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[quite_a_delight]

Okay, so it was getting kind of cliche. With no school and no Mom to look after, there wasn't a whole lot for him to do but waste time in the kitchen. Besides, it was Christmas, and it had always been left up to him to do the holiday baking back home, so spending entire days in the kitchen during Christmas break was a habit he'd probably developed

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[everyone_takes]

Kate, too, was thinking of everything else under the sun in an attempt to not think about how much she missed home and missed her parents and missed their damn Christmas tree. It was totally stupid and totally childish, but lately she was aware of just how seventeen she really was, which somehow made it worse.

"Thank god, I knew I could count on you," she said, stuffing a cookie into her mouth as she flopped down into one of the chairs. "If I had to suffer Christmas without your baking on top of suffering through it without having Mom and Dad freak out at least once, I think I'd just kill myself."

[quite_a_delight]

"Wow, that's not dramatic," Marshall said flatly, one corner of his lips turned up in an amused smile. With all her apparent eccentricities and flamboyance, Marshall could pretty much always count on his sister to be consistent.

"I'm glad I could do my part to keep you from becoming a meaningless statistic."

[everyone_takes]

"Me too," Kate said through her mouthful of cookie, flashing Marshall a grin as she leaned her chin in her hands, her elbows propped up on the table. "So this is like, your island thing, huh? I mean, it was pretty much your thing at home, too, but here you've really taken it to a new level."

[quite_a_delight]

"There's not a whole lot else for me to do," he admitted, "I'm kind of afraid I'm in a slump. A cookie baking slump. It's a sad state of affairs."

He sound completely serious, but it should've been clear to her, more than anyone, that he was joking.

[everyone_takes]

"Totally sad," Kate agreed, grabbing another cookie and taking a big bite out of it. "These cookies are the worst, you should make a bunch more for practice and I can test them all out for you. Tell you which ones suck less."

[quite_a_delight]

"Wow, way to subtly manipulate me into working your will," Marshall said dryly, "I'm just so lucky to have you here looking out for me, sis."

It came out heavily sarcastic, as was their way, but there was a deeper truth to it. Having her there was more of a comfort than he was willing to admit.

[everyone_takes]

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Kate answered cheerfully. "So what's up with you and Hal? Any progress since I scared him off?"

She still felt sort of bad about that, even if her tone didn't make that obvious.

[quite_a_delight]

"Kind of? I mean, we talked and kind of made out again a couple weeks ago?" he said, unsure whether that could be considered progress, or just more of the same. Awkwardly stumbling into one another, only to skitter off into opposite corners again.

"It's really not all that hard to scare him off. I wouldn't keep it on my list of accomplishments, if I were you."

[everyone_takes]

"My goals aren't so grand," Kate answered flippantly, then focused on Marshall again. "So what? Is he your boyfriend yet? Am I allowed to invite him over for Sunday dinner or do I have to wait for a few more weeks?"