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Katie sits spinning in Multi's office chair, which he didn't often appreciate when he was trying to work. She was lucky it was his turn to deal with Nacho's bath time today, her scientist outfit was nice and clean. She scrolls through her communicator messages that she had left unread, she always took a little too long to respond, before stumbling across a message from Ash.
ashswag whispered to you
ashswag: family dinner @ regime tonight?
ashswag: pls we miss u
saucebxss: omg HELL YEAH!
saucebxss: I'll bring multi and nacho too, it'll be so cute
ashswag: I meant just you Katie
saucebxss: they're family too, we'll see u tn!!
Katie squeals from the chair, spinning once more to see Multi stood in the doorway holding Nacho. Water dripped from.. well, head to toe. "I take it bath time went well?" She grins at the two of them. "While your majesty sits around, Nacho thought it would be funny to make a tidal.. wave." Multi gives a tight-lipped smile, putting Nacho down. "What are you so happy about?" He asks, taking off his coat to put off to the side to dry. "Welllll, we're going to dinner with my brothers tonight." Katie drawls out with maybe the biggest smile ever on her face. Multi completely freezes up. "What?" He utters, turning very slowly to her.
"What?" She echoes. "Ash invited me, and I said we'd go." Rolling her shoulders back. "Katie, your brothers hate me - surely you.. can just go?" He huffs out, almost nervously. Katie was oblivious to the fact that this would be an incredibly awkward night if Multi shows up, she only wanted her entire family there. "But I want us all to be there." Her smile falters slightly. "Do you not want to go?" Asking a little quieter, Katie looked a little humiliated - which makes Multi regret not immediately agreeing. "No, of course I will go. I am going to go shower and get changed then." He holds back a little sigh, smiling shortly at her. "You are getting Nacho ready though." He adds very quickly on his way back out of the door.
"Gah - but!" Multi had already gone. Katie just laughs down to Nacho, who was still running around the room - playing with things he probably shouldn't be touching. "Cmon then, Buddy. I think I bought you a bow tie you can wear.." Getting up from the chair and wandering towards Nacho's room while he follows along with little laughs.
Ash stares at his communicator, contemplating his entire life at Katie's last message. How had he accidentally managed to invite Multi, a murderer, and Nacho, his baby murderer, into the regime for dinner. Katie really was going to be the death of him, he couldn't stand the idea of him being there. "Doooooon." Ash whines, resting his forehead against the kitchen countertop. Don was cutting up some broccoli for dinner later. "What? Is she busy?" He assumes, glancing over to Ash. "She is a business woman, you know." Don reminds gently, a small grin crossing his face. "Yeah, well - she's also a mother who is insisting her evil family should come tonight." That gets Don's attention. "Multi's coming here?" He squints, to which Ash nods reluctantly.
"You can't kill him tonight." Blurting immediately afterward. "Katie would be devastated, so you're going to have to suck it up this time bro." Don sighs, shrugging subtly. He slides the broccoli into the pot and rests the palms of his hands on the countertop. "This is going to be a disaster, Katie seriously needs an intervention or something man." Ash lifts his forehead from the counter, frowning at Don. ".. Invite Schlatt then." He huffs out, which he was joking about, but Ash seemed to take it a little more seriously than expected.
His expression brightens. "Holy shit, great idea. He'll talk her out of staying with those evil psychopaths." Getting up from the stool and pulling out his waystone. "Wait, I wasn't really being serio-" And Ash was gone. Don only hoped Katie wouldn't find out this disaster was his fault.
Katie, Multi and Nacho each stand in front of the Regime's tower, looking up at it. The bottom floor had been renovated to be the family dining room, but Katie hadn't been here in a while. Her priorities had been.. elsewhere. She looks at Multi, whose cheeks were puffed out of pure stress. "Hey, it'll be fun" She tries to reassure, but he shakes his head. "This is going to be torture, you are torturing me Katie." He looks over to her now, eyes a little wider than usual. She opens her arms, smiling gently. "You look like you need it, don't worry - I won't tell a soul." Katie stands there for a little while, and she starts to notice her arms were beginning to hurt. Okay, maybe time to put them down..
