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xp_logsThe team that was lured away returns, magnekinetic and all. To say that Lorna is not entirely happy with the state of her kitchen is something of an understatement.
Lorna wound her way through the mansion, staring around her in quiet shock and simmering anger. She was still wearing her uniform. They'd flown back from Muir as soon as they'd heard the alert and though everything was quiet, they were still on formal alert. Everywhere there were signs of the attack, walls scarred and wood splintered. Cain was going to have hysterics. She headed to the kitchen, figuring she could make a pot of coffee and get something started for dinner. The scent of baking bread was calming and normal, always good after a crisis.
Perhaps it was some kind of sixth sense but more likely it was the door blown off its hinges that triggered the feeling of dread. Lorna stepped across the remains of it and stood, staring in utter shock at what used to be her little kingdom.
Water trickled around her feet, tribute to the shot up condition of the refrigerator, one door lying on the ground, the other barely still hanging from the hinges. Steam rose from somewhere in the kitchen still, but it did nothing to hide the jagged edges of wood from what had formerly been cabinet doors on the floor, the shattered tiles and gaping holes in various walls or the scorch marks. Or the gaping hole leading downward, for what had previously been the stove. As though to seal the fact that the kitchen had been as devastated as could possibly be, the sole pan still hanging from the far wall finally let go, falling towards the floor in almost slow motion.
"Ok, this is what we want to keep an eye on," the voice drifted from the hallway. Alison walked by, holding several files, with one open on the top. She was pointing something out to Kylun, muttering lowly to herself now and then as they crossed walked past the kitchen door.
Lorna's eye followed a scorch mark from the wreck of the oven up the wall, across the ceiling and down to the shattered window pane. Alison's voice made her turn her head and one of the knives stuck in the curiously untouched butcher block whipped into her hand. She stalked out into the hallway. "Alison, what did you do to my kitchen?" she asked quietly.
Alison stopped, eyes wide, and slowly looked over her shoulder. Lorna. Coming out of the kitchen. You're so dead, her mind supplied nicely. Being possessed of a very healthy self-preservation instinct (unlike many in the mansion) Alison did the only thing any sane person could. The files were flung up and abandoned, and with a yelp she started to run. Fast. It was amazing how you could find hidden reserves of energy when faced with imminent death.
"I knew it!" Lorna took off after her, shoving whoever it was aside unceremoniously. She skidded on a fallen piece of paper and caught herself on the wall, pushing off to speed herself along. Alison was fast but righteous wrath was on Lorna's side and she gained ground quickly, "You destroyed my KITCHEN!"
"It's not my fault!" Alison wasn't about to stop to explain, or even look back for that matter. Looking back was bad - and since it was Lorna running about with a sharp metal object, she wasn't about to comment on how dangerous a thing to do that was. Lorna with anything metallic in hand meant concentrating on running and not face planting smack dab in a wall in the process. "It was the bad men that did it!"
"Did the bad men use lasers? Did the bad men slag my favorite pan? AND WHY WERE THE BAD MEN IN MY KITCHEN AT ALL?" Clearly reasoning with Lorna was right out. She flicked a hand and sent a coat rack tumbling to the ground in front of Alison.
"Gyah!" Alison dove over the coat rack, tumbling back to her feet still at a dead run. The corner was negotiated by way of slapping one hand against the wall and holding on for dear life as she did a ninety degree location shift at high speed, and kept going without ever slowing down. "It's not my fault!" There was no place in the mansion without metal, but thankfully, there were stairs at either end. This could go on until either Alison keeled over or was turned into a pincushion. Oddly enough, neither alternative appealed to her. Maybe she should hide behind Alex? "The bad men," oh my would mentioning the ambush be a bad idea, "just walked in!"
"Why? Did they want a snack?" Lorna repeated Alison's corner-swing, easier for her since she could use the EM fields to lever on. "Did they not like the decor? Or did you encourage them?" Lorna was vaguely aware that there were people they were passing, wide-eyed and mouths gaping. Perhaps the knife looked a bit psychotic?
"I did not!" Though she hadn't exactly been about stopping them entirely, since letting at least one make a run for it had been the objective. "Much." Oh shit, had she said that? "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Running was good. Especially from the insane kitchen goddess out on a rampage. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't tell to shot your kitchen!"
