3rd floor Common Room, Monday late afternoon

[heromaniac]

Momoko was not liking Moshi's weird obsession with whatever it was he'd found under the bed last night. She'd moved most of the furniture around this morning, trying to find what it was, but there was nothing visible. She decided he just needed to get out of the room a bit.

So she grabbed the kitty, that old vegetarian chili recipe from that one class, and headed to the common room, hoping that most of the ingredients were there and that it was as easy to make as she seemed to remember.

It apparently wasn't, but luckily there was plenty of tofu and this time she watched the pan more than Moshi's stalking of every corner in the room. When the chili finally was done, there was enough to share, should anyone else be in the building.

If not, well, she'd found Tupperware in the cabinets.

She plopped onto the couch beside a napping Moshi, set the TV on scan to look for anything good while she tasted her own bowl. It was actually pretty good!




[the BEST common room is open.]

Comments

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o was starting to wonder if there was anyone left around this weekend when he walked into the common room. "Hey Momoko! You didn't go on the trip with everyone else?" he asked.

[heromaniac]

Momoko grinned and waved excitedly from her seat. "Liiiion-o! You're still here! No, I didn't go either. It didn't sound like too much fun, so I decided to stay and enjoy a break at the dorm. It's so quiet, though! Have some chili - it's vegetarian, though. You're not allergic to tofu, are you?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. I don't think I've had tofu before. What is it?" said Lion-o, looking a little confused. "And I thought it would be nice to spend some time at home with the rest of the Thundercats, so I've got a portal booked for after work tomorrow."

[heromaniac]

"Tofu is tofu." Momoko frowned slightly as she tilted her head and touched her spoon to her cheek. "Soybeans, I believe. It's pretty good if it's cooked right, and this tastes good even though I made it! And it's warm, which is nice for fall."

She waved her hand towards the kitchen area. "Go ahead and try it! You're leaving tomorrow?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o looked a bit apprehensive, but he was hungry and had no clue when Snarf would be back from his errands. He went to fix himself a bowl.

"Yup! I'll be back on Sunday. It seemed like a good opportunity to see how they're doing and lend a hand with construction of a new fortress," he said.

[heromaniac]

"Sit with me, sit! Just don't sit on Moshi. He gets awfully upset about that." She bonked the sleeping cat's head lightly with her spoon. He woke up to yawn at her, stretch, then fell back into a nap. "Silly kitty! He was chasing invisible monsters under the bed just a few hours ago. Oh! You never did tell me what happened over the summer! You have to build something? Is that because they're on a different planet?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"He'd get along with Snarf, then, because all Snarf does is sleep under the bed. I keep telling him to use the other bed since I don't have a roommate, but he doesn't get it," said Lion-o. And yes, they want to build a protective fortress on the new planet. It's called a Cat's Lair. I used to live in the old Cat's Lair on Thundera. It was our base of operations."

[heromaniac]

"You know, I totally wondered where Mr Snarf slept. Actually I wondered if he ever slept, since I always see him working." Momoko shifted in her seat and resumed eating her chili. "So what happened to the old Catsleer? Or is it just too far away now," she asked between bites.

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"I, uh, don't think it survived after the planet exploded," said Lion-o, giving his bowl of chili an intense stare.

[heromaniac]

Momoko's spoon dropped into her bowl and she slowly turned her head to look at him. Exploded. His planet EXPLODED?

"...Exploded?" She managed a croak as she set her bowl down... somewhere. This sounded like a story that may result in sudden hugs.

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's why we had to find a new planet," said Lion-o. "The planet wasn't really stable towards the end. There were tremors every day, and they just kept getting worse until my father decided that we needed to evacuate."

[heromaniac]

"Whoah. I'm... The whole planet?" In her head, she tried to imagine evacuating her own planet. How would you do that; where do you even begin? What if you missed someone? Or they didn't believe you?

And where would you go? "That's why you had to leave for a new one. You found one that was suitable for everyone from your planet?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah. It was definitely suitable for all seven ten of us who made it there," said Lion-o. "It's not bad, actually. A lot more lakes and trees than Thundera, but it's pretty similar to this planet. It wasn't that hard to adjust."

[heromaniac]

Momoko sighed with a small bit of relief. "Seven countries? Or are they kingdoms on your world? That's lucky. And I guess it would be easy to adapt if it was like earth. I bet you were useful then, since you've lived here." She tried not to think of the animals that were probably left behind.

