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This was -not- one of the weekends he would have elected to come home for ANY amount of time, but he had to. He should have remembered before he -started- that it was His mother's birthday and that she would, naturally demand that he be there. He worried very much how Beth would take it though, their mothers had been twins, a strange situation at best but now that one was dead...

The real problem though wasn't the odd and growing strain between Beth and his mother, it was how to explain the bruises he was currently sporting. Yes they had already faded thanks to a few days rest, but they were -there. He'd blame it on bullies at school of course... but he didn't want to set off his Cousin's sense of justice and have her crashing out the door in search of a fabled villain who wouldn't have the slightest clue what she was talking about. He'd have to be evasive...vague, and maybe toss in a little cranky to make sure she didn't question too much or too deep.

The key turned in the lock and the door creaked slightly as it swung inward, He glanced down the narrow hall, as expected he'd made it there un-noticed, though if Beth were here that would not last for long, and he intended to shorten even that time.

"Mother?....Beth?" He called down the hall to see who was home. He let his book bag, filled more with homework than clothes slide off his shoulder and into the crook of his arm. "I'm home..." He added though it was deeply redundant.

"...if anyone's here..." He added more quietly to himself. He winced, his ribs still ached and he let the bag drop down the last way to his palm, half dragging it by the strap. Were his Mother home yet she'd have yelled from whatever room she were ensconced in already...
Beth was a little more distractible.

"OOOMPH" Zac exclaimed followed by a wheezed 'ouch' or something like it as he hugged her all the same, cursed bruised ribs, they would only have been topped by a bruised tailbone he decided.
"Hey Couz, how are you?" He said trying to sound as relaxed, and normal as possible. "How are classes going for you?" He asked letting the bag fall to the ground so he could hug her properly.
She was one of those few spots in his life that he considered a sort of peaceful oasis. He was so glad she wasn't caught up in the war...he'd have done so much to make sure it had never touched her life as it had when Scheelite had accidentally killed her Mother.

"...Drunk's at school..." He said with a small shrug. "What would you expect from people who resort to violence over words... honestly If people spent more time thinking things over rather than rushing in to punch things..." He shrugged as though it were nothing at all.
"I should have learned to dodge faster... It's not as though I haven't had practice.... we should go get her Cake ready before she gets home... I think she's been stressed from work."
He sighed and thought of the other evening when she'd drunk so much, he pondered pouring out the booze in the house and wondered if that would just make things worse.

"It's a reform school Beth." he said fluffing her bangs. "Some people are just harder to reform than others, I'm lucky I can go home like this... some people aren't supposed to but you get SOME credit for good behavior." He trailed off...there were times when he pretended he couldn't go home at all though, just because he had no desire at all to deal with his mother.

"She likes chocolate best..." He said leading the way into the kitchen with a small sigh. She liked chocolate -too- much in his opinion. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting just made his stomach turn. He'd eat it just to be polite and then drown it in as much milk as he could stomach without being sick.

"And...regardless of the temptation to let you cook, just hand me the ingredients ok?" He said with a grin and a small wince, his lip had been split and it looked raw still.

"Practice dose NOT mean perfection, remember the shortening frosting?" He said with a small grin and pulled a glass from one of the cupboards for a glass of water and then fished for the metal mixing bowl.

"I think..." He mused. "That last time I was home I had some cream cheese frosting, are you still ok with that? Theirs a... frosting bag too if you wanted to play." He offered, it had never been opened. His mother had purchased it once while they were out at the supermarket. She'd declared that she was going to be more 'homey' and like martha stewart, this had been just after Beth's mother had decorated a cake so well it might have well been a baked 'Hanging gardens of Babylon'
"Just....let me refill it ok?" He added quickly.

"I can at least tell Baking soda from baking POWDER" He teased and then stopped as the expressions flickered over her face and she turned away.
... "I can...make frosting imitations of the blob...if that counts for anything." He offered trying to make her smile again.
He reached a tentative hand to touch her shoulder lightly. "I'm....sorry." He said and he meant it more than she could ever know...
It was as much his fault, maybe more than anyone else's and he couldn't even say.

That was a lovely knife twist of guilt... he winced as he turned to grab the measuring cups only to turn just as quickly, pushing aside the familiarity of the intensity in her eyes at the word KETCHUP.

"NO!...NO KETCHUP!" He said in alarm "Eggs! Milk! No ketchup! That's for scrambled eggs and only when their done!"