totallyinaband | #31 - [Accidental Video Post]

[The device clicks on to a dark room. A bed is positioned in the centre, where two figures sleep. After a few moments, the peace is interrupted by a high-pitch wail. Many may recognise it as the familiar cry of oh-god-I-am-a-baby-and-I-just-woke-up-alone-what-is-this? The figure nearest the camera rolls over, and is unmistakably the bleary-eyed face of Stephen Stills. He groans and shoves the figure next to him in the shoulder.]

Cas! Wake up. It's your turn. How the hell do you sleep through that, anyway?

[Ooc: FAMILY DAY CUUUUUUUURSE! So basically, a bunch of us got together and decided to make the most elaborate and ridiculous Family Day Curse ever. This family tree is This-a-way for those of you who are interested. For the cliffnotes - Poncho-Kun, Hanna, and Stephen are brothers. Stephen is married to Castiel and Rose Lalonde is their daughter. Dave Strider is Nameless Dude's bastard son via Hooker. Demyx may or may not be related to them all somehow but lives near by anyway. There will be various action threads for various times in their family history, but also feel free to video or audio post if you feel your char needs to WTF at this apparent new family. :-D]

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Except encouraged makes it sound like I have a choice.

[Heavy sigh]

I'll be down in a minute. There's just something I have to finish up first.

Five minutes and counting, kiddo.

Yes, Dad.

[Rolling her eyes so hard behind the door where he can't see her]

[He'll just be down here, trying to be a cool dad and letting her take her time, but also futzing over whether the pasta's getting cold.]

[Exactly four minutes and thirty seconds later, Rose is downstairs and heading for the dining room. If she's not the last down she's going to wonder what all the fuss was about]

[The table is set for three, but only two platefuls of spaghetti are set out. Stephen is still clattering around in the kitchen when Rose makes her way down.]

Your Dad called, he's going to be late with a work thing, so he said to go ahead. And Hanna might be stopping by later. Or not. Who knows, really.

[So unimpressed]

I thought this was a family meeting? I didn't realise they were only not okay to miss if I was the one wishing to do so.

The meeting comes after the spaghetti. Grab a seat.

[Rose dutifully sits, though she's still not thrilled at being there. She was thirteen; she didn't need to be treated like a kid]

[gdi, Why are they so difficult at this age? But must stay chill dad!]

So how's the history project going?

Fine. Or at least it would be if they didn't insist on partnering me with complete imbeciles who can't be bothered to consider further than which options let them regurgitate a Wikipedia article and still make sense.

Chin up, kiddo. When you're their boss in twenty years you can totally assign them menial task work for the rest of time.

Assuming I'd employ them in the first place.

[But she does give a little smile at that]

[Success! Ten points to Gryffindor!]

That's the spirit.

[Please, this is a Ravenclaw house]

So, is there anything in particular we need to discuss at the family meeting or are you just making sure neither of us are working ourselves into the ground?

A bit of that, yeah. But I think we were going to talk about high school, too. It's coming up pretty soon.

Ah yes. The rite of passage where those of us who have successfully ascended the mountain of middle school get thrown to the bottom of an even bigger mountain and told to start over.

[But she may be the tiniest bit excited about this new challenge]

Have you thought about which school you want to go to yet?

I'm not sure it really matters.

[Because wanting to go the same place as your friends only really works if you have them to start with and Rose's only friends are online living a forever away]

You have a few more months to decide, anyway. Make a pros and cons chart of something.

I also talked to your Dad and we agreed that you're getting an up on your allowance this summer.

Hmm. Maybe.

[She's not convinced it will help but she's not about to argue. She also tries not to smirk at his announcement - as if that hadn't been the case ever since she'd been getting one]

I'll be sure not to spend it all in one go.

I know you won't. That's why we trust you with it.

[He twirls some more spaghetti up on his fork.]

Anything going on with you lately?

[Rose also finally makes a start on eating, now that she's satisfied the serious discussions are on hold for now. She shrugs at the question]

Not really. Orchestra continues to be an instance where our first chair never shows up and I am pushed to fill in but actually demoting her and letting me take over has apparently crossed no-one's mind except my own.

[Which she's mostly used to - no-one wants the weird goth kid centre stage in anything, but she's good enough that they can't turn her down outright]