Overland Park, KS, Late Thursday Evening
This wasn't quite what Kate had expected her family to do in preparation for the start of the big redecoration project.
It was late, and the Gregsons were gathered in front of a Planet Aid clothing donation bin. They were all looking at it, almost as if expecting something to happen. Like maybe Tara would start switching and the alters would all come rolling out and express their disdain for why Max was carrying a box filled with all their stuff.
Because they were here to dump them. The meds had been working for a while now. Tara hadn't transitioned in months. And she'd been thinking about doing this for a while already, and now that Kate had come home for a few days, and they were boxing up some of their stuff anyway... Tara thought it was time.
But scepticism was in the air. Kate, as usual, took it upon herself to voice it, asking the question no one else had asked earlier in the evening or on the drive over.
"Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, are we sure they're all gone?"
Tara kept looking at the yellow bin in front of them. "Yeah," she nodded. "It's been three months. I know I'm ready."
Behind them, Marshall said, sounding a little uncertain, "Something about this feels creepy and clandestine."
Kate thought he'd definitely got that right. So did their dad, but he tried to make it sound like an affectionate joke. "That's what we do best, son."
So, they were really doing this. Right. Kate wrinkled her nose and shrugged a shoulder, moving to take a peek at the alters' stuff. "'Kay. How 'bout we dump Alice first?" she asked, picking up one of Alice's dresses. Just barely keeping herself from making a face at it, she dumped it on the tray in the donation box.
"Bonne chance, bitch." She was glad to see Alice go, oh yeah.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother looking at her, but it was Marshall who piped up with a suggestion. "L-let's do T next."
While their mother peered into the bin, Kate snorted and turned to pick up a truly atrocious pink thong. "Yes, I'm sure that this will clothe some lucky child," she drawled as she threw that too onto the tray, rolling her eyes.
That was about when Tara lost her nerve with going slow. "Oh, look, let's just do them all at once," she said, already turning to reach for the cardboard box, "let's just get this over with."
"Really?" Max asked, almost surprised, as she was grabbing a big pile of clothes, but she'd obviously made her decision. "Yeah, let's do it."
And so they did. With the combined effort of Tara and her two kids, it took practically no time at all to empty the box Max was holding. Such a major thing, and yet it took so little time. Kate thought that was weird. Wasn't this supposed to be like a... huge milestone in their lives, or something? And yet here they were, hurrying through it, almost like they were expecting to get caught, like they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.
And another thing that felt weird? Watching Tara as she looked at the assorted mess of the alters' clothing for the last time. She almost looked a little sad, even if this was supposedly a happy moment. "Bye," she said softly, before closing the tray and sending all the alters' crap tumbing down into the yellow box.
And so it was (supposedly) over. No more Alice's fifties dresses or Buck's biker boots or T's skanky skirts. No more soap in mouths or beat up boyfriends or faux teenage bitchfits.
No more alters.
... Yeah. Definitely not what Kate had expected to be doing tonight.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC loved like pie. Taken from United States of Tara S02E01, 'Yes'. Whoo season two!]
It was late, and the Gregsons were gathered in front of a Planet Aid clothing donation bin. They were all looking at it, almost as if expecting something to happen. Like maybe Tara would start switching and the alters would all come rolling out and express their disdain for why Max was carrying a box filled with all their stuff.
Because they were here to dump them. The meds had been working for a while now. Tara hadn't transitioned in months. And she'd been thinking about doing this for a while already, and now that Kate had come home for a few days, and they were boxing up some of their stuff anyway... Tara thought it was time.
But scepticism was in the air. Kate, as usual, took it upon herself to voice it, asking the question no one else had asked earlier in the evening or on the drive over.
"Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, are we sure they're all gone?"
Tara kept looking at the yellow bin in front of them. "Yeah," she nodded. "It's been three months. I know I'm ready."
Behind them, Marshall said, sounding a little uncertain, "Something about this feels creepy and clandestine."
Kate thought he'd definitely got that right. So did their dad, but he tried to make it sound like an affectionate joke. "That's what we do best, son."
So, they were really doing this. Right. Kate wrinkled her nose and shrugged a shoulder, moving to take a peek at the alters' stuff. "'Kay. How 'bout we dump Alice first?" she asked, picking up one of Alice's dresses. Just barely keeping herself from making a face at it, she dumped it on the tray in the donation box.
"Bonne chance, bitch." She was glad to see Alice go, oh yeah.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother looking at her, but it was Marshall who piped up with a suggestion. "L-let's do T next."
While their mother peered into the bin, Kate snorted and turned to pick up a truly atrocious pink thong. "Yes, I'm sure that this will clothe some lucky child," she drawled as she threw that too onto the tray, rolling her eyes.
That was about when Tara lost her nerve with going slow. "Oh, look, let's just do them all at once," she said, already turning to reach for the cardboard box, "let's just get this over with."
"Really?" Max asked, almost surprised, as she was grabbing a big pile of clothes, but she'd obviously made her decision. "Yeah, let's do it."
And so they did. With the combined effort of Tara and her two kids, it took practically no time at all to empty the box Max was holding. Such a major thing, and yet it took so little time. Kate thought that was weird. Wasn't this supposed to be like a... huge milestone in their lives, or something? And yet here they were, hurrying through it, almost like they were expecting to get caught, like they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.
And another thing that felt weird? Watching Tara as she looked at the assorted mess of the alters' clothing for the last time. She almost looked a little sad, even if this was supposedly a happy moment. "Bye," she said softly, before closing the tray and sending all the alters' crap tumbing down into the yellow box.
And so it was (supposedly) over. No more Alice's fifties dresses or Buck's biker boots or T's skanky skirts. No more soap in mouths or beat up boyfriends or faux teenage bitchfits.
No more alters.
... Yeah. Definitely not what Kate had expected to be doing tonight.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC loved like pie. Taken from United States of Tara S02E01, 'Yes'. Whoo season two!]