33 Apocalypse Ave, Wednesday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

By the kindness of fate--or perhaps the influence of Fandom--Kathy had treated herself to a long bath and a book the night before, ending up falling asleep in her own room mere pages from the end up the book. This bit of unexpected luck allowed the Kathy that woke up the following morning to have at least a little while before she was unexpectedly traumatized. At thirteen and still several years before attending Fandom or developing superpowers, this Kathy was a little less trained to roll with the punches.

But for now, she got washed up and dressed, then headed downstairs to make herself a bowl of cereal and some toast before figuring out what to do with the day.

And wow. That was a lot of booze and leftover pizza to shove into one fridge. Huh.

[Open!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"Fuck, you're a kid."

... Sorta.

"... Right, hold on," Dante muttered, backing out of the kitchen. Where had he thrown his jeans last night...?

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"I'm thirteen!" came the automatic protest of children everywhere.

Though at least with him gone, Kathy could open her eyes and put her hands on her cheeks to help them cool, maybe.

She didn't know why there were naked boys staying at her enrichment program, but trying to figure that out meant thinking about him more (and the few glimpses she'd gotten) and that way led to blue-screening.

So maybe she should just get her cereal.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante didn't come back for another few minutes, in which time he'd pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top.

He ducked his head back into the kitchen. "So... save some pizza for me?"

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Kathy tried not to look too relieved to see that the boy was fully dressed. And told herself she wasn't even the least bit disappointed, either.

She also startled again at the surprise of being directly addressed. "Oh! Oh, sorry, I, umm, will?" She wasn't even eating pizza now. "It, uhh, wasn't mine, so I wouldn't...that is..."

She was talking too much. To a boy. She ducked her head and her soft voice got even quieter.

"Sorry. Right. Pizza for you, got it."

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"It's okay," Dante said, sliding past her. He threw her an easy grin as he went for the fridge. "I'll get it."

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Oh. He was smiling at her. Boys never smiled at her. She blushed again and slid down into her seat a little way. "Sorry," she said again, because Kathy and apologies were OTP. "If--tomorrow I could--?"

Okay, Kathy was in a polyamorous relationship with not finishing sentences, too.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Nah, I can take care of myself," Dante said easily, and took the box out of the fridge before shutting it. "Sorry about before. Didn't expect you to be here."

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"It's okay!" Kathy said quickly. Like there was any other possible answer, ha. "I just showed up this morning. And, umm..."

She was pretty easy to overlook. Even in that garish skort...romper...thing she was wearing.

"It was probably just as, err, surprising, for you as for me," she murmured. "Sorry."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Not your fault," Dante said. "Probably got too used to wandering out without my pants on anyway." He shrugged apologetically - then stuck a slice of pizza in his mouth.

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"Ah..." Kathy had no response to that. The only time she was naked was in the shower. Clothes had been invented for a reason. "You...ummm..."

Yeah, there was just no good way to continue that conversation.

"What's your name?" she asked instead. "Mine's, umm, Kathy. Which you know. Right. Umm, sorry. That was dumb. Uhh, yeah..." She trailed off.

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's cool," Dante said lightly.

Baby Kathy was adorable.

"I'm Dante. And somewhere around here is Anders."

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Baby Kathy--who was thirteen, ohmigish!--was privately dying ten million deaths, all of them from embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you, Dante," Kathy said, trying to appear older and more mature by offering her hand for a shake. "Umm..does Anders, uhh, forget...pajamas a lot, too?"

She was crimson by the last word.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Not as much as me," Dante said, "But close." He took her hand, visibly amused, and shook it. "Hi, Kathy. I know an older version of you."

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Kathy frowned, trying to figure out what he meant. Was that a joke? Some kind of weird meme?

"I, umm, remind you of someone?" she guessed, offering him a tentative smile.

A smile that, under the bangs and too-young face, really looked like Kathy.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante opened his mouth to explain... then decided not to. "Yeah, you seem a little like a freshman version of my girlfriend," he said. "Bet you're gonna wind up just as badass in a few years."

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Kathy squeaked again, this time in happiness. She reminded him--a little--of his girlfriend?! He thought she was going to grow up to be badass?! She was almost too happy to correct that clearly untrue assumption.

Almost.

"No, I--" she was blushing. "Umm, thank you? I mean that! But I'm not very--" She shook her head, still smiling though. "I'm just Kathy, nothing special."

Gee, how many times had Dante heard that before?

"But I bet your girlfriend's, like, really cool." He seemed the type to have a really cool girlfriend. And probably beautiful, too, with long blonde curls, and big blue eyes--like a Disney princess, but with curves and a leather jacket or something.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hey, I bet you are pretty cool too," Dante said. "Don't sell yourself short, all right?"

Fuck, how to act around a tiny version of your girlfriend. There was a problem he hadn't anticipated. "Anyway, she's called Kathy too." He reached into his pocket for his phone.

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"Oh no," Kathy said, shaking her head. "I'm not. Ask anybody in my school. They'd tell you I wasn't. Umm, I mean, if they knew who you were talking about."

She wasn't even the class know it all. (That distinction belonged to Soo Jin Bak). She was just the quiet girl in the corner who spoke only when spoken to first.

"It is? Oh!" Comprehension dawned. "That's why you called me Kat!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Kinda look like a tiny version of her too," Dante said, holding out the phone - with a picture of him, Kathy and Anders, hanging out at the beach.

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"Woooooooooooooow..." Kathy said, looking at the picture, eyes big. "She does look like me. She could be my big sister!"

No blonde hair. No blue eyes. No giant curves--not even a leather jacket. A bikini, much skimpier than anything Kathy could ever wear, ever, in her life, but she looked comfortable in it. Confident.

Happy.

For the first time in her life--her real life--Kathy looked at a picture of herself and didn't notice the flaws.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Maybe she's a cousin you didn't know about," Dante said, grinning as he slid the phone back into his pocket. "Anyway, that's why the confusion and shit. You find everything you were looking for?"

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"All of my cousins are in Korea," Kathy said automatically, then nodded. "Yessir," she said, more out of politeness' sake. There hadn't been the (sugar-free, healthy) cereal she was used to or the skim milk she'd been searching for, but she'd made due.

"Is she here now?" Kathy asked. "Your girlfriend, I mean?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Nah, she's out," Dante said lightly. "She'll be back in a couple of days, tops."

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"Maybe I'll still be here when she gets back!" Kathy said, sounding almost excited. "I bet she could teach me about lots of things!"

Like how to be so cool and pretty and Asian-American. At the same time.

"What's she like?" she asked, then ducked her head. "Sorry? Maybe that's rude."

Mr. Dante probably had lots of other things to do.

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's fine," Dante said, grinning at her. "She's my girlfriend, I like talking about her."

Shh.

"She's really smart and a little nerdy," he said. "Which is kinda cute. She cares like, way too much about all kinds of things 'cause she's got a big heart and a lot of worries. And she's one of the most fun people I know."