8/23 Issue: Not-Cat, Fish-Cat

[Svartfreja]

<Astrid> Astrid bounced in her seat as the car stopped at the gates for the obligatory secruity check. She was suuuuper excited! She was going to see mommy! At work! That never happened! Bounce bounce bounce.

<Chris> Chris gave the guard a grin and told him who they were there to see and what for. "I promise I won't break anything!" He gave the guard a big smile and drove through the checkpoint when he was waved on.

<Astrid> Astrid grinned and waved at the guards as they drove by, the bouncing continuing. "Break stuff!"

<Chris> Chris laughed a little. "Noooooo, we can't break stuff or your mommy will get in trouble." He paused for a moment and muttered under his breath, "and probably me too...."

<Astrid> "Mommy breaks stuff all tha time..." Astrid pointed out helpfully, looking at her brother for backup, but Thomas was too busy daydreaming about the woods they were driving by.

<Chris> He let out a small sigh. "She does, but we need to be on our best behavior."

<Carol> Carol received the notification that her visitors were on the way up the drive and left her room, Chewie following behind her on her way to the front door to meet them. Nerd shirt and jeans were the order of the day unless for some reason her kid requested she put her X-Men uniform on for pictures or something. She pushed a hand through her hair and looked down at Chewie, "Don't do that tentacle thing, okay?" Chewie 'mrrf'ed at her.

<Carol> Did that mean 'okay'? She hoped it meant 'okay'. "I'm serious, Chewie... no tentacles in front of the kids." Chewie headbutted her calf. Okay that was more reassuring.

<Chris> Chris parked the car in the closest available spot he could find and got to work getting the kids out of the car. "Keep in sight please Astrid. If this was anything like the old days there's plenty of ways you could accidentally get hurt."

<Astrid> Astrid was only half listening, "Kitty! Lookit! Mommy has a kitty!" And she was off to say hi to that kitty the moment her feet were on the gravel.

<Carol> Carol decided to intercept before Chewie ran for cover and scooped Astrid up for a cuddle, "Heeeeeeey, what about me?"

<Chris> Chris sighed and then laughed a little. "If there's an animal, parents become chopped liver." He helped Thomas out of the car and ushered him towards Carol. "What's up princess sparkles?"

<Carol> "Oh, you know... the usual..." she pressed a kiss to Astrid's cheek before setting her down, "This is Chewie... she adopted me. Her full name is Chewbacca Sassy Danvers."

<Astrid> "Kitty!" Astrid carefully petted the kitty.

<Thomas> Thomas eyed the 'cat' with suspicion, "Cat smells funny."

<Chris> "So do you Mr. won't take baths." He ruffled Thomas' hair.

<Thomas> "I take baths!" he protested, ears going flat, "But I don't like the smelly water..."

<Carol> "It's pronounced 'soap'," Carol laughed and leaned to give him a hug too.

<Chris> "The usual huh? Shoot me a text if the end of the world is about to kick off please?"

<Carol> "Unless ordered to do otherwise, which, you know..." she shrugged, "I'll do that. I promise." She moved aside so that they could get off the front steps of the building, "So... you guys can do anything you want today. We can go swimming in the pool, we can go hang out outside, I can show you the shiny plane we fly around in... we can try to find someone that's safe in the kitchen?"

<Chris> "The kitchen is safe here? So when did y'all get someone who's powers are miracles?" He shot Carol a smile.

<Carol> She laughed, "Hey don't jinx it. So far only I've broken it which we all knew was gonna happen. So if you all want feeding we're gonna have to bribe someone or order pizza."

<Astrid> "Told ya mommy breaks stuff!" Astrid poked her tongue out at Chris then scurried after Chewie to try and pick her up.

<Thomas> "I like pizza..."

<Chris> "I never said she doesn't break things." Chris laughed. "I said we have to be on our best behavior."

<Carol> Chewie headed up the stairs toward Carol's room so Astrid followed, Carol decided upstairs was as good as any place to start. "It's okay, this place is pretty robust when it comes to breaking stuff. It's not like before... So nothing should get broken or anything.... also I'm the boss so..."

