Author's note/disclaimer: I don't own Wild ARMs 3. Please don't sue!
This is just a collection of scenes that popped into my head based on WA 3, but I couldn't find anywhere in my normal fics to fit them. Enjoy. ^_^
March 1, 2003
"Cookies""Catherine? Are you home?"
"I'm in the kitchen, dear," came the reply.
Kaitlyn came running over to her father as Clive and the others walked the rest of the way into the house. He caught her as she jumped up into his arms and nearly toppled over backwards in surprise. He was lucky Gallows was standing behind him, and the big man caught him and pushed him back upright.
"Kaitlyn, dear, you are getting a little big for that, you know," Clive told her.
"Or you're getting too old," deadpanned Jet. There followed a heavy silence, before Kaitlyn started to laugh.
"You're funny, Uncle Jet!" the child exclaimed. "You should tell jokes more often." Then she wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "I missed you, daddy!" Clive returned the hug.
"I missed you too, sweetheart." He paused and sniffed the air. "Is your mother baking?"
Kaitlyn nodded. "She said she was making mo-lass-us cookies. What's mo-lass-us?"
"Molasses is a tar used to waterproof roofs."
Kaitlyn's eyes grew wide. "Really? That doesn't sound like something to put in cookies."
Clive set his daughter on the floor and ruffled her hair. "I'm kidding. But to be honest, I'm actually not too sure what molasses is."
"Wow! Something Clive doesn't know!" exclaimed Gallows.
"Like you're one to talk," snapped Jet.
"Guys, would you cool it?" asked Virginia.
It was at this moment that Catherine entered the room. She was coated in a fine dust of flour and held a rolling pin in one hand. She smiled at her husband and his friends. "You're just in time. The cookies should be cool enough to eat now. Feel free to have a few. The pie won't be ready for another while, however."
The group moved into the kitchen and Catherine held out a basket with some flat, slightly blackened things in it. "Help yourselves," she said, still smiling. Clive and Kaitlyn both took two of the strange discs, but the others were a little hesitant. "Don't be shy." Catherine held the basket out to Virginia. Smiling weakly, she took one and thanked her, as did the others. Then they followed Clive and Kaitlyn into the dining room.
Kaitlyn had already finished her cookies and had gone off somewhere, but Clive was still sitting at the table, munching away at his own. Virginia was careful to sit where Catherine couldn't see her before trying her own cookie. Taking a bite, she made a face.
"How can you eat that, Clive?" she whispered to the sniper, feeling guilty. Clive shrugged.
"It is an acquired taste. Catherine is always burning cookies."
The next thing everyone knew, Clive was wearing a dishtowel on his head that had been thrown from somewhere in the kitchen. He scratched the back of his neck. "Perhaps I should not have said that aloud."