Room 505, Saturday Morning

[notacokeperson]

This was not Karina's morning.

First she'd woken up to Evan's stuff in her room, like he was moving in, only no one had told her. Which was terrible enough and, yes, she only knew it was Evan's stuff because she'd checked and he was lame enough to write his name in his textbooks. Lame. God, what a loser.

Then he'd come along and made it worse. Like, oh sure, she was just going to bow down and let him move in? As if.

(The only thing that salvaged the morning was that he was just as cranky as she was.)

"I don’t care what the room listings say," she snapped. "You're not staying here. This is my room."

It wasn't the first time she'd said it. It was... probably not going to be the last, since this conversation was going nowhere fast.

[For Evan and assorted family!]

Comments

[genesishero]

"And I'll talk to somebody in the office as soon as it's open again," Evan stressed, his fingers pretty much taking residence where they were pinching the bridge of his nose. "But for the time being, it's Saturday, my stuff is all here somehow, and whether you've laid claim to the room or not, it's technically school property, they get the final say in all this."

No, he didn't like it either.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Well she liked it even less!

"Yeah, no," Karina said, even though he had a point. Shut up. She could totally ignore his point if she wanted to. This was her privacy they were talking about! She had no roomie! She needed no roomie!

Especially not him.

"That's not how this is working. My room, not yours, go hang out somewhere else."

[genesishero]

"This is insane," Evan growled. "You can't hold my things hostage just because you don't like me. My room listing has changed, my key has changed, I'm at least coming in and getting my stuff."

He had a dog to feed and books to read and homework to do. He had better things to do than this, too!

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"I'm not holding anything hostage," she retorted, making absolutely no move to step away from the door so he could get by her. "Holding it hostage implies that I took your stuff and I didn't, asshole."

In fact, just to rub it in, Karina leaned a little more solidly against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not my fault I haven't had any notice of this. I don't have to accept this and I'm not. Stay out."

[genesishero]

"I wasn't informed of this either," Evan pointed out, for what must have been the dozenth time. "Either you let me in, or you start packing my things yourself, and, frankly, I don't trust you with my things."

It would be so easy for him to slip by. Or even to muscle his way through. That he was still standing in the doorway arguing was a testimony to his patience, really.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"I don't pack anyone's shit except my own," Karina said bluntly, though it wasn't the most accurate statement Karina had ever made. She didn't mind helping people she liked.

Guess what word was the important one in that sentence?

"And, for that matter, I don't trust you in my room."

Because, seriously, no.

[genesishero]

"So, what, you're going to just let it stay there? Do I have to gather a moving crew to pack my things while I sit out in the hallway and watch? You're being completely fucking ridiculous, Karina!" Big words, now. Wade's influence was starting to show, and it came out in ways that were going to make Evan wash his own mouth out with soap, later. "The sooner you let me get my stuff, the sooner you don't have to look at me. But I'm not leaving until I have it again."

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"Well then you'd better start gathering that moving crew," Karina said snappily, "since I'm not moving and all."

Karina purposefully said nothing about leaving his stuff as it was if he was stupid enough to actually go and get a moving crew. If he did, then he totally deserved to have all his stuff flung out into the hall.

It wasn't like she was being subtle about how little she wanted it around, after all. Karina felt it would be justifiable behaviour.

[genesishero]

"Seriously? What is wrong with you?" His hands clenched into fists for a moment, but he pulled in a breath and held it, trying to will his temper away. "Look, I know you don't like me. I'm not exactly your number one fan right now, either. But according to the current room listings, I have every right to enter that room right now, even if it is just to get my stuff out. Half an hour, tops. It's not like I even have many things to my name. But what's in there is everything I own, and I'm not leaving without it."

He lifted a hand and ducked a little, completely intent on weaseling his way into the room.

"So deal."

... He was not expecting the hand that grabbed him roughly from behind and dragged him bodily back into the hallway.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

If she had her timeline right, and Tori had a vested interest in making sure she did, then Apocalypse wasn't anything more than a mostly normal teenager going by a different name.

But some things, after all this time, were reflexes, and when Tori saw him with a hand raised, like was going to hit her mom... well, there was no way in hell she was standing for that.

Tori shoved him roughly up against the wall opposite the door where her mother stood. She was a tall girl, pretty, but her eyes were cold.

So were her hands, if you were the sort to notice that sort of thing.

"Hey," she said, "back off. Mom doesn't want to let you in, you don't get in. It's that simple."

[genesishero]

Evan blinked, staring at the girl who had pushed him from where he was pinned against the wall. She looked familiar in a way he couldn't quite place. Like a classmate, or someone he'd seen every day of his life from a distance, the sort of face you could pick out in a crowd because you were looking for something like it, without ever really knowing what 'it' was meant to be.

...

"Mom?"

