Realistic or Modern Meet The Fosters | Episode 1: Take Me To Church

[Pandaskel]

Spoiler: B-roll and opening credits song

Episode Synopsis: It's the start of the week and Katherine tries to take the kids to church. While some begrudgingly accept the offer (especially when bribes are involved), others are adamant and stay home. What might each group get into during their Sunday activities?

[Please don't post until I start]
Cosmos DestinyGuy3712 apolla FireMaiden Sook Noam mytho ThatGuyWithSouvlaki Twin Fantasy mikaluvkitties

 

[Pandaskel]

Spoiler: song playing in kitchen

Katherine Foster
"Don't you think that we can have some fun? I think that you're the one..."

Kathy danced her way over to the fridge, humming along to the Sugarhill Gang as she pulled out butter, cream cheese, orange juice, and other breakfast necessities that the kids might want as an option. She had the table set with six plates of eggs, toast, and sausage, knowing that not all the kids would eat, and of those that would, not all would want to eat with other people. Her thoughts drifted back to her first few months on the job when she had forcefully insisted on eating breakfast and dinner together as a family. Shaking her head at the rookie mistake, she closed the fridge and organized everything on the counter.

She took a final revisionary look at the kitchen, nodded with satisfaction, and turned on her heel, heading toward the stairs. Over the years, she had tried various methods of getting kids up in the morning. She'd experimented with standardized alarm clocks, an intercom system, wake-up phone calls, and even a bugle once (Her dad's idea, naturally.). Nowadays, she liked a personalized method. Every kid was different, after all, which was something lots of people failed to acknowledge. She wrinkled her nose, urging herself not to go on a mental rant about standardized testing in schools, and made her way to the second floor.

Her daily wakeup calls started at 7 am on school days and 9 on weekends. If anyone wanted to be up earlier than that, they had to set their own alarms. Katherine was great with people but not with her sense of direction, so she made sure to update the whiteboards on each kid's bedroom door to help her with who was sleeping where. Even this, of course, had its pitfalls. Pairs of kids who took to each other sometimes liked to move into the same room without notifying her, for example. Some kids didn't like sleeping in bedrooms at all; she'd even had one who slept on the roof. That kid was now studying astronomy, though, so maybe the risk had paid off.

Checking the name on the first door she came to, Kathy knocked on the door firmly, but without pounding - her signature Wake The Hell Up knock. "Breakfast is ready, sweetie," she called. It was standard and very parental. She mostly aimed to sound like the kinds of parents always shown on TV and in movies. After all, it was the kinds of kids she took in that needed a sense of "normal" the most. Not all of them responded well to it, by any means. She'd heard the phrase "You're not my fucking mom" more times than she could count. It stung every time. At this point, though, nothing could sway her and she'd found that treating someone normally was often the best course of action. At least the kids could trust you, even if they could only trust you to be a nuisance.

After the regular knock-and-call, she leaned against the doorframe and waited for a reply. Of course, anything could be a reply, and she had learned that over the course of many years. The sound of movement, an object being thrown at the door, a muffled curse, or a polite reply, all of these were acceptable; she couldn't blame people for what they did when sleepy.

 

[FireMaiden]

Danielle Hartford
Location: Her Bedroom
Interaction: Kathy ( Pandaskel )
Mentioned: N/A
You that breif panic you feel when you wake up somewhere unfamiliar, and it takes you a moment to remember where you are and how you got there? Waking up in a cold sweat to a pitch black room at 4 am makes it a while hell of a lot harder to calm down. So, in short, Dnaielle has been up for little while, well, soft of, she managed to get another hour or less of sleep with some help, but her time had been spent laying in bed scrolling through her Instagram explore page. She had only been there in Kathy's house for about two weeks, and Danielle was still waiting for the woman in charge to turn on a dime and show her true colors, because she knew how this act went. The foster kids would be in the house for a bit, shown a kindness they had forgotten or didn't experience in limbo, and then have it ripped away from them at the drop of a hat. Kathy so far had been the one to keep the charade up the longest, which honestly made Danielle nervous. Just how bad would her double be? Of course, Danielle technically could just leave if she wanted to, legally there was nothing keeping her here at this house, or in the system other than the fact she was enrolled in school, so I'd things got bad, she could always dip, and go find her ex or one of his buddies. They all still liked her, at least a little.

Anyway, as the sun began to peak through the curtains, Danielle sighed as she felt an ever growing hunger. She hasn't really eaten anything lately other than liquid courage, and those calories could only do so much. Kathy would make breakfast, but her and the other foster kids made Danielle nervous still, which may be the reason she hadn't been eating. Or maybe it was just the fact she could manage. Reagurdless of what, why, or how long she could thing about it, staring off at the wall she wouldn't get an answer, so Danielle pulled herself up, and swung her legs over the side of her bed with a groan. Her muscles a bit stiff and aching thanks to being a bit dehydrated, despite having drunk some water in her late night escapdes the previous two nights. Her neck and shoulders poped when she rolled them, and her hips poped when she stood. "I'm an old woman," she muttered, running a when through her tangled hair.

