elisequinn

[elisequinn]

"Hmm, that perfectionism is a family trait, huh?" For better or for worse, it was. So many of their family members were strict type A sorts, after all. "Well, I think in that case they've got ample sitters on hand, right now. And I don't have that many other friends with kids."

“If something doesn’t look right, I’m not going to stop fidgeting or rearranging until it does. If that means taking decor from display, so be it.” Especially when it came to her own environment. A clean room made for a clean mind. “Don’t get me wrong, Rosalyn is the cutest little miniature version of Delia, but I’m not going to jump at babysitting for extended periods of time.”

[elisequinn]

"No, no. I'd do it when we are not trying to eat ourselves," she adds. Elise's stomach was pretty strong after all these years, but she couldn't imagine Nari had the same fortitude just yet. "See, I'm too old for that, I'm afraid. If someone tried to do that with me now, I'd end up leaving to go to sleep halfway through the partying. I could maybe make it until two or three but even then, I'd hate it."

"I bet that you could tell stories that are real doozies when it comes to the gross things that can happen to food," her nose scrunched up at the thought, shaking her head, "not that you should do that here, at this part," because it didn't really seem like the sort of thing you shared with your friends at a fun, party setting, but still. Horror stories, none the less. "No, thank God. I've been to a few in my day where I can specifically remember the sun coming up, and we were still out, not even hanging out at home or in a hotel or something. I'm pretty sure I would need more than the week between now and the wedding to recuperate."

[elisequinn]

"Well, hopefully it wouldn't get that far, but..." Elise trailed off. She was sure Cage would never do anything to harm either Colton's reputation or his own, in that order. "Almost isn't quite the same as actually doing anything, but it gets you maybe half a point, only because this is your very special day." With a grin, she took the initiative to spin him on the dance floor. "Now you'll have to come up with more surprising secrets for the future."

"Which seems like a good idea, until the school is calling me to tell me that my son needs to be picked up from school because he's stinky and a distraction from learning," which probably would happen, and then Cage would look like the bad parent and… hence the laundry was going to be done by an adult, he supposed. "To be fair, the family lawyer had to take care of all of the name changes and titles and deeds and everything else," he laughed, "and I had to tell Kellan so he didn't do something dumb like run off and get himself ordained. I almost told you a bunch of times. Does that count?" It had been a hard secret to keep, especially from the people that he loved the most, but it had been a nice secret for a little while, too. "I definitely do not plan on it, no."

[elisequinn]

I'm not an expert at cat grooming, and I like to think if I get to go to the salon now and then, so should the cats, right? See, i like the way you think. Although I don't know if they'd last long with the diamond collars, to be honest. Knowing them, they'd escape it. That's right, it's easy to justify it when you've got the whole picture in front of you and it doesn't seem complete.

Oh, me too! Mallow gets groomed whenever she wants at home, she loves to come rub her head on the brush to let me know that it's time to pay attention to her, but the groomers really know how to keep her fur looking as luxurious as possible, so I rely on them a lot. That's actually a very valid point, they would expect you to buy them toys and feed and clothe them when that money could go to diamond-covered collars for your fur babies. Priorities. Exactly! Although I do end up buying more decorations at Black Friday. But! If I'm already decorated, I know that I don't have those things and therefore need them. Right?

[elisequinn]

All of those things. I even take them to the expensive groomers where they get special treatment. I could never have kids because it would cut into my budget to pamper my cats and that's really not fair to them, is it? I'm just happy the cats love me, at the end of the day. It's just easier that way, as well, because then you don't have to go Black Friday shopping and decorate for Christmas all at once.

Feeds them, gives them treats, trims their nails… gives them all sorts of toys, too, I'd imagine! I can't see you not spoiling them rotten as much as possible, after all. But I get you, I'm the same way. If someone were to buy me fancy food every day, I'm pretty sure they'd have me for life. That's true, but I find it hard to be upset with it the older I get, do you know what I mean? People start pulling out their Christmas decorations and I'm just like… huh, yeah, I get it, good job.

[elisequinn]

"Slightly less but never, ever zero." Elise had her share of kitchen horror stories over the years, after all, having seen nearly the impossible. But the freezer was generally safe. "Well, thankfully by our age we're not going to wild and crazy bachelorette parties the way we used to, right? Because if we were still drinking like that, that would be a different story."

