33 Apocalypse Ave, Saturday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

After a night spent crashing in the front room catching up on some of the K-dramas that had come out while she'd been dead, Kathy decided that it was a good morning to make a hearty Korean breakfast. It was definitely cold enough that the hotteok sellers would be out in force in the streets of K-town and gaeran tost-u was always a hearty breakfast food. Kathy decided to make something like a Southwestern vegetarian omelette for the tost-u and set to work chopping, dicing, and slicing the fillings while waiting for the hotteok dough to rise. She still wasn't up to eating meat yet, but figured everyone else in the house would appreciate a side of bacon with their meals. And maybe if she fried the tost-u bread in the bacon drippings, she could get a little bit of the flavor without tripping over her current aversion to meat?

It was worth a shot, anyway.

Not knowing that anything was weird yet, Kathy danced and sang around the kitchen, hoping Raven had fallen asleep in her room last night instead of out in a tree somewhere, planning on waking the guys up with breakfast in bed. It was a good morning and already the house was beginning to smell of delicious sugary pancakes, frying bacon, and brewing coffee.

And the strains of upbeat pop music, too. Because you couldn't cook breakfast without bouncing around to the bippiest music you could find.

[Open for housemates and wandering children alike, warning for SP in the afternoon]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

The boy had woken up in a strange bed and snuck out of it, wary eyes considering the house.

He tiptoed into the living room, following his nose... closely. He wound up leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, squintingly spying on the singing woman.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Quiero ver bailar tu pelo, quiero ser tu ritmo
Que le enseñes a mi boca tus lugares favoritos..."

Look, if you couldn't sing the catchiest song of the summer in the privacy of your own home, where could you sing it?

Hips swaying, grooving to the beat that existed only in her head, Kathy danced between the table and the oven, using a spatula as mic in between moving the hatteok from the pan to a plate.

"Déjame sobrepasar tus zonas de peligr--ah!" Kathy had caught sight of Dante mid-spin and startled. It was a miracle that she hadn't accidentally burned herself on the oven when she flinched back into the oven. One of the pancakes was lost, though, toppling off the plate and landing on the floor. "Oh my goodness, you scared the he--heck out of me!"

Beat.

"...Dante?" She remembered this little boy, skinny and scared and determined not to show it, hoovering down pizza and reading her comic books back at the dorms, years ago now.

[rebelseekspizza]

The little boy took a quick, wary step back, watching her with dark eyes.

"You wanted to say 'hell'."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I did," Kathy admitted, staying where she was. "But swearing in front of younger kids sets a bad example."

She was pretty sure that even at this age, Dante could out-cuss her. But it was the principle of the matter, dammit.

"But it's only a saying," she continued. "I should have said that you scared the 'daylights' out of me instead. That would be more polite." She offered him a small smile. "You're not gonna make me wash my mouth out with soap for swearing are you?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"No," the boy said, his expression steady. "You're big."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I am," Kathy said, looking at him just as steadily. "But we both know that grownups can make mistakes and do things they should get in trouble for."

Should being the operative word there.

She brought the plate of hatteok to the table, keeping her movements slow and deliberate. "Breakfast is almost ready," she told him. "If you're hungry, there's plenty. You can eat until you're full."

[rebelseekspizza]

"No, we don't."

Not in the boy's world, at least. He'd never seen anyone who did anything bad to him get in trouble. Not ever.

"Are you just giving that to me?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, he lived in a fucked up world where nuns were demons in disguise who ate children.

"Yes I am," Kathy told him. "You're free to eat as much as you like, provided you don't make yourself sick. And there's plenty, so you can help yourself or you can ask me for something. Whichever you feel more comfortable with."

She put two of the biggest, fluffiest pancakes onto a plate, the brown sugar stuffing oozing down the side in tasty, caramelized goodness. Next to that, she added a gaeran tost-u and a couple of strips of bacon and then set the whole thing down on the side of the table closest to him.

And then she added the same to her plate, minus the bacon, taking a quick bite of each. Just in case he was worried about what she'd put into the food.

[rebelseekspizza]

The boy... was starving. After watching her eat, he realized he was too hungry to care if she was trying to do anything to him. He was pretty sure he could take her, anyway.

He rushed the table, sitting down and grabbing his fork. Cut off a large piece of the pancake and shoved it in his mouth, chewing rapidly.

He barely even tasted it.

