Overland Park, KS, Saturday FT
Over in Kate's universe, two days had passed since the trials of St. Louis. It pretty much felt like one seriously long day for Kate, though, since it had been a blur of flights and errands and then some more flights since she'd had to cover for someone else. She was getting free time now, though, and there was even supposed to be some kind of a dinner tonight at her parents' house, so she'd finally called Luke and told him to catch a portal to the KC international airport and meet her there after her shift so they could be on their way back to Overland Park. And lo, it had happened.
She'd been pretty surprised, to say the least, to find Eddie Izzard her mother's Psych professor hanging out at their house when she and Luke had arrived. But, they were working on a paper on DID together, and the guy seemed okay - dry, sarcastic, and English were not a bad combo in Kate's book - so she supposed it could've been worse. And at least now no one could nag at her for bringing a dude to what had apparently been envisioned as a women-only thing.
While Professor Hattaras was in the kitchen heating up stew prepared the night before, they'd sat in the Gregsons' backyard for a while, surrounded by twinkly lights in the cooling fall evening, with appetizers and wine because Mitchell apparently wasn't the only who'd stopped enforcing the American drinking age. It had been idle conversation for the most part, with a few half-joking allusions from Charmaine that her sister was having an affair with the professor and Tara vehemently protesting that she shouldn't say stuff like that in front of her daughter and her friend. Just your average Mooshless and Maxless Sunday evening on Oak Avenue, really.
It was too cold in the backyard by now, though, and since the good professor had announced that the stew was ready, they'd relocated into the kitchen (following Tara's lead, since she'd excused herself to go inside a few minutes earlier) and crammed themselves around the table. Well, everyone except for Wheels, who was dozing peacefully in her carry cot on the counter to the side, and Tara who was still going around the table, putting stew into everyone's bowls and making sure no one needed more bread before she'd settle down.
"Mom, come on," Kate snorted, "we all have our own little plate of bread. I mean I can't speak for the boy wonder --"She nodded at Luke. "-- over here but I doubt we're gonna be finishing what we have. Sit down, mama."
"The boy wonder, really?" Luke asked. "Do I look like I wear my underwear outside my pants?"
Appropriate dinner conversation, yes.
Kate waved a hand at him. "Well, I haven't exactly checked today, but who knows, you could've gotten confused this morning or something. And besides, you don't think you could pull it off with your renowned charm?"
Or ego, or something. On Kate's other side, Hattaras raised an eyebrow. "And this was not the boyfriend, correct?"
"No, this is the gay BFF." A beat. "Well, bi, but 'bi BFF' doesn't have the same kind of ring to it."
Tara gave her a look over her shoulder, as she went to put the rest of the stew back on the stove. "I've said this before, but you share too much, Katie."
"I don't mind Mrs. Gregson," Luke said with a wave of his hand. "She speaks the truth."
"See, Mom?" Kate said with a firm nod. "I have approval and everything."
"Sit down, Tara," Charmaine whined, for her part. "I want to make a toast! One that'll totally disregard the amount of testosterone in this room right now, by the way. No offence."
As if Charmaine had any more consideration for whether other people took offence than Kate did, for the most part.
"None taken," Luke said. He had been around Charmaine enough to know that it wouldn't have mattered if he was offended or not.
Yeah, Tara was giving her sister a wry look that said as much. Still, she took her seat at the table, between Hattaras and Charmaine, who was just getting up, holding her glass of wine up high.
"Okay, okay, now the toast!" she started. "To those who are not with us: Neil, who is learning to sell farm equipment in Houston --" Tara whooped a little with her, while the professor mouthed 'who's Neil?' at Kate, who responded with 'baby daddy' equally silently. "-- Marshall, who is following his mother's artistic footprints in New York City, and Max, who is riding his coattails."
"My boys in the Big Apple!" Tara exclaimed, towards the ceiling, while Kate added, "We love you!"
"And Bod -- Where's Bod?"
"Oh," Kate said, "he's in Fandom."
