I'm not a hardship. I'm awesome.

Time in Kansas was dragging on and things weren't getting any easier. Sure, Bryce had finally gone the fuck away (for the moment at least) but what he'd left behind was just more turmoil and disarray. It would probably have pleased him.

( Tara reappears. Stuff happens. )

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay, nimeni minorly modded with permission! Paraphrased with tweakage from USoT S03E11 and S03E12, 'The Good Parts'.]

It was a rough day.

( What else is new? )

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Warning for, yes, you guessed it, assorted dark themes. Taken with less tweakage than the parts before from USoT S03E10.]

Yup, time was still playing tricks. Not that Kate had noticed yet, but it had been two days in Fandom while it had been just the one for her. Meaning, she was only getting home just now. Well, not home. Metcalf Bar & Grill, actually. The setting for her dad's birthday party. It was already evening by the time Kate and Evan got there. It had been a long ride. Fun, too, though. Evan was good company. Easy to talk to, not that they'd talked about anything of much worth. She was saving that for other people.

Once they pulled up to the bar, she picked up her various candy wrappers and empty cups from his car, her travel carnage. He called her a slob and they both laughed. "This was ridiculously fun," she said, which gained a nod from him. "Thank you for the ride, and thank you for stopping every 30 minutes for my microbladder." Evan smiled at her. "Yeah, of course, yeah, anytime. Thanks for the company. And I'll see you in two weeks. Eight AM to Springfield."

"Bright and early," Kate agreed, moving to get out of the car, wrangling her bag to follow along with her. Evan checked if she needed help but she was fine without any. "Okay, bye." With a little wave, she made her way to the bar. Inside, she ditched her bag by the door. The party was in full swing, with lots and lots of people and colored lights and her dad on the stage up front, with his guitar (Chastity Stargazer, it was called) and his band. And was he –– he was totally rocking some guyliner! Kate waved at him, excitedly.

"Katie-Kate, you made it!" he called back to her. Her mother was equally welcoming, giving her a big hug as soon as they came across one another. Charmaine did the same. Marshall and his boyfriend thing were all smiles too, when Kate ended up next to them.

"Hey, thanks for coming down, everybody," her dad called from the stage. "It's good to be back on stage with the Beaverlamp boys! I want to dedicate this first song to my beautiful and amazing wife, Tara."

It looked like it was actually going to be a good night.

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay. Still taken from USoT S03E07. This was totes supposed to happen yesterday, but a major headache prevented my brain from functioning adequately.]

So, while there were minor parts of this week that had been mildly depressing, today Kate was pretty excited because her first post-high school job interview was finally here. In preparation, she'd finally had her hair trimmed a bit from the overgrown hippie mess that it had turned into over her time in Fandom (though not as much as to completely lose her pseudo-bohemian charm) and she'd put a lot of thought into her outfit. The job was for a fucking fashion magazine, after all! She had to dress to impress. And she was pretty pleased with the end result, too, thinking it a pretty neat ensemble in appropriate fall colors. Cute but professional. That was the aim.

And she was practically on fire at the interview proper. Bubbling with energy. "And this is what's refreshing about me," she declared. "I am the only person that you are gonna meet here today who isn't lying on her resumé. What's the point? Yeah, I didn't go to college. Yeah, my high school transcript reads a little weird. Yeah, I worked at Barnabeez on Shawnee Mission Parkway and had to sue for sexual harassment, but that was only because my boss was insane!"

She gave only half a second's thought to whether she'd grinned a little too widely during that last bit. No matter, she pressed straight on, leaning forwards toward the interviewer, a thirty-something guy who... really did not look cool enough for a fashion magazine, but she'd deal. "This is what you get with me," she said, and emphasized her points with her hands. "I am smart. I am dedicated. I could write about fashion." She leaned back again, as relaxed as she could pretend to be. "I could write the hell out of this magazine."

At least the guy was smiling, though he had a correction to make. "This isn't a writer's position," he said. "It's... administrative."

Oh. "But I could get there, is what I'm saying," Kate replied, recovering quickly. "This is who I am," she added, smiling. "I'm telling you everything. You can trust me to do a good job because this is me!"

