2009-04-02 - Sometimes, You Can Go Home Again

From JLU MUX

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Sometimes, You Can Go Home Again
Summary: Grace Choi and Kaylee Blake take a vacation out west to meet the latter's parents, which for some reason proves to be kind of turbulent. WARNING: Language, also it's pretty long
Who: Grace and Kaylee, emits by Kaylee When: 2009-04-02 Where: California

Kaylee has been fighting to contain herself for the last 6 hours, three of which were spent on an airplane where there was nothing for her to do but sit and fidget. So, Grace ought to be very proud that Kaylee hasn't driven her bonkers yet, but has managed to largely contain herself.

Of course, all that excited energy has now become /nervous/ energy, as she navigates the rented BMW through Los Angeles traffic (the 5 freeway is /horrible/ in the early-evening, but Kaylee's perception makes her rather adept at navigating through the onslaught of cars). Now, as they pull through a /very/ upscale part of Santa Monica, her little brow is knit and she's murdering her lower lip. She's also become very silent and doesn't even sing along with Katy Perry when she comes on the radio (102.7, KIIS FM, of course).

As Kaylee drives(for /some/ reason; it is probably not the best of ideas, but they can both probably survive a wreck), Grace is in the last stages of shucking the t-shirt she's been wearing over her newly purchased bikini from herself. With her hair secured in a pair of sizable pigtails, sandals and shorts that were once jeans, she generally seems to have been thinking towards coolness and comfort, given their being in California. Really, she probably wouldn't have bothered with the shirt at all, if it weren't for the funny looks that would no doubt result from the other passengers on the plane.

"If you want," she lowly and dryly begins, "you can remind 'em I can bench a school-bus; manly as hell, that."

With years of experience driving in Cali traffic, Grace shouldn't worry about Kaylee's safety behind the wheel. Shouldn't doesn't mean she /won't/, but still. And even with as distracted as Kaylee is, she can still perceive all the cars perfectly, so Grace might even be a little impressed at her ability to weave in and out of cars to avoid slowdowns and backups. But, once they're back in the residential section, that becomes a pretty moot point.

At first, Grace's offer appears to go unnoticed, as the car pulls off onto a side street. But, after a few moments, Kaylee blinks and shakes her head, smiling over at Grace. And quite clearly not watching the road. "Oh! Sorry, hon. No, it's okay. It'll be fine. They'll love you. There won't be any problems," Kaylee assures. Though whether she's trying to convince Grace or herself is largely debateable.

Grace fans herself briefly once her shirt's been tossed into the back, and then with a chuckle she turns her eyes to watch the buildings pass. There is a certain kind of familiarity around being in this sort of setting, but it /has/ been a while. "Goddamn right they will," she lightly replies.

Finally, Kaylee pulls into a driveway. While the drive does lead back towards a garage as big as some houses, Kaylee pulls off into the oval and stops at the front door. Her parents house is /huge/. Not necessarily a palatial estate as you might find with actors or other big name celebrities. But definitely worthy of a spot on MTV Cribs. But, then, most of the houses are about the same. At least it's not a gated community!

Kaylee stops the car and turns off the engine. She then takes a deep breath and reaches a hand over for one of Grace's. "Are you ready?" she asks, a hopeful smile on her face.

As soon as the vehicle stops, Grace is climbing out and stretching her arms upwards as she glances within towards Kaylee. Her head rolls quickly around on her neck, and then her arms fall as she walks around the front to stick her hand in - or if Kaylee has actually exited, just out - so that it can be taken. "No big thing; c'mon, let's get it done."

Kaylee glowers a little when Grace jumps out before she can have her little moment to collect herself. She opens her own door and steps out, though she does lean back in to grab Grace's t-shirt. Which she places in Grace's hand, instead. "Please?" she asks. Her own attire is fairly modest. She's wearing denim shorts, which are definitely short but not scandalously so. She also has on a bright yellow baseball tee with pink sleeves, and her own hair is worn in matching pig tails. Totally a hint, because ... well, Grace will see in a minute.

The shirt is stared at for a few frowny seconds, and then finally Grace takes it to begrudgingly slip back on. As soon as she's done, she hooks Kaylee's arm with her own to lead the way towards the door, though, muttering, "Like I'd /really/ scandalize 'em. It's /California/, right?"

Kaylee clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes. "Yes. And my daddy still doesn't think I have tits yet, so seeing yours would certainly not help. Plus, he's still a man, and you /are/ hot. Let's not get him thinking of that Tatu video,, huh?" she says, wrinkling her nose up at Grace. She squeezes Grace's arm and then hops up to give her a kiss on the cheek as she walks her towards the door. She jingles with her keys for a second, requiring a bit more scrutiny to find the right one since keys are mostly so similar. One the proper key is located, Kaylee hugs Grace's arm once more with a tight squeeze and then slides it into the lock. Then, the door is swung open, and Kaylee announces quite loudly, "I'm home!"

"Listen, if your dad got all hot and bothered seeing me in a bikini, we'd have bigger problems than basic decency," Grace mutters as she bends to let herself be kissed. She begins to add to Kaylee's call after the door swings open, but she decides againast it at the last moment; better to let the 'rents be surprised. She does, however, take a few steps inside with Kaylee in tow, all the better to see what kind of opulence she's going to be surrounded by.

Ah, home sweet home. And it is a /very/ sweet home, indeed. The front parlor isn't spetacularly large, but it opens to two rooms that are, as well as housing one of those grand staircases towards the second floor. But, again, the house isn't a palace, just a really big house.

From the kitchen, a loud clatter can be heard, and then around the corner walks Kaylee's mom. And it should be immediately obvious where Kaylee gets any looks she can claim to have, as her mom is definitely a bombshell. While she's quite a bit shorter than Kaylee, she has blonde hair that looks superficially perfect, as if she just stepped off of the set of some tv show. It's just past shoulder length, and frames her face with precision. She has really blue eyes, full pouty lips, and twice the figure that Kaylee has. Definitely a 'trophy' sort of wife.

"OH MY GOD!" Sheryl (Mrs. Blake) squeals in hyper-active teenage girl fashion, waving both her hands and scurrying towards her daughter. "KayBee!" she crows, throwing her arms around her daughter but barely hugging her in the Beverly Hills fashion. "Why didn't you /tell/ us you were coming!?!?!?" Like, totally omg, right?

Grace actually recoils slightly when Mrs. Blake dashes from the kitchen. Dashes and arches her eyebrows as she looks the woman over; she /is/ rather undeniably attractive. She rubs her ear slightly once the high pitched sounds have subsided, frowning in some bare annoyance at them.

"Things are only /just/ clearing up from the whole 'death moon in the sky' thing," she offers dryly. "I can get how it might have slipped her mind."

Sheryl blinkblinkblinks and looks up up up at Grace. "I'm sorry!" she chirps, having just noticed the rather imposing figure eclipsing the bright glow that is her daughter's presence. "I didn't even notice! Hiiii! How /are/ you?" she coos enthusiastically, reaching to pump Grace's hand. And, of course, it should go without saying that she hasn't noticed the arm-in-arm nature of her daughter and her 'friend.'

"Mom? This is Grace Choi. She's my girlfriend," Kaylee says rather flatly. No apprehension? No fear? Isn't she worried ...?

"Oh how wonderful! I'm /so/ glad my daughter has been able to make friends out there in Metropolis. We were so worried about her, travelling all the way across the country in that little SUV of hers, taking on such a big city all by herself," Mrs. Blake starts to chatter. She moves to Grace's other side to link arms with her in much the same way as Kaylee, so she can lead them towards the living room. However, when Sheryl does it, the motion is almost perfunctory, like some sort of automated process that is some sort of prerequisite for introducing guests to theh ome.

With a vaguely confused, sidelong glance cast towards Kaylee, Grace lets herself be led. Her tongue is pressed tightly to the inside of her teeth for a while, mainly because she is trying to show some kind of restraint; finally, when they've reached the living room, she rolls her shoulders and says simply, "Yeah, well, I've been taking good care of her. Makin' sure she's comfortable and all."

"And that is /sooo/ nice of you," Sheryl coos. And, if Kaylee is occasionally overly excited and talkative, Mrs. Blake is that times infinity. But, then, it's been a while since she's seen her daughter. Or any of her daughters friends. "Just a second," she says, patting Grace's shoulder as she detaches herself and flits back towards the doorway. "ROGER!!! KAYBEE IS HOME!" she /almost/ shouts. But, she also almost kind of sings it. It's a weird, fake shouting that is obviously rehearsed. But, it's not fashionable for a woman to go shouting and stuff.