Charmaine gave that a knowing nod and a gesture with her glass. "Who is learning the ways of the American high school in Maryland," she concluded. "We thank our men for their abscess-- ab-- absence..."
Her sudden inability to form the correct word should not have been a surprise to anyone after all the wine that had already been consumed before they'd even made it to the kitchen. Charmaine was kind of a lightweight. Kate, for one, found it hilarious and snicker-worthy. "Oh, drunkie, drunkie, drunkie."
Luke, at least, managed to hide his laughter behind his hand like a good guest. "Well said, Charmaine."
He didn't feel the least bit weird about being one of the only guys around. He had enough practice growing up with Annabeth and Thalia.
"Thank you, Luke," Charmaine replied, in that exaggerated mock gracious way that was mostly meant to underline an equally fake disapproval at how Kate practically had tears coming out of her eyes with laughter. "We thank our men for... not being here, so that we may initiate --" She gestured back at where her daughter was sleeping. "-- my little Wheels into our menstrual Sunday coven."
Almost done with her toast now, she held her glass in front of her with both hands and put on a very solemn expression. "We drink our blood."
As Charmaine led them into clinking all their glasses together, Professor Hattaras stole an amused glance past Kate at Luke. "What are we doing here? We are U.N. observers. How nice."
Luke chuckled. "I'm surprised we didn't have to sign a non-disclosure contract before sitting down."
"There's still time," Kate quipped, then raised her glass again because who cared if Charmaine's toast was technically done? She could still add her own bit. "And to Luke Castellan, honorary girlfriend, first class."
"Thanks, Kate," Luke said, raising his glass to her. "I'm honored. That commendation is going on my résumé."
Kate just smirked at him and put her glass down after a sip, so she could finally pick up her spoon to get started on the stew. So did the others, except for Tara who had one more toast to add. "And to Jack Hattaras," she said, "my mentor and collaborator on this... great endeavor."
"What is said great endeavor?" Kate wondered, since she had to admit she hadn't been the greatest at paying attention to stuff at home lately. "Spill."
"Mm," Charmaine agreed, around a spoonful of stew because she had excellent manners like that, "what are your intentions with my sister?"
Tara just looked mildly uncomfortable. "Please, let the poor man alone."
"No, I can talk," Hattaras said, after a quick glance at Luke and a reassuring nod from Kate. Please, as if Luke couldn't handle whatever he might say. "Your sister has produced an extraodinary document." Kate and Charmaine nodded and mm'd at him encouragingly to continue, but he suddenly had to cough. "Excuse m-- excuse me."
Charmaine smirked a little. "Stew a little spicy for you, England?"
It wasn't that to Kate, at least. "This is so good, Mom," she said. "I love the crab." Which was new and exciting for her, since she'd been decidedly anti-crab since working at Barnabeez, back in the day.
Luke actually had to take another bite of the stew in order to judge because he had been focused on the conversation rather than the food. It wouldn't be dinner at Kate's without getting to listen in on personal business that had nothing to do with him. He kind of loved it, to be honest.
"Oh yeah, it's great, Mrs. Gregson," Luke said. He knew how to give good parent, yes.
Too bad Tara was giving them both a puzzled look. Professor Hattaras (was that sweat beading on his forehead?) probably voiced her thoughts when he asked, "Crab?"
"No, there's no crab in there," Tara said, frowning. "It's chicken."
Charmaine picked up some, yep, crab on her spoon. "Well, this looks like crab." But Tara was still shaking her head, quite convinced she was right. "No, I did not put crab in there."
Hattaras coughed again. "Extraordinarily allergic to crab," he said to Tara, his voice just a little strained. "I told you that."
Well, that was probably not good.
Some part of Luke, the "taking over the world was a fantastic idea" part, actually saw the humor in this situation. Not that he wanted this guy to drop dead or something but, wow, this was like something you'd see on TV.
He didn't actually know what to do when someone was allergic to something so he just looked over at Kate and mouthed "oh my god" at her.