He was quitting today. That was that, then. Saturday was fired and he was going to just petition for there to be no more Saturdays, ever.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"...Mom?" Karina echoed weakly as her brain added up every terrible thing she'd ever heard about the island rapidly. It was easier to do now that Evan wasn't right in her face. "Oh, god, you mean it's the weekend where kids show up, right?"

How had she wound up with a kid? There was no one here that she liked that way!

Karina stared at her daughter's back (oh god, oh god), appalled, and then took another leap that she really, really hoped wasn't true. "... Do not tell me the reason he's supposed to be my roommate is because of this. No. Just--no. Never."

[genesishero]

"Noooo, not a chance," Evan replied, wide-eyed. "I mean, no offense to you at all, but your mom is kind of a psycho."

It took a lot to get Evan to turn off his politeness filter so absolutely. Apparently holding all of his worldly possessions hostage was about enough to do it.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

"Sorry, Mom," Tori said regretfully. "You're right, of course."

As far as Tori was concerned, her mom was usually right. Tori had biases and good reasons for them, though.

"And offense taken," she added, politely enough that Uncle Keith wouldn't notice the unfriendly overtones in her voice. The temperature dropped a few more degrees. "You have no right to be calling anyone psycho, Dad." God, but she hated calling him that. Even though it was the truth.

"Mom's safer without you anywhere near her."

That was the truth too.

[genesishero]

"... Dad?" Okay, now Evan's knees were trying to give out on him. "Nooo, I'm not anybody's... I mean, I'm not trying to cause any trouble, I just want my things."

Oh God, he didn't want to know. He didn't want to know, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't.

He swallowed and asked anyway.

"Safer...?"

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina shifted uncomfortably, just as concerned as Evan at the mention of being safer away from him.

Evan thought she was just an ordinary girl but Karina and, she suspected, her daughter, knew better. If Blue Rose needed to stay the fuck away from someone to be safe...

Well, that was scary.

She didn't say anything, just ducked her head a little, so that her hair fell in front of her face. Carefully, so that her body didn't get lined in blue, she drew up enough of her power that her eyes bled from brown to ice blue and held it there, her power bubbling just under the surface. If he tried anything--anything--she was sending him through a wall or five and then getting the hell out of dodge.

The temperature in the hall plummeted.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

Tori smiled grimly as the temperature dropped abruptly. It didn't bother her, thanks to her having her mom's protection against the cold, but she noticed it, which Mom never did.

When she breathed, her breath fogged the air.

"It's a long, complicated story," Tori said, keeping her eyes on Apocalypse, "but I'll give you the quick and dirty version." Mostly because she didn't want to talk to him longer than she had to. "You see, for some reason Mom thought marrying you was a good idea and it worked for a good bit of time. You went to her world and there, she was fucking awesome, and you did a lot of good."

Tori hated that he had. It made what he was now hurt worse.

"You guys even had me, and everything was pretty happily ever after," she continued implacably. "But see, the happily ever after didn't last. One day you snapped and then you were gone, and Mom was taken, and I was left alone."

She hated Apocalypse. Uncle Keith said that hatred was a sad thing, but Tori couldn't, and didn't want to, stop hating Apocalypse. Ever.

"See, then our world went to pieces. Because this monster who called himself Apocalypse was around. And with him was this woman, who he called Famine, who was a tortured, twisted, and brainwashed version of a Hero." Tori shoved him harder against the wall. "Tell me, who do you think Famine was? Who was Apocalypse? I know the answers, and unless you lie to me, I know you can put two and two together and know them too."

She took a shaky, angry, breath. "And then, when Famine managed to break the control Apocalypse had put her under, to save her daughter, do you know what Apocalypse did? He killed her."

[genesishero]

Evan barely felt the chill in the air, even though he was vaguely aware that everything had gone cold. He was shivering. But the ground had fallen out from underfoot, and he hardly noticed when the girl shoved him against the wall, either, just fell backwards limply against the wall and closed his eyes.

He was positive that the wrenching feeling in his chest was far, far worse than the cold and the more immediate pain of his skull hitting the wall.

"Killed her," he echoed softly. "He... I..."

No no no no no no no no no.

"That's not me, it can't be me, I won't..." Except he had, and in some future he would, and here she was, telling him about it. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry, I don't want to be like that, I-I-I..."

He wasn't going to cry. Now would be a terrible time to cry. Except he was pretty sure those were tears, frozen to his cheeks.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina had never been more fucking glad in her life to be overlooked, just this one time. It meant that she could sag against the doorframe in horror without anyone noticing.

It was a testament to her control that her power didn't flare up. But then, control was something Karina had always had a lot of.

Which, apparently, the same couldn't be said for Evan.

Tortured, twisted, and brainwashed version of a Hero...

He killed her...

And now their daughter was, what, telling them about it? So it didn't happen? What the hell? What the fuck?

Karina swallowed the urge to laugh. This stupid island. This stupid island.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

"Pathetic," Tori said, letting him go, stepping away and giving Apocalypse a look of pure loathing. "Sorry doesn't cut it. It doesn't fix anything. Nothing's going to change because you cry. Mom's still dead, and dying must have been a relief for her, after what you put her through. You're a monster."