For her part, Kaylee just blushes and shakes her head at Grace. She could have tried to warn Grace, but ... there really isn't a lot she could have said. Besides, Grace purported to have dealt with 'the type' before. Kaylee just moves to sit on one of the large leather couches (there are two, facing each other, with a black coffee table in the middle, and sofas on the other ends) in the living room, attempting to tug Grace down beside her. "My mom is like a WMD or something," she whispers, trying to lean in and peck Grace on the sly before her parents are back to pay more attention to her.

After dropping into position next to Kaylee, being kissed and kissing in turn, Grace settles into the couch to prepare for what comes next. While she's perfectly fine with not being all over Kaylee in front of her parents - and really, she wouldn't have suddenly taken to groping her in front of them /anyway/ - she does drape an arm lightly over Kaylee's shoulders for the sake of /some/ kind of closeness.

Also, she comments, "Your mom is like /gorgeous/ or something," under her breath.

Kaylee winces a little and grimaces. "I'm just glad she wasn't out by the pool," Kaylee replies, taking the arm off of her shoulders and instead holding Grace's hand in her lap. This /is/ her first time breaking the news she's not straight, after all. The whole arm-over thing would get a boy clobbered, and Kaylee doesn't want to imagine her dad and Grace getting into it.

Sheryl flits back and almost literally /perches/ on the edge of the love seat, folding herself against the arm, tucking her tanned, gorgeous legs underneath her. And her shorts are just as short as Kaylee's. "So tell me /everything/, chica! How's Metropolis? How's work? Are the boys out there different from out here? You know Anthony still asks about you every once in a while," she says, grinning at Kaylee, and sounding way more like a peer than a parent.

"Is dad home? Is he busy or something?" Kaylee asks, ignoring the questions and looking back towards the doorway. "I was gonna ask him if it's alright if we stay here," she adds.

There's a very low chuckle at her arm being moved, but Grace doesn't press the issue; instead, she squeezes Kaylee's hand tightly and shoots her a brief look with her eyebrows once more arching.

And then she looks away to see Sheryl /right there/, out of the blue, causing her to recoil slightly away with a sudden, "Jesus!" before recovering herself and shaking her head to clear the surprise away.

She listens long enough to hear 'Anthony' mentioned, at which point she smirks wide and thin, glances towards Kaylee, and teasingly prods, "Aaaanthony, huh? Sounds like a nice guy; Italian? Nice people, the ones who aren't a little racist. You should maybe do somethin' about that."

"Italian? No, he's from down the street," Sheryl corrects. "And he's not racist at all. His family has some Mexicans that do their gardening for them!" Because that automatically makes them culturally hip and sensitive. And then her focus returns to Kaylee. "And of /course/ you can stay here, chica! Your room is still just like you left it, and we can have the guest house cleaned up in a spiffy!" At least she didn't call her daughter girlfriend.

Kaylee groans at the extra attention Anthony receives from Grace and rolls her eyes at her mother's response. "Well ... I think, like ... I could either just go stay with Grace in the guest house, or Grace could just stay with me in my room ...," she says, grimacing a little.

Sheryl laughs and leans forward, reaching a hand out to put on Grace's knee. "Oh that would be /so/ much fun! We could totally have a whole little sleepover, and I can do your hair, and we can watch like 50 First Dates or something and you can tell me all about the boys in Metropolis. Do you have a boyfriend, Grace? I'm sure he's got to be a total hunk, with as big as you are. Oh em gee, have you met SUPERMAN yet? Ohhh, I would /die/ to meet Superman."

Thankfully, it's at this point Roger comes jogging down the stairs. And if Kaylee gets her looks from her mother, she gets her size from her father. He's a rather mountain of a man, 6' 6" tall, and built like a tank. Of course, as a former defensive tackle in the NFL, he's supposed to be. But he's not fat, like some lineman, just ... massive. "Kaybee?" he calls from about halfway down the steps. And, as much as it might look like a typo, Kaylee's family actually calls her by her initials pretty frequently. Or 'chica,' if it's her mom.

"I mean, I guess," Grace murmurs as she peers at the hand on her knee, "but I dunno how great of an idea it'd be." Her smirk does somewhat return as she gently shifts the leg that Sheryl's hand is on so that her foot can rest across her other knee. "Yeah, I've been dating someone for a while; goin' pretty good so far." She briskly brushes her free hand afross her bent leg, glances between Kaylee and Sheryl, then adds, "You know how the first few months are, right? Anyway, yeah, I met Superman, kind of a dick--"

It is then that Roger comes down, prompting an appraising look thanks to his sheer size. She doesn't address him immediately, but she does hold her empty hand up to him in preparation for shaking his when he's gotten nearer.

It's going to be a minute before Roger gets any nearer. Why, you ask? Because almost before he calls out (she has to wait till it'd be possible for her to 'see' him, after all), Kaylee has jumped up from the couch and gone running at him. "DADDY!" she squeals and actually flings herself at him.

Lucky for Roger, he's a big enough guy that the impact of his significantly lighter daughter doesn't do much but stumble him back a step. Her arms latch around his neck, and his own engulf her waist, as he picks her ups and swings her from side to side. "Kaybee!" he responds, laughing happily.

Sheryl, for her part, doesn't seem at all phased by her affectionate touch being rebuffed, and instead simply seems shocked and appauled by Grace's opinion of The Greatest Man On the Planet. "Oh, he was probably just too busy to talk or something. I'm sure he's absolutely charming," she denies. Because, of course, someone so good looking could /never/ be a bad person. She then smiles and peeks back over the back of the love seat as she watches her daughter and husband. And, from the way she beems, it's quite obvious that they're really her whole world, for as small and trivial as her world may be.

Grace just barely manages to free her hand from Kaylee's when the smaller woman takes off running, and at that point she just lowers the hand she's got waiting so that her elbow is sort of resting on Sheryl's folded legs. There's some definite amusement at the outpouring of affection, but it's definitely not a bad thing to see at all... and it maybe explains a thing or two about how exactly she's wound up here besides.

"No, he's pretty much just a huge dick," she deadpans in response to Sheryl. "I mean, he kinda hides it, but he is pretty condescending. Kind of a boy scout too, but I guess that's like saying the sun's kinda bright."

Sheryl has to snicker at the comment about Superman being a huge dick. I mean, really. Come on. From her standpoint, it's kinda funny. "Oh, I'm sure you just met him at the wrong time," Sheryl insists. And Grace should already know, arguing is pretty futile. But, it's her perogative.

"OoOooooo, Daddy, it's so good to /SEE/ you!" Kaylee gushes, squeezing her father again and kissing him on the cheek. She then settles her feet back on the ground and glomps his arm, dragging her towards the living room. "Daddy? This is Grace," she announces, standing just inside the entrance to the living room with her father.

It is at this point that Sheryl realizes that she's compltely forgotten her manners, so she jumps up, too. "Ohmigosh, I'm /soooo/ sorry! I tottally forgot! Roger? Hon? This is Grace Choi, she's one of Kaylee's friends from Metropolis. Grace? This is my husband, Roger. And my name is Sheryl, but you can just call me Sherry," she announces.

Grace actually climbs to her feet with that, nodding in acknowledgement towards Sheryl as she approaches Roger. "Nice to meet you," she offers to both of them as she extends her hand towards Mr. Blake. "I've heard a couple things, but maybe not enough."

Her tongue presses to the insides of her teeth as she tries - and almost succeeds - at suppressing her smirkiness. "Nice house by the way. I mean I'm not surprised, with what you used to do, but still."

Kaylee bites her lower lip as introductions are made, but as Roger untangles himself from his daughter so that he can properly shake Grace's hand, she relaxes. Instead, she moves back to Grace's side, waiting while introductions are made, and basically ignoring her mother.

Once Roger is done shaking hands, his arm will go around his wife's waist as they move back to sit on the love seat. "So, Kaybee, what brings you back out to the West Coast? Is there some tournament or something I wasn't paying attention for?" Roger asks, as they settle down onto the love seat.

Kaylee tugs Grace back to the couch as well, and grimaces as her father asks the question. She reaches to take one of Grace's hands in both of hers, looking up into Grace's eyes as she answers. "Well, daddy .... I came because I thought I should probably tell you something." Of course, this statement brings a rather befuddled look to her father's face, but her mother looks completely content to be tucked under her husband's arm.

