The Perk | Sunday Afternoon

[nottrivial]

So, Alec had two kids this weekend. He wasn't a kid person, really, and wasn't at all sure that he wanted them in the long term, but this weekend there were two teenage girls calling him Dad and every so often demanding to be taken for new clothes from Demon Marcus or new arrowheads from Freedom Arms. (Guess which was which.)

Rainey had been appeased easily enough with a few skirts and a pair of boots, but Cassandra had wanted coffee in addition to new arrowheads, which led to Alec and both the girls heading over to the Perk for caffeinated drinks and, in Rainey's case, pastries. After a minor spat broke out between the girls, Alec requested that they separate themselves, the end result being Cassandra huffily sitting by herself on one side of the café while Alec and Rainey discussed Aunt Isabelle's fighting gear on the other.

Seriously, why did anyone sign up to be a parent? Alec sure didn't know.

[[open perk!]]

Comments

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

As it happened, Cassandra was just fine sitting by herself. It gave her the opportunity to flip her hair at the barista without her dad watching, and more importantly, she got to look out the window and check out all the other cute boys wandering throughout town.

She still didn't know why Alec and Kate hadn't sent her here for school instead of that stuffy private school in Manhattan. Everyone here was unfairly attractive. And there was a range. Cassandra wanted to go to a school with its own range.

[glttershadow.livejournal.com]

"You never got me boots like these before," Rainey told Alec delightedly, leaning over the side of the table to inspect her new footwear. "These are serious kicking boots. Like Aunt Izzy's."

[nottrivial]

That sounded worrisome. Look, Alec couldn't tell one type of boot from another. "What, do Sparkle and I have a rule against them?" he asked. "Because if we do..."

He trailed off. He really didn't know how to finish that sentence.

[glttershadow.livejournal.com]

"Come on, like Da has a rule about anything," Rainey laughed -- screwing with Alec, more likely than not. "You're just weird about letting me dress like your sister. I don't see why, it's obviously working for her. She's thirty-whatever and still looks good."

[nottrivial]

Alec was nonplussed. "So you want to wear shoes like hers in the hopes that you'll still look good twenty years from now?"

[glttershadow.livejournal.com]

"No," Rainey scoffed. "I want to wear shoes like hers because they're kickass. But if she's wearing them and doing all kinds of stuff in 'em, they're obviously not dangerous."

[nottrivial]

Alec wasn't sure that was true. Or whether or not he should take the shoes back. "Well... will your world's version of me take them away if you go back wearing them?"

[glttershadow.livejournal.com]

Rainey's face split into a mischevious grin. "No," she said offhandedly, sounding very, very sure. "I might not show 'em to you, though. Him."

[nottrivial]

Well. All right, then.

"Okay," Alec said slowly. "I guess... keep them, then."

[glttershadow.livejournal.com]

"That was the plan," said Rainey, beaming at him as she speared her danish with her fork, lifted it to her mouth and took a bite.

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

It was a well-known fact that Worthingtons really only needed two things in order to get by, day by day. The first thing, of course, was coffee, which was why Collin was making his way into the Perk, wings folded casually behind him, and ordering himself a double Americano.

The second thing was interesting company. Or, at least, it was if you were to ask Collin. Or pretty much any version of his dad who had existed in pretty much any reality but his own. And that was why he was zeroing in on the attractive young female who was sitting on her own, today.

"Hey. I don't suppose this seat is taken?"

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

Well, hello, cute boy.

"Not yet," Cassandra said sweetly, propping her chin up on one hand with her elbow on the table and leaning forward. "Hi there."

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

"Well, hi." Collin was giving her his most winning smile, even as he carefully arranged himself in the seat across from her with his wings slightly spread so as to not mess up his feathers. "Here for the weekend, visiting family?"

It seemed to be a common trend.

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

"That's right," Cassandra affirmed. Oh, she was eyeing those wings, yes. Either he was halfway in drag or he was a mutant, and she was guessing the latter, because, well, if it was drag, he had quite a lot of shaving to do before he'd be finished. "Godparents, technically. Kate Bishop and Alec Lightwood. How about you?"

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

"My parents," Collin replied giving his wings another little bit of a stretch before folding them in close again. Oh yes, he saw her eyeing them. "Queen Karla of Glacia, and her Consort, Lord Warren Worthington III."

So, definitely a mutant. Warren was fairly Out and Proud as a mutant in more than a couple of realities, really.

"And has it been a good visit so far?"

[namedforissues.livejournal.com]

Charlie had finally found his dad - one of them, at least - and now, all he wanted was to get rid of him and explore the island on his own. He'd managed to get away long enough to find caffeine, and it might not have been anything high end, but at this point, he'd take any coffee he could get his hands on. Thankfully, the place didn't look too busy as he came inside.

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

Oh, yup. That'd be a mutant.

"A little boring," Cassandra admitted, "but there was some archery, so not all bad." Cue a hair-toss. "You?"

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

Hey, another cute guy. This one was even quite a bit cuter.

"Hey there," she said from her table, smiling at Charlie over her drink. "If you're trying to decide what to get, the espresso's pretty great."

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

It was a very appealing sort of hair-toss, at that. Collin caught himself grinning a little as he watched her hair settle back around her shoulders.

"Babysitting duty, most of yesterday," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "My older sister showed up here, too, but from a different point in the timeline. This 'being responsible for a six year-old' thing is new, but my parents are keeping an eye on her today." A beat. "You're into archery, hm?"

Really, if he'd ever met either of her parents, that probably would have been a given.

[namedforissues.livejournal.com]

"A girl who understands the power of espresso. I'm impressed," Charlie said with a smile. "I'll keep that recommendation in mind."

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

Well, Tommy Shepherd and Isabelle Lightwood weren't exactly archers. It was her godparents that would give Collin a clue or two.

To answer his question, Cassandra removed a hair accessory (http://www.blueheronwoods.com/images/C/Hair-Accessories-Hairstick.jpg) from her hair, lined up her hand to throw it in the direction of an open window on the opposite end of the coffee shop, and released.

It hit the bull's eye, if by 'bull's eye', you meant 'the exact center of a poster affixed to a tree outside the window.'

Yes, she was showing off. Your point?

"A little," Cassandra said sweetly.

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

"This table is also pretty great," Cassandra added, smirking. "If you need a recommendation on a place to sit, too. I hear the company's not bad either."

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

Godparents. That. Collin had totally been paying attention, he was just also easily distracted by a pretty face.

And he was whistling low in appreciation for the shot she just took, using Craft to retrieve the accessory from the tree and float it back to them. He took it in hand, and smirked as he held it out for her to take back.

"That was a pretty impressive shot," he decided. "Most of the weapons I know how to handle are more melee than ranged."

He had Craft for anything out of arms' reach, after all. Or wings' reach, for that matter.

[sueperspeed.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Cassandra said with a grin, dexterously returning the stick back to her hair after wiping it off on a napkin. "So you fight too, huh? Like what?"

[collinommy.livejournal.com]

"I can handle a sword, a dagger, a bladed Eyrien stick..." Collin wasn't preening, but there was a note in his voice that definitely suggested that he wasn't far from doing so. "My parents insisted while I was growing up that I learn to fight, for my own safety. Being the son of the ruler of the Territory kind of makes that imperative, even if Glacia hasn't seen all-out war in years, now."

He gave his shoulders a shrug.

"Someday, when I'm serving in a Queen's court, I'll likely have to put those skills to use. Protect and serve. And you? Do you use that talent of yours for anything in particular?"