what was it that he couldn't do?
Dawn had been nudged gently by Brad, and had thought about this the whole way walking to the table, before realizing she had been standing in front of Wayne silently for a few moments.
Wayne seemed unbothered. " Well howdy, Dawn. Go on an' grab a seat, partner. "
"Thanks!" Dawn answered, subsequently remembering that she came here to eat before being distracted. She took the seat Carrie had been hovering near.
----
"Is that right? Ya finally got a cow?"
"Yeah!!!" Dawn beamed. "I love her so much! Her name is Cake."
Wayne chuckled. "What else has been goin' on at the farm?"
"Just lots of harvesting," Dawn added. "Gets really tiresome, but they'll go bad if you just leave em there."
" Ah, I see, " Wayne smiled. " So yer as busy as always, huh? "
"I guess so!"
Wayne smiled, then leaned in. "Hey, actually, I heard about somethin' real interestin'." Dawn, naturally, leaned in to listen, overwhelmed by curiosity.
Wayne, with a mischievous look in his eye, continued. " So, get this, just recently--- "
The conversation was cut short by Carrie, setting a very large serving of coleslaw in between the two of them, her arms pushing their faces away. "Hey, y'all!" she smiled innocently. " Here's a little bit of extra service from my husband for you and Dawn! "
Immediately, Dawn's face burned with embarrassment. They had arrived to buy a meal, and once again ended up with something for free. Perhaps this was out of pity? However, in her own fretting, she noticed Wayne making somewhat of a strained smile when Carrie had cheerfully left.
Maybe Dawn was seeing things, as Wayne's face softened into a small laugh. " ...Ahaha. Service, huh? "
"Yeah," Dawn answered weakly.
" ...Let's dig in, then. "
Something felt wrong . Wayne, as if nothing had happened, ate his omelet without any issue, leaving the coleslaw between the two of them. Despite this, his mood seemed to have changed, and Dawn couldn't shake that grimace she saw for a second.
" Hmm? What's wrong? " he asked, looking up. " Ain't'cha gonna eat? "
It was then that Dawn realized that, in thinking on all this, they hadn't eaten a single bite. Just as embarrassed as before, they scrambled for their fork and began to eat their dinner. Wayne only smiled as he went back to eating. Out of the corner of their eye, though, they still noticed Wayne slowing down eating each time his eyes traveled to the large bowl of coleslaw.
Wayne's acting a bit strange , Dawn thought. Maybe it's just me... but it looks like his face is scrunching up .
Dawn set their fork down and grabbed the tongs Carrie had left behind to get a helping of coleslaw. They noticed Wayne's eyes light up, not realizing it was out of hope Dawn would eat it all. Instead, Dawn interpreted it as Wayne wanting a helping for himself, and when she motioned the tongs full of coleslaw towards his plate, he looked as though he was going to jump out of his skin.
OH!
When Dawn moved the tongs away, Wayne's shoulders relaxed. This reaction was something Dawn had never, in her entire time in Westown, seen Wayne do. Naturally, she then moved the tongs toward him again and he jolted. Slowly moving the tongs away, he relaxed again. She paused, acted as if she were about to put the coleslaw on her plate, then once again pointed the tongs at Wayne, watching him become restless.
"That's quite alright," Wayne finally said, nervously.
Dawn finally put the coleslaw on her plate. "Sorry, that was mean of me."
"Y'were just havin' fun," he assured, albeit tiredly. " Saw right through me, didn't'cha? "
"Not at first," Dawn answered. "I didn't know you didn't like coleslaw."
Wayne shook his head. " It's not so much the coleslaw as it's... the yogurt that I don't like... "
"Really? I love yogurt," Dawn added unhelpfully.
"I'm glad ya enjoy it," Wayne laughed, but soon looked troubled. " Truthfully, there used to be a lot of stuff I didn't like very much. But people work hard to make such nice meals, so I thought it would only be fair if I learned to eat them." He set his fork down. " Little by little, I managed to get used to eating it all, but this one thing I just can't... "
Dawn held up a hand. "Say no more," she assured. "I'll slay the slaw."
" Ah, but I can eat it ," Wayne interjected unexpectedly. " It'd be rude not to eat everythin' a person gave me. "
Dawn looked worried. "Are you sure?"
"I'd feel guilty if I didn't."
Dawn, stuffing a helping into her mouth, insisted, "at least let me share it with you. I can lighten the load."