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Momoko didn't need to worry. The Thunderans and snarfs had been prepared for the evacuation.

But when he heard the word "countries," Lion-o bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to respond. "It wasn't seven countries," he said softly. "It was seven people, including Snarf and myself. Our ship was the only one that made it to Third Earth."

[heromaniac]

No. Momoko paled. She couldn't imagine that.

"The others..." She saw Lion-o's face and stopped talking to move next to him. "Sorry. I asked stupid questions and reminded you of a really bad thing. I wish it hadn't happened. Not my asking the questions... well, that too, but the whole thing. Sorry. I know that doesn't help, but I am. You don't have to talk about it. Just tell me to change the subject, okay? We're friends, right?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we're friends," said Lion-o, nodding. "As for the others... I really don't know what happened to them. The ships were all supposed to rendezvous in another system, but our ship was damaged and we didn't have enough fuel to make it there. We had to divert to the closest available planet that had a compatible atmosphere."

[heromaniac]

Ah! So the others were probably okay. "You are so mean. I thought your ship was the only one to survive!" Momoko leaned against him and huffed. "Which is a good thing, obviously, and I'm glad and all, but that was totally scary thinking an entire world full of people died. You totally should have said that part at the beginning. So is the new planet nice? You said it was like Earth?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o sighed. "Actually, we still don't know if any other ships survived. So it's possible, but I want to be prepared for the worst. But the new planet seems really nice, from what I saw of it. They called it Third Earth. Even the name is similar to this planet!"

[heromaniac]

"You have to think positive! Negative thoughts can cause bad luck. Didn't anyone teach you that? Everyone is fine and you should concentrate on making sure you get an education that will help you help everyone." She nudged him with her shoulder for emphasis, then sat back up and reached for her chili.

"So how did the people on Third Earth react when they saw you? Did they think you were monsters?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"I, uh, don't know. I came back to Fandom before I had a chance to meet anyone," said Lion-o, looking a big sheepish. "Some leader I make, huh?"

[heromaniac]

"I didn't used to think school was more important than being in charge of my team and taking care of the city." Momoko tapped her spoon against her cheek and looked at him. "But since I came here, I've realized that I don't know enough to do the best job I can. So I think it's good that you came back; you need to make sure you learn all you can. Isn't that why your dad sent you here in the first place?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"That's right," said Lion-o, nodding. "And there is so much I've learned already since I've been back. Professor Minsc even trusted me to help watch the class last week while he had an emergency."

[heromaniac]

"Ha! See what I mean?!" Momoko grinned. "And you'll be a much better leader even later, so you shouldn't worry about it!" She gave him a thumbs up. "So, you leave tomorrow, right? After work? How long are you going to be gone? Is Mr Snarf going back, too?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Like Snarf would let me go back without him," laughed Lion-o. "He's busy stocking up on supplies to take with us, just in case they need stuff. We should be back on Sunday since all of my classes are Monday."

[heromaniac]

"Did you need help? I don't know if I'm any good at constructing catleers, though." She hesitated a moment. "What's a catleer again?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o laughed again. "It's a Cat's Lair," he said, slowly sounding out the words. "It's basically a big fortress. And you should probably hold off on visiting until they finish the lair, unless you want to camp out in the wreck of a crashed spaceship."

[heromaniac]

Momoko laughed herself. "You have a point! I don't mind camping, but not necessarily on an unknown planet full of unknown bugs and creatures. Will it take long to build the Cat's Lair, you think? Oh! You should totally take some of the chili with you! There's enough, don't you think?"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Snarf is one step ahead of you. He bought out pretty much all the canned food in stock at Turtle and Canary," said Lion-o. "Luckily, this time, I can carry heavier suitcases."

[heromaniac]

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that my chili, homemade with these very beautiful hands," she raised a hand at him, palm out, "tastes the same as some generic food in cans?!"

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Actually, it's probably a lot better than the stuff in the cans. But the cans are easier to carry," said Lion-o.

[heromaniac]

"'Probably' better?" Momoko narrowed her eyes at him.

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"I don't know! I've never had the stuff in the cans before," protested Lion-o.

[heromaniac]

"Lion-ooooo!" Momoko rolled her eyes and dropped her head to her chest. "You're supposed to always say a girl's home cooking is better than anything else! Especially canned food."

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"How was I supposed to know? I've never had a girl cook for me before!" said Lion-o. "But this is better than some of the stuff Snarf makes, and that is a compliment."