Apartment Above Luke's, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

The quiet was nice.

Kathy looked around the empty apartment, wandering from room to room. If asked, she'd say she was picturing where all their stuff would go when she and Raven left Eliot's place (okay, Eliot's and Parker's and Hardison's, but it had been Eliot's place in her mind for years and it would take some adjusting to) and moved in here, but really, she was just appreciating the quiet. It was nice, being somewhere that no one else was for a little while. She didn't have to worry about whether her smile was convincing or she appeared happy--and grateful! One mustn't forget grateful!--to be alive again. Not that she wanted to be dead again or anything. But sometimes it was hard to be happy about anything. But around people, she felt like she owed it to them to try. Or at least to put up a decent enough facade that they could convince themselves she was.

Alone, though, she didn't have to pretend. She could just do her own thing, try to distance herself from her recent spate of nightmares and just wander for a bit. She would have thought she'd gotten enough walking in as an ex, but maybe her body'd just gotten used to the repetitive motion. Maybe idly poking around the place really would give her some ideas for what to do with the place. Or maybe it was all just bullshit and she should focus on thinking less altogether.

Yeah, it was probably the latter. But until she found a decent substitute for her previous activities that shut her brain down (besides zombieism, ha ha, she was hilarious), walking and appreciating the lack of people would have to do.

[Post open! Link to Anders' thread]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Raven had taken to much the same habit, actually, though she'd gotten bored of walking and had taken instead to trying out different leaping and flying shapes as she roamed around town.

She alighted on the window intending only to pause for a moment and give her wings a break, when she spotted Kathy in the apartment. She tilted her head, then pecked the glass with her beak.

Hey. Hey Kathy. Let your roommate in!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy glanced over to the window, then immediately straightened up a bit, a small smile getting affixed to her face. "Taking things a bit literally, aren't you Raven?" she asked, opening the window. "I'd ask if we needed to install alternate entrances for you, but I'm pretty sure Parker took care of that while we were still students."

[tigerundercover]

Raven hopped into the room and as soon as she was sure she wouldn't whack herself on the window sill doing it, shifted to her natural shape. Now, to work on getting Kathy to let her in in the metaphorical sense, too.

"Taking the stairs isn't as fun." She shrugged. "Checking out the new digs?"

[spin_kick_snap]

What on earth did you mean, Raven? Kathy was totally fine!

"I thought I'd take a look around, you know?" Kathy said, gesturing to the empty rooms. "Our stuff is up in Eliot's attic, so I figured I'd come here, see what was left behind and how our stuff will fit in here, you know?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven shrugged. "Sure." She slid down from the sill and wandered her way further into the space. It looked pretty well cleaned out to her. "You think you might be ready to move in soon? Not that Mr. Spencer's place isn't nice, but. . . ."

But it'd be good to have a place where she didn't have to worry about four different people potentially startling a kill reaction from her. One was plenty enough.

[spin_kick_snap]

A place where they didn't have to share a room, never mind a bed, and they could both pretend to not be insomniacs in peace.

"We could move over the next week, maybe?" Kathy suggested. "Have a little dinner party on Friday or something to celebrate?"

See? So domestic! So extroverted! So totally fine!

[tigerundercover]

"Oh my god, a dinner party." Raven's mouth twisted almost unwillingly into a broad grin. "Give me flashbacks to the fifties, why don't you. Let's see, it's well after Labor Day, so we wouldn't want white gloves, but ivory or cream could be appropriate. . . ."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, it's decided then, you're making the pot roast," Kathy declared. "I have to make sure our dresses are properly ironed and starched and we both have pearls to wear."

[tigerundercover]

"Excellent choice," Raven said. "I was well known for having the absolute worst pot roast in all of Westchester."

That wasn't even much of an exaggeration.

"You wouldn't eat any of it anyway, though," she said, careful to keep her voice casual. "We should maybe go for something vegetarian."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy froze, just for a moment. "Ah," she said softly. "You noticed."

It was like Kathy wasn't slick at all or something. Go figure.

[tigerundercover]

"You've eaten, like, three things this week," Raven said. "It wasn't hard."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'll get over it," Kathy said dismissively. "It's just been awhile, you know? It's easy to get overwhelmed by stuff."

...Sure, that was logic.