[vdistinctive]

There came a very polite shave-and-a-haircut knock on the door.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy finished the double knock on the door before opening it, looking down (and down) at the little boy standing on the stoop in front of her. "And good morning to you," she said, resigned to it being one of those weird weekends. Her boyfriend and her bestie were kids, and she hadn't yet worked up the...courage? resignation?...to check to see if Anders was as well, so it made sense everyone else would be as well.

Kathy was profoundly appreciative the island had skipped her, even if it did mean she'd be running Kathy's Home For Wayward Kids this weekend. In fact, she was kind of looking forward to it. Kathy loved kids.

"Hungry?" she asked, figuring that was an easy place to start while she tried to figure out who this guy was. The list of people who'd come seeking her out deliberately was pretty short, but she wouldn't put it past these kids to just randomly knock on doors in search of food.

[vdistinctive]

"Ooo, there's food?" That wasn't actually why he'd come over here, but Eliot was always hungry. "I came over to see if you wanted to play."

Kathy was super-fast! Perfect for running around the park until the grownups stopped looking like they wanted to nail you to the ground!

[spin_kick_snap]

She was at that! And that was also perfect for getting kids tired out until all they wanted to do was nap!

...In fairness, odds were pretty good Kathy would also want to nap after running around in the park for hours.

"That does sound like fun," she said. "But only after a good breakfast so we have lots of energy to play. Have you had breakfast yet?"

Yes, she was going to interrogate you about what you ate, Eliot. She cared about your nutrition.

[vdistinctive]

"Nope!" He'd eaten some of Parker's cereal, but Kathy didn't need to know that.

[spin_kick_snap]

Parker's cereal didn't count as food anyway. It was sugar and food dye and puffed rice for structure.

"Good, then why don't you come in and wash up, then take a seat at the table for some breakfast?" she invited. "And after breakfast we can talk about how you want to spend the day, huh?"

[vdistinctive]

"Ugh, you sound like my mom," Eliot said, even as he went to go do exactly that. "I thought I was supposed to boss you around."

[spin_kick_snap]

Definitely Eliot.

"Nope!" Kathy said cheerfully. "This weekend I get to do the bossing. And if you really want me to sound like your mom, I can check to make sure you've washed behind your ears, too."

This is what happened when you let the teenage mom friend be in charge all weekend. They went mad with power.

[tigerundercover]

Judging by the blue girl climbing in through the window, no. Raven had not slept in her room last night. She hit the floor

"Hi! What're you making? I want pancakes."

At least she'd aged back to an age when she was reasonably domesticated.

[spin_kick_snap]

At least by this point, Kathy didn't jump out of her skin when Raven slipped into the kitchen. But then, she was used to her bestie eschewing things like 'doors' and 'creature comforts' in favor of windows.

"Lucky for you then, I'm making Korean pancakes," Kathy said, glancing over her shoulder to give Raven a welcoming smile. She'd get a hug in a moment, just as soon as Kathy finished flipping the eggs. "And also fancy egg sandwiches. You hungry?"

Raven, most people were feral children when they were children. Just pointing that out.

[tigerundercover]

She'd been that way, too! Just, you know, before she moved in with Charles.

"Yes please!" Raven ran over to the table, shifting as she went into a little blonde girl. "Do you want me to set the table?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I would like that very much," Kathy said, her heart twisting a little as she watched Raven change. "Is that how you want to look today?" she checked. "Because you're welcome to stay blue if you want. You should look how you want to."

[tigerundercover]

Raven gave her a Look. "I always look like this at the breakfast table. It's polite."

And good practice for when she got to actually go to school and be in public and all that.

[spin_kick_snap]

"In this house," Kathy said, literal hands on hips and metaphorical ass on her shoulders, "we consider it more polite that people look how they wanna look at the breakfast table."

So suck on that, Xaviers.

"This you is very pretty. But so is the real you. And you don't ever have to feel like you should look a certain way while you're in our house, okay?"

She was going to preach acceptance and love to everyone all day. That, and the importance of nutrition.

[tigerundercover]

"Soooo, if I wanted to look like a giant booger at the table, you would be totally fine with that?"

[spin_kick_snap]

If this were normal Raven, Kathy would tell her that she was always a giant booger. Because friendship was giving each other shit.

"You ooze mucus anywhere, you're cleaning it up," she said instead, because ground rules were important. "Or are you thinking of being a gross crusty booger instead?"