apocalypsehowcomm | (log) It's Thanksgiving Time!

Who: Ren and You
When: Thanksgiving Day
Where: ADI's cafeteria
Summary: A little thanksgiving party for everyone.
Warnings: Alcohol, but other than that, none!

(It's finally the day! Ren's spent the day in the canteen, from the early hours of the morning with the help of Kate, until just close enough to the arranged time.

Several tables in the cafeteria are taken by the food, but there's still plenty of room to sit and spend time with your fellow ADI employees. After the previous month everyone has had, it feels much needed. Available is the following menu:

Deep-fried Turkey + Stuffing;
Ranch-Seasoned Roast Turkey + Stuffing;
Mashed Potatoes + Gravy;
Green Bean Casserole;
Cranberry Sauce;
Pasta alla Norma;
Sicilian Rice Balls;
S'mores Cupcakes
Pumpkin Pie;
Apple Pie;
Sweet Baked Potato;
Pecan Pie;
Roasted Vegetables;
Stuffed Mushrooms;
Squash Soup;
Garlicky Green Beans with Crispy Onions;
A selection of alcohol;

Ren's tried his best to recreate what the Internet and other folks have told him, and without him tasting the original flavors, some of the dishes might have an unexpected twist of spice. Kate has also helped with putting things together, and at the previously arranged time, Ren opens the doors with a smile from ear-to-ear.

Once everyone's settled, he'll ask for a moment to, gasp, speak:)

I'd like to thank everyone for coming today. I know it's been tough, but I'm still thankful we can spend good moments like these together. I hope you enjoy the food.

(And just like so, he'll bow, and hand plates to those ready to eat. Time to dig in!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A bowl of soup really is plenty for him, though. Plenty.

He narrows his eyes at her.

“Get right to what?”

"What we discussed over coffee?" If he thinks that she's forgotten it or what she showed him, he is going to be sorely mistaken.

“I don’t have any new information for you; I would have called if I did,” he tells her.

"Oh," Kate replies and feels a little disappointed. She should have paid attention to who Malcolm had been talking to earlier but her mind doesn't think like that, not yet at any rate.

“Has this person contacted you again?” Malcolm asks. He’s not disinterested, but he has his suspicions and he doesn’t like where they’re pointing.

"They have not but to be honest, I blocked that number."

“Given they texted you from a burner phone to start with, I’m sure they could have gotten their hands on another if they wanted to harass you some more,” Malcolm points out. “Maybe it was just a prank. There are a lot of very young people here.”

The look Kate gives Malcolm conveys her skepticism that it had been a prank. "I don't believe it was a prank even if there are a lot of younger people here."

“Well, I’ve got feelers out. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

He hesitates.

“Are you sure that’s what you wanted to talk to me about?” Because there was a stabbing.

"Thank you."

Kate looks at Malcolm. Yes, she does want to talk about the stabbing. She wants to talk about the slowness of it, how she fought and fought but couldn't break free. "I don't know if you're right person to talk to about it but I also don't trust talking to anyone at ADI." She lets out a little breath. "While most of us were dreaming, I was alone but I don't have flashbacks of that. I have them of your father murdering me."

“He murdered five people. I’m sure that doesn’t make you feel better. This probably won’t, either, but I’m sorry,” he tells her.

"Thank you." She doesn't blame him. Kate believes that he was just as helpless as she had been. He had been there, though. He had been physically unharmed. However, the same cannot be said for the mental damage that had been inflicted. "Did he kill everyone else slowly or was it just me?"

“No, that’s…” He shifts his weight and puts down his soup. “That’s how he does it.”

Kate is slow to respond after that. She folds her hands in her lap. "So he likes to play with his food first? That's something." She lets out another breath. "It's a good thing he's not really here."

“Let’s hope it stays that way. He’s a predatory psychopath; he does it slowly because it’s the power over life and death that he feeds on. He likes making people afraid. He likes making them squirm and beg. He likes control.”

"How are you so unlike him?"

“If I am, it’s because of Gil and because of my mother and because I spend all of every day choosing to be,” he tells her.

"If?" Kate tilts her head at him. "What makes you question that? You're not like him."

“Good. Because the genetics of psychopathy is… inconclusive,” Malcolm tells her.

"That sounds foreboding. And that's why you try so hard." That's not a question, merely an observable fact. "Well..." Her voice trails off. "It makes sense."

“I know. I have a degree in it from Harvard. I’m not pulling psychopathy tips and tricks out of my backside,” he informs her.

"I didn't think you were," she retorts. "Do people really think you do that?"

He laughs and shrugs a shoulder.

“Some people think psychology is a bunch of hokum, full stop,” he tells her.

Kate finds herself smiling. It's the first time she's heard Malcolm laugh and it is not a bitter sound. "That's silly. It's a science."

((OOC: BB! Sorry for the default icons. I'm at work.))

"Some people think science is hokum," he points out.

(no subject)

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