semi-open

[queenofseers]

WHO: The residents of Maurtia Falls #004 and many friends
WHERE: MF4
WHEN: Late September
WHAT: Family Dinner: The Return. After a long hiatus, it has returned. If you are a friend of any of the residents, assume you're invited to eat!
WARNINGS: None now, will add if needed.


[ The last time there was a dinner in this house, there were different stresses, slightly different residents, and no one had died yet. Perhaps you can't blame anyone for not planning another group meal soon after that.

Since then, though, things have been...mostly quiet. Comparatively. Yes, the world is still a shitshow (in Cassandra's own opinion), but the residents of the house are back into a fairly domestic routine, and any threats to reality are ambiguous enough that one can occasionally pretend they're on the periphery rather than clearly encroaching. So friends are finally being invited to Maurtia Falls #004 again, in the hopes that performing normalcy will allow it to be retained.

Or...something like that. There's also something nice about ordering a bunch of takeout and letting other people bring over food.

For any new guests, the building is the epitome of cleanliness- Rex lives here, after all- and nondescript to the point of it being a little surreal. Plenty of alcohol in the fridge, though, and a mysterious cupboard marked "Martin's Things." Maybe don't open it. Besides that, the only other thing to call out is a goldfish in a tank in the living room.

In any case, even if the building is a little boring, the people don't seem to be that way. Then again, maybe boring's what you're here for? Better than chaotic around here. ]

Comments

[ct_7567]

It is very so --

[ Maybe it's just that brief moment of tenderness that made Rex lose his guard, or at least not expect the fact that Andy would do anything more than flick more water at him. His surprised bellow of complaint can probably be heard down the block and is certainly heard by everyone in the house. ]

Kriff -- Andy -- you horrible woman --

[ Rex calls her that so often that others must think it's a pet name by now. Other people have babe. Honey. Sweetie. Sugar. Pumpkin.

Andy, on the other hand, gets exactly what she deserves. He backs away, swearing as he tries to grip onto her wrists and wrestle her into position. ]

We are not doing this inside the house!

[ He could retaliate, but then who would have to clean up the suds that would get everywhere? He would. He knows it. ]

[killtime]

[ He's not wrong about her. And she's not sorry. Not judging by that mischievous glint in her eye and the sly twist of her mouth. This horrible woman, who's probably more amused by his scolding than she really should be — letting him catch her wrists, but giving him that smirk the whole damn time. ]

It's just a little water, Captain.

[ Pet names. ]

[ct_7567]

Water that someone's going to need to mop up, [ Rex retorts as she lets him grab her wrists, too easily, and pins them to the counter behind them. He hadn't really thought much beyond this. Admittedly, he thought she'd fight back a little harder, even if she'd just make a bigger mess that way.

She's still smirking away at him. He's a little fond of the way she does that, how she seems to delight getting under his skin just as much as it annoys him. He's made a pact never to tell her that. ]

[killtime]

[ She could fight back. They both know that. Andy probably knows a dozen ways of breaking someone's grip without so much as batting an eyelash, and the two of them have sparred enough times by now to have a good measure of each other when it comes to these things. A fight is a comfortable place for them.

But Andy — Andy is more amused when he's uncomfortable. So.

Wryly: ]

Rex, you have your wife pinned to the counter, and you're thinking about mopping the floor? [ Funny, how she only ever seems to use the word wife to refer to herself at times like this. ] You're lucky I know you too well to take that personally.

[ct_7567]

[ Rex opens his mouth. Then he shuts it with a click as he relinquishes her wrists. ]

I don't see what there is to take personally.

[ He kind of does. And he's absolutely uncomfortable. ]

[killtime]

[ Oh, Rex, but if you back off, then she knows — she knows, and she's like a shark sensing blood in the water. ]

Don't you? [ Wry as ever, her sly smile growing ever so slightly as she steps a little closer him, tilting her head as if to make a show of considering him. ] I guess you are new to having one. A wife, I mean.

[ She gives the poor man an appraising up-and-down glance. ]

You can mop up if you want. I don't mind watching you work.

[ct_7567]

I don't see what that has to do with...

[ He can't even finish the sentence. He just huffs, pretending like this didn't just come dangerously close to something he absolutely isn't ready to talk about yet - or to talk about here and now, with all of their friends in the other room, for god's sake - and shakes his head, trying to act like this is normal. Like she calls herself his wife at any other time than when she's trying to get a rise out of him. ]

I'm new to having a wife, but I get the impression that they're supposed to damn well help me mop up.

[killtime]

[ And maybe that's the crux of it — it's okay to tease, isn't it? Because their friends are in the other room. And if anything were ever going to happen, it certainly isn't now. Not a ice cube's chance in fucking hell. So it's fine if Andy walks the line in the spirit of ribbing him a bit. It won't turn into a big talk. Or anything else that neither one of them is willing to deal with yet. She can have her fun, knowing that there's a safety net in the setting.

There's a small victory in that little huff he gives her, and the look on her face is outright smug. ]

You know me. [ Wryly, as she hops up onto the counter, apparently not planning to help at all: ] I'd probably make another mess. Better leave it to your very capable hands, Captain.