A/N: A quick pre IR moment
"If your hand comes near my plate again you're going to regret it!" Eleven year old Kayo snarled out the threat, fork clenched in her fist and eyes narrowed as she glared at the boys speculatively eyeing her half-eaten dinner.
They'd all finished well before her, mostly out of habit because it was unusual for someone to not have another place to be shortly with their schedules and extracurriculars, partly because someone had described it as 'the quick and the hungry' at the Tracy table with five boys all going through growth spurts and quite happy to chow down on each other's unguarded leftovers. While no one actually went hungry, it had been said often enough that stealing from each other's plates with that as an excuse had become a favourite way for the brothers to annoy each other. Gordon in particular had taken to it eagerly, waiting for someone to be distracted and filching a favorite tidbit from their plate.
"Should we warn them?" John asked Scott nonchalantly as they left the table and carried their plates to the kitchen. The eldest two had been designated the babysitters while the adults talked business in the study, but they'd decided it'd probably be safe enough to leave the younger kids for a couple of minutes while they started on chores.
"Nah. They'll learn soon enough." Scott shrugged and started rinsing the dishes while John stacked the dishwasher. "Besides, it's Gordon. When hasn't he had to learn through experience? If we warn him off he'll definitely try it."
"Good point." John observed.
Barely a minute later the bang of metal into wood was almost instantly followed by a startled yelp from the fourth Tracy.
"Is anyone bleeding?" Scott yelled down the hallway, elbow deep in the sink.
"No, Gordon's just got a fork between his fingers." Virgil called back, clearly trying not to laugh.
"She almost stabbed me!" Gordon wailed over the sound of Alan's chortling.
"Almost, not actually!" Kayo interjected. "Big difference!"