Log:Brunch with Bottomless Guilt

Arbiter of Balance 2021/10/18 Radical|Connor Grimm Randal Mochi 

It's the morning after Grimm left a distraught Radical to contemplate his love life, and also the morning after she got pulled into a murder case instead of getting to relax with Jack. She did end up crashing at his place, and since he had work in the morning, she set her alarms in triplicate early in the morning to wake up with him. It may have taken some dragging her out of the bed on his part since it was so early, but she managed to see him out the door and give him a kiss goodbye; a rare thing, given her sleep habits.

After, she does a quick change (literally with magic) and conjures a tray full of various breakfast foods. She made a promise to Connor, and she plans to surprise him with her being responsible! So it's about 7:08 AM when she calls upon her dark powers to take her wherever Connor is. She may not have thought much about the time in her hurry.

Connor is at home. Brushing his teeth in his bedroom, and he's just wearing pajama bottoms. At least he's clothed. Mostly. He blinks, and turns to see Grimm, and he waves.

"Oh! Shick!" Grimm figured he'd be awake and ...doing math? Reading? Professorial stuff? She quickly turns around. "Sorry! Too early?" She doesn't even wait for a response. She vanishes in a swirl of smoke, reappearing downstairs in the kitchen and blushing.

Connor comes down a couple of minutes later, completely dressed now. "You know...I certainly didn't expect you this early."

Grimm has since set down the tray and maybe conjured some whiskey in her coffee. "Sorry, I thought you got up way early and that I was running late," she says sheepishly. There's a variety of food on the tray. Fresh cut fruits, french toast, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. She had treated Jack to a similar spread before he left, though it may have been a bit too heavy for his preferences on a work morning. "And I did say I'd see you for breakfast to see how you were feeling..."

Connor smiles as he sees all the food. "You...didn't have to do this. But...thank you." He takes a seat at the table. "This is great. Thank you."

"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to," Gabrielle smiles. "How're you doing? Feeling better this morning?" she asks, waiting for him to set before taking a seat as well.

Connor nods, "I'm feeling quite a bit better, yeah. I'm sorry that I kind of lost it there."

Grimm shrugs and smiles gently. "If you can't lose it around friends or family, who can you? It's healthy to express emotions, or cry. Too many people, especially guys, bottle up their feelings." She's one to talk, of course. "If you ever need someone to listen, I'll be there. Just...tell me to not say anything if you just want to vent or talk and not have any advice," she smiles faintly at that last point.

Connor says, "That's...true. And I certainly do tend to bottle things up. So...again, thank you." He takes a deep breath and smiles. "Well, let's start to eat while everything is still warm."

Grimm cracks a smile. "There's always the option of a 'spirit journey' with molly in the forest," she teases and picks up the silverware. She thought of everything! "Let all those feelings flow. Bring some music." She digs right in to the syrup-topped french toast.

Connor chuckles. "I don't have any interest in taking drugs. The effects of magic on my mind are enough, I think."

"Mmmm...but does chaos or order magic make you feel super happy and full of self love?" Grimm counters playfully and takes another bite.

Connor shakes his head, and serves himself up some food. He just says, "No. They both just cause me to lose some control."

Grimm nods. "Well...you handle it pretty well," she compliments. "Have you got all that orderly magic out of your system now?"

Connor nods, "I think so, yeah. At least for the time being. At least it feels like things are back to normal. It's somewhat hard to be sure, but I can kind of feel it when I'm back to an even keel."

Grimm looks to him and squints a little at his forehead. "Hmmm. Yeah. You're back to normal," she says and takes a sip of her coffee. "Oh...did you want tea instead?" She has a mug of coffee for him, but no tea.

Connor shakes his head, "I drink both. Coffee works for me today." He's certainly back to normal, but his mood is clearly muted. "Tea tastes...gentler, if that makes sense. Coffee is kind of harsh. Like a...caffiene punch in the face."

"Hey! I -like- a caffeine punch to the face," Grimm grins. "Maybe a blonde roast?" She notices his mood is a bit off. She hesitates to pry after failing miserably last night, but she also has poor impulse control on things like this. "Maybe you should have a night off tonight after work. Hang out with friends. Unwind. Something fun to help cheer you up?"

Connor thinks about it as he eats, "Maybe. That's a good idea. Not sure what, but I'll think about it."

Grimm nibbles on some bacon guiltily and swallows. "I'm sorry you're feeling down, and I wish I could help somehow." They should've been celebrating the win over restoring the other dimensions, but it was sort of tainted by the loses they couldn't prevent. "You did a lot of good. Monumental good. Like...legendary."

