The Li Family Apartment, Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Things were still tense in the apartment today, but at least she hadn't been kicked out or disowned or whatever. Kathy'd half-expected to find all of her belongings tossed out on the street after she and Raven had gotten home for the night after a night out as Banzai and Mystique, but no. Her parents weren't actually talking to her, but they hadn't decided to evict her, either.

It just proved what everyone had been telling her: her parents had only had the power over her that she had given to them. She was pretty self-sufficient now; even if they had thrown her out, she and Raven would have been perfectly fine. What could they do to her? Ground her? She'd ignore them. Hit her? They never had before and she couldn't imagine them doing so now. Send her to bed without dinner? Fine, she'd call for delivery. A frisson from the unexpected freedom ghosted up her spine. If she were a slightly different person, this realization could have been dangerous. Good thing that she was the type of girl who defied her parents only to go be a superhero-slash-clinic nurse.

Honestly, the only real punishment she could think of that would actually affect her would be to forbid her from seeing Sarah. Her little sister meant everything to her.

No matter what was going on with the outside world, Kathy was determined to keep her safe.

[NFB, and also for tigerundercover if she so wishes!]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Please. Like they'd actually be able to keep Kathy and Sarah from each other. Especially with someone like Raven as an ally.

"I'm proud of you," Raven said. "You know that, right?"

Yes, Raven, she knew. You'd said it enough times since the argument.

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"I know, right?" Sarah said--and then did a doubletake. "Uhhh..."

That, she hadn't been expecting.

[tigerundercover]

"What, you didn't think your superhero sister would have superhero best friends?" Raven asked, bluster covering for the faint nervousness she still felt when people reacted to her blueness.

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Blink. Blinkblink.

"This is so unfair!" Sarah said. "How did my lame, nerd sister not only become cooler than me, but get cooler friends, too?" Sarah stomped her foot. "If you tell me she's got some hot, superhero boyfriend she also hasn't told me about, I'm going to totally scream."

[tigerundercover]

"Well," Raven said, looking sideling towards Kathy. "She doesn't like to call them 'boyfriends.'"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Kathy was trying to wave Raven to be quiet and avoid this topic, but Sarah smoothly stepped in front of her. "Did I just hear a plural?" she asked, grinning. "Oh my god, Raven, you have to tell me everything." She shoved Kathy over and then proceeded to sit on her in an attempt to keep her quiet. "I mean, we've already proven that if I wait for Kathy to tell me anything, I'll die of old age before I learn what the weather's like, so clearly it's up to you."

[tigerundercover]

"Sorry, Kathy," Raven said sweetly. "It's my duty as a younger sister. Otherwise they might kick me out of the club or try to collect on overdue dues. Okay, so as far as I can tell there's three of them. All of whom have fancy abilities."

Sarah was going to end up with a complex about not having powers. Maybe she was a late bloomer?

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Hey, Kathy was a sophomore when her powers manifested! That put Sarah right on target.

Sarah squealed, probably angering every dog and bat in the neighborhood. "Three?! Oh my gosh, names! Names, I need names! And abilities! What can they do? Is everybody at your school a superhero? And don't think I don't want to know all about your powers, too! But first I need to get all the dirt on Ka--ack!"

Kathy bucked up, knocking her sister off of her. "Did she learn that move from her boyfriends, too?" Sarah asked from where she landed on the floor. "Also, ow!"

[tigerundercover]

"That one's probably in the older sister's handbook," Raven said. "I'm a shapeshifter. I can look like anyone or anything I want."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You might have said something to that effect," Kathy said, hugging a pillow to her chest and grinning. "But I'm okay with hearing it again."

[tigerundercover]

"And again and again," Raven promised. "How long do you suppose it'll take for them to calm down and start talking to you again?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Possibly forever?" Kathy said with a nervous laugh. "Usually it bothers me a lot more, but today..." She shrugged. "It's like, let them sulk, because I'm right and in the end they can't do anything about it."

[tigerundercover]

"I'm sorry your parents are dicks," Raven said. "We should just take Darah with us when we leave."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Eliot said the same thing," Kathy mused. "And it's just about the start of summer term. She could enroll as a sophomore, which was when I started..."

Yeah, not having her sister hanging around post-apocalyptic LA was already a good idea. Now, with everything the way it was with her parents? Even better.

"You think she'd wanna go?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven shrugged. "I don't know her as well as you do. She might rather find some other big crazy boarding school, just so she doesn't have to always be 'Kathy's sister'." Raven had gotten a lot of Charles' shadow over the years. She knew how that could chafe. "But it's definitely worth asking her."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I dunno," Kathy said. "This crazy boarding school has teachers that punched her dad. That's a pretty compelling argument."

She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Did you get that letter from Portalocity?" she asked softly.

[tigerundercover]

"Yeah. Guess we can't call for more back up from Fandom."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

Speak of the devil and she'd end up slouching in your doorway after school let out for the day. "You know, I should be totally pissed at you," she announced.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy glanced up, startled, and then dropped her head. "I know," she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry you had to find out this way--"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Umm, excuse you?" Sarah asked. "Found out? No, I'm pissed you didn't tell me. But I've known for, like, a year. Why do you think I covered for you that day with dad and the paper? Duh, sis, keep up!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"What?!" Kathy gasped, jaw dropping. "No you didn't! How?! I was so careful!"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Well, for one, you suck at lying," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "The only reason Mom and Dad haven't caught you is because they couldn't believe their precious older daughter would do anything like that. And two, the last time I was at Fandom, I went snooping. Your gi was in a bag in your closet on top of, like, a bunch of weapons. I am smart enough to put two and two together, Puff."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Quiet, Pastry," Kathy responded automatically to her hated sibling nickname. Their parents had not done any research into American culture before pairing Kathy's middle and Sarah's first names with their last, sadly. "Wait, you snooped through my stuff? Not bad enough that you hid under Ezra's bed to watch us make out, you actually went rifling through my drawers? Sarah, you're such a little creeper!"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Well, maybe if you told me stuff, I wouldn't have to go looking for myself!" Sarah pointed out. "Besides, shut up, you totally owe me. I have covered for you so much since you came home. Like, one time I even wrote a note for you, like, Dear Mom and Dad, I'm out doing nerd things, totes not fighting crime. Hugs and kisses, Kathy. So if it hadn't been for me poking around in your stuff, you probably would have gotten caught out already. So, you're welcome."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You--you covered for me?" Kathy asked. "That's incredibly cool of you, Sarah."