The Perkolater: Early Sunday through Sunday Afternoon

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce woke early and slipped out of the tattoo place before Red and the cubs were up. Grumbling sleepily, she headed to The Perkolator for coffee, more to rinse her mouth out than for the caffeine, but the caffeine was definitely an added bonus.

Pushing through the door, she inhaled the smell of freshly brewed coffee happily as she made her way to the counter. Ordering a frothy froofroo coffee in the largest size available, she also had a raspberry/cream cheese croissant and went to sit at a table.

She was glad she had snakes instead of hair. She was rumpled and wrinkled, but didn't have any sort of bed-head. Thankfully.

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[addams-daughter.livejournal.com]

Wednesday had risen very early and made some fairly serious preparations for the day, which had involved raiding a few of the closets at the Manor for something that would fit. Like most huge, old family homes, very little had actually been thrown away and on her third try she found a dress that would fit. A few minutes in the high heels had revealed that wearing them would be a terrible idea, and she wasn't planning on seeing Six today anyway.

Hyde's basket in hand, feeling just a little off balance and finding herself putting one hand at the small of her back to relieve a tension she hadn't suspected would be there, Wednesday decided to go looking for Duce.

Red's was dark. The park was empty. Scrolling through the list of things she knew about her roommate, Wednesday eventually found herself at the Perkolater. Spotting Duce through the window, Wednesday entered.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce was halfway through her first coffee by the time Wednesday arrived. She'd been grimly slugging down the brew pretty much as fast as her stomach would allow. It wasn't happy about the late night and lack of sleep on top of the stress of the week. The croissant had been torn to tiny bites, as Duce tried to trick her stomach into believing the pastry was nothing but harmless chunks of extra thick coffee. She somehow didn't think her stomach was believing her.

The jangle of the bell above the door sent splinters of painful noise right through her forebrain, and she jerked her head up, shooting an annoyed glance toward it. Her brain registered two things nearly simultaneously, as her snakes all swiveled to stare at the cause of the noise: a) Red would probably be very unhappy with her if she turned someone into a statue just for walking through a door, b) the person who'd just walked through the door was her housemate, and someone she cared about.

The snakes prodded her, bombarding her with images of Wednesday. Duce frowned in irritation. She knew damn well what Des looked like. Then the snakes started bombarding her with images of Wednesday's.. very.. pregnant.. stomach.

Wednesday, being cute with Six in public. Wednesday, pregnant. Duce's brain did some very fast, very incorrect math using flawed data, and she surged to her feet, shouting a dismayed, "WEDNESDAY! What the hell did that bastard DO TO YOU?!"

She'd just seen her roommate the other day, and Des hadn't appeared pregnant then.. but Wednesday was an Addams, and sudden onset pregnancies wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever occur in Fandom Town.

[addams-daughter.livejournal.com]

Wednesday paused, turning to look at her somewhat irate housemate, gauging the amount of wrath. Giving it a level four, she decided against ordering coffee first and moved carefully toward Duce. "I have a problem, Duce," she announced, setting the basket carefully on the table. "And it has nothing at all to do with Six, which I am guessing was your first impression."

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce's hands gripped the edge of the table, knuckles going white as she parsed this new data. Not Six. Six didn't do this to her. Wednesday was still heavily pregnant. That left a mystery. Duce knew the mechanics of gestation and somehow didn't believe that even Wednesday could make herself pregnant. She slowed her breathing deliberately. Right now, the last thing Wednesday needed was her being angry.

She'd be angry later. At someone. From the looks of things, someone male.

Reigning in her temper and lowering her voice, Duce sat back down. Gesturing at the other chair, she said, "Sit, or your feet will hate you later. You.. I mean.. pregnant? Wednesday.. what? If you tell me this is a virgin pregnancy and you're heralding the second coming of the Messiah, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to kill you."

Reaching into the basket, she picked up Hyde, cradling it in a hand and adjusting it's outfit of the day. She frowned down at the egg. It felt.. heavier. That had to be her imagination. Eggs didn't just grow. Fiddling with the egg kept her hands busy as she waited for Wednesday to explain.

[addams-daughter.livejournal.com]

"It's not going to be a problem," Wednesday told her flatly, "I'm going to deal with it later." She gestured at Hyde where it rested in Duce's hand. "That is the problem. I got permission to keep studying it in hopes of doing a project which will take the place of that disasterous Food Preparation idea and now there's something wrong with it. Take it out of its sleeper and you'll see what I mean."

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce stared at her roommate. Wednesday's tone of voice didn't herald anything good, and the phrase 'deal with it later', coming from Wednesday, was ominous indeed.

"Deal with it.. how?" she asked, slightly suspiciously.

Allowing the change of subject temporarily, Duce regarded Hyde. "It's heavier, and.. you didn't hard boil it, did you?" She sounds horrified at the thought, thumb stroking over Hyde comfortingly. Deft fingers began removing the bunny-suit from the egg.

Once the egg was naked in her hand, Duce rolled it, frowning. "The henna's stretched. So's the face. You can see the areas of new growth. It's warm." Still regarding the egg, she commented, "You're right. There's definitely something wrong with it. It's.. growing. It's an eggshell. Eggshells don't grow. They break. This one has .. they're like stretchmarks."

Confused about many things, she reached for her coffee and took a hasty gulp, murmurring, "What the fuck.."

