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]

"Or remember what to do when she gets there," Anders said. "She has good days and bad days."

He glanced at Dante with what remained of their old affection.

"We keep her out of too much trouble. Mostly."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I...see," Kathy said, wrapping her arms around herself. They kept talking about this other her like she was a--

Well, a dementia patient, really. And, with the few details she'd gotten from Dante yesterday, maybe that was the best way to think about it.

"What's going to happen to her?" Kathy asked. "Is she just going to stay like that? Forever?"

[rebelscreams]

"It's."

Dante paused. If but for a moment.

"She'll go hollow soon," he said. "Then the monster takes over."

[moody_vagrant]

Anders gave an almost imperceptible nod but kept quiet. It wasn't like he could improve on what Dante had said.

[spin_kick_snap]

That sounded awfully familiar.

"What kind of monster?" she asked, her fingers curling over her mouth. "What will she do?"

Don't say 'eat people'. Don't say 'eat people.'

[rebelscreams]

"Kill people," Dante said, shrugging. "They change worse over time."

Saying it so clinically meant he didn't have to think about it.

[moody_vagrant]

"She's strong," Anders added, and he could never be quite as clinical as Dante. "She's held onto herself longer than most of them. But ... I don't think it'll be long, now."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy didn't want to think about that. She couldn't think about that. Her hand came up and worried the inside of her left wrist, where seven tally marks were inked on her skin. "What about you," she blurted out, looking at Anders. "You're fine. Aren't you?"

[rebelscreams]

"He's got his own deal," Dante said vaguely.

Anders'd gotten kinda pissed when he'd mentioned Justice just now, and he wasn't so far gone he wasn't going to respect that.

[moody_vagrant]

Anders found a particularly interesting lichen-covered stump to stare at.

"I'm not exactly human anymore."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're...what?" Kathy asked, looking from one of them to the other. "How? Are you okay?"

Dammit, did Kathy need to find a way to get a non-human power-up, too? She was starting to feel distinctly outclassed.

[rebelscreams]

"Now there's a difficult question," Dante said, a kind of deep, disappointed cynicism dripping from his voice.

[moody_vagrant]

"I'm fine," Anders said, defensive. "A few years ago I made a choice to help a friend. A spirit. Someone at home. He ... became a part of me. And somehow it's made me immune."

[spin_kick_snap]

"So, you're a Nephilim and fine," Kathy said quietly, "and you've melded with a spirit and fine, and then there's me, slowly losing my mind and turning into a monster."

She didn't know why it felt like such a betrayal. After all, it wasn't targeted. And it wasn't like either Kathy would want the guys to be affected. But it just...sort of did.

[rebelscreams]

"Sounds like you've got the gist of it," Dante said.

Funny how he wasn't looking at her.