A Pink Corner House, Bristol, Saturday Afternoon

[vanillajello]

Thanks to her dreams, Kate had woken up today to the completely crushing thought that there'd be no more lazy mornings of waking up happy and clinging and sprawling, and having the familiar smell of pale graveyard boy be the first thing to register with her about a new day.

Taking that into account, it was really no surprise she'd been feeling a little on the quiet and brooding side of things after getting up. Apparently things were really starting to sink in, and maybe she was starting to sink with them.

She'd be harassing Mitchell for a night at the pub today, she was sure. Or a tiny house party. Or something. Anything to get her out of this mood.

But right now she was looking through the music collection on the shelves in the living room. That was a distraction, at least, if only a tiny one.

[ooc: NFB, open to bristolians and/or people with telephones!]

Comments

[chosehumanity]

At some point, Nina came downstairs.

She muttered a brief "Hi," as she headed for the front door, her head hanging low. She didn't seem particularly up for conversation; in fact, she was already pulling on the door handle.

[[ you're going to get all the bristolians passing by now, ma'am. be careful who you open to! ]]

[vanillajello]

Kate glanced at her, briefly. "Hi." No, she wasn't much for conversation either, really. "Leaving?"

Okay, maybe just the tiniest bit.

[Well, it was a risk I was willing to take.]

[chosehumanity]

Nina opened her mouth like she wanted to say more, and wound up going with "...Yeah," before ducking her head and slipping out the door.

She shut it rather loudly behind her.

George picked that exact moment to start whistling obnoxiously upstairs.

[vanillajello]

Kate quirked an eyebrow almost imperceptibly at the door, then made a face at the whistling.

And then she went back to running her fingertips along the row of CD cases.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell came down a few minutes later, his feet thudding down the stairs rather loudly. "George!" he hollered, "Keep it down, will ya?"

The resulting answer was muffled, but it sounded vaguely obscene.

[vanillajello]

Kate snorted, but didn't react much in any other way. Her head was tilted sideways as her eyes scanned names of artists and the titles of their works.

Maybe she'd make a random mix cd or something. She did have her laptop with her.

[chosehumanity]

"Kate!" Mitchell called, once he'd rounded the wall beside the stairs and made his way into the living room. "I was going to head out for some lunch, y'wanna come?"

[vanillajello]

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, then glanced in the general direction of the upstairs before shrugging a shoulder. "Sure."

[chosehumanity]

"Excellent." If Kate was in a crap mood, Mitchell seemed intent on ignoring it. "Grab your coat, we'll head down a few blocks."

Annie wafted in from the kitchen with two travel mugs in hand. "Ooh, wait!" she called, "I made you some tea, just in case you get thirsty on the way!"

Mitchell had a feeling George's latest rant about Annie's incessant tea-and-coffee-making wasn't far off.

[vanillajello]

Kate was just pulling her jacket on – she'd already managed one sleeve – and raised her eyebrows at Annie.

"... Tea for the walk?" she asked, mildly incredulous.

[chosehumanity]

"It doesn't hurt to have some, does it?" Annie asked, as a perturbed Mitchell took the cup she'd practically shoved at him. "I mean, here I am, making all this tea, and you're headed out-- it's a bit like playing at being a barista, isn't it?"

... and now Mitchell had the weird, niggling idea that this was going to bite him in the arse somehow.

[vanillajello]

"I see," Kate said as she slid her other arm into the other sleeve, though she really didn't. "Don't baristas kinda tend to wait for people to come to them to serve them, and not wait until they're leaving?"

But having pulled on her cute monkey hat, she reached for a cup, anyway.

[chosehumanity]

"I'll get all the details sorted later," said Annie, beaming.

Mitchell shot her a wary look. "...What details?"

"Go on, go on, you don't want to be late, do you?" she said, in lieu of an answer, and began to shoo both of them towards the door.

Wary look became funny look, but Mitchell went for the door anyway.

[vanillajello]

Even Kate managed to give her a mildly curious look, despite her current general lack of caring, but didn't bother to ask. She just followed Mitchell instead, stuffing one hand into her jacket pocket.

[chosehumanity]

"Now what could that possibly be about?" Mitchell asked, half-rhetorically, the minute the door slammed shut behind them.

He took a helpful sip of his tea, too.

[vanillajello]

Kate sipped on her own tea, and if she shrugged, her jacket somehow obscured it completely.

"Hmh."

She was such a brilliant conversationalist today. Sorry, Mitchell.

[chosehumanity]

"Right," he replied. "Thanks, meta for Lurch. Come on, then." He nodded down the street, and began walking.

[vanillajello]

She made a face at his back for that comment, but caught up with him to walk along beside him, anyway, looking ahead with an air of disinterest.

"So. What's for lunch?"

[chosehumanity]

"Pub grub," said Mitchell, shooting her an idle glance. "Who knows, get a couple of hamburgers in you, you might get chatty."

Between Nina's and Kate's silences, and George's general dickheadedness of late, he was going to get a headache.

[vanillajello]

"I woke up today to the realization that I'm totally alone for the first time in way over a year, so I don't know if you actually want me to get chatty," Kate replied over the rim of her cup of tea, before pausing for a sip. "Also, I'm having a beer and you can't stop me."

It wouldn't get her drunk but it'd be a step in the right direction.

[chosehumanity]

"I wouldn't even try," Mitchell assured her. "A pint or two's good for a growing girl, right?"

Cigarettes, and now booze. Mitchell was not going to win the Responsible Adult of the Year award.

[vanillajello]

No, but it wasn't the one he ought to have been aiming for, anyway. Best Friend of the Year was better.

Though the contenders were pretty few in both categories when it came to Kate's life, during this particular year, and it would only get worse before the year was out.

"Right," she said, and did almost approach a wry tone. "Smart dude."