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Humming strayed from the kitchen; inside, Judy Ken Sebben was fixing herself a meal. Tossing up a pale blue cereal box in her hands, she poured herself a bowl of Balti-Mix! (Now with 100% less baltimo!) “Yadda da da, making some cereal, everything’s fine,” Judy’s cheery, but strained, voice sung quietly. Once a pile of the dusty red and black slightly crunchy cereal puffs were sitting in the waiting bowl, in went a splash of milk.
Judy smiled, pulling out a spoon from her silverware drawer as she tried to be a bit showy in twirling it about in her hand before inevitably dropping it to the floor with a small gasp. “Ah shit,” she groaned as she leaned over to pick it up. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” She wiped off the spoon with the bottom of her T-shirt before tossing it into her bowl of cereal and—
Triumphantly holding up her bowl of cereal to the bright kitchen lights—like she so often did with Birdcat, imitating The Lion King—she proclaimed: “Breakfast! Is ready!”
“Judy.”
Standing in the doorway was Meredith, brow cocked and arms crossed as she gave her friend a quizzical look. “What are you doing?” She asked.
“Ah,” Judy retracted her triumphant pose, pulling her bowl of cereal in towards her chest. “Made some breakfast.” She replied casually.
“You’re still eating that crap?” Meredith asked in disbelief when she spotted the bowl of Balti-Mix in Judy's hands.
“Hey, hey,” Judy pouted, reaching over for the box before bringing it in close to Meredith’s face, one hand still cradling her bowl of cereal. “Look,” Her finger on the front of the box tapped at the bold letters splayed out on the topper left corner: ‘Now with 100% less baltimo!’
“They took out all the baltimo, it’s totally safe to eat now! I mean, they did have to add in a bunch of artificial sweeteners and flavors and colours and...some other things but whatever,” Judy gave a wave of her hand as her friend took the cereal box from her. “It’s just like what I used to eat as a kid.” She gave a rather forced laugh as she fast-walked past Meredith and out into the living room.
“Judy,” Meredith called out from the kitchen as Judy sat in front of the couch—not on it, in front of. She had her bed’s comforter lying on the floor in front of the couch, pillows propped up with a TV remote beside herself. “Are you okay...?”
Meredith really didn’t like comforting people; it was uncomfortable for her and it wasn’t really something she was good at, and while she could just mind-take to see what was bothering Judy...that felt a bit wrong at the moment. Just a touch.
Judy seemed to ignore Meredith at the moment, setting her cereal bowl aside as she grabbed for a...VCR remote? Meredith turned to the TV as Judy unpaused something she’d apparently put in earlier. Taped, old television from...the early ‘90s. “Judy? Are you listening to me?” Meredith asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, Mer.” Judy brushed off with a wave of her hand. She brought her knees up to her chest as she ate a bite of the restored-though-slightly-different Balti-Mix. She had a smile on her face but she didn’t seem...happy. It was sort of there but also sort of fake.
Meredith took a moment, taking a seat on the couch as she stared at Judy, who was entirely engrossed in her old television viewing at the moment. Judy was dressed in a slightly baggy T-shirt; It was white with thin, horizontal black stripes going across. She was wearing short, maroon-coloured shorts and some interesting socks with different designs on either; what looked to be...ducks? Ducks on one sock and just simple multi-colour dots on the other.
Judy was just eating her cereal, eyes glued to the television. It shouldn’t be so odd, but her behavior was weird—weird even for Judy. For Birdgirl. Meredith drew her mouth into a thin line of a pout, sucking her lips in a bit as she slowly decided in her head what must be going on with her friend.
“Judy, is this because of the, y’know, Balti-Mix—er—baltimo stuff and all of that about your dad? And about how he’s,” She looked away, holding that last word strenuously long before adding: “Dead?” She pursed her lips, looking to Judy for an answer.
“He’s not.”
That was it. That was Judy’s reply, that quick knee-jerk reply that made Meredith do a double-take.
“Judy,” Meredith felt her chest tighten a bit. She flapped her hands a bit, trying to gain the nerve to press on into what she knew were serious emotional matters. She didn’t like it, she didn’t like it. But...Judy was her best friend and she was really...going through emotional stuff still. Apparently. “Ah, no.” She shook her head. “Phil died, y’know, about half a year ago now.” Her voice was soft and almost in an unintentionally condescending way. Judy looked over to Meredith, a serious expression worn on her face as she shook her head.
“Mm, no. Nope, no, that’s wrong. He’s not dead; daddy’s alive. He’s faked his death before. A lot, actually. It’s fine.”
Meredith tossed her hands up, moving them in small circular motions as she felt she was experiencing all of the stress Judy didn’t seem to be experiencing, but should have been. It was completely backwards and she was growing more upset.
“Jude,” Meredith’s heart tensed as she began to interject again. Judy just let out a laugh though as though she wasn’t a part of this conversation as she watched an old cartoon, completely indulging in nostalgia, in a complete fantasy. “Jude, Judy, y-your dad—Phil—he’s...he is dead this time though, remember? I know you remember, but c’mon,”
Meredith could see her words got to Judy, as the latter pursed her lip, a look of sadness cutting through her formerly worn complacent and cheerful expression. The edges of her nose crinkled up, chin wrinkling as she kept that firm pout on her face, looking like she was absolutely about to burst into tears. Meredith tried to prepare herself, but then...Judy relaxed immediately and, with a stern expression on her face, spoke in a quiet, wistful tone:
“Mer?”
Her friend perked up, leaning in noiselessly. Judy brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, looking to her feet as she began to mess with her hands absentmindedly with her left index and middle finger and thumb irritatingly rubbing circles continuously into her right index finger in a loose grip. She was biting at the inside of her bottom lip, holding her breath as she sat lost in thought yet without a single actual thought playing in her mind. She felt fear take hold of her. Fear, sadness, and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness despite the company she was in. “Can you just—can we just...act like it’s not...y’know? Just-just for today, please? I can’t—”
“Yeah! No, no, yeah. Of course, of course.” Meredith was quick to agree despite her apprehension. Judy nodded and smiled.
“Wanna watch some TV with me and maybe draw some...superheroes later? Or go for a fun, nice walk? Or just—”
“Or just watch more TV?”
Meredith smiled and Judy nodded. Meredith took a seat next to Judy and nodded, throwing an arm around her best friend. “Sure, sounds like a fun day.”
Judy nodded, resting her head against Meredith’s shoulder.
“Yeah, it does...”