-Black Cat

But dumb and good, the real kind of good, Jane thinks, have never gone hand in hand. Dumb and boring, now that’s a different story.

"Your secret’s safe with me, slim," Jane swears with narrowed eyes and a nod, all gestures and expressions put on to poke fun at him with a nickname she’s always aimed in Pat’s direction. He’s such a toothpick, she always thinks when she spots him, and there’s something nostalgic about his gangly arms. If any of the kids she’d lived with felt like a sibling, it had been Pat.

She shrugs her shoulders carelessly when the question is aimed back to her. “Not much,” she admits upon a sigh, neglecting to inform Pat that Jay had stopped in and asked if she’d be a part of this raid he’s planning. She doesn’t want to worry him. “You know me, same old, same old.”

"Good. And I am not slim, I'm rippling specimen of manly man. I got a serious rock hard one pack that I'm rocking behind this monkey suit." he laughed. Yeah it might sound self deprecating, but that was just how Pat was. He never really took those jokes that sounded like he was putting himself down very seriously. He knew what he was and what he was all about and he had fun with it. 

Pat leans against her car and shrugged. "You do realize that I have like no idea what same old same old means, right? Aside from chilllin' in your apartment with leftover chinese and the tv. For all I know, 'same old' could mean you just went like… spelunking on the grand canyon…. oh my god does it mean that?" his eyes lit up eagerly. 

And the officers are usually quick to respond to noise violations at Eileen Savage’s home. There’s always a cup of coffee and a snack in it for them.

"No, I don’t trust you and Jane to cook," Eileen clarifies, "Which is why everything will be mostly prepared already and you two just need to keep it warm. And if you two can’t manage that then you can raise the kids and I’ll stir the pot.” She casts a snarky grin in Patrick’s direction, a good-natured joke as she tosses aside the wad of bills. They can wait. They aren’t as important as her family.

She smiles genuinely as Patrick brings over coffee, an extra mug for her because she’ll always take a cup. She pours herself a cup, reaching for the small container of sugar she keeps on the table for lazy tendencies and shovels out a spoonful into her cup. Simple, just as she likes it. “He deserved it,” she commends the boy with a nod, disgusted at the way a man could treat a woman like a piece of meat. Then again, it isn’t uncommon and, if anything, she had taught some of her girls how to use that to their advantage. The idea to just let him touch you once. Because as soon as you get him alone, he won’t have hands to touch you again. Jane had picked up on that lesson quickly.

"Don’t get caught," Eileen warns, a suggestion Patrick probably doesn’t need but she’ll always worry about her kids, "Once in awhile for you vigilante justice, fine. I won’t stop you. But none of this hero crap."

Even though he had a good handle on his powers, there was no doubt that he still had his share of spills, mainly because his long gangly limbs were something he never really felt that he had control of outside of when he was using his powers or when he was consciously performing some up close magic trick for the occasional guest that seemed genuinely interested customer. 

She pulls away from the warm hug, clapping Pat on the shoulder affectionately because she hadn’t seen him in a bit. And she thinks one day she’ll actually go in for a job interview at his work place. He brings it up enough, probably when he thinks she’s struggling financially and that always makes her push back. Because if he’s Eileen’s golden child, she’s just the soldier.

"How ya been, Pat?"

"Oh you know, living  life. Conning people out their money legally and trying not to burn my apartment down every time I make a grilled cheese. Don't tell Eileen I said that!" he quickly adds on nervously because the last thing he needs is for Eileen to worry or for her to think that even for a second he lost control of his probability powers. No, he had an excellent handle in not inflicting bad luck unless it was intended. Burning grilled cheeses were just a result of him being absent minded and paying more attention to the TV when he stood at the stove. "But you know me, I'm good. What 'bout you? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages,"

Besides, she already has the camera ready to record the entire thing. The rest of the family can watch when they like. “If it does, you can help Jane set up everything here for his party. Everything will be cooking, you two just need to make sure nothing burns,” she informs him, finger in the air to emphasize that nothing is to be charred when she returns home. And there’s a small flicker of doubt in her. That while she loves the two of them dearly, she doubts their ability to cook, even for themselves. She hadn’t raised them to be masterful chefs.

