Room 210, Saturday Morning

[smilestopscars]

Ezra did not know there was anything weird going on on the island. You could have even said he was blissfully unaware. That really wasn't going to last for very long.

But, he was awake and he'd showered, and the door to the hallway was open while he lazed about flipping through a magazine he'd picked up somewhere. Celebrity gossip about hot people he didn't really care about. Mmmmm.

It was quiet. It wouldn't be for long.

[ooc: Open door, open post, beware the tiny Sagishis invading the island because they will steal all your small stuff, for real. SP warning for the next bunch of hours, though.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey now," Kathy chided. "Do you have to steal from anybody? Really?"

Actualfax superhero, right here guys. In the room with you.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"Ummm...yeah?" Zeke didn't understand the question. "Mom, you're the one who taught me how to control my speed so the lift is perfect."

[spin_kick_snap]

And now Kathy was glaring back at Ezra. "You are a bad influence," she declared.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra spread his hands and shrugged.

"It's the fox way, we can't help it," he said. So, an apology was not a thing that would happen on that front. "Besides, you heard him! You're not blameless in this, either."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're foxes not magpies," Kathy huffed. "And who do you think probably taught me?"

She was just going to willfully ignore the drugstore she'd robbed in LA. And the two items she'd stolen for Gaunt. Those had been different!

...Somehow.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"But you get really good!" Zeke insisted, trying to help. He tried to think of something that would get across just how good she'd become. "Back when you ran with Dad, you even impressed the Coter--"

Zeke felt the last syllable of that word leave his mouth and wished for the ability to pull it back in.

"--ie."

Oops. Mom was very strict about not talking about the Coterie in front of Dad--or much at all, really. The Coterie wasn't a topic to be discussed lightly, she said. Of course, that didn't stop other people from talking about the 'old days' or Zeke from listening where he wasn't supposed to be.

"Sorry Dad," he said, wincing. "Sorry, Mom. I know I'm not s'posed to talk about it."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra felt like something was shattering inside him. For a second he probably looked it, too, but he was pretty quick to pull that back. He breathed in through his nose, and forced his shoulders to relax.

"It's okay," he said, even if it wasn't. His words said it was, and his tone said it was, and that was enough. "But we probably shouldn't bore your mom with that topic."

He did his best to be gentle. He'd seen that wince, and he didn't want to cause more.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had no idea what was going on. But she'd seen that look and the second it took him to recover. There were suddenly weird emotional currents in the room and she couldn't make sense of any of them.

Well, other than Zeke's distress. That was obvious enough. Even if she couldn't figure out why, the face that he was was enough.

"Shh, sweetie, it's all right," she said, bending down to pull him into a tight hug. She thought he might not be the only guy in the room that could use a hug, but he was probably the only one who'd accept one. "It was an accident. We understand."

She was raising an eyebrow at Ezra though. Did he care to elaborate...?

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

Zeke clung to his mom, and buried his face in her shirt. Mom hugs were great, even for kids who were fast and tough and cool like their Dad.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shook his head.

Then he amended that by mouthing Not now. Because fuck the Coterie, and fuck trying to explain them with an already upset kid in the room. He stepped a little closer, and reached out to ruffle Zeke's hair.

"It's cool, little guy."

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

Zeke took another moment to calm his breathing, force himself to relax, and put on a smirk. "Then can I have money for breakfast?" he asked, trying to look like he'd been faking his reaction all along.

Some things bred true.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy, at least, was thrown by the shift from clinging to cool. "Wait, what?"

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was not surprised at all. That was his kid, all right.

That made him feel all the more wretched about the Coterie thing somehow. But he pulled on a smirk of his own. "What, like you didn't already stage a heist or at least charm anyone to give you some before?"

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"What does that have to do with me asking you for more?" Zeke asked.

...Much to Kathy's relief, since her thin pjs didn't really come with a place to stash a wallet.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra crouched down to his level. "Word of advice, kiddo," he said, in almost a conspiratorial fashion. "You should at least be asking for brunch money. People are much more likely to give in when it's a meal you haven't had yet. Regardless of how little time has passed since you actually ate."

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but I'd lie to anybody else," Zeke said. "And find some way to work breakfast being the most important meal of the day!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was very much unsure about where the conversation was trending. "Zeke," she said, caught between uncertainty and earnestness, "you don't have to do that. Umm, at least not here?"

Maybe they were really poor back home? Was it weird she was kind of hoping for that?

"I have plenty of money. If you're hungry or just want something, you can ask me. It's really okay, I don't mind."

Oh, Kathy.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra looked up and smirked at her.

"There's no fun in that, though."

Everything was a game to a fox.

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's what this is about?" Kathy asked.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

Zeke exchanged a look with his father. Little mom didn't seem to get it, did she?

"Duh! Like you and Dad would ever let me go hungry," he explained. "That's not the point."

His normal mom didn't always agree, but at least she understood.

[smilestopscars]

"It's the Sagishi way," Ezra added.

They did not hold the concept of private property in very high regard, obviously.

[spin_kick_snap]

"The Li way involves a bit more respect for the law and doing the right thing," Karla informed them.

Superhero! Right here! Seriously!

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"That's probably why I'm a Sagishi, Mom," Zeke said thoughtfully. "Even though you and Dad are never gonna be married."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra didn't even react to that tidbit. He was never getting married. This was not news. "You don't need marriage for a name, anyway," he said. "Especially when you can be a Sagishi. Not that there's anything wrong with Li, either."

[spin_kick_snap]

"How kind of you to say," Kathy drawled, giving him an amused smile.

She was not quite as sanguine about having a kid and not being married as Ezra was, however.

"We're not?" she asked Zeke. "Are we not together anymore, or...?" She was trying to figure out how a version of her had thought it would be a good idea to have a baby with Ezra in the first place, truth be told.

...No offense.