Overland Park, KS, Saturday Afternoon

[vanillajello]

Kate was nervous. And she thought she had every damn right to be. This was actually the first time ever she'd brought a boyfriend home to be introduced to her parents. (As always, Leto didn't count. They hadn't even kissed before he came home with her.) And that was just... Weird. It felt weird.

And anyway, in her mind, they were here more to get a break from Fandom. Not to make official introductions. But it was still a little terrifying, even if she wasn't really showing it.

They'd taken a bus from the airport and walked the rest of the way since it wasn't far from the bus stop, and Kate thought she could use the extra time to remind Bod of what he wasn't supposed to talk about. And to prepare herself for everything.

The first thing she noticed after they got to her house was that her dad's pick-up truck wasn't parked outside. Neither was The Green Hornet, her mom's car. But she was too nervous to think about what that might mean.

"So. That's my house," she said, nodding at the house and flashing a smile at Bod as she stopped to stand by the green mailbox, which had a few painted flowers on it and said 'The Gregsons' in Tara's handwriting. "Welcome to Oak Avenue."

[ooc: For that guy I modded a bit just now. NFB due to distance.]

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[therewaslife]

Bod followed suit, letting his bag settle near his feet while he looked around a little more.

"It seems like it'd be a good place to spend time. It's not sparse so you have things to do but it's not so overly filled that you can't find time to just relax. It's relaxing, that's a good word."

[vanillajello]

Kate gave him a sideways look and a fond smirk. "You're so analytical. It's a room."

And she liked hearing him talk about it more than she'd admit.

[therewaslife]

"It's a room when there's nothing in it," he argued, shaking his head and running his fingers over the spines of some of her books. "Right now, it's something more personal than just a room. Your room doesn't look the same as my room and it probably doesn't look like your brother's room either. It's personalized. It's more than a room."

[vanillajello]

"It's a room," she repeated, wandering over to the window to peer out, not really for any particular reason. Maybe she just didn't quite know what to do with herself. It felt weird that he was here with everything she'd left behind.

Weird, but good.

"A room with my crap in it."

[therewaslife]

Bod smiled at her stubborn insistence and wandered up to stand behind her so he could be close to her and see out the window.

"It's a good room with good things and a good person in it," he corrected quietly. "Argue with me if you must but you're not going to convince me otherwise."

[vanillajello]

Still looking out the window, Kate reached back for his hand, and maybe to tug him closer. Sure they were in front of a window, but it was easier to see out than it was to see in.

"Awesome person," was her contribution to the topic at hand.

[therewaslife]

"Awesome person, of course," he said, stepping up a little closer and sliding his arm around her waist from behind since that's about the only spot it could go.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly near her ear. "Can I do anything?"

[vanillajello]

Kate laughed quietly, leaning back against him a little as she covered that arm of his with hers. "I'm fine. You don't have to do anything."

[therewaslife]

"Good," he said, nodding and kissing the top of her shoulder. He did realize that he had his hands on her in her parents house but at least this was innocent touching.

"I like your mum and your brother," he told her quietly, keeping his eyes on the street outside your window. "You look like your mum."

[vanillajello]

"Do I?" she asked, keeping her voice as low as his, turning her head some to glance at him. "I don't think I do."

But of course, she knew things like that were more easy to spot from the outside.

[therewaslife]

"I think you do. There's a strong resemblance between you, your brother and your mum," he shared while smiling at her from the close proximity.

"But you do," he said again. "I could see it as soon as your mum walked into the kitchen."

[vanillajello]

"I don't think I look like Moosh, either," she said, but smiled at him anyway. "He looks like dad, though. Kinda."

[therewaslife]

"No, you don't look like your brother," he confirmed and wrinkled his nose at her. "I meant more that I can see your mum in both of you. Nothing else."

He fell quiet again, looking thoughtful and listening for any outside sounds before saying, "I sometimes wonder if I look like my parents. Maybe I look like my mum or my dad. Or maybe I look like neither."

[vanillajello]

"No way of knowing," she replied quietly, leaning back against him some more, as if she could wrap him around herself like a warm blanket.

"But I'm sure they were good looking people," she added, lightly.

[therewaslife]

That made him laugh and he got his other arm around her, pulling her back closer against him and giving into the urge to cuddle. Just like with the immaturity of earlier, it made him feel more relaxed.

"And lucky you, getting the benefits of my probable good genes," he snickered quietly, shaking his head. "It's nice to be here with you, Kate. It's nice to not have to wonder...things."

[vanillajello]

"It's nice that you're here," she sighed, not bothering to fight the urge to just close her eyes and enjoy being close to him for a moment. She thought she deserved it.

This was why all the terror was worth it.

"Makes it all less boring."

[therewaslife]

"I do pride myself on instilling some strangeness into any boring situation," he said, taking advantage of the position to kiss her cheek lightly. "I'm sure that quality of mine will transfer well from island to Kansas. If it doesn't, I'll just have to rely on being adorable the entire visit."

[vanillajello]

"I think adorable's preferable to being strange," Kate snickered, "but I'll take what I can get. And you are plenty adorable. I'm sure my family agrees."

[therewaslife]

"I think I'll be content knowing that I've made a positive impression. Any sort of positive impression," he replied and closed his eyes too.

"If they think I'm adorable, all the better," he added quietly. "That's plenty positive for me."

[vanillajello]

"You called my mom ma'am," she pointed out, amused by that. "You couldn't possibly make a more polite positive impression."

[therewaslife]

"She told me she wasn't a ma'am," he said and laughed. "I did it anyway. It's the consequence of having years of etiquette lessons alongside regular lessons. It's become almost second nature."

[vanillajello]

"Yeah, Mom's kind of a free spirit," she mused. "Or wants to be, anyway. She's an artist, y'know. And used to try to play, like, hip mom with me, but it... didn't really work out." She paused. "Maybe you saying ma'am just makes her feel old."

[therewaslife]

"I just wanted to be respectful," he explained with a slight shrug. "I'll try not to say ma'am too much more while we're here. Trust me, I just want to be respectful."

[vanillajello]

"I know," she assured him, giving his arm a light squeeze. "She knows too. You're doing fine. Better than fine. Muffin."

[therewaslife]

"That's so nice of you to say, Pudding," he laughed, shaking his head again. "I do appreciate the vote of confidence. I don't exactly do this all the time."

Or ever.