#elsewhere

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In a turnabout, it's Piper who is knocking on Rikki's door for once! Then again, Rikki seldom knocks... or uses the front door.

Rikki opens the door she's wearing an oversized t shirt over a swimsuit. "Finally come here to pay me the money you owe me, huh? " A smile

Piper is red eyed and sniffling. "Can I hang with you for a bit?"

Rikki YOINKS her friend inside her appartment and closes the door . Piper has been here before. There's a stolen street sign on one wall as decor, that says 'Fantasy Lane' (I mean, whatever town put that up was ASKING for it to be stolen), there's a calender of shirtless male park rangers on last month...

The furniture is eclectic and rather mismatched to be honest. But there's a chair that suits just about everyone and a comy couch

It's actually larger than the area Piper Sic and Jonas use. Rikki IS after all the Super's daughter, and Rikki has no shame in nepotism that works for her

Piper rubs at her face. "I'm sorry." Sniffling miserably. "I had a stupid fight with stupid blockhead Jonas and now he's all mad even though I was right..."

"Well, Joan ASS needs to check himself before I wreck his health" She glares through a wall as if she can see him through the building , then pulls Piper to the comfy couch, "What did the Blue Express do?"

She exhales and breathes a few times before she reaches for one of Rikki's hands. "Well, to start... I'm knocked up, and Siv's the dad, and kinda Jonas too, it's a weird dreaming thing..."

"I thought Siv was looking a little puffy" She observes showing ...surprisingly little shock "So Jonas is all mad because HIS gonads were No NO nO nads, and Sivs were go go go nads?" She squeezes PIper's hand

"No, we talked about all that and we were all good, but then, you know this quest he went on? Well his prize was something he needed for the baby, only the Chief stopped by and asked if she could have it so he just GAVE it to her, without even checking with us. And it's not even... it's not just that, you know? He is always give, give, give, and I TRY to understand, he's gone all the time helping out Joe Blow or Jane Doe and it's a GOOD THING, and I go out too for my own SELFISH things to do, not as much as him, but... I just pointed out to him that he has to think of Number 1 more, or Number 4 I guess" (pointing to stomach) "And he got all PISSY about it..."

Rikki rolls her eyes "Did you check to make sure he still has both kidneys? I mean, it's possible he's 'donated' One

"He's donated his BRAIN." She sniffs.

"To be fair, I have thrown in small petty change to a pandhandler myself, what's a quarter these days? " A nod "PIper baby, wait here, we're gonna do this right." A soft squeeze and she darts into the kitchenette. Glamour is used, likely to speed up fetching things... and Rikki returns with TWO of these

Piper accepts one gratefully, and doesn't even hesitate to wonder if it's Worcestershire sauce instead of chocolate on top before taking a bite.

It is NOT ...a prank.

It is delicious, decadent, and comforting

Rikki enjoys her own, and lets piper get a few chocolate flavor endorphin hits before saying "Look, I know Blue is your favorite color. I mean, you positively COAT yourself in it... now me? I know the values of selfishness. I mean, I'm mean all the time" Says the girl who just missed a GREAT time to play a prank "But you first dated the guy I TOLD you you needed to date a puppy kicker. But no, you went to a Puppy Petter... now he's being a jerk by petting every damned mutt in town, when you're TRYING to prepare the house for your own Piperdoodle pup. and he's giving away bacon strips. Am I reading this right?"

Piper blinks a few times, processing. "Uh. I think so, yeah. And, like, I don't want him to CHANGE - well, maybe... a little?"

"Look, Change is good, and I don't know what Jonas is like when it's finally time for a ski vacation in winter per se, but you can't always count on the negative of a photo looking better than the regular sort. What YOU need to do is find out what makes him tick. I know he's a stranger, but what if.. and bear with me on this because it's never been done before, what if you put the stick down, and instead shoved a CARROT someplace he'd enjoy?" Munch "What if , you made him PROUD of helping the little two thirds giant one third Goaty Diva .... what if you put this down as a challenge, a manly man challenge you have FAITH he can do. " A munch "You may need to do crazy sex stuff to sway him too. That seems to be something guys like. Not like we cerebral women folk"

"I... I'm sorry Rikki. I don't think I get it."

