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]

"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?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"In Japan, yeah, I'm not sure about around here," Kathy said. "But maybe? Worth a shot to ask, rather than me just sticking my cold toes under your ass while we watch TV."

[rebelseekspizza]

"See, we all win," Dante said. "Now we just need blankets with a little heater where your feet are."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It'll keep me wearing less for longer," Kathy said. "Eventually, it's going to get cold enough that I might need to start wearing clothing."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Oh, you are so not wearing pyjamas to bed," Dante announced. "Ever."

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"But you know how cold my feet get!" Kathy protested, as if she'd even consider the idea.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Look, you wanna wear socks to bed, I can survive that," Dante said, "But that's it."

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"That's it," Kathy decided. "I'm going to come to bed in a thick flannel nightgown just to see what you do."

Which by Kathy meant she really liked it when he stripped her naked.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Bet your boobs look good hangin' out of that," Dante mused, tilting his head as he considered her.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Lookit you, keeping the romance alive," Kathy said, her tone teasing but her eyes very much sincere. Funny how her view of what was romance was and how it manifested had changed over time.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Look, I'm just saying," Dante said. "You in like flannel bunny pyjamas with all the good bits showing? I could be into that."

He grinned at her, thinking not even so much about what he'd do to her as about what all those inches of gorgeous pale skin would look like.

[spin_kick_snap]

She was thinking about that enough for both of them anyway.

"Well, now we've got a craft project for some night when we're not out and about in Baltimore," Kathy said, noting which of the vegetarian dishes she was going to order and how many of the kimchi sides to try. "I'll grab some pjs and you decide where to open them up and make them into peek-a-boo pjs."

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's a deal," Dante said, sounding pleased with himself.

[spin_kick_snap]

"And while I'm going after them with scissors, you can grill us something literally on the table," Kathy said, dimples deep. "Because if you think you're not going to come downstairs to find one of these with a bow on it, you've never actually met me."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked, then let out a laugh.

"Sounds like somebody's hungry as fuck," he teased.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Makes a nice change from being so thirsty all the time when you're around," Kathy told him, grinning.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Well, you're still thirsty too, right?" Dante said, grinning. "Let's order some food."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm always thirsty," Kathy told him with a wry smile. "It's a goddamn problem is what it is."

Closing her menu, she caught the waiter's eye and nodded. "You wanna take a stab at pronouncing everything you're gonna order?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Oh, no, I'm pointing at pictures," Dante said.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy laughed at him. "That's it, clearly I need to start teaching you Korean just so you can order meat like a grownup when we go out," she declared. "I can order for us to spare you the indignity of pictionary."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Just get me the dishes with the most meat in them," Dante said.

While helpfully tapping them on the menu.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm just going to tell them to cut up a whole cow into manageable pieces and bring it out to you," Kathy decided. "Maybe add some greens for garnish that I can steal after you ignore them."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, c'mon," Dante said. "And here I was even thinking about trying some of that kimchi stuff you're all over all the time."