𝑷𝑳𝑨𝒀 𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬 - Steven Hyde

two

2|BASEMENT REFURBISHMENT

Marigold wandered down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, surprised to see Steven walking out the basement in only a robe and sweats.

"Morning." She looked at him strangely, sitting across from him at the small table. He yawned a greeting and put the remaining waffles on to his plate, buttering them up.

"Steven, its seven-damn-thirty in the morning." Red broke the awkward silence, stopping the boy as he ate his breakfast. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Red, be nice." Kitty told off her husband for his tone of voice. "Steven, we're waiting."

"Well, I've been living in the basement." Hyde answered, yawning quietly before going back to his breakfast.

"Well that ain't strange." Goldie mumbled to herself, digging into the crispy bacon.

"You know, I did notice a dusting of curly hair on the floor, but I just wrote it off to my changing teenage body." Eric joked.

"I moved back in when my dad got transferred." Hyde informed everyone which only grew Marigolds confusion.

"Transferred? He's a bartender." Red questioned loudly. "Where'd he get transferred to, the jukebox?"

"You know, Red, if it's cool, I'd kind of rather not talk about it." The frizzy haired boy asked the man kindly, mixed emotions written all over his face.

"Well, Steven, its important to get these things out in the open." Kitty urged the boy to open up.

"Kitty, let him do what's natural and keep his feelings bottled up." The older man stopped his wife and defended Hyde, nudging him proudly. "Atta-boy."

"Well, welcome back, Steven." Kitty kissed the boys head before going back to her breakfast. "Have you met Marigold yet? She has been living with us for the past month."

"We met at the party." Goldie told her aunt, ignoring the suggestive look Eric gave her. She kicked her cousin in the shin before he could reveal that she had a boy in her room.

"You know, maybe we can spruce up your old room since I decided to redo the basement." Kitty started the general conversation.

"What?" Eric put his glass on the table harshly. "You're redoing the basement?"

"Well, honey, no one uses it." His mother answered.

"I use it." His eyes darted between his parents in shock. "Every day. It's my bat cave."

"I'll find you a good, cheap contractor." Red smirked to his wife.

"Oh, no, no, no, no." Kitty stopped her husband. "This is something I want to handle myself."

"This is gonna be expensive, isn't it?" He sighed loudly.

"Maybe."

"Don't you like anything cheap?" Red complained.

"I like you." Kitty answered smarty, giving her husband a sickly sweet smile.

~•~

"Mind if I sit with you guys?" Marigold walked down to the basement, knowing Eric and his friends were down there.

"Sure, take a seat." Eric shuffled over slightly on the worn sofa and to let his cousin sit between him and Donna.

"Hi." A tall boy greeted, staring at her weirdly. "I'm Kelso."

"Goldie." She smiled shyly, grabbing a magazine off the table and flicking through it.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss it down here." Kelso began to pace around the basement. "Lot of good times. Broke my foot climbing out of this dryer. And my head playing hand ball with the soap in that shower. Me and Jackie totally did it like a bajillion times on this old sofa."

"Ew." Goldie, Eric and Donna all stood up at the same time, wandering away from the sofa in disgust.

"Here." Hyde gestured to the stool by his foot to Marigold.

"Is he always like this?" She asked, scrunching her nose up at the tall boy.

"Dumb? Yes." He answered her, putting down his magazine. "You get use to it."

"Michael, that's private." Jackie glared at her boyfriend.

"I got news for you. It wasn't that private." Hyde inputted.

"This is why I enjoyed being antisocial." Goldie pursed her lips in thought. "I didn't have to deal with people like those sex freaks and those broken hearted freaks."

"You going to hide back in your room again?" Hyde teased, looking down at the girl with a smirk.

"I have weed." She nodded, sending him a wink. "Getting high beats dealing with curious people."

"Oh, my God!" Kitty ran into the main space of the basement. "That is the biggest spider I have ever seen. I think it had a rat in its mouth. Okay, I think maybe the basement isn't the place for me after all."

"Oh, you know what, mom? I think you might be right. I mean, not only is it bug-infested down here, but in all honestly, I think it might be haunted." Eric agreed with his mother before putting a hand over his mouth and deepening his voice. "Get out!"

"That's spooky." Kelso stated, looking around the basement.

"I don't know, Mrs. Forman." Donna spoke up. "I mean, sure it's a pit now, but if you paint, fumigate, and get rid of Eric, this could be a great room."

"Mom, don't listen to her. She's crazy." Eric gestured to his ex-girlfriend.

"Oh, wait, I disagree with you, so I'm crazy?" Donna glared at the back of his head, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think the last time I disagreed with you was the sanest thing I ever did."

"Okay, are you referring to our breakup?" He asked confusedly. "Because I must remind everyone here that she wore my promise ring around her neck. That's crazy! Ring, finger. Finger, ring."

"Well, you're lucky I didn't shove the ring up your ass." Donna snapped back.

"All right, well who said "get out"?" Kelso interrupted the argument, still very confused.

"I'm going to head back to my room, I have an essay to write." Marigold stood up, getting bored of this conversation. "Oh, and Eric. I wear my rings around my neck too, it's normal."

"That's different." Eric called out to her, knowing what she was talking about.