mazespawn (mazespawn) wrote in freedomtownic, @ 2018-06-11 00:51:00 |
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The previous day had been a blur for Jordan from being swept up from the park by her Mom and Dad, which was weird on every level as they seemed no older than her. She’d mostly hidden out in her room until she saw the message from the guy, Stiles, who looked like her Dad and so she’d ended up going to meet him and played video games with him until she was so exhausted all she could do was walk home and crawl into bed. So far she hadn’t really had a sit-down conversation with her parents - who didn’t even know she existed in this world, let alone knew how to react to her. Breakfast seemed as good a time as any and so in return for their hospitality Jordan cooked up a pan of bacon, eggs and assorted goodies she knew Thomas and Brenda would appreciate. Unless their taste-buds had changed as much as their bodies had. “Hey,” she said with a smile as the first guest came to the table, “eggs just how you like them,” along with orange juice freshly squeezed, pancakes and toast. Enough to feed them all two or three times over, probably, but she was trying to make a good impression. It felt suddenly important to be liked by her parents - which gave Jordan jitters just thinking about it. “Newt made a tactical exit before I headed out and stayed at Cora’s last night,” she said with a smile, “I think he’s trying to give us a little space.” * Brenda wasn’t sleeping very well. She had just been able to stop being weird around Thomas, and now their future daughter had shown up. Ugh! Now she had to try extra hard not to be weird so Jordan didn’t feel weird. Needless to say, the anxiety made her toss and turn in bed. Once she finally fell asleep any little thing could wake her up. Today, it was the most magnificent smell that filled their apartment. She threw on a tank top and a pair of shorts then followed her nose to find out who was that talented. Coming into the kitchen she was kind of surprised to learn it was her kid. Who had taught her to cook and could she stay?! “Newt’s missing out!” Brenda declared with a smile. “You made all this?” She openly boggled at the goodies. * Thomas had been awake for a bit, but he hadn’t bothered to get up. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but that didn’t work. He finally sat up and tried to listen to the conversation happening in the kitchen, but he couldn’t really make out anything. The only thing he could make out was the fact that it was just Jordan and Brenda. No Newt. Not that he was surprised by that. His friend was either in his own bedroom or he already took off, which seemed like the normal thing lately. He couldn’t hide forever. With a sigh, Thomas finally got up, walked out of his bedroom and headed towards the kitchen where the girls were. “Hi…” * “Consider it a thank you for your hospitality,” Jordan answered as Brenda looked around at the spread she’d put on. So she’d definitely gone overboard, but how often did you get to meet the people your parents used to be? Also how fucking weird must it be for them? “Something tells me Newt’s not missing out on much,” she said with a smile to herself. After everything Cora had told her Jordan didn’t think he’d mind missing one breakfast. Not if he was spending a night with his girlfriend. Bacon was good but not that good. When Thomas joined them she smiled over at him, “just woke up, huh?” Well, welcome to Breakfastland, where all your breakfast wishes came true. Jordan dished up eggs, pancakes and bacon onto his plate and shoved various condiments his way. “So, I had an interesting night,” she said doing her best to make the conversation flow in the right direction. “I met up with a guy called Stiles, who could be your twin, by the way,” she told Thomas – yeah, easier to think of him as Thomas than ‘Dad’. “He introduced me to the wonders of video games. It’s possible I may be a natural,” she said as she loaded her own plate and sat down with her family. * Brenda managed to not flinch when she heard Thomas’ voice. She even managed to give him an honest smile from where she sat at the table. This was an absolute feast compared to what they were used to. “I’m not convinced she’s our kid of she can do this.” She couldn’t cook to save her life. At least not with what they had to work with here. Give her an open flame and a can of beans, sure. Put together actual ingredients? Nope. She reached to push an empty plate toward the empty chair in open hint for Thomas to sit down. “Better hurry or you won’t get any.” * Thomas lied and said, “yes.” There was no point in saying that he was totally trying to avoid all of this by trying to force himself back to sleep. He sat down at the table just as Jordan started to fill up his plate with food. Well, okay, he wasn’t going to say no to all of that. It was better than eating just cereal. He glanced over at Brenda. “I don’t think she’s going to let me starve,” he said as she glanced down at all the food that was now on his plate. “You met him? His dad thought I was him when we first showed up here.” That had been awkward. He never actually met any of them outside of the net, though. Mostly he saw Stiles talking all over the net. “Who else have you met?” * Jordan caught the awkward moment when Da…Thomas ended the room but Brenda caught herself and covered. She also noticed Thomas’ lie about just waking up. Clearly there was more going on here than she understood but maybe a little time would sort it all out, or she’d get a real handle on it and try and fix it. For now she let it go and set about her own food. “I learned to cook from people we met in the Wasteland,” Jordan told Brenda with a smile, “it was either learn or starve and I learn pretty fast.” One of them should be able to cook without giving the others food poisoning and as Mom and Dad were out scavenging or working it felt to her. At least it meant she got to eat what she wanted, when they could find the supplies. “I’ll get to know you before I let you starve,” she said shooting Thomas a smirk. “Well I talked to a