Yeah, Kate gave him a pretty alarmed look back, then turned toward the professor. "Uh, are you okay?"
Stupid question, probably. His face was turning redder, and he was starting to struggle with breathing. Yeah, probably not okay. In fact, he barked, "Call an ambulance right now!"
That sent Kate scrambling out of her seat and for the kitchen phone, while Charmaine ran to get a glass of water or something, anything useful, with a totally helpful call of "Don't die!"
And while girl and aunt scrambled about with 911 calls and allergy remedies, they weren't there to see the change in Tara's posture as she watched Hattaras fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and breathing with much effort spent. She leaned back in her chair a little, watching with a little smirk on her face, almost smug.
That was probably not good either.
Kate and Charmaine might've not been around to see the change in Tara, but Luke certainly was. Most of his focus had been on Hattaras to make sure he didn't drop dead right there, but when he glanced over at Tara to see how she was he ended up doing a double take because that was not how someone should look right now.
"Uh...Mrs. Gregson?" He really hoped it was still her.
Tara (or whoever it was) turned her gaze briefly towards him, and yeah, now she was definitely acting smug. "No." Sorry, Luke. She turned her sinister smirk back towards Hattaras. "Bully, huh?" she said. "Easiest to get rid of? I hear everything. I don't think I'd even be here if it wasn't for you."
(In the background, Kate was not being the greatest with her call. "I don't know how old he is! He's got a beard!")
And Hattaras himself? He was massaging his throat and upper chest with a hand, breathing noisily, and he wasn't taking his eyes off of Tara, but he didn't look surprised. No, it looked like he knew exactly who this was.
Tara almost smiled, and there was nothing friendly or nice about it. More like predatory. "But don't all sons dream of killing their father?"
That was when Charmaine got back with a glass of icy water and a small towel, which she tried shoving against the back of the professor's neck. "Luke can you --" she started to ask, but didn't get further because she, too, caught a glimpse of the look on her sister's face. "Tara, what the fuck are you doing?" she demanded, then... paused, because something wasn't right. "Buck?"
Even she knew that a self-satisfied look like that at a time like this was not really Buck-like. So, still dabbing at Hattaras's skin with cold water, she ended up looking from Tara to Luke, like he might have some kind of answer.
She doubted he did, though.
Yeah, Luke didn't have any answers except for the fact that he had actually met Buck and this definitely didn't seem like him. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before. What's the British guy done to you?"
Look, if this alter was the type to go around trying to kill people then Luke was gonna make friends with him pretty darn quick.
"He thought he could win," Tara replied with a lazy drawl and a darkly amused look. "He won't." She got up from her seat, looking at Charmaine who was staring at her, even as she tried to pull the professor's collar further away from his neck. "Charmaine, I know it's been a while, but I'm in the middle of a eulogy, and you're denying me."
Yeah, Charmaine was just going to stare at that. Kate did the same, finally done with the 911 call, coming over to the table with an empty can of crab in hand. Trying to come to grips with what was happening. It looked like... her mom wasn't her mom anymore? Fuck.
Tara kept on looking smug. "Oh, come on," she said to Charmaine. "Think way back. It's your big brother!" Another smirk, and she -- well, he leered at her. "And let me say... You have filled out nicely, sis."
... Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck, it was Bryce.
Charmaine looked shocked, and Kate knew exactly why, and, oh God, why did her family have to be this fucked up? "Uhh," she said, oh so intelligently. She knew she... probably needed to do something because Charmaine probably wasn't jumping to take charge here. "Luke? Get her -- him out of here."
Bryce did a mocking imitation of Hatteras's wheezing breathing. Then he laughed, a low chuckle.
"Seriously. Living room. Anywhere."
Right, this didn't look good. The looks on Kate and Charmaine's faces told him enough about what kind of alter this was. Tara was small compared to Luke but he knew better than anyone how scary someone who wasn't all there could be.
"Come on," Luke said, getting up from the table and smacking a hand on Bryce's shoulder like he would with any guy he hung out with. "Let's leave this mess for the girls to clean up."