[addams-daughter.livejournal.com]

Scowling, Wednesday reached out to tap one finger against Hyde's shell. "I haven't ruled out possession, I did take it into the Manor several times, but there's also the matter of the carniverous vines. It could be almost anything, frankly... but I'm hardly going to be able to use it for my project now, unless or until it actually hatches."

She got slowly back to her feet, glad again she'd decided against heels. Leaving Hyde with Duce, she moved to the counter and asked for a black coffee and another of whatever frothy stuff Duce had been drinking. Wednesday returned to the table and settled cautiously into her chair. "I'm going to Mass after this," she told Duce calmly. "Would you be willing to keep an eye on Hyde for me for an hour or so?"

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

Ducking into the Perk, Krycek goes to the counter to order a plain coffee as is his wont, half-turning to look around the shop as he waits. He sees Duce at a table and wonders if he should bother her - she seems a bit tense - but he hasn't had a chance to talk to her since before the fashion show.

Paying for his coffee, he turns and makes his way over to her table, noting the partly eaten pastry and already smelling the not-actually-coffee-drink before he stops at her side. "Morning. Mind some company?"

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Gesturing her free hand at one of the empty chair in a silent invitation as answer to his question. Her other hand is holding Hyde and gently bouncing it. Looking up at Alex, she says without preamble or greeting, "Wednesday's pregnant. Like, out to here," she gestures with a hand, "pregnant." Her voice is very quiet, and very calm, her face holding almost no expression whatsoever.

The hand holding Hyde begins to rock it to and fro very gently. The little knitted ears of it's bunny jumpsuit flop from side to side. The careful, caring gestures are at distinct odds with her utter lack of emotion. Her free hand retrieves her coffee and brings it to her mouth for another drink.

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

He sits, watching the egg for a moment before he looks up at her face, eyebrows arched pointedly. "Your roommate is suddenly very pregnant?" Krycek sips at his coffee, eyes flicking down to the egg again. "How?"

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Tucking Hyde carefully into it's basket, she fiddles with the blanket, folding it nicely all around the egg before she answers. "We don't know. We thought maybe that Six character she's been.. apparently being cute with.. had something to do with it, but she said no. She didn't seem to really want to talk about it here." Duce's voice is completely emotionless. Taking a sip of her coffee, she offers, "She went to church for Mass. She'll be back to pick Hyde up afterward. If you're here, you'll see what we mean."

A finger pushes a piece of pastry around the plate, without really watching it. Her snakes are coiling over themselves, paying no attention to her plate.

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

Krycek eyes her a moment, waiting almost as though to see if something else will happen - as if she might suddenly smile or laugh or, hell, even scowl. He doesn't know Wednesday, or particularly care in this instance where Duce is obviously having a problem with something, possibly related or not. "So what's wrong?" he asks, tone even for now.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce's lack of expression doesn't change. She thoughtfully chews another bite of pastry, washing it down with a large swallow of coffee, "Why should anything be wrong?"

[chasingangela]

Angela sits in a booth by the window, sipping on a chai latte and attempting to write her sonnet for creative writing.

She waves to Duce and Krycek, but doesn't want to interupt their conversation, though she wouldn't mind company.

[allie-cameron.livejournal.com]

Allie wakes up earlier than she would have expected to, given how late she was up last night. She knows Logan won't stir before late afternoon, so she decides to take a walk through town.

As she passes the coffee shop, she spots Angela through the window and decides to stop in and say hi.

After ordering a french vanilla cappucino, she walks to the table where Angela is seated.

"Hey, you mind some company?" she asks.

[chasingangela]

Angela closes her notebook and sets it to the side, happy to get another chance to talk to the friendly girl from the party.

"Not at all. How are you doing?"

[allie-cameron.livejournal.com]

"I'm good," she says, taking the seat across from Angela. "Just a little overwhelmed from all the party stuff yesterday." Her cheeks are faintly flush as she remembers after the party.

[chasingangela]

"You guys got a pretty good crowd. I was only in the kitchen, but I saw a bunch of people who I normally don't get to talk to."

She notices the flush. "Looks like you had a good time too."

[allie-cameron.livejournal.com]

"I think we had a nice sized group. Not too many people to be overwhelming, but enough to make it interesting."

She takes a sip of her drink.

"And, yes, I had a very nice night."

[can_be_more]

Wanting to get out of the dorms for a while as all her roommates are missing or schmoopy, Aeryn orders a small black coffee and sits at a table with the huge military book she's probably not going to finish before having to return it.

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Aeryn." Anders waves to her on his way up to the counter. "Be right back, 'kay?"

A few minutes later he returns with a bag of pastries and two coffees in a drink tray. "How's it going today?"

[can_be_more]

"Good," she says. "You?"

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

He shrugs, trying to be nonchalant about it, but he can't keep a little bit of a dopey smile off his face. "Pretty good. Just didn't feel up to making breakfast this morning, you know?"

He gestures at the book. "Whatcha readin'?"

[can_be_more]

"I know," Aeryn tells him, though she can manage without the dopey smile.

"It's basically the planet's military history in 8,000 pages or less," she says. "It's amazing anyone ever won wars with what they used to use."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders peers a little bit more closely at the book, and his eyes widen. "Wow. Um, that's . . . wow. I don't know much about Earth military history except for the little things that come up in my classes. But yeah, kinda amazing. Good thing the Cylons never hit this place."