The Preserve, Saturday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

It had been a really long time Kathy had gone on patrol, but her body had immediately fallen into the old rhythm. It felt like warming up muscles that hadn't been used in a while and Kathy was pretending she didn't notice how easy it was--or how good it felt. She was also ignoring the real reason she was out here, goaded into action by her conversation with the AlternaDante yesterday.

Whatever. Forget him. These slugs were gross as hell and they needed a good killing anyway.

She picked through the trees, keeping her eyes open for any signs of slugs, the nebulous 'danger' that AlternaDante had warned her against, and, most importantly, of Raven. She wasn't stupid enough to think that her bestie couldn't handle herself out here and probably do so better than Kathy herself, but that didn't mean she needed to handle it all herself.

And thanks, Fandom, way to ruin her plans of spending the weekend getting a Christmas tree. Dammit.

[Expecting two, but open!]

Comments

[moody_vagrant]

Anders was having an animated, if almost under his breath, conversation with Justice as he walked through the preserve. As his friends got sicker and the world seemed more hopeless, he'd adapted the habit of talking to the part of him who was Justice. It felt silly, like talking to himself out loud -- but it wasn't as though there were so very many people to talk to lately, either.

"I'm just saying," he informed himself, kicking at a log, "why did we go jumping through a portal again? It's not as if it's likely to do any good."

[rebelscreams]

Dante was there to talk to - or at least, he would have been, had he made clear at any point he was actually there. Instead, he'd taken to the treetops, following Anders at close distance.

He wasn't a mother hen. He was just being... practical.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy registered 'noise' before anything else and whirled around, knife out. A little extreme, considering the slugs hadn't exactly put up a fight, but her instincts had been honed by LA and some things never really went away.

"Anders?" Wait, why was he out here? Was he looking for her? Why didn't he just call if he'd needed her?

And then she looked more closely at the muttering man and understanding locked into place. This wasn't her Anders.

[moody_vagrant]

"Kathy," Anders said, blinking at her. He was a little slower than she was to understand -- but then, she wasn't spending mental energy arguing with a literal demon. "Are you all right, love? How did you get out this far?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I walked," Kathy said, confused. "Patrolled. I..."

His endearment and the gentleness in his voice had caught her off-guard. From her conversation with Dante yesterday, she'd expected their relationship to be a little more fraught. "I'm sorry," she said, tucking her knife away and taking a few cautious steps forward, hoping that wouldn't trigger a run the way it had with Dante. "I'm not the Kathy you think I am."

[moody_vagrant]

"Then which Kathy are you?" Anders asked, voice still gentle even as the knife made him wary. "And which Anders am I?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm the Kathy from this version of Fandom," she said quietly, her eyes moved over him, taking in every detail; even though this wasn't her Anders, seeing the signs of wear and care hurt her heart. "And you're the Anders from the other one. The one with the memory-plague."

Which was pretty much the sum total of what she knew about it. Maybe Anders would be a little more forthcoming with details.

[moody_vagrant]

"Plague," Anders repeated. "Yes, that's a word for it. It scoops people out, leaves them hollow. Left you hollow."

He squinted at her.

"You aren't hollow yet."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's what Dante called it," Kathy said. "Your Dante."

Her Dante was out fighting demons in Limbo City. Kathy wished they could call him back, have him fighting here, with them, but that was selfish. Things were fine here and he was needed there.

"No, I'm--I'm not. I'm just me. Just Kathy. Normal Kathy." She looked at him, worried. "How about you? How are you doing?"

[moody_vagrant]

"Worse than I was yesterday, better than I'll be tomorrow," Anders said airily. "Don't worry about me. One way or another I'll be gone soon enough." A pause. "You talked to Dante?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sort of," Kathy snorted. "He was watching me wrap presents, I noticed him, he ran, I caught up, he informed me that I was useless and to leave him alone." She was totally fine with that. No worries here. Certainly not bringing up any past emotional issues at all or anything. "We parted ways soon after."

[moody_vagrant]

"That's how it goes for me these days, too," Anders nodded. "When he says words, anyhow. Sometimes he just glares and scampers. Be flattered he thought you were worth talking to."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy thought of their household, fill with laughter and teasing, nights arguing about what terrible movie to watch and mornings spent lazily in bed together. She'd fought--they'd all fought so hard to get to that place and to hear of a world where they were still broken and fractured physically hurt to hear.

"This is weird," she said quietly, "but can I give you a hug? You just--you look like you could use a hug."

And maybe she could as well.

[moody_vagrant]

“It’s been a while since I hugged anyone,” Anders mused. “I might not remember how.”

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's okay," Kathy said, closing the distance between them. "I'm pretty good at them. Gimme a few seconds and I bet it'll all come rushing back."

She wrapped her arms around him, somehow surprised that they fit together just the same way that she and her Anders did. It felt like there should be a difference, but--no. Her arms knew exactly what to do, holding him close, holding him tight and she found herself burying her face in his neck the way she would back home.

[moody_vagrant]

Anders stood still for a moment. It had been a long time since Kathy touched him, longer still since he felt her so present within a touch. Justice warned him about it, telling him not to get too close. Not to get lost in the human contact.

He ignored the nagging voice for a moment and squeezed Kathy even tighter.

"You smell the same," he muttered against her shoulder.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I hope that's a good thing," Kathy said with a small laugh, not letting him go until he pulled away. "You feel the same. Just the same in my arms."

So what happened between them, that they'd all fallen apart?

[moody_vagrant]

"It's a great thing," Anders said, making an effort so he wouldn't wince perceptibly. She was reminding him of all they'd lost and all he'd ruined, and it hurt. "And I only feel the same on the outside, I promise. I -- it's different."

[spin_kick_snap]

"What happened?" Kathy asked, looking up into his eyes. "With--with everything? I don't understand."

[moody_vagrant]

"We all broke," Anders said simply. "Every one of us. And then there was no way to put the pieces back together, not with the world the way it was, so it just kept getting worse. I'm the best off of the three of us, and I've got --"

He stopped himself just before he blurted out something about Justice. Wouldn't be a good idea to share that.

"I'm not the man you knew."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And there's nothing that you can do?" she asked. "Nothing that I--that the other me, I mean--can do? This past year I had to claw my way back to being with you and Dante and it was hard and there were times I didn't think I'd ever be able to make it, that I didn't deserve to make it--" Her voice cracked, emotion overwhelming it for a moment. "It just hurts, knowing that there's somewhere out there where the three of us aren't together."

Not as much as hurt for them, she knew, but still.

"I know there are some things that sorry just isn't enough for, but I'm sure that the other me is sorry for whatever her part was in breaking you all apart. If she's me at all, I know that she is."

She looked awa

[moody_vagrant]

"Same Kathy," Anders said, looking past her. "Always wanting to fix things. But none of it was your fault. Wasn't anybody's fault but mine."

His eyes met hers again, bright with moisture. "We had a good time together. Hold onto it, long as you can."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't believe that," Kathy said, shaking her head. His tears sparked matching ones from her. "Not that it was just you--and not that nothing can be done."

She couldn't argue that nothing was unforgivable, that love could triumph over anything. She knew better than that. She just had no idea what Anders could have--would have--done to be beyond repairing.

But she didn't know how to say that without pressing him for information he didn't seem to want to give, so instead she just wrapped her arms around him again.

[rebelscreams]

A soft thunk heralded two boots hitting the ground, not far from them.

But Dante said nothing to get their attention.

[moody_vagrant]

"Same Kathy," Anders said, a bit stiff in her arms. "Always an optimist, even when you shouldn't be."

He froze then, noticing something.

"Someone's here."