Bryce gave Luke's hand a disdainful look. "It's my mess, why wouldn't I want to watch?" he asked, but gave the women and the wheezing man a mocking little wave and a smile. "Oh well. Toodles for now, Charmaine. Katherine. Professor."
He'd caused chaos like he'd wanted to. He could let himself be led away. That didn't mean he was done.
"So you're, um, Charmaine's brother?" Luke asked as he led Bryce to the living room. He didn't know if he wanted to bring up the fact that someone was quite possibly dying in the next room.
Well, considering Bryce was the type to gloat about that...
"And Tara's," he drawled as he sauntered like he was going exactly where he wanted to, thank you. "Well, stepbrother, but who cares for the details? We used to be very close."
Yes, that sounded creepy. It was supposed to.
"Yeah she looked thrilled to see you," Luke said, unable to bite back that bit of snark. "You sure know how to make an entrance."
"Well," Bryce drawled, carelessly dropping himself down on the couch, eyeing Luke, "I wouldn't have wanted to have made poor Tara regurgitate her happy pills for no reason. People like a good show."
Kate's and Charmaine's somewhat agitated voices could still be heard coming from the kitchen. Bryce inclined his head in that direction and smirked again.
"See?"
"I've given people that sort of show before," Luke said, sitting down in a chair across from the couch. "They tend to not be as amused by it as you are."
"Who the fuck cares?" Bryce asked with a derisive snort. The tone mixed with his oddly precise way of enunciating things made him sound like some kind of an evil prep school kid. "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to fuck Tara up."
And then there was that.
"You're doing a fantastic job of it, I must say," Luke said with a frown. "Not only Tara, but Charmaine, Kate and the guy possibly dying in the kitchen. And while I might not be fucked up, I was really looking forward to that stew. Bravo."
Bryce sneered at that. "Oh don't tell me you actually care about these weirdos," he said, like the mere thought bored him to death. He held up his hands like, 'what can you do?' "Collateral damage."
There was the sound of ambulance sirens outside, now, and Kate rushing to the door. Bryce glanced in the direction of the sound and smiled lazily, and --
And something shifted. Bryce's smirk melted away and Tara blinked, disoriented but instantly worried - an expression which only got more pronounced as her eyes settled on Luke before her.
"I -- Wh--"
Yeah, she didn't know what to say, when she didn't know what she'd been saying just now. Or doing. Or what the situation was right now. The sirens drew her gaze towards the front of the house. Ambulance. That was good, right?
Luke knew that look. It reminded him a lot of his mother when she snapped out of one of her fits. Only with less green fog and glowing eyes.
"Are you okay Tara?" Luke asked, forgetting about the whole calling her Mrs. Gregson thing for now.
It made her feel old, anyway. Not that that mattered much right now.
"I, uh, yeah," she said, with the least convincing nod in the history of unconvincing nods. Paramedics were coming in, and her gaze flicked anxiously between the source of the sounds and Luke. "Is he -- ?"
"Asphyxiating? Yes," Luke said. "But Kate called an ambulance pretty quick so he'll be fine."
Probably. Maybe.
Tara was a fairly pale woman to begin with, but she seemed to manage to turn even paler at that moment, and she had to swallow.
"... It was Bryce, wasn't it?"
Look, there'd been no co-consciousness, there was a man potentially dying in her kitchen, and Luke had been right there when she'd transitioned. No point in pretending the new alter was any kind of secret, now.
Of course, Bryce hadn't actually bothered to introduce himself by name, but she wasn't thinking clearly enough to account for that possibility.
"If Bryce is the name of your, uh, stepbrother then yeah," Luke said, looking sympathetic. "No offense, but he's an asshole."
Tara tried that reassuring nodding thing again. Like she was completely fine with that knowledge.
It didn't work.
"Excuse me."
Excuse her abruptly getting up and starting away. Not for the kitchen, no. For the bathroom because she really needed to throw up right now.
