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

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"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

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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

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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

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"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

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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.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Want me to let you get some rest?" Kathy shifted like she was about to get up. "I can move everybody into the bedroom? Or you can go there and crash out on the..."

Oh god.

"...Box spring?"

The mattress wasn't moving from in front of the door, though. People could sleep on it if they wanted to, but it was there for security.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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Ezra's arm pulled tighter around her, just enough to keep her from getting up, nothing more.

"Please just let me sit here, okay?" he murmured.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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Kathy stopped and sat back again, tucking him a little closer into her side. "Okay," she said. "As long as you like."

She was skittish and filled with pent-up energy, so god only knew how long she'd be able to stay quiet for, but she could stay and sit next to him and let him just...

Well, unwind was probably not the right word.

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

It wasn't. Ezra's own levels of excess energy were very high, but he couldn't really do the things he would usually do to help that, so he was going to give his body at least a moment to rest while his mind... just did whatever it wanted to, honestly.

This was fine. Except it wasn't, but it was the closest to fine he could get to right now.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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And for once, Kathy wasn't even vibing with him. Being here kind of killed her libido. She was too afraid of letting her guard down to even think about it.

But she could lose her hands in his hair, nails moving over his skin in tiny, soothing circles.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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And Ezra could sigh and close his eyes and try not to think.

He'd fail miserably, of course. But such was life.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Mind if I braid it a little bit?" Kathy murmured. "It's a stress thing. Usually I just do mine, but..."

Her hands were a little busy just now.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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The puff of air that came out his nose was probably what passed for amusement right now.

"Sure, go ahead."

He, if anyone, understood the need to do something with one's hands. And his hair was getting to a good length for that, anyway.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Very generous of you," Kathy said, sectioning off a tiny bit of hair. "I promise to take them all out again later, so you still look as handsome as ever."

Her movements were swift and sure and, less than a minute later, he had one tiny braid in his dark hair. "It's getting long," she noted. "I like it."

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Too lazy to get it cut," he murmured. "Thank you."

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"I could cut it sometime," Kathy said, working on a second braid. "If you want it cut. And you trust me to do it right."

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"I think I'll hang on to it for a while like this."

They were just idle words.

"We'll see, though."

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Okay," Kathy said, setting the second braid down next to the first. "And if you decide to go to a salon or have Ava do it or whatever you usually do, I won't be offended."

Re: Wednesday Evening

[smilestopscars]

"Would be a very silly thing to get offended by, anyway," Ezra muttered. "Besides, it would be Lock, if anyone."

He was the designated Mom Friend, after all.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Eh, I'm sure I've been offended by sillier things in the past," Kathy said.

She finished braids three and four before adding, "Thanks." Quietly. So quietly.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Always."

It was a quiet word, too. And if questioned, even he wouldn't have been quite sure what he meant.

Still, there was emotion behind that. Quiet and soft and not for anyone else to hear.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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Kathy reached to twine her fingers with his. "You know that goes both ways, right? I don't know if you'd ever ask, but I still would."

Re: Wednesday Evening

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"Mm."

He didn't say anything more than that. Nor did he open his eyes.

Just gave her fingers a squeeze with his.

Re: Wednesday Evening

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Well, he didn't outwardly scoff or brush her off, so Kathy was taking that as a win. They were far and few enough in between that she'd take what she could get.

The squeeze kind of felt like a victory, too.