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]

"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."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"That's so cool," Sarah said, getting up and sitting back on the bed, though this time on Raven's other side. Maybe Kathy would be less inclined to lunge for her if she had to go through Raven first. "Can you look like me? Or Kathy? Or our Mom and Dad?"

"...And don't forget to tell me about Kathy's boyfriend!" Because she still needed all the gossip. "She's really dating three guys?"

"I'm not dating anyone!" Kathy snapped. "...At least, not exactly."

Sarah's grin only got bigger. "I want to know everything," she breathed.

[tigerundercover]

"Yup," Raven said, shifting to match Sarah. "And yup." And a subtle shift to Kathy. "Anyone. And did you meet Dante or Anders or Ezra? I know Anders came out here on prom to cheer Kathy up."

Because, you know, that wasn't romantic date-like behavior or anything.

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Oh wooow," Sarah said, leaning in to peer at Raven's depiction of her sister. "Hey, those helix piercings. Or those yours--or is that something else my jerky big sister didn't tell me about."

Kathy groaned and buried herself in her pillows.

"That answers that," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "Wait a sec--Anders, Dante, and Ezra? I know all of them! Dante told me that Ezra and Kathy made out, but not that they were dating!"

"We're not dating!" Kathy's protest was muffled.

"Then what are you doing, huh?"

RAVEN THE FLOOR WAS YOURS.

[tigerundercover]

"Soooo, when two people of any gender combination whatsoever like each other -- or each other's bodies -- a whole lot. . . ." Raven started. Still looking like Kathy. "Actually I haven't heard as much about Ezra lately. But she and Dante and Anders go on what they call 'adventures' all the time."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"They are adventures!" Kathy wailed, still unsuccessfully trying to hide under her pillows. "...Sometimes!"

Sarah had her hands over her mouth, looking delighted. "Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh," she said. "You're not really saying...Kathy! Kathy, has my sweet and innocent big sister--has she been getting some? From white boys no less?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not answering that!" Kathy cried. "Raven, don't you answer that, either!"

Beat.

"And Ezra's half-Japanese anyway." Another beat. "SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!"

[tigerundercover]

Raven grinned. "Kathy, honey, now I don't have to."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Stop looking like me!" Kathy said, waving an arm. "It's weird."

"Don't you listen to her," Sarah said. "I think it's awesome you can do that. She's just trying to get us to stop talking about her crazy sex life. Three guys, Kathy? Three?"

"Mostly just two now," Kathy said into her pillow, hoping that would somehow make things better.

She was wrong. She was so wrong. "Two! At the same time?! Do they know about each other?" Forget Kathy, she was turning back to Raven, font of all useful knowledge. "Do they know about each other? Oh my gosh, is Kathy cheating?!"

[tigerundercover]

Raven grinned and shifted back to her natural form. Kathy asked her to, after all, and on things involving her own face, at least, she won. "They're roommates, actually. I'm pretty sure that's why they say they're not dating. Then it's easier to share each other."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

There were just more of those high-pitched squeaking sounds coming from Sarah again, contrasting with Kathy's deeper, more heartfelt groans.

"Did you really have to tell her that?"

"You mean it's true?!" Sarah demanded, still in that squeaky-high voice. "You share?!"

Kathy was now trying to suffocate herself with the pillows. Sadly, it wasn't working. Which meant Sarah was left to address her question back to Raven. "How does that work?!"

[tigerundercover]

"It's not really that complicated," Raven said, smiling. "Some of our favorite teachers are polyamorous. Though I don't think Kathy and her guys have gone for threesomes." She looked over at Kathy to confirm or deny this part. Or shove her head in a pillow and groan, one of those.