She had to admit however, her new room was a lot better than any in her past. It almost gave her hope that maybe Kathy actually did give a damn. It didn't, but almost. Danielle didn't own enough to fill the drawers of the dresser, let alone the closest. All her stuff tossed in a trash bag, and while her clothes now smelled nice, they did smell like dust and mothballs because nobody back at the orphanage really cared. The thought, espeically back to the younger kids who had to grow up and learn that nobody actually cared about them kinda hurt Danielle in an odd way, but she didn't dwell on it as a wave of nausea washed over her. Thankfully, her room had a small trashcan in it, which she quickly grabbed simply to the floor infront of the door as she began to heave. Which is fine, she's use to this. She's not use to someone knocking on the door and calling her sweetie.

Goddamnit Kathy.

It would take a good few minutes of Danielle dry heaving for her body to realize there was nothing for her to vomit up and allow her to calm down enough to answer. "Just-" She started, interuppted by another heave. "Just a minute." She sounded like she was in pain, but hopefully not enough pain to be worried about. Especially worried enough to open the door and see her hugging a trashcan on the floor. It didn't take her long, though it felt like a long time, for Danielle to stand. She felt shaky, still felt sick, but she felt okay. Well, okay enough to open the door at least to greet Kathy. When she did, there wasn't a friendly smile, but there wasn't a rude glare or gesture either. "Sorry, I uh, I didn't hear what you said," Danielle muttered.

 

[Pandaskel]

Katherine smiled uncertainly at Danielle. She was one of their newer arrivals and hadn't spoken to Kathy much since moving in, besides the bare necessities. It was common to catch her with an almost suspicious glare on her face, as if she was expecting the floor to be swept out from under her at any moment. Now, though, she just looked pale and unsteady. More than anything, she looked exhausted.

"I was just letting you know that breakfast is ready," Kathy said, taking a careful step forward and letting a furrow in her brow show her concern. "You didn't get much sleep, did you?" She asked gently.

*******************

After her encounter with Danielle, Kathy moved on to the next door on the left, reading the name on the board. She smiled, seeing that it was Reed and knowing a knock would be plenty. He'd be awake by now. "Time for breakfast, champ," she called, giving the door two taps with her knuckles.

After Reed was Carter. He was very new and Kathy wasn't quite sure of his circadian habits yet. She figured a standard knock would do and later she would add additional measures if necessary. "Carter? Breakfast is on the table, you're welcome to come and eat," she called, giving the door a quick rap.

She continued making her way down the hall. Next was Kassandra, the house's fireball - literally. Kathy braced herself and opened the door, taking a couple steps into the room. It had taken trial and error to learn how to best wake Kass up, including an incident when Kass had fallen asleep on the couch and Katherine had tapped her awake. The bruise on her cheekbone had taken a full week to fade.

Kathy took a deep breath and then: "GOOD MORNING, KASSANDRA!"



Interactions: apolla FireMaiden mytho mikaluvkitties

 

[mytho]

It had only been a day or two since Carter had been put in Katherine's care, and he didn't feel very... comfortable. He was an only child, and never really had any friends- but now he was thrust into the lion's den, expected to interact with nine of his peers. Well, he thought sardonically, might as well get used to it... you're starting school again. He definitely wasn't looking forward that. He had missed a lot of material, to no one's fault but his own. What if the teacher called on him and he couldn't answer them? What if everyone thought he was weird, and no one wanted to be his friend? What if he never understood anything, failed all his classes, and got expelled for doing so poorly?

He shook his head, forcing himself to derail that train of thought. Focus on the positives... Katherine seemed nice, at least. And he got his very own room, that was a plus. He looked around the room in question, that was pretty barren- a bed, a desk, and a closet. Not much else, save for his two suitcases stashed by the window (one for clothes, one for other personal belongings). He looked at the bed, feeling guilty that he hadn't been able to go to sleep...

Carter had been awake for hours by the time he heard Katherine call him for breakfast. He was in the corner of his room, on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest as he stared blankly at the floor in front of him. He had been daydreaming, but also just killing time... he wanted to brush his teeth, cause his mouth felt gross, but he didn't want to wake anyone else up by getting up and going to the bathroom. Now that Katherine had given him the okay to get up, he moved from his spot on the floor, only to spend three minutes hesitating in front of the door, hand poised over the handle. Did he really want to go outside? Maybe he should wait a bit, just to make sure no one was in the hall... no, it was better to go now, before the bathrooms were taken, right? He felt sick to his stomach, and didn't feel like leaving his room at all... that was Carter, always running away, in one way or another.

He took a deep shaky breath and unlocked the door as quietly as he could, before cautiously creeping to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

 

[FireMaiden]

Danielle Hartford
Location: Her Bedroom - Kitchen
Interaction: Kathy ( Pandaskel ) Carter ( mytho )
Mentioned: N/A
"Oh." Alright. Danielle's stomach turned, but growled a bit at the same time, so maybe she could handle some food. "Yeah...I uh, I'm fine." Her response what short, and totally avoided Kathy's question, but Danielle wasn't gonna go and actully tell someone she was tired. No, that was crazy. Anyway, Kathy left to go wake up everyone else, and Danielle turned back to get dressed. Her pajamas were just a simple tank top and shorts, clothing that showed off her scars, and that was something she was not comfortable brandishing infront of a bunch of strangers. She quickly changed, the process not taking long as she only put on some leggings and a hoodie with a quick change of underwear. She took a seat on her bed, messing around with her phone for a few more minutes, before she stood up again and left her room.

