Explorean Resort, Cozumel, Mexico, Saturday

[spin_kick_snap]

Cozumel was about three thousand miles away from Fandom, so Kathy had no idea that there were storms or sharks about. She was sitting on the white, sandy beaches of Mexico, sipping her...somethingth...glass of sangria and reading reading an e-book series about a half-fairy knight who solved mysteries with her cat-prince lover.

It was better than it sounded, shut up.

Every so often, the waiter assigned to the private beaches would swing by to bring her more glasses of sangria (which was how she's lost count of the number she'd had) and clear away the empties (making it impossible to keep track). He'd appreciated that she spoke to him in Spanish and was polite with her requests and so sometimes also brought bowls of fresh fruit for her to snack on while she lounged in the sun.

Basically, this vacation was the best thing ever and exactly what she'd needed. And she was going to continue to enjoy the peace and relaxation until her phone beeped with a text from Raven.

lukes got trashed in sharkicane. apt probly uninhabitable. finding new shelter will update later

"WHAT?!"

[For the boy, the roomie, or anyone else who wants to call!]

Comments

[whoisalicewhite]

Parker sent Kathy a hasty text a little while later:

we're okay and there's gonna be a new special on Monday I think

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/158421/grilled-gulf-shark/

How is Mexico?

[spin_kick_snap]

Is Raven okay? where is she? what's happening?!

Sorry, Parker, Kathy needed a little more reassurance than that.

Also, I though Luke's was destroyed?

[whoisalicewhite]

well a lot of the outside is. And the inside.

Open-air barbecue!

That probably wasn't any more helpful, was it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Our apartment? Kathy sent. Also Raven?!!?!?

[whoisalicewhite]

...it was a really nice apartment?

Note past tense.

I *think* I saw Raven around. Fighting sharks. But, hard to tell, because: Raven.

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, yeah, that was a good point. Finding Raven was trickier than Waldo and Carmen Sandiego combined sometimes.

Is it completely gone?

She'd also noted that past tense, yeah.

[whoisalicewhite]

There's bits there? But there's also sharks still around.

So hopes of redecorating might have to wait until the shark-storm departed.

We'll fix it if it's fixable!

[spin_kick_snap]

It's the 'if' that was giving Kathy all kinds of anxiety.

what's the plan 4 the sharks?!

This was Fandom, they had to have something up their sleeves!

[whoisalicewhite]

Throw them back! If we don't make steaks out of them, I mean. Something to do with freezing them?

Clearly, Parker had been paying attention in between ducking and throwing things at them.

It's Hardison's plan, you know it'll work!
Parker had touching faith in Hardison's Science Chops.

[spin_kick_snap]

Which was nice of her, because Hardison didn't have faith in this plan.

Get their fins, too, Kathy typed savagely. Shark-fin soup for the whole island. I might even give up being a vegetarian for a little while to help.

THEY HAD DESTROYED HER HOUSE!

[whoisalicewhite]

Neat! I bet Eliot can make a really good shark-fin soup.

You know, in the diner that didn't exist any more.

..at home. Where you guys can stay while we fix Luke's.

The guys were probably going to insist on that for a while, yeah.

[spin_kick_snap]

Fortunately nothing bad would happen to Eliot's house, right?

I was hoping you'd say that, she admitted. We have another offer, but it means living in a city infested with demons for a bit. And she wasn't sure how well she'd do there for an extended period of time. Do we know how long it'll take to rebuild?

[whoisalicewhite]

Nope, sorry, Kathy. Way too early to tell. Or to know how soon we can get someone out to do it with big machines.

That one chaos insurance ad guy is probably giggling somewhere.

[tigerundercover]

It took Raven awhile to find a spot where she could shift into something with fingers. And not get her phone wet.

so Im thinking of finding a cave. it seems like the easiest thing

[spin_kick_snap]

Forget texting. Kathy was calling as soon as she got another text.

And if Raven took longer than, say, three rings to answer, Kathy might have an anxiety attack and try to book a portal home stat.

Nice, sane reaction, that.

[tigerundercover]

How about two and a half? Look, it was really wet and windy around here. Also: full of sharks.

Raven found herself a nice little hidey-hole in a windbreak and answered.

"Hi!" Sorry about the yelling, Kathy. Sharkicanes are loud. "How's Mexico?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Mexico?!" Kathy yelped. "Forget Mexico! How are you?! Are you safe? Are you hurt? Why are there sharks--never mind, that's not important."

It was Fandom. That was a good enough 'why sharks' as any.

[tigerundercover]

"It's alright, I've been a giant armadillo-turtle most of the time. Too have to blow away, to hard to eat."

She sounded remarkably cheerful about that.

"I'm going to be super sore later, but it'd take getting broadsided by a megalodon or something to take me out."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy sank back into her beach chair, relief making her knees weak. Not only was Raven okay, she was really upbeat. That almost made up for their apparent lack of house.

"So, like...what happened?" she asked. "With the everything?"

[tigerundercover]

"I think a great white or something blew through the front windows of the diner. Then thrashed around for awhile and broke more stuff. The whole apartment got kind of . . . tipsy. So I got out of there."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Tipsy," Kathy repeated. That was not a word she liked associating with their house. "But it's still there? Just, like, uninhabitable?"

[tigerundercover]

"It could totally have gotten smashed by more sharks in the mean time," Raven said. "Looks like a lot of places have been. But last I saw it, everything was just falling over, not broken."

[spin_kick_snap]

Aww, c'mooon, Raven! Kathy had just allowed herself hope that the apartment might be okay!

"Seriously," Kathy said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "How is this hurricane full of sharks? I don't understand."

[tigerundercover]

"There's a possibility it started with mafia enforcers at the bakery." Raven didn't pay a LOT of attention to the radio, but she caught occasional bits. "But I can't say for sure."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Instead of leaving horse heads in beds, they're sending sharks?"

For some reason 'the sharks are the mafia enforcers' hadn't occurred to her. Go figure.