In which a man and his sister move in [HANDOUTS+CHINAGRETEL]

[handouts]

Creaaak- EXHAUST. And with that, a dim diesel rumble. A moving truck sits in front of one of the empty complex rooms, and at the wheel of the little uhaul, Kai slumps.

God, he shouldn't be this tired from driving thirty minutes down the road with just his off hand in front of his sister. She probably already wants to kill him for how useless his injuries are making him. Absolutely no lifting, says the nice doctor. Not that he didn't try anyway, and bend double for breath, holding his ribs.

The blond girl next to him seems to be pointedly ignoring him, texting away on a cell phone paid out to the end of the month.
This hasn't been the best month for Rylie either, naturally, but when a fourteen-year-old girl has to call on a posse of would-be-boyfriends and buddies after the estate sale, and pack up the majority of odds and ends herself you know you're in sad shape.

He'd swear there's transparent evasion in all those friends suddenly being too busy to help her move in. Rylie does NOT approve of their new place, does not approve of having people realize she's suddenly not in such good shape financially. She's not even officially guardian'd up yet, with all the paperwork and shit.

Enormity sits like a weight on Kai's shoulders, but he straightens up and forces an eyebrow waggle--the kind Rylie always hated.

He is so bad at being their dad.

God, how are they going to get this to the second floor?
Fortunately, he's got resting bitchface to hide that.

They didn't even sing stupid songs on the way over.
Does she still do that? The last time they really spent more than a chance weekend in the same space, his sister was twelve. Now she's a bleach-blonde and a cheerleader.
She's a total stranger, and he's not the artsy older brother with bad taste anymore.

What the Hell are they going to do?

"Ready to move in?"

She ignores him, texting away with her thumbs, booted feet scrunched up on the edge of the seat, hunching her in.

Kai reaches out, and taps her knee, "Hey-"

"get off. i got it." Rylie snaps, clicking her gum at him, with a knock of her knee, stowing the phone and wrenching open the door with a twist.

She slams it after her, and Kai can't help but cringe a little on the inside.

He slides out of the cab after her, wondering if maybe he can fudge carrying in their winter coats or some blankets or something, wondering when he's supposed to get used to actually being less useful than a normal human being, and if he'll have enough rent to avoid getting evicted in two months.

Must be nice to still be a teenager...

Comments

A wild Grace appears! *Cue pokemon battle music*

[miniskirtsandcombatboots]

Grace makes it her business to know what's going on around the complex. Who's moving in. Who's moving out. She likes to know who her neighbors are. Mostly to see who she can count on to wrangle some freebies out of on occasion. Meals, usually. She can't cook. Dell can't cook. Sky was only really good for basic meals. And there was only so much she could put up with her sister's husband, oh so unaffectionately nicknamed 'King Kong' so dinners at her place were typically out.

But hey, you never knew when it could come in handy to be on friendly terms with the neighbors. People could be so useful. She grabs Sky's arm on the way through the living room.

"Come on. Text Hunter and get him to come over. We're going to go play nice with the new neighbors. He'll be more useful than you on that front."

She hauls him, complaining all the way, out to greet the newcomers with a grin.

"Hey there! Welcome to the complex!"

She pointedly ignored Sky's whispering curses under his breath, pulling him against her side so he doesn't scamper away somewhere. Grin and wave. Grin and wave.

/tosses Neil in post!move in

[best_guard_dog]

[Neil made regular stops at the complex building in his neighborhood. Most of his friends lived there. Including his lifelong best friend and crush, Izumi. Whom he'd been dropping in on today. But apparently, Izumi still didn't appreciate being serenaded while he was trying to study for upcoming tests and had kicked him out after the second song.

He made a stop at the Walker household but Devin was out on a date, Erin was probably over at Lucas' place and Poncio had a late shift at the cafe. Still too early to go by the cafe and wait to walk Poncio home, so he's taking a walk around the place and weighing his options. That's when he spots someone he recognizes from the random tea party a while back. He raises a hand in greeting.]

Hey, Captain Hook. You never call. You never write. You never text me hearts. I thought we had something special.

[Greeting status: nailed it.]