KC (doingmything) wrote in city_limits, @ 2009-02-12 21:24:00 |
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Current mood: | amused |
Betty Crocker
It was gone six in the evening when Kris finally peeled herself away from the family home, making sure somebody was at home before she left Rosa to her own devices. She had one last stop to make before she headed back to hers, Eddy needed a walk and a patrol needed to be done. No rest for the wicked.
She pulled in a slow breath as she eased into an already very busy train, feeling the bruise on her back twinging with every movement she made. Kris was grateful for the fact she'd worn her hoodie or the bruise and cut on her face from the altercation with Thea would be a lot more apparent. Not that she was worried, they would fade, they always did.
Kris waited for the train to reach the stop and got off, taking the last couple movements with a relatively easy stride. She'd never been to Toby's house, but she knew her way around Chicago so all it took were a few simple directions and she could find pretty much anywhere. It was one of the perks to having grown up in the city itself.
She shifted her backpack from her shoulders to her hands as she fumbled with the zipper, pretty sure Toby's jumper was somewhere in the bottom, she'd put it in there herself. Aha, found it. With jumper in hand, Kris lifted her hand and knocked a couple times, just waiting for an answer.
Hopefully somebody was home.
Somebody was home. Somebody was trying to be a good little housewife (only not at all because fuck if he was a damn housewife) and make cakes. Okay, really, Toby wanted cake and he had all the ingredients, and damn if he wanted to fuck up the first attempt he had made at baking in a long time.
He had flour in his hair as he headed towards the door, knocking Wolf back with his foot who, in a moment of overexcitedness had bounded forwards to see who was at the door. He called out "Just a minute" before he shoved Wolf into the lounge and shut the door, ignoring the way the damn animal pawed at the door to be let out and give the guest love.
Death by overamourous husky, what a way to go.
He pushed his glasses up his nose - since he didn't bother with contacts at home - and eyed the staircase for his white fluff-ball of a kitten before he pulled the door opened, looking a little shocked to see Kris on the other side. He stood there like an idiot for a couple of seconds before he cleared his throat, pulled the door open a little more. He pulled his glasses off his face a couple of seconds later in a lame attempt to hide them, making the universal gesture for 'come in' and stepping aside.
"Kris," he started, ruffling his hair, all too aware of the couple of streaks of flour in it. "Hey. C'mon in... I- uh- hi."
Kris lifted an eyebrow at Toby's appearance before a vaguely amused smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Are you baking, Toby?" She tipped her head and observed him for a moment longer. "Never pegged you for a baker."
She heard some sort of clawing coming from the background and couldn't help a curious look inside, wondering if Toby was holding some person hostage or he just had big rats. "Anything I need to know about?" Kris asked, gesturing in the direction of the noise. With the offer to come in extended Kris wandered in and pulled her hood off her head, wiggling the jumper in Toby's direction. "You left this at the gym, figured you might want it back."
"I'm trying to stretch my ridiculous talent," Toby said with a grin and a wink, ruffling his hair and squinting a little as Kris pulled her hood off. "No, nothing to know about. Just my dog. He might try and hump you. Or love you to death since my mom had him spayed as a puppy." He couldn't see her clearly - the glasses had to go back on again. Extra lame.
Of course, when he saw the bruises, his whole manner changed and he took a couple of steps forward, reaching out before he caught himself and two fingers caught her chin, tilting her head a little to see the bruises around her neck, and along her jaw. "What the hell happened?" he asked, obviously concerned as he surveyed the damage to Kris' face. "Jesus..."
Kris rolled her eyes and swatted away his hand, shaking her head a moment or two later. "If you think this is bad you ought to see the vampire." She offered Toby a wry smirk and put his jumper over a nearby chair, lifting her head when she could have sworn she'd heard somebody hacking from above.
"Ran into a right piece of work, tried to take me down, kinda went downhill from there."
Toby lifted his eyes to the ceiling when he heard Alec hacking his lungs up and blew out a breath. He needed to go and get some more cough syrup too. The man had somehow managed to drink a whole bottle in two days. Toby had told him he was taking too much at once, but he supposed that was what happened when you drank straight from the bottle. Besides, Alec was a doctor.
"You kicked its ass, right?" he asked, making a 'c'mere' gesture with his hand, backing up towards the kitchen. "Want a drink? Well, yeah, 'course you do. You can mock my cake too. It's not rising right. It's like... died in the middle." He wrinkled his nose and headed into the kitchen, just in time for Wolf to have managed to wriggle his way between the doors and bound past Toby, straight for Kris.