Tossing another dull bill aside, she begins tearing open another, a phone bill, which shouldn’t be too high. And to her delight, it isn’t. Less scolding she’ll have to do later. “How’s your job treating you?” Eileen asks, folding the paper back into something small before tucking it back into the envelope. The money she owes is important, but it isn’t as vital as checking on one of her cubs.

"Cooking?" he winces. "Welllllll if you really trust us to then, we'll do our best not to burn anything… I mean we won't burn anything!" he adds quickly realizing that him of all people saying that sort of thing was not the most assuring thing in the universe. Sure he had good control on his powers and his bad luck was now well contained in that little box he always visualized and was only let out when he wanted it to, but the last thing he wanted to do was worry Eileen. 

The coffee he'd been making is done and he quickly pours himself a cup and brings over the pot, his cup and spare mug in case Elieen wanted to partake. "Oh you know, it's good. Same old, same old, pays the bills and before you ask, no I haven't used my powers against customers…. Unless you count that one jack ss that kept trying to grab this woman's butt…" he muttered under his breath before innocently taking a sip of coffee. 

"A woman who doesn’t like a bit of magic isn’t worth your time," Eileen decides aloud, putting herself more into the conversation as she starts tearing open a boring, plain white envelope, "She’s boring." And by the sound of the word, it might be one of the biggest insults she has to offer. Just because she wants the kids living under her roof to lead normal lives, doesn’t mean she believes they should be dull ones.

Eileen nods her head at the offer of coffee. She could always use a cup of coffee, and it’ll help her plow through these bills, along with the nice company. Pulling the folded paper out of the envelope, she mulls over the higher price of her electric bill with a disgruntled expression. “Damn kids,” she mutters to herself, but there isn’t much heart in the phrase. Just because she has to shell out a bit more in funds this week, doesn’t detract her love for them.

"All good," Eileen informs Patrick as she places the bill back down upon the table, picking up another envelope and turning her gaze upon someone who’s left her home, "Todd graduates in a few months. Then he’ll be off to college."

"Oh well, no skin off my nose. I'll find my magic loving gal someday… or guy… you never know." Not like Pat had really felt anything towards men, but he wasn't against it neither. Life was weird and crazy, you never know what could happen… either that or he's back to the whole crazy cat man plan. Not sure how much Eileen would love that plan. 

Pat moves about the kitchen, remembering exactly where everything and even though Eileen says that she's good on the coffee front, he still pulls out a coffee mug for her just in case. "Oh snap," Pat exclaims, surprised but still taking care not to swear because you never knew what little ears would be lurking around the corner in this house, "He's graduating already? Jesus, just a few months ago I was helping with test stuff. Ooh! Can I come to the graduation, pleeeeaasseee?" he pretends to beg, but there's a real genuine excitement to be had there because he was just as invested in these kid's lives just as Eileen was. 

With a kiss on the cheek and a long, warm hug, Jane had said her goodbyes to her caretaker, the mama bear, before rushing off to her small Honda with a pair of vintage earrings in her hand. Eileen had slipped them into her palm, sharing a history of them belonging to her grandmother. And knowing that Jane has an appreciation for anything consider an antique, perhaps why she likes the old redhead so much the woman would muse, she handed them over gladly.

But a figure beside her car makes her pause, halfway through putting an earring through the small hole in her ear as her defenses flare up. And she isn’t concerned that she’ll get herself hurt, but she’s very protective of the people under the roof of the house behind her, especially the older woman. But when her eyes adjust to the dark and the face of the person by her car, she only looks confused. “Did you wait out here for me?”

No matter how long he stays away, the path to Eileen's is always familiar and one he's all but memorized at this point. Once he breaks free from the traffic and is on a stretch of open road, there's an overwhelming sense of familiarity that overcomes him. You never realize how much you miss something until you been away from it for a really long time. The closer he gets to the house the more self conscious he gets about his current outfit. Mainly because they were his work clothes. And yeah, he looked good in them even with the dweeby little bow tie (which in actuality he loved), there was no denying that the kids definitely felt like they had to be more formal when he came in like that. Also, the fact that his work uniform always reeked of cigarettes. 

As he pulls up to the house there's another car there and it makes him pause as he gets out the car. There's a familiarity about it but he can't quite put his finger on it, that is until he sees a familiar face and figure by it. He walks up, hands in pockets and that goofy grin on his face. "Well, if I was waitin' for you and knew you'd be here, I'd have a boom box over my head somethin'."

