spin_kick_snap | Masitda Restaurant, Baltimore, Wednesday Evening

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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Wanting to get those bathrooms out of your system already?" Dante said, grinning at her. "Or you just want me and Anders to do you on the dance floor?"

From:

spin_kick_snap

"I mean, yes?" Kathy said with a cheerful shrug. "Okay, not sure just how far I'd be willing to go on the floor--" Though in a place where they didn't know anyone and it was crowded with people already mostly drunk meant she'd probably go a lot farther than she thought "--but get us all hot and bothered out dancing and then we end up in the bathroom because we just need it? Yeah, that's pretty much my whole jam right there."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Guess just doing it at the house all the time kinda gets fuckin' domestic after a while," Dante mused. "Maybe you two should come crash spring break."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Hard to play around in public in our own house anyway," Kathy said. "But--ooh, you think we could? We'll just hide in your luggage and they'll never notice."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Or you can grab a portal and we can sneak off somewhere," Dante said. "Gonna be tough just entertaining myself for a week."

Rude hand gesture.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Especially if you end up sharing a room with someone," Kathy said with more amusement than sympathy. "If being a teacher while you were still in high school hadn't been so weird, I could have just grabbed Anders and gone--but it would still have been weird, so never mind."

Yeah, it would have been awkward hanging out with both the teachers that had taught her and the students she was teaching. Hard pass.

"When is it--the first full week of March?"

From:

rebelseekspizza

"I think so, yeah," Dante said. "Was gonna play hooky but then I figured, it's my last school-sponsored vacation..."

He still sounded torn about it.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"I think you should go," Kathy said gently. "I still regret the trip I skipped to play hero in LA and not just because you didn't bring me back a dinosaur. We'll miss you, but I don't want you missing out on things just for us."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Yeah, but I wish you guys were there," Dante muttered.

From:

spin_kick_snap

Kathy reached over the table for his hand. "Well, yeah," she said. "It would be a hell of a lot more fun if we were. But at least this way, you'll see more of China than just the inside of our room?" She gave him a soft smile. "You'll have to take pictures of stuff for me and do some nerdy shit so you can come home and tell me all about it after Anders and I show you just how much we missed you. And, who knows? Maybe one day we can afford to all go back together and you can be our tour guide."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"And it's just seven days," Dante said, going for light, but winding up with some 'seven days is a lot' in the mix there, somehow.

He was well and truly hooked on these two.

From:

spin_kick_snap

Kathy knew the feeling. She squeezed his fingers tighter. "You know I'm probably gonna bug you every day, right? And we'll have to Skype at least once cause I'll miss your face."

And if she just happened to be coming back from a ride on her bike when they got back and ended up meeting them literally on the Causeway...well, that would be a crazy random happenstance, now wouldn't it?

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Skype at least twice," Dante said, squeezing her hand back. "... You know, if you wanna."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"I'm pretty sure I can swing that," Kathy assured him. "Might even try for three if it doesn't make me sound like the world's clingiest girlfriend."

SHE WAS REALLY GOING TO MISS HIM, OKAY?!

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Oh, if it gets that bad, I'm just comin' home to make sure you get laid," Dante promised her.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Just portal in for a few hours, leave me exhausted on the bed, and then portal back?" Kathy asked, refilling his glass. "I can dig it."

Funny how the sex was probably only broke the top five reasons she'd miss him while he was gone.

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Best way to treat a Kat, right?" Dante said, grinning. "Though maybe I'll stick around long enough to wake Anders."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"I mean, he'll pout if you don't," Kathy said with am oh-so-serious nod. "And I'm the one that will have to deal with a sulky boyfriend while you gallivant your way through China."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Aw, I'm sure you know how to cheer him right up," Dante said, smirking.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"I might have a trick or two that's been known to be effective," Kathy allowed with a small smile. "But I'll already be putting that to work jollying him out of the realization he's the only one for me to put my feet on when you're gone."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Awww, he gets to suffer for once," Dante said, grinning. "Smug asshole."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Don't worry, babe," Kathy said, batting her eyes at him. "I'll make sure they're waiting for you when you get home, just so you don't think you've missed out."