[tigerundercover]

"You remember that I was in that world too, right? I actually saw a lot more of it than you did. You can tell me stuff."

[not_every_mage]

After taking his break back in the dorms, Anders wandered into town to double-check a few things at the shop and make sure the freed newts weren't still lying on the pond bank where he'd dumped them. (They weren't.)

ON a whim, he sent a text to Kathy. Drinks the night before had been nice, but he hadn't talked to her alone yet. He thought he wanted to, before he lost his nerve and started avoiding her again.

Are you around? I'm walking past Luke's right now.

[spin_kick_snap]

I'm above Luke's right now, Kathy sent back with a wry smile. Checking out the new place. You're invited up, if you want.

And then she reminded herself she'd be fine if he decided to keep walking.

[not_every_mage]

He thought about walking on. But he didn't want to.


A few scant minutes later, there was a knock at her door and a voice on the other side. "Kathy? It's Anders."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy opened the door, giving him a small smile. It was a version of the smile she wore for everyone when she was out in public, but a lot more tentative. "Hi," she said, stepping aside so he could come in. "You're welcome in, but I'm a little lacking in the chairs or refreshment departments."

The apartment stood clean and almost completely empty, with rooms that echoed slightly when she spoke.

[not_every_mage]

"Hi," Anders repeated, also sounding tentative as he surveyed the neat, bare space. "I didn't bring anything. I thought about it, but then I wasn't sure how long I'd be staying, and..."

He trailed off. "Anyhow, I can run downstairs if you want anything. Do you want anything?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shook her head. "No thanks," she said quickly. "I'm not really hungry. Breakfast wasn't all that long ago."

Granted, she'd skipped breakfast too, but she was just going to elide right over that. Food was kind of problematic for her these days.

"Don't worry about not bringing anything," she added, shutting the door behind him. "And you're welcome to stay as long as you like. I'm just...at loose ends a little. I was just poking around, trying to get a feel for the space."

[not_every_mage]

"That's new," Anders said before he could think better of it. "You used to always be hungry. Fast metabolism and all that."

A lot had changed, hadn't it? Like he was getting to know her all over again.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Anyhow, I'm not hungry either. I'd rather see the new place."

[spin_kick_snap]

She still had it; she was just ignoring it as much as she could right now. Because that was healthy, right?

Still, so many of her dreams centered around feeding a ravenous hunger that never ended, Kathy woke up feeling vaguely nauseated by the idea of eating. Combine that with what she dreamed about and that vague nausea turned into a complete disinterest in food.

"I hope you're ready to be wowed by walls," Kathy said with a small laugh as she started leading him through the rooms. It was a decent-sized apartment, much bigger than anything she and Raven could have afforded in Stanford. "Cause that's pretty much all we've got so far. I'm kind of wondering if Raven would be okay with us painting it a little. Get some colors up in here."

[not_every_mage]

"They're nice walls," Anders shrugged, following her. (He wondered whether she had her own bedroom,and then wondered why he was wondering that.) "Look like they'll keep the roof up. Ad you even got a ceiling and floor to go with them."

He had no idea what to say, and it was coming out as nonsense.

"But a little paint'd be nice, too. Make it seem more like home."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I had to haggle for the floors, but the crew threw the floors in for free," Kathy said, because at least nonsense was talking. "I really like how the kitchen and the living room are kind of one big space, so you can talk while cooking or whatever."

At the back of the apartment were the bedrooms, one of which had access to the master bathroom. "I'm hoping Raven will let me claim this one as mine," she said. "I've always wanted my own bathroom."

And she was going to do her best to not think about Anders and bathrooms very hard, thank you.

[not_every_mage]

"That was nice of them," Anders agreed about the crew. He was idly trailing his fingers over the bare white walls as he followed Kathy. "I like the layout. It makes the apartment feel bigger, doesn't it?"

He had been about to say I remember about the bathtub, but then stopped himself. Probably Kathy didn't want to be reminded.

"If she won't give up the bathroom, you could offer to trade after a few months," he said instead. "Or flip a coin."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's nice and open," Kathy agreed, looking out the giant window that let in lots of light, even considering it was winter and the sun was a thin, cold thing right now. "I like the idea of being able to just look up and see people doing their own thing, you know? Even if we're not interacting, it would be hard to feel lonely."