He sighed. "Kris, meet the source of the mysterious scratching sound. His name's Wolf and if you're not careful, he'll try and love you to death. Just smack him on the nose - but y'know, try not to use too much of your crazy ass slayer strength... - if he's bugging you."
Kris followed Toby into the kitchen after she'd dropped her bag near the couch, making a note to pick it up later. "Not intending to be nosey but who sounds like they're trying to cough up their lungs?" Kris asked as she followed Toby into the kitchen, leaning against a nearby counter. "And I'll take either a juice or a coffee if you have it going."
She turned at the sound of approaching paws and offered the husky a smile, crouching down to rub her hands over his ears. "He's gorgeous," she said with a genuine smile, turning her gaze back to Wolf as he demanded her full attention. "Eddy might like him, but he's gotten real lazy in his old age."
Toby glanced towards the ceiling again. "There's always coffee at chez Toby." he offered with a grin before he heard another cough and sighed. Definitely needed to get Alec some more cough medicine. Or maybe some new lungs, though they might be harder to procure... "That's my housemate. He says he's not sick. I don't believe him." he lifted his shoulders, looking helpless, "He's a doctor, and he says it's just a cold, but does that sound like just a cold to you?"
He flicked the coffee pot on again and started getting cups, sugar, milk and cream (depending on which Kris wanted in her drink), putting them out on the bench. "He is, but he's a bit of a whore." he chuckled and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm guessing Eddy's your dog? I'm sure Wolf would love him."
Kris tilted her head towards the ceiling and shook it a few moments later. "Not really." She rose up and settled on the nearby stool, placing her chin into her hands. "I'd suggest taking him to a doctor but like you said he is a doctor."
She wet her lower lip before regretting it as the cut stung a second or two later. "I'll take my coffee with milk and just the one sugar today. I'm looking to get some sleep tonight so I'm foregoing my usual black with no sugars."
When Wolf nudged her knee with his nose Kris dropped her hand and rubbed at his ears again. "Yeah, I've had him a good couple years now. He used to belong to a-" She hesitated, considering what Jackson had been to her. "Friend. He had to leave town and thought Eddy was better off with me than with him."
"I tried that one, but he threw the whole 'I'm a doctor' thing at me. I'm considering going all caveman and beating him over the head and carrying him on my shoulders to a hospital." Toby grinned, "Though... he's massive and I'm not, so y'know, that might be difficult. Wanna lend a hand?" he added a sugar to Kris' mug, and four to his own before he poured the freshly brewed coffee into the mugs, the scent of it filling the room.
He added milk a moment later and stirred it before he was turning and offering the blue striped mug to Kris. "Voila. Hope it tastes okay." He was kind of confident that it did. He made damn good coffee. One of the counters on the other end of the kitchen was covered in what he'd been trying to back with, and the cake was in the oven. The smell of that was slowly permeating the room too.
"That's cool," he offered about the dog. "They're awesome. Wolf is in my good books 'cause he hasn't abandoned me for a new love as soon as it moved in."
"As long as he doesn't try to file charges," Kris remarked with a small smirk. She thanked Toby for the coffee before taking the first sip, just letting the caffeine work its magic. Kris had been running on fumes and fumes alone, she was beginning to think she was spread a little too thin.
She looked down at Wolf then back up at Toby. "I'm guessing by that remark your cat has done exactly that?"
"He won't. Not against you anyway, we'll convince him that the woman he was seeing between bouts of consciousness was a figment of his imagination and I really am that strong." Toby's lips twitched as he fixed his own coffee and then he tipped his head at her, looking at Kris for a long moment before he offered, "Do you want something to eat?"
Toby nodded, looking a little woeful. "She still loves me, but Alec's her new favourite. I don't blame her, he is very shiny. Just don't you go leaving me too for him, I don't think I could take it if my two favourite girls left me for him."
"You trying to fatten me up for something?" Kris asked, teasing glint in her eyes. She took another sip from her coffee before she tucked a leg up and rested the sole of her boot against the edge of the stool, leaning forward onto it as she tried to ease the pressure on her back.
Kris looked up at the ceiling as there was another cough before she just looked at Toby obviously surprised and somewhat taken aback by that comment. "Favourite girl, huh? And here I thought you hated me for kicking your ass on a regular basis."
"No! You just look a little tired and there's nothing better to fix that than coffee and some food. I've got things lying around I could heat up for you if you wanted... Some kinda salad or pasta, I could do pasta? The cake'll be ready soon, but you can't have that till y'know, you've had something proper..." Toby shifted and fiddled with one of the arms of his glasses, almost nervously. He was just worried about her, that was all.