Her first stop was going to be the bathroom, but someone beat her too it. She knocked, gently so she wouldn't really startle the person inside. "Don't take too long." With that, she made her way into the kitchen. Once again, another step up from the orphanage was that Kathy, for a continuous two weeks, Danielle has had been surprised to see food on the table consistently. So, as she normally did now, she began to albeit a bit hesitantly. To bad Kathy didn't have any vodka in arms reach or Danielle would make herself a Screwdriver. Eh, she would just stick with orange juice. She was hungry, but Danielle wasn't really sure what she wanted to eat, Kathy had sat out a lot of stuff, but still Danielle was pretty unsure if she could actually get anything of it. So, the teen stood there, looking at the food sipping on her juice.

 

[apolla]

Kassandra was dreaming. And it was a nice dream, really! Centering around graduation, and the time that she could leave Kathy's house. Go off to college, or find a job that would pay for the kind of lifestyle she wanted. Well, maybe that would take college, but still. In dreamland, she could just wish it and it would appear. Big house? Check. Five dogs? Check. Fancy car? Fat closet? Check. Check.

When someone started pounding on the front door of her Victorian home, she grew confused. She lived alone, and not by others; who the hell was knocking? The sound subsided fairly quickly, but before she could get comfortable in her dream again...

"GOOD MORNING, KASSANDRA!"

Kass nearly jumped out of her skin, as she did every morning when Kathy awoke her. "Damn it!" She snapped, reaching for the pillow beside her and chucking it at the woman. Despite the fact that getting close to Kass while she was sleeping was not recommended for anyone, and yelling would be the best way to wake her up, didn't mean Kass enjoyed the process. Yet no matter how many times she snapped or threw something or cursed, Kathy kept coming back.

Kass was one of the kids who'd been here the longest, though she didn't think she herself was the longest. As Kathy moved on throughout the second floor, Kass flopped back onto the now pillowless bed, glaring at the ceiling. Knowing Kathy would just come and yell more if she didn't get a move on, she dragged herself from the bed and threw on her favorite oversized flannel shirt. It covered her tank top and shorts, since she didn't care to get dressed yet.

Moving on downstairs, she flopped into one of the seats in the kitchen, her eyes landing on Danielle. "Hey, new girl." Kassandra greeted her, her sour attitude mostly still directed at having to get up. "Don't just stand there. If you're hungry, dig in."

-----
Interactions: Kathy ( Pandaskel ) ------> Danielle ( FireMaiden )

 

[Pandaskel]

Katherine caught Kass's projectile, sticking out her tongue at the girl triumphantly before heading out of the room and on down the hall.

Next was Maxine, another lively girl who actually reminded Kathy a bit of herself at that age, what with her boyishness. She was easier to wake than Kassandra, though. Katherine cracked the door open and looked into the room, smiling at Maxie's sleeping form. She'd never admitted it, on account of how creepy it sounded, but one of her favorite parts of the job was seeing her kids asleep. Aside from the occasional nightmare, it was comforting to see kids who had seen so little peace in their upbringing get to just lie down and breathe. Sometimes it was such a powerful sight that it made it hard to wake them up.

With Maxie's usual unwillingness to be conscious during weekend mornings, however, it was a necessary sacrifice. She took a seat at the edge of her bed and gave her shoulder three pats. "Time to get up, hon," she said. "Breakfast is on the table."

Next down the hall was Aiko, a newer arrival. She was the same age as Maxie but wildly different. Her hair was long while Maxie's was short, and Aiko was much quieter. The information Kathy had been given on her listed her as autistic, giving some of her quirks an explanation. It meant it would take more time and effort to start to understand her, but Kathy didn't mind a challenge. At least at this point she had learned how to get her up in the mornings.

She came into the room and strode to the window, pulling back the curtains to let in the sun. That being done, she brought Aiko's covers down until only her bottom half was covered and said, "Breakfast is on in the kitchen, babe. Come down when you're ready!"

She left the room, leaving the door open behind her as she tended to do in the mornings so traveling sound would help get everyone up and going. The name on the next bedroom door was Lucy, another easy case. An artistic girl with an unfortunate past, Lucy was something of an insomniac and was usually awake by the time Kathy was making her wake-up calls. She gave the door two knocks before popping her head in. "G'morning, Lu," she called. "Breakfast is ready if you're hungry."

Victoria, the house's resident computer whiz, was next. She had been in the house for a fairly long time without saying hardly anything to anyone. This was honestly common among the kids Kathy took in, but rarely did it last this long. She was well behaved, though, and always managed to fix the WiFi when it acted up. With three knocks on the door, Katherine called, "Rise and shine, pumpkin. Breakfast is downstairs!"

The next door down was Rocky, but Katherine was hesitant. She wasn't quite sure of the best way to get him going in the mornings yet. For now she just gave a knock and a greeting, "Breakfast is ready, mijo! Time to get up."

Last but certainly not least was Samuel, the oldest of her babies. He was a great kid and Katherine loved him to pieces, but he was also of drinking age and liked a nice night out on weekends. This made her job on Sunday mornings an occasional difficulty. Judging by the time he had come out last night, Kathy had correctly guessed that this was one of those mornings.

