Barry's Old Warehouse, Warehouse District, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

So. The island could turn her back into an ex at literally any moment. That was not a thought that was good for Kathy's peace of mind. Being an ex again, for however short a time, had not been good for Kathy's peace of mind. She hadn't been a mindless husk that had seen everything that moved as 'prey,' no, but that was cold comfort when she had spent the day eating brains.

Sharing brains with other people.

Hunting small creatures to get--

Her stomach lurched again, just thinking about it. She hadn't eat much this past week just for that reason. It felt like February all over again, when eating had been a struggle, the very act bringing up memories she didn't want to relive.

Distantly, Kathy knew she should go home, deal with the mess left in her room, deal with the mess that was her life. And she would! She just--couldn't yet. Not while she still felt like this, ten pounds of crazy in a four pound bag. She just needed to get a handle on it--was trying to get a handle on it--and when she did, she'd go home. She'd apologize for worrying everyone, she'd clean up, she'd be okay.

Soon. Just not now.

[Open]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was pretty sure that Raven contemplated at least biting irritating customers on a fairly regular basis.

"Yeah, but--" Kathy groped for words. "If even just for a day, you woke up back there, in my world, with no knowledge you'd ever gotten out, wouldn't it fuck with you? And then knowing that it could drop you there whenever it wanted, without warning?"

[tigerundercover]

Fair.

Raven gave that the solemn moment it was due, then shrugged. “It probably could,” she said. “That might be part of why I spend so much time in the woods.” She worried, sometimes, that she was starting to depend on other people too much again. “I’m honestly not always sure all this isn’t a dream, anyway.”

[spin_kick_snap]

"If it were a dream, wouldn't everything be easier?" Kathy asked, sinking down to the couch, her head in her hands.

[tigerundercover]

“Have you MET dreams?” Raven asked. “If anything, this is all a little too nice.”

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's mouth twisted because...fair. "Too coherent. too."

She shook her head and asked, "So, why does this mean you should spend all that time out in the woods?"

[tigerundercover]

"Because wilderness survival skills are fundamental," Raven said. "Why does it mean you're hiding in your favorite old warehouse?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Because every time I think about going back to the house, I remember there's a container of week-old brains sitting on my bed that I was eating and it makes me wanna throw up some more," Kathy said.

And because she had been all kinds of fucked up and honestly hadn't known where else to go. If she'd remembered to grab her keys before her panicked flight Wednesday morning, she might not even be on the island anymore.

[tigerundercover]

"So that's what that smell is." Sorry your bestie was a brat, Kathy. "You know you can ask someone to clean that up for you, right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was staring at Raven in abject horror, missing both the question--and that it was all a joke--entirely.

[tigerundercover]

". . . Asking for help isn't that bad, is it?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Does the whole house smell?" Kathy asked, frantically trying to remember whether or not she'd closed her bedroom door.

She had no clue. Her brain had been set to panic and nothing had really sunk in.

[tigerundercover]

"What?" Raven frowned. "No, of course not. If it did someone would have taken care of it already."

Honestly, it was entirely possible if it was open one of the cats had eaten the brains already anyway.

That probably wouldn't be reassuring, would it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Noooope. Kathy was pretty sure that Anders would forgive her for feeding him brains faster than he would letting the cats get into them.

"Just my room then? Okay. I can--I can handle that."

For a version of 'handle' that currently involved hiding out in a warehouse.

[tigerundercover]

"Nooo, one of the boys can handle it," Raven said. "What good is having two boyfriends if you can't make them deal with your messes when you meltdown a little?"

C'mon, Kathy, Raven was supposed to be the antisocial one in this relationship.

[spin_kick_snap]

She was! Kathy was only antisocial on special occasions!

"You've all been picking up after my meltdowns since I came back," Kathy pointed out quietly. "Seems rude to ask you all to do it again."

[tigerundercover]

"I'm pretty sure 'rude' has nothing to do with meltdowns," Raven said. "That's why they're called meltdowns."

[spin_kick_snap]

"But--but--" Raven had a point, which was why Kathy couldn't argue with it much beyond 'but it doesn't feel right.' And the problem with Kathy judging things by 'feelings' is that they were apt to be wrong. Or, at least, disordered.

For example, please see: current meltdown.

"You already have to deal with me having a meltdown," she said, finally figuring out how to put her protest into words. "Expecting you to do more just..."

Interferes with her self-flagellation?

[I'm so sorry, I never got this notif!]

[tigerundercover]

". . . is part of dealing with the meltdown?" Raven said. "I mean, I'm not talking about cleaning up anything you do when you're freaking out, but the stuff that's going to affect the rest of the house before you calm down. . . ."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Like brains rotting away in my bedroom," Kathy said and then nearly lost her--well, not lunch, really. She was having trouble keeping things down. But the memory of lunch, maybe.

[tigerundercover]

"Which I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to deal with calm, either, so hey."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shook her head. "Especially not ones I'd been..."

You know what? Raven was perfectly capable of filling in that last verb by herself. Like zombie Mad Libs.

[tigerundercover]

Not only could she do that, she was even aware enough not to say said verb out loud. "Exactly."

She glanced around the warehouse.

"So. How about that more cheerful change of topic so you don't barf?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I would love that," Kathy said. "So much. How've you been this week?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven shrugged. "Fine. I found a cool cave."

That was most of Raven's life right now.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was worried about that. Which was way better than worrying about her own shit, for serious.

"What makes a cave cool, exactly?" she asked.