sliceitwithwind

"Not a problem kid, not a problem." kid movies had been upgraded since he'd last watched one. Less singing animals, more actual entertainment! And with a simple enough plot that it was a good thing to space out to.

Aya found the situation stressful...yet warm enough that she was soon dozing on Dilan's shoulder. She barely even stirred when the food arrived.

Dilan is - absently, yet very, very carefully separating crispy skin from raw meat and eating them one at a time.

He's very, very stressed.

No one was going to complain about him disassembling his food right now. No one at all. Nevada was going to pass napkins though.

And wake Aya up enough to get some food into her too.

Well, now it was just a matter of waiting on Braig's parents...

Who come home after a couple of hours. Braig's mother nods to Nevada and takes the long way around to sit behind the kids instead of next to them, hugging gently.

"Thanks for helping, Nevada." Braig's father says quietly, "We're going to take the next couple of days off, and keep the kids out of school."

Nevada, for his part, stayed very still and let Elcy move as she would. He was as comfortable with her as he could be? The distance was nice though. "I think that's wise. I don't have anywhere to be until next Wednesdays appointment." he'd do what he could.

He tilted his head back on the couch so he could see the other adults "Dilan wants to clean and box things tomorrow." when they moved away from the kids he'd offer to dose the boy.

Elcy has no intention of making life harder for Nevada than she has to. She gives another squeeze of children, "We'll talk about that later, Dilan. Are you kids going to be okay for a bit while the grown-ups discuss other things?"

Dilan looks up dully, "You mean mom's funeral."

"Yes, dear. But you don't need to worry about it right now. We'll take care of that."

"She liked gardenias. Have lots of them."

Aya shifted enough to slip her other arm around Dilan "We'll make sure there's Gardenias. Don't worry. It's okay Aunt Elcy." the young girl assured.

Nevada watched the kids a moment longer, then nodded and stood, waiting for the others to proceed him.

The other two adults head into the kitchen, where Braig's father silently pours fairly stiff shots for all three of them. "Thank you for getting them, Nevada." he says quietly after he's finished his.

"It was not a problem." he assured. Nevada took his drink and leaned against the sink comfortably. "I don't think Dilan is taking it too well though..." there should be more crying. Crying was healthy.

"Do you think it might be wise to give him something to make him sleep? At least through tomorrow?"

The other adults thought about it for a while, then with a slow nod Braig's father said; "I think that would be a good idea. He's in shock right now, when that wears off he'll probably cry more."

"Keeping the kids out of school means they can stay in a puppy pile as long as they need to, or at least until whatever you dose them with wears off." Since if Dilan got dosed, the others probably would need the same in order to avoid panicking. "My initial idea was something like Chambord, fruity enough that they might not notice the alcohol? You may have a better idea though." He was grateful for the far less fruity shot in his hand honestly.

"I can also take them to place where they can cut flowers that they want? Gardenias among them. That should distract them, somewhat, for a day?" And make sure Dilan was out of the house and cleaning urges, while still offering a chance to fulfill his OCD.

"Fruity is good." Elcy agreed, moving farther away in order to pour three tiny shots and head out into the living room. She trusted her husband enough to allow him to do the talking with Nevada; she'd get filled in later.

"Also a good idea. Thank you, Nevada." Yinsi took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, "Elcy will take care of the casket and such things, she knows what Lenna would have wanted. What you could do, if you would be so kind, is to mark off each room in Lenna's house with tape so that Dilan can only get into one at a time. That way we can make him take it one day at a time."

Nevada blinked and watched Elcy take the drinks out before sipping from his own. "I, hmm, didn't exactly expect you to take that suggestion." To put it mildly. He expected the parents to veto the idea!

Tape. He could totally do tape. "I had to seal a house once, for quarantine. It would involve an adult having to unseal the tape with a knife on each room. That alright or do you just want a standard taping like crime scene tape?" Which...might be traumatic.

"That would be perfect." Yinsi said, "The quarantine tape, not the crime-scene. And Elcy is a very practical woman."

Out on the couch, Braig was watching in awe as Dilan went from shaky to snoring in almost the same amount of time it took him to drink the half-shot.

"It's like magic!" He accepts his full shot, Elcy remembering Aya's weird reactions at the last moment, while watching Dilan.

"Let me get you some juice, Aya. Kiwi, orange, or blackberry?"

"I can do that tonight, once I leave here I'll hit a store for materials. That way it's sealed before the boy wakes up." And he didn't have any other plans for tonight anyway! "What else should I lay in while I'm shopping? There has to be something I can get for them, and you." SOMETHING!

Aya blinked at the snoring Dilan and swallowed. Obviously they were being drugged and...and Dilan was asleep. Asleep was good right? "Blackberry Orange? Then it looks the same color?" She switched her gaze to Braig, waiting for him to pass out too.