She pulled a baggie of aspirin that she'd prepared last night after Sam had gotten home from her pocket, opening the door to his room and scanning it for a water bottle. Finding a near-empty one on the desk, she set it and the aspirin on his nightstand before huffing out a sigh and putting her hands on her hips. "How should we do it this time..." She mused to herself.

She started by pulling the covers completely off his bed and onto the ground. Then, she took a seat on his bed and took one of his shoulders in her hand, giving him a small shake. "Up and at 'em, sweetheart," she prompted along with this motion.


Interactions: apolla Noam Twin Fantasy Cosmos Sook ThatGuyWithSouvlaki DestinyGuy3712

 

[FireMaiden]

Danielle Hartford
Location: Kitchen
Interaction: Kasandra ( apolla )
Mentioned: N/A
Danielle hardly reacted when she heard Kasandra's voice, just a glance over her shoulder and small nod, before turning away again. Danielle didn't trust anyone in this house, but there was something that just irked her about Kasandra and Danielle just didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that she knew her name, but Kasandra didn't seem to know her's? No, that never bothered her before. One of her old houses, it took six weeks before the woman in charge actually used her name and not the dog's, so...new girl wasn't all bad. "Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it," Danielle mumbled. Every house she had ever been to had rules. Drink were the only thing the kids had free range of, food was monitored severely. They were fed twice a day, and had to ask, and someone had to be present for the kids to get anything. If you broke a rule, you got punished. Kathy's house was obviously different, Danielle logically knew this, but her heart still began to race and her stomach churned when she broke a rule that got a cigarette put out on her arm, or...well, or worse.

Her stomach however, growled again, despite her attempt to calm it with some orange juice. Finally, she gave in, and grabbed a plate. For now, Kathy wouldn't drop this act of the good mother, so Danielle figured it would be okay to get some food, and just grabbed a few random things that looked okay, even if she didn't end up eating all of it. Finally, she took a seat, away from Kasandra hunching over in her seat a little, pulling at the cuffs of her hoodie before picking up a sausage and taking a bite. "Danielle, btw. Or Dani, I don't really care, just use a name."

 

[Twin Fantasy]

It was such a nice dream, too.

Aiko was swimming with seahorses. But then it turned out it was the sky, and she was flying. And she landed in bed when the curtain opened, and her soft comforter was ripped from her, like she were a newborn pup forcibly taken from its mother. She rubbed her bleary eyes and tucked her knees into her chest, yawning with mouth wide like a python. Aside from a few teeth that would forever be missing, she was a relatively clean-looking young lady. Her brain, however, was anything but. Her toes touched the ground and she popped on her slippers, which were brand-new. As soon as she moved in, Kathy had gotten her all sorts of small things to make her more comfortable. She didn't own much, after all.

Kathy was, probably, a child murderer or something.

Every adult seemed to have an ulterior motive of their own. Aiko feared the day she aged above eighteen, on the off chance she'd become as soulless as all of them.

Before leaving her bedroom, she tucked her stuffed whale under her shoulder. It was a gift from her original dad, the one who made her. He was drunk, and kept saying he was sorry as he gave it to her. Being the unimaginative child she was, she named it "Kujira", the Japanese word for "whale". It was a comforting little thing. A blue whale. Shuffling towards the bathroom, she could hear it was already occupied. And she didn't wanna brush her teeth. She'd been promised breakfast and she'd have it. In her past homes, food was not exactly a consistency. The agency she was saddled with wasn't all too great about background checking.

On the way down, she always skipped the third step from the bottom. It squeaked in a way she didn't like. Then she appeared, in her long yellow t-shirt and fluffy pajama pants. Hair unbrushed and eyes still half-lidded. She had no trust for anyone here. And she'd never call them her siblings. Not unless she had to.

Grabbing some bacon and eggs, she kept them each sequestered to their own side of the plate. She took a seat across from... Daniel? That's a boy's name... Dan... Danny? Something like that. And then one of the other new girls, and Lucy. Lucy was easy for Aiko to remember so long as she imagined Lucy as the Lucy from the Peanuts comics, one of the few things she ever got the chance to read.

Aiko was silent. Clutching Kujira close to her side, she shoveled a strip of bacon into her mouth.

Mentions: Pandaskel apolla Cosmos FireMaiden

 

[Noam]

"Mmrph," Maxie said, scrunching up further under her blanket and hoping that Kathy would go away. It was a weekend, for fuck's sake. Didn't adults know about the sanctity of weekends? Kathy left the room, and Maxie pressed her face into her pillow and tried to go back to sleep.

Except that there were other doors slamming open, and other feet pounding down the stairs, and if she didn't get up soon she was going to miss breakfast. She took a deep, grumpy breath of laundry detergent and hair gel, then kicked off her blankets and hurried down.

Lucy and Aiko and the new girls were already downstairs. Maxie elbowed between them to grab two pieces of toast and shoved the first one into her mouth. "Wha's yer name 'gain?" she asked the blonde one indistinctly.

FireMaiden

 

[mikaluvkitties]

REED KAINE
Location: Bedroom --> Hallway
Interaction: Pandaskel
Mention: mytho

Reed was reading. There wasn't really much more he could be doing, was there?