Grace's grip is firm - relatively speaking, anyway - and once the handshake ends and she's pulled back towards the couch, she turns her eyes towards Kaylee and keeps them there until her hand is taken. She takes to softly clicking her teeth together as her eyes are met and the beginnings of Kaylee's news are gotten out, but rather than wait for the rest to come out, she clears her throat to speak.

"Yeah. Well." She holds their hands up slightly, then turns her eyes squarely to Roger and Sheryl. Mainly Roger. "We're dating. Few months now." A beat, and then her eyes flick momentarily to Sheryl and she pointedly clarifies, "Each other."

Kaylee meeps a little bit when Grace finishes the announcement before she was ready and ducks against Grace's shoulder, obviously scared of her parents reaction. It's a pretty childish sentiment and action, but then, it's Kaylee.

Roger's jaw goes slack and he stares, blinking. Obviously, Grace's statements aren't computing very well. Sheryl, on the other hand, only looks confused for a secon,d and then she laughs and wrinkles her nose at Grace. A very familiar gesture. "Oh come on. You guys are /too/ funny. But April Fool's was yesterday. Still, very funny!" she says. She then squeezes Roger and nudges him into a reaction. "Wasn't that funny dear?" she prods, less of a question than a prompting for the expected response. Roger, however, looks less deceived and more worried as he nods. He's obviously not as dense as his wife.

Kaylee bites her lower lip as introductions are made, but as Roger untangles himself from his daughter so that he can properly shake Grace's hand, she relaxes. Instead, she moves back to Grace's side, waiting while introductions are made, and basically ignoring her mother.

Once Roger is done shaking hands, his arm will go around his wife's waist as they move back to sit on the love seat. "So, Kaybee, what brings you back out to the West Coast? Is there some tournament or something I wasn't paying attention for?" Roger asks, as they settle down onto the love seat.

Kaylee tugs Grace back to the couch as well, and grimaces as her father asks the question. She reaches to take one of Grace's hands in both of hers, looking up into Grace's eyes as she answers. "Well, daddy .... I came because I thought I should probably tell you something." Of course, this statement brings a rather befuddled look to her father's face, but her mother looks completely content to be tucked under her husband's arm.

Grace's grip is firm - relatively speaking, anyway - and once the handshake ends and she's pulled back towards the couch, she turns her eyes towards Kaylee and keeps them there until her hand is taken. She takes to softly clicking her teeth together as her eyes are met and the beginnings of Kaylee's news are gotten out, but rather than wait for the rest to come out, she clears her throat to speak.

"Yeah. Well." She holds their hands up slightly, then turns her eyes squarely to Roger and Sheryl. Mainly Roger. "We're dating. Few months now." A beat, and then her eyes flick momentarily to Sheryl and she pointedly clarifies, "Each other."

Kaylee meeps a little bit when Grace finishes the announcement before she was ready and ducks against Grace's shoulder, obviously scared of her parents reaction. It's a pretty childish sentiment and action, but then, it's Kaylee.

Roger's jaw goes slack and he stares, blinking. Obviously, Grace's statements aren't computing very well. Sheryl, on the other hand, only looks confused for a secon,d and then she laughs and wrinkles her nose at Grace. A very familiar gesture. "Oh come on. You guys are /too/ funny. But April Fool's was yesterday. Still, very funny!" she says. She then squeezes Roger and nudges him into a reaction. "Wasn't that funny dear?" she prods, less of a question than a prompting for the expected response. Roger, however, looks less deceived and more worried as he nods. He's obviously not as dense as his wife.

Grace doesn't prevent Kaylee from hiding against her, but she does frown as she looks away from Roger and Sheryl to press her lips to the side of Kaylee's forehead in reassurance. Without looking up she murmurs, "Yeah, no, seriously, dating. Like, for real. Exclusively or whatever." With that, she finally meets Roger's eyes and returns to sitting up straight. "Surprise, I guess?"

Kaylee blushes furiously as her forehead is kissed. She looks at her father, eyes as big as saucers as she waits for him to say something, still clinging to Grace's arm for all she's worth.

Sheryl cants her head to the side when Grace kisses Kaylee, and then shakes her head a little. "But ... weren't there any boys in Metropolis? I mean, you're really cute, Kaylee. I'm sure you could have found a boyfriend if you tried," she offers, her brow knitting as she tries to figure out what her daughter was thinking.

"It's not /that/, Mom!" Kaylee starts to protest, but she's quickly silenced by her father putting his hand on Sheryl's knee and giving Kaylee 'a look.' She quickly closes her mouth and pouts, drooping her head down.

"Hon, I don't think Kaylee is dating Grace because she couldn't find a /boy/ to date," Roger says quite calmly to his wife. Sheryl turns to him and starts to protest, but she is also silenced by the look he gives her. So, she huffs and pouts in a manner very similar to Kaylee's, though her expression is more confused than dismayed. Roger looks back and forth between Kaylee for several seconds, before he finally speaks. "So. When did /this/ happen?" he asks, his tone neutral.

"Well, I sorta kissed her a few months ago and it went from there," Grace slowly replies, her eyes remaining trained on Roger. She's not glaring or angry or the like, persay; more like resolute and ready do go on the defensive should the need arise. The arm that isn't being clung to extends low enough to allow her to enfold Kaylee's hand entirely in her own two, just out of the desire to provide some kind of reassurance.

"Like I said; it's been a few months." A quick glance down at Kaylee, and then she dares to suggest in quiet tones, "I think she was as surprised as you, whatever it's worth."

Roger hrms and frowns as he listens. He is quiet again, just watching Kaylee. After a few moments, he finally hrmms and shakes his head. "I was worried about something like this," he finally says. "When you didn't date anyone back in high school, and when you wouldn't even let Anthony take you to your senior prom, I wondered. I guess I should have known."

Sheryl, however, isn't going down without a fight. "But how do you /know/ you don't like boys? I mean, have you ever /tried/ dating a boy? I mean, I know that one boy really liked you, back when you were 15. And Anthony always asks about you, you know he likes you. Why don't you go out with him? He's such a nice boy," she offers.

Kaylee, for her part, stays staring down at her hands, clasped in Grace's. However, when her mom talks, she finally does look up, exasperated. "I /do/ like boys! I've always liked boys! They wouldn't date /me/ back in high school! And Anthony is a jerk, mom. He's just nice to you because he wants to get in your pants, and I'm the only reason he has to come over and talk to you," Kaylee accuses, in her snippiest of manners.

"Ain't like she /can't/ like both," Grace offers helpfully and, well, carefully. All things considered, she's sort of aware of how little a father might not want to /hear/ that about his daughter just now.

Also, she refrains from noting that she can't really blame someone for wanting to get into Sheryl's pants, although she does sort of visibly lower her head and bite gently on her bottom lip in doing so. It is a barely suppressed smirk that really would do nobody any good just now.

"Kaylee!" Sheryl gasps in shock and horror. "That's a /terrible/ thing to say! Why would you even think such a thing? He's nothing but charming and complimentary. He's never /once/ even insinuated anything like that," she chides, glaring at her daughter now.

"/BECAUSE/, mom! He used to tell his friends in school all th-" Kaylee starts to argue, but her father cuts her off.

"Enough!" Roger demands, and both women fall silent. However, when they both turn to look at him, they don't really do so out of fear. While he may be king of the castle, it doesn't appear he's a tyrant or anything. After giving both of the ladies, moreso his wife than his daughter, a very stern look, he turns back to focus on Kaylee again. "Kaybee," he starts. "You know I'm gonna love you no matter what. But, have you thought about the choice you're making? Do you realize all the trouble your life has in store for you, if you decide to go down this route?"

While Grace doesn't think to try and interrupt whatever Roger might want to say... she still sort of looks between Sheryl and Kaylee as they fall silent before returning her eyes to the carpet as they roll.

"Your daughter... she's not stupid, you realize. She's not even doing this alone, and she's in one of the most forward-thinking cities in the world." Her eyes rise to meet Roger's, once more determined and ready. She squeezes Kaylee's hands tightly. "Better me, who gives a damn about protecting her and makin' sure she's safe than some guy who's staring at her mom's ass, right?"

Roger bristles a little at Grace's tone, and narrows his eyes slightly at Grace. "I'll thank you for not using such language in my house, young lady," he replies coolly. "And frankly, I think part of the problem might /be/ where she's living. She's never been the type to do very well alone. I'm not surprised she'd grow attached to the first person who was kind to her out there."

