33 Apocalypse Ave (and eventually to Limbo City), Friday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Last week, Kathy had been an utter lump, eating ice cream and playing sad music and watching a lot of TV while she got used to life without the guys. This week wasn't actually much easier, but Kathy's tolerance for her own moping had run out and left her needing to do something that wasn't just dwell.

Fortunately, it wasn't like she was lacking in options. With the guys gone and Raven spending most of her time out in the woods, the house was just too big and full of memories. So she was moving back to the apartment above Luke's - along with Raven, at least nominally - and this week she'd really gotten her ass in gear when it came to packing. Most of the upstairs was packed, even if those boxes were still mostly stacked downstairs, and now she was just cleaning out their old rooms of the detritus the always seemed to accumulate under furniture and in corners.

Like this old credit card bill of Dante's from...April of 2017. Kathy snorted and rolled her eyes, preparing to toss it into the bin that was half-full of junk when she noticed that one of the items on there was in Hangul. Wait. Had Dante been learning stuff in Korean?

Wait. 김치 크림 파이. Was that a-- Kathy grabbed her phone and did a quick search and yep. It was pretty much exactly the kind of website she'd been expecting with a name like that. Definitely didn't have to do with desserts, that was for damn sure.

"Oh." She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, especially since that was back when everything had still been really...rough...between them. They'd been friends, in a tentative kind of manner, but no more. So then why...?

"Hi, Portalocity? I've got a portal scheduled to Limbo City for later on this evening, but I was wondering, could I bump it up to earlier than that? Something this afternoon would be good, yeah."

[Open for calls, texts, and visitors before she goes, and LC folks afterwards!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Kathy was almost due to show up. Well, in a few more hours. Dante had collapsed on the sofa - the morning had been spent fighting demons in the Market Quarter - and was now eyeing a stack of old pizza boxes.

He should probably throw those out before she got here.

"Hm."

... tv first.

[spin_kick_snap]

See, this was Kathy had made herself a promise that she wasn't going to clean when she was there. The guys weren't babies, they were grown men capable of cleaning up after themselves.

And maybe if she kept repeating that to herself, she'd stick to it. Goddamn neat freak tendencies.

The portal dropped her off not far from the door (and yes, she'd paid extra to get as close to the house as possible, she wasn't walking a foot more in Limbo City by herself than she had to, thanks much). It felt weird using the spare key now that the house was actually lived in, so rather than letting herself in, she rang the bell and waited.

This felt weird. Or maybe she was just feeling weird.

[rebelseekspizza]

...why was someone ringing the doorbell? They hadn't ordered anything.

Dante slid off the couch and walked to the door - shirt off because whatever, he was comfortable - and opened it. "Hel-- Kathy!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hi," Kathy said, giving him a little wave. Like a dork. "I, uhh, thought I'd come a little earlier than we talked about. Is that okay?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"'Course it's okay, come on in," Dante said, immediately stepping aside. "Did you lose your key?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh no," Kathy said, heading inside. At her back, her holster was visible against the loose material of her t-shirt. "It's back in the house? I thought it was a spare."

She somehow hadn't realized that Dante giving her a key had been him giving her a key.

[rebelseekspizza]

"... so is that a yes or a no on you losing your key?" Dante asked, confused.

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's an 'I don't have it on me, but I know exactly where it is,'" Kathy said, kicking off her shoes at the door. "I thought it was a key to hold onto, in case like, either of you lost yours, not that it was...you know. My key."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Of course it's your key," Dante said, shutting the door. "This is your house too, even if you don't wanna live here all the time right now."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh," Kathy said, ducking her head.

This 'oh' was the one that meant she was a little surprised and a lot happy about something and was trying hard not to show it.

But the way her whole smile lit up was impossible to hide, even behind her hair.

"I'll put it on my keys as soon as I go home," she said, toes curling against the floor.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Good," Dante said, and leaned over to give that smile a kiss.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy honestly had no idea why she was still sometimes so awkward about things, or why there was still a part of her that worried about showing how happy stuff like that made her. She just knew that sometimes she wondered if this was all a soapbubble fantasy that could pop if she wasn't careful. So she ducked her head and tried to hide her smiles and play things far cooler than she could ever hope to be.

And then other times, like now, Dante just leaned in and kissed her and there was nothing else in the world that mattered.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante pulled back, a small smile on his face. "Sorry about the mess," he said.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka had been back on the island for ages and ages and ages (okay, a few weeks) and she hadn't see Kathy at all.

Her sense of time was never going to be as pinpoint accurate as some peoples' was, but she missed Kathy.

So there was knocking on Kathy's door! And Alluka fidgeting outside of it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Time was slippery that way.

"Just a second!" Kathy's voice floated out from an upstairs window and then, moments later, she was opening the front door. "Hello?" she began before seeing who it was. "Alluka! Welcome home!"

The tiny girl wasn't getting welcomed inside. Not when Kathy could try to swoop her into a big, squeezy hug instead.

[that_oldsaying]

That was always a good reason to not get invited inside!

Alluka laughed, hugging back tightly. "I'm home, I'm home! How are you, Kathy?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Glad to have you home!" Kathy said, clinging tight for another few seconds before finally letting her go. "And busy! I'm packing up to move. Wanna come in? We can shift some boxed aside to give you room to sit."

[that_oldsaying]

"I'd love to come in!" she cheered, beaming up at Kathy, then picking up the bag she'd set down next to her on the steps. "And I brought jam tarts!"

Jam was healthy, right?

"And--you're moving? To, to where Dante is?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Jam had at least been a fruit once. The Korean judge would let it slide.

"No, back to my old place, the apartment above the diner," Kathy said with a small shake of her head. "I don't really like where Dante moved to."

Which was a much nicer way of saying 'Limbo City has traumatized me almost every time I've visited, so fuck that city.'

"So you're stuck with me staying on the island for a little longer," she teased.

[that_oldsaying]

"I like being stuck with you," Alluka said happily, not at all bothered by the teasing. "It means that I have more people to love close by."

She loved Dante too, but now he was so far away.

"Can I help you move? And, and I bet Ringo would help too!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Very far away. Kathy felt that distance keenly.

"Sure!" Kathy said, pleased by the offer. "I'm still mostly packing, but if you two wanted to come around some day next week to help me get some of these boxes over there, I'd love that."

She headed into the kitchen, waving Alluka to follow. "Tea? I'm packing up the kitchen last, so I still know where all my tea stuff is."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka giggled, following Kathy, and peering at the boxes as she passed them.

"I would like tea, thank you," she said, bouncing a little with each step. "And I'll let Ringo know, then! I've been meaning to talk to her anyway, so this just gives me another excuse."

[spin_kick_snap]

Each box was neatly labeled, because Kathy was entirely the kind of person who did that.

"So how did you do in your competitions?" Kathy asked, putting water on to boil and pulling down her tea options for Alluka to choose from. "In your final few weeks?"

[that_oldsaying]

She loved that about Kathy too, even though Alluka would never be that organized.

"The bruises are all gone now," Alluka said, like that was a bonus. It... it really was. "I never got as high as Ringo did, but I learned a lot!"

She was still a terrible fighter.

[spin_kick_snap]

And Kathy was entirely the kind of person who would also say It just takes a few moments of thought up front and then you'll be fine!. She was just lucky her friends were the forgiving type, honestly.

"If you end up getting more bruises like that, come see me and I'll help you put some Tiger Balm on them," Kathy said. "It's what I used when I was running around as Banzai." Biting her lower lip she added, "'Luka? I owe you an apology."