Okay, that was a lie. There were a lot of things he could be doing. He could be sneaking out- not conducive to becoming a better person- or doing his homework- boring- or any multitude of other things that ended up falling into either of those categories or yet another. Sure, reading a book was boring, but it wasn't as boring as homework, and that was what mattered. Besides, it served as a pretty decent distraction- He didn't have to think about the fact there were four new people in as many weeks when before that he'd been the most recent recruit. What if Kathy had gotten bored of the rest of them?

Reed had been here long enough to get that Kathy was a good person, and that she probably wasn't about to ditch him for new kids, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He hadn't been in the foster system long at all, and he knew he was lucky to have gotten a good foster parent. He pulled a face at the thought of Kathy being his "parent". He had parents, thank you very much. He might not know where either of them were, but he had them. He just hoped that hadn't been enough to push her away enough to give him up.

He was lucky he hadn't done anything stupid yet, and it was probably because Kathy was, as much as he might hate to admit it, a good foster parent. He didn't want to go back to juvie.

Well, reading obviously wasn't helping, was it?

He was almost glad when Kathy knocked on his door. Almost. Sure, it meant there was food, something he hadn't even realized he kind of wanted, and also a chance to distract himself by talking to others, but it also meant facing the cause of his anxiety- the new people. Well. Newer. He was still pretty new, too.

"Got it," he said, getting off his bed and pulling the sheet up. He immediately went to his closet, pulling out some clothes- notably a peach covered tee- and headed to the bathroom- which was locked. Great. He sighed, leaning against the wall next to it and waiting. Whatever, it wasn't like he was in a hurry. He knew breakfast here was reliable.

 

[mytho]

Carter Jones
Location: Bathroom - Hallway
Interaction: ( mikaluvkitties )

Carter had used the toilet, and was (after washing his hands, of course) brushing his teeth- he wasn't the type to take morning showers. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, tired brown eyes staring back at him, his tan skin a stark contrast to the white toothbrush in his hand. He contemplated his appearance, not for the first time since arriving in Katherine's care- oof, He had a major case of bedhead, curly dark brown hair sticking up in every direction. He tried to smooth it out with his free hand, but the improvement was negligible.

Was he pretty? It felt silly to admit, but he hoped he was. Pretty people are nice people, or so it seemed, and he wanted to be a nice person. Pretty people were always treated well, too- at least eventually, like Cinderella. Cinderella was his favorite... he started getting into a daydream, hand slowing to a pause mid-brush, about being whisked off his feet by a handsome prince who loved him...

His heart skipped in fright upon hearing a knock at the door, and he flinched, biting hard on his toothbrush. Ouch. Great, now he was being a nuisance- he hadn't meant to take so long! Well, at least whoever was on the other side didn't sound too agressive... he still felt guilty, though, and a little bit scared- what if everyone hated him now, for taking too long in the bathroom?

He finished brushing his teeth as quickly as he could, aiming to hurry up, but when he washed his face with water he noticed that he had gotten the counter all wet. He couldn't just leave it like that for the next person, that would be inconsiderate of him! So he grabbed the hand towel to dry it up- but then the hand towel would be wet, and that wasn't good either...

He heard someone try the doorhandle, and the guilt and urgency returned full force. Whatever, he thought, and used his bright yellow tee shirt to wipe the counter. He had to get dressed when he went back into his room anyways.

He didn't even spare himself a look in the mirror, hastily unlocking the door to scurry to his room before anyone else came by, but his plan was foiled. There was a stranger standing outside by the door, probably waiting for him. Carter had no idea what he was like, so he had no idea what to say. He just stood in the doorway, wide eyed and frozen, looking like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do. His hand was still on the doorknob. He should probably move, shouldn't he? But the silence was so delicate, he didn't dare.

 

[DestinyGuy3712]

Samuel Moya
Location: His Room
Pandaskel

Even as he slept with his face buried into his pillow, Samuel’s head throbbed like a raging jack hammer. With his mind foggy, he could barely remember anything that happened yesterday, other than how he went on his usual trip to Hansel & Gretel's Brewery to enjoy a drink or two. Or was is three? He couldn’t remember, nor did he care; he felt like his head was going to explode from the migraine he was having.

Even as Kathy lifted the warm sheets off of his body, allowing the cold air in the room to nip at his skin, the young man continued to lay with his naked back facing the ceiling. Dressed in nothing but a pair of grey sweat pants, the sleeping giant would let out a groan as he slowly began to wake up. Upon feeling Kathy’s hand press gently against his broad shoulder, he would look to the side and meet the woman’s gaze, staring sleepy at her with lazy eyes as his forehead appeared to look as red as a raspberry.

“Good morning, Kathy.” Samuel would greet her with a soft tone of voice as he slowly lifted his torso up with his elbow, rubbing his eyes as he then ask, “God… what time did I come back last night?”​

 

[Pandaskel]

Katherine smiled compassionately at her young ward, giving him two light taps on the cheek. "Too late, I can tell you that," she half-teased, half-scolded. "You know I like to have you back by 2."

She rose from his bed and headed for the door, gesturing to his nightstand. "Take a couple of those and then come have some breakfast, ok? Last thing you need on a hangover is an empty stomach."

Kathy walked down the hall and started down the stairs, mentally preparing her proposal. She wouldn't spring it on them immediately, that would almost guarantee a "no". She'd wait until they were fed and wide awake and then ask. How hard could it be?

