33 Apocalypse Ave, Saturday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

For a moment after her alarm went off, Kathy had no idea why she'd even set it. It was the weekend, she had neither work nor class today, she could sleep late if she wanted to. And, slapping blearily at her beeping phone, Kathy very much wanted to. She was warm, lying in a tangle of bodies, still more than a little tired from the night before, which had included a much better resolution that last year's prom.

Oh. Right. Prom. The wheels in her brain started to slowly turn as she put two and two together. Alarm. Unlocked front door. Day after prom. Yes.

"Get up," she said, poking at whoever was closest. "Kids are probably coming. C'mon, get up."

She wanted to be dressed and making breakfast by the time the inevitable horde descended on the house, dammit. But she wasn't going to be doing it alone.

"Get up or I swear I will send the first kid who shows up to come and wake you up proper."

Kathy that was just mean.

[Open to boyfriends, housemates, AU children of all varieties, and guests!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"You think so?" Kathy asked, biting down on a 'how does that make you feel?' at the last minute. No child of Dante's and Ada's would look favorably on that question. "Because it's your dad's last year?"

Why did she seem so wistful over tiny Ada?

[janiesgotguns]

Nothing she'd say anything about.

"He seems happy like this," she said. "So yeah."

She didn't mind. She had her own dad.

[spin_kick_snap]

"He's happy having you here, too," she pointed out with a smile. "Doesn't matter how happy he is like this; if the island brings you back, there will always be room for you."

That was a promise Kathy felt okay about making on Dante's behalf.

[janiesgotguns]

"Sure," said Janie, but she didn't sound like that meant much to her.

She only had her dad, for the most part, back home. And he gave her all the room he had. It made all of this... different.

"Who else's here?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would get that, though.

"You mean besides the kids?" Kathy asked, since she'd already told Janie about them. "Anders, who you probably know? And that's Raven," she said, pointing. "She's my best friend and old roommate. I don't think you've met her. She was out in LA with me."

Beat.

"Thanks for sending me that video," she said finally. "Sounds like you heard enough to know I'd want it."

[janiesgotguns]

Janie shrugged one shoulder. "Nobody should be that alone."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're a damn insightful person, you know that?" Kathy asked.

She didn't mean for a kid. She meant in general.

[janiesgotguns]

"Yeah, I know," Janie said brightly, with the confidence of a small child. "But thanks, I guess."

Could she have more pancakes now?

[spin_kick_snap]

It always came down to food.

"Glad to see you're aware," Kathy said, coincidentally finishing up another stack of strawberry pancakes. Look, what she knew of kids mostly involved feeding them. "Want these? There's syrup and whipped cream on the table."

[janiesgotguns]

"Yes please," Janie said, her eyes lighting up as her small hands scrambled for the plate.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy filled the plate with far more pancakes than one little girl should be able to eat--except she knew who Janie's dad was. Even if Janie couldn't fit them all, she figured Dante would hoover the rest.

"There are always more where these came from," Kathy said, because she'd heard Dante's threat, thank you. "So if you want 'em, just ask and I'll make more."

Assuming she could stop the twins from stealing the rest of the strawberries.

[janiesgotguns]

Janie pulled the plate towards herself, grabbing a big chunk of the pancakes with the other hand - scaled fingers visible for a few stray moments before she popped the bite into her mouth.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nearly said something about washing her hands before eating, but she remembered the way Janie had looked coming in, fists clenched beneath her sleeves, keeping her hands from view. And what she'd glimpsed hadn't looked like dirt, exactly; the light had caught it, which was what had drawn Kathy's notice in the first place.

So Kathy did what anyone would do--fetched the syrup and the whipped cream and set them in front of the girl. "There's plenty of syrup and I can make more whipped cream, so help yourself," she said cheerfully, paying no attention to the girl's hands, not even surreptitiously.

...Look, she knew that no child of Dante's and Ada's would appreciate some stranger prying into her secrets. Better to let it go for now and see if it became obvious later. And if it didn't?

Well, a girl had to have some secrets, didn't she?

[janiesgotguns]

"Thanks," Janie said. She shoved more pancake into her mouth. "'s my second."

Because of course Dante had gotten her some, too.

[spin_kick_snap]

Good. Kathy was all in favor of kids getting plenty to eat, even if it was just pancakes. At least there was fruit?

"If you finish off the whipped cream, wanna help me make more?" she offered. "That comes with spoon-licking privileges."

[janiesgotguns]

Janie tilted her head, considering that. "Whipped cream's good for me," she decided.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm pretty sure whipped cream is good for all kids under ten," Kathy said, amused. "Well, when you finish eating breakfast, I could use your help. I'm pretty sure we're going to be going through a lot of whipped cream this weekend."

And yeah, they could just buy more, but making it wasn't all that hard and had the added benefit of letting kids help.