That smile reappeared on his lips a moment later with Kris' comment and he just shrugged. "Love a girl that can kick my ass, I told you that already." he shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, moving to the fridge and pulling out a couple of bottles of Powerade to run up to Alec later on. The condensation dribbled down the plastic sides and formed a ring around the bottles on the counter. "And yeah, favourite girl. Apart from Spacey. Long as you don't leave me for my hunk of a housemate. 'Cause that's what he is. Apparently."
Kris ran her thumb over the curve of the mug and then gave a small smile. "I appreciate the concern but I'm okay. Just a little overextended at the moment. The whole neighbourhood watch thing is kicking my ass."
"Am not," came a weak remark from the doorway.
Kris turned her head and clasped her eyes on what would have been quite a tall man had he not been crumpled over himself with one arm beneath his ribcage and with one hand over his mouth obviously muffling a cough. "I'm guessing you must be Alec?"
Alec nodded his head. "That would be me." He shuffled into the kitchen and coughed again.
"Still gonna feed you. Even if it is cake," Toby said before he turned and lifted an eyebrow at Alec. His features immediately changed to those of concern, putting down his coffee.
He spoke quietly, like he didn't want to give Alec a headache, whole manner becoming gentle, the way it had when he had seen the bruises on Kris' jaw. "Don't give Kris your disease, she needs to be strong for ass kicking." He teased, though it was obvious he was worried as he walked over and pulled the plastic lid off one of the bottles of Powerade. "Here," he offered softly, reaching out and touching Alec's arm. "You really shouldn't be out of bed."
"Got bored," Alec shared in a gravelled tone as he'd been coughing all night and his throat was red raw. "And I heard voices, figured I'd say hi." He smothered another cough and closed his eyes, willing the nausea to pass. He took the Powerade from Toby with a quiet thanks before he took a couple sips, slumping against the counter.
Kris looked at Alec with a critical eye. "You do look... horrific."
Alec raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Real charmer, isn't she?"
Kris rolled her eyes and lifted her shoulders into a shrug. "Just calling them as I see them." She took a sip of her coffee
"She's got a point, Alec," Toby offered, patting Alec's upper arm gently. "You do look like crap. Can I take you to the doctors yet?" He lifted his hand and rested it against Alec's forehead, though he didn't really have a temperature, which confused him all the more. Maybe it was just because his hands were really warm too. That had to be it.
He tipped his head at the doorway at the pattering of tiny paws and Spacey appeared in the door, tipping her head at Kris and eyeing her before deciding to stay where she was. Though she did look up at Toby and Alec and mewl pitifully.
"And that still doesn't get you off eating. Do you just wanna wait and have a slice of cake? It'll be done in about five minutes. You turned up just as I was trying to clean." He glanced at Alec, "I'm guessing you won't want any?"
Alec batted Toby's concerned hand away. "S'nothing that needs a doctor." He muffled another cough and hissed in a breath as his entire ribcage felt like it was on fire or maybe those were lungs, hell if he could tell anymore.
Kris turned her head at the sound of pititful mewling and wiggled a couple fingers at Spacey. "I'm guessing she didn't like you moving." She smoothed her hair back and exposed some more bruises around her neck, rolling her eyes at Toby's persistence. "Fine, I'll have a piece of cake. Just for you."
"Please don't mention food," Alec groaned as he gathered up the Powerade and shuffled back in the direction of the doorway. "S'was nice meeting you, Kris."
"Yeah, you too. I hope you feel better soon."
"I'll come up and check on you later." Toby said, watching Alec shuffle out. "And I call bullshit on you not needing a doctor. One more day and I'm calling someone out. Maybe Katie!" He paused, "Or y'know, a call-out one. Do GPs make house calls?"
He leaned back against the counter, picking up his coffee again and obviously restraining himself from walking over as yet more bruises were uncovered. His eyes did slide to them though and his brows creased in worry. God, these people were going to give him wrinkles and grey hairs.
"Good. Don't like to think you're not taking care of yourself."
Alec just grunted something in response and this was apparently echoed by Spacey giving another meow as she followed after Alec's shuffling.
"I've gotten good at taking care of myself," Kris remarked with a smirk. "Hell, I'm a natural born expert." She took another sip of her coffee and brushed something off her jeans, a leaf had gotten snagged in a tear of denim.