"At least if they're in the freezer, the chance of them growing odd things on them is… slightly less, right?" Whereas something getting pushed into the back of the fridge was probably going to end in it turning fuzzy and changing colors when you weren't watching it. Which was pretty gross, she could admit. "Hm, yeah, but… who wants to do that when you've got the occasion for it?" and at that, Nari broke into a grin. "You only live once! Or in this case, attend bachelorette parties, I guess. And several times. But the sentiment stands."

[elisequinn]

"Maybe he should try going to school smelling like a wet sock once or twice, that'll build character," she said, grinning over at her friend. "So what I'm hearing here is you thought your siblings and family lawyer were more important than me? I'll remember that at Christmas and your birthday," Elise warned, but there was no bite to the threat. "Well, that's good, and it's not like you can get secretly married more than the once."

"Oh, he knows how to do laundry," Cage assured her with a look, "but knowing and doing are two different things, and then he normally suckers Cordelia into doing it for him, more so than me, who tells him he can go to school smelling like a wet sock." There was, after all, a lot of his father in Cage, he would never deny that. Still, the boys did their best to help out, and he was grateful for that, always would be. "You are my most special, dearest buddy," he laughed, squeezing her hand where he held onto it in their dance, "the only people that knew were Kellan and Lou, and Rafael, of course, he handled all the legal stuff," but that was a given; he was his lawyer, after all. "We just wanted something for us, you know? And then the year got more hectic as it went on, and I was grateful for that. But it feels even better to have it all out in the open now."

[elisequinn]

"I admire the freedom of it, but it could never be me, no. Plus, a theme is the best way to limit excessive spending, right?" Elise laughed at the thought, because many people did enjoy vacations exactly for the family time. "I like having kids around now and then, I have to admit. Just not permanently."

”Ugh, I detest people like them.” Clara much preferred a more uniform presentation when it came to decorating. The same colour scheme, same subject focus — not just showing everything you own on display. “And that is exactly why I don’t ever see myself creating any demon spawns. A holiday cannot be a holiday with kids.”

[elisequinn]

They know who feeds them, I'll just put it that way. And I love them all the more for it, because I too would be very loyal to someone who fed me every single day. It's already time, the moment it turns November it's time these days, I fear. But it is a joyful season, both before, during, and after Thanksgiving.

That's probably true, they're loyal little felines, aren't they? Well, big felines… but you know what I mean! But they don't forget the people who love them the most, that's true. It's hard to believe that I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping already, too. And getting a tree! And putting up the lights… I guess we should get through Thanksgiving first, but then again, it's never too soon to start.

[elisequinn]

"Maybe shove them in the freezer, if there's no room," she said, in mock horror. "And then remember them around Christmas, when we're trying to shove a ham up there. At least that's my guess." Elise was a firm believer in the power of food, or else she would not have been in the line of work she was. "I think the only thing I've found that works better than grease is not drinking at all."

"What ever would we do with ourselves?" Nari said with a grin. Although truth be told, there was still a pretty good chance that those leftovers would end up forgotten about in her fridge, and she wasn't sure that she wanted that, either. "It truly is. I don't think people put enough stock into how much grease can help," or hurt, sure, yeah, there was that. But when you were in a pinch and you really needed a good way out of something, you would do pretty much anything.

[elisequinn]

"I'm sure Colton will learn to do laundry, eventually," she offered, though she had her doubts. Maybe when he went off to college, if that was in his future. But until then, Cage was a natural care provider. "You deserve that a bit, you actually deserve worse for hiding that from me for all these months. And here I thought I was your most special, dearest buddy?"

"Maybe," he grinned as he said it, shrugging both of his shoulders. He wasn't sure if it was the best or stupidest or combination of the two, but he was grateful that she had, and grateful that he had made the decision, too, to drop to one knee in their farm house and pop the question. "Well, we share the chores around the house. Me and Cordelia, I mean, if you think Colton ever does laundry," he groaned, shaking his head, "Shawn's actually good at it." Maybe he was still in that phase where he was trying to leave a good impression on his host parents. Cage's eyes widened as Elise slapped him, letting out a louder laugh, "I'm sorry, ow!"