"You didn't keep them out of it either!" Lorna hopped a sofa rather than going around as Alison had. "AND YOU WRECKED MY STOVE!" A small part of Lorna's brain pointed out that she could get a new stove. A better stove. A restaurant quality stove. Unfortunately for Alison the rest of her brain was still largely focused on death.
"Just a bit!" Judging from the shriek she received in answer, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to say. The stairway was coming up but Alison didn't wait to reach to it, instead taking hold of the banister and hopping over it. She could take a drop of a few feet. Right? Ow. Right. Scrambling down the stairs and hopping the last few feet, she answered in the only way possible. "I'll buy you a new stove! A better one!"
The tiny part of Lorna's brain that had just said the same thing shrieked in glee. "I liked that one!" Lorna nearly flipped over the rail then decided that Madelyn would not be amused if she broke her leg chasing Alison around and swung herself around the banister instead, pelting down the stairs. "You still haven't told me why they were in there in the first place!"
"It was the only place we could divert them away from the kids! Altruistic motives and all!" Wait, she'd said we, right? "Nathan helped me too!" Now, if she could just find Nathan to run into (by accident, of course) maybe she could divert Lorna's attention just a bit.
"So you led them to my kitchen?" Lorna zeroed in on that immediately. "I thought you said it wasn't your fault!" She jumped the last six steps or so and nearly twisted her ankle. She swore while the little part of her brain continued to chatter about marble counters and all stainless steel appliances.
"It's not my fault they decided to shoot it up! They were supposed to aim at me!" Somehow, that didn't quite make sense, but if it placated Lorna... "They were heading for the kids! We had to do something!" Rounding another corner and nearly trampling someone (she didn't stop to check who since actual trampling didn't occur) Alison tried to gain some distance while racing down the hallway.
"But they didn't! And you're the one who wrecked the stove!" Lorna pushed by the nearly trampled person as well. It wasn't that she didn't want the kids safe. But the memory of her poor, innocent kitchen was too much to bear. "AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY FRIDGE!"
"The bad men shot it!" She was so very dead. And dear lord help her, she'd just run by the kitchen again. Downstairs was entirely made of metal. She was rapidly running out of what little steam she'd managed and exhaustion was knocking on the door with a battering ram. "I'm sorry?" She stopped, leaning on a wall, breathing far more heavily than she should have. Then again, considering she'd output a heck of a lot more light than she'd received sound input, maybe not. At least maybe being yelled at would help a bit there.
"There was blood on it!" Lorna skidded to a stop before she ran into Alison and swatted her with the flat of the knife blade, the edges dulled. "Why did my kitchen turn into a battle ground? Is there something wrong with the dining room?"
Alison greeted the swat with a woeful look, though the fact that no bruises or scrapes had been hit was most certainly noticed. Off the hook if she said the right thing! "It's a shiny kitchen. And was the closest room. I needed the central islet and the layout and the fridge to hide from the thermal sensors they were using."
Lorna glowered but she'd lost the argument when Alison mentioned protecting the kids. Damn her. "I was going to make bread. And stew. But now, I cannot." She folded her arms, absently tucking the knife away. "How am I supposed to cook for the whole mansion without my kitchen? We don't even have edible food left."
Saved! No horribly metally death! Relaxing a bit further, Alison opted to let herself slide down the wall to sit down. Maybe running like that had been a bad idea. "Hrm. We'll order in?" Wait. It was still at a ridiculous hour. "Soon as the stores open? Catering? Someone will need to meet them at the door though. Security's all up in arms still."
Lorna sighed and sat down next to Alison. "I'll call our grocery service but I don't have anywhere to put anything. You destroyed everything pretty thoroughly. I didn't really have a chance to do a whole inventory but I'm betting there isn't anything useful. The staff will be okay, they've all got their own kitchens but I'm not letting the kids fend for themselves." She leaned forward and put her head on her knees. Flying to and from Scotland in less than a day sucked greatly. "Maybe I'll just order pizza for the next week."
"Well, we hardly ever let them starve." Alison shifted a bit, leaning against Lorna. "We can always see about getting one of those portable kitchen things rented until the main one is renovated. With brand new appliances. Exactly to your specifications. And everything." She paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Even if the kids would probably like pizza just fine for a week."