"Your boyfriend is a honor kissing, Duty humping loser, so gloss over fatherhood as the greatest duty and honor a man can achieve, and he'll probably start putting the kid first like a bear to honey. It's a TROLL.... they're hyperfocused on protecting. Rather than give him shit and expecting him to make Shitonade, tell him you NEED him to do this, you want him to do this... and express that he's your damned hero and you love him and you KNOW he can do this ... play him up like a middle age football coach sending young college age players out to go get concusions! Positive what you want, negativing what you don't want seems to have gotten him all butt hurt. Men are delicate. You have to use the lube of finesse "

Slow sidelong look at the pooka. "Since when did you get your master's degree in diabolical geniusry?"

"It's a god given gift...which god is still being debated" A smirk

"But he's not a loser." She does feel compelled to defend, "Even if he is being a blockhead right now."

"PLEASE, have you seen the WOMEN he dates?" A grin and hip bump

"Wait, who is he dating?!" It takes a moment. "HEY!"

Rikki nods 'Look, He's being a Charlie Brown about this, no doubt. And you keep telling him that he's got to stop charging at footballs. That's not gonna work. But you show him that pitcher's mound, tell him it's where he belongs? I think he'll get it. And it will maybe lead to fewer football kick attempts."

"Can I still be mad? Because I'm still mad."

More ice cream consumed.

"I will write up a permit for Madness and stamp it with my own approving name" She assures "Bonehead made a choice at something that maybe he got, but it was a resource for ALL Of you, and he even knew it might help the baby. Now logic was on his side he'll say. So what? It doesn't give Spock the right to ignore you, or be an asshole. Look, he wants to oath with you two... it's a troll thing. Well, why SHOULD you oath if he can't remember his cannonballs are landing in a SHARED swimming pool. Hell yes, you should be mad.. particularly when sometimes he drowns trying to fetch the scratch and sniff from the bottom of the pool and comes up for air. You LOVE the bonehead, and where does it say you're NOT allowed to protect HIM? "

"From Burnout" Munch "From Stress" Munch "From having his LIFE fly by without any joy of his own?" MUNCH ..then blink then she cluthes her forehead "From brainfreeze"

She draws back a little at the oath mention, but then finds herself nodding emphatically. "If he gets to infringe on Boggan Needy shit, then -I- say they don't get to claim being the only ones who want to protect someone! Even if it's from his own goddamn doormat SELF!"

"ATTAGIRL" Rikki nods

Then a smile "So... I understand Rikki is a great name. Just saying"

A laugh. "It's growing on me."

Rikki's tail swishes playfully "So, you want more brainfreeze, or you want to hit the lake party?"

"I don't know." She frowns. "Jonas is still pouting in the bedroom, I bet. I don't... ughhhhh. Do I have to apologize?"

"You don't have to do anything but be goat and die" The pooka assures her "Not many Haftos... lots of shoulda coulda wouldas... but not many Haftos"

Piper's arms cross, and she grumbles a bit.

"Look, you asked me. If you want me to know my lines, you need to hand me the script first." Miming a reading , she adopts a Scarlet O Hara pose
"After all, Tomorrow is another Lay!"

Piper flops onto the couch. "I'm gonna let him stew first." She grumbles. "Just for a bit."

"Ha. Fine by me. You're welcome to crash here if you don't want to go to the party"

Looking around the larger one bedroom. "You got a pretty sweet layout here."

"You're not kidding. Dad said 'Pick a room, princess' and I jumped on on this like Peach on Mario" A smug look

"Honestly I got a room I don't even use, probably some spider living rent free, the bastard"

"Wait, is this a two bedroom?" Piper blinks, thinking.

"Baby girl, this is TWO bedroom AND check this..." Swagger walk .. the 'bonus room' is small but it is there "It's like a big walk in closet but without all that messy fashion stuff." She currently has it holding cardboard boxes full of who kknows what. But even those are only a few items