Let's Play (Kayla)

[ngm_parents]

Remy finished his cigarette before he pulled up to the mansion, knowing that Brianna would kill him if she saw him smoking. He'd quit a while ago but they took the edge off from time to time. Still, his little girl was big on fitness and staying healthy, so much like her mother. He always saw more of Betsy than himself in her look, but Brianna was much more like her old man in temperament.

He pulled out the lockbox and looked it over once more. This ought to keep her busy long enough for him to handle this.

He parked the car and walked up to the door,  stopping only to take in the mansion itself. No matter how far away he went, he always came back here. He stopped to speak to one of the young boys he saw.

"I don't s'pose you know where I can find Kayla Connors, do you, mon ami?"

"Oh yeah. The kitchen. She's always in the kitchen." the young man said.

"Good. " he said, taking out the box. "You know who I am?"

"Of course, sir." 

"Have my daughter open this, but don't tell her where you got it. Just say there are two one-hundred dollar bills inside. If it takes her longer than two minutes to open it, the money inside is yours. " Remy said.

The young man blinked. Two-hundred bucks if Brianna couldn't open the box? 

"I really hope she's having an off day." the boy said, then ran off toward Brianna's practice spot in the woods.

Remy grinned and headed inside to the kitchen, looking for his daughter's girlfriend.

 

Comments

[seismic_shockwave]

"We can't choose our families, not the ones we're born into. But sometimes life gives you a chance to find or make a new family." She figured the significance of that wouldn't be lost on Remy, having been an X-Man. This is my family, right here at the Mansion.

Kayla expected him to ask something of that sort, though the formality of the phrasing surprised her just slightly. But only very slightly. She looked at him, speaking carefully and sincerely, straight from the heart.

"I love Brianna. I love her, and I want to be with her, as long as she'll have me. I want her to be happy, and safe, and loved."

[ngm_parents]

Remy let the words hang in the air as he weighed them. The smiled, his red eyes seeming to glow even more as he did.

"Yeah, you're tellin' de truth. I had to know. Betsy already likes you but I had to know for m'self." Remy told her.

"Welcome to the family, Kayla." he said, leaning over to hug his daughter's girlfriend.

"Brianna can be real...British sometimes, like her mother. But she's cajun at her core. Just put jambalaya in front of her and watch all those manners go out the window." he laughed.

"Now I see you can bake. But what about cookin'? Maybe we should make a pot of jambalaya together?"

[seismic_shockwave]

Kayla returned the hug.

"Yeah ... the British stiff upper lip only goes so far." Kayla grinned. "And baking's my, well it's my career aspiration, but cooking is also super fun. And hey, I'd love to do that. You only get so many chances to learn from a master.

Tell me what we need, and I'll see if we need to go get anything. We're pretty well-stocked here, but we don't have much call to make Cajun food, sadly."

[ngm_parents]

"Dat's only because I ain't always here. Back in the day, Logan used to complain about how much the mansion smelled like gumbo. But he liked it all the same." Remy laughed.

"We'll need some celery, lots of onions, red and green bell peppers, some spices, rice and lots of vegetable oil." he said.

"Oh, and sausage. We gon' need a lot o' dat." he said.

[seismic_shockwave]

"Andouille, right? We putting any chicken or shrimp in this badboy, or just the sausage?" Kayla was not an jambalaya expert of any sort, but she knew a thing or two about it.

It was also clear she'd basically memorized the kitchen's contents, because she was able to get out the basic ingredients in almost no time at all.

"If we're going all New Orleans for this gathering, maybe I can make us some beignets for dessert. I'm kind of famous for them around here." Kayla was genuinely modest about many things. Not about her beignets. They were amazing. Especially with vanilla and raspberry dipping sauce and lots of powdered sugar on top.

She went to the CD player. Rush didn't seem like quite the right music to be making Cajun food too. Ideal for the precision of baking, yes. But this called for something a bit earthier. Hopefully Remy didn't have some weird grudge against the Stones, because Beggar's Banquet was what was on tap.

