75 Godiva, Sunday evening

[vdistinctive]

There wasn't anything quantifiable that Eliot could nail down, but he could tell when Fandom managed to shake off its latest evil invasion. It was like an enormous, evil weight had been lifted from the world.

It was an enormous relief, but mostly Eliot kind of wanted to take a nap. Again. Apparently freaking out as hard as he had took a lot out of a person, more than sleeping a good 10 hours straight thanks to the medication Hardison had dug up.

"Right," he said. "So . . . what. We should be good through, like, March now, right?"

[ooc: for the family, especially, but can also be open!]

Comments

[whoisalicewhite]

"Yup," Parker said, folding herself up on the counter, and nibbling on some popcorn. Again. "Unless something hits around Valentine's Day, but those are usually just one day and pretty romance-silly-themed."

[vdistinctive]

"Yeah, the horniness pollen doesn't usually try to kill us," Eliot said. He didn't even give her grief for the popcorn.

Honestly, popcorn sounded kind of good.

[whoisalicewhite]

Easy to make, high in fiber, what wasn't to love? She leaned over to put some in front of him on the table, keeping her balance precariously. "So do you want to talk about it, or do we just go on with everything the way it was?"

[vdistinctive]

"Since when do you do emotional debriefing?" Eliot asked, snagging a few kernels and popping them in his mouth. "Thought we let that be Hardison's thing?"

[whoisalicewhite]

She shrugged a little, then grimaced. "Something he said, earlier. While you were freaking out. That he should have talked to you more about what happened last year. Like it was his job, you know? And it just felt like it shouldn't all be on him to figure this stuff out. Even though he's way better at it."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Sometimes that's when the kids show up," Hardison said. "I like the kids."

They were all pretty great.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Maybe even April," Hardison said, sounding tired. "I'm votin' for April."

[vdistinctive]

"Later the better," Eliot agreed. "Never'd be nice, but I'm tryin' to be realistic."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison draped himself over Eliot, long limbs draped everywhere, a lap blanket to go with the Parker-blanket over his shoulders. "One day, one of these things is gonna need to be solved by a heist an' we'll be golden."

[vdistinctive]

"'Cept for how we'll have about 30 or 40 extra people wantin' in on the action to plan around," Eliot said. Only having to worry about poorly trained security guards again would be great, though.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"We'll tell 'em all they're distractions," Hardison said. "Make all be a part of a flash mob we incorporate into the heist. It'll work. 'Specially if we give 'em all code names."

Everybody liked code names.

[tigerundercover]

"It's not . . . all all over," Raven pointed out, still looking ten years old and blonde. She pointed to Kathy. "Little bit of clean up left."

[godilovedthis]

"Hello!" Kathy said, waving.

[tigerundercover]

"Hi," Raven said, slightly less patiently than the last half-dozen times. She'd been tiny and blonde for a whole day now, and she wasn't used to disguising herself for this long anymore. She was tired. "Don't suppose you have instructions on you somewhere for what to do when you're done saving everyone?"

[godilovedthis]

Kathy looked down at her arms. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe?"

Though she didn't see anything that seemed appropriate. "Maybe Dante or Anders will know. They know everything. Or maybe Star...somebody. Or Carthage."

Beat.

"Hannibal. That's on my arm."

[tigerundercover]

"The old doctor guy?" Raven frowned. "Does it say why?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison went over to her. "Yo, if I pick you up an' give you a big hug, what are the odds you'll turn into a bear an' maul me?"

[tigerundercover]

"I don't know. Turning into a bear sounds like a really good stretch, right now."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison nodded at Kathy. "I think Eliot's got her entertained right now," he said. "If you wanna go out back an' take a breather? I'll stand between you an' a window or whatever."

[tigerundercover]

Raven looked over at Kathy. "What if she leaves without saying goodbye?"

She might be tired, but Kathy was still her best friend, even if she was only half there and didn't remember that part.

[godilovedthis]

Kathy was scratching at the back of her neck, where the skin felt weird--flaky and a little hard. There were similar patches all over her today: under her arms, on one side of her ribcage, along one hip. It was probably a mercy that she didn't remember them when she wasn't scratching.

"You know, I think I'm not very nice," she said, meditatively.

[vdistinctive]

Eliot was very firmly not thinking about those patches. Very, very firmly.

"What makes you say that, darlin'?"

[godilovedthis]

"Cause I talked to me and I was kinda mean," Kathy said. "Judgey."

[vdistinctive]

"You talked to -- the other you," Eliot gathered, after a moment of total confusion. "It ain't easy facin' down yourself, darlin'. Especially when you can actually remember all the stuff you feel like you've done wrong. I'm sure that's all it was."

[godilovedthis]

"I don't think she wanted me here," Kathy said, frowning, her fingers moving to her side. Under her shirt, some of the skin looked oddly gray. "She definitely didn't want me fighting. Which isn't fair. That's why I came."