Room 505, Monday Night

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine, celebrating a mostly non-traumatic week and a no-Monday-or-Tuesday-classes long weekend by... hanging out on the bed with her Ethics homework and a book, singing slightly off-key lullabies not so much because Wee Baby Merlin was being cranky and she wanted him to go to sleep but just because she was having a little too much fun pretending?

...Of course not.

"And I hear her voice a hummin’ to me as in days of yore, when she used to rock me fast asleep outside the cabin door. Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, too-ra-loo-ra-li, too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral..."

[OOC: Door, she is open, girl, she is...mostly sane. Just not as creeped out by the fake babies as everybody else is.]

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[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Mixed metaphors like that usually led to pages of textless panels or tl;dr internal monologues.

"In general, no. With you?" Katchoo propped herself up on her elbows and looked squarely at Francine. "Yeah."

[thatsamilkshake]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Had Katchoo been aware of her own narrative she'd have had to admit she'd been asking for it there.

"Hey, kid," she murmured, not realizing her voice had dropped to a much softer tone as she shifted a little closer.

. . . the creepy factor was somewhat mitigated by Francine's presence.

[thatsamilkshake]

Of course it would decide to start crying at that. "He probably just didn't want to be moved," Francine said just in case Katchoo thought she'd set it off.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Well, Katchoo hadn't been actively trying to, at least.

What she did actively try to do was scoot over a bit to make room. "Don't have to move again," she offered, half to Francine and half to the droid baby. "You guys can stay. I don't mind."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine scooted back and folded her legs up onto the bed, making something like a cradle out of her lap to rest Wee Baby Merlin in. Without looking up from her lap, she said, "I was talking to Merlin about it."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo moved closer, close enough to curl around Francine and still stay comfortable. "About naming the baby after him, or . . . ?"

She had a feeling that wasn't it.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Well, yeah, that too," Francine said with a small laugh. "But mostly just about the idea of us having kids. Which isn't exactly gonna happen accidentally, Professor Skywalker..."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"That would be kinda hard at the moment, wouldn't it?" Katchoo couldn't really begrudge her that; Fandom wacky be damned, this wasn't exactly in her list of unconventional skills. And Francine had always wanted a family.

"Visitation logistics would be a --" Recording devices. Right. "Pain, y'know."

[thatsamilkshake]

So, so not on the same page. "....Huh?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Wait." Definitely not on the same page. "When you say 'us,' did you mean . . . ?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine blinked and scrunched up her face in continued confusion. "I mean us." Which did kind of require a followup, of course. "I mean, not the having part, 'cause it doesn't work that way so this assignment is kind of, you know. But..."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that us." The words didn't come out half as flippant as you'd think they might; there was actually a huge undertone of relief there. Realizing she actually cared about the answer, she asked, "What did he have to say about that?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"That we could adopt." Francine corrected herself. "'Take in an orphan' is what he actually said." She was still peering at Katchoo, though. "What did you think I meant?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"More along the lines of non-anonymous donor," Katchoo admitted -- by 'admitted' we mean, just as much, that she was admitting to having given this some thought.

[[La la la HITTING POST HELPS.]]

[thatsamilkshake]

"Non-anonymous do--" Deer. Headlights. Of an oncoming train.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"He did say he thinks of me as family," Katchoo went on, opening up the throttle of that oncoming train, and yes, that still gobsmacked her.

[thatsamilkshake]

"I--" Still without coherent comment on the original issue, Francine went for, "That's how I feel too." She fiddled with Baby Merlin's blanket for a second before adding. "But I didn't ask him that. I wasn't even... we were just talking about me being a mom someday, and I was telling him it's not so easy for, you know. To adopt."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Depends on where you go," Katchoo said thoughtfully, reaching over to cover Francine's hand with hers. "God knows there's kids who need a decent home, and I know how you are with anyone who needs taking care of."

[thatsamilkshake]

"So basically we need a mansion, huh?" Francine threaded her fingers up through Katchoo's. "Or we could just buy our own apartment building..."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Or our own island." Katchoo squeezed her hand, smiling slightly. "I don't know how we're going to afford it, but . . ."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Think the Isle of Ikea is for sale? Then we'd have all the furniture we need too." Francine leaned over to prop herself on one elbow, tucking Wee Merlin in between them and... thinking. Not about furniture.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"We'd probably need that many loft beds eventually, huh?" Katchoo could live with talking about this, and she was even idly reaching out to stroke Wee Merlin's head.

[thatsamilkshake]

"It's either that or make the kids sleep in pet-nets that we hang from the wall," Francine said, nodding towards the one over her bed, filled with stuffed animals.

Look, there was a breath. And there was another. "I--" And there was a sentence without an end, except for the part in her head that went --was pregnant, in one of those visions I had.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"The kids are not sleeping in pet-nets." When had she agreed to the kids thing again? Katchoo raised an eyebrow, prompting. "You --?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"I like the idea of raising kids with you. No matter where they come from."