"Those bruises say otherwise. And, you know, the way you're inhaling coffee like you might just drop off right here without it." He tutted, it wasn't condemning, just something he noticed. "What do you do to relax, man? I mean, when you're not teaching class and kicking ass during the day, or kicking ass at night, or looking after your sister, what do you do?"
Kris was silent for a long moment, clearly thinking. What did she do for fun? Wow, she couldn't quite... recall. "Uh, normal stuff?" She cleared her throat and fidgeted with her cup, idly rubbing her thumb over the pattern. "Watch TV, listen to music, that sort of thing?"
"Did I mention I'm running a neighbourhood watch thing in my neighbourhood now?"
"You don't... go out or anything?" Toby asked, "What about that boyfriend of yours?" Kris had never said much about her mysterious boyfriend; only that he was the only other person ever brave enough to tell her that she was beautiful. "I guess when you're so active it's nice to just relax and do nothing..."
He tipped his head, "You mentioned it a minute ago, yeah. What prompted that? The break in? What happened there anyway, you never said. Just that some guys tried, which is why you got the new system and stuff..."
"He was recovering from a bullet wound the last time I saw him," Kris said with a shake of her head. "Felt bad that I wasn't there when it happened, not that I would have been able to do much against a gun, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? Just sucks I wasn't there when he needed me." She took another sip of her coffee and shifted on the stool, lifting a hand to ruffle her hair.
Kris got to her feet as she had finished her coffee and she knew it would be polite to wash up her cup. "There's been a lot of stuff happening in the neighbourhood. Break ins, attacks, graffiti, bad elements basically slipping in through the cracks. Might be part of something bigger we need to worry about."
"It is." Toby reassured, frowning as Kris got to her feet. "Hey- wait- what're you-" he moved forward and stole the cup, chastising her with a look. "Guest don't do washing up unless they've been very bad." he said, trying to look stern but his smile gave him away. "Seriously, I'll do it, I got a lot to do anyway, so it's-"
He jumped and almost spilled his coffee when the timer on the oven started chirping irritatingly to tell them all that its contents were ready to be taken out. "Jesus."
"Little on the jumpy side," Kris observed as she smirked over at Toby. "How you even survive in this city is totally and utterly beyond me." She was just teasing and she didn't think she needed to do much for Toby to pick up on that.
She turned around and rested back against the counter, watching Toby fuss around with things in the kitchen. "Hey, been meaning to ask, I'm wanting to boost my gym's business and I was going to do this street based display, but I need volunteers to help me out with it. You up for that?"
"I'm fine outta the house, just- oh shut up." Toby grinned, dipping his fingers in the soapy water that was in the sink and then flicking the water at Kris. He wasn't insulted, in fact, he loved it when people teased him, meant he didn't feel so bad about dishing it back to them.
He took the cake out of the oven and looked at it critically for a moment before he nodded, apparently satisfied that he hadn't ruined this one like the last one he tried. This one, at least, had risen rather than flopped in the middle. He still wasn't sure how he'd managed to do that. "It won't be iced... but sometimes cake tastes better without..." he offered apologetically. "Usually nicer when it's still warm anyway, right?" He glanced at Kris, now able to smell the chocolate sponge cake in the air clearly. It smelt good - hopefully he'd done it right.
"And with regards to your offer of kicking my ass in a public arena, sure. I'd love to."
"I've eaten cakes made by my sister and her class," Kris pointed out. "Yours can't be as bad as that. I swear all they did was shovel a ton of sugar into those cakes." She pulled a face at the memory and shook her head with a rueful smile.
Kris sniffed the air. "It smells good, that's usually a good sign."
"What's to say I haven't just shovelled a ton of sugar into this?" Toby asked with a wink, shifting a little and pulling out a couple of plates and a knife to slice into the cake. It was still warm as he maneuvered two slices onto their respective plates.
He sniffed the air again and then eyed the cake. It looked just the right amount gooey and moist without falling apart. "Do you want a fork?"
Kris nodded her head. "Yeah, please." She pushed away from the counter after having put a little too much pressure on her back right where that bitch of a vampire's heel had dug in, that one was a real dirty fighter.
"And I'll let you know about the public display thing."
"You sure you're okay?" Toby asked, picking up a fork and putting it down on the plate next to Kris' slice of cake, pushing it across the counter towards her. He was good at reading people, had been doing it his whole life, after all. "I'm guessing there are more bruises under there," he wiggled his fingers, "that I've no hope in hell of seeing."
