MHA #6, Friday Morning

[firstofitskind]

So, apparently, if you tipped them well enough, the folks at JGoB were willing to deliver. This was something Liam had discovered fairly soon after he started staying over at Verity's semi-regularly, because the chances of her having actual breakfast food were intermittent at best.

So he had a pot of coffee brewing (and tea for himself, thank you), and a plate of fresh scones waiting for when Verity made her way to the kitchen.

... And a couple of scones for the mice, because shhh.

[ooc: for the one that lives here!]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

She had a box of cereal on her fridge!

"Mmm..." Verity mumbled, stumbling out of the bedroom. She was pulling on her bathrobe, but already had a sidearm strapped. "Do I smell coffee?"

[firstofitskind]

She did, and that box was full of knives rather than actual cereal.

"Should finish brewing in a minute," Liam informed her cheerfully.

It wasn't that he was a morning person, exactly, it was just that his morning was usually somewhere around 3am.

[arboreal_priestess]

It made for a handy knife-hiding place!

"It's too early for cheerful," she informed him, but then came over to kiss his cheek anyway. "...Where did the scones come from?" she asked a moment later. "I didn't have scones, did I?"

No Verity. Never.

"Did the mice have scones?" Because she could absolutely picture a time where the mice had scones and she didn't.

[firstofitskind]

"Well," he said, one arm circling her waist as she leaned in to kiss his cheek, "the mice have scones now, but no, I didn't convince them to share their food." He wasn't some sort of mouse-whisperer. "I ordered them from JGoB." And yes, he could have easily gone and picked them up himself, but having them delivered was easier.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Wait, JGOB's delivers?" Mind blown. This could revolutionize breakfast. She'd never need to keep eggs or bread in the house again. "You've become my personal hero for the day."

[firstofitskind]

Liam would facepalm, except he was just as bad about making sure there was food in his place. Of course, two of the other people he lived with happened to enjoy cooking, so the cupboards being bare was not exactly a problem.

"If you tip them enough, yeah," he admitted. "Also, hmm. Breakfast delivery is hero material. Noted."

[arboreal_priestess]

"There's a chocolate scone on a plate waiting for me to eat it and a pot of coffee brewing that I didn't have to make," Verity pointed out. "If that doesn't qualify for heroism, I really don't know what does."

[firstofitskind]

"You know, I'll take it," Liam said with a laugh. "Breakfast hero of the day."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I mean, you've had lots of impressive titles in your life, I'm sure," Verity teased, reaching for two mugs as the coffee maker stopped gurgling. "But were any of them as good as this one?"

[firstofitskind]

"Hmmm," Liam pretended to think about it. "You know, I can't think of any?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yeah, didn't think so," Verity said, taking a long sip of blessed, life-giving coffee. Belatedly, she nudged the second mug over to Liam for his distinctly inferior tea. "So, what's on your agenda today?" she asked.

She had 'dance practice' and 'hunt for that asshole from the Covenant' on hers.

[firstofitskind]

"I was gonna stop by the station and see if there was any more information regarding the missing potholes," and it was only the slightly-over-a-year in Fandom that made it so he was able to say that sentence without rolling his eyes. "And I was going to ask if you'd mind company when you headed out on your patrol tonight?" he asked hopefully.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Why are we looking for potholes?" Verity asked. "I thought things were better when they were gone."

THIS ISLAND. WHY?

"And of course you can," she said, smiling at him. "...If you think you can keep up, I mean."

[firstofitskind]

"Because they vanished with no notice," Liam explained. "And generally speaking, when that happens here, apparently it's a precursor to bad things happening." Which wasn't actually the case this time, of course, but Liam didn't know that yet.

He wasn't going to dignify that jab with an answer, thank you. Just a smirk and a raise of both his eyebrows as he calmly took a sip of his tea.

[arboreal_priestess]

"So, the first sign of a lurking evil is that the roads suddenly even out?" Verity asked. "I'm pretty sure in Oregon we'd consider that a fair goddamn trade."

[firstofitskind]

"No, the first sign of a lurking evil is inexplicable geography changes in general," Liam corrected. "At least, one of the possible first signs."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Question the second," Verity said, though she definitely hadn't enough coffee for this, "what will you do if you find them?"

If the answer was 'put them back,' they were breaking up.

[firstofitskind]

The answer would remain a mystery for the time being, as the mug Liam was currently holding clattered to the floor due to his sudden lack of hands to hold it in.

"Mrr?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"What the fuck?!" Verity asked, which was less than useful in this situation, as it addressed neither the cat nor the spilled tea.

[arboreal_priestess]

"HAIL THE--huh." The main priestess of the mice was not sure what to make of this occurrence. It was definitely had liturgical significance, but what was a little beyond her.

[firstofitskind]

"Mrrp?" Liam said questioningly. It was supposed to be a 'what', but... cat.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oh god," Verity said, burying her face in her hands. And then stood, voice ringing throughout the apartment, "The Arboreal Priestess has a Pronouncement!"

Random capital letters and everything.

It was like a wave of small furry bodies into the kitchen. Soon mice were everywhere, all of them staring at her with bright ink-spot eyes. Even the baked goods and the strange cat couldn't draw their attention.

For long.

"This is Liam," she said, picking up the cat since she wasn't sure how smart it--he--still was. "He has been changed by what I hope is Fandom magic. No harm must come to him, even if he instigates."

To Liam-kitty she muttered, "Please be smart enough to not instigate."

Then, back to the mice, "You may defend your lives and the lives of others, but only enough to get away. When he regains his normal form, he will amend any grievances with cheese and cake."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Hail the cheese and cake!"

The cheer wasn't as robust as it normally would be. With Verity's pronouncement, they mice found themselves at the forefront of a Liturgical Mystery and even cheese and cake couldn't compare to that.

[firstofitskind]

Liam was plenty smart. Smart enough to give Verity a deeply offended look. Of course he wasn't going to instigate.

[arboreal_priestess]

Hey, all she knew was that he was suddenly a cat! And it wasn't like he'd been solving math problems or meowing once for yes, twice for no to prove he was intelligent, still.

"Yeah, I still can't tell if you're smart enough to understand me or if you're just being a cat," Verity told that expression.

[firstofitskind]

"Mrr," Liam said, and then looked over at the mice. And then back at Verity. And then slowly, deliberately, shook his head.

Hopefully that would help clear things up? A bit?

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity didn't have a whole lot of experience with cats (they tended not to get along with the mice or her brother's European Church Griffin), but she was pretty sure that most mice didn't shake their heads. At least, not like that. "Liam?" she asked. "You're still in there?"

Remember earlier, when she'd been thinking that Fandom was weird for the potholes, thing? Yeah, spoke way too soon.

[firstofitskind]

A nod, this time. And then, in case there were any lingering doubts, he looked down at the spilled tea on the floor and gave another sad little mew. Such a waste.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well, that answers that," she said, putting Liam back down onto the chair so that she could sop up all that tea with a handful of paper towels. "Am I going to the store today to get catmint tea bags so you don't have to suffer unduly while you're...like this?"

[firstofitskind]

The answer to that was a satisfied purr as he arranged himself in to a catloaf on the chair.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And fish, I guess," Verity said. "Since I'm pretty sure you'll claw me if I offered you cat food and I don't know what else is good for cats. But if you choke on a bone, I am going to laugh while the mice give you the Heimlich."

This was her life now. And the worst part? It wasn't even all that different from her regular life.