"...I'll bring you three cups, sweetie." Elcy said, "You can mix and taste-test." She's a scientist. Sometimes she siences at people.

Yinsi thought about it, seriously, "If you can make food arrangements for the next few days, it would be helpful. I'm not much in the kitchen and Elcy is going to be very busy. Talk to Aya's father about having photos of the guests at the funeral? He'd like that when he's older. You and I can trade the kids off between us, Aya is too young to spend helping Dilan pack his mother's things so one of us will need to be with her or she will go help."

"Okay," Aya noted quietly. She'd share the mixes with Braig as long as he was awake? And when they got the mix right, they'd set a cup in the fridge for Dilan when he woke up.

"So..." Nevada drawled, pulling a small notepad from his pocket. "Arrange catering at a place that will serve for a katzu diet. Arrange for boxes, tape, bubble wrap and all the supplies he could need for packing. Arrange a small storage unit for things he wants to keep. Talk to Jerrig about photos. Insist." He underlined that part actually. "And come up with useful things an eleven year old can do so she doesn't go crazy. Am I missing anything?" He was...very calm about it all really. Problems he could deal with. Problems had solutions.

Nearly nineteen year old Braig? He was going to just... "I'll let you handle the mixing, Aya. I don't think blackberry and orange is going to be my kind of drink mix. Besides, I'm still drinking my shot."

Dilan made a small, whimpery sound in his sleep and curled up tighter between the other two.

Yinsi nodded as Nevada spoke, "That sounds about right. There are probably things that we're missing, but we can cross those bridges when we come to them. I have your number and you have ours."

"Alright, but I may want to compare to the color in your glass before you finish." Eleven year old Aya was serious! Well, serious when she wasn't carefully petting Dilan's hair. The whimper had distracted her from the drink mixing! She'd get back to it eventually!

"There are always things we miss," Nevada admitted quietly. "I'll need keys, to the house so I can seal it up properly."

"Then I'll drink slowly." Thank you, powers that be, he has an excuse not to try Aya's mixes. He loves her (he'll marry her one day, he swears it) but...ew, man.

Dilan quiets under the petting, from both of them as Braig found a different patch to stroke, and settled deeper into sleep.

"Of course, I'm sorry." Yinsi turned to the key-rack near the kitchen door and pulled off Lenna's keyring. "House, garage, and her car."

It wouldn't taste that bad! And she had enough years spent with Dilan that she thought Blackberry/Orange was perfectly reasonable! "Do you think we should get him to lay down? There's room across our laps..."

Nevada accepted the keyring, then arched an eyebrow. "What should I do with the car? I'm not sure how well it could be sealed and still have any...resale value?"

"I'll hold him." Braig said, "That way you've got your arms free for mixing. Lets just take over the spare bedroom tonight, all three of us fit on that bed and it will be better for Dilan in the long run."

Yinsi blinked for a moment, then sighed, "I'll talk to Braig tomorrow, see if he wants to buy it from the estate. He's been talking about getting a car. If not, sell it. Katzu don't drive well and avoid it as much as possible. Considering Dilan's hunting skills, I'm betting he's got a fullblood's predation instincts and will fall into that category."

"Okay." To Aya that meant she was draping Dilan's legs over her lap. That way the boy tilted toward Braig more and she could still touch him! That settled, she leaned her elbows on Dilan's shins and started carefully pouring tiny amounts of juice and judging color changes! "And the spare bedroom is good! I'll move some of our stuff there after this." So Braig and Dilan didn't have to move until the bed was ready!

Nevada rubbed a hand over his head in thought and then sighed, "No. He will want a car with no associations so that Dilan can ride easy in it. If I purchase it from the estate, I can take it to be traded in...then let Braig negotiate to get the car credit from me, and then negotiate with the dealer to see how far that credit stretches." Because he was a big believer in making someone Braig's age earn their first car? It made them more responsible with it!

"Sounds good." Braig agreed, falling quiet and watching her mix and match. He wanted to hit something, anything, to bleed off some of his own grief and stress...and thinking about what this is doing to Dilan only makes it worse. He was smart enough to know that there wasn't anything to hit, but...that didn't stop the urge.

"That sounds about right." Yinsi pinched his nose and took a deep breath, "Good thought, Nevada."

He should possibly mention that to Nevada? Nevada was good with violence, truth told! As for Aya, well, it was matter of mixing, tasting, comparing to Braig's glass...mixing more...the 'proper' mix had more blackberry than orange and was never going to be as clear as the liquor. Oh well.

"I'll take it in the morning after I am done taping, if you will talk with the estate and see how much they wish me to reimburse them. This way Dilan doesn't even get the urge to clean it too." Nevada knew he was possible one of the better functioning adults at the moment since he hadn't known Dilan's mother well. It just meant he was thinking through most his decisions extra carefully before saying them aloud.

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