Barry's Old Warehouse, Warehouse District, Monday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

All of Kathy's cleaning yesterday had paid off and the warehouse was much more livable today. All the broken furniture had been tossed, though very little had been moved in to replace it, and everything that could be swept, scrubbed, or tidied had been. Kathy had ended up crashing up in the loft in a nest of pillows and blankets that she'd managed to scrounge from various stores around the island and Ikea. The loft itself was more of an open platform jutting out from a wall than a proper room, so Kathy hadn't even tried to make it resemble a bedroom. If anything, it was a colorful blanket fort with two hammocks strung in the corners. It was truly ridiculous, but she loved it. She'd also destroyed the stairs leading up to loft, replacing it with a knotted rope that dangled from the ceiling all the way to the floor. Eventually, she'd add a ladder and some kind of pulley system to help get other people up, but last night she'd slept more soundly than she had since Mexico, up in the air where nothing could get to her.

This morning had involved a run to JGoB's for frosted cranberry scones slathered with creamy honey-butter and now she was wandering the warehouse, debating how much furniture she'd actually need to replace and where it would all go while waiting for Dante to show up with the hair dye.

Not a bad Monday, overall.

[For the guy mentioned but also open!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's look suggested he should remember who he was talking to--Kathy could make damn near anything complicated.

"Okay," she said, and pulled her phone out, pulling up a picture of her standing next to what would be a perfectly identical twin sister, save one of them had purple streaks and tips. Raven wouldn't let her measure the streaks to recreate the look exactly, but hopefully the picture would help. "Uhh, this is doable, right?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"What th--"

Beat.

"That's Raven."

Clever boy.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Or do I have an evil twin sister I've never told you about?" Kathy asked with a mischievous grin. "Her name is Kathleen and we both go by Kathy for ultimate chaos."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's likely," he shot back. "But yeah, we can do that. Unless you really want that fucking test strip."

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"If you think it's unnecessary..." Kathy said, reminding herself that he'd done this before and she trusted him. "Okay, streaks today and we'll see about getting the catsuit later."

Because of course Raven'd had to mimic a leather catsuit for Kathy's 'evil twin.' Of course she had.

[rebelseekspizza]

"You want to get the catsuit?" Dante said, perking up.

Predictably.

[spin_kick_snap]

She flicked over to the previous pic, showing a pic of 'Kathy' in a leather catsuit. "Raven assured me that she was true to my measurements and didn't embellish at all and, well, I think it kinda looks good?"

Not enough to make a statement rather than a question, but still. Progress!

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante leaned over and studied the picture.

Really studied it.

"Yeah, she's right, you need that."

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"Not that you're biased or anything," Kathy said with a crooked grin. "Think it'll look good with those boots of mine?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hair, catsuit, boots," Dante said, leaning back. "That'd work just fine."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Boots I have, catsuit will need some finding...I guess hair it is," she said, giving him a small shrug. "And then Mistress Hello Kitty can work on properly punishing her defecting henchman."

She led Dante over to the area Barry had roughed out to be a 'kitchen,' complete with a food replicator, something that resembled the highest high-tech fridge Kathy had ever seen, and a sink. A fairly ordinary sink, equipped with neither lasers nor additional gadgets. There was a small card table and two folding chairs that had escaped Kathy's tantrum back in April and also her cleaning spree the night before, providing Dante with a surface to work. "Okay so...what now?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sit down," Dante said.

He set the bleach down first. "And put your phone down on the sink so I can see the picture."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy complied, flipping the pic from catsuit to streaks, then sat down at the table. "I didn't know you did stuff like this," she said. "You know, dyeing hair and stuff."

...You might wanna wait till you've gotten some of the bleach on her to reply, Dante.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I've been through it a couple times," Dante said smoothly. He opened up the pack and held up the instructions for a moment.

Then he started mixing stuff.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Right, you mentioned that Ada had done your hair, right?" Kathy said, nodding. "But when did you start actually dyeing hair on your own. Returning the favor for her, or...?"

She was curious about all the things she'd missed over the past year. Dante turning hairdresser had been one of them.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I kept up my own until I got tired of it," Dante said. He was left with a thick paste. He leaned over and studied the picture, then snagged the little application brush and a lock of her hair. He coated a liberal chunk of it with the mixture. "It's a lot easier from this perspective."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Am I...am I the first person whose hair you've ever done?"

Kathy didn't know whether to feel pleased or apprehensive. Appleasedhensive?

[rebelseekspizza]

"Outside of me, yeah," Dante said. He snagged the plastic gloves and put the brush aside, tugging both gloves on. "Look, we're doing streaks. Not like we're just dumping this shit on your head."

He worked the bleach through her hair with his fingers.

[spin_kick_snap]

"And tips," Kathy reminded, before amending that with a "...Maybe."

Maybe it would be better to see how the streaks turned out first?

"If you ever decided to try to dye your hair again, I'd help," she added. "Since you got annoyed at keeping up with it."

Sure, she knew he doubted that it would take, but on the off-hand he ever got bored and wanted to try...

[rebelseekspizza]

"The tips come after the streaks," Dante said. He grabbed the brush again and got to work. "But sure, why not? Maybe if you have some of this purple left."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You know, it'll just give me more of a reason to play with your hair," Kathy teased, keeping her head still to let him work in peace. "It's hard enough to leave alone as it is."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Didn't know you were that into the white," Dante said, treating each lock in turn. He figured he was getting enough crap on everything, anyway.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I mean, look at the guys I've been interested in..." Kathy said and nearly ruined all his handiwork when she dissolved into snickers. "It's more the length than the color. It's never really been long enough for me to mess with, before."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, I'm sure your Korean TV prince is right around the corner," Dante said, steadying her head with his hands. "You like it long? I do."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Anders was my Korean TV prince once," Kathy admitted with a small smile. "Aliens had invaded--right before you came, maybe? Or possibly just after? They kept sending us to different realities, or so we thought."

She didn't move again, but her smile went soft and distant. "He and I ended in a historical K-drama, where he was a prince and I was his betrothed and neither of us had any idea what was going on. So we built a ladder out of blankets and escaped."

Maybe that had been the first time she'd admitted to herself that her feelings towards Anders were more than friendly, when she'd had the thought that an arranged marriage wouldn't be so bad if it were with him.

"And yeah, I like it long. A lot. You look good, Dante. Really good." Healthier, for one, after two years of constant eating and sleeping. Calmer, more centered. Happier--or he had, before Mexico anyway.