chosehumanity | Honolulu Heights, Friday

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Honolulu Heights, Friday

So several people had been promised a housewarming party - and George had managed to convince Mitchell not to invite everyone in the whole neighbourhood, so chances were it might not even end in disaster - which would double as a 'welcome back, Annie!' party.

That meant tea. And biscuits. But mostly loads of tea. (And little finger sandwiches; Annie had insisted, claiming they were 'classy'.)

And leis. Annie had been vocal about those, too.

But: now the place was ready, after a week of running around and shopping and arguing and laughing and then running around some more. Time to celebrate.

[[ for those who were invited, and for anyone who thinks they might have been invited! ]]

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"He means 'hiiii'," Kate translated. Because that was totally what he'd meant. "We come bearing gifts!"

And this was obviously where she held her gift out for Mitchell. When unwrapped, it would turn out to be six bowls made out of vinyl records ('70s and '80s pop), and a set of matching coasters.

"And I've wine," Bod said, holding it up in case Mitchell hadn't seen said wine. "I didn't pick it out so I do hope Kate picked the right bottle."

"You know," said Bo on arriving in the living room, Tesco's bag in hand. "It'd be easier to 'run out to the shop and pick up some more bundt cake' if anyone in Wales had ever heard of bundt cake. Heathens."

Raised in of those vaguely Norwegian states in the upper middle US with lots of lakes, cows, and church socials? How ever did you guess?

She lifted the bag. "I'm a little afraid of anything they actually come right out and call 'lardy.'"

Edited 2012-02-24 23:18 (UTC)

"They still have Tesco, though," Kate remarked, pointing at the bag. She was familiar with those from the golden days of Bristol, oh yes. Grocery shopping was exotic when you were abroad, after all.

She grinned at Bo. "Hi."

Who grinned right back. "Hi. I brought you a bundt cake, but we ated it."

For a very loose definition of 'you' but a fairly accurate one of 'ated.'

"I got here a little early."

"No, no, nothing like that," Jack said quickly, and never mind that his hands were shaking at the thought. "It was a monster at home. Ghost werewolf, actually, which I did not know could happen."

He put his hands in his pockets. "George and Mitchell have been ... nothing but helpful."

"Oh, I'm so gl--" No, no, Annie, you're not glad. "Relieved? Let's go with relieved." Waaaaaaaaait. "Ghost werewolf?"

That actually required another glance at her own resident wolves. "Is that like the ghost of a werewolf, or did somebody find a way for them to bite dead people?"

"Ghost of a werewolf," Jack explained. "Some brilliant sorcerer found a way to ... resurrect it and get it solid enough to bite people. I was the one who survived, lucky me."

"Well, I am glad of that. Aren't you?"

The way Annie said that, there was only one answer. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Even if it was hard to remember when he was picking alligator scales out of his teeth.

"I just would have rather had no change at all -- but that's never a choice, is it?"

Annie let her gaze wander around the living room, so much bigger than the tiny, cozy front room in the little pink house where she'd died.

And somehow she was thinking of this as the biggest change? She shook her head, both at herself and in answer to Jack's rhetorical question. "No, it never is. I think I'm glad of that too, though. I was afraid for a long time that nothing would ever be different for me now, you know?"

Edited 2012-02-25 02:56 (UTC)

"Not exactly the way you do," Jack hazarded. "But I can imagine."

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling foolish for whining about his new superpowers and monthly inconvenience to Annie, of all the people in the world.

"So you feel different?" he asked. "Not just from when you were alive, but from before -- you went away?"

"Well, here is certainly better than where I was after."

She hadn't really thought of it quite that way, as a change in herself, rather than her surroundings, so it took Annie a moment to answer the real question. "I suppose I... yeah. I felt like I was finished. Just...over. George was going to be normal, Mitchell was going to get himself killed, and I'd be haunting that place until they knocked it down in twenty years and put up Council flats. And then I'd be haunting Council flats."

Edited 2012-02-25 04:00 (UTC)

"Of all the depressing ways to waste eternity," Jack said. "Just listening to all the people yelling at their kids would make you mad after a while."

He managed a bit of a smile. "I'm glad none of you were finished."

Annie laughed, then frowned, because yeah, it really, really would, then settled on a smile herself. "I don't know what's going to happen now. And that's...rather brilliant, really."

"Does it have alcohol in it? Because we're not very discerning drinkers," Mitchell said, flashing Bod a grin as he accepted Kate's gift. "Come in, both of you," he added, stepping aside to let them in.

"What is it about you and bundt cake?" Mitchell asked. He was... genuinely amused, yes. "Is it just your paralyzing fear of lard, or are you fond of round shapes?"

"Uh huh." Kate valued her sanity too much to enquire about what she'd been doing since then. Instead, she tilted her head at a thought. "I think this is where I would go for a hug but I'm confused about the rules since I'm like the only supposedly normal person here."

Kate snickered. "It's got alcohol, don't worry," she said as she moved to go past Mitchell, then stopped briefly to reach up and try and kiss him on the cheek, because her good mood and affection for people would not and could not be contained.

It was a party, people!

"I can't speak for the dead abnormal people or the British abnormal people, but I totally do hugs," Bo said, solving the dilemma by going for it herself. "It's good to see you."

"I'm not afraid of lard; I'm just leery of anybody who advertises it." Bo did the mature thing and only stuck out her tongue halfway. "And I dunno. My mom always made a bundt cake when we went to people's houses for dinner. It's a thing."

Well, Kate could definitely go with hugs someone else initiated, no problem. And she was awesome at hugs. "It's good to see you too! Did you hear I'm an actual flight attendant now?"

And not just an insane pretend one.

"...On purpose?" Bo asked warily.

Mitchell grinned at her, leaning over to peck her on the cheek since she was so intent on using her mouth for something. "A local thing?"

For that, she got her shoulder thwacked lightly as Kate unentangled herself from the hug. "Yes on purpose," she said. "For SkyKans."

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Honolulu Heights, Friday

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