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It's a lazy morning much like any other. April needs to get up and make breakfast but instead she's lying in bed scrolling the news on her phone. She doesn't even like the news. Gonna get up aaaaany minute now.
April finds the plot (of Starter Villain)
There is a headline: "Jake Olivier, Billionaire Parking Garage Maven, Dead at 67".
against-the-rule
She almost scrolls past it, because celebrity death announcements are never relevant to her life, then does a double-take and says "FUCK" very loudly and clicks through to the article.
Jake Olivier, reclusive billionaire and owner of Olivier Limited Parking is dead at 67 this week of pancreatic cancer. OLP is the largest parking garage chain in North America, and the main source of his wealth. Olivier died peacefully in his bed Sunday morning.
There's not much other information about Jake specifically in the article -- there's just another couple paragraphs about the company itself and how, as a private company, the owner's death shouldn't affect their business at all.
against-the-rule
After staring blankly at her phone for several seconds, she texts Uncle Chris.
did YOU know Uncle Jake had pancreatic cancer
against-the-rule
for all I know she's already seen the news
I'll text her
I read on the news uncle jake died
If April listens carefully, she might hear some gentle scratching at the bedroom door.
against-the-rule
"Breakfast will be late due to family emergency," she calls. And then starts a group chat with her mom and uncle by telling them she has to go feed the cat. Her phone bloops repeatedly from her bed as she scrounges up a pair of pants, then bloops repeatedly from her pocket as she opens the door.
Pippi is outside the room looking up at her when she exits. She tentatively takes a step forward to rub against her legs if April is amenable.
against-the-rule
"Hey, Pippi. I'm gonna be worse company than usual today, my Uncle Jake died and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that."
She shuffles downstairs, plops a can of wet food into Pippi's bowl, opens the fridge and stares blankly into it for several seconds, closes the fridge, and leans her head against it.
Pippi comes over to her and rubs up against her ankles while she's leaning against the fridge, looking up at her concernedly.
against-the-rule
"Eat your breakfast, I'm fine." She reflects on this statement for a moment. "Okay, 'fine' is a stretch. Eat your breakfast anyway."
Pippi looks at her for several more seconds, then turns and pads off to have her breakfast. She pauses in the middle of eating every 30 seconds or so to look over at April.
against-the-rule
April plods slowly through the motions of pouring a bowl of cereal, including all the classics like "dropping the spoon on the floor and having to get a new spoon" and "accidentally trying to put the box of cereal away in the fridge".
against-the-rule
"I have, like, two memories of my Uncle Jake," she says. "He gave me my favourite teddy bear but I don't actually remember that part because I was two. When I turned five he got me a secretly haunted dollhouse. I loved that thing to death. There was a dumbwaiter with a severed Barbie head in it and you could turn a little crank to make it go up and down and jumpscare the kitchen, dining room, or bedroom at your pleasure. Then Aunt Mary died, and the whole family stopped talking to him, and for the next year I was convinced that they'd kicked him out over the dollhouse because nobody would explain what actually happened. They still kind of haven't explained what actually happened? He got in a big fight at her funeral, apparently, and then wouldn't apologize for whatever it was he said. I dunno. It was a really great dollhouse. He seemed very proud of himself when I opened it. I was barely tall enough to reach the top of the box."
Pippi continues eating, though she does keep turning her head to look at April to see if she needs her. She very well might. Luckily, Pippi has eaten most of the food by now.
against-the-rule
She sighs and pushes her bowl of cereal away so she can flop her head down on the kitchen table.
Pippi seems to decide that this is a situation that calls for Cat, and leaves the rest of her food to come over and rub up against April's legs, looking up at her to see if her lap is available.
against-the-rule
She sighs and effortfully drags herself upright again. "Here I am telling you to eat your breakfast and not taking my own advice," she says, snagging the cereal bowl and pulling it back toward her.
Pippi starts deliberately grooming the exposed skin on April's leg, licking carefully and meticulously.