Very, she realized, biting her lip. She knew the church had great resources and opportunities for her kids, but not all churches were like hers. Not all Christians were like her. She knew there could easily be someone within the newer arrivals that would be adamant against the idea, and that was fine, but she had to at least give it a go.

Arriving on the first floor, she headed to the kitchen to find Lucy, Kassandra, Danielle, Maxie, and Aiko starting on their food. There was some light chatter, which was definitely better than the tense silence they had enjoyed lately with all the new faces. She grabbed a plate and served herself some eggs and toast, taking a seat on a stool at the counter where she could see both the living room and kitchen.


Interaction: DestinyGuy3712
Mentions: Cosmos apolla Noam Twin Fantasy FireMaiden

 

[apolla]

Kassandra knew that she wasn't the most liked in the house; that fact never bothered her. In fact, at times she even relished the fact. There was something to be said about being able to live a life where you didn't give a flying fuck what other people thought. It put her heart and her mind at ease, and if someone didn't understand that, then that was on them. She did not care.

When it came to Kathy, Kassandra wasn't as indifferent as she wanted to seem. After being here for a few months, she could see how much Kathy really did want to make a difference in their lives. It was obvious, at least to Kass. But her life was already fucked; whatever Kathy did wouldn't make any difference, so that left Kass unopen to most of the woman's friendship attempts.

The new girl didn't react much to Kass' comment, so Kass shrugged and settled back in her seat. She rarely ate first, by personal choice. That and she was rarely hungry in the mornings; she usually had to force something down though to keep herself from getting sick later.

The new girl finally moved, and Kass watched her out of lack of anything else to do as she grabbed some breakfast. "Danielle, huh?" Nodding mostly to herself, she looked back at the empty table space in front of her. "Call me Kass." She remained silent after that, watching as others filed into the room, one after the other. She didn't speak to any of them, just gave them a halfhearted, almost sarcastic wave.

Kathy entered a short time later, taking a seat at the counter area as she ate. "What's on the agenda today, Kath?" Kass asked her, not knowing Kathy actually had plans for them that day.

-----
Interactions: Danielle ( FireMaiden ) -----> Kathy ( Pandaskel ) (and everyone else in the kitchen)

 

[Sook]

VIk was already awake when Kathrine knocked on her door. She didn't get a lot of sleep at night lately, she stayed up late most nights listening to music and playing online games on her laptop. She sighed deeply and swung her legs off the bed. She didn't bother to change yet, she was sporting a basic stripy singlet and a long pair of black PJ pants. She tied her hair losely back using her little mirror and then opened the door "Good morning." She muttered quietly to Kathrine as she did her rounds. She didn't know any of these other kids. Last time she got to know girls her age... well... hadn't that turned out well.

She wished she knew another language other than English. Then she could just only speak in that and no body would understand her or talk back. She could hide behind foreign words when she felt vulnerable. Lately it was all the time. She had received a letter from her adoptive parents last week who had informed her that she was to dress well and come to lunch with them tomorrow. What a joke! They just wanted their friends to think they hadn't abandoned her. Now that she had gotten in trouble, she was a charity case. Her parents were 'So good' By continuing to support her recovery and rehabilitation. It made Vik sick to think about. She didn't want to go, and she hoped that Kathrine didn't ask her too. The woman was clearly very nice but she didn't understand that these people did not love her. Vik felt like it was probably due to her antisocial behavior that anyone would assume it was the other way round and she was the one who would not accept them into her life.

She headed downstairs and kept her head down while she grabbed a plate and, instinctively, started heading back to her room to eat alone. She had done this almost every day that the table was this full, because she hated large groups of people not matter who they were, but something made her stop.

Maybe I should try, maybe if I sit with others I wont have to go out with my family. It would make Kathrine happy too...

But who on earth am I gonna sit with???

Panic was welling in her chest. She eventually made her legs move over to the seat at the end of the dining table and sat down. She looked at the kids across from her, even opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

This is no good...

She thought as she filled it with bacon instead of speaking.

Interactions: Open

 

[DestinyGuy3712]

Samuel Moya
Location: One of the Bathrooms in the House
Open for interaction!​

Sam let out a groan as his body would plummet against the bed after hearing Kathy's response to his question, his face once again implanted against his pillow. As much as he wanted visit the bar less often and actually start focusing on his own problems, Samuel had found that boozes seemed to help deal with his frustrations quite a lot. There where no gym anywhere nearby, so he couldn't blow some steam by practicing his karate. And although there were some good walking areas near the house, Sam was feeling... less active than usual, for some reason. It was a gulty pleasure, drinking over at Hansel & Gretel's Brewery during weekends. But, being unfortunate enough to have been graced with intermittent explosive disorder, Sam would take anything that would help keep his temperament at bay, even if it meant coming back home at 4am with a steaming headache. The last thing he wanted to happen was to let one meaningless frustration lead to him having a full-blown meltdown.

The young man would then turn his head towards Kathy and said, while still laying on the bed "Ok... I'll join you and the others after I get washed up and such. Thank you for very much for the meds, too."

