The Adventures of Dupli-Kate and Finley

Meg

"Well, yes, I suppose we'd better get those sorted first." She rushed around to the boot and opened it. "You took care of my baby, didn't you?"

Kate

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, your car is fine. How's Julie?"

Finley:

" Is Julie the baby?" I asked, not remembering if Kate had mentioned the name of their baby or not, just that they had one. Babies were really cute, they normally had that fuzzy hair and big eyes and those smiles like everything was right in the world.

I followed them around to the back of the car to help unload things.

Kate

"Yeah, that's her." She grabbed a single box from the back, unhappy about not being able to split.

Meg

"She's sleeping soundly." She frowned. "Well, she was until you showed up. You've probably woken her up."

Finley:

"Dammit, I'm sorry... You guys will have to teach me baby etiquette. I was an only child, unfortunately." I replied, getting my box of computer stuff out of the back.

Meg

She smiled widely again. "Don't worry, dear. We'll be happy to help you get used to her. Just try to keep quiet and you'll be okay."

Finley:

"That I can do. We're on a roll." I was a pretty quiet guy unless I was drunk. ...Or hanging out with the boyfriend I'd just recently acquired by way of an underwater blowjob. That was a good night, even if he was a bit weirdly attached to his exotic pocket pets. But I figured that I wouldn't be having Joel over to my place that often anyway, because he had his own place, and I didn't want to make anything awkward if I brought him home one night. It was probably easier to go stay a night with him if we felt like it.

Kate

She carried the box up the steps at the side and to the front door, where she turned to face the other two. "Well don't just stand there."
Meg laughed and grabbed a smaller box before following her wife indoors.

Finley:

"Coming!" I followed them up the stairs with my box of computer stuff, wondering what the inside of the place would look like. I always liked looking at how other people arranged their homes and stuff, the whole interior design thing. I think that if I wasn't so into computers I'd be a designer of some sorts. ...Houses or hair or clothing or something.

Kate

"This way, please." She walked through a large living room that might once have been almost furniture showroom standard. It wasn't exactly messy, but there were books stacked on everything, and the walls boasted swords ranging from Morgul blades to gladii hanging amongst the holiday snaps and oil paintings. All in all, the room seemed cluttered, tasteless, and well-loved.

She went through into the next room, which was a bit smaller, but much clearer and clutter-free. The walls were white and the carpet was a muted, unobtrusive shade of green. There was a desk, a chair, a bed, and a bookshelf in the room.
"It's not quite as homely as the rest of the house, but I'm sure you've got posters and things you can hang up, and at least there's space. If you need any other furniture just ask and I'll see what we can set you up with."
She put her box down on the bed and Meg followed suit.

Meg

"Whew, I'm beat already! I'll make some tea while you two finish off." She strolled off to the kitchen, ignoring Kate's glare.

Finley:

The living room was stacked with books and oddly there were knives up next to the family photos and it had a bit of a crazy cluttered feel, but in a sort of...family kinda crazy, like... real people lived here-- not like at my house where my parents lived and everything had been just so, and creepily perfect and it didn't feel like people lived in it.

The other room, my room, was much emptier but had enough furniture to get along pretty much in the same way I had in my dorm room. "This is great, I have tea lanterns and posters to put up, it'll be perfect." I told her, setting down the computer stuff on the desk.

Meg went to make tea, and I think that meant that it would be just Kate and I unloading the rest of the car.

Kate

"It'll be just like home after that. Let's get the rest of your stuff inside." She walked back out into the living room. "If you're a fan of this role-gaming stuff or whatever it is, don't mention it in front of Meg. She'll drag you into this nerd shit and you'll never be seen again." Her words sound harsh but she's struggling to conceal an almost soppy smile. If one were to inspect the books closer, one would discover that a great many of them are gaming rulebooks, occasionally interspersed with video game strategy guides.

Finley:

As she said that I was looking closer at some of the books in the living room, finding a lot of D&D and game strategy all around. "I play a lot of videogames when I'm not coding something... never quite got into D&D though. I'll try not to talk about pigeon dating sim at the dinner table... keep the nerd to a minimum." I responded, a bit of a smile on my face, as I watched the expression on Kate's. They seemed really cute together, the two of them. It was great.

Kate

Her expression softened. "I'm kidding. Don't let her know I said this, but I love watching her play games." She walked back out to the car and picked up the largest box she could find, hefting it confidently. "She's one of a kind."

Finley:

"Man, I hope I can find some guy one day who can make me as happy as Meg makes you." They were just so cute and like, perfect, and the way Kate talked about Meg and the games was just... I hoped one day someone would be around in the same way for me.

Kate

She smiled and punched his arm gently, shifting her grip on the box to her left hand and her right knee. "I'm sure you will, a fine young man like you. Shit, if I was straight, I'd be into you." She grasped the box with both hands again. "Don't sweat it."

Finley:

"I think that would only help me if I was straight too." I replied, smiling again. I didn't quite know why I was worrying about it, I technically had a boyfriend who was very nice. ...I guess I just didn't know quite yet if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I grabbed another box out of the back of the car.

Kate

"Well, yeah, but the principle still applies, right? You're good-looking and you're a nice guy." She took the box in and put it on the bed. "That's pretty much what matters."

Finley:

That sounded straight forward enough... But then what had been going on with the first 20 years of my life that I couldn't get a boyfriend? I guessed that that didn't really matter all that much, as I had one now and that was what mattered, but like... I dunno. I didn't quite know where I was going with this entire train of thought anyway. I kept thoughtfully silent as we headed back to my room, mostly just wondering about the future and about whether it was horrible of me to still be holding on to my passion for Zac Efron even though I technically had a boyfriend now.

Kate

"Only a few more journeys left. Then I'll show you the rest of the house."

Finley:

"Sounds good... too bad we had to leave your twin behind." I told her with a little grin.

Kate

"Ha, yeah." She grinned at him. "Try not to talk about my twin in front of Meg unless the topic comes up. I don't want to arouse her suspicions."

Finley:

"Sounds like a plan, I think you'd mentioned before that she didn't know about her." I replied, making my way back out towards the car.

Kate

"Well, she knows about my twin, but she doesn't know about the whole duplication thing. The less we talk about her, the better. It's just... it's a mess, okay? I didn't plan this from the beginning; I'm an idiot."

Finley:

"Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll just not mention her then. No big deal." I held the front door open for Kate as we headed back to the car for another load of boxes.

Kate

She nipped through the door past him. "Thanks." She headed to the back of the car and grabbed a box under each arm. "So what do you do when you aren't at college? And don't say your boyfriend."