The Luckiest Girl In The World

Dante had honestly thought he'd be more nervous than this, but he felt relaxed as he and Anders approached Kathy's apartment door. "Man, it feels like a century since the last time I ate something of Kathy's," he said. "Strawberry cupcakes. Mm."

He was a simple man.

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"She got tapas for me last time I was here," Anders put in. He was bouncing on his toes a bit -- nerves, not that he'd admit it. "Does that count as eating something of hers?"

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Kathy glanced out the window and noticed the guys out on the street. "Side door's open!" she called. "Let yourselves up."

And then went back to putting the last of the strawberries on the mousse cake while grooving through the kitchen. Because everyone knew cooking was easier with club music blaring from your phone, right?

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"All right, here we go," Dante said. He winked at Anders as he walked around to the side door. "Besides, I think you've eaten plenty of hers lately."

He opened the door and stepped inside.

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Anders went red with laughter as he bounced up the stairs and let himself in. "Hi there," he said, attention all on Kathy for the moment. "Ready for us?"

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Kathy flushed, brain immediately going to the dirtiest interpretation of that because of course it did. It didn't help that she had taken Dante's instructions and worn a very short skirt and almost nothing beneath it. That did have a way of trending one's thoughts towards the risque.

"Well," she said, fumbling for words. "I don't know if ready's the exact word. I decided that you two needed to help with the preparation."

Oh dear god that wasn't any better.

"...Of dinner," she added. To attempt to salvage her dignity.

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"Uh huh," Dante said, striding past her with a completely irrepressible smirk on his face. "Dinner. Got it."

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"I was thinking about dinner to start with," Anders said, and almost kept a straight face about it even as his gaze dropped to her legs.

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They'd been in her house for thirty seconds and Kathy was already failing at being chill. She was going to kick the guys out and eat her mousse cake in front of fifty seasons of Hell's Kitchen or something.

"This just in, I hate both of you," Kathy grumbled, leaning over to give Anders a kiss hello. After a moment of hesitation she offered one to Dante, too. "We're having make-your-own pizzas tonight. Emphasis on make your own."

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Dante snickered, but he kissed her anyway. Hey, she brought pizza.

"None of your green shit near my pizza?" he said, "Guess that means you aren't planning to kill me."

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"That ''make your own' business could be deadly," Anders offered. "If I wanted to do that, I could have stayed home."

It was pretty, seeing Kathy and Dante kiss again. Anders had no complaints.

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Kathy rolled her eyes at him, reaching out to tweak his blonde hair. "You big baby," she teased, opening the fridge to get out the circles of dough she'd already prepped. Which required her easing herself down to the lower shelves, because there was no way she was bending over to reach them. That would show off exactly what she wasn't wearing under that tiny skirt as well as her, err, surprise? and that was potentially for later, not five minutes after they walked into the door.

"All you have to do is add your favorite toppings," she said, pointing to the table that held plates and bowls full of various meats, veggies, and cheeses they could add to their pizzas. "I'll handle the scary cooking part. Unless you want me adding artichoke hearts and kimchi to yours, too...?"

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"That'd give her too much power," Dante commented, as he went straight for the meat plates. "She likes weird food," he added in a stage-whisper.

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"I know," Anders stage-whispered back, and set to decorating his pizza with crumbled bacon, spinach and onion.

What? A little weird green stuff was good for you, and he'd be smothering it with a blanket of cheese so it didn't get too healthy.

"Look, I added vegetables," he informed Kathy. "Two, even, if you count onions."

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"I'm very proud of you," Kathy told him, carefully laying a handful of pepperoni on her own pizza. She figured she could handle one, maybe two per slice and felt very proud of herself for getting that much. She gave Dante a smile as she laid down the last one; a mute thanks. "It's so exciting to know that one of you won't die of scurvy."

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Dante smiled back at her; he hadn't forgotten the pepperoni thing.

He was stacking his own pizza - predictably - full of meat and cheese, barely a sprinkling of green to be found. "No human afflictions, remember?"

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"Healing mage," Anders added. "Besides, I don't think they've invented scurvy yet in Thedas."

He gave Kathy's addition of pepperoni a pleased smile of his own. Maybe she was getting better.

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It was meat that didn't look or taste like meat! She still couldn't handle sausage, but pepperoni didn't trip up her anxieties.

"You're both ridiculous and make my head hurt," she informed them. A timer dinged and she rushed over to her wok. She pulled the lid off and was immediately met by a wet cloud of steam that flushed her cheeks and stuck her hair to her face. "Buns?" she asked, turning around to present them a plate of dim sum buns. "I made these so you couldn't complain about being hungry while the pizzas are cooking."

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"Well, if you've got buns, hun," Dante joked, reaching to snag one.

... Wait. "What's in these?"

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"They taste good, whatever it is," Anders added, mouth already full.

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"Your anaconda wants some," she told Dante, while bestowing upon Anders another bright, happy smile for trying one--and better yet, liking it. "It's all completely normal stuff, mostly mushrooms and onions and seasonings. I pinky-swore no bugs, remember?"

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"Ew, mushrooms," said Dante.

Considering he shoved one of the buns in his mouth anyway, it wasn't a very serious complaint.

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