He winked and then leaned back against the counter to dig into his cake, pleasantly surprised when he found that, actually, it tasted good. Wow, he'd outdone himself this time. "Alrighty, just let me know and I'll be there. Ready and willing for you to beat my ass into the ground."
Kris thanked Toby for the fork and picked up her plate, smirking over the top of her cake at Toby. "You got that right." She took the first forkful of her cake and shrugged. "They'll heal, they always do. They're just a little painful."
She took a bite out of the cake and swallowed it back, offering a genuine smile. "Not bad, Toby. Not bad at all. Definitely better than what my sister and her classmates attempted." Kris was pretty sure she'd gotten a date for the public display, but it had totally slipped her mind as she had a lot of things to remember.
"Will do, Toby."
"Well, I'm sure you've got some kind of super healing to go with your super strength and super hot-ness, right?" Toby asked, "Some kind of compensation for being a vampire Slayer?" he tilted his head at her before he went back to his cake, looking a little taken aback by the compliment about his cooking.
Usually he wasn't brave enough to share it with other people - Alec included - so this was a first. He wasn't about to say that, and if the cake passed the Kris taste test (as he now called it, he was going to make her his unofficial, official taster), then maybe he could offer some to his housemate. Nothing like cake to cheer you up!
"Thanks. Good to know that my taste-buds aren't faulty."
Kris snorted at the compliment but nodded her head anyways. "Super healing, gotta love it." She took another bite from her cake and then just settled where she was, content to just eat and be quiet for a moment. She wasn't a real big talker as it was.
"Anytime, Toby. Just telling the truth."
"Well, thanks anyway." Toby mumbled, taking another mouthful of cake and enjoying it. He was never a big fan of silence, but Kris seemed to like it and it was enough to make him at least try so that she was comfortable. He hated thinking that people were uncomfortable around him, and if that meant he was quiet for a while, then he could shut up.
It wasn't like the silence was that uncomfortable anyway. At least, not on his end. Made a nice change.
Kris finished up her cake and turned to rest the plate in the nearby sink. "Thanks for the cake, Toby. It was good." She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck before she gestured. "I guess I ought to be going, only stopped by to drop off your jumper."
"I have a dog to walk and a patrol to do."
Toby tilted his head at her before he affected a pout. "Can't believe you're leaving. Well," he shrugged and smiled, "It's okay, you've eaten cake and bought my sweater back and made nice with my dog. Maybe Eddy and Wolf could have a play date or something." He grinned, "Might be an excuse to get you doing something that's not work."
He glanced back at the cake. "Do you want to take a piece in Tupperware or something? Maybe to give to your sister? Rosa, right? It's not that late..." He was already moving and putting a slice and a half into a plastic container for Kris before she could answer or decline. "And, you know, be safe and all that. 'Cause it's a nasty world out there and all."
Kris had just opened her mouth to say something before she caught sight of what Toby was doing. "I'll be sure Rosa gets it and I'm sure you'll be her favourite person for the next couple weeks." She tugged the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands because it was cold outside and the more protection she had against the cold the better.
"I'll take care, all that good stuff, promise."
"Alright, glad to hear it." Toby shifted closer and stole a hug - it was less than five seconds because he knew that Kris wasn't big on contact, but hey, he was and he didn't think a three second hug was going to get him a punch in the face.
Then Kris' comment about Rosa filtered in and he chuckled, "Can't have her forgetting me after a couple of weeks. I'll just have to make more cake. Or cookies. Does she like cookies? More to the point, do you like cookies?" He realised he was attempting to draw her into conversation again and stopped himself. "Better let you go, or I'll be talking all night. You know how I am."
Kris returned the brief hug, she didn't hug a lot of people but she hugged Toby. "She loves cookies," she said with a nod of her head as she took the tupperware from Toby. "I'll be sure to get this back to you for our next one on one."
She chuckled at his comments and waved a goodbye to Wolf before she headed back in the direction of the door. "And just for the record I'm pretty fond of cookies myself."
Toby followed her into the hallway, allowing himself to feel briefly smug over the world that Kris had hugged him back. Ha HA. Take that, world. Once the door was opened, he grinned at her. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time I try and become Betty Crocker."
His lips curled up into a softer smile. "I'll see you soon, Kris. Be careful."
Kris smiled. "Yeah, you too, Toby. Tell Alec I said goodbye." And with that the Slayer squared her shoulders and headed into the cold night air, hands tucked into pockets and tupperware box safely tucked away into her backpack.
It didn't take her very long to disappear around the corner.