8/14 Instance: Old Tricks.

[littlebamf]

Timeline same day as Sage for Breakfast

Finally awake, Lizzie was propped against the sideboard, making some sandwiches for lunch. It was blessedly quiet in the kitchen in comparison to earlier...

Tom came in from the back kitchen door. He saw Lizzie, but tried to ignore her. He wasn't in the mood for her now. He walked over to the cupboards looking for something to eat.

Looking over her shoulder at the back door opening, Lizzie saw Tom come in and for a moment wished it was someone else. But...Might as well be civil. "Afternoon, Tom."

"Afternoon," Tom mumbled. He settled for some cereal, not something he usually liked in the middle of the day, but he was too lazy to make something else.

Rasing an eyebrow she cut her sandwich in half. "Well someone got out of the wrong side of the flowerbed now didn't they?"

Tom scoffed at her remark, "Just had a bad day. Shouldn't take it out on you, sorry." He poured the cereal in a bowl with milk and sat down at the table. "So, how's life treatin ya today?"

"Not bad," she sat down at the table. "Another new student started, Tessa." She took a bite of her sandwich. "So what's wrong?"

"Seeing that you asked so nicely," Tom was sure she wouldn't believe what had happened that morning. "This morning while I was busy pruning some flowers I made, the police came around and confiscated them."

Taken aback, Lizzie got up for a glass of juice. "Oh...Okay...Do I want to know why?"

"Part of my sentence thing, I'm not allowed to own certain kind of plants, and seeing none of the police knew what plant was what, they went and took them all." Tom got and itch and scratched his eyebrow. He felt something and scratched it out.

In his cereal landed a small beetle. "Echh," he pushed the bowl away. "And now to top it all, I think I'm infested with beetles."

Shifting a little nervously, she smoothed her hair back over her shoulder. "Right...And you better hope they didn't take any of Munroe's plants or she'll be livid."

Trying not to look at the beetle she sipped her juice. "Other than that...?"

"Oh other than that I'm peachy, thanks for asking," he said with a smile. He thought for a bit, "You know, I think they did take two roses that belonged to Munroe."

"Don't meantion it..." she replied and they fell into a slightly awkward silence...

Tom sat there, staring at her for a bit, then looking around the kitchen, then back to her. "So," he shifted in his chair. "You and Warren ever going to tie the knot?"

Going a bit red, she swallowed her mouthful painfully and shrugged. "Well...We haven't exactly spoken about it...Apart from a bad mother in law joke I made..."

Tom grinned, "Why not, I'm surprised there isn't any telepathic batbabies fluttering around yet, you two are crazy about eachother."

Blushing harder, she squirmed. "No...Neither of us really want children...We're just...getting on with life, I suppose."

Tom made a small shrugging sound, "I can understand him not wanting children, but I'm a little surprised that you don't want any. Or do you want later in life, when you're in your late thirties?"

"No, I don't want children. You remember my mother?" Lizzie made a face. "I just...Don't like the idea of pregnancy, childbirth, picking up after the kid for years...I'm just not maternal."

Tom chuckled, "Yeah, okay, I give ya that. But people sometimes change you know?"

Sighing, she drank the last of her juice. "I suppose so. I just don't want to..." trailing off, she shrugged. "I guess people do change and change a lot but I have a stack of reasons as to why I probably won't change..."

"I couldn't imagine myself with kids. Bit afraid how they would come out. Little ferns running around." He laughed.

Smiling at the thought she looked down at her empty glass. "Did you want them, before...?"

"God, I didn't even think of that before." He got up and took the bowl, throwing the contents away, including beetle. He went back to the table and sat down.

Getting up to clear her own stuff, she nodded slightly. "Fair enough."

Putting the stuff in the sink, she paused for a moment. "Do you...No. Never mind."

He looked with raised eyebrows, "Do I what?"

"Oh, just...Think about the past. When we were kids, y'know," she said hurridly. "See how much it all changed..."

He crossed his arms, looked down at them, then back at her, "Lately, yes actually, I do. How much it changed... how much I fucked up. Ever got those thoughts like if you could only go back in time and change one thing?"

Fiddling with a piece of paper on the sideboard she looked down at it. "Yeah...Sometimes..."

"And, we all fuck up. Helps if we know we did so we can work on changing it all though..."

Tom stared into space, "Actually I was thinking of someone else." He came out of his daze and looked at her, "You know, I could swore you almost sounded like Xavier."

Her attention snapped back to her. "Excuse me?"

"Oh the whole, 'we can work on changing it all' bit."

"Oh," she rolled her eyes. "No. Just my experience talking. So who were you thinking of?"

"My mom." He fell silent.

"Oh..."

Not sure what to do, she leant over and gave him an awkward pat on the bar - shouder.

"She used...you know, she was addicted. I even knew back then, but did nothing. That's the real reason for goddammed car accident. My father just made sure it didn't get out." Tom said.

"I'm sorry, Tom..."

"Oh God, look at me," he said while wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "A real sorry sight."

This seriously was not happening...Sighing, Lizzie rubbed his shoulder again. "S'okay. I won't tell anyone I saw you cry. Just like that time when we were seven and you fell off your bike."

Tom laughed at that thought, "Wow, yeah...thanks... was it you or Andrew who pushed me off? Such a long time ago."

"Andrew. I was on skates so I was slower than you two. You always left me behind..."

"Oh yeah, I think I remember now. We had a little argument, and he didn't like what I wanted."

"Yeah? Can you remember what it was you wanted?" she grinned and sat on the table, glad he seemed a little more cheerful.

"Yes. I wanted to wait for you, and he wanted to go faster and lose you." He looked up to her.

"In that case you should have let me tie my skipping rope to the back of your bike," she smiled and got up for something else to drink.

This was getting a little weird now...

But in an odd way, it was still nice.

Tom looked down at the table. He scratched a little at the edge of the table where it was a bit uneven, "I'm glad you and Warren have eachother." He went quiet again.

She held her breath, feeling uncomfortable once more. "I...Thank you. Things just weren't meant to be between us, eh?"

"No, probably not." not back then, but maybe now. he thought a bit too hard.

Barely able to dodge the thought from Tom, she backed up a little, reddening again.

"Yeah, people change. We would have been great together if we were the same when we were kids, but...people change...sometimes for the worse."

"I don't think us being thw same as we were as kids would have made us a better match..."

"That's what you think, I would've given you all my candy and bubblegum if your brother wasn't near."

"I...don't know what to say to that Tom. I didn't..."

Tom grinned, "Yeah, well, that's the past. Can't change the past, only the future. Think I'm slowly turning into a fortune cookie."

"Well. Don't expect me to crack you open to get my fortune..."

"You'd have a hell of a time trying," he knocked the side of his head, "I'm a tough cookie."

"Yeah, you are..." she aggreed then remembered she had been looking for a drink and poked her head into the fridge.

Tom leaned to down the side of the seat to look around the kitchen's counter, and grinned as he saw Lizzie's behind. He sat back normally and gave a silent little sigh.

"Anyway..." she straightened up. "I've got to go see Warren before lunch is over. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

Walking past him, she gave him another awkward pat on the shoulder. "Bye, Tom."

"Tell him I said hi," Tom said.