[ngm_parents]

"Andouille, indeed! And if we have shrimp and chicken, the more the merrier." he said, doing some quick addition in his head. He didn't know how many people would eat it but if Rachel and Doug were around, they'd probably have some. Same with Logan and his kids. They knew good food when they smelled it.

And Brianna would eat her weight in it, which was good because she was always too skinny for his liking.

Remy blinked as she mentioned beignets.

"You make beignets, too? Brianna left dat out. I love beignets. I t'ink dis is de start of a beautiful friendship, Kayla." he said.

And then she turned the Rolling Stones.

Yeah, he liked Kayla already.

[seismic_shockwave]

"Huge quantities of both. We're never in any shortage of food around here. Mutants eat a lot, we have to keep stocked up." Kayla laughed.

"Maybe she wanted it to be a surprise." Kayla grinned. "Yes, I make beignets. And I'm always looking for an excuse to make more."

Who didn't like classic Stones? Nobody with taste.

And the song that was playing was no less than 'Sympathy for the Devil'. They didn't get much more awesome than that. No matter how much Kayla adored her metal and prog rock.

[kinetic_assault]

Brianna finally got that stupid lock-box opened, but it had taken her two minutes and one second to do it once Cass had finally quieted down. Unfortunately, she had a crowd watching her by the time it was over. That was the most difficult lock she'd ever picked. The money inside went to Cass, who crowed about it to his friends. That annoyed her.

The note inside brightened her day.

Happy Birthday, Lady-Bug. I know it's early but I thought you would like this. Come to the house when you're done.

Brianna headed to the mansion proper and her nose picked up on a familiar scent.

"Jambalaya."

She headed to the kitchen. Was there time to get Kayla? She wanted Kayla to meet him...

...and then she found the pair of them talking and laughing, thick as thieves.

She looked from Kayla to Remy, then Remy to Kayla. Then down at the puzzle-box in her hand.

"Hi, Daddy." she said, stepping into the kitchen and going to hug her father.

"You could've just told me you wanted to talk to her alone." Brianna said.

"I'm going to read you the bloody riot act over this lock-box, but first, I need to kiss the cook." she said.

And then she walked over to Kayla and kissed her on the cheek.

"He hasn't asked you to help him on a heist, has he?" she asked, whispering.

[ngm_parents]

"But it was a lot more fun dis way, Lady-Bug." Remy said, hugging his daughter.

He watched her kiss Kayla on the check and smiled. They looked good together.

"Okay, so dinner is next."

[seismic_shockwave]

"Hey you." Kayla responded warmly, giving Brianna a hug and a kiss on the cheek of her own. "Hope you're hungry, because this is a hella big batch of jambalaya we're making."

She whispered back. "Not yet. But he's got the art of making roux down." Which was impressive. Roux was notoriously difficult to get really right. The line between dark, rich and nutty and 'burnt' was a very fine one.

[kinetic_assault]

"I'm starving. Meditation makes me ravenous and then Cass came over with this box." Brianna said to Kayla, holding up the box.

"Roux is tough to get right. I'm hopeless at it." she said, turning to look at her father.

"Daddy, where did you get this thing? I swear it's the toughest box you've ever given me." Brianna said.

"And how long are you staying for? Will you be here for cake on my birthday?" she asked.

[ngm_parents]

"Someone used to make me open a box like that every day for years until I got the timing down. Didn't matter if I had school the next day or what. I did it." Remy said.

"Keep it and work on it. You never know when you find a lock like dat one." he said.

"I'll be here for your birthday and then I gotta go again. But I wanted to see my girl turn nineteen. It's a big day. Any plans?" he asked.

[seismic_shockwave]

"You won't be once this is done." Kayla promised with a grin. The player had since gone to Let it Bleed and "Gimme Shelter" echoed out of the room. She couldn't help but smile at the adorable interaction between Brianna and her father, even if it was just a touch bittersweet.

Kayla had been planning to surprise Brianna with something, as it happened. She wasn't sure if she should bring it up right now or not, though. She could probably get Remy in the reservations too, if need be.

[kinetic_assault]

Brianna set the box on the table and found seat, watching two of her favorite people in the world. She wished her mother was here but Betsy had had to head back to England for a bit. She almost couldn't nail both of her parents down to the same place at the same time.