few people on the network,” Jordan told Thomas as she munched toast and scrambled eggs, “one of them said they’d show me around some monster-world or something. Sounded like his parents pretty much run the place,” but it was Stiles she’d met up with first. “I met Stiles’ boyfriend Scott and his dad Noah, but so far that’s all. Though there’s supposed to be some party happening for the kids but I’m not sure how I feel about that yet,” Jordan told them between mouthfuls. * Talking about anyone but them made this more comfortable. Technically, Stiles and the others were about the same age as them, but Brenda hadn’t been really inclined to make friends. That was her own hangup, however, so she was glad to hear Jordan hadn’t gotten that from her. THIS WAS SO WEIRD! Mention of the waste made her smile fade. Those hadn’t been good times at all. “So we never made it to Haven?” She hadn’t read the discussion between Jordan and Thomas. It had been all she could do to wrap her head about her own. * Thomas took a bite of his food and looked between Jordan and Brenda. “You should go.” Who knew how long she was going to be here. She might as well see how normal people live before this place decided to send her back to the hell that was their home. “Apparently we didn’t stay in the Safe Haven.” He already had this conversation with Jordan, so if Jordan wanted to, she could fill Brenda in the same way she had filled him in on what was going on in the future. Mostly, he just shoved food into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to speak too much. * Jordan shot a look at her Dad and frowned slightly, wondering how come the two hadn’t talked about…stuff. She shrugged it off, though and nodded as Thomas caught her up on their story. “After I was born things got a bit weird,” she told Brenda with a shrug. “You knew Dad was part of the cure but not how to refine it and pass it on,” Jordan snapped a piece of bacon and chomped on it, showing all the manners of a Wasteland-dweller. “I was immune too and word started getting around,” she said looking up at Brenda, “then the raiders started hitting Haven, trying to find the cure, so you two decided it would be safer for all of us to stay on the move.” Haven was still there and the raiders had finally gotten the message that there was no cure to be found there. In time her parents and their friends had figured out how to extract and synthesize the cure and passed it on to the colonies they’d stayed with. Jordan told them it all as she sat back and smiled, “you guys cured the Flare, which pretty much makes you my heroes,” she told them with a broad grin that was only slightly teasing them. “And you have seriously changed,” she said shooting Thomas a worried look, “if I’d have mentioned going to a party back home you’d have made sure I was stocked up to the nines with ammo before letting me out of the door!” It was almost like her folks had gotten…cool. No kid wanted to deal with that possibility! * Brenda listened as she all but inhaled food. You did not let it go to waste, and you never knew when you’d have to run so you ate fast. She hadn’t shaken that habit. To anyone else it probably seemed gross. Right now, she wasn’t even paying attention to the food or how she was eating it. The story of her life after the last moment she could remember back home...it really did sound like something they would do. “We found a way to reproduce the cure?” Brenda’s lips parted in astonishment and that was the look she turned to Thomas. “We found a cure.” That was...too good to believe. * Thomas listened as well as Jordan spoke. “You didn’t tell me that part.” He knew they left because it wasn’t safe. But she never said they figured out how to extract the cure. Now it made even more sense why they ditched the Safe Haven. He couldn’t save Newt there. It made sense that he would try to save others. “How did we figure it out?” It was good information to have just in case anything happened here on this planet. * At least her Mum’s table manners hadn’t changed, which made Jordan feel more at home, even if they didn’t remember the things she was retelling. “You did,” she said with a nod and a smile Thomas’ way, “it was a sort of crusade. Too many people you’d cared about died and now you could stop it, so you wouldn’t give up until you’d found a way.” Most of it had happened when she was younger and had only heard the stories. “We travelled a lot,” Jordan told them, “made alliances with colonies and shared knowledge. Spread out the knowledge so that if something happened to us there were other people that could pick up where we left off,” but that hadn’t be necessary in the end. “There were scientists around, some from the colonies and some former Wicked people who switched sides after the fall. Sharing knowledge and expertise made it possible,” Jordan said with a shrug. “That and our DNA,” she said with a nod Thomas’ way. “ Ok. So Thomas wasn’t nearly as impressed by hearing this as she was. Brenda figured she could get annoyed or she could just ignore it. The latter was the better option so she just looked back to Jordan….who really did have the same eyes as Thomas. Ugh. Brenda continued to listen as she finished off her plate of food. From what Jordan was telling them it was a life Brenda would have been more comfortable with. Even though they’d gotten away from Wicked she couldn’t see herself being comfortable in one place for very long. * Thomas listened as Jordan told them more of what went down back at home. He wasn’t surprised by any of it. The only thing that did surprise him was the fact that former Wicked workers actually started to help. That seemed like something that would have never happened before. He didn’t know what else to ask right now. He glanced to Brenda before eating another bite of his food. * Jordan gave Brenda a quick smile when she saw her eyes linger on her for more than a moment and she could imagine why. Finally starting to sink in that she wasn’t just spinning a tale to fuck with their heads, which was Mum’s first instinct every time. Probably why they’d stayed alive so