Smoke Break (open)

[wild_child]

Danged child services watching the place like a hawk. Even when they weren't actually there, the threat of them dropping by had turned the school in general, and Rose's life in particular, into a far more boring place. She understood the precautions: she, David, and Em were still all underage and no one needed to be giving the appearance of an unsafe environment for kid raising.

But it was making it a heck of a lot harder for her to get her hands on any alcohol.

The alcohol, she could live without. She enjoyed her beer, but it wasn't an absolute requirement. But giving up her cigarettes was another matter entirely. Her healing factor made addiction impossible, as did any other adverse effects of it. But the tobacco smell helped dull her super-sense of smell just a little, just enough to keep it from being overwhelming. Her super-hearing, she could train to filter, but her sense of smell was harder to tame.

She was out on the back patio for now. Her senses would alert her if anyone unfamiliar was coming long ahead of time and she could hightail it and not leave a trace.

A few moments peace, at least.

And maybe some time away from the thoughts that still plagued her.

Comments

[shadeblossom]

Rose probably knew she wasn't alone long before Hana's sneeze would have alerted her. Hana wasn't especially fond of the smell of cigarettes, but she knew it couldn't really hurt Rose, so she didn't have any issue with it as long as it was done outside and away from the kids. Especially her boys, who seemed to take great delight in finding new and inventive ways to test her patience.

Her mother said it was karma.

"Looking for solitude or just a smoke?" Hana asked as she sidled up to her honorary sister-in-law.

[wild_child]

Rose generally liked Hana. Girl had spunk and kept Dork Number One on his toes. That was important. And if she ever broke his heart, Rose was prepared to take Hana out back and do her sisterly duty.

"Just catchin' a smoke," Rose said. "Pops don't want it around Em, and they don't much like it in the house these days anyway."

[shadeblossom]

"Lots of stuff's changing around here." Hana had been hard at work trying to figure out how to feed all the students at Xavier's while still sticking to the necessary nutritional requirements and still make it good. Fortunately, the school had the budget for more than the bare basics, so she could play a little. It kept the job fun.

"Any sign of child services snooping around lately?" Hana had heard about the incident with Emily. It scared her just thinking about it.

[wild_child]

Rose shook her head. "Not in a bit. Don't mean they're not plannin' a surprise attack though."

[shadeblossom]

"I don't think I'd much care for their odds in a fight against your dad, though." She smiled wryly. Hana wouldn't put it past Logan to disappear into the Canadian wilderness with his kids if he had to. Hana knew she'd be considering it if they came for her boys.

"How are you doing?" Rose had seemed quieter than usual, Hana thought.

[wild_child]

Rose took a last puff from her cigarette, then ground it out.

"I been better," she admitted after a moment.