Betsy's present for Brianna, however, had arrived by mail earlier in the day. She couldn't wait to show Kayla later.

"Oh, yeah. We've got something in mind. I thought you wouldn't be here until after my birthday so...I only arranged for Kayla and me." Brianna said.

[ngm_parents]

"It's no worries, Lady-Bug. I didn't think I'd get until after your birthday, either. Don't change any plans for me. Besides, my gift for you is one I want you to take Kayla to see. She's got great taste in music, so I think you'll both like it." Remy said.

He reached into his coat and produced two tickets, sliding them across the table.

Tickets to see Rush.

[seismic_shockwave]

That was a relief. While Remy was excellent company by any standard, a romantic dinner just wasn't quite so romantic with a parent there in attendance. And then he mentioned something that sounded sort of like concert tickets.

And then he presented two tickets to Rush, and Kayla went completely bananas.

"... are those Rush tickets?" She blurted out, even though they were clearly and obviously the real thing. Prime seats too. "You're incredible."

And she'd get to go with her favorite person, for her birthday.

Also, Rush. The Clockwork Angels tour.

[kinetic_assault]

Brianna blinked at the tickets.

Rush.

"Daddy...wow. Thank you!" she said, moving back around the table to hug her father once again. Kayla clearly approved of the tickets and that made Brianna happy.

"I told you he was awesome. I mentioned that concert months ago."

[ngm_parents]

"You girls go and take lots of pictures. I want to hear all about it afterward." Remy said.

"I did a favor for a guy and he knows someone at the venue. Brianna mentioned you liked Rush so I figure why not let you two go." he said.

[seismic_shockwave]

"I got it. Your dad's the coolest. Check." Kayla grinned as she started mixing everything together. The smell of the cooking food was making her hungry, let alone the others.

"So, are we still on for el poker game?" Kayla had a feeling she would lose, and badly to these two, but it would be fun anyway.

[kinetic_assault]

"Oh yes, the poker game is still on. I hope you came ready to lose tonight, Daddy. I've been practicing." Brianna said.

[ngm_parents]

"Oh, Bri. The only way you gonna win dis game is if we play wit' a marked deck. Kayla got a better chance of winnin' than you do." Remy teased.

"You play poker much, Kayla?" he asked.

[seismic_shockwave]

"Hey, I wouldn't count her out. She's been practicing that poker face a lot." Kayla grinned.

"Me? For real? Basically never. I know how it's played, but haven't had much opportunity." Her family hadn't been much for gambling, and she'd never had much chance to do so. Though she was under the hopeful impression that it was going to be mostly a 'for fun', game, because really, she didn't have much to gamble with.

[kinetic_assault]

"Well, tonight is a low-stakes, no pressure game. We're all friends here. So no fleecing my girlfriend, Daddy." Brianna said.

[ngm_parents]

Remy chuckled.

"Okay, okay. We play for fun. Kayla, we gonna teach you how to keep up with de best at poker and spot some tells. Maybe next time I'm home, we play f'r real? How dat sound?"

[seismic_shockwave]

"Sounds like a plan. Who knows, maybe I'll have a secret poker talent." Though Kayla suspected it would be hard for her to maintain any sort of bluff. She usually wore her heart pretty proudly on her sleeve.

"But hey, I'll be learning from the best, right?"

[kinetic_assault]

"Awesome baker and closet poker player? My girlfriend rules. Just saying." Brianna said with a grin.

"And yes, you will. Daddy can at least teach you how to spot a cheater and cheat them better, right Dad?"

[ngm_parents]

"I definitely teach you how to spot cheaters and tells, Kayla. Skills like dat go a long way in life, not just poker." Remy said.

"But first, we eat. I'm starvin'. And de birthday girl deserve dinner with people she loves most." he said.

[seismic_shockwave]

"Good thing, then, that this jambalaya's just about done then. We can just eat here or go somewhere else." Kayla grinned broadly, adding a few last herbs to the mix, ones that needed to be fairly fresh. "One massive jambalaya, coming right up!"

The smell of it certainly made her stomach rumble.