Masitda Restaurant, Baltimore, Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

To tell the truth and shame the devil--a saying Kathy's mom had adored when she was alive--when Dante had suggested that they go out for Korean food, Kathy hadn't expected much. Dante didn't speak the language, didn't know the culture, and his only real introduction to the cuisine was what Kathy cooked at home and the hundred of weird bottle and jars of seasoning she kept in the door of the fridge, next to the more normal bottles of mayo and ketchup and relish. It wasn't that she was expecting it to be bad or anything, but she'd figured something middle-of-the-road, declaring its authenticity by blaring k-pop from the mid-2000s with two kinds of kimchi at most and a couple of sushi offerings to round out the 'Asianness' of the menu. All of which would have been perfectly fine and Kathy would have gone home, full and happy, and not given it another thought.

She realized she was wrong the moment they stepped into the restaurant. It smelled like home, evoking a sense of nostalgia and homesickness so sharp she rocked backwards on her heels for a moment. The table next to them had seven different banchan bowls on one side of it and over the shoulder of another patron, she could spot a menu page devoted entirely to different kinds of kimchi, several of which had seasonal warnings next to them. Apparently this place thought it wouldn't do to serve Yeolmu-kimchi in the middle of winter and you know what? They were goddamn right.

Kathy reached for Dante's hand, squeezing it tightly, letting her grip speak louder than she could right then about how pleased she was with his choice of restaurant for the evening.

[Not for broadcast and for that guy she's with!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"Might score me a gay waiter, too," Dante mused.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Aww, that brings me back," Kathy said, snickering. "You hoping to relive old glory days? Spankings and getting head in the bathroom?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Wasn't that us last week?" Dante mused.

[spin_kick_snap]

"It took me until the afternoon to sit down comfortably again," Kathy said with a dreamy smile. "Though if you got head in a bathroom, that wasn't with--wait. No, I was thinking public bathrooms."

It was possible they had a lot of sex. It was great.

[rebelseekspizza]

It was fantastic.

"Oh, that was a month ago," Dante agreed, tilting his head.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy thought about it. Like, really thought about it. "Not here," she hissed. "Ajumma will know."

Any other bathroom was up for grabs, though.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked.

Then he let out a soft laugh. "I just meant we did it last month," he said, "It wasn't a suggestion. Damn, you got a gutter brain."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And it's been whole month," Kathy said. "You can't blame me for leaping to conclusions."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Gotta keep your sex-in-a-public-bathroom shots up, huh?" Dante teased.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey now," Kathy said primly. "I'm willing to go either/or. A public spot or our own bathroom is perfectly acceptable."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Maybe we'll find somewhere in public later," Dante said, fond. "Or we'll keep it classy this time."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, classy," Kathy said, eyes wide. "I guess that does go with your wish for a gentle evening. Though that does involve me keeping my hands to myself."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'll drop you off at your front door and maybe I'll try for a kiss," Dante said. "Unless that's like, inappropriate as shit."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I mean, it's pretty damn inappropriate," Kathy said with a sigh. "But you're stupidly good looking so I'm willing to let it slide."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, now that's love," Dante said, grinning.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy winked at him, but her comment was forestalled by the waitress coming over with multiple little bowls of banchan: potato salad, kimchi, seaweed, nappa cabbage, cucumbers, and more.

"He's thinking about ordering the barbecue," Kathy mentioned and the waitress nodded, removing a section of the table to display a small grill.

Kathy grinned at him. "See? Korean food means plenty of meat you can set on fire."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Seriously, starting to be a big fan here," Dante said, his eyes lighting up.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy laughed, pleased beyond measure that he was enjoying it. "We should get one of those small tabletop grills for the house so you can indulge whenever you want."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Gonna need a bigger freezer to keep all the meat," Dante said, grinning.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You get a chest freezer for your excessive amounts of meat," Kathy said, "and I'll get a kimchi fridge and the house will be perfect."

Might be harder to slip veggies into his diet when he was consuming half a cow right off the bone.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed softly. "Any Korean shit we can add to the house past that that'll help you feel at home?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was quiet a moment, chewing on her lower lip. "Not a lot, really," she said. "It was more decorations and stuff than any big pieces of furniture or whatever. Though I'm kinda tempted to steal a Japanese kotatsu. It might actually keep my feet warm in the water."

[rebelseekspizza]

"What's that?" Dante asked, tilting his head.

[spin_kick_snap]

"So, take a table, put a blanket over it and then a proper tabletop over the blanket, and an electric heater built into the table itself," Kathy said, enthusiastic. "You can turn the heater on and it warms up all the space and then you can sit at it or just stick various parts under there and they get all toasty warm."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Huh," Dante said, waving idly at the waiter. "That sounds cool. Think Ringo knows where to get one of those?"