[genesishero]

"I'm a monster," he echoed, slumping back against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. "It really doesn't matter in the end, how hard I fight it, does it? I'm still just him, in the end."

He couldn't breathe. He buried his face in his hands and willed himself to wake up, and it wasn't working. It never did. The only dreams he ever woke up from were the ones he wanted to stay in.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

It was funny, except not, how quickly her urge to laugh and laugh and maybe never stop shifted and turned into anger. Totally a defense mechanism and she welcomed it.

"Oh my God," she snapped, "just shut up! At least you're the one alive in the future. Instead of me! I'm the one that got tortured and fucked over until you killed me."

[prince-chill.livejournal.com]

"Wait, who killed Mom?" Einar hated when he walked into conversations midway. Especially ones that apparently involved yelling at some blue kid about-- well, he was trying not to think too hard about the words he'd just heard, there, but it was difficult to ignore.

A moment later, Elsa stepped up alongside him, concern clearly written on her face as she took in the scene set out before them. He gave her a sidelong glance and a little smile, and then stepped forward again, so that he was between her and the blue kid.

"Is this guy giving you ladies trouble?"

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

The glance Karina darted at Elsa and--oh god, not another one--the boy, was blue-eyed rather than brown.

"Evan did," Karina said, throwing Evan under the bus without even a moment's consideration. He'd killed her. "At least, in one future. Mine and, uh, his daughter was just taking him to task for it."

She'd been doing that too but, well, who could blame her?

God, could she fire Saturday? This was the worst Saturday.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

"It's Tori, Mom," Tori said gently. "Suntory Martina Goodman, now."

She cast a dismissive glance at Apocalypse before focusing on the two new people.

"Oh, hey, Aunt Elsa! Hi! I haven't seen you in ages." Since Mom had been taken, but Tori possessed some tact and Mom was looking shaky enough, underneath her anger. "Who're you?" she added, giving the boy a speculative once over.

[prince-chill.livejournal.com]

"Prince Einar of Arendelle, at your service," said, of course, with a sweeping sort of bow, because that was exactly what you were supposed to do when you were faced with pretty girls in peril, right?

Of course, Mom didn't look very dead at the moment, so he mostly just looked confused when he straightened up again.

"Should I, uh, get this guy out of here? Mom? Mom?"

Yes, he insisted on Momming them both equally.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Aunt Elsa? One more shocking turn of events to add to the tally, it would seem.

"We've come at a bad time," she observed, taking in Karina's anger, the strange girl who had called her 'Aunt,' and the boy on the floor, looking somewhere between crushed and terrified, muttering under his breath about being a monster.

Well, that hit a chord and ripped a little at her heart, right there. But if the boy had hurt somebody...

"We've definitely come at a bad time."

She had no idea what to do, here.

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

"I don't think there's a good time for any of this," Karina said, taking a deep breath, realizing that, no, staying here wasn't going to be an option, and making up her mind about that all in a second.

"I'm going for coffee."

And just like that, she made her way for the stairs, heels clattering as she ran down them quickly.

Uh. Sorry, everyone?

[prince-chill.livejournal.com]

And there went Mom, leaving Einar staring after her, about to take a few steps to follow before other Mom put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake of her head.

That was the most she'd touched him since he'd found her, which was a little unsettling. Just as unsettling as how quickly she pulled her hand away again, as if she was afraid someone was going to get hurt.

He tried to put that out of mind as he looked toward the other girl, the one he didn't know.

"So... uh... who are you?"

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

Tori watched Mom go, torn between following her and dealing with the crumpled jerk on the floor.

Prince Einar's question drew her attention back to him.

"Tori Goodman," she said, biting her lip slightly. "Um. Well, my Mom just ditched us, so I guess we're related in a Fandom way and this...," she nudged Apocalypse with one foot, "is my father."

A beat.

"Unfortunately."

[genesishero]

The nudge just had Evan curling into himself a little more. She shouldn't be touching him. Nobody should. She'd said herself that he was a monster. Didn't people know not to poke at monsters?

"I can go," he murmured. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I don't even need my things, I'll just take my dog and go..."

He was actually feeling more pathetic than he sounded. That was quite the accomplishment.

[hell-iced-over.livejournal.com]

"You do that," Tori said flatly. "Take your stuff and stay away from Mom. She doesn't need you anywhere near her."

Really, really didn't need him near her.

[genesishero]

Evan just nodded and pulled himself to his feet, keeping his head down and pulling in a deep breath before making his way into the room again.

It was fortunate, at least, that in spite of the fact that all of his worldly possessions were in here, all of his worldly possessions were still practically nil. The biggest problem would be getting all of his books out of here. Maybe he'd take them to the bookstore and sell most of them. He... he probably had too many, anyway.

"I won't be long," he muttered. "Maybe an hour."