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]

"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.

[rebelseekspizza]

"That sounds weird," Dante said, after a pause. That last comment was nice, but it also sounded like a potential minefield of... some sort. "The K-drama thing, I mean. You guys must've been weirded out, even if it all worked out."

[spin_kick_snap]

She hadn't meant for it to be one. Was it bizarre to find him attractive?

"Oh it was," she assured him. "Weird for me and I know what to expect from k-dramas. I figure it was even worse for Anders who had no idea and was still dating Nathan. Then we got separated and I ended up in some crazy old timey Western town full of profanity and racism and I ended up getting shot trying to keep peace between the white settlers and the Native Americans. It was all fucked up."

[rebelseekspizza]

Not attractive, but the hair and what it signified and the past two years, that was waves-hands stuff.

"And here I thought the stabby aliens were bad," Dante said. He brushed the tips of her hair with the mixture, making sure it was soaked through with his fingers. "Wonder if Fandom knew about you and Anders before you guys did."

[spin_kick_snap]

Heh, for once it was Dante overthinking things.

"Probably," Kathy said. "There was a day when the music just kept playing songs about secretly being in love with someone while we were on the phone together."

While she was in LA. Awkward.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante overthought stuff sometimes. He just never said so out loud!

"... Was that when I was here, or before?" Dante asked, moving to the other side of Kathy's head.

[spin_kick_snap]

"When I was in LA," Kathy said. "Back before we'd said anything. Before then--" She shook her head. "I don't even know if we can properly say we did love each other. Like that, anyway. I wouldn't let myself, remember?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Right, he had a boyfriend and you were hung up on some guy," Dante said.

[spin_kick_snap]

"By that time, I'd long gotten over Nikolai," Kathy snorted. "But Anders was dating Nathan and I wasn't sure whether he was actually unhappy or I was just imagining it because I was jealous. I couldn't stop my crush, but I felt super-guilty about it."