Now it's Kaylee's turn to be a little upset. "Daddy! That is /so/ totally NOT what happened. It wasn't even like that at /all/. It just ... it just sort of /happened/, really," she says, grimacing and looking down. It's a lot harder to sound determined when you're not sure of why. But, then she remembers why and she straightens back up. "But Grace really is the most awesomest girl, like /ever/. She's like, almost even Superman, without the whole flying or laser-y eyes and bulletbouncing stuff. Or the speed. Or the whole alien thing .... Okay, well, maybe not /that/ much like Superman, but she is still a really great person. She's even on the Titans!" Obviously, Kaylee needs to spend more XP on her arguing/persuasion skills.

"But, honey. You can't ... you know ... with a girl," Sheryl adds. Yay for contributing, right?

"Can't what? Accidentally get pregnant before 25?" Grace dryly offers to help Sheryl along, after staring at Kaylee in surprise at the burst of determination. Also sort of grinning; it's hard /not/ to be somewhat pleased when having her awesomeness enumerated on... even with the flubbing.

"Listen, sorry for being frank, I guess, but it's pretty true," she says to Roger once her eyes have returned to him. Rather than continuing to squeeze tightly, she's gently caressing the top of Kaylee's hand in encouragement. "She's doin' pretty well for being on her own; good job, decent friends... nice girlfriend. Doesn't sound like she's failing to me; what about you?"

"Frank doesn't mean crass," Roger corrects. "And as far as her success is concerned, I would count having a family as a success. Not having a girlfriend. Because for her, one precludes the other. I don't expect her to settle down anytime soon, but I would have preferred she do her 'expirementing' phase in college, instead of now, when she's got a television career and an image to uphold."

"But it's not a /phase/, Daddy!" Kaylee demands. And then she gets all defiant (triumphant?) towards her mother, tipping her nose up. "And actually, mom? There's /tons/ of ways to have sex with a girl. Aren't there, baby?" Kaylee says, turning and beeming at Grace. "Because that's what she meant, Grace. Sex. You and me, together, in bed, having sex. Babies come from the stork, according to my mom."

"Kaylee!" Sheryl practically erupts when Kaylee starts talking about the sex. She jumps up from the loveseat, but Roger is quick to pull her back down.

"Kaylee Lynn Blake, you will not talk that way. You know better," Roger says, stern as ever. To which Kaylee immediately winces and backs down.

It takes Grace a moment to actually return the smile, because she's really not any less surprised at Kaylee's suddenly firmly rebellious tone than her parents are. Her lips do wind up turning upwards in a knowing smile however, and upon turning to look at Sheryl and Roger again, it doesn't really fade; she sort of shrugs in innocence, though.

"There's plenty of ways to have a family with a girl if it /actually/ comes to it; you're worrying about nothing and you're kinda jumping the gun on even doing /that/, and by the way... I know it's your house, and she's your daughter..." Her eyes narrow the slightest bit during that brief trailing off, and then she finishes, "... but she deserves more respect than that. She's a--an /adult/, and a little self-expression's not gonna hurt anyone." There's a certain harshness in the word 'adult', probably because she had to stop herself from swearing just before saying it.

Her eyes flick to Kaylee, and after leaning down to peck her cheek briskly, she returns her gaze to the loveseat. "Your daughter's sleeping with another woman. It's scary. It's weird. It's /unexpected/. It's /not/ the end of the world."

As soon as Grace mentions that Kaylee is sleeping with another woman, Sheryl clasps her hands over her ears and runs out of the room. This leaves a very surprised and confused Roger on the loveseat by himself. He stares at his wife running up the stairs for a moment, and then starts scratching at the back of his neck. "Well. That's the /other/ reason we don't talk about stuff like that in front of her," he says with a grimace, shaking his head.

Kaylee winces and ducks her head as her mom runs off, leaning her head onto Grace's shoulder. "I'm sorry, daddy. I wasn't trying to make her /cry/."

"I know, hon. I know," he says. He sighs heavily and lays his head back onto the loveseat. "Well, you know you're mother, Kaybee. I think she's probably not going to be accepting this anytime soon." He then turns and looks over at Grace, raising an eyebrow. "So. /This/ is your type of girl, then? She's pretty ... huge, Kaybee." To which Kaylee just grins and snuggles up against Grace even more.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Kaylee chirps.

The shoulder that Kaylee isn't resting on is shrugged; Grace's eyes are sort of fixed on the room Sheryl ran off towards, since really, she wasn't trying to evoke /that/ kind of reaction.

"It works for me; I figure between the muscles, the tattoos, my skin... I'm plenty hot," she comments dryly. "Your daughter made me cover up before we came in, to be completely honest." With that, her eyes finally return to Roger, and with a head nudge towards the vanished Sheryl she asks, "She gonna be alright?"

Roger smirks a little and shrugs. "Been married to her 25 years. I stopped holding my breath for her to be 'alright' a long time ago," he jokes. "She's really sweet, and she means well. But, she's from the Hills, so she can be a spoiled brat sometimes." He then chuckles a little bit and nods towards Kaylee. "I'd imagine you've already seen some of that. But her mom is worse. Waaaay worse. Her parents disciplined with money. The more attention she got, the more money they gave her to stop getting attention."

"Daa-aaaddy! You shouldn't talk about Gramps and Nanny that way!" Kaylee whines, pouting at her father.

"See?" Roger replies, grinning openly now. He just chuckles as Kaylee miffs and nuzzles more against Grace. Roger looks at the pair for a moment, and thinks. "Cover up? What do you-," he cuts himself off. As soon as his mind shows him where it was headed, he apparently decided it needed a change of course. "Well, anyway. So, what do you do, ... Grace, was it? Did I hear her say you're on the Titans? Is that the WNBA team out there?"

"No, it's the superhero team out here," Grace says, smirking somewhat in understanding with regards to Roger's words about his daughter. She lowers her lips to the crown of Kaylee's head afterwards, murmuring, "'s okay, I bet you're way more reasonable," to her to try assuaging her poutiness somewhat. When she looks back up she gestures broadly and briefly with the hand that's been resting atop Kaylee's. "I work as a bouncer at a metahuman club, I've done bodyguard stuff here and there... I do a few things."

"Metahumans? Wait, so ... /you're/ a metahuman?" Roger asks, quite surprised. He then turns and frowns at Kaylee. "Kaybee, do you know how /dangerous/ that is? Metahumans are /always/ getting attacked. Or attacking. It's not safe," he admonishes.

"DaAaAaAad," Kaylee whines some more. "/Look/ at her! She's like, /super/ strong and stuff. And she's all tough and everything, too. She never gets hurt, and when she does, she gets better really fast. So she can totally protect me."

Roger frowns, apparently not convinced. "Oh yeah? Well what are your powers, then? Show me," he says, folding his arms across his chest as he looks at Grace.

Grace looks down at Kaylee when a demonstration is requested, and then at Roger, and then at Kaylee again. Finally, with a small, thoroughly amused noise she carefully extricates herself from Kaylee's grasp, stands, and nods.

"'Metas are so dangerous', 'Metas aren't safe to be around', 'Metas are always attacking people'," she rattles off in sarcastic tones as she approaches the loveseat. "Y'all aren't so perfect either, y'know," is said once she's more or less looming tall over Roger, and then she crouches to get her fingers beneath the bottom edge of the loveseat. With no effort at all, she stands... and the loveseat rises along with her, supported easily in her hand.

Roger eyes Grace suspiciously as she moves towards him. However, when she suddenly bends down and then lifts the loveseat, Roger included, into the air, his eyes go wide and he jumps off. "Holy shhhhhh-oot," he says, obviously changing his language as an afterthought. He looks Grace over again, obviously much more impressed now. Plus, the fact that he actually has to look /up/ at her is definitely a different experience for him. Then, his face grows more confused again, and he leans to look around Grace, at Kaylee. "But ... if she's /that/ strong ...," he trails off, not actually asking the question of his daughter.

Immediately knowing what her dad was getting at, Kaylee giggles and bounces up off of the couch to hop onto Grace's back and wrap her arms around her neck. "She's /super/ gentle, daddy. Especially around me. Like, it's /sooooo/ cute. When I first met her? She was all like, grumpy, and mean, and 'I'm big so you better do what I say or else I'll beat you up' and stuff. And like, where she works, with all the other metas and stuff, she's all 'ooo, I'm hardcore, I'm so tough' all the time. And she always wears these really bad clothes, and jeans or jean shorts and all these torn up t-shirts and stuff. But, she totally even straightened her hair for me, and got all dressed up, and she's all gentle and cuddly and snuggly and cute! It's /sooooo/ adorable," Kaylee chirps, scrunching her face up at her father and kissing Grace on the cheek.