( Is this also you? )

"I'm gonna go out and get some air," Kate told the others. "Meet me out front, okay?" She didn't stay and listen to any comments or objections. She really did want some fresh air. This day was utterly, utterly fired, and she didn't want to spend another minute around the sights and smells that made her remember things she'd rather not. She'd had enough of that already.

Once outside, she turned her cellphone back on, then scrolled absently through her contact list. Was any of this something to report to the world? Maybe not.

[ooc: NFB, but can be open should you wish it to be. Adapted from USoT S03E01, still.]

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!]

"Woah, what's with the bouncing, princess?" Charmaine asked, looking up from her work on some new tiaras, as Kate came down the stairs seemingly exuding far more energy than she'd exhibited going up them some time earlier.

"Oh, nothing," Kate replied, mock coyly. The grinning probably ruined the effect, but she cared not. "Hey, Mom's still coming to pick you up for that doctor thing?"

"Unless she's turned into someone else, yes," her aunt replied. "Why?"

Yeah, Kate was still grinning. "No reason." Again, it wasn't really believable. She bounced her way to the kitchen.

Charmaine shook her head and went back to her glue and sequins. "Whatever you say, Katie."


[ooc: NFB. For the booooy.]

So, basically, Kate's general stance on weddings wasn't getting any better than it had been previously. The whole Zach deal had left her feeling a little confused, she couldn't have cared less about the guests (only two of whom were actually Nicks' relations; his parents, sitting near the front, looking stiff and uncomfortable), Tara had been seeming stressed about having to deal with her parents, the notorious Frank and Bev Craine, the former of which kept thinking Kate's name was Patricia and only remembered half the time that this was Charmaine's wedding, not her graduation.

Everything still looked beautiful, though. Their surroundings still looked like something far more grand than a lame backyard in a Kansas suburb, and Nick was still Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome, standing at the makeshift altar beside the priest as the ceremony was starting. Maybe Charmaine would actually get her fairytale.

( And then it turns into your usual Gregson/Craine affair. )

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Taken from USoT S02E12, post two of two, warning for discussion of past child abuse. AND SO I AM DOOONE WITH SEASON TWO, WHOOO! Just in time for S3 premiering tomorrow night.]

Kate had had high hopes that they'd be out of the basement in thirty minutes, maybe a little over. But no such luck. Of course not. Nearly two hours later and they were still there, the storm raging outside and showing absolutely no signs of going away.

They were sitting in a circle, some on chairs, some on crates and whatever else seat-like they'd found. Kate had a crate with a blanket over it. How luxurious. She surveyed the room and the people in it, her gaze flicking from person to person. Her mother on her right-hand side, looking mildly uncomfortable; then her brother, awkward and with a permanent frown of worry on his face; Charmaine, looking ready to puke; her dad, munching on a bagel all stoic and calm, so obviously trying to be a leader; then Ted, spreading Nutella on a bagel of his own, with Hany beside him; and then finally Bod, on her left-hand side.

They'd all run out of things to say a while ago, and the mood was not the greatest, nor the most relaxed.

Kate looked down at her phone again.

( Bod was in the middle of a group of people he didn't really know. )

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Part two of two, still preplayed with the awesome there_was_life, and taken and tweaked from USoT S02E06 'Torando!'.]

Yesterday? Had been a fucking catastrophe of epic proportions, and Kate really didn't want to even think about it, but of course thinking about it was unavoidable. Everything was completely fucked up, again.

And now there were ants in their fucking kitchen, again.

So, Kate wasn't exactly pleased when she was having to have breakfast with a deep-seated hatred of everything in her heart, and a flyswatter in her hand. Stupid ants. Stupid life.

Tara could've maybe picked a better time to walk into the kitchen.

( Hey Kate. )

[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Taken and tweaked from USoT S02E04 'You Becoming You'.

In other news, I'm taking off to go to Helsinki for the weekend to marathon Firefly. I'll probably ping in to the HMD horror thingie tomorrow, but other than that, have a great weekend and I'll see you Sunday evening!]