Room 505, Really Freaking Early Friday Morning

[thatsamilkshake]

It wasn't that Francine had stayed up all night wondering just where the hell Katchoo was aside from 'out.'

She'd actually managed to get some sleep between three a.m. and the time she heard the door opening.

[OOC: For one, possibly two, first, but open later in the morning!]

Comments

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo, who looked like banged-up bloody hell and probably smelled worse, could try to open the door as quietly as possible and sneak in, at least. The scrape of the key and the clicking of the tumblers in the lock, though, didn't do the remnants of her hangover Any Favors At All. With any luck Francine'd be asleep and she could sneak in, grab a change of clothes, then head for the shower to --

Crap.

[thatsamilkshake]

About half an hour of sleep between three a.m. and the time she heard the door opening. The overwhelming scent of freshly-baked Apple Brown Betty probably didn't do the remnants of Katchoo's hangover Any Favors At All either.

That was Francine's voice came out of the darkness. "Chewie, where've you been, I was w--" Then, you know, the smell of Bar Fight And Jail Cell hit her. "Oh. That's where you've been."

And that was Francine stalking over to turn on the light.

"OW. #$%@" And that was Francine stubbing her toe on an unframed canvas leaning against a desk.

And that was Francine limping the rest of the way over to turn on the light.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Ow. Light. Ow ow ow ow ow ow. Dammit, light that upgraded the state of Katchoo's clothes -- and Katchoo in general -- from "pretty damning" to "go straight to hell, do not pass Go, do not collect $200!"

She winced and kept her eyes mostly shut. "Francie. Hi. You've --" Sniff. Sniiiiiiiiiiff. "Been busy."

[thatsamilkshake]

"It's for Support Services," Francine said, blinking into the light too, but somehow not losing a bit of the fearsome badgery presence. "You should come; we're talking about stopping people from doing stupid th--"

Light-tolerance achieved, and now there was focus.

And the badger threatened to turn into a wolverine. "Who DID that to you?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was timely. Universe, really? Two days in a row?

"Um . . . which part?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"ANY OF IT!"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeep.

"There was a jerk at the bar last night," Katchoo muttered, leaning against the doorframe. Hey, you could trace everything that followed back to that.

[thatsamilkshake]

Fear, Jerk. Fear. "At Caritas? Who?" She was already reaching for her shoes.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Nobody you know. Nobody I know." Katchoo realized that the second part of that statement was much less helpful than the second. "Wasn't at Caritas anyway; we went to Baltimore."

[thatsamilkshake]

Okay yeah, maybe slow down on the shoes. Especially since other than that she was wearing underwear and a sleepshirt. "We went to Baltimore?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Which was when Katchoo realized she'd managed to lose track of Arthur somehow, possibly in the middle of trying to get her key into the door without cueing up a tympani symphony in her skull.

"Me and Arthur." Proper grammar could go to hell.

[thatsamilkshake]

"...Lovely. And he let somebody do that to you?" Run, Pendragon. Just saying.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo hoped he was running, actually. Getting the FRANCINE SMASH treatment seemed pretty crappy thanks for bailing her out of . . . er. Yeah.

She rubbed at a raw spot on one wrist where the handcuffs had bitten. "Geez, Francie, I can take care of myself. Anyway, he tried to stop me."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Later... much later in the morning, Merlin knocked lightly on the door. In his own attempt at polite since he feared Katchoo just a bit.

[thatsamilkshake]

Much later in the morning, Francine was... still awake even though she didn't have any classes today and could have gone back to sleep now that Katchoo was home. Righteous indignation is almost better than caffeine that way.

And, um. There used to be two pans of Apple Brown Betty.

She answered the knock with a curt, "What?", but then felt badly about it, brushed crumbs off her clothes, and opened the door slowly. "Sorry, I-- oh. Hi."

Merlin got a rueful smile, the door thrown open the rest of the way, and Francine leaning up to give him a kiss. "Sorry. Bad morning."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Two pans missing? Oooooh dear. This could only end badly.

"Hello," Merlin said, a bit dazed, but kissing her back on autopilot.

[thatsamilkshake]

Nope. One still present and accounted for. Until the Support Services meeting, at least. This wasn't a two-pan morning.

God help you when you finally see a two-pan morning, Merlin.

"Come in." She paused. "No, wait." She put up a hand. "Did you get stinking drunk last night, pick a fight with somebody who was probably five times your size, get thrown in jail and finally crawl home at three-freakin'-thirty in the morning?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Um." Merlin had to stare for a moment. Or five. And then it came to him... "Arthur and Katchoo."

[thatsamilkshake]

"I'm gonna guess that's a no, then," she said, putting her hand down and moving out of the way. "I just wanted to know in advance if I needed to work up another round of pissed-off; I'm kinda tired."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"What happened?" Merlin asked, sighing as he slipped into the room.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Pretty much that. Katchoo got in a bar fight and then got arrested." Francine crossed her arms and leaned against her desk, working up at least another half-round of pissed-off whether she had the energy for it or not.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"A bar fight?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"In Baltimore. If it was Caritas, the place would've just chucked her out and shut that the hell down, at least." Mmm, the Katchoo-influenced vocabulary had not gone away for the day, no.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Yes, the swearing was... new.

"Is everyone alright?" Because, yeah, that's just what a girl wants to be asked when in a mood.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Arthur bailed her out. Or paid somebody off or whipped out his sword, I dunno, but she's not in jail." Francine shook her head. "She looks like crap."