Interlude and Checking On Others

[Problem]

Penny blinked looking at Neo as she handed over Merida's requested book she'd ordered. They'd come home to find her horse Angus had arrived. The two old friends were excited to see each other! She'd also gotten a book delivery titled "How tae mak' idiots ken th' jobby that's comin' oot o` yer geggy: A guide to being understood."

"What's wrong, Neo?" She asked.

Neo took Penny's hand and lead her to the media room where they'd all relaxed last night. Lifts-Her-Tail, Roberta and Sayoko bowed. "We're sorry," Lita said. "We didn't notice until we were cleaning up. Since Walter isn't here right now..."

Penny blinked and peaked in where a sleeping Yunyun lay stretched out a mountain of empty snacks and chip bags and popcorn containers. The screen was showing some old movie where a person in a monster costume was knocking over fake buildings while battling another person in a monster costume.

"Oh!" Said Penny who blinked. She walked over to Yunyun and gently shook her shoulder.

"Wha-? Did I miss the ending?" Yunyun opened her eyes and blinked. She looked at the screen. "Did the raccon hat guy win at the Ala-whatsit so they could blow up that asteroid? And did the Scar-head boy-who-lived's mom find him after she was shot in the head in a Texas chapel at her wedding? Did the shogun ever get his space lightsword thingy and find the little people who flew on the eagles?"

Penny shook her head. "I am sorry, Yunyun. I'm not sure that I have seen that movie. It does not sound familiar but it does sound interesting! Have you been here watching movies the whole time?"

Yunyun shook her head. "I..." she looked around. "I don't know? Maybe..."

"What should we do?" Roberta asked.

Sayoko held up a finger to her cheek. "We could just have Senko take her home now..."

Neo pointed to the time on her phone indicating that it was getting late. If that was the plan best do it soon.

Penny thought. "Walter said she was our guest until we take her home... so she's still our friend and guest!" Penny smiled at Yunyun nodding. "Would you like to stay here tonight, Yunyun?"

Yunyun blinked. "Of course! That's the plan. I'll go home tomorrow and join the others for vacation/honeymoon," she said not realizing that it had been a day already. She looked around embaressed at the detritus. "Sorry for the mess..."

The others smiled and nodded as well. Crisis averted. "Please stay with us tonight, Yunyun!" Penny said.

"It is no bother at all, Ms Yunyun," Lita assured her as they got to work cleaning.

[Did you have fun?] Neo asked texting.

Yunyun blinked. Her breasts were glowing and she pulled a Nuka-Cola Quantum out of her cleavage. She laughed. "I did have fun! Thank you for having me! Is it time for breakfast?"

The others chuckle but Penny takes her hand and nods. "If that is what you want, I am sure we can make that happen!"

"Full house."

There's cries of shock, dismay, congratulations and laughter as Raven collects the pot of winnings aka snacks but she smiles and tossed some to Ilulu, Sasha and Nora who cheered. She smirked. They were a bit loud... but easy to make friends with that way!

"You're so good at games, Raven!" Ilulu said happily eating her treat. Nora and Sasha nodded in agreement chewing happily. There was no point in making fuss about losing to a generous winner.

Raven smirked slightly. "I learned a few card tricks from Zatanna... want to see?"

Her audience nodded their heads happily. They were having a lot of fun but Sasha stood up sighing. "Well enjoy... I got work to do! I'll see you all later?"

They all nodded and Raven telekineticly tossed her a few more treats making her grin.

"Is this... fun for you?"

Yang looked up at Blake and Blake giggled seeing the smudge on her face. "Yeah! I was actually excited during class this morning with Rally and Courtney! And remembering what Walt said I couldn't wait to get started working on Bumblebee here!" She patted the bike frame but winced and rubbed her shoulder. "That Miu though is something else...Sorry if this is boring... Thanks T3-M4!" She said as the droid handed her the next tool with a happy chirp.

Blake shook her head. "Nothing to be sorry about. I'm having fun watching you have fun... and Miu had fun kicking your butt!"

Yang actually grinned. "She's sweet so I underestimated her... but yeah. I don't even think I could take her using my semblance! She's crazy strong! And so are some of the others! That move Pyrrha did was awesome! And Ahnassi, Sayoko and Roberta are amazing! And since when was Penny a hand to hand expert? I'm excited to get stronger with her, Joy and Walt!"

Blake laughed and looked around the garage. Mission was with Ada cleaning up the Canyonero from the other day and Zwei was playing chase with ED-E. "Speaking of Walt do you four know if he's coming home soon?"

"Afraid not," Mission said. "We came home after RealDreams Corporate Head Quarters. He said it was safer that way."