<Thomas> "So you decide who gets in trouble?" He grinned.

<Chris> "One way or another, she always did." Chris gave an exaggerated muscle flex and gave Thomas a wink.

<Carol> "That's right, I decide," Carol nodded to Thomas' question and gave Chris a shot from the finger-gun over her shoulder, "So if anything get's broken or goes on a little vacation while you're here, it's me you gotta convince not to throw you in the brig."

<Chris> "Da...ng," Chris caught himself. "Guess that means I have to be nice to you then huh?"

<Carol> "Yep, or Chewie's gonna be your jailer and she's a hard.... butt." Carol opened the door to her room to let them inside.

<Astrid> "I don' wanna go to tha bridge!" Astrid declared.

<Thomas> "Brig." Thomas corrected.

<Astrid> "Big!" Astrid attempted a second time.

<Chris> Chris held back the laughter as best he could. "That's one mean pussy cat huh?"

<Carol> "She knows what side her bread is buttered on," Carol sat down on her sofa and watched Chewie climb on top of a book case for safety. "A brig, Astrid, is like jail," Carol told her, followed by an 'oof' as Astrid dove onto her lap.

<Astrid> "Jail is for badguys!"

<Chris> "Sometimes it's just like time out for adults too."

<Astrid> "Do they go there if they eat candy before dinner too?"

<Thomas> Thomas walked around the sofa to stare at the cat thing on top of the shelf, eyes narrowed. It still smelled weird.

<Chris> Chris laughed a little. "Usually it's for worse things than that munchkin."

<Carol> "No one here goes to jail for eating candy before dinner," Carol cuddled her daughter in her lap, "So if that's what you wanna do, we can do that."

<Astrid> Her face lit up then she turned to look to see if Carol was kidding. When she realised she wasn't, she looked at Chris. "Can we?!"

<Chris> Chris gave Carol a disapproving glare. "Only a little. It's a treat not a snack or meal."

<Astrid> "Yay! Candy!" Astrid was bouncing again.

<Carol> Carol gave Chris an easy grin, scooping up Astrid and putting her over her shoulder as she got up to go to the small kitchen area in her room to get some candy from the cupboard. "I'm not gonna say I don't eat candy before dinner..."

<Chris> "Healthy habits Carol..." He sighed. "Healthy habits." Chris face palmed. "You're going to get us all in trouble with Greer."

<Carol> "Oh, come on, she knew this was gonna happen the moment she said okay. She's prepared for the fallout." Carol dropped the bag of candy on the coffee table and set Astrid down again, "You want some coffee?"

<Chris> Chris rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I'll take some coffee." He turned to Astrid before she could consume the whole bag. "A few pieces! Not the entire bag."

<Astrid> Astrid giggled and tried to stuff the two handfuls she'd gathered into her mouth all at once.

<Carol> Carol couldn't help laughing, "Man, she reminds me so much of me..."

<Chris> "Yeah, just be ready for the sugar high." Chris shook his head a little. "Tasmanian devil, that's all I have to say."

<Carol> "It's fine, really, I can handle that," she assured him as she filled the coffee machine, "When I was her age I ran everywhere. I don't think I had a walk setting."

<Chris> Chris smirked. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

<Carol> "I planned ahead and absorbed a whole lot of solar radiation this morning. I can take anything," she waved a hand dismissively then folded her arms and leaned back against the counter, "We could just throw her in the pool."

<Chris> "Oh I'm so saying I told you so when it comes up."

<Carol> "So.... not throwing her in the pool?" Carol guessed.

<Thomas> The word 'pool' caught his attention and turned Thomas away from the staring match with the totally-not-a-cat. "Pool?"

<Chris> "Oh no, you're the conductor of this train ride now. I'm not helping you out."

<Carol> "Then, pool it is," she smiled at Thomas, "Yes, we have a huge swimming pool which you can totally play in once we have coffee."

<Chris> "Coffee is always necessary." Chris nodded sagely.

