33 Apocalypse Ave, Wednesday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

By the kindness of fate--or perhaps the influence of Fandom--Kathy had treated herself to a long bath and a book the night before, ending up falling asleep in her own room mere pages from the end up the book. This bit of unexpected luck allowed the Kathy that woke up the following morning to have at least a little while before she was unexpectedly traumatized. At thirteen and still several years before attending Fandom or developing superpowers, this Kathy was a little less trained to roll with the punches.

But for now, she got washed up and dressed, then headed downstairs to make herself a bowl of cereal and some toast before figuring out what to do with the day.

And wow. That was a lot of booze and leftover pizza to shove into one fridge. Huh.

[Open!]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Raven was swinging through for breakfast on her way to work, and stopped and blinked when she saw Kathy.

"Um," she said. "Hi there."

Clone, or de-aging? It wasn't the morning after prom, so this probably wasn't a random future kid, at least. . . .

[spin_kick_snap]

WAS EVERYONE IN THIS HOUSE A NUDIST?!?

Kathy shyly waved at the blue girl, trying not to stare. She was clearly some kind of hero, but Kathy couldn't put a name to her. "Uh, hi? Would... would you like a bowl of cereal?" she asked with big eyes.

[tigerundercover]

Hey now, it wasn't Raven's fault that Dante was trying to steal her shtick.

"Cereal sounds good, thanks," Raven said, giving the girl a smile. She really really looked like a tiny Kathy, so that's what Raven decided she was. It was adorable. "Any big plans for the day?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"No, ma'am, I don't think so," Kathy said, very politely keeping her eyes on Raven's own so they wouldn't get distracted and start...looking. At everything. Right. "I'm here for an enrichment program through my school."

Very vague, like she couldn't quite remember all the details. All that mattered was that she was supposed to be here, right?

"But I'll definitely find something to do!" she added quickly, lest this person think she was slacking off. "I just, umm, haven't yet. Sorry."

[tigerundercover]

"You can relax," Raven assured her. "I'm not keeping track or anything." Tiny!Kathy clearly didn't recognize her, so she offered her hand. "I'm Raven, by the way. I live here. Sort of."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hi," Kathy said, gravely extending her hand. "I'm Kathy Li. Thank you for your hospitality during my stay."

Even if this was a house of nudists.

"If there's, umm, any way I can be of assistance while I'm here, I would be happy to help."

Honey, you had bangs. Clearly you couldn't even help yourself.

[tigerundercover]

"Nice to meet you, Kathy," Raven said. "That's nice of you to offer, but I'm pretty sure the rule is that if you're the guest, you don't have to do anything you don't want. Now, is there anything you need from us to make you more comfortable?"

She would even be willing to put on clothes for awhile, if it helped. Or at least pretend to.

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh, but Kathy could never ask. That would be rude.

"Oh no," she said hastily, shaking her head. "No, thank you, everything is lovely. My bed is huge!"

That last was true. Kathy had never even seen a kingsize bed before.

[tigerundercover]

"Sure is," Raven agreed with a little laugh. "Big enough for three whole people, practically."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, like siblings?" Kathy asked, not having braved certain parts of the internet. "I had to share a bed with my little sister when we were younger, too. But then we got bunkbeds."

[tigerundercover]

". . . Sure." Raven might change her mind later, but for right now, she was not going to break tiny!Kathy's brain. "Or, like, if someone wanted to bring a big dog or something."

[spin_kick_snap]

That make Kathy break out into a big grin, and even under the bangs and the features that didn't quite fit right, there was no mistaking Kathy in that grin.

"Is there a big dog?" she asked, looking around like she might just have missed it walking in.

[tigerundercover]

"Not right now," Raven said apologetically. "Well. Unless I get into a Mood, you know?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"...No?"

Not even a little bit, Raven.

[tigerundercover]

That was fair.

"Well, okay. There are people where you're from with superpowers, right?" she asked. She was pretty sure the powers had started manifesting in Kathy's world by the time Kathy was about this age. "I can do this."

And she shifted into a big, white, fluffy wolf.

"Woof."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy looked at Raven, utterly pole-axed. On the one hand, a woman just turned into a wolf in her kitchen. On the other hand, a woman just turned into a wolf! In her own kitchen!

She squeaked, clasping both hands over her mouth in excitement. And nervousness. And to keep from saying something she that could be rude, like, 'Nice, doggie.'

[tigerundercover]

Raven sat down and tilted her head at Kathy, then stuck her nose under the girl's hand in the universal pet signal for "now pet me".

"Woof?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You want pettings? From me?"

No Kathy, from the other young teen sitting next to you. Honestly now.

Hesitantly, Kathy reached up to pet Miss Raven's furry head; not because she was worried about the wolf so much as because she'd never really pet anything outside of a few trips to a petting zoo and worried about doing it wrong. "Is this good?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven closed her eyes with a pleased expression, tail wagging, then shifted a little so that Kathy's hand petted a slightly different spot.

Look at that, Kathy! You're a natural.

[spin_kick_snap]

Aww, look how happy baby Kathy was. "This is so cool," she whispered. "No one would ever believe that I was this close to a shapeshifting superhero."

[tigerundercover]

"Aroo?" Raven asked. Wolves were fun, but trying to make their mouths the right shape for human words was a pain in the ass. She stepped back, shifting back into human form, albeit this time wearing pajamas. "Why not? You have a reputation as a liar back home?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"What?" Kathy yelped, wide-eyed. "Oh gosh no! I always try to be as honest as possible! Honest!"

[tigerundercover]

Raven had to chuckle at that. Because of course she did. "Then why shouldn't they believe you?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Because you're a superhero," Kathy breathed, eyes wide. Everyone with powers was a superhero. Obviously. Because what else would you do? "And I'm just--me. Kathy. Nobody special or important."

Awful of matter of fact about that, kid.

[tigerundercover]

"Actually, I run a glorified video arcade." Raven sat down next to her. "I don't think I'm actually cut out for being a hero."