Multi grunts, stepping forward to hug her very quickly. "It was painful to watch you standing like that." He mutters with his face buried into her shoulder, he can also feel Nacho nuzzling into his leg. He had to admit this was comforting, and the feeling of her laughing while she was wrapped around him made him feel warm inside. His comfort slips away quicker than he'd like though when she pulls back. "Hey Ash!" Waving her arm towards him, he was stood at the entrance and Multi suddenly regrets accepting the hug. He can hear Ash grumble a small "Eugh.." before fixing his expression for Katie.
"Hii, Katie." Trying to fix his best, genuine smile at her when she rushes over to hug him. Their hug is shorter though, and Ash's gaze seemed to shift over to Multi and Nacho throughout it. "Hi, Multi.. Nacho." Smile dropping instantly. Multi clears his throat awkwardly, flashing a very brief smile of acknowledgement. He looks to Katie for support too, and she flicks Ash's arm. "Ow!" He whips around to face her. "Be nice." She scolds quietly, before motioning for Multi and Nacho to follow her inside. She heads inside first, and Ash lags behind until Multi is in earshot. "You're only here because Katie wanted you here." He mutters bitterly. "Don't I know it." He returns with the same sourness Ash gives him. He didn't want to be here either, but Katie asked him to be.
Inside, Multi sees Don plating up food in the kitchen. He waves to Multi and Nacho half-heartedly, turning his attention to Katie who was over the moon to see her big brother. She hugs him so tightly that Multi wasn't sure if Don could even breathe, but he laughs nonetheless. He catches himself though, and looks down to Nacho instead. "Let's go see where you can sit.." He hums softly. Katie finally lets go of Don, pulling back with a grin. "You are very lucky I did not have a knife in my hand." He comments, snorting. She leans against the counter, watching Multi and Nacho walk through the dining room awkwardly. "How's.. the family been?" Don tries his best to be supportive, continuing to plate up food.
"It's been.. really good, actually." Her expression softens, watching Multi set up the highchair for Nacho. "Yeah, really good." Repeating in a mumble. Don sees it. He knew Katie better than he knew himself, and he had to pretend like he couldn't read her mind. "You know, I'm happy for you. This is all I've ever wanted for you.." He frowns at her. Katie was expecting a 'but' at the end of his comment, but Don seems to suppress it and just smile at her. He was trying his hardest. "I just wish Ash was too." Katie laughs humourlessly, walking toward Multi and Nacho. Guilt pangs at Don's chest. Why was it so difficult for their family to be happy together?
Multi lifts Nacho into the highchair, which earns an adoring sound out of Katie. "Aww!" She pouts at the two, pulling out her camera. "Say cheese!" She grins widely at the two, which makes Multi laugh - reluctantly complying. "Cheeseeee." Multi drawls, smiling. Ash stares at them from afar, before hearing the camera click. "Jesus Christ. Where are you, Schlatt?" He mutters under his breath, before hearing a "Right here, idiot." from directly behind him. Ash whips around, practically jumping from his skin. "Fuck, man - you scared me!" Ash exhales deeply, Schlatt only stares back. "Yeah, yeah. I'm starving. Where's.." He squints, but not for very long..
"MR. J!!!!!!!!" A very loud screech, bolting straight toward him and practically jumping onto him for a hug. She wraps her legs around him, almost knocking him right off of his feet. He laughs, supporting her with a hand on her back. "There she is!" Multi straightens from where he's stood. How was this getting even more awkward for him? Her two brothers and now her father too? Oh, kill him now. It would be a mercy at this rate. "Oh, Kurwa - Nacho this is hell." He whispers to his son, before Katie waves at him to signal him over. He picks up Nacho from the highchair, heart beating in his ears. Katie really did owe him after this, he could genuinely throw up. "Mr. J, this is Multi." She rests her hand on his shoulder, and he hopes he's not gone red. This was just unbelievably awkward for him. "Hi." He says quickly. "And this is our son, Nacho!" Katie motions down to the egg in Multi's arm, and Schlatt's jaw drops a little - although Multi's not sure if that was because he was just drunk. "You two have a son?" He says, very slowly. Multi looks to Katie, who was nodding eagerly to Schlatt. He also spots Ash in the corner of his eye perking up, as if he was anticipating something.
