Snippet #2309040

It seemed like every Paterson had decided to pour into the house at once. This was the kind of unpredictability that drove Alex up the wall. He could spend all day alone at the house, expecting somebody to come home if even just for a few minutes, and nothing. Next minute, when he's caught off guard because he has to wipe blood off his brother, everybody decides to show up.

Well, he didn't have to wipe the blood off his brother... Kenneth was an adult and more than capable of taking care of himself. It was just Alex's intrusive, control-freak nature that prompted him to do it.

"HOLY SHIT! KENNY MURDERED SOMEONE!"

There was no mistaking that enthusiasm-laced voice; Benji was home.

"Don't be silly, Benjamin. He just has a bloody nose." Alex continued to wipe, glaring the rabbit up and down. The rabbit was one of Alex's least favorite brothers... he was the epitome of everything Alex couldn't tolerate in a person. Inconsistent, forgetful, irresponsible, childish, changeable without warning the commanding Paterson thought to himself. "Listen Benjamin, now that you're home, grab a broom and get dusting. Mom and dad will be ho-"

"AT 7 IN THE MORNING, WE KNOW." Eli interjected before he could even finish. It wasn't the Sheep's nature to be snippy although he definitely could when the mood struck him, and in Eli's case, after all the stress he'd been through today, he really wasn't in any mood to conceal his frustration with his family.

Alex was multitasking, continuing to clean blood off Kenny while scanning the room for other chores that needed to be done, and making note of each of his brothers and sisters as they were walking in the door. He saw Char digging through the fridge. "Char? What on earth are you doing? We are trying to CLEAN here.... NOT make more messes. You've been out all day, you didn't think to get any food?" Alex was losing his patience. He wasn't the type to explode in a fit of rage; that wasn't his style. But something familiar was occurring... flashes of bright blue were beginning to swirl through the rooster's stormy irises. He was willing to give his siblings a chance to cooperate by their own will before he'd go all "supernatural" on them, but he didn't like how pressed for time they were quickly becoming.

For the Patersons, New Years occurred in February as opposed to the regular January date for the rest of the country. They weren't Chinese in this life, but they had been in their original lives, and that meant that the tradition carried over. As such, it was a pretty big deal for the family and even though the others were not taking it very seriously at this point, he knew that they all cared just as much about it as Alex did.

"Char: Get the party tables out of the garage, set up one in the kitchen, one on the patio and two in the back yard. Mia can help you. Mia, make sure you get the festival tablecloths and set them.

Kenny: Go upstairs and change.. then when you come back down, you can start rolling eggrolls and putting them in the fridge.

Eli: When you and Aiden are done hanging paper lanterns, I need you to start on the mooncakes. You're the only one who can bake them.

Ramona: You're on lights duty. Hang strands wherever you think they would look good; I trust your judgment.

Miles: ...........Why don't you just.. go entertain yourself in your room for the next 12 hours or something."

Alex stood watch to make sure every order had been properly received as glittering swirls of cerulean still danced through his eyes, threatening at any moment to eliminate the existence of free-will in the Paterson household and turn the family into a robotic army of cleaning mind-slaves.