Work Text:
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters :'(
Leaning over, Thorin pulled his cell phone out of the glove box to check the time. He had been on the road for close to 3 hours now. He had to make it to his sister, Dis’, by dinner time tonight.
When he got the wedding invitation for his youngest nephew, Dis attempted to convince him to fly, stating that “it would be much fast than making a 14 hour drive in a day, Thorin.” But Thorin hated flying; he liked having his feet firmly planted on the ground. So up he went, pulling out onto the interstate at 4 in the morning.
His stomach had been making an unnecessarily loud growling noise for the past hour. Spotting a diner a few hundred yards ahead, he decided to get a quick breakfast.
Thorin slowed as he made the turn into the nearly empty parking lot, pulled into a spot, and shut off the car. Shoving his dinosaur of a phone into his pocket he walked up the gravel drive. The early slivers of light from the sun made the red building look almost brown, but the neon “open” sign in the window reassured him that he wasn’t too early.
He tugged the door open causing a small bell to announce his entrance. Gazing around he saw a few other customers; an old couple enjoying their coffee and a father and his young kid. Thorin made his way to the counter and sat down on one of the worn vinyl barstools. He picked up a menu and began to view his options.
“Mornin’ sugar! What can I get for ya?” an all-too-perky voice piped up.
Looking up from the menu he saw a pretty, shapely little woman leaning towards him across the counter. Peering down he saw her nametag that read “Bella”. Her bright eyes and friendly expression screamed that she was a morning person. Thorin had never been a morning person, but he also wasn’t a night owl, either. He went to bed early and got up for work early, and that was that.
“Coffee, black, please, and I’ll have the pancakes with a side of bacon. Thanks.”
“Comin’ right up!” she called out cheerily as she whipped around to tell the cook. It wasn’t long until a mug of hot coffee was placed under his nose.
“Thank you.”
“You got it, honey,” she replied before flitting off to take care of something else.
Thorin decided to give a quick call to Dis to let her know the progress he was making. The phone rang twice before she answered with a rushed “hello”. “Morning, Dis.”
“Oh, Thorin. Please tell me you’ve left already, you need to be here for the rehearsal dinner, you know you can’t be late for-”
“I know,” he cut her off, “I left just before 4 so I should be there about 7 at the latest. I’ve stopped at a diner to get something to eat.” All the wedding nonsense had her running around like a madwoman. Thorin was just thankful that he didn’t have to do anything but show up.
“Thank Mahal. I’ve got so much to do today; call the catering company, the florists, confirm the pickup time for the cake…. you sure you don’t want to help?”
“Noooo, no. I don’t do weddings and stuff. I wouldn’t know the first thing about it, nor do I want to.”
The conversation was interrupted by Bella pushing a stack of pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup in front of Thorin.
“Enjoy your pancakes, you handsome Mancake,” she suggested with a wink.
Thorin went silent as he felt his face heat up, going the color of a tomato.
“Thorin...what was that? Did someone just call you a ‘handsome Mancake’?!?! Mahal’s balls!” Dis guffawed from the phone.
It took Thorin a few seconds to find his voice, “Uh - gotta go!” He promptly hung up the phone.
Shifting his eyes towards Bella he saw her staring right back, her face alight with mirth. He quickly averted his gaze in favor of eating the food in front of him.
Finishing quickly, he fetched his wallet and and pulled out his Visa, heading over to the cash register. He paid his tab and just as he was about to leave Bella handed him his credit card receipt with a large grin. Giving her a polite nod, Thorin walked out into the parking lot and got in his car. Just as he was about to leave he noticed scribbles on the back of the slip -
“364 - 555 - 8270 - I didn’t see a ring, handsome Mancake, call me! XOXO Bella”