Yes, this dinner had been a disaster.
[ooc: NFB, based on USoT S03E09 'Bryce Will Play', preplayed with the magnificent trickydemigod, and to be continued in the comments. Warning for allusions to past child abuse, and Bryce generally being a creeper.]
She'd been pretty surprised, to say the least, to find Eddie Izzard her mother's Psych professor hanging out at their house when she and Luke had arrived. But, they were working on a paper on DID together, and the guy seemed okay - dry, sarcastic, and English were not a bad combo in Kate's book - so she supposed it could've been worse. And at least now no one could nag at her for bringing a dude to what had apparently been envisioned as a women-only thing.
While Professor Hattaras was in the kitchen heating up stew prepared the night before, they'd sat in the Gregsons' backyard for a while, surrounded by twinkly lights in the cooling fall evening, with appetizers and wine because Mitchell apparently wasn't the only who'd stopped enforcing the American drinking age. It had been idle conversation for the most part, with a few half-joking allusions from Charmaine that her sister was having an affair with the professor and Tara vehemently protesting that she shouldn't say stuff like that in front of her daughter and her friend. Just your average Mooshless and Maxless Sunday evening on Oak Avenue, really.
It was too cold in the backyard by now, though, and since the good professor had announced that the stew was ready, they'd relocated into the kitchen (following Tara's lead, since she'd excused herself to go inside a few minutes earlier) and crammed themselves around the table. Well, everyone except for Wheels, who was dozing peacefully in her carry cot on the counter to the side, and Tara who was still going around the table, putting stew into everyone's bowls and making sure no one needed more bread before she'd settle down.
"Mom, come on," Kate snorted, "we all have our own little plate of bread. I mean I can't speak for the boy wonder --"She nodded at Luke. "-- over here but I doubt we're gonna be finishing what we have. Sit down, mama."
"The boy wonder, really?" Luke asked. "Do I look like I wear my underwear outside my pants?"
Appropriate dinner conversation, yes.
Kate waved a hand at him. "Well, I haven't exactly checked today, but who knows, you could've gotten confused this morning or something. And besides, you don't think you could pull it off with your renowned charm?"
Or ego, or something. On Kate's other side, Hattaras raised an eyebrow. "And this was not the boyfriend, correct?"
"No, this is the gay BFF." A beat. "Well, bi, but 'bi BFF' doesn't have the same kind of ring to it."
Tara gave her a look over her shoulder, as she went to put the rest of the stew back on the stove. "I've said this before, but you share too much, Katie."
"I don't mind Mrs. Gregson," Luke said with a wave of his hand. "She speaks the truth."
"See, Mom?" Kate said with a firm nod. "I have approval and everything."
"Sit down, Tara," Charmaine whined, for her part. "I want to make a toast! One that'll totally disregard the amount of testosterone in this room right now, by the way. No offence."
As if Charmaine had any more consideration for whether other people took offence than Kate did, for the most part.
"None taken," Luke said. He had been around Charmaine enough to know that it wouldn't have mattered if he was offended or not.
Yeah, Tara was giving her sister a wry look that said as much. Still, she took her seat at the table, between Hattaras and Charmaine, who was just getting up, holding her glass of wine up high.
"Okay, okay, now the toast!" she started. "To those who are not with us: Neil, who is learning to sell farm equipment in Houston --" Tara whooped a little with her, while the professor mouthed 'who's Neil?' at Kate, who responded with 'baby daddy' equally silently. "-- Marshall, who is following his mother's artistic footprints in New York City, and Max, who is riding his coattails."
"My boys in the Big Apple!" Tara exclaimed, towards the ceiling, while Kate added, "We love you!"
"And Bod -- Where's Bod?"
"Oh," Kate said, "he's in Fandom."
Charmaine gave that a knowing nod and a gesture with her glass. "Who is learning the ways of the American high school in Maryland," she concluded. "We thank our men for their abscess-- ab-- absence..."
