AU

[fry_sandhu]

Guppy took his time persuading Remy to let him give her somewhere safe to stay for the night. If he can keep her safe for one night, it'll give them a little breathing space.

He opens the door back to his world, which comes out through the bathroom.

"That's where you can find a portal back to the bar. You can go any time if you want, but give us a note, yeah?"

Comments

[numbered_doctor]

The girl in question nods mutely at Guppy, looking aroung her new surroundings with sharp eyes as she holds her stack of homework tightly in her arms. She was in a differnt universe one without her mother yelling for some reason or another.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

Guppy turns right from the bathroom, beckoning her to follow. They pass a bedroom with a closed door, and come to a second one, which looks like a spare room.

"You can sleep in here if you like." he says. "If you want to dump your stuff in there it'll be perfectly safe; none of my lot will touch it."

He stops outside the room and points to a large family portrait on the wall.

"I'll introduce you to the family in a minute, but as a preview - that's my wife, Fran. Sometimes she's called Frogspawn as a nickname. The tall lad with the curly hair is our oldest son, Fry, he's thirteen. The short girl next to him is Coral, she's eleven. The muscular girl next to Coral is Brooke, she's eight but she's nearly as tall as Coral now. That lad there is Gil.

We've also got Rahne, who we foster; she's just turned eleven. She's not on this picture because it was taken before we took her in. She's a little taller than Coral."

[numbered_doctor]

"That's a big family," she notes softly, sticking to Guppy's side as she gazes at the portrat. "You're ...sure this is okay?"

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Absolutely." Guppy says. "We're always happy to have houseguests, and with this lot, one more isn't much trouble."

He moves over and knocks on the door of the adjacent bedroom.

"Gil? It's dinner in quarter of an hour, don't forget it's your turn to set the table."

"Okay!" Gil calls, from inside the room.

"And we've got a guest so set an extra place please." Guppy smiles back at Remy. "Have you had any dinner?"

[numbered_doctor]

She takes the opportunity to quickly dump her things in the guest room while Guppy talks to his son, returning just in time for him to ask his question, which she shakes her head at.

"Nosir."

She hadn't made herself any yet, sure, but she was going to wait 'till her dad had put mom to bed before she braved the kitchen for that.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"You can call me Guppy if you prefer." Guppy says. "Is there anything you can't eat?"

He heads back down the corridor, motioning for her to follow.

"I think it's tuna pasta."

[numbered_doctor]

"Not allergic," she says in a low tone, following Guppy dutifully. "Don't like rhubarb."

Obviously what they're having is fine, since she's not saying otherwise.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"That's all right, we don't have any rhubarb in the house." Guppy reassures her.

"Because it's red." Fry says, coming down the stairs from the attic, then looking at Remy. "I'm Fry. Who are you?"

[numbered_doctor]

Remy startles and moves closer to Guppy instinctively as Fry comes up behind her.

"Remy."

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Remy is staying with us tonight." Guppy says.

"Why?" Fry asks.

"Because she's our guest." Guppy says. "It's dinner soon so please finish what you're doing and come down."

He heads down the stairs to the ground floor, again beckoning Remy to follow. The three girls are sitting at the kitchen table, two doing homework, and one being coerced into doing homework.

[numbered_doctor]

The scene only serves to baffle the girl, Remy looking on in puzzlement as she and Guppy enter the kitchen.

Dinner was cooking, and the three girls were sitting calmly at table and doing schoolwork rather than being holed up in their rooms. No one was left to fend for themselves.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Girls, this is Remy, she's staying with us tonight." Guppy says.

"Hi Remy." Coral says, smiling at her. Rahne gives her a nod and a small smile. Brooke is being encouraged to do her maths by Frogspawn, but manages to grin at Remy in between.

[numbered_doctor]

"Hi."

Eloquent Remy is eloquent. Even more so in the face of so many new people, not to mention unsettled by the new worldview .

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Hi Remy, you can call me Frogspawn or Fran, whichever you prefer." Frogspawn says. "Would you like something to drink? We've got squash, juice, water... tea if you're that way inclined?"

[numbered_doctor]

"I...s'okay," she says, creeping just a little closer to Guppy. Why it helps, she's not entirely sure, but she goes with it. "Don't want to be a bother."

She could manage without, and besides, they were already letting her stay here, and feeding her."

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Brooklyn, are you doing your homework or whining?" Guppy asks, not moving away from Remy at the moment.

"I'm doing it!" Brooke whines.

"Good, let us know if you need help." Guppy says. "And it's dinner in a minute so I'm afraid books will have to come off the table for a few minutes." Gentle smile at Remy.

"Can you help us by putting the drinks glasses out please?" he asks, trying to put her at ease a bit. "They're in that cupboard there, and we need eight in total."

[numbered_doctor]

There's a long pause before Remy nods, moving almost hesitantly towards the indicated cupboard. The glasses are pretty high up, but if she stretches, she's just able to grab them with nimble fingers. Seven come down without incident, but its the eighth that she fumbles with, and the glass falls. Fortunately, Remy is quick, and the glass gets snatched out of midair before it hits the ground.

"Sorrysorrysorry!"

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Good catch!" Frogspawn says. "There's a step just under that counter if you need it."

"I can't reach the cupboards easily either." Coral says sympathetically.

[numbered_doctor]

Another handful of apologies tumble from Remy's mouth before it dawns on her that she's not being shouted at, and no one's upset over the near-accident. Shamed, she ducks her head, hunches her shoulders, and carefully sets the glasses on the table.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"That's it, good job Remy." Frogspawn says, smiling reassuringly at her.

"Can't you do the writing and I shout out the answers?" Brooke whines.

"Nope, you can do your homework without whinging, or you can't go to karate." Frogspawn says, brightly. "Mrs Bramley says you're almost top of the class now you're putting in some effort, and Dad and I are very proud of you."

[numbered_doctor]

The praise, and the interaction between mother and child only baffles Remy once again, Unused to recieving such from anyone beyond the odd teacher.

"Thanks," she finally says after a long moment.

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

Coral and Rahne clear their homework off the table. Gil comes down and starts putting out the cutlery. Fry comes down and peers over at Brooke's maths.

"Number four is wrong." he says.

"Don't do it for her." Guppy says, helping dish up the food.

"What's your favourite subject?" Fry asks Remy instead.

[numbered_doctor]

"English," she says, suprising even herself when she doesn't heasitate or feel nervious about answering.

Beat.

"I like reading."

[sandhu-kids.livejournal.com]

"Me too." Fry says. "I'm an insomniac so I read a lot. I have the reading age of a seventeen-year-old, what's yours?"

"Fry, can you get the gravy jug out of the dishwasher please?" Guppy says, trying to prevent his son from overwhelming Remy.

[numbered_doctor]

Her mouth is open to respond somewhat when Fry starts his rapid-fire questions, but snaps shut as Guppy derails him.

"I...don't know. I just...read?"

She shoots Guppy an anxious look. Was she supposed to know these things?