He just grunts, shaking his head. "If you're happy, then I'm happy, B." Katie's expression only brightens, still holding onto his shoulder gently. Multi notices that she inches closer slightly, but he's not sure if it was intentional. Schlatt gives Multi a look once more, before heading straight to the table. "You heard that? He's happy for us!" She whisper shouts in his ear, leaning onto him while she looks down at Nacho. He nods along subtly. "One less person who hates me in this room, I think." Multi tries to take the win, and she frowns, looking at him from where she was leaning. "Well, I don't hate you either. Nacho loves you.. just ignore Ash." Hand shifting briefly to the nape of his neck, before she pulls away and walks over to the table too. He swallows, turning on his heels to follow after. "What am I doing, Nacho?" He mutters. "Dada nervous?" Nacho says, a little too loud for Multi's comfort. "Shh, shh. Nono, just awkward." He denies, putting Nacho back in the highchair and sitting next to Katie. Conveniently enough, Ash is sat directly opposite him. He now wishes he had beat Katie to the table.
Now that everyone was sat down at the table with their food in front of them, things had become increasingly awkward. Multi glances around the table to see Schlatt already trying to devour his food, which he quickly realised was too hot. He also saw Don looking in Ash's direction, which he wasn't too sure why until he looked to see.. Ash staring daggers at him. He purses his lips, looking down to stir his food with his fork. "Why is this awkward all of a sudden?" Schlatt pipes up, blunt as ever. He takes a swig of his drink, which seemed strong enough because it made him wince uncomfortably. Don shrinks into his chair a little, coughing. Ash, however, sits up in his chair. "I don't know, maybe because Katie's family are murderers." He shrugs casually, shooting a distasteful look to both Multi and Nacho. Katie drops her fork onto her plate. "Ash!" She snaps. "What?" Schlatt goes a little slack-jawed. "We are not murderers!" Multi quickly leans forward, speaking directly to Schlatt. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to clarify.
"Don't lie to him." Ash spat, disgusted. "Ash, stop. That's enough." Don intervenes, "This isn't the time or the place." He awkwardly tries to go back to eating, shoving a mouthful of the spaghetti in his mouth. Schlatt is quiet for a while, making brief eye contact with Ash who was blinking at him very loudly. "Ohh.." He looks back to his plate, unbothered enough to go back to eating too. Katie didn't like the sound he had made though, which admittedly sounded as if he realised something. Multi could see her getting pissed. His foot shuffles underneath the table, pressing against hers to try reassure her. A patient, tight-lipped smile flashes onto her face. "What do you mean, 'ohh', Mr. J?" She glances to Multi appreciatively, before furrowing her brows at her father. Don locks eyes with Ash, who was now biting his lip nervously. "That's why Ash invited me then. Ha, it's like an intervention." Laughing dryly to himself. Multi watched every ounce of joy she had been feeling tonight drain from her face.
Oh, Katie was mad.
The whole table had gone quiet, besides the occasional scrape of Nacho's fork on his plate. "..Katie," Ash starts nervously, but Katie stops him. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She scoffed, dryly. "Ash, choose the next words out of your mouth very carefully - because, wow - I just?" Katie leans back in her chair, crossing her arms. She looks at Multi in disbelief, he only frowns at her uneasily. This was meant to be an intervention? He crashed an intervention about him. He slides down in his chair, choosing not to say anything. He thinks this is between Katie and her family. "It wasn't meant to be an intervention!" Ash quickly defends, "It was Don's idea to invite -" Don chokes on his food, dropping his fork now too. "Don't bring me into this, bro!" Panicking and looking to Katie. "I was kidding when I said it, I didn't think Ash would take me seriously." He quickly tries to explain himself. Schlatt finishes his drink, grimacing. He exchanges a glance with Multi, with an awkward look painted across both of their faces.
Katie just gives them both a disbelieving laugh, looking back to her untouched plate. The silence was much louder this time around, and Multi couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut. "The - the food is great." He mutters in Don's direction. God, this was awkward. Don gives a short, awkward smile of appreciation to Multi. "Thanks -" He's quickly cut off.
