The Perk, Tuesday Afternoon

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell, and missing major Fandom events: it had kind of become a thing over the years.

He hadn't checked his phone in days - too busy with all the other crap flying around and crowding up his mind - and he desperately needed a break from Bristol. It wasn't exactly the smartest idea to be going right now, sure, but he couldn't care as much as he probably should.

So: back to Fandom, and sipping coffee at the perk. Very strong coffee, while he started morosely out through the window and tried to determine exactly when his life started going back down the drain again.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[vanillajello]

Kate needed something good after her class. The morning hours spent in the salle merited something ridiculously unhealthy all on their own, so a big cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and tiny marshmallows, and one of those giant muffins it was.

She didn't bother paying much attention to her surroundings before her order had been filled, but once she had her tray she did. "Oh," she drawled, "look who came back just in time to miss everything."

[chosehumanity]

"What, did it start raining pie or something?"

Hey, Mitchell was getting slightly better at this covering-up-his-brood-with-sarcasm thing.

[vanillajello]

"No," she said, coming over to his table and taking a seat. "Children."

Well, it hadn't rained children, but it might as well have.

[chosehumanity]

"What, like when everyone turns into kids, or...?" Hand gestures would about cover the other thing, right?

[vanillajello]

"The other thing," Kate replied dryly, shaking her head. She was thrilled. Really. "Alternative universe shit."

[chosehumanity]

"Can't say I'm all that disappointed to have missed out on that," Mitchell volunteered, heartlessly.

All right, he didn't mind everyone's kids last time, but there was always the danger of running into one of his own.

[vanillajello]

Kate rolled her eyes, pausing to bite into her muffin. That probably saved them from some cutting remark. "Missed out on someone who was named after you. Among other people."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell paused mid-lift of his coffee cup. "...Really?" he asked, eyebrows flying up.

[vanillajello]

"Yes," she said, looking out the window somewhat impassively. "Dorian Silas Mitchell Owens."

[chosehumanity]

"That's a bit of a mouthful," Mitchell started.

And then stopped.

And visibly winced.

"Kate..."

[vanillajello]

Kate kept looking out the window, picking at her muffin. At least he got the problem without needing it explained.

"Mm."

Really, that was the most she had to say about it at this very minute.

[chosehumanity]

"Look, maybe it's--" What, exactly? Mitchell wasn't actually rightly sure. "...Maybe it's a good... portent?"

[vanillajello]

Now she glanced at him. "Mostly it looked like a shitty weekend."

Of course, it hadn't all been shitty, which... somehow just made it all worse.

[chosehumanity]

"I can't disagree with that," Mitchell said, after a beat. "Still. Maybe something good'll come of it."

[vanillajello]

"Don't say that," Kate replied, though it was mild. "Just don't. I've had three seriously long days and my head is spinning."

[chosehumanity]

You don't want to know about my weekend.

But Mitchell wasn't going to be petty and say that. (Actually, he was mostly not saying it because saying it would mean explaining, but the petty line worked.) "Turtling out, then?"

[vanillajello]

"I am dealing," she said, enunciating each word particularly clearly, as she reached for her cup. "That's all I'm doing."

[chosehumanity]

"And god knows you're always good at that." He couldn't quite resist that one.

[vanillajello]

"I'm enjoying this hot chocolate but I also won't hesitate to throw it at you."

Just so he knew. She was so mature.

[chosehumanity]

"Yeah, all right," Mitchell said, shooting her a look. "So how did everything-- go, anyway?"

[vanillajello]

Kate shrugged. "Well, I think we at least convinced the kid nothing was... wrong, here." Her lips twisted in thought. "So, if you look at that then it could've gone worse."

[chosehumanity]

"At that age, they can be a bit oblivious, but that's not what I'm asking," he said, then paused. "... I think Annie's whole 'talk about our feelings' thing is getting to me."

[vanillajello]

"I don't want to talk about my feelings," Kate said with a single shake of her head. "Largely because I don't know what they are, but anyway."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell mulled that over.

"How about we talk about what was on television last night? I think I caught an episode of that ridiculous superhero series."

[vanillajello]

"I didn't watch any TV last night," Kate replied, a little subdued. Still, she would gladly cling to this subject change. "Which one was that?"

[chosehumanity]

"This guy running around with this cape hitting people?" Mitchell prompted. "Brains the size of a goldfish?"

[vanillajello]

"I think I've seen previews of that." Superheroics weren't really her thing; she got enough of that around the island. "Was it bad?"

Of course, that could translate back to good, with her.

[chosehumanity]

"It is seriously over the top," Mitchell said. He probably wasn't going for another television-prompted meltdown this week, so... yay? "It's like we've gone back to the 60s and that Ratman series."

[vanillajello]

Kate mustered up a smirk of sorts, the slightest hint of weak enthusiasm. "Oooh. Sounds cheesy."

[chosehumanity]

"It's totally cheesy," Mitchell said, because he was going to take that as a sign that, well, even if he wasn't cheering her up, at least he was motivating her to put on a good show. "This guy's become a super hero because he was framed and now he wants to see his family again. They have the worst child actor, too. Vacant zombie eyes all the way through."

[vanillajello]

"Ugh, the kind that makes you feel like the kid's sucking the life out of you, too, just because you happen to be watching?"

Kate managed to make that sound vaguely like a desirable concept, probably because most of her TV watching habits revolved around mocking whatever it was that was on. "Maybe I'll skip the Jersey Shore marathon I was planning and check that out instead."