"Yeah, well, listen, I've been doing this for a while--" Grace starts to explain as the loveseat is placed onto the ground again. However, she is cut off by Kaylee taking advantage of her crouched position by boarding her and allaying Roger's concerns with a slightly more delicate... if... sillier touch than she might have.

"Yeah, don't listen to her, my clothes are fine," she mutters after glancing between Kaylee and Roger. "Also, I'd have hit you in the mouth if you'd kept on bein' difficult, y'know; it's not anything /personal/, but, y'know." Her tone isn't especially malicious, and really, it borders on sarcasm.

Roger hmphs a little bit and tilts his chin up. "And then you and Kaylee would be looking for a hotel tonight, instead of staying here. And she'd definitely not be coming home again as long as you were in the picture," he warns.

Kaylee clicks her tongue and reaches back to swat at Grace's butt playfully. "Be /nice/!" she chides Grace. "She was just kidding, daddy. She wouldn't have hit you. She knows she would have had to deal with a pouty Kaylee all the way back to Metropolis. And probably for a while after that, too."

Roger nods and reclaims his place on the loveseat now that it's put back where it belongs. "So ... you're really serious, huh? About this girlfriend thing? ... is it because of what happened with Mike way back when?"

Grace doesn't really jump when her butt is smacked, but she does shoot her a look to communicate that she only mostly joking. She then backs towards the couch as she says, "I'm bein' plenty nice... and I think it's at least a little serious. Personally, whoever 'Mike' is, I'm betting me being built like a Howitzer was a big part of it," in glib tones.

When the couch is reached, she lightly smacks one of Kaylee's legs to bid her untangle herself so that they can actually sit again. While she's not /super/ worried about Roger's opinion, she's still somewhat cognizant of how undesireable his daughter riding around on some woman's back might be as far as things to witness go.

"No, it's not that," Kaylee says, shaking her head as she lets go of Grace's neck and slips back down onto the couch. She purses her lips for a second as she thinks about it, and then she shrugs. "I don't know /why/, dad. Not really. I just ... well, I mean, look at her. Grace /is/ pretty hot. And, probably, a small part of it was also that she's pretty masculine in some ways. Like, she /is/ super protective of me. And she likes to drink. I mean, she's not a drunk or anything because she can drink a whole whole lot because she's got some kinda metabolism or invulnerable thing going to where alcohol doesn't affect her as much so she won't get drunk unless she drinks a whole whole lot of really hard stuff. Well, I guess there was that time that she had the alien stuff, too, and it was pretty strong. But she doesn't really get drunk very often. Buzzed sometimes," Kaylee continues yammering. Mercifully, Roger holds up a hand to stop her.

"Well, Kaybee. I'm not ... /mad/ at you, or anything. And, if you like her that much, then I'm sure she's a really nice person, too. And I know you'll bug me to death until I say it, so yes, Kaybee, she is very pretty. You're lucky," Roger says. At being placated, Kaylee just grins happily. Roger sighs again and runs a hand over his bald head. He then chuckles and looks over at Grace again. "Well, I suppose I should get down to the dad thing, huh Kaybee? Saw a car out front. Why don't you go try and convince your mom you actually /want/ to date Grace, while her and I go and get your stuff and put it up in your room. Okay?"

Kaylee pouts and looks over at Grace, but gives in. She sighs and drags herself up off of the couch again. "Okay, daddy." She then turns to Grace and playfully warns, "Be /good/."

Once Kaylee's rambling has finished, Grace can't help but lowly chuckle, especially at her attempts to quantify the way that alcohol affects her (Half-)Amazonian body. She has barely any time at all to settle into the couch, however, so just as soon as her arm has fallen over Kaylee's shoulders, it is slipping away and she is rising from the couch with a non-chalant shrug.

"You really think you have to remind me?" she teases before looking to Roger and grinning broadly. "We can split it up if you want; make sure you get to haul some of it." A beat, and then a sidelong glance towards Kaylee. "Won't be hard; there's a million things out there.

With that,she's trekking towards the front door to, if not start hauling, at least open up the car.

Roger nods and stands again as well. Kaylee bounces over and gives him a quick peck on the cheek before turning for the stairway. "Love you, daddy!" she chirps on her way, and then practically skips up the steps in the direction her mother went.

Roger chuckles again at Grace's offer to split the luggage. "Sure. Man's got to have his pride, you know," he says as he heads for the front door. Like a gentlman, he opens it and lets Grace go through first. Once they're outside, Roger shakes his head and smirks. "You know, I've rehearsed this speech about a million times in my head, for when Kaylee would finally bring home a boyfriend. But, 'break her heart and I'll break your face' just doesn't feel right to say to a girl. Even one as big as you. And I doubt I could really threaten you with a face-breaking anyway, right?" he says as he follows her to the car.

Really, she /should/ be understanding of Roger's feelings; his daughter has just brought a giant woman home to inform her parents that they're dating, and it's plenty likely he's still doing some adjusting to the idea.

But Roger talking about face-breaking? It causes Grace to break out into laughter. She claps her hand over her mouth not long into it, and she soon manages to bring her volume down to the point where it's being more or less muffled by that hand, but her upper body is visibly shaking with mirth for a while after even that.

When the amusement finally passes, she jogs to the car to open it up, smirking broadly as she says, "No, and honest to God no dad's ever even tried that one before, either."

The keys are spun around on a finger once the trunk is open, and then they're pocketed. She hauls a couple of the largest items out, then turns her eyes towards Roger to say with far more seriousness, "You got nothin' to worry about, anyway."

Roger knows it probably seems funny to Grace, and he smiles good-naturedly about it. But, that doesn't deter him. "Yeah, sure. You can say that till you're blue in the face. But that's /my/ little girl. I have the right to worry about her as much as I care to," he says. He gets to the back of the car and puts his hands on his hips. "Huh," he declares, looking at the hordes of luggage Kaylee brought with her. He then chuckles and shakes his head a little bit. "That girl. D'ya know she filled her Hummer to the /brim/ with stuff, and was still crying because there were things she couldn't take? I swear, with the economy as bad as it is, she could employ half the nation just to carry her luggage when she travels."

"Yeah, she may have denied it in there, but I'm damn sure havin' someone to carry her million things around was a big part of her decision-making process," Grace quips in response. "I dunno what else she could /have/; that apartment is full of stuff. I thought I had a bunch of stuff, but no." With her two chosen items in hand, she trudges into the house to take them towards... wherever Kaylee's room is. Even if they're likely /awkward/, their not weighing much of anything to her helps her move at a quick clip.

Roger loads himself down with a gym bag and two more suitcases and follows after Grace. "Well, most of the furniture she got online. But, everything else? Came from either her bedroom, or the family room in the basement. Most of it from the basement, actually. I don't care what she keeps in her room, but she was pretty much holding the family room hostage, as well," Roger explains.

As they reach the steps, Roger points with his head as best he can. "Up, to the right, then back down the hallyway and to the left, end of the hall. And I hope you don't mind burgundy and gold. When she got in to USC, she redecorated again."

"Red and yellow? Reminds me of our first date..." Grace says as she briskly ascends. "She usually insists we hang out at her place, too... which is maybe a good thing if that's the case. God only knows what might happen if she started nestin' at mine," she adds with a little smirk and a teasing tone.

Roger's eyes bulge a little at the talk of Kaylee nesting anywhere. He has to close them tight and shake his head a little to make all the horrible thoughts go away. She's too young to be 'nesting'. Or 'hanging out,' for that matter. But, that's a lecture he'll have with her later.

Kaylee's room is very much as her father described it. Everything, except for one oak vanity dresser that looks really old, is either burgundy or gold. Plus, there is USC paraphenalia /every/where. Her bedroom here is easily a half size larger than her one in Metropolis, with enough room to move around that it could almost pass as a living room in other apartments. One wall is almost completely closet space, though it doesn't walk-in like her apartment closet. Plus, there's no bathroom attached. Still, it's huge. And the only part of the walls that are lacking any sort of USC reference is one corner, near the California king size bed, that is covered in its entirety by photos and cutouts of Kaylee and friends; mostly in sports attire of some variety.

"So yes, about dating my daughter ...," Roger trails off, his brow furrowing a little. "You know, if you were a guy, I'd know exactly what to say and ask. But you being a girl sure makes this a lot more complicated. That doesn't mean you're getting out of it, though. It's my damn right as her father to read you the riot act, and I've never gotten to do it before, so I'm gonna do it now, so help me, even if you /are/ a woman."