Her sudden inability to form the correct word should not have been a surprise to anyone after all the wine that had already been consumed before they'd even made it to the kitchen. Charmaine was kind of a lightweight. Kate, for one, found it hilarious and snicker-worthy. "Oh, drunkie, drunkie, drunkie."
Luke, at least, managed to hide his laughter behind his hand like a good guest. "Well said, Charmaine."
He didn't feel the least bit weird about being one of the only guys around. He had enough practice growing up with Annabeth and Thalia.
"Thank you, Luke," Charmaine replied, in that exaggerated mock gracious way that was mostly meant to underline an equally fake disapproval at how Kate practically had tears coming out of her eyes with laughter. "We thank our men for... not being here, so that we may initiate --" She gestured back at where her daughter was sleeping. "-- my little Wheels into our menstrual Sunday coven."
Almost done with her toast now, she held her glass in front of her with both hands and put on a very solemn expression. "We drink our blood."
As Charmaine led them into clinking all their glasses together, Professor Hattaras stole an amused glance past Kate at Luke. "What are we doing here? We are U.N. observers. How nice."
Luke chuckled. "I'm surprised we didn't have to sign a non-disclosure contract before sitting down."
"There's still time," Kate quipped, then raised her glass again because who cared if Charmaine's toast was technically done? She could still add her own bit. "And to Luke Castellan, honorary girlfriend, first class."
"Thanks, Kate," Luke said, raising his glass to her. "I'm honored. That commendation is going on my résumé."
Kate just smirked at him and put her glass down after a sip, so she could finally pick up her spoon to get started on the stew. So did the others, except for Tara who had one more toast to add. "And to Jack Hattaras," she said, "my mentor and collaborator on this... great endeavor."
"What is said great endeavor?" Kate wondered, since she had to admit she hadn't been the greatest at paying attention to stuff at home lately. "Spill."
"Mm," Charmaine agreed, around a spoonful of stew because she had excellent manners like that, "what are your intentions with my sister?"
Tara just looked mildly uncomfortable. "Please, let the poor man alone."
"No, I can talk," Hattaras said, after a quick glance at Luke and a reassuring nod from Kate. Please, as if Luke couldn't handle whatever he might say. "Your sister has produced an extraodinary document." Kate and Charmaine nodded and mm'd at him encouragingly to continue, but he suddenly had to cough. "Excuse m-- excuse me."
Charmaine smirked a little. "Stew a little spicy for you, England?"
It wasn't that to Kate, at least. "This is so good, Mom," she said. "I love the crab." Which was new and exciting for her, since she'd been decidedly anti-crab since working at Barnabeez, back in the day.
Luke actually had to take another bite of the stew in order to judge because he had been focused on the conversation rather than the food. It wouldn't be dinner at Kate's without getting to listen in on personal business that had nothing to do with him. He kind of loved it, to be honest.
"Oh yeah, it's great, Mrs. Gregson," Luke said. He knew how to give good parent, yes.
Too bad Tara was giving them both a puzzled look. Professor Hattaras (was that sweat beading on his forehead?) probably voiced her thoughts when he asked, "Crab?"
"No, there's no crab in there," Tara said, frowning. "It's chicken."
Charmaine picked up some, yep, crab on her spoon. "Well, this looks like crab." But Tara was still shaking her head, quite convinced she was right. "No, I did not put crab in there."
Hattaras coughed again. "Extraordinarily allergic to crab," he said to Tara, his voice just a little strained. "I told you that."
Well, that was probably not good.
Some part of Luke, the "taking over the world was a fantastic idea" part, actually saw the humor in this situation. Not that he wanted this guy to drop dead or something but, wow, this was like something you'd see on TV.
He didn't actually know what to do when someone was allergic to something so he just looked over at Kate and mouthed "oh my god" at her.
Yeah, Kate gave him a pretty alarmed look back, then turned toward the professor. "Uh, are you okay?"
Stupid question, probably. His face was turning redder, and he was starting to struggle with breathing. Yeah, probably not okay. In fact, he barked, "Call an ambulance right now!"