<Thomas> "Coffee smells..." Thomas complained, turning his attention back to the cat thing, "You are not a cat..."

<Carol> Carol watched Thomas stare at Chewie and make his accusations, "She's not gonna hurt you."

<Chris> "Smells like heaven." Chris laughed a little, but raised an eyebrow at the cat. "Not a cat?"

<Carol> "She teleports... among other things. She's super smart so she understands everything we're saying right now."

<Thomas> "Told you she smells funny..."

<Chris> "Oh god, there's mutant cats now too?"

<Carol> "I don't know if she's a mutant or what... I should really ask my mom..." she frowned a little, "But not right now..."

<Chris> "This place just gets weirder and weirder...."

<Carol> "Duh, we deal in weird," she teased, "It's what I get paid for.... you gotta miss it a little bit?"

<Chris> "Maybe a little bit. Running a business is boring. SO much paper work...."

<Carol> "I knew it!" she laughed, "I told you it was boring and you'd hate it."

<Chris> "Pffft I don't hate it. It's just not as fun as getting to hit stuff." He grinned. "I do get to do a lot more art work now though."

<Carol> "I like hitting stuff too," Carol nodded, "You could come by and spar sometime... just call me and say you're on the way. I love punching you, you know that."

<Chris> "Pffft sparring with you isn't fair." He laughed. "It's just an ego check."

<Carol> "We can spar no powers," she turned to take two mugs from the cupboard, "I can still take you down. I have mad skills."

<Chris> "You do remember that basically all I do in my free time is art and martial arts right?" He smirked.

<Carol> "And you remember that I'm still half alien even without my powers, right? I have stuff in my brain even I don't know." She picked up the coffee pot to fill the mugs then set it back on the hot plate. "But it's all just words if you're too scared to try."

<Chris> "You're lucky the kids are here. Or I woulda hit that softball out of the park." Chris gave her a smirk. "I'm down whenever you are."

<Carol> She laughed, "I'm glad they're here, means I don't have to waste energy reminding you who has the coolest powers." She armed her finger-gun to make a point then 'blew' the energy out and picked up the mugs to take him his coffee and retake her seat.

<Chris> Chris took his coffee. "Thanks. And I wasn't talking about powers you brat."

<Carol> "Oh I know, but the finger-gun is the inevitable consequence of you picking up those 'softballs'," she pulled Astrid back onto her lap as she'd plopped down beside her. "So what do you say, shooting star? Wanna play in the pool with your brother?"

<Astrid> "Swimming!" Astrid grinned, "I like pool."

<Chris> "They're bigger fish than I am." Chris laughed a little bit.

<Thomas> "Mom says tigers like swimming," Thomas supplied, "It's hot where they live."

<Chris> "That's cuz mom knows all the things." Chris smirked. "That's why I'm always getting in trouble. I can't get anything past her."

<Thomas> "She can smell when you're lying," Thomas informed him matter-of-fact-ly.

<Carol> "Your mom can tell a lot about someone from their scent. I'm sure she'll teach you when you're old enough."

<Chris> "Hey I totally don't lie to your mom... I learned that the hard way." Chris ran a hand through his hair. "Plus lying is bad."

<Carol> "Yeah lying is very bad," Carol agreed, "Doesn't even feel good to do so that's a big clue not to do it."

<Astrid> "Does that mean I don't gotta eat broccolis no more? They don' feel good neither..."

<Chris> "Nope, you still have to eat your vegetables." Chris gave her the look.

<Carol> Carol laughed, "Can't get anything past this one, huh? Vegetables are good for you. They help make you strong like your mom and dad and me," she gave Astrid another snuggle, "Otherwise how could I beat up all the bad guys and put them in jail?"

<Astrid> Astrid took all this in then ate some more candy, "I like the green candies!"

<Chris> "Yup, healthy eating habits.... The color isn't what makes it healthy munchkin." Chris took the candy bag away. "That's more than enough."

<Carol> "Hey, I'll have you know, that bag says 'natural flavourings'. There's probably some real fruit in there... somewhere," Carol protested the unhealthiness of the candy that was totally not her breakfast.