"Maybe you’ve met a girl," she offers, almost hopefully, because if she could raise a mutant kid successfully, and then see him married with a family of his own. What surrogate mother wouldn’t. "Or maybe a boy, that’s fine too," she adds with a shrug of her shoulders as she turns back towards the stack of bills, sorting through them again, "Just as long as you aren’t being stupid."

Perhaps that’s the only rule in Eileen’s household: don’t be stupid. If they break curfew and stay out late, she asks that they don’t be stupid. And if she catches them, then they had been stupid and deserved their punishment. But usually, she’s a bit proud of her rule breakers, as long as normal teenagers could break the same rules.

When Eileen plays with idea that maybe he met a girl or even a boy, he makes a face. That was the one question he always dreaded when coming back here because he hasn't had much luck on the dating circuit. He was starting to think and resign to the very real possibility that he just might end up being a lonely cat lady… or in his case cat man… and not the Adam West character from the Fairly Oddparents neither. "Nooooo. No girl and no boy either…"Suddenly Pat snaps his finger when he remembers something, "Though I did give a girl my number a few days ago… don't she'll be callin' me back though," Pat pouted, his face falling, "Didn't seem to be too fond of magic tricks. Or the whole… scrawny, cute, nerd thing I got going for me." Pat sighs while doing a little awkward dance to further prove his point. 

"But like I said, ain't being stupid, not causin' trouble neither. Gotta be a good example for the kids, right? Oh! how are they by the way?" he asks as he makes his way into the kitchen and goes straight for the coffee pot. "You want me to make you some?" he asks, the action completely natural and effortless for him. 

And if Patrick and Jane complain about being the ones she turns to the most for help, they know better than to file that with Eileen.

"If you’d stop by more often, maybe I’d consider you family," Eileen retorts with a quirk of her brow, before smacking Patrick with the small stack of envelopes in the arm. It’s then that she laughs lightly, opening up her arms widely to embrace the man in a large, strong hug.

The moment he pushes himself off the doorframe, shuts the door behind him and heads over, he is immediately smacked by the stack of envelopes in Eileen's hand. It doesn't hurt in the slightest, but Pat still flinches and even goes the extra mile to mouth an 'ow' and rub at his arms. Pat lets out a little laugh before his face falls comically as he pretends to act hurt.   "Whhhhaaattt? All these years and I'm still not family? You wound me, Eileen." He's about to say more, but soon enough Eileen is pulling him into one of her famous, warm hugs. 

Pat closes his eyes and smiles as he wraps his thin arms around the woman as tightly as he could because to him each hug was a way to show how much he cared for her and loved the woman. A small way of paying her back for everything she did for him. "Sorry I haven't been around to visit lately." he says more genuinely as he hugs her back. 

No one had brought the mail in today. Damn kids. But any sliver of irritation she could actually feel at their neglect crumbles in an instant. And whether that’s because of her fierce devotion to these kids or the small stack of bills in her grasp now, she couldn’t say.

And it’s all less interesting than the the figure that stops before her. It doesn’t concern Eileen. She knows this one. She knows most of them. And whether that’s because they’ve been raised in her house or brought her a dangerous mutant in need of a power erased, it doesn’t truly matter. Eileen looks after her kind, and her loyalty is something that’s made her an ally to her kind. All of them.

"I should start posting office hours," Eileen muses to herself dryly as she sorts through the white envelops in her hand.

 Yeah, he could call it in for a day, head to his apartment, make a grilled cheese and go straight to bed while Craig Ferguson played in the background, but he didn't really feel like doing that today. It had been ages since he had gone back and to be honest he was feeling a little bit homesick for the place that was more of a home for him than his actual home back with his parents. Besides, it had been a while since he had stopped by to visit and that just didn't seem right to Pat. Yeah, it might be late and some of the kids probably won't be awake, but he's pretty sure Eileen will be.

It doesn't take long for Pat to reach the house and the second he hops out of the car he waves his arms around and spins around in a feeble attempt to rid himself of that stagnant casino smell that clung to his work uniform before heading inside. And sure enough the second that he enters that familiar doorway, he spots that familiar head of fiery red hair. 

"Aw, c'mon... you're gonna start making me of all people adhere to office hours? How's that fair?"