That sent Kate scrambling out of her seat and for the kitchen phone, while Charmaine ran to get a glass of water or something, anything useful, with a totally helpful call of "Don't die!"
And while girl and aunt scrambled about with 911 calls and allergy remedies, they weren't there to see the change in Tara's posture as she watched Hattaras fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and breathing with much effort spent. She leaned back in her chair a little, watching with a little smirk on her face, almost smug.
That was probably not good either.
Kate and Charmaine might've not been around to see the change in Tara, but Luke certainly was. Most of his focus had been on Hattaras to make sure he didn't drop dead right there, but when he glanced over at Tara to see how she was he ended up doing a double take because that was not how someone should look right now.
"Uh...Mrs. Gregson?" He really hoped it was still her.
Tara (or whoever it was) turned her gaze briefly towards him, and yeah, now she was definitely acting smug. "No." Sorry, Luke. She turned her sinister smirk back towards Hattaras. "Bully, huh?" she said. "Easiest to get rid of? I hear everything. I don't think I'd even be here if it wasn't for you."
(In the background, Kate was not being the greatest with her call. "I don't know how old he is! He's got a beard!")
And Hattaras himself? He was massaging his throat and upper chest with a hand, breathing noisily, and he wasn't taking his eyes off of Tara, but he didn't look surprised. No, it looked like he knew exactly who this was.
Tara almost smiled, and there was nothing friendly or nice about it. More like predatory. "But don't all sons dream of killing their father?"
That was when Charmaine got back with a glass of icy water and a small towel, which she tried shoving against the back of the professor's neck. "Luke can you --" she started to ask, but didn't get further because she, too, caught a glimpse of the look on her sister's face. "Tara, what the fuck are you doing?" she demanded, then... paused, because something wasn't right. "Buck?"
Even she knew that a self-satisfied look like that at a time like this was not really Buck-like. So, still dabbing at Hattaras's skin with cold water, she ended up looking from Tara to Luke, like he might have some kind of answer.
She doubted he did, though.
Yeah, Luke didn't have any answers except for the fact that he had actually met Buck and this definitely didn't seem like him. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before. What's the British guy done to you?"
Look, if this alter was the type to go around trying to kill people then Luke was gonna make friends with him pretty darn quick.
"He thought he could win," Tara replied with a lazy drawl and a darkly amused look. "He won't." She got up from her seat, looking at Charmaine who was staring at her, even as she tried to pull the professor's collar further away from his neck. "Charmaine, I know it's been a while, but I'm in the middle of a eulogy, and you're denying me."
Yeah, Charmaine was just going to stare at that. Kate did the same, finally done with the 911 call, coming over to the table with an empty can of crab in hand. Trying to come to grips with what was happening. It looked like... her mom wasn't her mom anymore? Fuck.
Tara kept on looking smug. "Oh, come on," she said to Charmaine. "Think way back. It's your big brother!" Another smirk, and she -- well, he leered at her. "And let me say... You have filled out nicely, sis."
... Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck, it was Bryce.
Charmaine looked shocked, and Kate knew exactly why, and, oh God, why did her family have to be this fucked up? "Uhh," she said, oh so intelligently. She knew she... probably needed to do something because Charmaine probably wasn't jumping to take charge here. "Luke? Get her -- him out of here."
Bryce did a mocking imitation of Hatteras's wheezing breathing. Then he laughed, a low chuckle.
"Seriously. Living room. Anywhere."
Right, this didn't look good. The looks on Kate and Charmaine's faces told him enough about what kind of alter this was. Tara was small compared to Luke but he knew better than anyone how scary someone who wasn't all there could be.
"Come on," Luke said, getting up from the table and smacking a hand on Bryce's shoulder like he would with any guy he hung out with. "Let's leave this mess for the girls to clean up."
Bryce gave Luke's hand a disdainful look. "It's my mess, why wouldn't I want to watch?" he asked, but gave the women and the wheezing man a mocking little wave and a smile. "Oh well. Toodles for now, Charmaine. Katherine. Professor."
