SSRP: At least it wasn't lasagna in the washing machine

[sweetpinkpixie]

It's summer 2111 and wrock star, Joshua Miller, is just about to embark on the final leg on his third European tour after a brief break back home for some much needed R&R. Long time girlfriend and esteemed social worker, Eliza Parkinson, and their four-year-old son will be joining the tour as it finishes its run with what the musician hopes to become the greatest duet of the century.

Our scene begins a day before their scheduled departure. Josh, already one to live in the organized chaos life, has their flat in even more of a disarray as he attempts to pack for himself, Eliza, and their son CJ while she is still at work and so when she comes home there will be absolutely noooooooothing to worry about or prepare herself. From his complete inability to make a proper cup of tea to being perplexed by washing machines being in the kitchens in the UK, Josh is always full of good intentions but his execution all to often leaves MUCH to be desired. THIS time...he has made a classic parenting blunder in leaving something that OUGHT NOT BE left within the reach of tiny curious hands...and is about to realize that a very KEY element to his packing is now MISSING.

Yikes™

CHARACTERS [this is a closed RP]
Joshua Miller [sweetpinkpixie]
Eliza Parkinson [Felixir]

[sweetpinkpixie]

"CJ, buddy, I told you to save those for mommy," Joshua sighed as he pulled the four-year-old away AGAIN from the small tray of gourmet cupcakes he had picked up from the bakery after his stint at the WWN. He wasn't exactly the biggest fan of baked goods but he didn't dislike them either. Truth be told he had had a hankering for some ever since he had gone on WWN Italia and voiced his epiphany that lasagna was spaghetti cake. Apparently the Italian wizarding population had some polarizing reactions to his observation (either finding him stupidly endearing or horrifically insulting) and during his stay there had received a true cornucopia of delicacies from fans hoping to educate him on how incredibly misinformed he was. Unfortunately he hadn't been allowed any of these for security reasons and, naturally, being denied something made him crave it.

Hence why he was here now with speciality cupcakes that also came with a humble array of edible toppers. Only problem was that, while Josh hustled about the kitchen hoping to surprise Eliza when she got back, his curly haired son could not keep his little grubby hands off any of it. Two cupcakes had the the buttercream frosting entirely licked off, several toppers had just simply disappeared and their remains smeared over the corners of CJ's mouth, and now a third cupcake was suffering fingers not-so-subtly poking and swiping at the carefully swirled frosting and a good bit of it on the counter. While the messy counter was the exact opposite of what he wanted Eliza to come home to...it was not the most egregious of mishaps in the moment.

"UuuUUUUUuuuuuuh..." Josh muttered with his mouth hanging open and eyes scanning the counter frantically and then the floor and then over to his son with an even wider mouth and matching pair of eyes. "...heeeeeeey ey ey ey eeeeeeeey, CJ. Did you..." Naturally, the kid rubbed his tummy and looked entirely too pleased with himself. "Oooooh...no...no no no no no no no noooooo." Josh leapt over to his son and grabbed his wand from his back pocket. A quick Lumos later and he was trying to peer down his little buddy's throat.

This was fine. Everything was fine. FINE.

...everything was not fine.

[Felixir]

It was possible she'd stepped in through the front door at exactly the moment of Josh's minor panic, so that his fretting concealed the sound of the key in the lock. Another possibility: that she'd chosen to floo home today, or had Apparated silently into the hallway... though the latter was unlikely, as she'd never quite managed to dial that 'pop' of apparition down to complete silence, and never liked materialising inside the house, because you never could be sure where CJ was charging around at any given moment. At any rate, Eliza was home from a fairly stressful, heavy-duty kind of day, and she was exhausted, and she was surprised.

For maybe two seconds. Or maybe it would be more apt to say her eyes had met an unexpected scene, because, in the past few years, Eliza had become fairly immune to surprise. At least where her boys were concerned.

And, as her various boys were all - maybe apart from CJ, who was still growing into his personality, but at that late-to-post-toddler stage counted nonetheless - of an overwhelmingly Gryffindor nature, that was saying something. Generally, she could adapt, though she'd give them hell for most things, just to keep them on their toes.

Messy kitchen? Of course. A half-destroyed batch of baked goods? Naturally. Her regrettably beloved boyfriend peering down the throat of their mischievous and probably-ought-not-to-be-left-unattended four-year-old? That gave Eliza pause, and then... something a few shades shy of resignation.

From where she stood in the kitchen doorway, observing this scene, Eliza gave a slight clearing of the throat. "I take it," she said, with monumental patience, the kind reserved for the biggest screw-ups. "The cake icing just didn't hit the spot."

She wasn't sure what CJ had decided to gulp down, and there was no denying it had ignited a flare of worry inside her, but she knew that Joshua would never knowingly leave something that dangerous where CJ could reach it. Still, he did have... lapses of judgement, sometimes, and Eliza had a feeling that if Josh wasn't already wishing he'd simply wrecked another washing machine with his culinary efforts, he soon would be.