Despite being 21 years old, Sam couldn't deny that he was grateful to have someone like Kathy giving him a hand in life, having lived on his own for a period until he met her. As she then left his room, Sam would pause for a moment, sighing with his eyes closed before he sat on the edge of his bed, grabbing the bottled water and aspirin from his nightstand. Even after putting the pills in his mouth and swallowing them with some water, Sam went on the drink the entire bottle until it was empty; the felt refreshing, both physically and mentally. After putting the bottle back on his nightstand, Sam would stand up from his bed, head to his dresser to grab some clothes (while also putting on a white t-shirt), and then exit his room to go look for a bathroom. Now Samuel was a tall, well-built man, standing six feet tall and sporting a lean yet well-toned body and abs. This was all thanks to years of working out and practicing karate, though he never boasted about it.

Eventually, thanks to the house sporting more than enough bathrooms, Samuel would soon find one after quietly walking through the hallways for a bit. He would then close the door, lock it, and then turn on the shower; if anything was going to wake his lousy ass up, it was going to be a hot, steamy shower...

 

[ThatGuyWithSouvlaki]

Rocky stirred by the knock on the door, he groaned in has half sleep state feeling as if the person on the other side or the door had woken him to early. He turned over the bed and tried to go back to sleep. He did sleeping for another twenty minutes though it felt like only seconds. He lazily turned and looked at the time on the clock and seeing the time he sat up on the bed in surprise and near panic, remembering the plan for today.

It had been only a couple of days since he had been brought to the Fosters home, the back of a police car no less. It was mortifying despite despite knowing this was a place to cater for juvenile misfits like him. He felt like he was making the worse first impression which combined with his psycho changes of moods meant this will become like the other foster homes: they wouldn't be able to wait to get rid of him. It depressed him and for his first day he barely got out of his room, laying in bed like he was waited down by change.

The second day, he pushed himself with encouragement by Katherine to step out of his room and try to socialise with the others. He even made lunch for everyone, it was not much just a spicy arrabiatta past but it seemed to go down well. Thought be still didnt speak much to the others, he was angry about this. They were happy to eat his food but stayed away from the freak criminal. Whether that was true or not, it didnt matter he felt it was. However when Katherine asked him to come along to church the next day, he was so desperate to keep this connection with her that he agreed immediately. This was despite himself being a non practising catholic rather than whatever a community church was.

Worried he climbed out of bed and rushed to get dressed. He put on a basic pair of black jeans, train and a white band t-shirt. He than rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. He had hoped to wake up early and breakfast as well but that was impossible now. "Sorry...If i am late." He said as he entered the kitchen.

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Ugh. People were coming now.

Not wanting to look anybody in the eye, Aiko, as per usual, ducked under the table and sat on the floor. Feet were much easier to interact with, legs much easier to talk to. Hello, Ms. Person's Legs! What are you up to today? She held her whale closer, coiling up another strip of bacon and stuffing it into her mouth. She did this every day. At some point, eventually, maybe in nine-hundred years, she'd be able to look other people in the eyes while eating her food. This many people though? Not happening, no way... It made her feel like she'd chugged curdled milk and stomach acid.

As per usual, the breakfast table was relatively silent. Maxie didn't steal HER food, so she didn't care much about whose she DID steal. Aiko scrunched up against the legs of her chair, feet tucked close to her thighs and plate resting on her knees. She was hoping to go to the pet store today. They had a beautiful black telescope fish on display, oftentimes considered a "handicapped" goldfish species due to its poor eyesight. Aiko had been visiting him so often, he seemed to recognize her voice, though wasn't too interested as she didn't really bring him any food. When she didn't have art club, which was really just a doodling-and-painting free-for-all run by a hippie, she'd go visit him. She had all sorts of names in mind, too. Buggy, Chubby, Peepers...

Hopefully he wouldn't get lonely when she was at school. Maybe she'd also ought to invest in a fish friend. Another slow one, obviously. A neat little 50-gallon tank, some filters, the works... If only she had any money. Sigh.

In her deep thoughts, she'd forgotten to eat her bacon. But it wasn't going anywhere.

Mentions: Noam

 

[FireMaiden]

Danielle Hartford
Location: Kitchen
Interaction: Kasandra ( apolla ) Maxie ( Noam ) Kathy ( Pandaskel )
Mentioned: Everyone else
Danielle nodded, "Alright Kass, nice to know." Something still didn't sit right, but at least they got that out of the way. It wasn't her personitaly that irked Danielle, or the way she held herself...god! Danielle wish she knew what the hell it what about Kassandra that annoyed her so much, like there was nothing logically that would, but here she was. With a slight sigh, the blonde went back to eating her breakfast, slowly as she still felt a bit sick. She had managed to sneak out around 11 to meet up with some "friends" down the street, and snuck back in around 2, so she wants gone for long, and litteraly only hot about an hour to and hour and a half of sleep, so maybe she still drunk compared to hungover, but hey, it wasn't to bad. It was the cheap shit anyway, real weak. Danielle was spacing off, completely lost in through when one of the young kids nudged her way in between her and another girl sitting beside her, to grab toast. "Danielle," she answered. This one was Maxie, and while she wasn't sure what she was here for, the others didn't like Keating go of their things around around her. Maybe sticky fingers? She had a habit of stealing food, an act that made her arms hurt just by watching them. "You don't want anything on them?" She asked, looking up as Kathy walked in. Something still rubbed her the wrong way about Kathy as well, this whole thing was an act, it had to be, but Danielle couldn't call her on it. Not infront of everyone. "Yeah," Danielle added after Kass spoke, "You seem like the type who always has plans."

