Be patient

Maybe after the last meeting you decide, and upon leaving the library decide to wander over to the dining hall to see if Luisa would be willing to make you some coffee. As you approach the dining hall Honey Thibodeaux falls in step by your side.

"May I join you?" She asks politely, but something in her manner suggests that you have no real option. You've seen this look before, and you get the feeling that once Honey decides she wants something, she's not going to stop until she gets it. You just don't know what she wants, and you'll have to play her game until she's ready to let you know.

Luisa is supervising some white coated kitchen workers laying out white tablecloths and candles for the evening meal. You shake your head in quiet amusement, in many ways this school cafeteria is fancier than a big city restaurant. When the dark-haired cook sees you and Honey enter she grins broadly, wiping her hands on her apron.

"You want some food? I can fix you something. Got some menudo out back."

"Just that pale imitation of café au lait you make," Honey says with a smile.

"Got café con leche, just like always," the latina chef grins. "I don' put none of that nasty chicory near it. If you wan' that you best head back to Canal Street. And before you ask, the answer is yes I can get you some beignets. You sit down."

"I suppose I'll have to suffer yet again," Honey sighs, getting an answering snort from Luisa. It's evident that this banter is a routine of long standing between the two of them, and you're still smiling as you sit down across the table from the cajun teacher. This woman doesn't fit into any easy mold, her hair has streaks of grey that she doesn't bother to hide, but she's not much older than you and she looks like she's in good shape. She certainly doesn't fit in with the three young teachers you've met any more than Miss Swanson and her crowd. The red-headed drama teacher and her share the same theatrical flare, but you've seen her sit with Donna and her ebony-skinned roommate, so maybe that's who she hangs out with in her spare time. Honey doesn't seem -

"You done checking me out?" Honey asks shaking her head, "I would have thought you'd be more interested in the three hotties Monica, Alice and Christina." Her green eyes sparkle with mischievous glee as you stammer out a lame denial, "It's OK with me Dean Hawkfeather, we've all been checking you and your boys out too, trying to figure out how this is going to work." Her lip curl into a half smile, "I'm sure the students have taken notice too, especially after your stunt with Margot this morning."

"You don't sound like you approve."

"It's not exactly the norm, but I don't disapprove. And if you were going to pick a target, you couldn't have picked a more suitable one. Miss Childers is high in the running for the most arrogant student at the Academy, and her comeuppance will be the talk of the school."

Luisa arrives with a tray, putting cups in front of the three of you and a plate of sugared beignets in the middle. She stands with her hands on her hips, watching Honey as she takes a tentative sip of the coffee and wrinkles her face in distaste.

"Disappointing as always," she says. "But I suppose I'll make do. At least the beignet's look passable."

"Nex' time you ask I gonna bring them out 'blackened' like you Cajuns cook everything," Luisa snorts.

"Dirty Rice and Beans is hardly blackened," Honey replies with mock outrage. The two women share a laugh before the chef turns to you.

"An' where were you this morning Mr. Dean? You can't go skipping breakfast and stay strong."

"I didn't skip it. I wanted to go for a ride. I grabbed something at a diner in town."

Luisa takes a deep breath and puts her hands on her hips, glaring at you. Honey takes a sip of coffee and carefully looks away shaking her head sadly.

"You went to a diner, Mister?" Luisa says carefully. "You ate some line-cook slop when you coulda had Luisa's cooking. I got a mind to take a cleaver to you Marine. Next time you go there you better have the sense not to tell me, less you want to keep all your parts attached. Now you drink your café con leche and eat a beignet so your mouth is too busy not to piss me off again. ¿Entender?"

"Si señora," you say quietly, abashed by her quiet outrage. She gives a little snort and strides away as Honey grins at you behind her hand.

"You'll learn that there are a few people around here that you want to make sure you keep happy." Honey's eyes are glittering with amusement as you try unsuccessfully to hide your embarrassment by taking a bite of beignet. You realize she has no intention of letting you off the hook when she follows up with the real question.

"Speaking of which," She studies you with a unfeigned interest, "what's going on between you and Diana?"