"I just don't think they're worth the risk to play 'family', Katie." Ash shrugs half-heartedly. Multi winces, biting his cheek. Ouch. That was one way to get to him, this whole family stuff really was a sensitive topic. He loved what he had with Katie and Nacho, he considered them a real family. "You asshole." Katie scoffs under her breath, but Multi hears it - and he thinks Don did too. "She's not playing pretend." He finally pipes up, sitting up in his chair. He can see Katie's eyes had glossed over a little, and Multi wasn't sure if he was making it worse or any better. It finally seems to hit Ash that his wording may have been a little more insulting than he intended it to be, and he starts to backtrack. "Katie, you know that's not what I -"
"That's exactly what you meant." Her tone laced with bitterness, she uses the palms of her hands to push her chair back - it scraping against the ground. Oh, thank you Katie - was all Multi could think. He looks back to Don and Ash though, who were visibly upset too now. Katie lets Nacho out of the highchair and onto the ground, he seemed like he was ready to run around again regardless. "We're leaving," She reaches over to Multi now, pulling him from his chair by the hand. Her fingers squeeze pretty tightly, but he thinks she was just trying not to cry.
"Cmon, B, don't go." Schlatt frowns at her, he had no idea what he was getting himself into tonight.
Don and Ash had both been completely silenced, neither of them knew what to say. Katie believed an apology to their family would've been a good start, but apparently that was too picky. "Mr. J, you're always welcome to dinner with us - we have a spare chair at our table." Katie offers slowly, and Multi pauses. Our table? Last time he checked, it was his table, but he guesses Katie staying there sometimes would eventually lead to her referring to his stuff as both of theirs. Strangely, he wouldn't complain. It was nice sharing something with her. "You two.." She motions between Don and Ash. "I don't - I can't even look at you. God forbid I'm happy, right?" She laughs dryly, looking to Multi. He sucks in his cheeks slightly, squeezing her hand in return. She loosens her grip slightly, trying to relax. The three of them start heading out, Katie shouting "Thanks for dinner - or intervention apparently!" without so much as turning around.
"Well, that was a shitshow." Schlatt remarks with a mouthful of food. "..Shut up, Schlatt." Ash grumbles.
The last place Multi had expected to end up at tonight was Katie's KFC, the three of them sat in one of the vibrant, red booths. Katie watches Nacho begin devouring the chicken and fries she had put in front of him, and was waiting for Multi to eat some. She looked exhausted, her smile heavier than before tonight. So, to make her happy, Multi starts to eat the chicken. She rests her cheek on the palm of her hand, watching Multi and Nacho. This was all Katie needed. "You need to eat too." He shoves his food in-between them for the two to share. "Hold on," Katie brightens slightly, getting up.
Multi watches her dig around her pocket to pull out a single SchlattCoin. He didn't even think those were real. She slots it into the retro-style jukebox in front of her, choosing a song very carefully.
'Don't delete the kisses - Wolf Alice' starts to strum throughout the KFC. Multi snorts as Katie comes back over to sit down, digging into her food. "This is so much better than Don's shitty pasta." Katie mumbles through bites. "Yay, mama!" Nacho spins in agreement, still eating. Multi hums softly, still looking at Katie. "You know what would be better though?" He leans over slightly, bumping her with his shoulder. "What?" She blinks, lost.
"Popeyes." He grins, which is met with Katie groaning. "Ohmygod, you and that fuckass Popeyes." She drawls, head dropping to Multi's shoulder. "I'm kidding, kidding." He rests his chin on her head. "Don't worry, all this will work itself out - I'm sure." Multi was not sure, but she needed to hear something right now. Katie lets out a defeated huff either way, putting her food down. "And if it doesn't?" Countering him. He hesitates for a moment, but plants a kiss to the top of her head. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he powers through nonetheless.
"Then I will still be here," Quieter now. "we will still be here." His gaze shifts carefully over to their son, and so does Katie's. He could've sworn he heard her mutter a small 'thank you', but he chooses not to acknowledge it this time.