<Astrid> Astrid giggled, "You're silly."

<Chris> Chris blinked a little. "Please tell me you know that doesn't mean anything... Like 100 percent fruit juice isn't actually just fruit juice."

<Carol> She laughed, "Yeah I know... and silliness is good for you," she tickled Astrid for her cheek, "Makes life way more fun!"

<Astrid> Astrid giggled and squirmed, "Eeeee! Thomaaaaaas heeeeeeelp!"

<Chris> Chris laughed a little. "Good luck with that. Carol will just get you both." He grinned at Thomas.

<Thomas> Thomas gave the not-cat one last look before diving in anyway to help his sister.

<Carol> Carol wrapped an arm around Thomas too and tickled him just as mercilessly, "Right into my trap!"

<Chris> "Told ya little man." Chris sipped at his coffee. "Your only hope now is that she gives one of you up to drink her coffee."

<Astrid> "You said pool after smelly drink!" Astrid reminded them amidst her giggles.

<Chris> "Yeah, after. We still have to enjoy this nectar of the gods." He took a big whiff of the coffee and let out a pleased sigh.

<Thomas> "Smelly drink!" Thomas echoed.

<Carol> Carol laughed and let them both go so she could enjoy her 'smelly drink', "The world runs on this stuff, you know. Except the President. He runs on this and scotch."

<Chris> "Yeah that was clue one there's something wrong with him." Chris blew a raspberry.

<Carol> "Awww, he's fine," Carol laughed, picking up her coffee, "He's just a little... inventor-y. You know they're kind of eccentric." She sipped her coffee and rolled the candy bag over to close it so no sneaky hands could sneak any more.

<Chris> "Almost as bad as artists. You should meet some of my staff. We've got a guy that has more piercings than me in my college years."

<Carol> "Make it manditory that they have to walk in under a really big magnet..."

<Chris> "I wouldn't get a single employee and I'd probably get at least one sexual harassment lawsuit." Chris laughed.

<Carol> "For a magnet? Man I wanna meet the people you employ. They sound like fun."

<Chris> "I can't discuss the details with virgin ears present, but yes. I've done a few of the piercings."

<Carol> "Done or had? There's a difference." She gave him a grin, getting up once she emptied her cup and going to the counter to set it down with Astrid under her arm.

<Chris> "Both?" He gave a shrug. "I still haven't gotten anything yet though. Not sure if I want them again or not so until I'm certain I'm good for now."

<Carol> "I wonder sometimes if I could even get my ears pierced now... good thing I did it when I was younger." She topped up her cup and turned for the door, "So, shall we go to the pool? Feel free to top up your coffee before we go."

<Chris> "Maybe if you used an inhibitor?" Chris shrugged. "I always had to get my tattoos touched up a few times before they'd stay."

<Carol> "Yeah I could use an inhibitor now so it's not an issue but for people that don't have that option? That sucks." She opened the door into the hall and headed out, "Come on, let's go for a swim."

<Chris> Chris topped off his coffee and helped Carol usher the kids out of the room. "To the human aquarium!"

<Carol> [time passes]

<Carol> Astrid was all dressed for swimming and so was Carol, even though the last time she'd been in the pool with a kid had ended in disaster, she was trying not to think bad thoughts. This was not the same. "Okay, let's go see if they beat us out here, huh?"

<Astrid> Being good and safe by the pool, Astrid remembered the rules about not running and holding mommy's hand even though it was super hard. "We win!"

<Chris> Chris was sitting in a chair by the pool watching Thomas swimming already. "You win huh? You two slow pokes took your sweet time huh?"

<Astrid> Astrid pouted, "You're slow!" she countered.

<Carol> Carol laughed and lifted her, taking to the air to lower them both into the water safely. "It's okay, as long as we have fun, it doesn't matter who wins, right?" She leaned close to mutter into Astrid's ear, "Next time I'll show you how we cheat." She was rewarded with a giggle.

<Chris> "If you say so munchkin." He smirked.