"Portable kitchens...ugh." Lorna turned her head to face Alison, temple still pressed to her knees. "If I divide everyone up into groups and assign them a cook, that might work. Jamie and Rahne can handle a decent sized group and Dani is awesome at making a meal stretch. The suite kitchens are okay for groups less than ten." Lorna blinked slowly, trying to plan that out. "Cain is going to murder you."
Oh. That was funny. Alison's lips quirked, even. "No, he's not." Give him the chance to make Lorna a deliriously happy woman? "Though maybe I'll be lucky and he'll yell at me. I could use that now." She sighed again and pushed herself up. "Gah. Need to go deal with last of outstanding issues." She paused in the rising only long enough to give Lorna a quick hug. "Can I put down that you're taking care of feeding the greedyguts until things are fixed. And bullets out of wall yanking. That might be good."
"Yeah, go right ahead. I'll organize the brats to help. Bullet retrieval is going to have to wait until I've had a nap though. I think I'd sling them at someone who spoke at the wrong time, right now." Lorna sat for a bit longer then pulled herself up. "Talk to you later?"
"Yeah. That's a good idea. Though keep them clear of the boathouse, until stuff there gets dealt with, okay?" She knew she didn't need to tell Lorna to keep them away from the more obviously gory parts of the mansion at least. Including the kitchen.
And if she didn't keel over and sleep like the dead for longer than Lorna did, she could always hit up the online catalogues and send her a collection of kitchen renovation websites to greet the poor kitchen deprived woman. Or something like that. "Back to clean-up duty for me."
"I'll give 'em my suite to start making stuff." She sighed. "And I'll deal with the kitchen." She looked down at her x-uniform and grimaced, "After I get out of this that it. Later, Ali."
Still in her jogging clothing and running shoes herself, Alison nodded, understanding the sentiment entirely. "Off you go. Talk to you later."
Lorna wound her way through the mansion, staring around her in quiet shock and simmering anger. She was still wearing her uniform. They'd flown back from Muir as soon as they'd heard the alert and though everything was quiet, they were still on formal alert. Everywhere there were signs of the attack, walls scarred and wood splintered. Cain was going to have hysterics. She headed to the kitchen, figuring she could make a pot of coffee and get something started for dinner. The scent of baking bread was calming and normal, always good after a crisis.
Perhaps it was some kind of sixth sense but more likely it was the door blown off its hinges that triggered the feeling of dread. Lorna stepped across the remains of it and stood, staring in utter shock at what used to be her little kingdom.
Water trickled around her feet, tribute to the shot up condition of the refrigerator, one door lying on the ground, the other barely still hanging from the hinges. Steam rose from somewhere in the kitchen still, but it did nothing to hide the jagged edges of wood from what had formerly been cabinet doors on the floor, the shattered tiles and gaping holes in various walls or the scorch marks. Or the gaping hole leading downward, for what had previously been the stove. As though to seal the fact that the kitchen had been as devastated as could possibly be, the sole pan still hanging from the far wall finally let go, falling towards the floor in almost slow motion.
"Ok, this is what we want to keep an eye on," the voice drifted from the hallway. Alison walked by, holding several files, with one open on the top. She was pointing something out to Kylun, muttering lowly to herself now and then as they crossed walked past the kitchen door.
Lorna's eye followed a scorch mark from the wreck of the oven up the wall, across the ceiling and down to the shattered window pane. Alison's voice made her turn her head and one of the knives stuck in the curiously untouched butcher block whipped into her hand. She stalked out into the hallway. "Alison, what did you do to my kitchen?" she asked quietly.
Alison stopped, eyes wide, and slowly looked over her shoulder. Lorna. Coming out of the kitchen. You're so dead, her mind supplied nicely. Being possessed of a very healthy self-preservation instinct (unlike many in the mansion) Alison did the only thing any sane person could. The files were flung up and abandoned, and with a yelp she started to run. Fast. It was amazing how you could find hidden reserves of energy when faced with imminent death.
"I knew it!" Lorna took off after her, shoving whoever it was aside unceremoniously. She skidded on a fallen piece of paper and caught herself on the wall, pushing off to speed herself along. Alison was fast but righteous wrath was on Lorna's side and she gained ground quickly, "You destroyed my KITCHEN!"
