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

[spin_kick_snap]

"Nope nope nope!" Kathy said, shaking her head and laughing. "Still too cold for me. Dante keeps threatening to drag me outside for a snowball fight if it ever snows properly and I'm going to hide under my bed and hope he can't find me instead. I like warmth."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka thought about that.

And then promptly went all big-eyed and wheedling. "But Kathy, I've never been for a snowball fight," she said. "If you went with Dante then I could come too. It'd be a new experience!"

[spin_kick_snap]

This was why Ezra had outlawed the big eyes. Kathy understood so well now.

"But--but it's cold," Kathy protested. Feebly. "And we'll get all wet and chilly and maybe pneumonia..."

She was reaching and she knew it.

[that_oldsaying]

"But I'd get to do something new," Alluka wheedled, "and it sounds like it'd be fun and then you could make Dante buy hot drinks."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I've never had one, either!" Kathy protested. Which was why Dante was so keen to get her involved. "You should participate in one with people who know what they're doing, so they can really, uhhh, show you the ropes!"

Good save!

[that_oldsaying]

"But that's why you should participate too!" Alluka insisted. "And it'd be more fun with you, Kathy!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was going to lose this argument. She could feel it in her bones. Maybe she'd be lucky and global warming would make it a moot point?

"I'd better get, like, eight hot toddies out of this," she groused. "And, like, ten warming spells to keep me toasty during the whole 'outside' portion of the day."

[that_oldsaying]

"I love you, Kathy!" Alluka flung her arms around Kathy for another hug. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

[spin_kick_snap]

It was hard to stay grumpy when Alluka was hugging her and saying she loved her, dammit. Kathy couldn't help but smile back and squeeze her back.

Besides, she was still holding out for climate change. Wooo, climate change!

"If it isn't, you're eating carrots every day for a week," Kathy declared.

[that_oldsaying]

Ooooh, that was playing dirty!

"I'll do it!" Alluka said, though she looked a bit worried at the thought. "If, if you don't have fun I'll do it!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Then we've got a deal," Kathy said, sticking out her hand for a shake. "When Dante says it's time for a snowball fight, I'll be there."

And would promptly lose because she was in so many layers she wouldn't be able to move.

[that_oldsaying]

As long as she had fun losing, Alluka didn't care about that!

Alluka reached to shake Kathy's hand. "Deal," she said, and then asked, a bit plaintively, "Why carrots?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Because they're healthy and they have a lot of nutrients in them," Kathy said smiling down at her. "And, unlike fruit, you probably won't dip them in chocolate before eating."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka made a face at that.

"They don't taste very good with chocolate."

Yes. She'd tried. It hadn't been pretty.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Which means you'll be having a bit of healthy food all by itself," Kathy said, nodding. "See, I know what I'm about."

She nudged Alluka with her elbow. "You and me against Dante, then, you think?"

[that_oldsaying]

She giggled, glancing over at Dante.

"Do you think we can take him?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Not in the least. At least, not unless he let them.

"Absolutely," Kathy said. "He'll never see it coming. We'll have him down and begging for mercy in minutes."

And then they could go inside and have cocoa and ignore the outdoors again!

[that_oldsaying]

That... well.

The promise of cocoa would make that fun enough to Alluka. So point, Kathy. Point.

"He would definitely underestimate us," Alluka said, giggling. "Since we've never done this before."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Exactly," Kathy said. "He'd go around posturing because he's so strong and cool--"

Kathy, try to sound a little more scornful and a little less like you believed him, please.

"And then we'd come out of nowhere and pelt him until he begged for mercy."