The Apartment Above Luke's, Monday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

The lack of private function space was perfectly solved by the empty apartment above the diner. Kathy had spent the afternoon cleaning and setting up for dinner tonight. Her anniversary dinner, if you would.

A year ago today, she'd woken up in Eliot's house, surrounded by tight, worried faces. Her friends, pretty much en masse, had gone through a portal to LA and fought through hordes of exes to bring her home, in hopes that Nanika could bring her back to life. Or maybe just so she'd stop chanting Kathy's name. For whatever reason they'd done it, though, they'd succeeded. Kathy was alive again and had been for a full year.

A dizzying, challenging, terrifying year.

It seemed only right to hold some kind of commemorative dinner for it, somewhere between a celebration (which she still didn't think she'd earned, exactly) and an appreciation dinner. Not just for what they'd done, but for sticking with her this past year, for weathering the ups and downs, for reaching out and checking in, for reconnecting and promising to be better and stronger friends from here forward.

And, well, even if that didn't all come through, it would still be a delicious dinner cooked by Eliot and would give her a chance to just spend some time with the people she loved best, getting caught up with those she hadn't seen in awhile and offering an opportunity for them to get to know one another better, too.

If nothing else, they could all just stuff themselves silly with whatever delicious things the kitchen downstairs had whipped up and the super, extra, very chocolatey desserts Kathy had promised Alluka in her invitation.

[For those invited and up early for SP. No OCD, feel free to just ping in and around.]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Raven was there, mimicking a chic, pale yellow partty dress and doing a very good impersonation of a young woman who wasn’t basically half-feral at this point. She’d helped out with the prep as much as Kathy would let her, and if she occassionally wandered off to sit in her old bedroom, well. Shemissed this place, okay?

[spin_kick_snap]

"Thanks so much for helping me bring stuff upstairs today," Kathy said, wandering over to stand next to Raven. She reached for her bestie's hand to lace her fingers through Raven's blue ones. "Never would have made it by myself. Story of a ridiculous percentage of my life."

[tigerundercover]

"People who need people are the luckiest people yadda yadda," Raven said with a wave of her hand. "Your success is my success. We're pretty much stuck together at this point."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You say stuck together, I say, never have to worry about future housing decisions," Kathy declared. "Though I may have to brave the cold--"

The weekend had been in the fifties, Kathy.

"--and come have a slumber party out in the woods with you."

Just so Raven didn't think that the only time they hung out was when she came back to see Kathy.

[tigerundercover]

"Really?" Raven beamed. "That's so sweet!"

It was literally never going to happen, but it was the thought that counted.

[spin_kick_snap]

The problem was, Kathy only ever thought about it once it got cold as a 'damn I missed my chance!'

Maybe she should make some kind of note or digital reminder.

"Well, how else are we going to catch each other up on the non-stop excitement that is our lives?" Kathy asked. "But you should come home soon. The second season of the show about the Cuban immigrant family had been released on Netflix and we need to watch it."

[tigerundercover]

". . . I do miss TV." It was one of humanity's greatest inventions, after all. "We'll have to take over the whole living room for a weekend. Break out all the girly classics and tell the boys they can join in only if they're willing to try mud masks."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sounds like a great time, actually," Kathy said. "We'll order takeout, drink a bunch of pink froofy drinks, and watch all the shows they make fun of me for."

There were some really excellent K-dramas! Sure, they were also ridiculous, but that was kind of the point!

"I'm down when you are."

[tigerundercover]

Ridiculous was totally the point!

"Next weekend?" Raven said. That'd give her time to relax between this bout of being social and the next one. "I can pick up snacks on my way back into town."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Perfect," Kathy declared. "I can tell you all about how I accidentally trolled the guys with wedding magazines and also catch you up on some stuff that will probably have you rolling your eyes and making comments about being right back in high school."

[tigerundercover]

"Wait, wedding magazines?" You definitely needed to elaborate on that one sooner rather than later, Kathy. "Details. Now."

[spin_kick_snap]

Add that 'accidentally trolled all of her housemates with wedding magazines.'

And also maybe update it to 'deliberately trolled' as well.

"What," Kathy said, giving Raven a wink. "You don't think that something happened where I'd want to call all my nearest and dearest together to make a big announcement, like, over dinner or something, do you?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven blinked. Then narrowed her eyes at Kathy.

"Nope," she decided. "If that happened you absolutely would have come trooping out into the woods to find me and squee about it. I don't care if there were three feet of snow on the ground, you would find a way."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good!" Kathy said, bursting out laughing. "You just saved yourself a whole lot of sass by realizing that. Because hell yes I would have."

Or, more likely, called Raven and demand she come home. But if that hadn't worked out, there would have been tromping, oh yes.

"It was a work thing," she explained.

[tigerundercover]

"Please tell me it was a comprehensive list of the best sex toys to pack for a honeymoon."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Close," Kathy said. "I'm putting together suggestions for, like, baskets or something for bachelorette parties, honeymoons, and first-time parents. So people can just buy the appropriate package and not have to try to figure out what all they should get."

[tigerundercover]

"Cool!" Raven loved that idea. "How are you researching that, though? You don't have experience with any of that stuff."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Magazines," Kathy admitted with a little shrug. "And trawling the internet and stuff. The woman who approached me over email thinks I'm the original owner, I think, not a twenty-year-old six months into have, like, actual boyfriends."

[not_every_mage]

"How's it feel to be back here?" Anders asked when his wandering and Raven's crossed paths. "It's a nice place."

[tigerundercover]

"Very . . . nostalgic," Raven said. "I really liked living here." She realized how that sounded and grimaced faintly. "No offense to you guys. The current house is great, too."

The one she almost never spent the night in.

[not_every_mage]

"No offense taken," Anders said. "You aren't dating any of us. It must get a little weird for you to just be there sometimes."

Which he figured was why she never spent the night in the house.

[tigerundercover]

"A little," Raven admitted. "But it meant a lot to Kathy for us to still be roommates. I figure this way she gets that, but you guys also get your space, you know?"

[not_every_mage]

"Makes sense," Anders nodded. "And I'm selfish enough that I'm glad to have you both around, even if it is a little awkward sometimes."

[tigerundercover]

Raven huffed a laugh and gave him a smile. "Thanks. It's cool hanging out with you sometimes, too."

[not_every_mage]

"So we don't completely loathe each other," Anders said, also laughing. "That's true friendship, right there."