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

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka had a bunch to say about how she was probably going to get more bruises, but the utter absurdity of Kathy's other statement distracted her.

She set her bag, with the tarts in it, on the counter, with a laugh.

"For what, Kathy? You haven't done anything wrong!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh, Alluka. How she would love to have as much faith in herself as you had in her.

"I did though," she said softly. "When you called - I was in a weird place and I wasn't as supportive as I could have been. And then I tried to hide it, instead of just explaining. You're not a baby, or even the same girl who came to Fandom. I should have been more honest with you about my feelings and I wasn't. I'm sorry."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka considered that as she looked at Kathy thoughtfully.

"They're your feelings," she said, after a moment. "You don't have to share them if you don't want to. It's okay to keep things to yourself, if you want to. No one has to tell me anything, at any point."

She didn't even really mind. Alluka didn't tell most people most of what she thought about either.

"I knew you weren't as happy as you can be and that was okay. And you tried--that mattered to me." That she'd been worth the effort of trying, even when Kathy hadn't been feeling it. That did matter. A lot.

"So... so, I accept your apology, but I don't think you have to apologize or feel bad about any of it," she finished simply.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I just want you to know that I do support you doing things that make you happy," Kathy said, reaching out for another hug. "Even if if scares me at the same time. Because I'm so proud of all the things that you're learning and doing and discovering. But that didn't come out well during our talk and it should have."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka willingly snuggled into that hug.

"I know you love me," Alluka said, "and that you want me to be the best me. It's okay that you weren't the best you, that time, because all the other times you've told me everything didn't go away."

[spin_kick_snap]

That was a thing Kathy had trouble accepting. She knew that all the good things she did never erased the bad, but it was a lot harder for her to understand the same was true in reverse.

"I'm glad," she said softly, squeezing Alluka tightly and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Because I do want you to be the best you, 'Luka. You're amazing and the whole world should know it. It's hard, sometimes, doing what you love when you think no one supports you, and I don't ever want you to think I'm not in your corner, cheering you on."

[that_oldsaying]

Well, maybe if Kathy was really bad... but Alluka couldn't imagine that.

"I won't forget, I promise," Alluka said solemnly. Then giggled. "But you'll like, I think, what else I decided to learn!"

She was pretty sure Kathy would support this all the way without having to worry about it at all!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had gone off and died because of her own hubris. She was pretty sure that was the worst thing she could ever do!

"Is it that vegetables are tasty, too?" she asked, wide-eyed and teasing.

[that_oldsaying]

Yeah, but Alluka didn't need to forgive her for that!

"Nnnnnno," Alluka said, giggling. "Kathy, that's just a lie!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, somebody should and it sure wasn't going to be Kathy any time soon.

"Why do you have to hurt their feelings like that?" Kathy asked, giving Alluka puppy eyes. "Veggies are delicious! They're so good so many different ways! Kimchi! Tempura! Stir-fry! Curry!"

[that_oldsaying]

"Weeeeeell."

Those were good points. Alluka rocked back on her heels.

"But, Kathy, I can't make those!"

Alluka's idea of vegetables was usually cold. With dip. Or those fun little steamer packs. And she wasn't going to learn better from Karla.

[spin_kick_snap]

All she'd learn from Karla is a giant lesson on what not to do, no, never.

"Well, why not?" Kathy asked. "They're pretty easy. Wanna learn?"

[that_oldsaying]

To be fair... that was a valuable lesson in and of itself. And Karla liked desserts, which made her alright in Alluka's books.

"I'd love to," she said happily. "But, but maybe not until after your move? I wouldn't want to get in the way?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You can't be in the way, that's a physical impossibility," Kathy said, laughing. "You're practically pocket-sized, 'Luka."

The kettle started whistling, so Kathy moved to get it off the stove, bringing it over to their cups.

"But yeah. Maybe once I get settled into my place again, I'll throw a dinner party and then have you help me cook."

[that_oldsaying]

"I've grown a little," Alluka protested, laughing as she checked one of the cabinets for plates. "I'm sure I have!"

She hadn't. Like, at all. Nnnnnothing. Eternally small.

"But a dinner party sounds nice!" Except, er... "We won't be doing anything too complicated though, right? Papa Hannibal's dinner parties are always..."

She waved her hands. A bit much? Super fancy?

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh gosh no," Kathy said, shaking her head. "Especially if I was trying to teach you at the same time. Probably just a curry or something, you know? A nice sauce you could ladle over rice."

She sighed, eyes going far away for a moment. "One day, though, I'd like to do a proper big Korean dinner. A couple of big, fancy dishes and lots of little banchan. Maybe even some barbeque."

[that_oldsaying]

"What's a banchan?" Alluka asked, checking another cabinet and beaming when she found the plates. "Is that like an appetizer?"

She looked over at Kathy.

"And you can teach me, and then we'll do that, just the way you want it."

It... it sounded important to Kathy, somehow.

[spin_kick_snap]

It reminded her of home. A home she didn't have any more. All the little traditions that were lost because she was the only one they meant anything too, now.

"Side dishes, actually. Korean meals are usually a big bowl of rice, a plate of meat, soup, and then a lot of little sides of stuff," she explained, setting in the tea to steep. "They're all supposed to kinda balance and harmonize the meal, but half the time, they're just stuff in the fridge. And kimchi. You can't have banchan and not include kimchi."

[that_oldsaying]

"So I should learn to make that one first," Alluka reasoned, pulling down a couple plates. "Since it has to be there."

Nothing could replace what Kathy had lost, but new traditions could be formed.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy chuckled. "Kimchi's one of those ones you work up to. I don't even make my own. I'd need a kimchi fridge first, because it takes a little while for the flavors to set. And there's lots of different kinds! Technically, you're supposed to make different types depending on the season and how close you are to the ocean and the weather's like...but most people just make their family's recipe and call it good."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka blinked.

"People have a fridge just for one dish?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah," Kathy said with a wistful sigh. "Kimchi takes awhile to ferment, even a few weeks depending on the variety. And most families go through a lot of it. So you have a whole fridge - usually small ones - devoted to fermenting kimchi. And kimchi can smell pretty strong, especially the fish-based ones, so if you don't want everything tasting like kimchi, it's smart to separate it."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka glanced around the kitchen.

She didn't see a second fridge.

"But you don't make your own? So, so you only have one fridge?"

Less the other was hiding?

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't, not really," Kathy admitted. "I usually get some at the Korean market in Baltimore. It comes in a big jar."

It wasn't as good as homemade, but it was still kimchi.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka nodded, filing that away.

She'd ask Ringo about it. Maybe they could get Kathy a fridge for her birthday. It wasn't a very exciting present, in Alluka's opinion, but it sounded like it mattered. A lot. And that was more important.

And then they could save the exciting presents for Christmas!

"And the jar doesn't smell up the fridge?" she asked. "How many tarts do you want, Kathy?"