For a brief moment, Grace's mouth is agape as she takes the sheer size of the room in; it is /definitely/ approaching the size of her own living room, and while the rest of the house is certainly filled with its own niceties... this one in particular is rather striking.

The luggage is sat down carefully, and after Roger starts to hem and haw his way through telling her off, she's snapped out of her reverie and made to look towards him with an arched eyebrow. "I regenerate so fast I flat out can't get sick. I damn sure can't make her pregnant," she matter-of-factly notes. "So, I mean, what are we left with here? You don't want me to make a list for you or anything, do you?"

Roger glowers at Grace and folds his arms across his chest. He presses his lips together and furrows his brow as he thinks, and after several moments of not coming up with anything, he sighs and throws his hands up. "Dammit all. That girl, I swear. Not only does she never let me scold her by pulling that stupid cute trick thing she always does, but she doesn't even let me give her boyfriend a damn talking to."

Turning to head back for the rest of the luggage, Mr. Blake shakes his head again and chuckles. Then, he stops and turns around, shaking a finger at Grace. "Just because you're invincible doesn't mean I won't /try/ and enforce the rules. And there /are/ rules. Especially in this house. ... I'm just not sure what they all are yet. But I'll figure it out." He then nods to himself, apparently a bit more satisfied with himself. "Oh. And another thing. I don't know how much you know about Kaylee's background, or what you think about people in houses like these. But I earned every bit of this money, getting down in a four point stance and butting heads with guys my size and bigger for seventeen years. My wife might be spoiled and sheltered, and my daughter is spoiled and sheltered. But I'm not. I made this money with what God gave me. And I don't expect you to just respect me because I can afford the finer things in life. But I /do/ expect you to respect my home, and my family. That's rule number one."

Grace actually throws her arm amicably over Roger's shoulders as they walk towards the car, and with a grin she notes, "I've seen you play, and I've worked with guys suckin' on daddy's greenback teat; I already know you're different." Her eyes turn away from him as they walk downstairs, but her grin only broadens. "Long as you're okay with me and her, we got no problem." She then leans in to finish in a conspiratorial whisper, "But just between you and me, you maybe shoulda worked on the whole riot act a little bit harder; just to be safe."

With that, she pulls away from Roger and breaks into a very light jog to retrieve more stuff. "And if you wanna lemme know /how/ to deal with her going all sugar and spice, feel free, 'cause I could use the tips."

"Hah. Tips? Let HER win. Somehow, she always makes winning feel like losing, and losing feel like winning in the end, anyway," Roger replies. As he catches up to her at the car, he adds, "And can you at least /act/ like I put the fear of God in you or something. I mean, for Kaylee's sake." Then, a thought hits him that stops him dead in his tracks. After it's occured, he smacks his forehead and shakes his head several times. "Oh man. Now it's going to be Sheryl, Kaylee, /and/ Kaylee's girlfriend in my house." He then looks up to the sky and holds his arms out. "What gives? I thought I was supposed to /enjoy/ my retirement."

"Oh, come on, /really/?" Grace blurts with false hurt. She hauls out another armload of stuff, gestures slightly towards it with her chin, then looks to Roger with mock incredulity. "You really think you can lump me in? Just like that? The girl who's seen you play? Jesus, man." As she runs the bags back up she adds, "To think, I was almost gonna let Kaylee think you shook me up," with a smirk over her shoulder.

Roger smirks right back. "Yeah, well. She isn't scared of me either, so you'll just miss out on the pity points," he retorts, grabbing the last two smaller bags and closing the trunk. "Besides. Kaylee and Sheryl have seen /every/ game I played. Kaylee even understood what was going on in most of them." He then grins and laughs out loud hard enough that he has to bend over a little. "The question is, Miss Kaylee's Girlfriend who watches football, lifts loveseats, and thinks she's so tough: What has little miss sunshine gotten you to do? Because, it's Kaylee, and there isn't a person she's been friends with that she hasn't roped into doing something they absolutely wouldn't have wanted to normally do because she thinks it would be 'cute.'"

Wisely, Grace declines to share the one big thing that Kaylee tried to get her to do with Koriand'r; somehow, she is just able to sense that /maybe/ Roger is not ready to hear of that little escapade... ever.

"Well, she got me to come out /here/; that's gotta count for somethin'," she instead quips as she jogs upstairs. "And I know I'm tough. Plenty of people know I'm tough. It's just kinda what I do." The armload of stuff is set down carefully onto Kaylee's bed ocne she's inside of the room, and then she turns towards the approaching Roger, places her hands on her hips, and notes with an arched eyebrow and a smirk, "Even if Mister Blake, dude who's doing an okay job of adjusting to his daughter liking girls and telling me I should try and earn 'pity points' with her doesn't."

Roger sets his things down as well and shrugs. "Sure, sure. You're tough. I believe you. Mister tough girl. But, I know my daughter. And she? She eats tough for breakfast, pride for lunch, and humility for dinner," he says, grinning. He adds a shrug, as well, saying, "Besides. It doesn't really matter if I adjust to it or not. Kaylee's gonna do what she's gonna do. Have you tried telling her no? I can warn her, I can offer advice, and I can make recommendations. I don't know if you've had the experience yet, but telling Kaylee what she can or can't do? Not fun times. Even if you're absolutely, one hundred percent correct."

He then turns and heads back down the hall. "Well. Now that that's done, I'll go try and get those two to stop ... whatever you want to call it. I swear, listening to Kaylee and her mom have any kind of a disagreement is like putting two squirrels in a bag and shaking it up to see what kind of noise it makes."

"Once or twice; I came out of it okay, though," Grace remarks confidently. She's already heading towards the door, too, ready to offer backup without bothering to ask if she /should/ or not. It is only slightly because the argument between the two might be kind of amusing to watch in its way, given that she doesn't figure it could be terribly serious.

"I think I'm gettin' used to her as much as anyone /can/," she adds as she diappears through the doorway.

Roger heads towards the other end of the upstairs, past a few more rooms that have other purposes; one's got workout equipment, one's got hobby stuff, one's all video games. As he nears the other end, where his room presumably is, he turns and raises an eyebrow at Grace. "Um ... you can go wait downstairs, if you want. This isn't going to be pretty. Or easy. And I don't think you could really /help/. You sure you're ready to see this?" he asks.

Grace actually leans against the frame of that door as Roger checks to make sure she's certain; she nods firmly in response as she says, "'Mister tough girl' isn't gonna run away from a couple of rich white girls, man," with a bit of extra bite on her new nickname. "How bad could it /really/ be?"

"Heh. Hehehehe. Hah. Suit yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you," Roger warns. He then opens the door to his bedroom and takes a few steps in.

Inside the room, there are two women. One is blonde, one's a brunette. The taller brunette is standing with both fists clenched at her side, punching downward to accentuate her statements. The blonde is waving a shirt around wildly that she must have picked up from somewhere, as she walks around the room tidying things that are already clean. They are both talking at the top of their lungs (because if you shout, then you're fighting, but if you only talk, then it's a discussion), 'discussing' things. And, even Flash or Zoom would be impressed by how quickly they're speaking.

"All I'm saying is that there are plenty of really nice boys who I'm sure would love to date you if you only gave them a chance," Sheryl says.

"I /gave/ them a chance all through high school, mom, and even through college, and nobody ever asked me out or if they did all they wanted to know was it really true or was I some sort of freak or what happened with Mike or if I would sleep with them and none of them really liked /me/ so I couldn't go out with them!"

"Sure you could, honey! You have to give them a chance, get to know them first. I'm sure like Anthony would be totally into you or there was that Andrew boy that you were so close to in college because i always used to see you two together and then you just up and moved to the East Coast. What ever happened to him? Couldn't you like just call him up to at least see how he's doing?"

"Of course I could call him up! But Andrew was more into test tubes and computers than to girls! And besides, he was so totally not even my type!"

"Oh, but a totally humongous girl who doesn't even know how to dress /is/ your type? Since when was that your type?"

"Since I met her and we started dating! It wasn't like I planned this! I mean, can't you even be happy that I'm at least dating now?"

"But it's not even real dating! She's a /girl/!"

"Y'know," Grace drawls as she leans against the inner edge of the door, "I don't think you're lookin' at the up sides, here." She holds up her hand to start ticking things off. "No accidental pregnancies. No diseases - did anyone tell you I don't get sick? I don't get sick. Someone who can handle her emotionally without throwing their hands up and quitting. Someone who can handle her /physically/ without coppin' a compound fracture if she gets outta hand." She eyes her thumb being the only finger left for a moment, and then with a smirk she actually enters the room, headed for Kaylee with the intention of slipping an arm around her from behind in comforting fashion.

