How May I Take Your Order?
For @egyptianghosts who asked me to fill this prompt, hope you enjoy
Danny didn’t know how he ended up working in a Waffle House in Gotham, but here he was.
To be fair, it was the only legal establishment in Gotham that didn’t ask questions when Danny presented his clearly fake ID—hey, there was only so much Tucker could do on such short notice. Besides, he’d rather take orders or fling hashbrowns than end up a goon and get beaten up by Batman and his crew.
“So, I kidnap people and hold them hostage while Batman finds the clues to my riddles!”
“Welcome to Waffle House. How may I take your order?” Danny primed his pen, ready to write.
The Riddler stopped and tensed.
“No. This is a Waffle House, sir, not a gameshow. Either let me know your order, or I’ll go to the next table. I don’t have time for this bullshit. I get paid $2.50 an hour and get lousy tips, and the last thing I need is a third-rate villain—”
“Making my life more miserable. Especially since you seem like the type to leave no tip.” Danny finished.
Everyone at the table fell silent, their eyes going from the Riddler to the scrawny teenage server who had just told their boss off.
Danny kept his pen primed for writing in case the Riddler wanted to place an order. If he wanted to fight, well, it was a Waffle House after all. One of the job interview questions was whether Danny was afraid to throw hands or not. Besides, he knew his coworkers would be happy to help if it came down to a fight.
The Riddler laughed, instead—laughed—at the kid.
“You have moxie, kid. Why don’t you come work for me? I would pay you way better than this place ever would.”
“No thanks,” Danny replied as if he wasn’t talking to a supervillain. “Now, how about we try this again? How may I take your order tonight?”
Danny left his shift with a $200 tip from the Riddler and a phone number so he could ‘keep his options open.’
The following night, Riddler was arrested and sent to Arkham.
Danny tried to wipe away the grease from his ever-present notepad as he walked toward his favorite customer.
“The usual,” came the mechanized voice.
“Two cheeseburgers, extra onions, large fries, four pieces of bacon on the side, and a large coffee, black, coming right up.”
Red Hood took off his helmet, though he still had on a mask underneath it, and grinned at Danny.
Danny grinned back and went to place the order. He knew this wouldn’t be the last thing Red Hood would order—seriously, the guy could really pack it up—and he always left a huge tip.
Besides, the guy was funny. Oh, and he was death-touched, making Danny feel a type of kinship with the guy. Once again, Danny wondered if Hood knew he had died and come back to life. Well, better not to ask. It wasn’t polite.
Danny took the order out to Hood.
“Anyone giving you guys any trouble, kid? I know how the rogues like to show up here from time to time.”
“Nah, no one has caused trouble since the Joker.”
That’s how they had met. The Joker had shown up to cause his usual bullshit havoc, and Danny had hit him upside the head with a plate. Hood had been following the clown and didn’t kill him because of ‘daddy bats shitty rules’ and had arrested Joker after roughing him up a bit.
After that, he became a regular at Waffle House and always asked Danny to be his server.
Leaving that night with $400 and Red Hood trying to follow him home discreetly, Danny was okay with that.
“Hey Harley, hey Pamela!”
Danny couldn’t help but greet the two women enthusiastically. He heard Sam rave about Poison Ivy so often that Danny couldn’t help but admire the woman. Besides, Harley was a riot to be around. Danny was glad she was away from an asshole like the Joker.
“Hello, Danny. Did your friend enjoy the autograph?”
“Oh, yeah, she absolutely freaked.”
Danny had to use a fake address to send Sam the autographed paper, but Sam had texted him the night she received it through their secure phone and had gushed the whole time, thanking Danny.
“I’m glad I was able to make a fellow lover of the environment happy.”
“How you’ve been, hon?” Harley asked.
“Exhausted, but alive. I’ve been getting good tips lately.”
“Glad to hear it. Now, I want onion rings with marinara sauce, and Pam here will take a black coffee with five sugars.”
“Got it,” Danny said, and went to place the order.
“No, you can’t have chocolate chips in your hash browns. Please stop asking.”
“I didn’t even say my order yet!”
It was 3 AM, and Danny had to wrangle hash brown orders from Nightwing. And he always asked, every single time, if Danny could add chocolate chips to his hash browns, the freak.
Of all his customers, Nightwing and Robin were the most annoying ones. Well, Robin wasn’t too bad. If only he would stop calling Danny ‘Daniel,’ he wouldn’t even mind the little twerp even if he had the habit of pointing a sword at Danny.
Better a sword than an ectoblaster.
Nightwing, though, always got on Danny’s nerves. He would order the strangest combo of food and would pout every time Danny denied him. But who ordered pancakes with hot sauce and ketchup? Freaks, that’s who.
At least Robin stuck to waffles and orange juice.
“Gee, can’t help but wonder to ask myself why I would think that,” Danny deadpanned.
Nightwing, the asshole, smiled brightly at him. Robin’s scowl deepened at Danny’s tone.
“Well, can you add chocolate chips this time?”
“That’s it, get out,” he said in a serious tone and walked away.
“Aw, don’t be like that. I’m just joking. Danny, come back!”
Eventually, he went back, after taking three orders before theirs.