The Mount, Ex-Los Angeles

[spin_kick_snap]

The last time anyone from Fandom had been in Kathy's LA, the heroes had been living inside the walls that surrounded Paramount Studios, with the exes and the South Seventeens laying claim to everything else. Since then, they'd expanded; the Big Wall pushing the borders out almost a mile in all four directions. In some spots, it was hard to tell that there had ever been a zombocalypse; the streets were clean, the buildings repaired, the blood all scrubbed away. There was a proper school, lots of farms and gardens, several churches, and even a small library. The studio was still the heart of the community, but people had started to spread out and settle. It was still a tight fit, several thousand people into one square mile, but honestly not much worse than Los Angeles used to be, back before the world died and reanimated again.

Life had fallen back into a rhythm again. People got up, got ready for the day. Kids were sent off to school, adults took themselves to various jobs, though there were fewer sales people, baristas, and aspiring actors and a lot more guards, scavengers, and farmers these days. There was a brewery down on Larchmont and a still over on Monroe. Burns Park let people enjoy a bit of nature where the kids could run around and burn off steam and a Gold's Gym practically against the Big Wall. That was where the Unbreakables spent most of their free time, with curious gawkers watching them put more and more weight onto the machines.

It was a bustling little community of survivors, as safe as a place could be, surrounded on all sides by millions of undead waiting to find a way inside to devour them all.

[For them that are there! NFB, and please wait for the OCD is up! Previous entry Next Entry]

Comments

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Oh thank goodness, there was a couch. Ezra plopped himself on it immediately, not even minding the small cloud of dust that his action caused. It'd settle in a moment.

He just... sighed.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah," Dante agreed.

He sat down on one of the couch's arms. The one furthest away from Ezra's face.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

That was going to put a stop to any errant touching that might've otherwise happened. Possibly for the best, though.

"Mmh," Ezra agreed with his agreement, sticking his hands underneath the back of his head, in the very picture of relaxation. He couldn't seem to think of anything to say, though, which maybe betrayed that he was a little rattled.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

Probably for the best. Or maybe not; Dante had sat where he sat because he was still unsure of where he and Ezra stood, and errant touching might have helped settle him down.

Oh well.

Dante was silent, too, at least for a little while. He didn't get tired, not the way anyone else here did, but he needed some time to settle down, now that he wasn't focused on comforting Kathy.

But then he reached out, and patted the tip of one of Ezra's shoes.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

It was a fine, high quality shoe, which Ezra was definitely going to burn once he got back home.

He watched Dante do that. Then gave his hand a gentle little nudge back, with said shoe.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

"You need to crash?" Dante asked him.

He sounded subdued. And gentle.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"Too wired to."

He sounded pretty subdued, too.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante nodded. "I get that," he said.

He wasn't wired, exactly. He wasn't even winded. But he got that.

"Wanna go for a walk in a bit?"

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"Sure."

What else was there to do? None of Ezra's actual favored modes of dealing with excess energy were available, and this apartment was going to start feeling cramped sooner rather than later.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante nodded again. He fell silent for a moment, taking some time to gather his thoughts.

Only then did he get up.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's thoughts remained scattered.

He watched Dante get up. Didn't really make any immediate move of his own.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[rebelseekspizza]

"You coming?" Dante asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Or you wanna wait?"

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra didn't feel like explaining himself. In fact, he didn't seem that interested in saying much at all.

Besides, getting up said enough, he thought.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

"Mind if I join you?"

In other circumstances, Kathy might have teased, might have invoked house rules and hashtag fox culture. Hell, in other circumstances, she just would have sat on his feet or poked at him until he shifted enough to make room for her.

Not she just stood, awkwardly, uncertain of her welcome. This was her home by technicality, but it wasn't hers. She didn't want it, wouldn't claim it.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shifted, slowly, until he was a little more upright and there was room next to him. A little slice of it, anyway. She didn't need much, if you asked him.

He patted the space, without saying anything.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy slipped in to sit, settling in with her own quiet weariness. She'd planned a joke, something about Ezra not bringing her cookies or something, but couldn't bring herself to say it once she was actually sitting.

"I think this is the first time I've sat on this. I don't really spend a lot of time in here."

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"I noticed the dust," Ezra told her quietly, softly. It was the same kind of softness with which he slid his arm around her shoulders. "It's okay."

He understood completely why she wouldn't spend more time than necessary in here.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'll try to clean it off before whoever crashes on it decides to go to sleep," Kathy said, leaning into him. "Wasn't expecting guests. I shouldn't even have called until Cairax was dealt with. But as soon as I got my hands on a working phone..."

She hadn't thought. Just reacted.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"You did the right thing."

He was a little short on words. A little better with the way he pulled her against his side.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

"But you're all stuck here, too," Kathy said. "Trust me, it's a shitty place to be."

She was confident that Ez had figured that out for himself already, even though it was his first time here. Still, it bore repeating.

"The nightlife is just terrible. You're gonna be terribly disappointed in LA." See? Teasing. Everything Was Clearly Fine.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra wasn't really in a joking mood, as was evident from the vague noise of 'mm' that he made.

His fingertips rubbed lightly at her shoulder.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

And sometimes Kathy just needed to joke, just to prove that she was okay, that she hadn't entirely lost herself to the oppressive fear that sometimes felt like it was going to rise up and choke the life out of her.

His fingertips were soft on her shoulder and she curled up next to him, tucking her face against his arm.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra would've liked to be a little lighter, but he didn't have the energy. He didn't have any energy. He'd scraped himself hollow for the day.

All that he had left were the fingers against her shoulder and the little kiss he dropped against the top of her head.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[spin_kick_snap]

"Anything I can do?" Kathy asked, voice pitched too low for anyone but Ezra to hear.

Being here for the last two weeks had been horrible, but at least she'd had the opportunity to get used to it.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shook his head. Responded about as quietly as she'd asked, too. "I'm just tired."

Also this entire world reeked to him. So there was that, but he was getting used to it.