"Also, I may be 'humongous', and I may not walk outta the house looking like I just got back from Milan? But I am gorgeous. /And/ I can protect her, I can take care of her, and I know we dig each other; you wanna tell me what that all adds up to if it's not dating?"

Almost in unison, as Grace starts to interject in the argument, both women turn to her and don't shout, "STAY OUT OF IT." Then turn right back in on each other. Roger turns back over his shoulder and smirks, shrugging and mouthing, "Told you so." And the women continue fighting.

"And how do you figure it's not /real/ dating just because she's a girl? We go on dates!"

"Because! A real date, he shows up and brings flowers and takes you someplace nice and pulls out your chair and opens the door for you and is a gentleman! If you're going out with a girl, how do you decide who should do what?"

"We don't! We just do whatever we feel like doing. And she /does/ open doors for me, and pulls out my chair, and she does all these other things that are super nice!"

"If you want someone who will do all those things, then why don't you just date a boy?"

At this point, Roger tries to insert himself in the conversation, stepping forward and saying, "You know ...." Unfortunately? The pair turn to him in the exact same fashion and direct thim to "STAY OUT OF THIS!" So, he steps back and leans on the opposite wall from Grace. He shrugs and smirks. "We have to wait until they get back to the beginning again. By then, they're on autopilot. That's when we ask them a question about something else to confuse them, grab them, and run in opposite directions."

Grace, even with her words being ignored, tries to offer comfort /regardless/, especially because it's likely that she's never - or only rarely, if so - really seen Kaylee /this/ wound up. So her arms wind loosely around the brunette's waist, and she listens, peering in Roger's direction with sort of an understandingly mournful look.

"/Because/! I'm dating Grace! When I got to Metropolis, she was like the first person I met, and she's like totally hot and stuff but I wasn't even thinking about dating her until I went and saw her at work and she totally hit on me and she even kissed me and I was all like wow that was awesome and stuff and I really wasn't thinking like ohmygod what'll my parents think or even like ohmygod a girl just kissed me because it just felt so nice to be kissed and to have someone want me after all that it was like great so I was like what the heck because she's not like a serial killer or anything so what's the matter with dating her?"

"Oh, so just because she kissed you and you were all like starstruck or whatever, that's a good reason to start dating somebody? I mean how much did you even know about her? You just moved out there and see this huge woman ... and how did you even meet her in the first place? Because she /obviously/ doesn't shop where you would shop and I know we raised you better than to go meeting someone in a bar and going home with them the first night. You didn't sleep with her on the first night, did you?"

"Oh my god, mom! It's like so totally none of your business whether I slept with her or not! But for your information, no! Well, I mean, yes, we slept in the same bed or whatever, but we totally didn't do anything besides like kiss and stuff, so it wasn't really all that bad or anything."

Roger's eyebrows shoot up at this admission, and he looks over at Grace for confirmation. But, he knows better than to say anything.

"Ohmygod! You went home with her on the first night? What kind of an impression were you trying to make? Did you /want/ her to think you were easy? And why a girl in the first place? Or if it had to be a girl, how come it couldn't have been one of your nice, /cute/ friends from high school? I mean, you used to have some really cute friends. Ohmygod, you guys weren't screwing around back /then/, were you?"

"NO, mom! I didn't even know I liked girls until after Grace. I mean, like at basketball sometimes things would get a little weird, but it was always /weird/, so we never really did anything. But it wasn't weird with Grace, it was nice."

"Well it's even /nicer/ with a boy! I mean, think of all the other guys you could have dated. You probably could have gotten almost any of the boys on the football team. A tall, athletic girl like you? You so totally should have been homecoming queen and you could have had all the guys doting on you and everything but all you ever wanted to do was play basketball and practice basketball and watch basketball so much when you should have been out on dates trying to find the one!"

Grace returns Roger's look at the admission of 'sleeping' together on the first night, but she doesn't offer much more than a sheepish little grin and a shrug; there's not much more she /can/ do.

Especially after hearing Sheryl's wild manipulation of reality extend to trying to find some kind of root in Kaylee's high school friends. At that point, she goes from staring in wide-eyed surprise to ducking her head to hide the fact that she's beginning to laugh. It is restrained and muffled at first, but by the time that Sheryl moves on to admonishing Kaylee for being an athlete, the subtle jostling of her upper body shaking with quiet laughter is no doubt noticeable.

"Oh--oh my God... oh my /God/, what if she'd gone out... with the first boy she'd met in Metropolis, and--and made out with /him/ on the first night?" is managed amidst her laughter, and after that - regardless of whether she's shouted down or not again - she is unable to hold herself back from breaking out into very audible mirth.

Well, outright laughter does manage to do something that would normally have been deemed impossible. When Grace's laughter gets loud enough that it can no longer be not-shouted over, both the women stop and shoot lazer beams at Grace. Or would, if they could. Kaylee can't do lasers. Yet. Anyway. Maybe. But, the arguing does finally stop.

That, however, isn't necessarily a good thing. Turning back towards her mother, Kaylee stamps her foot. "Happy /now/?" she demands. And then she pushes away from Grace and stamps out of the room.

Roger quickly steps in, extending an arm to try and hug Kaylee, but whatever look she gives him causes him to jump back rather startled. He rubs at the back of his neck as he watches her go, frowning and turning back to the two women left. "Um ... hon?" he offers towards his wife.

"It's all /your/ fault!" Sheryl doesn't shout at Grace. Then, she too stamps out of the room. Roger doesn't even try to run interference this time. He just watches his wife walk past, blinks a few times, and then turns to look helplessly at Grace. "... and you thought it was silly for me to worry about having the three of you under my roof at once. You go find Kaylee. She's probably sitting in the car. Or one of the cars in the garage. I'll find Sheryl. Maybe we can calm them down in time for dinner."

Grace... probably /should/ have stopped laughing when Kaylee pushed away, but she couldn't quite manage it. She does get out, "Hey--hey, wait..." as Kaylee storms off, but that does no real good at all. With her arm folding over her mid-section as she /finally/ gets herself under control, she glances towards Roger to mutter, "Yeah, hopefully," A beat, a shake of the head, and then she slips her hands into her pockets and heads for the door. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I can do it without breaking your yet-to-be-written rule--" she begins before stopping, shooting him another look, and then just groaning.

"Yeah, anyway, sorry for setting 'em off, but but seriously. What the hell." With that, she is bounding down the stares to begin checking cars.

Kaylee is, indeed, sitting in the front passenger seat of the BMW parked outside, hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing. She's also shining a bright, angry red color. Which is something Grace wouldn't have seen before.

The bright light especially tells Grace to jog the rest of the way from the front door to the car, though she doesn't /really/ know what she's going to do once she gets down there. In lieu of any real plan, she decides to go with just trying to get the driver's side door open so that she can slip inside.

Proving that she R teh Smrt, Kaylee actually locked the doors. Of course, that isn't really going to do a whole lot, what with Grace having the keys from getting the luggage and everything. But still. If/When Grace does get in, Kaylee will just wail at her to go away and leave her alone. And the angry red glow is apparently actually an angry red field, preventing anything from pushing through it. And it's pretty durn strong, too.

Grace does, indeed, climb into the car, and just seeing the field extending out is enough to keep her from trying to make any kind of contact. She does sort of grimace and lean away as soon as the wailing begins... but rather than acquiesce, she clenches her jaw slightly and pulls the driver's side door shut. The brightness of the field causes her features to scrunch somewhat, but all the same, she is turning to look towards Kaylee to ask with quiet simplicity, "Shouldn't you know better than that by now, baby?"

"I don't care!" she wails. And then more crying.

"Yeah, well," Grace murmurs as she sinks into her seat to lean against the back and stretches her arm out along the headrests. She is silent for a second or two before she's finally able to add, "Sorry if I set you off, or something.";

"It's all her fault," Kaylee sobs. "Why is she such a bitch? It's not like I'm dating some horrible three eyed monster or anything. She doesn't even know you. All she cares about is that I'm not dating some athlete who she can brag about to all her little croney friends who hang around her because she's pretty and married to some athlete because they're all pretty and married to star somethingorothers and they won't approve of her daughter not being exactly like all of them because all they want is little clones who they can tell what to do and order around like robots and don't even care about how I feel or what I want because it's only about how they look when they're in their little group and being able to come and say my daughter did this or my daughter did that or my daughter is dating so and so who does this or that and they don't even care of so and so is a jerk or if he gets her pregnant and leaves or or anything as long as he looks good and is important to somebody who they think is important and it doesn't even matter if I don't even like him because they think I should want to date him just because they think he's special and I'm supposed to feel the exact same way!" And when Kaylee finally does take a breath, it's just so that she can start crying again.