Connor smiles. "Oh...you ARE helping. Have helped. I just need...a little more time, I think. And...perhaps going out tonight would help, like you suggested. I also haven't checked in on Randal in a bit. Mochi seems like she's going to be a handful."

Grimm smiles at being told she helped. "Okay. I get it." She takes another sip of coffee. "Uh oh...is Mochi causing him trouble? Let me know if you need my help talking to her."

Connor nods. "I'll keep that in mind. I'm pretty sure that I can't communicate with her directly like you can."

Grimm smiles. "I owe Randal a family dinner. Maybe we can take turns keeping him company or something this week. I know I've been too busy to see him since your alter summoned me into that trap."

Connor nods. "I don't think I've seen him since before that, either." He takes another bite, and then says, "I'm just thinking that cats can be a handful sometimes, let alone when they have superpowers."

"Yeaaaah," Grimm admits. Then seems worried. "He'd have texted one of us if it was bad, right? I mean...what if he's not okay?"

Grimm and Connor finish their brunch, and before work for Connor, they head out to see Randal and knock on his door.

Randal answers the door after a couple of minutes. Mochi is sitting on the couch in the front room. He smiles. "Hey there. Please...come in." The cat meows when they're let inside.

Connor smiles. "How have things been? She keeping you company?"

Randal nods. "Oh...yes. She's a nice companion, but a bit of a handful."

"Handful? Like what?" Grimm asks in concern. She does check to see if there's any scratches on Randal.

Randal smiles. "She can get to places most cats can't. And...she's already given me...a half dozen 'presents'. Mice."

Mochi

A medium sized cat. It's a short hair, with dark eyes. Its fur seems to be pitch black, like the void. Her eyes are also dark. Darker than they should be for a normal cat.

"Well...I mean...getting rid of mice is the thing she's supposed to do, right?" Grimm chuckles.

Randal chuckles. "True. I just don't want dead mice left on my pillow."

The cat jumps off the couch, and walks over to rub against Grimm's and Connor's legs.

Randal nods. "The floor near by bed is fine. Just not on my pillow."

"Outside would be even better, right?" Grimm chuckles and looks down to Mochi, trying to connect with her mind. "You've been catching all the mice, Mochi?"

Randal chuckles. "Outside would be better, yes."

Mochi is a little resistanto the mental connection, but she manages to make the connection. She looks up at Grimm and meows again.

"I'm sorry. Why didn't you want to talk, Mochi?" Grimm asks mentally and verbally.

Mochi blinks a couple of times, not really answering the question. "Yes, I have been catching all of the mice, and giving them to the older human."

Grimm keeps her voice cheerful and calm. "Yes, that is very great and helpful. Your human would find them better if you left them outside. Maybe by the door?"

Mochi blinks again, and looks by the door. "I put them where I knew he would find it. Will he find it by the door?"

"You're a very good kitty. He will find it there," Grimm smiles, praising Mochi. Who would want to get on the bad side of a Chaotic kitty?

A bit of blackness reaches out like a tendril, and points out a location in front of the door. Mochi says, "Here?"

Connor blinks, and startles. Randal is...much calmer about it.

Grimm looks surprised as the tendril comes out, then looks at Randal. "Is that...uhhh. You look like you've seen that before..."

Randal glances to Grimm, and just...nods.

Grimm worries a little about the way he responds. "Right. Okay. So...she's pointing to ask if that place is okay to put the mice."

Grimm sideglances at Connor subtly.

Randal smiles. "Umm...right there is fine. I'll find them there." He seems pretty calm about it. Keep in mind, this IS a man who also has dealt with lots of cosmic entities.

Grimm looks to Mochi and smiles. "Yes, Mochi. There."

Grimm adds, "Is there anything you want me to tell your human?" She realizes she's saying this out loud and looks to Randal and shrugs. "She sees you as hers."

Randal laughs. "Well, that's all cats, right?"

Mochi blinks again, "I do love him. Let him know that. And I will protect him."

Grimm chuckles at Randal and nods, then looks to Mochi. "Awww, Mochi, you are so sweet and such a good kitty," she scritches Mochi, finding her adorable. She looks up at Randal. "She wants me to tell you she loves you and will protect you," she says with a big smile.

Randal smiles, and reaches down to pet Mochi. The cat purrs and rubs against his hand. Randal then says, "Please tell her thank you for me."

Connor watches quietly, but he's smiling.

Grimm nods and looks to Mochi. "He says thank you." She looks back to Randal. "You know, one of these days, I could put you both in direct mental contact with each other so you can talk for a bit. Emotions can be shared, too, so you have to be a bit careful." Or more embarrassing stuff can be accidentally shared...

