vanillajello | Overland Park, KS, Saturday Afternoon

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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"That's my dad," Kate said, helpfully. In case Bod hadn't figured that one out yet. She was sure he was totally red right now, but she wasn't looking at him, either.

"Yeah," Max said. "Max Gregson. From Kansas."

He might have been making fun of the boy. He took a step closer, offering Bod his hand a little stiffly. Still didn't look too happy.

[And I sleep! Night!]

No, he didn't look too happy at all and Bod hesitated a bit because he thought Mr. Gregson make take advantage of the grip and throw him out the window.

"Hullo, sir," Bod finally said, taking the offered hand and trying to manage a grip that wasn't weak and limp. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for letting me visit."

[Sleep well! Night!]

Max's handshake was firm but brisk. At least he didn't throw Bod out the window. He might have been thinking about doing it, but he didn't. So that was something.

"Well, any friend of Kate's is welcome here."

At least until the point they were found wrapped around her. Too bad for Bod.

Max said nothing to continue that, just eyed both of them wearily. And Kate? Kate was at a loss for words because she felt like whatever she might say would escalate the situation.

Too bad, indeed. He hadn't even been in Kansas that long and he already had caused trouble by being unable to keep his hands to himself. And now there was an uncomfortable silence to deal with and it felt like he was supposed to say something.

"Your house is very nice, sir." All right, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say but he felt the need to say something. Bringing more attention to the situation at hand didn't seem logical, Kate was acting like she'd lost her voice so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"We just redecorated it," Max said, not terribly impressed by Bod's choice of comment but letting it slide. He could've said worse things. "Most of it."

There was a random spot of white paint on Kate's wall right by the door, where someone had painted over the original pink. They'd get to actually painting the room sometime later. Maybe.

Kate got her voice back after yet another short but awkward silence. "Um, did you say something about food?"

"Yeah," Max said. "Indian. Downstairs. If you want."

Edited 2010-08-23 13:26 (UTC)

Oh, Bod was sincerely thinking about climbing out of Kate's window and making a quick escape. Where she'd found her voice, he didn't know what else to say. The damage had been fairly well done and he thought further words from him would exacerbate that.

He did jam his hands into pockets like he'd never take them out again and glanced over at Kate for the first time since her father had arrived. He was just...going to follow her lead.

And probably get blamed for that too.

Kate glanced back at him, quickly, like she wasn't supposed to be doing that, before nodding a few times at her dad.

"Uh huh. We'll be right down." Pause. "Food, yay."

Oh look, someone was trying too hard.

Max looked from one to the other, then shook his head and shrugged. "Okay," he said, turning to leave, but before he did... "Kate? A word, later."

And with those ominous words, he exited. Kate felt like collapsing.

"Um."

And that was the only word that Bod could seemingly get out. He was almost afraid to move, like someone bigger than even her father would show up at the door if he did.

"Uh."

Well, there was another word. He desperately wanted to say something to soothe things over but that was probably impossible.

Highly improbable, at least.

"So," Kate said, bringing her hands together in front of her, not really knowing what to do with herself. "That was my dad."

"So, I'd guessed," he said, nodding and rocking back and forth on his feet. "He's rather..."

Hm. What was a good word to use here, Bod wondered.

"Tall."

"He is." Well he was! Really, even Kate would've had to admit that he'd kinda looked even... taller, just now.

She turned her head to look at him. "Are you freaked out?"

Bod shook his head after a moment. "I'm not freaked out, no. I'm a little worried about what he might say to you since you weren't the only one at fault and whether I'm going to be welcome here again but I'm not afraid."

Kate was definitely a little freaked out, though mostly because it had all happened so suddenly.

"It's gonna be fine," she said, though she wasn't really sure about that. She shook her head. "He should learn how to knock."

And they should learn how to not be dumb.

Bod managed a quiet, forced laughed and looked down at his feet. "We probably shouldn't stay up here alone for too much longer, though. I might end up freaked out then. Your father has a rather strong grip and I'm nowhere near as strong as he probably is."

Nowhere near it.

"He's a landscaper. He does a lot of manual labor."

Which was just Kate's way of saying that yes, her dad was strong as well as tall.

It wasn't too reassuring.

"So, I guess we should go eat."

"Yes," he agreed, finally pulling his hands out of his pockets and gesturing towards the door. "After you. I'll just follow and continue to hope for the best."

Bod was trying to remain optimistic that what had just happened would be the worst of the visit. It could have been worse. That was a plus.

It could have been much, much worse, and that was something Kate was holding on to. So very very hard.

"It'll be okay," she said as she started towards the door. "It'll go fine."

It was probably going to be a very awkward dinner. But they'd get through it.

"I believe you." He did. He just didn't know if her belief and his optimism would be enough to make it true. He hoped it would.

"And if it doesn't, I'm sure I can camp out somewhere nearby," he said, teasing as he followed her out of her room.

Oddly, Bod would probably take an awkward dinner right about now. At least that was normal. And didn't involve a lot of pain.

"At least it's warm so you won't get cold," Kate said, shooting him a quick, mildly amused smile over her shoulder, before heading for the stairs.

"Let's go. Off to our doom."

It wasn't going to be that bad, really.

Overland Park, KS, Saturday Afternoon

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