<Carol> "You gonna get in here or what?" Carol looked over at Chris as she kept a hand underneath Astrid's attempts at 'swimming'.

<Chris> "Maybe." Chris shrugged. "Maybe I'm enjoying relaxing."

<Carol> "Well don't enjoy it too hard or someone might come over there and ruin it," she warned with a grin, watching Thomas swimming around like he lived in the water.

<Chris> "Pfffffft. Two kids. I'm so used to it! You take what you can get when you get it."

<Carol> "Yeeeeah but two kids can't pick you up by your ankles and drop you in the deep end head first..."

<Chris> "No they can't. But they can jump on me and poke and prod at me." He stuck his tongue out at Carol.

<Carol> "You hear that, kids? He basically just gave you permission..." She helped Astrid out of the pool so she could act on that permission while giggling like a maniac.

<Chris> "I did no such thing!" Chris got up quickly and tried to avoid the approaching child. "I'm disappointed in you, Carol. Sending a child to do your dirty work!" He laughed as he narrowly avoided his daughter.

<Astrid> Astrid giggled and flailed her wet hands at her daddy.

<Carol> "It's not dirty work, it involves chlorinated water. It's clean work if it's any work."

<Chris> "Pffft you know what I mean!" Chris dodged his daughter one last time before finally jumping into the pool and doing a cannon ball.

<Thomas> Thomas flailed in the wake of the cannon ball, "Daaaaaaad!"

<Astrid> Astrid hurried to the edge of the pool, "Me too! Me too!"

<Carol> Carol swam to the edge of the pool, holding her arms out to Astrid, "Okay, kid, I've got you."

<Chris> "Hey I was being attacked." He laughed a little and swam over by Carol. "Make sure you blow air out of your nose when you jump in, don't want your brain to get water logged!"

<Astrid> "Wheeee!" Astrid jumped into the pool with a big splash.

<Carol> Carol laughed and caught her, and a lot of water to the face, helping her back up to the surface. "Nice job! High five!"

<Chris> Chris gave Astrid a smile and a big thumbs up. Then proceeded to splash the both of them and swim away as fast as he could.

<Astrid> Astrid squealed and flailed at the splashing, "Mommy! Get 'im!"

<Carol> Carol laughed, "I will do that, don't you worry.... but we gotta plan our revenge. He's expecting it right now so you gotta be sneaky." She put her finger to her lips.

<Astrid> Astrid giggled behind her hands, scrunching her shoulders, "Ssshhh issa secret!"

<Chris> "You gotta be quieter than that if you want it to be a secret!" He threw another splash at them that had no way of getting to them.

<Carol> Carol parked Astrid by the edge of the pool, telling her to hold on tight, then submerged with her finger held to her lips. Pushing off from the wall and staying below the surface.

<Chris> "Ack! Hey no fair! You can't go solo!" Chris tried to swim away from Carol.

<Carol> Carol was faster because she was absolutely cheating. She rolled onto her back beneath him then sent up a huge concussive wave, the water exploding around him and showering the entire pool area.

<Astrid> Astrid shrieked and laughed, "Yay!"

<Chris> "Gah! That's definitely cheating." Chris sputtered and tried to recover as he started to glow a little from the force.

<Carol> Carol popped up beside him laughing and running a hand through her short hair, "You know I don't play fair when I'm determined to win." She gave him a grin before turning to go back to Astrid.

<Chris> "Oh I'm so gonna get you both back!" He grinned. "Just you wait."

<Carol> "Hey at least you're in the pool now," she helped Astrid back out into the water, "It's probably safe now," she told Thomas who had retreated to sit on the edge of the pool since they were throwing it at each other.

<Chris> "Pffft safe is a relative term." He gave his son a wicked grin.

<Thomas> Thomas wasn't sure he liked that look but he slid back into the water anyway, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes.

<Carol> "He's just messing with you," Carol laughed at the dubious look on Thomas' face, "I know, he's a butt sometimes."