"It's not my fault!" Alison wasn't about to stop to explain, or even look back for that matter. Looking back was bad - and since it was Lorna running about with a sharp metal object, she wasn't about to comment on how dangerous a thing to do that was. Lorna with anything metallic in hand meant concentrating on running and not face planting smack dab in a wall in the process. "It was the bad men that did it!"
"Did the bad men use lasers? Did the bad men slag my favorite pan? AND WHY WERE THE BAD MEN IN MY KITCHEN AT ALL?" Clearly reasoning with Lorna was right out. She flicked a hand and sent a coat rack tumbling to the ground in front of Alison.
"Gyah!" Alison dove over the coat rack, tumbling back to her feet still at a dead run. The corner was negotiated by way of slapping one hand against the wall and holding on for dear life as she did a ninety degree location shift at high speed, and kept going without ever slowing down. "It's not my fault!" There was no place in the mansion without metal, but thankfully, there were stairs at either end. This could go on until either Alison keeled over or was turned into a pincushion. Oddly enough, neither alternative appealed to her. Maybe she should hide behind Alex? "The bad men," oh my would mentioning the ambush be a bad idea, "just walked in!"
"Why? Did they want a snack?" Lorna repeated Alison's corner-swing, easier for her since she could use the EM fields to lever on. "Did they not like the decor? Or did you encourage them?" Lorna was vaguely aware that there were people they were passing, wide-eyed and mouths gaping. Perhaps the knife looked a bit psychotic?
"I did not!" Though she hadn't exactly been about stopping them entirely, since letting at least one make a run for it had been the objective. "Much." Oh shit, had she said that? "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Running was good. Especially from the insane kitchen goddess out on a rampage. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't tell to shot your kitchen!"
"You didn't keep them out of it either!" Lorna hopped a sofa rather than going around as Alison had. "AND YOU WRECKED MY STOVE!" A small part of Lorna's brain pointed out that she could get a new stove. A better stove. A restaurant quality stove. Unfortunately for Alison the rest of her brain was still largely focused on death.
"Just a bit!" Judging from the shriek she received in answer, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to say. The stairway was coming up but Alison didn't wait to reach to it, instead taking hold of the banister and hopping over it. She could take a drop of a few feet. Right? Ow. Right. Scrambling down the stairs and hopping the last few feet, she answered in the only way possible. "I'll buy you a new stove! A better one!"
The tiny part of Lorna's brain that had just said the same thing shrieked in glee. "I liked that one!" Lorna nearly flipped over the rail then decided that Madelyn would not be amused if she broke her leg chasing Alison around and swung herself around the banister instead, pelting down the stairs. "You still haven't told me why they were in there in the first place!"
"It was the only place we could divert them away from the kids! Altruistic motives and all!" Wait, she'd said we, right? "Nathan helped me too!" Now, if she could just find Nathan to run into (by accident, of course) maybe she could divert Lorna's attention just a bit.
"So you led them to my kitchen?" Lorna zeroed in on that immediately. "I thought you said it wasn't your fault!" She jumped the last six steps or so and nearly twisted her ankle. She swore while the little part of her brain continued to chatter about marble counters and all stainless steel appliances.
"It's not my fault they decided to shoot it up! They were supposed to aim at me!" Somehow, that didn't quite make sense, but if it placated Lorna... "They were heading for the kids! We had to do something!" Rounding another corner and nearly trampling someone (she didn't stop to check who since actual trampling didn't occur) Alison tried to gain some distance while racing down the hallway.
"But they didn't! And you're the one who wrecked the stove!" Lorna pushed by the nearly trampled person as well. It wasn't that she didn't want the kids safe. But the memory of her poor, innocent kitchen was too much to bear. "AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY FRIDGE!"
"The bad men shot it!" She was so very dead. And dear lord help her, she'd just run by the kitchen again. Downstairs was entirely made of metal. She was rapidly running out of what little steam she'd managed and exhaustion was knocking on the door with a battering ram. "I'm sorry?" She stopped, leaning on a wall, breathing far more heavily than she should have. Then again, considering she'd output a heck of a lot more light than she'd received sound input, maybe not. At least maybe being yelled at would help a bit there.
"There was blood on it!" Lorna skidded to a stop before she ran into Alison and swatted her with the flat of the knife blade, the edges dulled. "Why did my kitchen turn into a battle ground? Is there something wrong with the dining room?"