He'd caused chaos like he'd wanted to. He could let himself be led away. That didn't mean he was done.
"So you're, um, Charmaine's brother?" Luke asked as he led Bryce to the living room. He didn't know if he wanted to bring up the fact that someone was quite possibly dying in the next room.
Well, considering Bryce was the type to gloat about that...
"And Tara's," he drawled as he sauntered like he was going exactly where he wanted to, thank you. "Well, stepbrother, but who cares for the details? We used to be very close."
Yes, that sounded creepy. It was supposed to.
"Yeah she looked thrilled to see you," Luke said, unable to bite back that bit of snark. "You sure know how to make an entrance."
"Well," Bryce drawled, carelessly dropping himself down on the couch, eyeing Luke, "I wouldn't have wanted to have made poor Tara regurgitate her happy pills for no reason. People like a good show."
Kate's and Charmaine's somewhat agitated voices could still be heard coming from the kitchen. Bryce inclined his head in that direction and smirked again.
"See?"
"I've given people that sort of show before," Luke said, sitting down in a chair across from the couch. "They tend to not be as amused by it as you are."
"Who the fuck cares?" Bryce asked with a derisive snort. The tone mixed with his oddly precise way of enunciating things made him sound like some kind of an evil prep school kid. "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to fuck Tara up."
And then there was that.
"You're doing a fantastic job of it, I must say," Luke said with a frown. "Not only Tara, but Charmaine, Kate and the guy possibly dying in the kitchen. And while I might not be fucked up, I was really looking forward to that stew. Bravo."
Bryce sneered at that. "Oh don't tell me you actually care about these weirdos," he said, like the mere thought bored him to death. He held up his hands like, 'what can you do?' "Collateral damage."
There was the sound of ambulance sirens outside, now, and Kate rushing to the door. Bryce glanced in the direction of the sound and smiled lazily, and --
And something shifted. Bryce's smirk melted away and Tara blinked, disoriented but instantly worried - an expression which only got more pronounced as her eyes settled on Luke before her.
"I -- Wh--"
Yeah, she didn't know what to say, when she didn't know what she'd been saying just now. Or doing. Or what the situation was right now. The sirens drew her gaze towards the front of the house. Ambulance. That was good, right?
Luke knew that look. It reminded him a lot of his mother when she snapped out of one of her fits. Only with less green fog and glowing eyes.
"Are you okay Tara?" Luke asked, forgetting about the whole calling her Mrs. Gregson thing for now.
It made her feel old, anyway. Not that that mattered much right now.
"I, uh, yeah," she said, with the least convincing nod in the history of unconvincing nods. Paramedics were coming in, and her gaze flicked anxiously between the source of the sounds and Luke. "Is he -- ?"
"Asphyxiating? Yes," Luke said. "But Kate called an ambulance pretty quick so he'll be fine."
Probably. Maybe.
Tara was a fairly pale woman to begin with, but she seemed to manage to turn even paler at that moment, and she had to swallow.
"... It was Bryce, wasn't it?"
Look, there'd been no co-consciousness, there was a man potentially dying in her kitchen, and Luke had been right there when she'd transitioned. No point in pretending the new alter was any kind of secret, now.
Of course, Bryce hadn't actually bothered to introduce himself by name, but she wasn't thinking clearly enough to account for that possibility.
"If Bryce is the name of your, uh, stepbrother then yeah," Luke said, looking sympathetic. "No offense, but he's an asshole."
Tara tried that reassuring nodding thing again. Like she was completely fine with that knowledge.
It didn't work.
"Excuse me."
Excuse her abruptly getting up and starting away. Not for the kitchen, no. For the bathroom because she really needed to throw up right now.
Yes, this dinner had been a disaster.
[ooc: NFB, based on USoT S03E09 'Bryce Will Play', preplayed with the magnificent trickydemigod, and to be continued in the comments. Warning for allusions to past child abuse, and Bryce generally being a creeper.]