Randal smiles. "I'm usually able to figure out what she wants by context. It's okay. Cats generally don't seem that complicated."

"Has she shown any other unusual, ah, behaviors?" Grimm asks, eyeing where the tendril is or was.

Randal nods. "She can squeeze into really tight spaces. I think she got into the walls. And the tendril thing, of course."

Grimm nods. "Ohh...so that's how she got all the mice. Well...I mean, you said you had a mouse problem," she grins. "Sorry I haven't been by in a bit. Did Connor tell you all we got up to lately?"

Randal nods. "Yeah, he gave me the details. I'm impressed that you both pulled that off, given all that happened."

Grimm beams at that. "Connor did most of it," she gives credit where credit is do. "Saved me again, then went and saved a bunch of worlds, and another me," she says with some pride in Connor.

Connor grins. "Well...thank you. I couldn't have done it without help, though." He then looks to Randal, "That's where the ring came from that I asked about."

Randal nods. "Ah...right. I haven't found anything in my library yet, but I'll keep looking."

Grimm doesn't mention how Connor fell apart a bit last night. "Oh, I'm sure you would've managed somehow," she smiles, wanting to bolster his confidence.

"Speaking of the ring..." Grimm looks to Connor. "Are you going to meet with Lazare about it?"

Connor takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I better. He helped me, after all. But I'm not about to give it to him. I know he has to ask, at least. Maybe he'll try to just...get me to use it."

Grimm sighs at that thought. "I wonder...if what he has to say to you will change any if he isn't being watched by the ones he serves. They were watching him as I spoke to him."

Connor nods. "It might. But how do you keep them from watching?"

Grimm smirks at Connor's question. "Magic, silly."

Connor raises a brow, and smirks. "Maybe. These are the Lords of Chaos, though."

"True...there's no guarantee. I found out one of the teen mages was scrying on me. I have secrets to keep," Grimm says pointedly as she looks at him.

Connor raises a brow. "Who was scrying on you?"

You say, "Helen. She admitted as much and knew where to find me at Blank Asylum when I was investigating something."

Connor frowns. "Hrm. Wonderful. So, I might need to assume my identity is already compromised. Not because you were scryed upon, but because I might have been."

"Possible, but I don't think that's happened...yet. She hasn't caught on to who you are yet as far as I can tell," Grimm reasons. "If you'll let me, I'll extend my magic to conceal you and Randal for now, too. Harlequin helped teach me. He's pretty paranoid about being watched, too, it seems."

Connor nods. "If it isn't too much of an effort...that sounds good to me."

Randal nods as well. "I'm good with that, too. Though Mochi might stick out a bit."

"I could probably cover Mochi, too. I haven't really...tested its limits." Grimm leaves off the reason she learned was not just for her privacy, but to protect Jack's secret life as a vigilante. The last thing she wants is to risk his career by being close to her. She reaches out and puts one hand on Connor's shoulder, and the other on Randal's. She doesn't need to speak the incantation now, and molds her powers to conceal them from those who might be watching. There's a ripple of air that flows over them briefly. "There...that should help. Hopefully. I haven't gotten to test it too much, and I'm sure there are powerful entities that can still see past it."

Randal smiles, "I don't...feel any different."

Connor says. "I can see it, though. Thank you, Gabrielle."

Grimm nods to Connor. "Well, thank me if it works," she grins. She looks over at Mochi and gives her a little scritch, and casts it on her as well. Hopefully Mochi doesn't freak out.

Mochi doesn't freak out. Though she does say, "What did you do? I can...sense something."

Grimm explains to Mochi, "I gave a gift. Like what the other cat gave you. It will keep you hidden from some hunters you can't see."

Mochi nods. "So you can sneak...butt wiggle..and then pounce. I understand."

Grimm laughs and nods, giving a brief butt wiggle to confirm. "Exactly." And then she remembers the guys are there. And can't hear Mochi.

Connor raises a brow. "Umm..."

Grimm chuckles and grins. "What?" she pretends like it was normal.

Randal laughs. "Umm...would you like some tea?"

Grimm chuckles. "Yes, please." She then looks to Connor. "Mochi was saying I could sneak, butt wiggle, and pounce. She understood the importance of hiding."

Connor chuckles. "Ah, I see. That makes more sense now."

Grimm snickers. "Don't pretend you weren't entertained," she teases, then prepares to follow Randal for tea. "If you'd like, Randal, we could do a dinner sometime later this week."

Randal smiles. "That would be nice. Thank you."

Grimm beams. "What would you like? I could make something?" She looks to Connor. "What nights work for you both?"