Alison greeted the swat with a woeful look, though the fact that no bruises or scrapes had been hit was most certainly noticed. Off the hook if she said the right thing! "It's a shiny kitchen. And was the closest room. I needed the central islet and the layout and the fridge to hide from the thermal sensors they were using."
Lorna glowered but she'd lost the argument when Alison mentioned protecting the kids. Damn her. "I was going to make bread. And stew. But now, I cannot." She folded her arms, absently tucking the knife away. "How am I supposed to cook for the whole mansion without my kitchen? We don't even have edible food left."
Saved! No horribly metally death! Relaxing a bit further, Alison opted to let herself slide down the wall to sit down. Maybe running like that had been a bad idea. "Hrm. We'll order in?" Wait. It was still at a ridiculous hour. "Soon as the stores open? Catering? Someone will need to meet them at the door though. Security's all up in arms still."
Lorna sighed and sat down next to Alison. "I'll call our grocery service but I don't have anywhere to put anything. You destroyed everything pretty thoroughly. I didn't really have a chance to do a whole inventory but I'm betting there isn't anything useful. The staff will be okay, they've all got their own kitchens but I'm not letting the kids fend for themselves." She leaned forward and put her head on her knees. Flying to and from Scotland in less than a day sucked greatly. "Maybe I'll just order pizza for the next week."
"Well, we hardly ever let them starve." Alison shifted a bit, leaning against Lorna. "We can always see about getting one of those portable kitchen things rented until the main one is renovated. With brand new appliances. Exactly to your specifications. And everything." She paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Even if the kids would probably like pizza just fine for a week."
"Portable kitchens...ugh." Lorna turned her head to face Alison, temple still pressed to her knees. "If I divide everyone up into groups and assign them a cook, that might work. Jamie and Rahne can handle a decent sized group and Dani is awesome at making a meal stretch. The suite kitchens are okay for groups less than ten." Lorna blinked slowly, trying to plan that out. "Cain is going to murder you."
Oh. That was funny. Alison's lips quirked, even. "No, he's not." Give him the chance to make Lorna a deliriously happy woman? "Though maybe I'll be lucky and he'll yell at me. I could use that now." She sighed again and pushed herself up. "Gah. Need to go deal with last of outstanding issues." She paused in the rising only long enough to give Lorna a quick hug. "Can I put down that you're taking care of feeding the greedyguts until things are fixed. And bullets out of wall yanking. That might be good."
"Yeah, go right ahead. I'll organize the brats to help. Bullet retrieval is going to have to wait until I've had a nap though. I think I'd sling them at someone who spoke at the wrong time, right now." Lorna sat for a bit longer then pulled herself up. "Talk to you later?"
"Yeah. That's a good idea. Though keep them clear of the boathouse, until stuff there gets dealt with, okay?" She knew she didn't need to tell Lorna to keep them away from the more obviously gory parts of the mansion at least. Including the kitchen.
And if she didn't keel over and sleep like the dead for longer than Lorna did, she could always hit up the online catalogues and send her a collection of kitchen renovation websites to greet the poor kitchen deprived woman. Or something like that. "Back to clean-up duty for me."
"I'll give 'em my suite to start making stuff." She sighed. "And I'll deal with the kitchen." She looked down at her x-uniform and grimaced, "After I get out of this that it. Later, Ali."
Still in her jogging clothing and running shoes herself, Alison nodded, understanding the sentiment entirely. "Off you go. Talk to you later."
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Date: 2005-03-01 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 02:01 pm (UTC)"No food, but Rahne can hunt stuff up! :D Steak Tartare!"
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Date: 2005-03-01 02:01 pm (UTC)*hides*
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Date: 2005-03-01 03:11 pm (UTC)(Still sorry about that. I didn't realize you were keeping it quiet and figured that at some point after the all-clear Rahne would've ducked outdoors for a bit and... well, anyway. Will try to remember to avoid observations.)
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Date: 2005-03-01 03:16 pm (UTC)(No worries at all. I realized with your comment that I utterly forgot to advise people on it. XD So my bad. On the other hand, Rahne's best place to get a clue/get told and - email me? *hopeful look*)
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Date: 2005-03-01 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 03:30 pm (UTC)