 

[Noam]

“Kathy’s gonna try and make us go to chu-urch,” Maxie sing-songed, taking the opportunity to make a grab for Danielle’s food. “ ‘Cause Kathy wants to mold us all into good Christian boys and girls.”

Maxie, on the other hand, planned on trying to get Samuel to buy her beer. But nobody had asked HER the best way to spend a Sunday morning. Nobody ever did, and it was a shame. She had so many ideas.

 

[mikaluvkitties]

REED KAINE
Location: Hallway
Interaction: mytho
Mention: N/A

Reed blinked, caught off guard. He hadn't seen this kid before. Jesus, there was another new one? She really was going to replace all of them, wasn't she? She'd already gotten rid of Lucy... Was he next? Sure, he wasn't a great kid, but...

But what? She was nice? Niceness meant nothing!

His mind kept racing, and in his absence of movement, it looked a lot like a terrified staring.

Eventually, thankfully, he got himself under control, and with another blink, he realized the kid was holding his shirt, not wearing it. He looked more closely at the shirt and realized it was wet. That was a whole other level of weird, wasn't it? Whatever, it was none of his business. But, still...

He looked up, back to the kid's face, and put on his best smile. "Sorry about that, just a bit surprised to see a new face... I'm Reed, by the way." He held out a hand to shake, the other still wrapped around his clothes.

 

[mytho]

Carter Jones
Location: Hall - Room - Kitchen
Interaction: mikaluvkitties
Mentions: FireMaiden , Twin Fantasy , Noam , ThatGuyWithSouvlaki , Sook


Carter felt ill. This guy totally thought he was weird! First impressions were everything, and he fucked it up! This was not how he wanted to meet anyone, shirtless, guilty, and holding his own wet clothes. The guy didn't say anything about it, at least- he even smiled at him! So, Carter decided to just count his blessings and take it as a good sign. He still didn't know what to say, but at this point he knew he had to say something, fast- it was his turn in the conversation to speak, now.

"... Carter. I'm Carter. It's real nice to meet ya."

He shook Reed's hand, feeling proud and cool that he had handled the situation (relatively...) well. Until he realized, eyes widening and glancing down in horror, that his hand was wet with counter water from his shirt. And now Reed's hand was wet, with counter water from Carter's shirt. He died a little bit inside.

"That's- that's water" he blurted, recoiling his hand from Reed's grasp as if it had burnt him. "Bye" he yelped, and speed-walked back to his room, not paying attention to what Reed said or did in repsonse, if anything. He was just focused on getting to his room, which he did in no time, before shutting and locking the door.

He cringed, pacing around the room, hitting himself in the head repeatedly as he muttered "shit" and "idiot" to himself. Well. He royally fucked that up. But there was nothing he could do about it now, he thought, taking a deep breath. He just breathed, in and out, like the self-help videos on youtube told him to. Yeah. Whatever. Okay. He was good. He would worry about that later, just focus on getting dressed for now. He opened his suitcase, instead of going to his closet. He hadn't bothered unpacking, as no matter how well things started off in these foster families, they never wanted him once a week or so had passed. He refused to get his hopes up again- or, that was his intention, but he knew in his heart that he had already gotten his hopes up from the moment he met Katherine. She was so nice! Her smile was so warm, and she really seemed to care about him! His brain told him not to buy it, that he would still be leaving, that he wasn't good enough to be a part of her family. But his heart weakly protested, 'maybe this time will be different, though...'

He shook his head to clear his thoughts- Focus on the task at hand. Don't get lost in your thoughts again. He pulled out a light yellow shirt with a waving fish on it, and a speech bubble coming out of the fish that said "If you can think of a better fish pun, let minnow". He found it at a garage sale and thought it was the funniest thing ever, it was even yellow, his favorite color! He needed a boost after the morning's events, so he slipped his favorite shirt on, along with some blue gingham shorts.

He wasn't used to eating breakfast, and wasn't really even hungry to be honest. But he still figured he should come down, if only for Katherine's sake. She went through all the trouble of cooking for them, it might be insulting if he refused to eat, and he didn't want to hurt such a nice lady's feelings. He took another deep breath and opened his door with controlled serenity. He walked into the hallway, down the stairs, almost to the kitchen door... and then went right back into his room. No, no, he couldn't do this. He bit the back of his wrist, hard, and convinced himself that yes, he could! He opened his door, and tried again.

He entered the kitchen, to find five strangers. He looked at all of them in a beat of awkward silence before he bashfully said "Good morning"

 

[Noam]

Maxie Solkova
Location: Kitchen
Interactions: mytho
Mentions: ThatGuyWithSouvlaki FireMaiden

"Hey, Other New Kid." So many new kids. There must've been a sale or something. Maxie eyed him up, and decided that he didn't look like trouble. He had shirt with a fish pun and shorts made out of a Little House on the Prairie dress. Which was a real stones and glass houses kind of situation, given that all Maxie's clothes were from the boy's department, but also made her feel like she could probably take him in a fight. The other new boy, Rocko or whatever, she was less certain about. He had crazy eyes.

New Girl Danielle could definitely kick her ass, so Maxie wasn't going anywhere near her until she'd figured out her angle.