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

[spin_kick_snap]

"That was awesome," Kathy said. "Their faces when they first saw you as that giant drill-thing--and then again when you went back to being you!"

It was nice, having a friend here with her. Having someone she could still laugh with. Someone who believed she was doing the right thing.


"We definitely are making a difference," she said firmly. "But--Eliot made me promised to have an exit plan." She barked a laugh. "Heh. An ex-it plan. I'm just trying to come up with one. Because if things get much worse...It's my responsibility to get my family to safety. And you, too. I don't think Charles will like me anymore if you get bitten by a zombie, you know."

[tigerundercover]

"Uh huh. And what's this Eliot guy going to do to me if you get bitten? You're stuck with me, Kathy."

[spin_kick_snap]

"We'll be responsible for one another," Kathy said firmly. "God and Baby Buddha only know how useful my parents are going to be through all of this. My dad still doesn't believe the exes are real. He still thinks it's some kind of...terrorist publicity stunt or something."

On the one hand, that was so painfully stupid that Kathy could barely comprehend it. On the other hand, it meant that he hadn't come close enough to an ex to discover otherwise. And that was a relief.

[tigerundercover]

"Yeah . . . you've noticed that your dad is kind of dumb, right?" Sorry, Kathy. He might have book smarts . . . somewhere . . . but he was not really good at dealing with the actual world.

[spin_kick_snap]

"He's just set in his ways," Kathy instinctively protested. "...By which I mean, yeah. He's dumb." She sighed. "But I have to wonder how many people are just like him? How many people refuse to believe that they're being told until something's got its teeth in their throat."

[tigerundercover]

Raven sighed. "A lot of them, I'm guessing. People in general are pretty stupid. Even once they finally see it's all for real, they're probably going to stand around screaming for awhile before they manage to do anything useful."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And that's when they get killed," Kathy agreed, sighing. She flopped over backwards on her bed. "Or worse, that's where they get infected. And then they hide it and they go home and they get sick and before anyone realizes what's wrong, they're dead. And then they're reanimating and eating their loving, grieving family and the cycle fucking continues."

[tigerundercover]

"You have one dark imagination," Raven said. "Shouldn't crazy terrorists still be enough of a threat for your dad to get your mom and sister out of town? It's gotta be a little better in the boonies than it is in the city."