vanillajello | Overland Park, KS, Friday Afternoon (August)

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Overland Park, KS, Friday Afternoon (August)

The last weekend was still weighing on Kate, just a little bit. She figured that was unavoidable after you got pretend killed, but she'd been trying to keep herself occupied and distracted because it was probably for the best if she didn't think about it too hard.

This weekend was going to be better, though. Or at least that was the plan she was clinging to. She hadn't told anyone but Charmaine that she had a friend coming over, so she figured her whole family knew by now, because Char was not the greatest at not blabbing. Not that it was any major secret, Kate just would've preferred it if her family hadn't been likely to flock to be curious about her elusive Fandom friends.

But that was for later. As it got to be the afternoon, she wandered out of the house and down the street to where the portal tended to dump its transportees, and kept an eye on the houses nearby in case any neighbors decided to wander outside.

Oak Avenue had its fair share of weird without adding portal sightings to the mix.

[ooc: NFB, and for that guy. Not the usual one. The tall one with the scar, yeah, that one. But can be open for texts/calls before he shows up I s'pose!]

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"Well, technically you should probably be saying that to my sister," Tara noted, wryly. She was also going to let Charmaine handle the needlessly intrusive questions like the one about the scar. "But we tend to have an open door policy for Kate's friends."

When Kate bothered to let the two social spheres meet. Tara couldn't say she always minded that she often didn't.

"How was your flight? Oh, and are you hungry? Marsh just made muffins."

Which Kate was already helping herself to, yeah. No manners.

"Yeah, sure, I'll take one," Luke said, already moving to help himself so he wouldn't have to bother anybody. "My flight was fine. Super quick."

Super, super quick.

"Never been to Kansas before," he shared. "It's...a lot different from Fandom."

"I bet," Marshall couldn't help chiming in, because he'd been Kate's graduation guest, so he knew. Then he looked almost flustered at having spoken. "Um, and I'm Marshall, in case you didn't figure that out yet. Hi."

Kate shot him a sisterly, mocking smile. "Aww, baby brother."

Luke smirked at Kate before turning his attention towards Marshall. "Hey, Marshall. Kate's told me a lot about you---good things, by the way."

Oh, Marshall, don't look so surprised. "Really?"

Lionel waved a hand. "Enough about that, what I wanna know is why I've never heard of this guy before," he said, gesturing at Luke (oh so politely, except not) while directing his words at Kate. "What else have you been hiding from me, Katie?"

"Everything," Kate replied, flippantly. With a mouthful of muffin. It got her a mildly disapproving look from her mother.

"Really? Haven't heard a word?" Luke looked over at Kate and pretended to look insulted. "I think my ego's taken a hit, Kate."

"Oh pfft, like you haven't got enough to go around," Kate snorted with a dismissive wave. "Besides, this guy's seen half naked pictures of Nathan, so I think he's just greedy."

"... I'm trying not to hear that, Katie."

Kate turned towards Tara. "Mom, that wasn't my fault! That was totally Nathan's idea, you don't know what he's like."

Luke managed to swallow the bit of muffin he was eating so he didn't sound like a complete pig when he spoke up. "I can actually back her up about Nathan. He's...huh, it's hard to come up with a word that isn't totally unflattering."

"See?" Kate asked, nodding. "Nathan's beauty lies in him being so unashamedly himself that there aren't even any words to describe him that aren't semi-insulting."

Tara shook her head and gave them a... tolerant smile. "Well, then no one will probably be offended if I say I'm glad with your selection of friend to have visit, assuming Luke here isn't a Nathan in disguise."

"I swear I'm not," he said, lifting up his hands. "I would have picked a better disguise if I was."

'Cause, really, sickly looking demigod wasn't that clever.

Kate tilted her head at him for a moment, as if considering that, then waved a hand. "Anyway," she said. "Moosh, wanna come over and cook for us tonight? Pretty sure I can make there be some money in it for you."

Which was to say she was going to convince Charmaine to pay him. Marshall looked startled, just a little bit. "Uh, sure?"

"Great!" Kate replied, as if she'd gotten a more assured response. "So, I think we're gonna head back to our place now. Get Luke settled and meet Charmaine and stuff like that."

Tara nodded. "We'll be seeing you later, I'm sure."

Luke couldn't help but chuckle a little at Kate bossing her brother around. "Yeah I'm sure I'll be around. Nice meeting you all."

Really nice, actually. Looks like he remembered how to be normal after all.

He might've been getting ahead of himself since he hadn't met the pregnant tiara-making aunt yet.

A potentially nervewracking experience if there ever was one, though Kate was pretty sure he'd faced worse. Pretty sure.

"So, that was my mom, my brother, and my brother's boyfriend," she said, as she was leading him out of the house again. "Except I think they're not using that word."

"Ah. Yeah, I get that." What with him still sleeping with Percy. "They seem nice. What does your mom know about Fandom, by the way?"

"A big fat nothing," Kate snorted, even if that wasn't strictly speaking true. "Well, I mean, she knows the school's a little on the eccentric side and that it's pretty... international. But nothing about all the multidimensional horror show side of it."

"Probably for the best," he decided. "But your brother knows, right?"

"I think it got a little hard to keep him in the dark after there were Vikings crawling all over my graduation ceremony," she replied wryly. "But yeah, he's actually known since... my first fall in Fandom? A guy showed him alien technology while he was visiting for Parents Weekend."

"He knew and he wasn't clamoring to register and join the fun?" Luke said, laughing a little.

"Well, actually, he was, for like two seconds," Kate said with a shrug. "But, then things got more interesting for him here again, and that just sorta went away. And I'm glad, 'cause I'd like to keep him in one piece."

"Oh right, Fandom's kind of nuts for normal people," he said, shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm using it as a safe space."

"Yeah, all the threats on my life that have ever happened have either been on Fandom, or directly because of it," she agreed. "So, yeah. Your situation's weird, if undertandable."

"I'm not so sure of how understandable it is anymore," Luke said, realizing he had only told Percy about how he thought he was making a mistake. "I mean, yeah, people still want me dead back home but I'm beginning to think they might have a point in wanting that."

Kate stopped on the porch, figuring this wasn't exactly something she wanted her aunt to overhear.

"What?" she asked, eloquently, tilting her head. "But I thought you, like... believed in your cause and stuff?"

"I did," he said quietly. "But I'm beginning to realize that Percy was right. I'm trading in a bad regime for a worse one."

"Which is...?"

Yeah, this was probably a good time to remember he'd said he had demigods and some other kind of ally, and she hadn't asked about that because it was all beyond her understanding. But she raised an eyebrow now.

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