Luke's, Monday

[vdistinctive]

There were strings of dough absolutely everywhere.

"It was really too much to hope that y'all would actually take a break while the school's on break week, wasn't it," Eliot observed.

His answer came in the form of several overlapping protestations that Eliot never ever took them anywhere, so they had to make their own fun.

"Or you could do your jobs," Eliot pointed out.

The staff ignored him, having gone back to planning how to build their own Great Wall out of milk crates.

Today's specials
Banmian
Re gan mian
Spaghetti and meatballs

Luke's was open and OCD free.

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well..." Kathy said, stepping into the diner. "I can see everyone here is hard at work."

[vdistinctive]

"Even more'n usual," Eliot said, shooting a glare at the fresh pasta covering his kitchen before giving her his usual smile. "How you doing, darlin'? Figured you'd hitch a ride with Dante out to China."

[spin_kick_snap]

"We didn't think he could take us," Kathy said, beelining towards Eliot for a hug. Not a clingy 'I'm dealing with trauma' kind of hug, just a warm, welcoming, 'I love you' kind of hug. "And especially not both of us. We're not even sure he can get us both into prom."

Which had resulted in a long conversation the night before he'd left about what he should do if school had made him choose. "So he's off exploring China and I've come to enjoy it secondhand at my favorite restaurant."

[vdistinctive]

"Well, I'm not complainin'," Eliot said, giving her a firm, cheerful squeeze in return. "Though I gotta say, if the administration says he can't invite his boyfriend and his girlfriend, Washburn and I are gonna have to have words."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy laughed. "That's exactly what I said," she told him. "That if he wasn't allowed to bring both of us, you guys would riot. Though, honestly, on this island, I feel like a triad is hardly the weirdest relationship configuration anyone has seen."

[vdistinctive]

"No one's even blinked at us so far," Eliot said. "Of course, you two could also probably just crash the damn thing. As I recall, the chaperons tend to be a little . . . distracted."

They were when they were flirting their asses off in preparation for finally consummating the best relationship they'd ever been in in their lives, anyway.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I guess that's true," Kathy said thoughtfully. "What are they going to do, expel me? Take away the diploma I didn't get? Make the chaperones stop guarding the punch ten minutes early to try to chase me out?"

No, this was worth serious consideration.

[vdistinctive]

"That's the spirit." Really, like Eliot wasn't going to encourage rule breaking. ". . . They did make diplomas for you and Raven, though, you know. Not sure which of your boys picked it up at the ceremony, but I'm pretty sure one of 'em did."

Eliot himself had been . . . kind of a wreck, at the time. What with the concussion and the grieving.

[spin_kick_snap]

That was a good way to stop Kathy's ruminations about prom short. "Wait, what?" she asked. "We--we did? They did? We graduated?"

She'd been going around assuming she'd need to get her GED sometime soon.

[vdistinctive]

See, and now Eliot felt bad that it took this long for someone to tell her. "You two were basically done by the time you left," he pointed out. "I thought you knew."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shook her head. "I mean, that makes sense?" she said, a little helplessly. "I just always assumed that since we didn't finish, it didn't count? And I've mentioned not graduating a couple of times in front of people and no one ever corrected me, so I just kept assuming..."

She sank down into the booth, dazed. "I graduated," she said, mostly to herself. "I didn't fuck it all up."

[vdistinctive]

"You did," Eliot agreed. "You been thinking about usin' that diploma somewhere?"

She hadn't talked about school as a possibility in ages. If she was thinking about college and stuff again, it had to be a good sign for her recovery.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged, a little self-conscious. "Maybe," she mumbled. "Just thinking about getting everything in order."

[vdistinctive]

"What kind order you thinkin' of?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not a hundred perfect sure yet," Kathy admitted. "Just with Dante graduating and it having already been a year, I'm thinking it's about time to figure out what I'm going to do with myself."

[vdistinctive]

"Because you're feeling restless and up to a challenge?" Eliot checked. "Or because you think other people will think you should?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Getting restless," Kathy said, resting her chin on her hand. "Expanding the business online is fun, but it's not the kind of thing that'll keep me entertained for long."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot smiled at that. He was pretty sure there was at least a little bit of the second part behind it, but if there ever wasn't at least a little bit of that in her motives, he'd probably have to check her for a fever. Or a brain-eating alien parasite.

"Really? Sex toys aren't enough to keep you going? Well damn." That was probably not something most people wanted to discuss with their dads. "You have any ideas what you might like to do?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeeeah, he wasn't wrong. But it was less pressing than it had been in the past.

"I have no idea," she confessed. "That's the problem. I used to, but not I'm not sure it was what I wanted or just what I was told I wanted for so long that I just believed it."

[vdistinctive]

"Well, how about trying a bunch of different things?" Eliot suggested. "You've got time and we've got resources."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy wrinkled her nose. "That feels so...I dunno. Wasteful? Like college is so expensive and it's not for frittering around trying on philosophy and communication degrees like they're shoes or something."

Right?

"Maybe I should just go for a business degree so I'm better at running the shop." She said. Sounding enthused.

[vdistinctive]

Eliot gave ger a Look at that one. “I ain’t a professional here — only time I’ve spent on a college campus was masqueradin’ as a volunteer fora psych experiment. But I thiught goin’ to ‘find yourself’ was part of the point?”

[spin_kick_snap]

"For rich kids going to school on Daddy's money, maybe," Kathy snorted. "And can afford to keep buying credit hours for several years swapping between majors."

Maybe it would be different if she were living on campus and going to school full time, but...she didn't want that. No, she was still ridiculously clingy liked living at home.

[vdistinctive]

"You know, Kathy," Eliot said, biting his lip to keep from smirking. "I have a lot of money."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy sputtered. A lot. "Well---okay, yes," she allowed. "But like--that doesn't mean--I don't just assume--I mean, I'm not, like, entitled--I can tell you're smirking on the inside!"