multiversallogs | » what was the song inside your head?

Who: Kiden and Remy
What: Doing what people do after grocery shopping?
Where: THE HOUSE OF LOL
When: Day after this thread.
Warnings: Kiden's mouth.

Even though she's been homeless again for only over a year, getting back into the routine of living in a house with other people is still weird to Kiden. Last time, she knew her roommates back to front. Here she only really knows--and trusts--Laura, but as the days pass, comfort sets in and Kiden will actually speak when she sees Wanda or Remy or even one of Wanda's around the place. A less sullen Kiden is always a good thing.

She doesn't really know if Remy invited her along to the store to keep her busy, out of trouble, or because he wanted her company. Whichever one it is, Kiden did manage to slip a pack of chocolate sandwich cookies into the cart that she heads for first as soon as they bring in the bags of groceries, so she doesn't care in the end. Stuffing a cookie into her mouth whole before actually settling down to work, she makes an attempt to toss a box of pasta onto a high cabinet shelf. Doing things the right way is for losers.

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Chocolate sandwich cookies are not going to hurt anybody, and are within the budget, so it's fine - as they shop, Remy explains the stuff they have to get and why; Tommy's metabolism is off the charts thanks to his mutation, so he needs an absurd amount of protein and carbs to keep going in addition to normal food, Billy's got kosher requirements. (It's clear, even if he doesn't mention it, that he babies Laura a little, picking out stuff he knows she'll like specifically even if it's not completely necessary.)

It's important they buy stuff that they can use all of; Remy tends to shy away from ready-made products except for snack food, because it's too expensive, so he and Wanda both spend a pretty significant amount of time cooking so that there's always food available to eat, thus preventing certain parties from staring at the pantry in bleary confusion and then wandering away to spend too much on takeout. It's not that anyone's broke, and it's not a method anyone stresses over maintaining, but it's just a helpful mentality to have. Don't waste anything.

"Anybody ever teach you to cook?" He sticks a box of pasta into the pantry, and snags one of Kiden's cookies with his free hand.

Kiden had noticed a surprising amount of strong spices going into the cart, knowing that it's what Laura prefers to eat when she does so Kiden doesn't make mention of it, preferring to nod when Remy gives her the lowdown on who eats what and why in the household. She'll be the easiest one to feed if she sticks around. Kiden's never been the picky type, though she does have a sweet tooth that flares up every once in a while, hence the cookies.

"My mom tried once, but I had other things to do," Kiden replies, distracted by the pasta box that refuses to stay on the shelf. Her next act is to climb halfway up on the counter once standing on her toes ends up failing her too. Being short is hard. "I know how to heat up soup and make oatmeal and Chef Boyardee."

"S'pretty good start," he says, chuckling a little and fulfilling his contractual tall person obligations by putting more stuff away on the higher shelves. He thinks about what other things she means, if it's an answer hiding something else, or just typical teenager shit. She wasn't born homeless, he can tell that much - the way she eases into domestic life, it's not her core.

"So no school. What're you thinkin' about doin' to pass the time?"

It's not her core, but it's something she's gotten used to far too quickly for it to be healthy. Her life was once good and nice, two parents and idiotic siblings that tortured her every day of her short life in a warm and loving home. It was normal. But one day, it wasn't and neither was Kiden and that's why she's the girl she is today, trying to slide back into the domestication aspect of life and learning how to trust people who mean well while balancing the surprise mutation and all that comes with it.

"I don't know." Actually, that reply comes out more like the universal sound for that phrase around another mouthful of cookie with a shrug of two thin shoulders.

"What'd you want to do at home if you weren't busy rightfully hatin' everything?"

It's not as flippant as a question as it could be - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Remy has a particular understanding for street kids, having been one himself (though he started that way). He knows Kiden had (has) good reason to be angry and distrustful, so there's nothing patronizing in his tone.

Kiden turns her back on Remy and chews slowly and thoughtfully. There would be a lot of things she would do at home if she could, but none of them seem to be coming to the forefront of her mind. Except one.

"Probably figure out where my mom went." So Kiden could at least tell her that she's alive and still breathing. Maybe her brother was right when he told her that things got better after she ran away and maybe Kiden feels like she doesn't have the right to intrude on the new life her mother began, but she does have the right to at least reach out once before getting slapped down. She's owed that much.

"That counts as hatin' shit, fille," he says, not unkindly. He sticks the rest of the perishables into the fridge and then leans backwards on the counter. "I mean hobbies, interests, did you like math class?"

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