Wayne's eyebrows had been furrowed at the thought of eating the coleslaw alone, but his face softened. "...ya don't mind?"
"Not at all."
"Thank ya," he smiled. " But, hey, listen... " He leaned in once again, eyes focused on Dawn and not the tongs he grabbed for the coleslaw. " I'd really appreciate it if y' could keep this under yer hat. I'm sorry, it's just kinda embarrassin' fer a man my age to be this much of a picky eater... "
"Consider it kept," Dawn replied.
Wayne thanked her again. " Nicely done, by the way, noticin' that grimace on my face. I figured I'd been doin a good job keepin' it hidden, but if you were messin' with me earlier, I guess my poker face still needs some work. "
"No, I understand," Dawn added. "Sorry again for messing with you, it was just a face I'd never seen you make before..." She took another helping of coleslaw. "Even so, don't worry about it. We're friends, right?"
" You understand because yer my friend? "
"Yeah!"
Wayne, with a big smile on his face, nearly laughed out loud. " Y'sure know how to make a guy smile. I'm still a bit embarrassed my secret got out... but I think I'm glad it was with you. "
"I'm happy to hear that," Dawn smiled back. She almost thought she had seen him blush, but perhaps it was just the redness that trickled on her cheeks clouding her vision. Something about being trusted with this information made her feel very... important. Very cared for.
As they reached for another helping of coleslaw, they were shocked to find the bowl completely empty. They knew they didn't eat all of that. When they looked up, seeing Wayne chewing a helping, everything clicked.
"Wayne."
"Wha?"
"Have you been eating coleslaw this whole time?"
Wayne looked at his fork, then at the bowl, then back at his fork. "...Shucks. I guess I have."
Somehow, caught up in the conversation, Wayne had been eating heaps of it without realizing. Dawn almost cheered, but not wanting to draw attention to him, congratulated him quietly. He was very proud of himself... for exactly ten seconds, followed by a look of doom and illness upon realizing what he'd done. Dawn quickly went to pay for more meals than she intended and hurried him out the door.
The two soon stood in front of the post office. "Sorry for having t' rush out. I promise I'll pay ya back." Wayne had one hand near his head the whole walk there, in case he were to suddenly gag. "Thank ya for getting me out of there," he said quietly.
"It's all in my hat," Dawn replied. "Or over my hat? What did you say it was again?"
Wayne laughed. "Under yer hat. Anyway, I'm glad I can count on ya. I hope I can only be half as reliable."
He squeezed her hands and smiled, and he hurried inside the post office after wishing them goodnight. Dawn would carry the sweet feeling of being a good friend for the rest of the week.
---
The following day, Dawn stepped into the Garden Grill once more, bound and determined to buy something this time to the point where she slapped a bill onto the counter wordlessly.
"...Hello to you too," Brad chuckled. "What'll it be?"
"Gimme the special," Dawn insisted, followed by a sheepish "please."
"Gotcha covered," the chef grinned as he prepared a plate. Clattering through some drawers for his utensils, he looked up. " So? How'd it go yesterday?"
"What?"
"You hurried out last night," Brad clarified, taking out a bowl. " Did you find out what Wayne's weak point was? "
Dawn faltered. "Oh! That..." Hands clasped together near their stomach, they twiddled their thumbs and looked away from Brad. "About that..."
Brad, while cutting up vegetables, raised an eyebrow.
"I... I couldn't find anything out," Dawn lied. "He's just too good."
Brad sighed. " So even you couldn't figure this one out, huh, Dawn? " He turned the burner on the stove and began boiling a mixture of broth, staring at it for a moment before going "hmm." He looked at Dawn. " Well... maybe this is for the best. "
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," he replied, pushing the cut vegetables from the cutting board into the pot. " I'm the one who asked for all this, but... I feel guilty about getting you involved. Just because I wanted some dirt on him doesn't mean I had to drag you into it, after all. You're the nice one."
Dawn faltered again, remembering how she had antagonized Wayne with tongs full of coleslaw the day before.
Brad hummed as he stirred the broth and vegetables together. Setting the wooden spoon down, he clapped his hands together. " Okay, I've decided! No more digging into Wayne's secrets! He's a flawless but kind human being, and that's that! "
Brad would later go back on this decision, tremendously and tragically so for Wayne. In the meantime, though, Dawn nodded in agreement, finally took a seat on the barstool and watched Brad cook.