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]

"You got it from all sides," Kathy said, finishing off the last bite of her crust. She snuck a look at him, decided one piece probably wasn't going to cut it and carefully listed another one. "Me and Anders both, saying fucked up shit to you."

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's fine," Dante said dismissively. "I'm not the one that got turned right back into a zombie."

Zombie-Kathy's shit about being monsters had stung. He was probably gonna carry it in the back of his mind for a bit. But it wasn't this Kathy's fault.

[spin_kick_snap]

This Kathy was going to carry the guilt of that around for awhile anyway. But then, she was used to feeling guilty for what she'd done as a zombie.

"I feel self-indulgent," she murmured. "Like, it was just a stupid Fandom thing like we've dealt with a million times. I shouldn't be freaking out like this."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You're not self-indulgent, Kat," Dante said quietly. "You just got thrown back into the worst months of your life."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And I don't know if it's going to happen again!" Kathy burst out. "It did it once, it can do so at any time!"

That wasn't exactly how the island worked, she knew, but the threat was there now, hanging over her head like the sword of Damocles.

[rebelseekspizza]

"If it does at all, it's gonna be a year from now, and we'll be ready this time," Dante said. "But I get that's not much of a relief."

Fuck, that was how he'd lived for years.

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"Kids are usually a prom thing, but sometimes they show up other times," Kathy pointed out softly. She'd done a lot of worrying obsessing thinking about this over the past few days. "Same with pollen and Valentine's Day. There's no schedule for turning into kids, or swapping sexes, or animals."

So if it happened again, it would probably be around Halloween, but that wasn't a guarantee. Hell, it might never happen again, but the possibility would still be there to haunt her.

"Next Halloween I wanna be anywhere but here. I'd rather fight demons naked than do that again."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Next Halloween I'll take you home," Dante promised, leaning forward. "We'll just pig out on pizza and maybe help Kat out."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Watch shitty horror movies where you can see the rubber masks," Kathy agreed. "Then once it gets dark, I can show you real horror flicks, not crappy American ones."

Yes. This was good. This was something she could cling to that didn't smack of responsibilities or promises or anything serious.

[rebelseekspizza]

"And we'll get a shitload of popcorn and see how badly we can scare the shit out of Anders," Dante said, nodding along. "It'd be great."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Take turns getting up to grab something from the other room, then come back in and grab him?" Kathy asked. "Bet I can make him yell louder."

The second slice of pizza was going down easier than the first.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snickered. "Nuh uh, no way," he said. "I'm quieter than you. I can sneak right up and BAM."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Secret weapon," Kathy said. "Cold hands. We'll watch some creepy Japanese ghost movie and then when the tension's ratcheted up to eleven, I'll sneak in and get him with ghostly chilled hands."

It had worked on her when Sarah had done the same thing when she was twelve. Of course, Sarah had held ice cubes for three minutes first.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed softly. "Touch his neck," he advised. "That'd really freak him out."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Just one cold finger tracing along down his spine..."

They were the worst.

[rebelseekspizza]

"And then you lean in and-- 'BOO'."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Fortunately, your building looks like it's soundproofed well enough that we won't have neighbors banging on the door when he screams shrilly."

Which had also happened, thanks Sarah.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snickered. "We should probably record it," he mused. "Phones out."

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"That's your job," Kathy said. "I sneak, you record."

Funny, when she'd suggested they make movies together, that hadn't been what she'd meant. But the idea was making her smile a bit wistfully anyway.

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's a deal," Dante said. "We're the best boyfriend and girlfriend ever."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm a little disappointed we haven't gotten rewards for it yet," she said. "Anders is slacking."

There was a special award for girlfriends who got their boyfriends to eat brainsadillas, right?

[rebelseekspizza]

...let's not talk about the disgusting shit Dante threw out on Thursday.

"We deserve a party," Dante decided. "And head."

[spin_kick_snap]

No, they should, because Kathy was still certain that they were in her room waiting for her to come back. Her conversation with Raven had only turned that fear up to eleven.

And once she found out Dante had taken care of that for her, she'd be offering him parties and head every day for a year.

"Dibs on head," she said, twitching a ghost of a smile at him, clinging to the banter as a lifeline of normal.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante grinned back at her.

"Hey, look. You ate half your pizza."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy looked down, surprised. "I...did, huh," she said. Better still, her stomach was no longer roiling just looking at the pizza. She picked up another slice and her stomach only growled, still hungry after a half-week of neglect. "Thanks, Dante."

She said that a lot to him. That and 'I'm sorry.'

Sigh.