Ada nodded as she finished carrying things out of the vehicle. "He went straight to one of their facilities to get to work after that. I am uncertain about when he will be returning."

Yang looked at Blake watching her reaction. She was... disapointed, maybe? *She and Walt... are close,* she thought and reached out her hand to pat Blake's knee. *Walt was right... if something makes her or somebody else happy it's important to support that happiness. That's what I want for her... to be happy.* "Hey," she said. "I'm sure he's alright and will be home as soon as he can. He's..." she paused and thought about Walt. Warm, friendly, funny, kind and gentle Walter... "...he's capable and dependable and can handle himself in a tough situation you know!"

Blake took Yang's hand and smiled at her. She thought she saw Yang blushing. It was obvious that Walt had already worked his charm with Yang too. She tried not to laugh. It was likely vice-versa too and neither was probably aware of it yet. They were both similar in someways like that in her opinion. Unconventional yet honestly charming, caring souls. She was blessed to have so many people in her life like that! She... loved them all. Maybe differently but each of them was special to her. Her friends. Her family. Her... "Yes... I'm sure youre right. Still he has that talent for finding trouble..." she frowned slightly "... and girls."

Yang chuckled. "Yup!" She lay down to get back to work on her bike. "Depending on who you ask, Girls are trouble!"

"Well?"

Lydia dismounted, "It was as you expected Sasha, Pirotess. There's a few fallen trees. A few block some of the trails but not many. The danger is the ones that are hung up."

Aela nodded as she joined them and started pointing at places on a map of the area. "These here are the biggest and most immediate dangers. Some of us will have to get out there to clear them. We don't want them to fall and cause more damage hitting someone or thing."

Pirotess nodded. "Yes. That would be bad. Someone could get injured but just as dangerous is one falling on equipment or one of the structures. While death and rebirth are an important part if the cycle for a forests longevity we also don't want to have say a fire get out of control. We'll appreciate the firewood too in the colder months." She looked up at Demona. She was spacing out and snapped her fingers to get her attention.

Demona blinked. She'd been lost in thought. She looked at the map and started pointing. "So far these are the area's I have noticed that have had rock or mud slides closest to here. I'll keep looking the next couple of nights..."

Tsuyu pointed at a few spots along the river. "There's some trees fallen in the river in quite a few places. I don't know that we want to clear all of them. It's part of the natural process after all... but some of the big ones have the potential to be dangerous as well as being useful if we harvest them before they rot. I suggest we gather those and leave the rotting ones. Ribbit."

Sienna nodded. "I'll see about organizing a few of our resident power houses into work teams. Nora, Yang and others are quite strong and Ilulu is a dragon. Senko, Glynda and Raven are all telekinetic in one way or another which will be extremely helpful as well. There's no reason for anyone to work alone though. That's unsafe. I suggest pairs at the least or teams of three or four depending."

Sasha nodded seriously. "Agreed. Let's make saftey our top priorty, ladies. Whether on patrol, search or work teams I don't want any accidents! That includes the equipment. I see Walter has specialized cutting and digging tools and other equipment but let's not use them until we're safely shown how. Understood?"

"Understood," everyone agreed including Merida. "Aye! Understood!"

They smiled at her. They were glad to have another wilderness lover amongst them.

Sasha grinned. "Good. That's all for today! I'll help anyone with their horses. Oh... and thanks everybody. I'm glad we can help lighten Walt's load even just a little bit! And glad to have you aboard, Merida!"

Merida smiled. "Tis stoatin tae be 'ere! Cheers fur huvin me 'n' ah keek tae th' future tae workin' wi' ye a'!" She see's the blank stares and Sasha asked, "There's weasels where?"

Merida sighed and facepalmed. “A nod’s as guid as a wink tae a blind horse, Merida," she told herself. "Explain it proper." She took a breath and tried again like the book suggested in chapter one which she'd just read. Keep it short and simple. "Thanks. I'm happy tae help and work wi' ye all!" She smiled hopefully.

They all nodded as they understood her that time and quite a few gave her smiles and expressed the same sentiments.

Anastasia folded up the map and handed it to Sasha. "When we finish surveying we should have Friday make copies and post them by the barracks- Sorry. I meant the Bunk house, the barn and the main house... infact building a few "map" guide posts and updating them seasonally isn't a terrible idea either."

Sasha smiled at the Baroness. "I like that idea, Anastasia! Good thinking!"

Pirotess looked at Demona. "Everything alright? You were kind of... distracted there."

Demona shook her head. "Just thinking about... things."