<Chris> Chris managed to shoot a little force blast just in front of Carol to splash her back. "Forgot I could do that didn't you?"

<Carol> Carol spluttered dramatically for Astrid's entertainment, "I didn't... I was hoping you had."

<Chris> "I'm not that rusty," Chris protested. "It's just harder for me to build up energy in water." He laughed a little.

<Carol> "Too bad for you, I absorb it aaaall the time," she teased before turning her attention back to her little girl. "What are you gonna do when she learns how?"

<Chris> "Bubble wrap everything and get better insurance." Chris leaned up against the edge of the pool.

<Astrid> "Bubbles?!" That sounded super fun!

<Carol> "Well, at least she approves of the plan?" Carol laughed.

<Chris> "I mean who wouldn't? Bubble wrap is awesome."

<Carol> "It is super satisfying," she agreed, swimming Astrid around in a circle so she could pretend she was flying in the weightlessness of the water.

<Chris> "I still prefer my punching bags, but hey in a pinch. Plus it makes a more satisfying noise!"

<Carol> "Just like punching bad guys," Carol nodded along, smiling when she heard Thomas snort from his side of the pool.

<Chris> "Punching bad guys is preeeeeetty satisfying if I remember right." Chris laughed. "But only the ones who deserve it."

<Carol> "Well, yeah. You gotta make sure you can still take them to jail too otherwise you can't ask them why they're so bad and make them say sorry.... so we don't punch them too hard unless they're really strong like me and daddy."

<Astrid> "If they say sorry then they have ice cream!"

<Carol> Carol laughed, "Yeah, then they can have ice cream."

<Chris> Chris laughed at that too. "Maybe that's why there's so many repeat offenders. The jails don't offer ice cream."

<Carol> "Tell you what, next time I see Tony, I'll make that suggestion. See what we can do about it, huh? But only if they're really sorry. Can't have them faking just for the ice cream."

<Astrid> "Mom would know! Ask mom!"

<Chris> Chris smiled. "Hey it could work. You never know."

<Carol> "Man, imagine how much easier the criminal justice system would be if they employed feral mutants..." Carol sighed and shook her head with a small smile, "Tony missed a trick."

<Chris> "I mean If there's a some feral mutants out there that need a job that'd get unemployment rates down."

<Carol> "There probably are but I don't think there's enough time for that to go through before the election... so we'd have to hope Rhodey wins... pretty sure he'd go for it." Astrid was getting worn out so she held her to her, her little arms wrapped around her neck.

<Chris> Chris smirked. "Just wait till she gets her second wind."

<Carol> "I'm sure that'll happen just in time for pizza," Carol gave him a grin and splashed him a little.

<Chris> "Or double down after the pizza. And hey that's cheating. I'm not splashing my munchkin when she has no energy!"

<Carol> Carol's grin remained, "I know, that was the point."

<Chris> "Human shields so aren't fair." He stuck his tongue out at her.

<Carol> "I figure I'll owe you some revenge at some point so I'll just call it credit," she shrugged the shoulder Astrid wasn't resting on, turning slowly back and forth in the water with her to make small waves. "Sound fair to you?"

<Chris> "Only if you buy the pizza." He gave her a smirk.

<Carol> "Well, duh," Carol laughed, "I thought that was a given."

<Chris> "Pffft everyone always makes the rich guy pay. I might have the money, but I don't always want to pay."

<Carol> "I never make you pay," Carol pointed out, "I don't make anyone pay."

<Thomas> "'Cept the bad guys!" Thomas piped up.

<Carol> Carol laughed, "Yeah, except the bad guys."

<Chris> "Bad guys don't get a choice in the matter. They always pay." Chris laughed.

<Astrid> "Ice cream isn't for freeeee..." Astrid mumbled into Carol's shoulder.

<Chris> "It is not munchkin, it is not." He smirked.

<Carol> Carol laughed softly and lifted both her and Astrid out of the water, keeping the temperature of the air around them up so Astrid didn't get cold, "Come on, let's get you dried off and dressed so we can choose pizza toppings."

[Esynthia]

Cute bonding time