[elisequinn]

"At least it is a theme, so many people just throw up whatever, regardless of whether or not it goes." Elie admired cohesion, a motif that went well together in all that she did. "Unfortunately they are rather smart, it's one of the worst things about them." She shook her head. "And you can get in far more trouble if you go on vacation without the children."

“That’s what you thinks a good theme?” Quirking a brow at her sister as she returned the item to where she’d retrieved it, Clara couldn’t help but screw her face up in anusement. “Yeah, they’re crafty thinkers, our parents.” And she supposed that’s where their cunningness came from; genetics. “Exactly! You can’t just give away a child, especially if it’s your own and in distress. No thanks!”

[elisequinn]

"Oh no, the horror of being given leftovers," Elise joked, knowing full well she never said no to the idea of having leftovers on hand. She followed Nari to the nearby table, taking a seat comfortably with her plate in front of her. "The grease really is a miracle for hangovers, isn't it? It feels like the only thing that works these days."

"Of course!" Nari broke into a giggling laugh when Elise enthused about what an admirable profession it was, knowing that she couldn't really disagree with that idea. After all, it was very… passionate, and that should count for something! "No, me neither. Maybe we'll get sent home with little doggie bags to avoid all the bad," she grinned, reaching to pop some food into her mouth and leading the way over to a table. "I wouldn't complain. Hangover cure."

[elisequinn]

"So the best choice she ever made was a stupid one? That's a mean thing to say." Elise shot him a look, knowing full well that it really was one of her best decisions. "Shouldn't you always do your own wash? Or are you making the boy do it for you now? Or both of the boys? That feels even more evil," she teased. She narrowed her eyes as he spoke then, with just enough force to smart but not enough to actually hurt, gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "You rotten bastard."

"Best choice that she ever made, thank you very much," he shot back on a laugh. She could have done worse, Cage knew this -- a good man who had a steady career, owned his own business, a good son. Knew how to make anything out of wood. What more could a person want? "Oh, we have rules. If it's filthy dirty, I do my own wash, don't worry," he had been trained well by his mother at a young age, knew better than to stick his wife with muddy, dusty clothes. Watching Elise's face for a moment, he hoped that his eyes didn't give away the nerves that he felt before he spoke, "we've been married since February."

[elisequinn]

"An atrocity- now that's a good decor theme." She snorted when she put it away. "That's the benefit of popping out more than one or two kids, higher chances of having grandkids." Elise's restaurant was her baby, and truth be told she was happy with that as it was. "The cats at least you can leave alone for a few hours, right?"

Clara dipped her head at her sisters words, letting them fade into the atmosphere as something peaked her interest, her own gaze falling to the item in her hands. “That — is an atrocity.” She chortled with bafflement. “Between the two of us, they’re not getting any grandbabies anytime soon. Or ever.” But thankfully they had a handful of children to push that dream onto in their stead. “I’d choose your cats over a screaming infant, too.”

[elisequinn]

I think it would take a lot of bribery to get them to turn on me, though, because I've been the one feeding and caring for them all this time. Yeah, we need to just be our most rested selves this month and then focus on being humans again for Christmas, the busiest holiday season of all. I always have your back, Livvy.

Damn. Once someone figures out how to bribe the cats, you're in trouble, since you're not really going to get them back on your side after that, are you? You might be out of luck here, Elise. I know what you mean! It wasn't even just the drinks, either, but the dancing and just having a good time. And launching right into Halloween… I'm pretty much going to just couch it for all of November, until it's time to prepare for Christmas. I figured that you did, I could tell they were extra good!

[elisequinn]

"He does it for a living after all," she explained. "And it's an admirable profession, very, very admirable." Elise grimaced at the idea of bad leftovers. "I really don't think there will be many leftovers at the end of the night, though, the food choices have been very, very good." Elise grabbed her own plate, piling it high.

"And as long as he gets paid, do we really think that anything else matters?" Most people were okay with a lot of things as long as they were getting the money that they were due. "It really is," she smiled over at Elise, squeezing her friend's arm when it was looped through hers. "Oh, totally! Although I don't see her complaining about that, either. Until the leftovers start going bad… that's the worst," she picked up a plate and began arranging food, looking over all of the options laid out in front of them.