Pirotess nodded. Villain-anon had been difficult. They'd been joined by a character from Demona's series. Hyena. She didn't want to be there, her owner had signed her up, and she had been a rather rude little troublemaker. "She was a... is bitch the correct term?"

Demona laughed. "Yes. That's most accurate! She settled down though after Norman and Otto had a talk with her... she's always been unpleasant."

Pirotess nodded. "And that has you thinking?"

Demona shook her head then nodded it sighing. "Yes and no. Not about her. Even the things she said didn't bother me. Like I said, she's always been that way... but I have been thinking. Wondering..."

Pirotess looked at her and simply waited rather than asked.

Demona sighed. "Am I missing out? I haven't hardly shared anything with them. Even Mystique has shared more than I have... maybe it's a waste of time my being there. Mine and everyone else's."

Pirotess blinked. "Alright maybe you haven't "shared" much... but that's not what the group is about is it? It's just a safe space. You can share or not share. I've seen you talking with the other members before and after. During the sharing phase you're quiet and attentive. Isn't that participating in the group, whether you share or not? Isn't that what it's all about?" Pirotess smiled. "And isn't the fact you've been thinking about the group and your participation in it a kind of participation itself?"

Demona blinked. She hadn't thought about it that way. "Maybe so... thank you. I'll think on your words."

Kali looked up blinking. "Sure. It's a bit unusual but not that strange, Friday. We can certainly have something "breakfast" like for dinner."

(("Thank you Kali. I'll inform them right away."))

Kali smiled. "You're welcome Friday!" She turned to the others. "Slight change in plans. We've received a request for a "breakfast option" for dinner tonight. Suggestions?"

"Breakfast for dinner..." Haruna thought. "But we just started preparing several things... we could just make a breakfast type side or two but if it doesn't get eaten..."

Senko nodded thinking her tail wagging. Then it stopped and stood up as she perked up. "One moment!" She opened a cabinet and pulled out the big book.

Kali smiled. "You thought of something?"

Senko nodded. "I think I did! I was thinking about Walter and what he may or may not like to eat... ah hah!"

The others gathered around and looked at the old family recipe book that had belonged to Grandma Stark. "That will give everyone plenty of variety and it's got three stars meaning it's a favorite of favorites!" Kali said smiling as the others nodded. "Tacos and burritos, it is!"

"Well?"

Roman sighed. "Yeah... I'm all caught up."

"And?" Watts asked.

Roman paused. "Honestly," he drank down the potent liquor on one go and got up to refill his glass. "It's bad."

Watts looked at him surprised. "You didn't like it?"

Riman shook his head. "Hell no! What's there to like?" He took a drink.

Watts raised his eyebrows. "Alright, I'll admit... it's not the best..."

Roman laughed. "There's an understatement!" He shook his head and pointed at Watts. "Your parts are pretty good... no much better than that if I'm honest. I thought they were really good. Enjoyable even."

Watts gave a small slight bow. "Thank you."

Roman took another drink but. "But the premise has gotten murky as all hell. The plot is all over the damn place. The writing varies wildly from one bit to the next!"

Watts lifted his glass. "You're not in it..."

"I'm not in it!" Roman adds. "Granted it's looking much nicer than before and the acting has improved but-"

Cinder walks in. She left Puppy and Emerald behind for this. "And?" She asked.

Watts shook his head. "He's finally all caught up but not a fan."

Cinder makes a derisive sound. "Because he isn't in it."

Roman pounds down his glass and points while pouring himself another. "The way things stand that's a damn blessing at this point! I'm almost glad I did get written out! " He points Melodic Cudgel at Cinder. "And you! You're just lucky that we're already teamed up as is! You miserable bitch! How dare you treat my Neo that way!"

Cinder glares at him back and Watts sighs seeing he has to be the adult in the room. "Roman we all understand your feelings," he glares at Cinder himself," but as you know..."

Roman takes a breath. "Right... it's done. Past... but not forgotten!" He settles down a bit. "At least those medlers are finally gone!"

Cinder and Watts blinked. "Roman... you know there's another season right?" Watts said. "That's what were going to do now... watch it."

Cinder looks at him. "That stupid weapon of hers... the beach?"

Roman blinks. "Yeah so... crap washes up on beaches..." he facepalmed. "... no don't tell me... she survived as a castaway somehow?"

Watts sighs. "They all survive, Roman..."

Cinder nods. "And that's not just "an island". They gave them the Alice in Wonderland/Through The Looking Glass/Girl Who Fell Through The World treatment."

Roman blinked. "You're kidding me right?"

Watts and Cinder shook their heads.

"Oh come on!"