There are no few winces as Kaylee once again proves her incredible lung capacity; Grace does reach to try laying a hand on her a few times, but the field being in the way stops and frustrates her both on each occasion. When the ranting finally gives way to more crying, she reaches over one last time, putting her hand over Kaylee's upper back as she quietly says, "Let her take her time; your dad doesn't hate me, or he's a hell of a good actor. /You/ like me, /I/ like me; so what if she isn't okay with it yet? I'm not dating her, she's not in our bed... she'll come around when she decides to give a damn about her daughter's happiness." 'till then, it's not worth the tears."

"Pfft. It's been 22 years and she hasn't started yet. I'm not holding my breath," Kaylee says, wiping at her eyes rubbing at her eyes which are still overflowing with tears. "She's always hated me not being her little doll. She didn't want a daughter, she wanted a toy, or a clone or something. She's the same as all her friends. Kids aren't like, children. They're status symbols. They're badges. And they're toys. I can't talk to her. She doesn't listen to me. She never has. She doesn't even live in the real world. You heard her. It's horrible."

"Baby," Grace quietly begins as she runs her hand up and down along the protective light, "I know she's your mom, and I know you must love her, but seriously... fuck her if she's not gonna take a second to think about what makes /you/ happy. I meant what I said about the tears... kinda sounds like 22 years of wasted ones."

"But she's my /mom/!" Kaylee sobs. She drops the light finally, and tries to lean across the console of the car to wrap her arms aroung Grace's neck so she can cry on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I--" Grace begins as she tries to lean into Kaylee's leaning to make things a /little/ less awkward. "I--you're a grown-ass woman, you deserve some kinda--" A beat, and then she purses her lips, glances behind them, then looks down to Kaylee again.

"Okay - and this is probably the only time I'll ever say this chastely - I think we should maybe get in the back seat. All this /shit/ between us..."

Kaylee just shakes her head and goes back to hugging her knees and burying her face in between them. "I just wanna be left alone for a while," she says.

Grace doesn't seem terribly eager to comply, but she's not really willing to press the issue just now, and so with a small nod and a half-hearted murmur of, "Yeah, I'll be inside, take your time," she slips out of the car and locks it up behind herself.

And then she re-enters the house to explore it. Not because she's curious about its architecture, of course, but because she's looking for one or both of Kaylee's parents. It isn't that she has anything terribly constructive thought up to say to either of them just now, but /she/ doesn't really want to be alone.

Well, exploring the house isn't going to do any good, since nobody is /in/ it at the moment. The Blake parents are in the back ... 'yard', if it qualifies as that. It's mostly concrete; a large-but-less-than-olympic sized kidney pool occupies the main area directly behind the house. There's also a basketball half court off to one side, and then the mammoth garage on the other side, with a stairwell that leads up to a story above the garage, which is the previously mentioned 'guest house.'

Sheryl is pacing back and forth on the far side of the pool while Roger stands, one hand on his forehead and the other one on his hip, trying to figure out how to stop his wife from spinning out of control.

"I mean, I don't know why she doesn't just date a boy because she's perfectly capable of finding one that's acceptable and handsome and cute because she's not an ugly girl and it's not like she doesn't know how to flirt because I know she does because she does it all the time when she goes shopping and stuff to try and get free stuff or to cut in line or get in places free or get tickets. So why doesn't she just date a boy? Because I totally don't understand why she's attracted to a girl, especially one like Grace since she's so totally different from her. I mean, what could they have in common?" Sheryl reasons.

"Well, they /like/ each other," Roger offers. "And ... you could always /ask/ her that."

Finding the yard and the Blakes within it is something of a challenge, between the hous's size and the many distractions in and around it. They are spotted eventually, though, and when they are, her hands jam into her pockets as she moves nearer to them. It is /kind/ of against her better judgment, but she pretty much habitually ignores that when it's convenient anyway; this is not really anything new.

"Your daughter's sobbing our rental car because you don't know how to cut the damn cord, so thanks for that," she flatly says to Sheryl when she is near enough to be heard.

Grace's approach went unnoticed by Roger, but her statement most certainly doesn't. "Watch it," he warns, frowning and moving both hands to his hip.

Unfortunately, Grace has already gotten Sheryl's attention. "Oh really? Really? And who are you, the midwife? It's your fault, you know. Taking advantage of our daughter like that. How could you? She was never into girls until you came along," she accuses, shaking her finger at Grace like it's a weapon.

"Yeah, trust me, I am," Grace snaps with a sidelong look towards Roger. Her eyes are then on Sheryl's finger and her arms are crossing defiantly over her chest. "Does it even matter right now? Were you even /listening/?"

Just as quickly as her arms crossed, they uncross so that she can gesticulate with both towards the car to punctuate her next few words. "Your daughter! Sobbing! Car! Bein' scandalized over me being a woman's pointless right now!"

"Well she wouldn't have anything to be crying about, if it wasn't for you, would she?!" Sheryl retorts. She then turns to Roger. "Get her out of here, I don't even want to see her. Look at what she did to our daughter!"

Roger frowns severely and narrows his eyes at his wife. "You know what? I've had about enough of this," he says. "Grace? You're right. Our daughter is sitting in a rental car, sobbing because of the fight she got in with her mom. How does you being here, /continuing/ to argue with her mom, help that? Do you /really/ think that's the /best/ thing you could be doing right now?" he asks, tilting his chin down to suggest he thinks otherwise. However, he's not finished. This time, his attention is turned to Sheryl. "Sheryl? Hon? Surprise. Our daughter came home with a girlfriend, instead of a boyfriend. Our daughter. Whose only other attempt at dating ended when her boyfriend was going to rape her, and then blamed /her/ for it afterwards. Who hasn't ever had a boyfriend, girlfriend, or even a best friend outside of her basketball teammates, and the daughters of all the other women you pal around with. Whose daughters, I might add, have accomplished nothing more than reality television shows and worse. And I'm not saying I'm on Grace's side, or that I /like/ the fact that my daughter is dating a lesbian. But I'm damn sure willing to give my daughter the benefit of the doubt in knowing what she needs to be happy."

This has Sheryl stopped dead in her tracks, as she just looks at Roger, her mouth opening and closing, but no words coming out.

Grace looks away from Sheryl and Roger both when castigated by the latter, and while she's still angry, there's some regret there too; that's as close as she gets to admitting that she should have maybe stayed away, though. She controls herself from saying anything in agreement when it's Sheryl's turn to get an earful from Roger, for all that she may be kind of on the same page... although she does look up at him out of an eye and comment lowly, "Word you want's 'bisexual', actually," towards the end.

Her head rolls around on her shoulders after that, and unlike Sheryl who is more or less dumbstruck, she's silent pretty much out of the need to think things over before she finally puts forth in a mutter, "All I was trying to say was, this crazy judgment bullshit's gotta stop /sometime/ for her sake."

"Pot? Meet kettle," Roger says to Grace sharply. "You've only known Kaylee for a few months, and you've only known my wife for a few minutes. So until you've been around long enough to know a little something? I'd suggest closing your not-very-smart mouth and keeping those kind of opinions to yourself. I know whose side you're on, and it's obvious why. But, really, how much different do you think Kaylee /is/ than her mother? She's no saint, and she's no victim. She will play that pity card all the livelong day if you let her. And, for your information? We don't actually have to like or accept our daughter's decisions in life. As her parents, that's our right. And frankly? I've had about enough of all three of you today. You're all being unreasonable, overbearing, and over reacting. So while I can't tell you what to do, I /can/ tell you that if you plan on staying in my house, with /my/ daughter tonight? This conversation is /over/ for the rest of the night. Am I clear?" he finishes, looking between both Sheryl and Grace. Sheryl finally just closes her mouth and looks down. So, now Roger gets to just look at Grace and wait for her response.

"She could be out there painting her nails and singing along with ABBA right now, and I'd still be pissed," Grace resolutely says. Her eyes are on Roger through both his speech and her response, and while she's /trying/ not to glare, she's only so successful at it. She also can't really bring herself to say anything further after that, at least not until she finally turns away to stalk towards the drive way once more. Even then, it is little more than a thoroughly exasperated mutter of, "Christ, you people, I swear," before she makes a dismissive motion with one hand that could maybe be understood as something like acceptance. As soon as it drops, both slide into her pockets.