Barry's Old Warehouse, Warehouse District, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, her apartment was still kind of sagging and Eliot's house was still destroyed, and as nice as the crew had made up the warehouse they were staying in, Kathy still needed to get out sometimes. Have her own space that she could control. And while she had Dite's, sometimes she just didn't want that space to be filled with silicon dicks and dirty-themed candy.

So, today she was cleaning out the one other place she could sort of lay a claim to: Barry's old warehouse. It would serve as another bolt hole hideout place to stay if she needed it. And a place for Dante to dye her hair tomorrow. And just a good space to have in general.

But it needed a good cleaning; years of neglect followed by her own tantrum after Fandon's singing day had left it in shambles. So, earbuds in and music playing from her phone--no, seriously, where had her ipod gone?!--she was putting in a couple of hours trying to get this place into some kind of shape. A couple of duffel bags were tossed in a corner; a quick run out to the mainland had given her plenty supplies to stash around when she was done.

Comments

[tigerundercover]

A large black bird flew in at some point through a conveniently open window, and perched above one of the doors.

"Nevermoooore," it croaked.

Raven thought she was funny, yes.

[spin_kick_snap]

The movement out of the corner of her eye caught Kathy's attention; her grip tightened on the broom in a defensive grip until she realized that the movement was Raven, fluttering around. She was tugging her earbud out of one ear by the time Raven had settled on her perch.

"Are you telling me that's when I'll be done cleaning this place?" Kathy asked. "Cause that seems legit."

[tigerundercover]

Raven dropped down onto the floor, human shaped by the time she landed.

"Did this place get sharked too? Because I'd have expected more holes in the walls, but maybe if it were a bunch of little sharks. . . ."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Nah," Kathy said, shaking her head--but smiling at the image of a hundred tiny sharks. "A lot of this was me, back in April. I kinda fucked this place up. I was--processing."

By breaking things and slashing couches and smashing machines and generally making a mess.

[tigerundercover]

Raven nodded slowly, looking around. "So . . . it took you four months to decide to clean it up?"

Really, and there were occasional tiffs in their apartment about who had left what dishes in the sink for too long.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't live here," Kathy pointed out with a grin. "Just kinda thought this might be a good place to hang out sometime."

She figured Raven could translate that pretty easily.

[tigerundercover]

Raven strolled idly around the space and nodded. "It's nice to have, um. Some place else to be sometimes. Huh."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah," Kathy said, with a nod. "Especially if it's a place where not everyone knows to look for you."

For...reasons. Shh, just go with it.

"It's got places to sleep, plumbing, even a way to cook the food Barry's replicator produces. Decent place to camp out if I need to."

You know, if she needed to...host a party! Oooooor...get away for awhile. Or to hide out. For any number of reasons.

[tigerundercover]

"You know I'd be pretty annoyed if you actually just disappeared, right?" Raven said. She was pretty sure of the answer, but it was nice to check. "You don't always have to tell me where you are, but a text every now and then to say you're okay would be nice."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I know and I will," Kathy promised. "I'm not going to run off and leave you behind without word, I promise. You'll always know where to find me."

If Eliot was the one person on the island that loved Kathy unconditionally, Raven was the one person she trusted without reservations.

[tigerundercover]

"Good. 'Cause I don't have many people, so I'm possessive."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy reached out for Raven's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I'm not going anywhere without you," she said fiercely. "Where you go, I go. Of everyone I love, of everyone who loves me, you're the only one who never gave up on me. And I'm never giving up on you."

[tigerundercover]

"Damn right you're not," Raven said, squeezing Kathy's hand. "I haven't been here in ages. Show me around?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah, absolutely," Kathy said, giving Raven's hand another squeeze before dropping it. "The kitchen's the cleanest spot so far, we can start there? I had to clean out the sink so Dante can dye my hair tomorrow."

[tigerundercover]

"Ooo, yeah? What color?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Purple streaks," Kathy said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "I've never dyed my hair before, so I'm being cautious in case I look like an idiot."

[tigerundercover]

"I mean, I could show you, if you wanted. Unless you want it to be a surprise?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh my gosh, no your idea is like a million times better," Kathy blurted. "I don't know how close it'll be, because Dante's the one doing it, but even an idea so I can change my mind before it's too late would be awesome."

[tigerundercover]

"Well then," Raven said, smiling and shifting to match Kathy's current look. "Where were you thinking of putting them in?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I can never tell if this is weird or awesome," Kathy said, looking at herself and shaking her head. "Just streaks, I think. And maybe the tips?"

[tigerundercover]

"Yeah, but what part of your hair? Upfront around your face? In the back?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"..."

[tigerundercover]

Raven knew that look. "Do you at least know what color purple you want to use?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"...The purplish purple?" Kathy said, doing her best impression of the shrug emoji. "Dante's gonna be doing most of it."

[tigerundercover]

Raven reminded herself that she loved Kathy. Enough to have walked from LA to Baltimore. Now was not the time to murder Kathy.

"Okay, so something like this maybe?" She shifted a section of her hair. In streaks.

To a . . . 'purplish purple'.