long. “So…” she looked between her parents and sat back, taking a swig of orange juice, “...what do I need to know about this planet? I mean, it’d be nice to stay alive long enough to get home,” Jordan said with a wry smirk. “Also, I feel like I’m missing something pretty big going on between you guys,” because this was what it felt like when they rowed back home. Only with less body language. * Brenda let out a huff of breath as she looked back at Thomas. Jordan was perceptive. Probably got that from both of them. Jorge had taught her how to read people. Thomas...he probably came by it naturally. It made sense that any kid of theirs would pick up on it. “This place is unnervingly safe,” she said as she picked up her plate to take it to the sink. “There’s plenty to eat. Stupid marks to nick money from. And almost nobody is armed. Takes a little getting used to.” And she was so avoiding the question about what was going on between her and Thomas. * “What she said,” Thomas said as he glanced Brenda’s way. There was no point in repeating what Brenda already said to Jordan. So, Jordan noticed something was off. No surprise. It wasn’t like they were hiding it much. “Just. Stuff.” It wasn’t about Jordan; there was no point in talking about it. Plus it could start another fight and that just did not need to happen. He took the last bite of his food and then got up to put his plate in the sink. “You should go to the party,” he told Jordan. Yes, he was changing the subject. * Unnervingly safe? “First time I’ve heard you describe anywhere like that,” Jordan said passing her plate to Brenda, “which means you’re bored?” Cause if her Mom wasn’t blowing some shit up or driving fast it wasn’t a good day. That was the only thing she could think that would cause an atmosphere between them. Then again what did she know about them as teenagers, really? The weren’t too happy to talk about stuff after The Glade and usually kept topics to Haven and beyond, which obviously made Jordan more curious. Maybe here she’d get to know the stuff they were so closed off about. “Got it. Stuff. ‘Hey kiddo, why don’t you do the dishes while your Mom and I do ‘stuff’,” Jordan could be as sensible as the next person but there was still a teenager beneath the warrior’s surface. “Since when did you encourage me to go out and party?” she cocked her head towards Thomas, “or is this your way of getting some space for a while? You can say, you know, if you want me out. I’m a big girl,” Jordan said with a shrug as she stood up and helped Brenda clear the table. * “You should have seen me when we first got here.” Brenda hadn’t liked anywhere, and the apartment took a lot of getting used to. She had pointedly avoided being near the windows. As for the bored thing, Brenda actually smirked at Jordan and gave her a quick wink. Lifting wallets and supplies wasn’t as exciting as blowing things up, but it was the best she could do. Great! Jordan had completely misunderstood. Brenda turned to her as she reached her hand out to touch the other girl’s arm. “That’s not it at all.” Trust her. Giving them space with each other wasn’t for the best. “This place really is harmless so go. Have fun.” * Thomas sighed. Jordan had taken it wrong. He was really starting to feel like it didn’t matter what he said. It was always getting taken the wrong way lately. “Things were said before you arrived here. And we haven’t exactly gotten past it.” There, now Jordan was clued in. “I only suggested it because you might not get another chance to do something normal. We could wake up back at home tomorrow.” It wasn’t like any of them knew how any of this worked. “Thank you for the breakfast,” he said to Jordan before he started to walk back towards his bedroom. He needed to get dressed. He couldn’t stay in his pajamas all day. * The hand on her arm took Jordan by surprise, though the affection was appreciated about now and as Brenda and Thomas explained a little of what she’d walked into she started to understand how little she knew them. She gave a small nod to her Mom and gave her hand a squeeze, “thanks. I’ll do that,” she smiled. Thomas was already on his way back to his room by the time Jordan headed him off and gave him a quick hug, “sorry. It’s a good idea, I’ll see what mischief I can get up to,” Jordan told him with a nod and then asked, “can we hang out some time soon? There’s so much I don’t know and I think maybe I need to learn,” she asked stepping back. Okay, so, yes, she wanted his approval but she also wanted to make the most of the time they had here too. * Brenda returned Jordan’s smile then watched her go after Thomas. She let out a small sigh then went back to cleaning up. Jordan had cooked. The least she could do was handle the dishes. It was a fair exchange, especially for as good as this breakfast was. She heard Jordan’s plea to Thomas and stretched her ears to catch his answer. * He was halfway to his bedroom when Jordan jumped in and hugged him. He sort of hesitated at first, but he slowly hugged her back. It was still very, very strange knowing that she was his kid. Especially when they were practically the same age right now. “Don’t get into too much mischief,” he said as he slowly pulled away, breaking the hug. “Yeah. We can do that.” Like he was going to turn her down. Anyway, he figured maybe things wouldn’t be so weird if it were just him and Jordan. * There was a moment when Jordan thought her dad might shrug her off as he tensed but a moment later he pulled her tight and it felt like they were good. Or as good as it was going to get in this weird, fucked up, situation. She could even see Mom listening over his shoulder, which made her smile. Apparently some things didn’t change, even in their past. “I’m totally holding you to that,” she said as she backed up and almost skipped back to the kitchen to help Brenda deal with the debris of breakfast. “And I know, don’t take drinks from strangers and don’t give in to peer pressure…” Jordan shot them both a grin and rolled her eyes, “...pretty sure you guys learned that the hard way,” or they wouldn’t reiterate it quite so often. |